Changes in Seattle Housing Market

The Seattle Real Estate Market – WHERE TO START???

I don’t even know where to start!  So much housing related info came out this week…  I guess I’ll just let the bullet points tell the story:

·         Seattle passed sweeping short-term rental laws

o   Hosts for AirBnB, VRBO, HomeAway, and other short term rental platforms can now only rent out two dwelling units (including a room in the host’s primary residence)

o   Hosts must now be licensed, which means they will likely be taxed by the local government for operating a short-term rental

o   Overall, this should help preserve an adequate supply of long-term rental stock for the city’s permanent residents

§  Effect on local housing market – Neutral

·         Amazon hiring has slowed dramatically

o   As recently as June, Amazon had over 9,000 job postings for Seattle-based jobs…There are only 3,503 postings for jobs currently

o   This is the fewest Seattle-based job postings Amazon has had in almost 4 years

o   Nonetheless, the 3,503 postings is still more than the combined postings for Microsoft, University of Washington, Nordstroms, and Starbucks

§  Effect on local housing market – Slightly not good… but an additional 3,500 highly paid employees still adds a lot of pressure on an already pretty tight housing market (currently 458 homes for sale out of 129,331 total single family residences), so we may not notice a difference.  Nonetheless, it’s something to keep an eye on

·         New Tax Plan

o   Interest deduction on home equity lines of credit goes away

§  Effect on local housing market – Neutral

o   Interest deduction on mortgages up to $750,000 (used to be up to $1,000,000)

§  Effect on local housing market – Slightly not good

o   State and local taxes (SALT) deductions capped at $10,000

§  Effect on local housing market – Slightly not good

o   There was no change in the requirement for people to qualify for the gain-exclusion on sale of a personal residence.  It was talked about that the current gain-exclusion of living in the house 2 out of the last 5 years was going to increase to 5 out of the last 8, but that didn’t happen. 

§  Effect on local housing market – If the gain-exclusion increased to 5 out of the last 8 years, then we would have less sellers, and therefore prices would rise.  However, nothing happened, so housing is unaffected

·         Overall, the new tax plan will put downward pressure on higher priced homes.  Seattle’s current median home price is $754,000…  so the vast majority of us aren’t affected yet (since a homebuyer did put some money down on that $754,000 purchase price), but the tax plan could play a larger role in the next couple years as Seattle home prices continue to appreciate

Two new listings!

I had two new listings go live on the NWMLS yesterday:

The first is a five bedroom, three bath home in Kent:

Beautifully-maintained, light and bright home at the end of a quiet cul de sac, with many extras including indoor/outdoor surround sound system; fully fenced, professionally-landscaped yard with colorful foliage; in-wall phone, security, and vacuum system; potential darkroom space in master bath; roof with lifetime warranty, RV parking space. Newer kitchen appliances, water heater, furnace make move-in a breeze! 11919 SE 199th Ct. NWMLS# 1120508. $499,999.

The second home is an affordable two-bedroom, one-bath starter home in Skyway:

Perfect starter home with open layout, large bathroom + lots of kitchen upgrades, including maple cabinets, granite counters and ss appliances. Entertain family and friends on the outdoor deck with a retractable awning and a fully-fenced backyard. A long asphalt driveway provides plenty of off-street parking for company, or multiple vehicles. Your oversized garage features a bonus room/shop with 220-amp service. Easy maintenance yard, and easy access to Seattle, Renton, Boeing. You will love living here! 12024 75th Ave S. NWMLS #1120499. $255,000.

Both properties have had several showings today, with offers coming in...For more information, send a private email to wendy@c21nwr.com

Happy Investing! 

New Highs for Seattle Real Estate

Median list price in Seattle proper is now almost $730,000. Just think, last year around this time median list price was around $550,000. For all you non-math majors out there, that's a 32.72% increase year over year. Good grief.

Despite the ridiculous appreciation rates over the last couple years, Zillow still ranks Seattle as being in the top 10 for home-ownership nationwide.

Yet despite the appreciation rates of single family residences in Seattle, condos have not appreciated at the same rate over the last year, and therefore there are opportunities for new homeowners to stake their claim in the Seattle housing market. If you've driven around Seattle lately you know that there are plenty of new apartment buildings going up to accommodate the influx of tech transplants. With all the apartments being built, condo prices have remained a little more in check than single family homes. Reason being: The cost to purchase a condo needs to be similar to the cost of renting, because renting an apartment and buying a condo essentially provide the same standard of living. Given this, you cannot have skyrocketing rents and declining condo pricing, or vice versa. Single Family Homes are making all the headlines, but for those of you just looking to make a place your own, check out a condo...not quite the same story in the condo market as the SFR market.

