Home affordability is at an all-time low due not only to the drop in home prices but also to the continuing low interest rates. Nevertheless buyers are still not flocking to our office to buy property. Sales are better than at this time last year, but still far below what they were back in 2006. There does seem to be a stabilizing in the housing market. We are not seeing much building when it comes to new housing, and there are new homes still sitting on the market that were built back in 2007 and 2008. Builders are now very cautious and hesitant. When the tax credits ceased we saw a decline in sales, but at least not back to the levels of 2008.
Of course bank owned homes keep trickling out into the market and as best we can tell will keep doing so for the next couple of years. Short sales are also more common as people are forced to attempt to sell their homes for less than what they owe. It is no fun working with people on these short sales as the banks don’t make the process easy.
Sellers are still reluctant to sell their properties for the current market values, of course. Right now I am watching a property for a couple who made an offer that was refused. We were told by the listing broker that if the place hasn’t sold in a few months the sellers may want to get back to us. I will be surprised if someone else offers more for the property than my clients offered, so we are waiting and watching.
When helping clients to price their homes it is difficult to run comparables in the same way that we used to do. Here in Mason county we are not able to pull up enough sold properties from the last 6 months to do a good CMA. What I like to do is not only look for what has sold, but look more closely at what is for sale now in the same area. In other words, look at the competition. This approach is proving to be much better when pricing for a quick sale. I am also very serious with people when talking to them about preparing their property for sale. People need to understand that when they put their property on the market it ceases to be their home and becomes instead a product. They need to stage that property for sale, and get rid of the clutter of personal items.
I’m hearing that there is an increase in refinancing applicaitons and believe that this is where the action is when it comes to mortgage lenders. They are not doing as much business with purchase applications.
Tags: bank owned homes, home affordability, housing market, low interest rates
The Internet has been replacing newspapers for ad placement, but today we decided to put more of our ads back in the papers. You see, when everyone else is avoiding the papers, our ads will now stand out.
One of the paper advertising agents we like to use is the Shoppers Weekly here in our area. The other is a weekly newspaper, The Journal. Both of these papers are readily available to people in our local stores.
It is quiet again today in our office, and we sometimes wonder if we should have someone walk back and forth on the highway out front with a sign board pointing the way to the office, like all those mattress sale people and pizza place folk. Of course we know that only when the economy begins a serious turn around will buyers once again feel safe enough to purchase a home.
I am frustrated by the obstructionism of the Republicans in congress who have no motivation to improve the economy. They are not even shy about admitting that if the economy stays bad they can win elections. What I wonder is this: will they finally get serious about helping our country once the elections are over? Or will they just start looking to the next election cycle?
I don’t like the game playing that our elected officials on both sides of the aisle get caught up in as they constantly look to the next election. You would think they were playing football instead of governing with all their score keeping and lust for winning. And here we are caught in their game, like pawns on a chess board.
Tags: ads, economy, newspapers
The market report for June 2010 is now published on John’s website. Here in Western WA we are at least having a better year in home sales than we did last year. Each month for the last few months the sales have been better than the sales were for the same time last year. We are still far below the number of sales back in 2006.
The interesting thing about this market report is that it includes the % of bank owned homes are part of our sales. John has been doing these market reports for a ocuple of years now so you can look back and see our history. Those of you who are really into data will have fun with this.
In our office of Shelton Land & Homes, LLC we are certainly not as busy as we would like to be, and we continue to approach the business of real estate with an increased creativity. We do everything we can think of to market our listings, for example, using radio ads as well as the Internet. We also know of many people who would like to put their homes on the market, but are holding back because the buyers are not buying. From what we can observe the banks make getting loans such a trial these days that buyers get discouraged.
Our office has taken the training to be able to offer First Time Home Buyers classes for the Washington State Housing Finance Commission for Down Payment Assistance. This program is something we are happy that our state provides.
On another note, I keep asking this same question of people trying to get to an answer. My suspicion is that it is more profitable somehow for banks to foreclose on a home and then sell it for less than what the former owner owed on it, than it is to work with a home owner by lowering interest rates or forgiving part of the debt (to the same price the bank would be selling it for after foreclosure). Does a bank make a better profit by foreclosing on a home? Is there some kind of tax break? Because it does not make any common sense to foreclose on a home and sell it for less than the former owner owes on it, rather than work with the home owner and prevent the foreclosure. It takes a lot of work and hours to go through the foreclosure process.
