Those of us who are fortunate enough to live in the area have known it for years. Silverdale was chosen as one of Money Magazine's best 100 places to live in 2007.
See the stats here:
Silverdale top 100 best places to live.
Response to Mad Money’s, Jim Cramer’s comments about real estate on the Today Show
Response to Mad Money’s, Jim Cramer’s comments about real estate on the Today Show:
Jim Cramer is as sharp as they get when it comes to stocks but missed some basic points about real estate.
Buying real estate is not like buying stock. You don’t buy houses low today and sell them high in a few days. Buying a home is a long term vision. How long term depends on your situation and the local economy.
My advice to buyers:
1) Look at your situation. If you are only going to live in the area for a year or so, buying a house may not make sense. If you are going to own this next home for 3 or more years it begins to make more sense in a normal market.
2) Talk with your local Realtor. They know the market history, they know the current inventory and they know the current influences on today’s market in their area.
Generalizing about the real estate market in the United States is as dangerous as generalizing about stock investments. I think even Jim would agree that in a bear market there are still specific companies or sectors that are doing well and would be a good investment even though a large part of the market is down.
Jim Cramer is as sharp as they get when it comes to stocks but missed some basic points about real estate.
Buying real estate is not like buying stock. You don’t buy houses low today and sell them high in a few days. Buying a home is a long term vision. How long term depends on your situation and the local economy.
My advice to buyers:
1) Look at your situation. If you are only going to live in the area for a year or so, buying a house may not make sense. If you are going to own this next home for 3 or more years it begins to make more sense in a normal market.
2) Talk with your local Realtor. They know the market history, they know the current inventory and they know the current influences on today’s market in their area.
Generalizing about the real estate market in the United States is as dangerous as generalizing about stock investments. I think even Jim would agree that in a bear market there are still specific companies or sectors that are doing well and would be a good investment even though a large part of the market is down.
New Fangled Fruit......or.....Tools of the Real Estate Trade
New tools of the trade.....
Well I finally made the move to a smart phone. I had been lugging around a MotoRazor, a Palm T-5 and gasp....a pager. I'd been putting it off as communications is not as intense for me as a broker as it might be for an active real estate agent. What pushed me to the next level is remembering basic leadership......lead by example. If I think consistent communication is important for my agents with their clients....if I feel technology is a tool to help buyers and seller feel more involved in the transaction and if I want my agents to use more of the tools that are available to them......you've got it...I better use it as well.
Two weeks ago I picked up my BlackBerry 8703e. So far so good!! I like it a lot better than my Palm and I'm finding I can respond to e-mail questions from my agents a lot quicker.
I added a couple of software items that have made it even better:
Google Maps
Google Search
Google News
Web Messanger (allows for Instant Messaging)
One of the reasons I chose BlackBerry is because e-mail arrives so quickly. It is based on push technology instead of having a device like a Treo which has to go out on a scheduled time and pull the information.
Some drawbacks:
This device does not have a camera or an SD slot which an active agent may find helpful.
A caution:
Spending time with your family does not mean sitting at the same table or in the same room while you cruise your smart phone. It is very tempting to pull it out and respond to messages but resist the temptation. When you are at your kids next ball game, take a look around. Many of the parents that are there have their noses buried in their laptop or smart phone......are they really there??? What experiences are they missing and what messages are they sending in the most wireless of ways to their kids who are looking up to them for encouragement and support.
A new mantra...."It is just a tool.....It is just a tool"
Impassioned discussions about commissions
Below is a response to a blog entry that I placed on my blog in Active Rain where we are discussing use of Realtor.com. There is a lot of passion, opinion and misinformation out there. The whole topic of agent commissions comes up every few years and seems to be quite the blaze right now fueled with discussions about limited and full service brokers, the introduction of new business models like Redfin and Zillo as well as the one sided 60 minutes show.
In my opinion where 60 minuets went wrong was in airing such a one sided view, they lost creditability. Consumers have more options available to them today than ever before. More options means a better experience for home buyer and sellers.
You can see by the below post this ladies frustration, I hope I did an adequate job responding:
In my opinion where 60 minuets went wrong was in airing such a one sided view, they lost creditability. Consumers have more options available to them today than ever before. More options means a better experience for home buyer and sellers.