Happy Investing! 

Today's blog courtesy of Kyle Bergquist, Guild Mortgage

 

Open House Today!

2716 Harvard Avenue E in Roanoke Park:  $798,000.
Open today 2-4p.

Big Colonial Revival originally built for Virgil Hall of the Craftsman Bungalow Co, with five bedrooms, Old World Charm and architectural details in Roanoke Park historic district. Top-rated elementary school, walking distance to downtown, easy access to freeway and bus lines, close to parks, in established neighborhood of gracious, historic homes and mansions. 

Remodeled in 2013. Original hardwood floors, updated bathrooms and kitchen with stainless steel appliances abd granite counters. Great value for the price!

See www.HarvardColonialRevival.info for more details.

Happy Investing!

Unlisted Seattle Homes for Sale

One of the best sources for real estate investor property deals are off-market sales. They are even more attractive when they include the possibility of creative financing. Here is one unlisted property, where the underlying mortgage is provided by a private lender:

Super convenient West Seattle location on corner lot! Charming 3 bedroom, 1.75 bath home with classic hardwood floors throughout, updated kitchen, fully fenced yard, energy efficiency upgrades, and 2 years new heating system. Steps away from bus lines to the stadiums and downtown, convenient to shopping, restaurants, coffee, library, and beautiful parks. Intuitive main floor plan features a spacious living room that fills with sunlight and offers a cozy wood burning fireplace, along with formal dining room, modern kitchen, and 2 bedrooms. Privacy fence surrounds a south and west facing yard that is perfect for gardening, BBQing, pets, kids, and quality hammock time. The completely finished, terra cotta tiled basement offers plenty of room for storage, workspace, and entertaining. Includes 3rd bedroom, and room that is plumbed for second kitchen. Attached 1 car garage is accessed through basement. Energy efficiency upgrades include double pane windows, attic and wall insulation, and new heating system with fully programmable thermostat. All appliances stay. Asking price $339,000.

• 1,820 sqft
• Efficient heat pump
• 2014 tax $2370
• Year Built 1947

The owner of this next unlisted property in South Seattle has quite a bit of equity, so may be able to finance part of the down payment:

1. Hardwood floor throughout main floor
2. Home features 4 bedrooms (2w/closets) and 1 3/4 bath
3. Breakfast nook plus formal dining room
4. One attached garage
5. Leveled back yard
6. Walk to bus line
7. Washer and dryer on the premises
8. Nice workshop attached to garage
9. Partial lake view from the front door
10. Gas heat

Asking price: $320,000. 

For more information on these or other unlisted properties for sale in Seattle, please message me privately at HomeLandInvestment@gmail.com

Happy Investing!

Seattle Housing Trends

Welcome to the most current Housing Trends eNewsletter. This eNewsletter is specially designed for you, my blog readers, with national and local housing information that you may find useful whether you’re in the market for a home, thinking about selling your home, or just interested in homeowner issues in general. 

Please click on this link to view the Housing Trends December 2014 Newsletterhttp://wendywonder.housingtrendsenewsletter.com 

The Housing Trends eNewsletter contains the latest information from the National Association of REALTORS®, the U.S. Census Bureau, Realtor.org reports and other sources.

Housing Trends eNewsletter is filled with local and national real estate sales and price activity provided by MLSs and the National Association of Realtors, U.S. Census Bureau key market indicators, consumer videos, blogs, real estate glossary, mortgage rates and calculators, consumer articles, and REALTOR.com local community reports. 

If you are interested in determining the value of your home, click the “Home Evaluator” link for a free evaluation report: 

http://wendywonder.housingtrendsenewsletter.com/dispContent.cfm?loadid=2&loadtype=0 

Sound decisions can only be made with accurate and reliable information, and I am happy to be a trusted resource for you. Thank you for the opportunity to provide you with this monthly eNewsletter, and I look forward to answering any questions you may have and to the opportunity to be your REALTOR® in the future. 

Sincerely yours, 

Wendy Ceccherelli
Home Land Seattle
PO Box 221013 Seattle WA 98122 
4252707292 
HomeLandInvestment@gmail.com 


Happy New Year! Happy Investing!

Sellers Market in Seattle

Sunday's Seattle Times reported that Seattle's metro housing market is ranked 6th in the nation for the greatest percentage of real estate transactions that sold for more than list price, during the second quarter of 2014. Almost 40% of all listings sold for more than list price in this area. Double-digit appreciation in the last year is driving some of the current demand.

