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National real estate trends Home Ownership Rate at New Low   An article from the National Association of Realtors@ mentioned this situation so I thought I’d provide some insight into the background.   The rate is down from 66 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, 66.4 percent in the first quarter of last year and a high of 69.2 percent in 2004 before the housing […]
Uncategorized Kitsap County’s “Shadow Inventory”   The real estate industry has coined “shadow inventory” as those properties in which the owners are having problems making their mortgage payments and may have to sell.  Some of these sales will be short sales (in which the mortgage balance will be greater than the sale price) or outright foreclosures (defaults or strategic defaults). This […]
Local real estate trends Market Statistics for March 2012 Kitsap County cumulative days on market vs. original list to sale price   These statistics are collected by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS).  And you’ll notice the days on market time and list price vs. sale price percentages for the two charts are different.  In our markets over the past several years, some properties were […]
Title Insurance information Why Do I Need Title Insurance?   When a property is sold there are two separate title insurance policies involved, one customarily paid for by the seller and one customarily paid for by the buyer.  The seller’s policy ensures “clear title” to the buyer, i.e., there are no “clouds on the title” transferred to the buyer.  The buyer’s policy protects the […]
Uncategorized Free Document Shredding and Recycling in Kitsap County   The Windermere Real Estate Silverdale office is having its second shredding and recycling event on Saturday, May 12, 2012 from 11am until 2pm.  Our office is located at 9939 Mickelberry Road across the street and up from Safeway. These items will be accepted: Document shredding (staples and paperclips OK, please remove bindings) Computers (desktops and laptops, […]
Info from Washington REALTORS Kitsap County Sellers…You Need to Read This!   The Washington State legislature has finalized the law for carbon monoxide (CO) detectors on single-family homes on the market for sale.  All sellers of residential property must install CO monitors prior to closing (funding and recording).  It doesn’t matter whether your property includes fuel fired appliances or an attached garage. In all of the temporary […]
Helpful tips Easy Way to Control Moss on A Roof   Buy a one gallon box of Tide laundry detergent (with bleach) and put the detergent  all over the roof with an extra layer on the eaves.  We bought the Tide at Wall-Mart for $21 and the box includes a plastic measure which you can use to throw the detergent.  Once it starts raining the Tide […]
Local real estate trends Silverdale Absorption Rate   Over the past fifteen months the absorption rate for closed sales in Silverdale has decreased from 14.8 months to 5.3 months of inventory on-hand for sale.  This is important because it means leverage for negotiating favorable terms on a purchase and sale agreement is beginning to shift from the buyer to the seller.
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Info from NAR Federal Judge Approves $25B Homeowner Plan Update   Click here to see the approved terms for the initial program to be paid for by five of the lenders targeted by the states attorneys general and federal government.
Info from Washington REALTORS Information for Distressed Homeowners   I’ve intentionally not posted on this subject because it’s a complicated issue, the rules are being legislated and updated as you listen to the videos but most importantly, I don’t want to provide inaccurate information. Click here to view a series of videos featuring our state attorney general, Washington Realtors® Chief Executive and Washington Realtors® legal hotline […]
Kitsap County What’s Up With Kitsap County Property Taxes   Were you surprised when you received your 2012 property tax bill in February?  If you lived in Central Kitsap your assessed value may have dropped another eight percent while your taxes increased six percent.  Why?  Chalk that up to the passing of several referendums last year by us, the voters.  But if you believe […]
Local real estate trends More Foreclosures Coming This Summer?   Information I’ve been reading over the past week suggests there may be an increase of foreclosed properties that will be listed in late Spring or early Summer this year.  The easy answer is banks holding the mortgages have been cleared of the signing fiasco so these houses can be brought to market. What’s important […]
Remodeling information Remodeling Websites   Here are two websites which may provide helpful information if you’re considering remodeling projects for your home. Click here to see comparisons between cost and value for 35 remodeling projects.  Then click here to get some general information about home remodeling.
Uncategorized Supreme Court Proceedings   I usually don’t blog politics so I’ll address the general procedure The Court follows when in session. The justices meet each Friday to discuss cases they’ve heard that week and informally take a vote.  The senior justice of the majority side selects who will write the majority opinion.  Likewise, the senior justice of the […]
National real estate trends Inexpensive Home Repairs   It’s that time of the year to make home improvements whether just to make repairs or in preparation for placing a house on the market to sell.  It also seems that frugality is at the top of this year’s list, e.g. replacing the front door. Here is a list in no specific order which […]
Finance Refinancing and the Mortgage Interest Deduction If you own a home and are itemizing your tax deductions on Schedule A, you’re probably deducting your mortgage interest (referred to as the mortgage interest deduction). But did you know that you’re only allowed to deduct “acquisition interest?”  Let me explain.  The tax code only allows us to deduct mortgage interest incident to a purchase […]
Market statistics Kitsap County’s Absorption Rate Defined Absorption rate is defined as the time needed for the market to consume the existing inventory of homes for sale.  I compute absorption rate weekly by dividing the total number of active listings for an area (or neighborhood, or style of home) by the number of closed sales for that particular week.  I compare this […]
Certified Residential Specialist Why You Want a Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) Less than five percent of all Realtors@ throughout the United States take the time to earn the Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) designation.  It’s recognized as the top professional designation for residential real estate.  CRSs are involved in 26% of all residential real estate transactions in the United States (and have been for many years).   Don’t […]
Info from NAR Transfer Fees No Longer Allowed On Thursday (March 15, 2012) the National Association of Realtors@ (NAR) announced that transfer fees were being disallowed from this point on.  Transfer fees were being used by city, county and state governments to generate addidional income for government spending by increasing the price of a home sale by a percentage of the sales price.
Finance $25 Billion Payout It’s been about two weeks since the States Attorneys General from several states have reached agreement with the five lending institutions (led by Bank of America) to help “underwater owners” with their financial ills.  The further we get, the more likely we will be to receive specifics of the “deal.”   Regardless, these lending institutions […]
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