Of course I hear over and over again that our country has given up on common sense, and we don’t have it any more. This situation sure seems to prove that belief.
Tags: bank owned homes, first time home buyers classes, foreclosure, market report june 2010
One of my young friends is off again to China. I have a niece who also ends up flying away to China now and again, though not as much any more. This still manages to amaze me. When I was young we didn’t travel as much as young people do today, or as much as everyone seems to travel today.
I recently boarded a plane to California, and noticed that planes have become more and more like buses, except maybe not as comfortable. We were crammed in, and everyone now carries their baggage so all the bins above our heads are jam packed. People are very creative in the way they manage to have only two pieces to carry on board. No one wants to pay to check a bag. If you want something to eat you will need to pay for it. We still got something to drink, and a tiny package of those ubiquitous pretzel mix things. I miss peanuts.
Anyway, I got to thinking about the past and how wonderful it was to take a plane anywhere. Your family and friends could come to the gate with you, and you could hang out together in restaurants until your flight. The plane was roomy, your bags were checked free, and the food on board was actually pretty good.
My young friend will fly business class, and I understand that this makes the trip more endurable. Flying to China is quite an ordeal, and not for the weak. It is a very long flight. I remember when she first started doing this kind of thing, and how much fun it was for her. Now she is married and has two children, and it’s getting to be more like work. However, she is fluent in the language over there, and good at what she does, so off she goes. Once she’s there she enjoys herself, but is also very eager to get home again.
Since we are so involved with China these days, I guess it is a good thing that many of our young people are flying back and forth to China, making friends and getting to know their way around. One of these days I’ll have to start asking some questions about real estate in China. The only thing I know is that they have been on a wild building spree in the last years, and changing everything. In our area building has slowed down to less than a crawl. There are still some contractors at work, but nothing like what was happening just a few short years ago.
The law in Washington State changed on July 1st. Now all of us in real estate that used to be agents are brokers, and those who used to be simply called brokers have additional titles to distinguish them. Former brokers are now ”designated” brokers, or “managing” brokers – they are the supervising brokers. People are updating their business cards. I had already decided to call myself a real estate professional on my cards a few months ago. This seems an apt description.
More than 80 of our statewide forms that are used for various transactions also had to be changed on July 1st. Most of the changes are in language, but some of the changes were more significant. For example listing agreements and buyer representation agreements had bigger changes, as did the purchase and sale agreements. We’ve been instructed to toss out all our old forms and start fresh. One interesting change is that before July 1st our office was a brokerage, but now it is a firm, so on our forms we have Listing Firms and Selling Firms.
Another interesting change is the inclusion of a place for email addresses of the selling broker and listing broker. There is some confusion here because the purchase and sale agreement also states:
E-mail transmission of any document or notice shall not be effective unless the parties to this Agreement otherwise agree in writing.
Some people were thinking we were going to be able to email our transactions, instead of faxing them, and ending up with nice, clear documents for a change. There is a provision in the optional clauses that could make this possible, but not on the purchase and sale agreement itself. But unless there is that written agreement, the documents would not be “effective.” We must remember to include those optional clauses in our deals. There is a nice reminder in the legal bulletin that for a fax to be effective the documents must be faxed to the firm, not to the individual broker. We know this, but it is good to be reminded.
There are lots of other changes, too. In fact with the changeover to Matrix as our NWMLS listing service, the changes in the law, and changes to forms we are dealing with more than enough changes in our region. There are indications that the changes will just keep coming for a while. Oh well…
Tags: brokers, documents, forms, law in Washington State, real estate
Lately in the news I’m hearing more comments from various sources that claim the republicans are purposely fighting anything that will improve our economy, and improve the plight of poor people — because if they can keep the economy in bad shape, and make poor people even more desparate — they can win elections in the fall. I’ve also heard more rumors that employers who are republicans are delaying hiring because they want to keep unemployment rates high — again for the sake of elections. If this is true, how despicable and mean-hearted can you get? As I write today I’m feeling angry about the lack of cooperation of the republicans in getting our country into recovery. I’m looking for that recovery, and instead I find politicians who put winning for themselves over our recovery.
