Great Tips For Spring Sellers

*Synced from Seattle and Real Estate
The flowers are starting to bud, and the sun is peaking through the clouds; Spring is in the air and For Sale signs are emerging around Seattle like crazy. How do you stay ahead of the game? As the housing market begins to heat up, sellers can take these extra steps to help stand out among the rest. At first glance, potential buyers are scrutinizing your property before they even step foot in the door, and having a clean entrance and yard can make a big difference for first impressions.  Adding a beautiful potted plant to the front porch, or staining the front deck could be relatively small projects that could add generous appeal to your home.
Staging your home is another great way to entice buyers to choose your home. Hiring professionals to arrange your home to appeal to a broad array of buyers could be the difference between a buyer choosing your home, or choosing one just down the street. Removing personal belongings helps buyers envision themselves living on the property- not you. Also remember to give your home a good cleaning before showings; a clean home feels bigger and more inviting. For more information on Seattle real estate, contact your local real estate agent today.

Tips For First Time Home Buyers

*Synced from Seattle and Real Estate
The process of buying your first home can be extremely daunting, and although buyers may feel overwhelmed with information, in a market where first-timers are often outbid by buyers with cash on hand, doing your research and being as prepared as possible are key.
First of all, figure out how much you can afford. Meet with a lender to review your finances and establish a realistic price range. You don’t want to begin looking at homes and fall in love with one only to realize the monthly payment is too high.
Shop around for a mortgage. If you would compare prices on groceries, it only makes sense to do the same for a purchase as significant as a home. Look up who has the lowest mortgage rates online first, then call lenders and ask for a written list of their fees so you make sure to get both the lowest rate and the lowest fees.
See if you quality for down-payment assistance. There are several of these programs offering services in King County. See here for more info.
Get preapproved for a loan. This will make your offer more attractive to sellers, as there is less likelihood your loan won’t be approved while you’re in escrow. Find out from your mortgage lender what kind of paperwork you need to submit to get preapproved. These often include W-2s, pay stubs, bank statements and tax returns. Get your credit report and make sure there aren’t any abnormalities that need to be addressed.
Get referrals from your family and friends to find a great real estate agent. Interview them to make sure you feel comfortable with them and to assess how knowledgeable they are. Don’t forget that if a particular agent isn’t meeting your needs, you don’t have an obligation to continue using them.
When do you find a home that you’re ready to make an offer on, take the market into account – if it’s a sellers’ market and the home is priced well, you’ll probably want to make an offer either at the asking price or possibly even a little above. If the seller knows they will get multiple offers, you want yours to stand out.
Just like everyone else who you employ in your home search, you are free to use a home inspector of your choice. Get recommendations from friends and family to make sure you’re getting a trustworthy inspector, not just one who is working to help the agent close the deal.
If you are interested in buying a home in the Seattle area, contact your local real estate agent today.

Useful Tips to Get Multiple Offers on Your Home

*Synced from Seattle and Real Estate Blog In regions with booming real estate markets, sellers may think getting multiple offers on their home is inevitable, but there are a few things you can do to increase your chances. The three must-haves for attracting multiple offers, according to Zillow, are location, price and presentation.

You’ve heard it time and again: location, location, location. Buyers often consider location before other factors such as price, number of bedrooms or home size, so a well-located home is a huge advantage. Homes on busy streets, near freeway on/off ramps, or in less-than-stellar school districts may not attract as much interest. Work with a real estate agent to price your home very carefully if it’s not in a prime location.
That brings us to the next factor: price. Zillow reports that homes priced 10 percent over their market value will not get noticed, so it’s important to be smart and realistic with your listing price. While you won’t truly know the market value of your home until a buyer closes on the sale, real estate agents can help you establish a value range based on factors such as whether you are in a buyers’ or sellers’ market, location, and how well your home shows. If you price your home at the lower end of that range, you can be pretty confident you’ll generate lots of interest.
While you can’t change your home’s location and prices can fluctuate based on any number of factors, presentation of your home is something you have more control over. In today’s online-focused market, photos are key, so make sure you put your home’s best foot forward before you have it photographed. Buyers want to make an emotional connection with a home, so removing your personal items, making cosmetic upgrades (if you can afford it), and staging will make a good first impression online and drive buyers to look at the home in person.
These factors, supplemented by the expertise of a local real estate agent who knows the other homes in the area and can help you make yours stand out, will give you an increased chance of getting what all sellers want – multiple offers. If you are interested in selling or buying a home in the Seattle area, contact your local real estate agent today.