You can see by the below post this ladies frustration, I hope I did an adequate job responding:
THE LISTING BELONGS TO THE HOME SELLER - WHO WANTS TO KNOW WHAT YOU SPENT HIS 6% ON, IF ALL YOU WANT TO DO IS FIND A WAY WHERE YOU CAN MAKE MORE MONEY FOR YOURSELF, AND NOT FOCUS ON GETTING EXPOSURE TO MARKET HIS HOME TO THE MOST QUALIFIED SELLER IN THE SHORTEST PERIOD OF TIME FOR THE HIGHEST PRICE POOSSIBLE. STOP THINKING THESE ARE YOUR LISTINGS. YOU WERE HIRED TO DO A JOB. FOR A LOT OF MONEY. MAYBE YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON THAT.
SO THE SMARTEST THING YOU DID FOR YOUR CLIENTS TODAY IS TO NOT ADVERTISE ON THE SITE WHERE THEY ARE SPENDING ALL THIER TIME... LIGHTS ON - BUT NO ONE IS HOME.
| 06/01/2007 | by MARY RIGGIO | | |
Mary, Thank you for your comments. Your message in caps tells me you are very frustrated with the process and perhaps have had a bad experience. You touch on several important issues, lets see if I can address them.
1) "THE LISTING BELONGS TO THE HOME SELLER - WHO WANTS TO KNOW WHAT YOU SPENT HIS 6% ON," I think sellers are always entitled to know what they are getting for their money. Agents should be prepared to meet or talk with their sellers on a weekly basis to cover things like marketing/advertising, showings and showing follow up, homes that have sold in the past week as well as new homes that are now competing with yours.
2) "IF ALL YOU WANT TO DO IS FIND A WAY WHERE YOU CAN MAKE MORE MONEY FOR YOURSELF, AND NOT FOCUS ON GETTING EXPOSURE TO MARKET HIS HOME TO THE MOST QUALIFIED SELLER IN THE SHORTEST PERIOD OF TIME FOR THE HIGHEST PRICE POOSSIBLE." The focus of any listing agent is to help the seller accomplish the goal of selling their house in a time frame and at a price point comfortable to the seller. If the home does not get sold everyone looses. Good agents spend a tremendous amount of time and resources in marketing. Personal marketing as well as property specific marketing. This helps build traffic and momentum which leads to more people seeing more homes. Real estate is like any other business. We are in it to make a fair profit. When profit margins are cut too thin something needs to give, and that is typically service.
3) "SO THE SMARTEST THING YOU DID FOR YOUR CLIENTS TODAY IS TO NOT ADVERTISE ON THE SITE WHERE THEY ARE SPENDING ALL THIER TIME... LIGHTS ON - BUT NO ONE IS HOME." Not all listing are on Realtor.com. A consumer who thinks so is being short changed. The reason why it is important for the listing broker to own the listing data is because we need to bring our knowledge to bear when deciding where to place our listing information. Realtor.com is a case in point. How angry do you think you would be if you had just done a price reduction but it does not show up on their website for a few weeks. This is true with many "third party" websites. They do not have to answer to the department of licensing for accuracy of information. All they care about is having valuable content which will drive traffic to their site so they can charge more for banner ads.
Like any other business relationship. You should choose an agent you trust, who is knowledgeable about the prcess and who shows good judgment and offers good advice. When you choose the right person the rest will fall into place.
Attention + Sevice + Tools + Knowledge + Enthusiasm + Reputation = Value
| 06/01/2007 | by Frank Wilson |
The benefits of a home warranty when buying or selling a home.
Home warranties come in as many packages as any other insurance you might have used. In this case we are discussing an insurance policy that might cover various systems in the house that you are buying or selling. Depending on the policy, this could include electrical, plumbing, appliances, furnace, hot water tank, septic, well, pool or spa.
Some policies will cover the house while it is listed and will continue to cover it for a period of time after closing. In many cases if there is a problem the home owner pays only a small fee to have the work done. The policy I use requires a $55 fee which is paid by the home owner at the time of the breakdown. The rest is covered.
A few months back I purchased as a closing gift for one of my buyers a standard policy and added the well rider. Turns out that a few months after closing the well pump burned out. My client simply called the phone number provided, paid the $55 fee and a new pump was installed.
Policies can be paid for by the buyer, the seller or the agent. If you are in a negotiating type of market as a buyer you could ask that the seller provide one. If you are an agent this might be something you offer as a "value added" item.
Regardless of who pays for it, this is something that you would want to at least consider while working through the process of buying or selling a home. Ask your agent for their opinion and recommendation. Like any other insurance policy or product make sure you read and understand all of the documents before signing them.........yes....even the fine print.