If the above is true I don’t ever want to hear another republican claim that they put country first. Now, I also don’t think it is wise to take the comments as fact until doing a little thinking about this. However, even just a quick glance at the news makes it pretty obvious that the republican party, whose members walk lock step with each other like robots (than you don’t have to be independent thinkers) are obstructing everything that has a chance of improving things. They are completely, and I mean completely unwilling to give the democrats a chance to try anything that could work. They cannot afford to let the democratic party have success at improving the mess the republican administration left behind. Instead of giving new ideas a chance, they block and obstruct absolutely everything. They even recently obstructed the desperately needed unemployment benefit extensions. What amazes me is that in spite of this continued obstruction the democratic party can get anything done at all! Imagine what could be done if the republicans cared more about us and our country than they do about winning elections! Imagine if they cared enough to come up with good ideas of their own! They won’t even do that. Everything for them is tax cuts for the rich — as if that has ever worked for the rest of us. Phooey.
Now, as a real estate professional I want an economic recovery — now. Those of us in real estate know that it is only with a strong middle class economy that our real estate industry is strong. Having a growing group of billionaires at the top, a shrinking of the middle class, and a growing low income servant class is not good for us in real estate. Therefore, I don’t want people playing politics with our recovery. I especially don’t like it when I see those who are supposed to be the people’s representatives seeming to side with corporate billionaires, instead of siding with the people. (Apologizing to BP????? Phooey!) I have no respect for those in the Supreme Court who have overturned years and years of precedent by deciding that billionaire corporations can spend as much as they want on elections, and thus have the ability to unduly influence our elections. I guess republicans and many democrats,too, believe that the money will come to them and they can win. Winning for themselves is everything to a politician. It is easy to see that the republican administrations have stacked the court with activist judges in order to support the continued rise of a class of billionaire elites. Before you know it, if things keep on as they are, we will be a society like that found in the books of Charles Dickens.
Time and time again, Democrats in the House have sent legislation to the Senate to create jobs. What is it that the middle-class — what did middle-class families ever do to Republicans in the Senate that they would snuff out every opportunity for job creation that has been sent to them? Why can’t they develop any ideas of their own to create jobs? Why can’t they give a glimmer of hope to America’s working families — to some who have jobs, but fear losing them, to some who want better jobs, to some who are concerned about their children or their neighbors or other family members being able to get a job?
And so here we are again — we sent a jobs bill in December. They did not pass it. Now we’re sending it another jobs bill to them. And we hope that they will act upon it. But so far, they have said ‘no’ — they have said ‘no’ when we have talked repeatedly. When we have talked about summer jobs, the Republicans have said ‘no.’ When we talked about tax breaks to unleash billions of jobs in research and development, Republicans have said ‘no.’ Read more
What was it like in the 19th century days of Charles Dickens? There was a great disparity in society, with the very rich at the top, a very small merchant group in the middle, and lots of hardworking, struggling poor at the bottom. Health care, education, art, theater, good housing, good food and nearly all good things were for the rich at the top, and there were no safety nets for the poor. This does make for a stable society, as the poor are kept so desperate and fearful they don’t have time to rebel against their fate. Only when you have a strong middle class are there challenges to the rich, and the ways of the very rich. You can see why some people would prefer to return to these Dickensian days — if they are rich.
You know, if we would simply raise the taxes on the very rich (and I’m not talking about anyone in the middle class!!!) we could solve many of our economic woes a lot sooner. Why is it we are so reluctant to ask anything of the rich? We watch people losing their homes, their cars, their health, and their lives, and are ready to make even more cuts to the social safety nets for the working poor, cuts in education, cuts in public features like parks and museums, but we don’t want to ask even a small percentage increase of money from the rich, who, let’s admit it, wouldn’t really notice any loss at all? They would continue to have more houses than they can live in, more cars than they can drive, more servants, food, clothes, shoes, jet flights to other countries, and money to spend on every frivolity they can imagine. They would not suffer the slightest thing. And don’t give me that line that it is the rich who create jobs — Phooey. We have rich right now who just sit on their money, and are not creating any jobs whatsoever at a time when we need those jobs. Even today job creation is coming from the remaining middle class, and we know that it is the middle class who create the best jobs. Rich corporations create lousy, low paying jobs only to make themselves more money. And they are quick to fire everybody and take those jobs overseas if they believe they can pay even less in wages, treat people even more poorly, and therefore make more money. The very rich are not our friends, and we need to wake up and realize this fact. They are predators and see most people as prey.