Many local brokers are seeing bidding wars, particularly in Seattle's most desirable neighborhoods. Almost half of all listings in Seattle sold for more than list price. Half of the single family homes in Seattle's hottest neighborhoods sold in less than one week.

The most competitive buyers often pay cash and waive all contingencies for inspection, financing, and appraisal requirements. They may pay to do a pre-inspection prior to submitting an offer, or simply rely on what they can see during a walk-through.

I have a current client submitting a bid on a fixer/tear down house in Crown Hill, submitting an all-cash offer, no contingencies, at 3% above list price. All offers are due in by noon today. We are keeping our fingers crossed that he gets his offer accepted.

This, folks, is what a Seller's Market looks like. If you are thinking of selling, get a FREE quote on the market value of your home in today's market, by messaging me privately at HomeLandInvestment@gmail.com or leave a message on my recorded hotline at 888-621-4999.

Happy Investing!

Post Script: My buyer did not get the house. I told him his offer was not high enough....Moral: Find an agent you respect, and then trust their judgment on market values....

What is a "Farm?"

Real estate professionals use the term "farm" or "farm area" to describe the geographic or other demographic focus of their investment activities. Typically, a real estate entrepreneur is looking for a focus area with which they are familiar, which is convenient, and which has a high level of activity (meaning sales transactions).

Typically, the focus area will include at least 200 but no more than 1000 properties. This farm area will be where marketing efforts are concentrated, and these marketing efforts may take a multi-media approach in order to be effective. This may include door-knocking, direct mail, signage, and media campaigns targeted to that farm.

Let's look for example at the 98115 zip code in Seattle. How can we define a neighborhood that is a subset of this active zip code where an investor might focus their attention?

The NWMLS allows us to research specific neighborhoods within any zip code that have had the highest level of sales activity. We identify those neighborhoods, and draw a rough boundary to determine whether the identified farm has the right number of properties to target.

This zip code had 287 sales in the last six months. 267 of these were in the "710" area defined by the NWMLS. Each of the most active neighborhoods in this area had the following number of sales: Wedgwood - 69, Maple Leaf - 66, Ravenna - 47, Bryant - 30. Ravenna has 13 active listings on the NWMLS; Maple Leaf currently has 10 active listings; Wedgwood has 9 current listings.

The boundaries of Wedgwood are roughly as follows:

• bounded on the north by NE 95th Street
• bounded on the east by 45th Avenue NE
• bounded on the south by NE 75th Street
• bounded on the west by a route coming north from NE 75th Street along 25th Avenue NE, then jogging due west along NE 85th Street and snaking up Lake City Way NE to NE 95th Street

Ravenna is bounded on the west by 15th and 20th Avenues NE, beyond which lies the Roosevelt neighborhood; on the north by NE 75th and 85th Streets, beyond which lie Maple Leaf and Wedgwood; on the east by 35th and 25th Avenues NE, beyond which lie View Ridge, Windermere and Laurelhurst; and on the south by NE Ravenna Boulevard, and NE Blakeley or NE 45th Streets, beyond which lies the University District.

The Maple Leaf boundaries are, starting from the south and working clockwise, NE 75th Street west to Banner Way NE, north on Banner Way to Interstate 5, then north along the edge of I-5 up to NE 103rd. Then east along NE 103rd to 5th Avenue NE, north to Northgate Way, then east to Roosevelt Way NE. South along Roosevelt to Thornton Creek and then east along the creek bed to Lake City Way NE (roughly at NE 98th). Then south along Lake City Way NE to 75th Ave N.

Secondly, we may want to identify real estate brokers that dominate the market in this farm. They are either a resource or the competition, depending on our perspective as a real estate professional. There is no single agent that has more than one current listing in either Ravenna, Maple Leaf, or Wedgwood.

Debra J. Arends of Re/Max Northwest and Steve Laevastu of Windermere RE/Greenwood each had two sales in Wedgwood in the last six months. Steve Laevastu had four of the 47 sales in Ravenna in the last six months. He also had one sale in the Maple Leaf neighborhood during that time. Roger Turner of Windermere RE Co had 4 of the 66 sales in Maple Leaf in the past six months.

The next step would be to analyze the number of properties within each of these three prospective farms, and to determine the rate of turnover reflected in the sales figures to assess which would be the most appropriate neighborhood to use as a farm.

Happy Investing!

Your Own Personalized Home Search

Want your own customized search for properties to buy in our local real estate market? I have a new tool to aid you in your home search!