Some policies will cover the house while it is listed and will continue to cover it for a period of time after closing. In many cases if there is a problem the home owner pays only a small fee to have the work done. The policy I use requires a $55 fee which is paid by the home owner at the time of the breakdown. The rest is covered.
A few months back I purchased as a closing gift for one of my buyers a standard policy and added the well rider. Turns out that a few months after closing the well pump burned out. My client simply called the phone number provided, paid the $55 fee and a new pump was installed.
Policies can be paid for by the buyer, the seller or the agent. If you are in a negotiating type of market as a buyer you could ask that the seller provide one. If you are an agent this might be something you offer as a "value added" item.
Regardless of who pays for it, this is something that you would want to at least consider while working through the process of buying or selling a home. Ask your agent for their opinion and recommendation. Like any other insurance policy or product make sure you read and understand all of the documents before signing them.........yes....even the fine print.
To list or not to list....listing information on Realtor.com
A friend of mine by the name of Karen used to work with me here in our real estate office in Silverdale, WA. She had been both an agent and an assistant manager. Some years ago (they fly by way to fast to count) she moved to the east coast and eventually to Florida where she practices real estate.
Karen e-mailed me this morning asking for my take on this article; http://realtytimes.com/rtapages/20061130_seattlepullout.htm
Here are some of my thoughts:
This article comes from an interesting angle….”why are brokers choosing not to put their listings with Realtor.com”. I would come from the other side…why would brokers want to???
The Realtor organization is a fantastic organization for providing services to its’ members like; education, a consistent code of ethics, cost savings from third party vendors and for acting as a political watch dog regarding property rights, land use and legislation that affects our business.
They were not used for marketing or promoting our listing inventory. That has always been the broker’s job. In some areas there may be a crossover. Some Multiple Listing Services (MLS) are owned by the local Realtor organization.
So lets break this discussion into a two pieces; context and reasoning:
Context:
Some years ago, National Association of Realtors decided to start Realtor.com. They hired a third party to put this whole thing together and it is now operated solely by this third party as NAR has distanced themselves from it. The third party was Homestore, but is now known as Move Inc. and trades on the NASDAQ as Move.
The reason NAR felt there was a need for Realtor.com is because real estate firms in the midwest and on the east coast did not share their listing information in a way that the public could access it on line. The consumer would have to access each broker’s webpage, one company at a time to see what was on the market.
This is very different than those of us in the northwest. From the beginning we felt it was a benefit for the public to get their listing knowledge and market information right from the horse’s mouth. So each of us share with the other all of our listings. We would rather have the consumer go to our competitors website and get accurate up to the minuet information then to a third party vendor.
So now we have a for profit company, who looks and feels like NAR but really isn’t and they want to collect, distribute and profit from the listings that our agents have worked so hard to get.
| Here is some of the information from their web page, italicized: Stock Quote |
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Real Estate Statistics for Kitsap County, WA 2/18/2007
Watching stats like these will help you determine what kind of a market you are in.
For Kitsap County Washington as of 2/18/2007
1350 Active Listings
71 Homes went Pending last week
77 Average Days on Market
$305,601 Average List Price
$300,937 Average Sale Price
98% List price to sale price ratio
19 weeks of inventory
Learn more about Defining Your Market.
For Kitsap County Washington as of 2/18/2007
1350 Active Listings
71 Homes went Pending last week
77 Average Days on Market
$305,601 Average List Price
$300,937 Average Sale Price
98% List price to sale price ratio
19 weeks of inventory
Learn more about Defining Your Market.
Who owns the listing data?
I just finished reading and responding to a discussion in the INMAN blog
http://www.inman.com/hstory.aspx?ID=61445
The reason I think this is an important issue is because it comes down to, who is responsible for the way your home is marketed?
In my opinion that should be your real estate professional.
Many websites are building traffic to their site by using other peoples information. The challenge with this is that information becomes dated or is entered on the third party site incorrectly or incompletely. By ensuring the chain of ownership and responsibility you can be sure your property is marketed in it's best light.
Here is my response or comment in that blog:
http://www.inman.com/hstory.aspx?ID=61445
The reason I think this is an important issue is because it comes down to, who is responsible for the way your home is marketed?
In my opinion that should be your real estate professional.
Many websites are building traffic to their site by using other peoples information. The challenge with this is that information becomes dated or is entered on the third party site incorrectly or incompletely. By ensuring the chain of ownership and responsibility you can be sure your property is marketed in it's best light.