We do NOT live in a Christian country, because if we were a Christian country the priority would always be on taking care of the least ones amongst us, not the richest.
Tags: economy, elections, jobs, keep the economy in bad shape, obstruction, republicans, unemployment
If it weren’t for bad news, we’d have no news at all! –this is my feeling lately. What with oil gushers in the Gulf of Mexico, Natural Gas explosions killing people, tornadoes and threats of hurricanes, I didn’t need the bad news predictions from economists today.
There was a National Association of Real Estate Editors meeting recently and economists said “the housing market likely will not recover until 2013.” Hey, I want it to recover today! They are not predicting things will get any worse. They are only saying that things will stay flat for a while. I’m curious to see what our broker’s market report looks like for May, after the tax credit ended in April. We had an increase in sales in nearly all of our Western WA counties over the last several months. It will be sad if we now see a drop in sales.
However, we seem to have a lot of pending sales in our region right now, so as I said, I’ll be eager to see the latest market report. Our guy usually does his report about 10 days into the next month to be sure that agents have submitted their information into the NWMLS. I’ll try to remember to let you know what this report shows.
Zillow is saying that housing prices are going to continue to go down; that we haven’t reached bottom yet. However, that doesn’t seem to be true in our area. We are seeing prices flattening out, not continuing to drop like they were dropping. Nevertheless it is hard to know what to tell sellers these days. They want to hear that all is well, and that their property will sell, but we can’t quite say that yet. And I find it harder than it used to be to help people decide how to price their property. We don’t have as many comparables as we used to have. Sometimes we are digging back into the past to find those comparables, and I for one don’t feel as confident in the results.
In the meantime, we continue to struggle with the Matrix system for our MLS, and are grieving the loss of our previous program. It is difficult to understand why those who get to make decisions for the rest of us decided to change systems. I still believe — if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
Tags: bad news, housing prices, market report, Matrix
As we drive around our county (Mason WA) we see suspicious houses that are not on the market, but are empty and have those ubiquitous 8 x 11 papers posted either on doors or in windows. You can tell they are foreclosures, but they are not listed anywhere. We know these are bank owned houses that are being held back for some future time. We have an awareness that these houses are going to keep seeping into the market by dribs and drabs for the foreseeable future and this is not pleasant knowledge. I read an article recently that claims these homes are going to take “nearly three years to clear at the current sales rate.” The impact of these REO’s on housing prices will be felt for years to come.
We also hear rumors that people are living in homes that are in foreclosure and delaying moving out for sometimes over a year, until they are finally evicted. No sense for them to move out until they have to move out. So there are more homes in this shadow inventory than anyone can really know about. It is sad, and pointless in so many ways. For one thing, when a house finally does come on the market it is often sold for less than what the previous owners owed on it. I cannot help but wonder what it is about banks that instead of negotiating with the owners and finding a way to lower interest rates, or doing a loan modification so the owners can stay in their homes, the banks prefer to repossess the home and evict the owners, and then go through the hassle of trying to sell it. In the meantime, the people being evicted often are in such emotional pain and distress that they lash out, and the only way they can lash out is to hurt the house.
I’m sure that other real estate professionals share our experience of showing REO’s that have holes punched in walls, destruction by pets locked in rooms, and other signs of emotional distress. Sometimes every appliance, light bulb and fixture that can be removed has been removed. As I show these houses I can almost hear the cries of their former occupants, who didn’t want to leave. While the new buyer may be getting a very good deal, I do find myself thinking of the raw deal the previous owners were given by their lender. This is the one area of our business that I have very mixed feelings about.