Simply go to http://wendyceccherelli.agentfolio.com and set up your home search criteria. You will get listings right off the NWMLS, as soon as they hit the market, from all real estate companies, including bank foreclosures, company-owned properties or other distress sales. You may change, modify or delete your search at any time. It is a free service, and you are never obligated to buy.

Agentfolio is revolutionary new product that enables you to search current listings, while staying in communication with everyone that is part of your home search. Agents needed a better way to engage and communicate with their buyers, which is why Zillow created Agentfolio. As a Zillow Premier Agent, I can offer this service for free to my VIP Clients. If you like it, you may add other friends and family as users to Agentfolio.

Agentfolio not only streamlines the home buying process, it transforms a usually overwhelming experience into an efficient and joyful one. Agentfolio was created for both Agents and Homebuyers. It focuses on workflow, search, relationships, data, and ease-of-use.

Agentfolio was acquired in 2012 and is now a Zillow Inc. business, and part of Zillow’s portfolio of real estate and home-related marketplaces.

Don’t forget to download the Agentfolio mobile app for Android and iPhones. Check it out over the holidays, and let me know what you think!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Homes for Sale in Seattle

Want to buy a home in Seattle?

Please google the phrase "Homes For Sale in Seattle" and look for the ad on the right side of the screen with my name, Wendy Ceccherelli, on it. Click the underlined heading and it will take you to my website at

wendyceccherelli.wwmediaagent.com

where you will be able to search listings, explore neighborhoods in Seattle, compare prices and learn more about my real estate services. For more resources on buying or selling residential property in Seattle, feel free to contact me at HomeLandInvestment@gmail.com.

Happy Investing!


Photo courtesy of Miriam Israel Moses

Living in Wallingford / Fremont

Living in Wallingford/Fremont

This vivacious neighborhood is a quaint sought-after area of Seattle with rich history and activities. The district of Wallingford/Fremont area extends from Greenlake’s south border to the water’s edge at Gasworks Parks, and runs between I-5 and Ballard on Lake Union. This North Seattle neighborhood plays host to a variety of popular parks, attractions, festivals, and so much more. Wallingford/Fremont attractions include: the Woodland Park Zoo, The Troll under the Fremont Bridge, Gasworks Park, Burke-Gilman bike trail, several parks, and public art pieces.

                For families looking for a place in this urban spot, there are amenities for the whole family available within walking distance. Wallingford offers a variety of schools, including a newly-opened university. This community has several groups that boost support among residents, sustainable living efforts, food banks, and other family support services. Fremont and Wallingford both host a large variety of festivals and events for the whole family from Harvest Fest, outdoor movies, and Seafair to art walks and the Family 4^th of July celebration at Gasworks Park. Parks are found throughout this area, with a large community of bicyclists and outdoor enthusiasts.

                Nightlife in this community is also abundant with restaurants, pubs, galleries, public art spaces, beer/wine/scotch festivals, and even nights for the walking dead! Fremont has become an urban hot spot for hip Seattleites looking for good drinks, good atmosphere, and a variety of exciting sights from a statue of Lenin and a Soviet rocket to painted cyclists to zombies. With a walk score in these neighborhoods from 85-90, you can guarantee you’ll find what you want within minutes of wherever you are!

                Living here provides sustenance for the soul and community with food banks, community projects, public spaces for entertainment and outdoor activities, Seattle’s oldest outdoor farmers market, arts, shopping, and other focused services for the local population. Both Wallingford and Fremont have very active community blogs and event information available online; the wealth of information can be overwhelming! Wallingford/Fremont area is across Lake Union and just minutes from downtown, approximately 10 miles to the airport and most residents claim a 15-25 minute commute time to work.

                This neighborhood is in high demand because of its beauty, accessibility, and community atmosphere. In fact, Fremont’s welcome sign says The Center of the Universe, a hub of excitement and creativity on the north side of Seattle.

Wallingford/Fremont is a happening place where singles and families alike can come together to enjoy the events, convenience of its amenities, and variety of homes. The average rental prices for this area range from $900-1200, with the median home selling for just over $500k, lower than the city of Seattle’s average. Being close to both Lake Washington and Green Lake, housing prices can fluctuate depending on what style and location you prefer, from condos/townhomes to waterfront homes, this neighborhood has what you’re looking for. For a complete list of available residential properties for sale in the Wallingford/Fremont neighborhoods of Seattle, please visit www.NSeattleDeals.com or call our 24/7 information hotline at 888-621-4999.