Tips for Buyers in a Seller's Market

Synced from Seattle and Real Estate Blog
We’ve been saying it for the past year and a half, but we’ll say it again; Seattle is definitely a Seller’s market at present. There is nothing more frustrating for a buyer than having everything in order for the home purchase, and not being able to make the purchase due to no fault of their own. There are more buyers than sellers in today’s marketplace, and homes are moving quicker than ever in many neighborhoods. The home buying process has evolved, and if you want to close on the home of your dreams, you’ll need to think outside the box, act fast, and be prepared to work hard at the home sale. Here are some useful tips to keep in mind on your quest for the perfect home.
With low inventory, many buyers tend to be looking for the same thing, and the buyers who come out on top aren’t using your typical search methods. You can work with your agent to check out homes without “For Sale” signs in front, expired listings from years past, or pre-market homes that aren’t necessarily listed on the mls. If you’re interested in a home in the neighborhood, don’t be afraid to reach out to them inquiring if they plan to sell, because chances are you’re not the first buyer to inquire. Getting pre-approved for a mortgage before you buy is another great way to stay one step ahead of the game. Buyers who are well organized and ready to move when they find the right home are generally the ones who get the listing, and it’s important to deal with any issues you might have on your credit report before moving forward in this competitive market.
Are you interested in a particular neighborhood in Seattle? Find an agent who specializes in the area. A good local agent will know when to submit the offer, and is usually the difference between getting your offer accepted and making several offers with no success. A local agent might know the selling agent, and might have made a deal with them previously in the neighborhood, and that might be enough for the seller to suggest they accept your offer over another inquiry.  If you’re interested in buying a home in and around Seattle, remember the early bird gets the worm. Contact your local real estate agent today to start the home buying process.

Home Sales And Prices Dip For Second Straight Month

Synced from Seattle and Real Estate blog.
The Seattle area saw median home prices and number of home sales fall for the second consecutive month in February, according to new data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. The price of single-family homes in King County fell from $410,000 to $405,400 in February, and that there was little growth in the number of homes for sale. The number of pending home sales is also down about 13% from the same month last year. However, the median price of single-family homes in King County is still 11% higher than it was in February 2013.

Members of the NWMLS believe the dip in sales is not due to a shortage of buyers, but a severe shortage of housing inventory. King and Snohomish Counties both have less than a four-month supply of homes available. According to the NWMLS report, bidding wars are common in markets with less than four months of inventory. Some sellers are also delaying selling their homes because they’re underwater on their mortgages and are holding out for a continued rise in home-price appreciation. Zillow reports that one in five homes in the Seattle metro area has a mortgage with an outstanding balance higher than the home’s value.
For more information on Seattle real estate, contact your local real estate agent today.

Bellevue Real Estate Recap: February 2014

Syndicated from the Seattle and Real Estate Blog
The Real Estate market in Bellevue has continued to improve at a striking rate.  Although the number of homes closed in February 2014 was nearly identical to February 2013, the median selling price rose 10.1% to $670,000.  The average single family home sold for $909,494, and the average selling price for a condominium was $302,694 in Feb 2014.  In February 2013 the average selling price for a single family home was $677,773 and for a Condominium was $399,002.  The ratio for the listing price versus the selling price in 2013 was 99.6% and in 2014 it was 100.09% (according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service).
The average days on the market for a single family home in February 2013 was 40 and for Condominiums was 71.  In February 2014 the average for a single family home to be on the market was also 40 days and for Condominiums it was 55.  For single family residences, homes containing 3 or 4 bedrooms sold in about 25 days, versus 37 days in February 2013 and homes having 5+ bedrooms taking around 3 months to sell versus 61 days in February 2013.  Bellevue’s most expensive home sold in February was an Italian Style Villa that sold for a vast $4.8 million.  The home rested on a half acre of Lake Washington Waterfront and was 7,606 square feet and built in 2003 and took 226 days to sell.
Bellevue continues to be extremely desirable right now which is highlighted by the increase in sales prices and the amount of home selling for above their asking price.  The numbers discussed clearly demonstrate that it is a great time to sell in the Bellevue and King County areas. If you would like more information about the current value of your home in this strong real estate market, please contact me for a free market analysis and discussion about your home.

Sales of New Homes on the Rise Nationally

In some surprising and encouraging news for the national residential housing market, sales of new homes in January rose by 9.6 percent, the highest rate since July 2008, and it is predicted that the rate for both new and existing home sales will continue to rise in 2014.
Economists had predicted a drop in the rate for January, mostly due to winter storms across much of the country, but only the Midwestern market posted a decline in new-home sales for January, dropping 17 percent. Sales in the northeast rose by 74 percent, followed by the west at 11 percent, and the south by 10 percent. The median new-home price also rose 3.4 percent from a year ago to $260,100.
Despite the 30-year mortgage rate having just risen to 4.33 percent, signs are pointing to a healthy residential market in 2014 as a result of growing household incomes, and double-digit growth in residential construction over the past two years, which contributed to the nation’s overall economic growth.