Tags: foreclosures, impact of these REO's, loan modification, shadow inventory
Interesting… have you noticed how the justices on our present Supreme Court tend to lean more and more toward moving us into a police state? They have just ruled that…
“Criminal suspects must now unambiguously invoke their right to remain silent—which counterintuitively, requires them to speak.” (see article in Vanity Fair.)
I’ve lived long enough to remember a time when most of our citizens looked down on countries like the former Soviet Union because of their failure to protect the rights of people, because of the way they controlled and repressed their people, and how we criticized these other countries for being “police states.” Our country has been on the slippery slope of totalitarianism for the sake of security for the last decade, and it looks like we can’t stop the slide. Unfortunately younger people are not aware of what we are losing as a country, and I wonder what they are taught these days. It is amazing to me how quickly people will give up rights when they are afraid — especially they are willing to give up what they think of as other people’s rights.
In any case, if you find yourself in trouble (mistakes happen) you need to know that the Miranda rules have been weakened, and pray that you are not so upset and confused that you fail to clearly and explicitly invoke your rights. You could waive your rights without knowing it!
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On another note, our office continues to struggle with the new Matrix system for the NWMLS. One member describes the experience of going from using Locator, our former system, to using Matrix, what we are stuck with now, as going back to using MS Dos after using Windows XP or Windows 7. It takes more steps to accomplish what you want to accomplish, and if you get one little “jot or tittle” wrong — you have to start over again. Matrix is not very intuitive. For real estate professionals who have been in the business for years, this change has been a nightmare. All of us miss certain features that are gone. I believe in the old adage, “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it!” I can’t understand why those who get to make decisions that affect all of us decided to change a system that was working, and working well. Now they are trying to fix things in Matrix that are not working, and we are guessing that there are features that we used to have in Locator that we will never have in Matrix. What a bummer.
We continue to watch and care deeply about the catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. We are lovers of water here in Mason County, where Hood Canal loops through our county, and where we are so close to the Pacific beaches. We have had our own ecological problems with the Canal and foolishly created dead zones (low oxygen levels) by improper sewage run offs and throwing dead fish back into the water. Our dead zones are so minor when compared to the disaster in the Gulf, of course. May the oil that is gushing into the gulf soon be stopped, and may clean up of oil and toxins proceed quickly and effectively.
Tags: oil, police state, Supreme Court, totalitarianism
The pictures coming out of the Gulf of Mexico make the heart sick. It’s been over a month now since the accident. The oil spill is now damaging the fragil ecosystem of Louisiana and its neighbors. Reuters News says “Louisiana fears oil onshore is just the start.” I imagine that it is going to take decades for this area to recover. But before recovery even starts, this nasty oil gusher has to be stopped.
Here on the Western side of the States, with our beautiful Pacific beaches, the thought of something like this happening here makes me want to throw up. We have enough problems watching out for big ships that tend to dump fuel now and again. My sympathy for the people who depend on the waters and beaches of the Gulf of Mexico is huge.
The effort to stop this oil gusher seem too little too late, and it is so hard to understand why BP (Bad Polluters of Biblical Proportions) has no idea what to do to get control over this thing. I also think that our government is not responding with enough outrage for the situation. Since I am feeling so awful about this disaster, I guess I want to see more feeling from our president and others, and I want to know that they are putting pressure on BP to get the job done. Or maybe it is time to step in, take over, and do the job.
I’ve reached the point where I don’t believe anything that BP says anymore. First they claimed the oil was just a “leak” and not that much, and they also have been claiming that the environmental impact would be modest. I don’t believe that for a moment. What I’m wondering is just how bad it’s going to get, and how far the damage will spread.
As for news here in Mason County, we’ve been having a bit of odd weather for May, but are moving steadily toward summer. As the weather improves those of us in real estate are counting on seeing more action in the buying and selling of land and homes. We have some beautiful waterfront properties listed in our office right now and with summer soon to arrive its a great time to get waterfront. I’m looking forward to the kind of good weather that tempts me to take the drive to the Pacific ocean, which is pretty close to us. I am grateful that our ocean beaches are still beautiful and undamaged. May they remain so in the years to come.
