Cash is King in Today's Housing Market

It now costs more to rent than to own a home in 98 of the top 100 U.S. metropolitan areas, says real estate website Trulia, which tracks rents and home prices. In some of those markets, however, the inventory of homes for sale has shrunk.

Home inventories have shrunk because fewer foreclosures are coming to market. Many homeowners don't want to sell, because they don't have enough equity in their homes. Others are waiting for higher prices.

While the bottom tier nationwide experienced an average 12 percent decline in housing inventory overall, Las Vegas, Colorado Springs and San Francisco saw more than a 50 percent drop. Inventories also shrank faster than the national average in Minneapolis; Charleston, S.C.; Seattle; Washington, D.C.; Miami; and parts of Southern California, according to Zillow.

In May, for example, the Seattle area had a 1.7-month supply of homes for sale, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. 

Cash buyers accounted for almost a third of existing home sales this year. Before the housing crash, cash buyers accounted for less than 10 percent of sales, the National Association of Realtors says.

FHA loans have a minimum down payment of 3.5 percent and take weeks to close. Conventional loans have bigger down payments and can close faster, but cash deals close fastest. And cash deals don't involve an appraisal, which lenders require before they make loans. Sellers like cash offers because there's less risk that they'll fall through

As part of Home Land Seattle's December specials, Seattle homesellers may list their house FOR FREE on the NWMLS  and Seattle home buyers (using cash or financing!) will receive a $1000 cash rebate when closing on any offer they made during this month.

Contact HomeLandInvestment@gmail.com for more details, and Happy Holidays!

Discount on Seattle Bank REOs

There have been over 500 sales of bank-owned properties in Seattle in the last six months. 45% of these listings sold within 90 days for 95% of the original asking price. The remainder sold for 90% of the original asking price.

16% of the so-called "Seattle" REO sales were located in Skyway, White Center, Des Moines and North Hill, areas not actually within the City limits. The median REO sale in these communities was for a three-bedroom, 1.75 bath house with 1500sf that sold for $140,500.

Eliminating these areas from consideration, the typical Seattle REO sale was for a median home with three bedrooms, two baths, 1660sf that sold for $260,000. 53% of these sales sold within 30 days for 100% of original asking price (many sold for more, one in particular sold for 39% more than the asking price!). And as for big cash discounts, it is rare to see a discount of more than 20% of asking price.

So cash buyers may get good deals on REO's but primarily because banks discount the list prices so heavily to attract sales within 30-90 days. Deeper discounts are typically available outside high demand neighborhoods, for cash buyers, on properties that most other buyers have already passed up. The biggest discount in the hot Seattle zip code of 98115, for example, was no more than 5% of the asking price (and the median REO there sold for $350,000).

So when making offers on a new listing for a Seattle REO in a great neighborhood, be prepared to offer full price - and act quickly!