Here is my response or comment in that blog:
To answer who owns the listing information you need only follow the chain of responsibility.
The real estate broker/agent enters into a contract with a seller, which allows the real estate broker/agent to offer and market the seller’s property for sale.
The real estate broker/agent is responsible for entering the information into their local MLS, print media as well as any internet marketing that is done. If the information is incorrect or incomplete the broker and agent are held responsible.
If it were not for the listing agreement the information would not be made available. The listing information provided is usually above and beyond what is public record through county records.
The photos added, the descriptions used and the pricing strategy are all services brought to bear by the real estate firm and its agents.
Since real estate agents can not practice real estate unless they are a broker or work for a brokerage firm, ownership of the listing, the data and the responsibility lands squarely at the broker’s feet.
Annual Real Estate Update for Kitsap County WA
At the end of each year I send out a letter to all of my clients with a 1 page update on what is happening in Kitsap County. Below is this years letter:
I hope this annual letter and calendar find you and yours doing well. Please note that your calendar starts on December 1st so go ahead and start planning next year today.
Some Stats comparing 2006 to 2004 & 05 for
2004 2005 2006
# of New Listings: 5038 5237 5634
# of transactions: 3823 3871 3406
Avg. Days on Market: 65 58 63
Avg. Sale Price $254,809 $307,235 $336,299 (+9%)
If you were a seller in 2006 you had to be a bit more patient than you’ve had to have been over the past few years. You were not able to choose a list price as aggressive as in the past. Bottom line though is houses are still selling and sellers continue to see appreciation.
If you were a buyer in 2006 you’ve actually had the best of both worlds. Interest rates continue to stay low and you have more houses to choose from. The icing on the cake is that sellers have had to be a little more flexible in their sale price and have been more open to paying some of your closing costs.
I’ve developed two web resources to help you keep up with our market:
Website: http://www.franklyrealestate.com
Blogsite: http://franklyrealestate.blogspot.com (see what is in store for 2007)
Politics/Taxes – This last election cycle has brought in a new
Around Town –
PS Sorry for the formatting, apparantly Blogger does not like info from MS Word.
Conventional Conforming Loan Limits for 2007
Though I'm not a lender this information will affect buyers in todays market.
2007 Loan Limits
for Conventional Conforming Loans
Oregon and
Washington
single-family to $417,000
two-family to $533,850
three-family to $645,300
four-family to $801,950
Thank you to Cherie Kesti of Windermere Mortgage Services for the above information; www.windermeremortgageservices.com
2007 Loan Limits
for Conventional Conforming Loans
Oregon and
Washington
single-family to $417,000
two-family to $533,850
three-family to $645,300
four-family to $801,950
Thank you to Cherie Kesti of Windermere Mortgage Services for the above information; www.windermeremortgageservices.com
What is in store for Kitsap County real estate in 2007.
What is in store for
2007 will see much of the same. It appears interest rates will continue to be low or lower than the historical average. Home values should continue to appreciate between 4 and 7%. There will be an increase in new construction over the next few years. From a consumers stand point it will be important to be able to compare homes on their attributes and not just compare cost per square foot. We are seeing builders build smaller garages, use vinyl siding, employ manmade products for molding, countertops and flooring and use various grades of lighting, linoleum and carpets. Granted, these are all attempts to build an affordable home but just be sure you can compare one home to another from an informed prospective. It is also worth a moment of time to consider having your own real estate agent represent you as your “buyers agent” instead of settling with the agent who is on site and represents the builder.
Second Home and Vacation Home Ownership
Over the past few years we have seen a large increase in second & vacation home ownership. My company, Windermere Real Estate, conducted a survey to learn more about this trend. Here are the results of that survey.
2006 Windermere Vacation Home Ownership Survey Results
• Distance of vacation home
from primary residence
20% under 50 miles
23% 50 to 100 miles
16% 100 to 200 miles
41% over 200 miles
• Type of home
54% Detached single-family home
23% Condominium/apartment
17% Cabin
2% Mobile home/manufactured home
4% Other
• Time spent at vacation home
in the past year
8% No days
12% 1 to 7 days
40% 2 to 4 weeks
31% 1 to 3 months
7% 3 to 6 months
2% 6 months or more
27% Rent out
73% Do not rent out
• Likelihood the property will become their primary home when they retire
16% Very likely
20% Somewhat likely
15% Somewhat unlikely
45% Very unlikely
4% Don’t know
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