Fabulous custom-built home on private 2.37 acre lot complete with fruit trees, koi pond, wraparound porch and easy access to the Tolt Pipeline trail for hiking. Beautiful plank wood floors and beams, and great light throughout. Tons of space w/4 bdrms, plus den and enormous bonus room. Easy-to-maintain yard designed by master gardener. Hot tub on deck surrounded by trees for privacy. New roof installed 2010. Everyone who visits this home raves about the ‘feel’ and the setting, you will too! For more information or a showing, call Sue Linnerooth at 206-686-1435 or click here to email me.
Details:
13315 322nd Avenue NE, Duvall, 98019
MLS# 87618
Price: $449,000
3 Bedroom plus Den and Huge Rec Room
3 Baths
Built: 1994
2480 Square Feet
2.37 Acres
Information is taken from sources deemed to be reliable but is not guaranteed. Buyer/Selling Agent to verify all info.
At $155,000 this is the perfect stepping-out pad for the fun of Fremont and Wallingford, not to mention an easy bike ride to UW and just a few blocks stroll down to Lake Washington and Gas Works Park.
Live just steps away from the shops and restaurants of Fremont and Wallingford! This 1 bedroom home is nestled away on a quiet street in a well cared for 6-unit building. New carpet, new interior paint, fireplace, double-pane windows, and off-street parking. Healthy HOA with good reserves and no planned assessments. New roof was installed n 2007. Large storage unit downstairs. Easy access to I5 & 99, & just a few blocks from Lake WA & the Burke Gilman Trail. Not a short sale. For more information or a showing, call me at 206-335-3335 or click here to email me.
Details:
3903 Woodland Park Avenue N, Seattle, 98103
MLS# 109232
Price: $155,000
1 Bedroom
1 Bath
Built: 1980
Homeowner Dues: $215/month
Information is taken from sources deemed to be reliable but is not guaranteed. Buyer/Selling Agent to verify all info.
One of the biggest misconceptions about the Seattle area housing market is that it gets much busier during the summer. In reality, from a sales standpoint things typically heat up the most in the spring (usually starting earlier than even spring sellers expect), slow down starting in June, perk up again during the fall, and then drop off more dramatically as we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The last few years have been anything but typical, but the graph below (2006 to 2010, with my notations in red) still shows what the typical pending sales and sold trends look like.
The year 2006 was pretty typical around Seattle, even though much of the rest of the country was beginning to take a hit in the housing market. The red line above shows pending sales peaking in May and dropping off throughout the summer, with a slight perk in August and October.
August of 2007 was the start of the big slide for local sales, and happened to coincide with the summer market. The year of 2008 was hardly typical but still shows pending sales dropping in July and August. During the late summer of 2009 sales were boosted by the home buyer tax credit that had a November 30 deadline, and in 2010 you can see that the extended tax credit had a positive effect on what would already have been a typical spring surge.
Bottom line? Since the home buyer tax credit spurred demand in the spring and ended just when we typically would be experiencing a summer slowdown in sales, expect housing numbers over the next few months to show a more dramatic decline than usual. What happens in the fall, when we usually experience an upsurge in home buyer activity, will be interesting to see and may say more about the true state of the housing market.
Note to summer sellers: There is the danger of pricing based on spring numbers (understandably) as you approach a summer market. Keep in mind what kind of housing demand shift you’re likely to experience.
Note to future spring sellers: I usually recommend starting about four weeks earlier than you probably plan to, since many home buyers who decide to make a home purchase get ready very early in the year. (A colleague of mine once sent out a great postcard to her clients with the tagline ‘Those Tulips Are Costing You Thousands!”, meaning that sellers who wait for spring flowers to make their home pretty are likely to miss pent up demand from potential home buyers who got pre-approved shortly after the New Year.)
As of April 22, 2010, there are important new federal lead-based paint regulations to take into account if you’re having any work done in a home built prior to 1978. Here’s a quote from the lead-based paint information page on the EPA website (emphasis mine):
“EPA requires that firms performing renovation, repair, and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint in pre-1978 homes, child care facilities and schools be certified by EPA and that they use certified renovators who are trained by EPA-approved training providers to follow lead-safe work practices. Individuals can become certified renovators by taking an eight-hour training course from an EPA-approved training provider.”
“The rule does not apply to minor maintenance or repair activities where less than six square feet of lead-based paint is disturbed in a room or where less then 20 square feet of lead-based paint is disturbed on the exterior. Window replacement is not minor maintenance or repair.”
Note that if you’re a homeowner doing the work yourself on your own home, the rule does not apply to you; however, if you are doing work on your pre-1978 rental property or pre-1978 space rented by a child-care facility you are required to be EPA-certified and follow certain procedures regarding disclosure to tenants, etc. (details on the EPA web page.)
Here’s a link to the EPA pamphlet Renovate Right: Important Lead Hazard Information for Families, Child Care Providers, and Schools.
Homeowner Opt-Out Waiver:
For now, homeowners hiring a remodeling firm or contractor for work that would normally qualify for the lead-based paint regulation can opt out of the EPA certification requirement by signing a waiver stating that no children under the agent of six regularly visit the home, no one in the home is pregnant, and the property is not a child-occupied facility.
However, amendments that go into effect on July 6, 2010 remove this opt-out waiver option. More information on changes to the Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting rule on the National Association of Home Builders website.
The Seattle area real estate housing supply heat maps are out for February 2010 and show a significant shift from what was primarily a Buyer’s Market in 2009 (green, defined as over 6 months of housing supply) to a Balanced Market in 2010 (yellow, defined as 3 to 6 months of housing supply.) Red areas indicated a Seller’s Market, defined as 0 to 3 months of housing supply.
Feb. 2010 Months of Housing Supply (right) compared to 2009 (left). Red = Seller's Market, Yellow = Balanced Market, Green = Buyer's Market.
Click the image to see a larger version of the heat maps. “Months of Supply” means the number of months that it would take to deplete the current housing inventory if homes continued to go off market at the current rate and no new listings were added.
As we draw near the April 30, 2010 deadline for the $8,000 First-Time Home Buyer Credit and the $6,500 Move-Up Home Buyer Credit, expect Seattle area home listings that are not short sales to increase in value compared to short sales.
Based on what I’m seeing (and hearing from my own clients), many people who currently have offers on short sale listings and who are still waiting to get their offers approved by the underlying lienholders may abandon their short sale offers and look for homes that are not short sales in order to get a deal signed around and closed by the credit deadlines. (In order to qualify for either credit, transactions must be mutually accepted by April 30, and closed by June 30, 2010.)
Whenever you have an increase in demand that affects one category of the housing market more than another, those home values increase in comparison. I expect non-short sale listings to reach a premium in April due to the many prospective buyers who qualify for one of the credits and the typically extremely lengthy period of time it still takes most lienholders to approve offers on short sales.
That being said, short sales are still providing competition in the housing market and non-short sale listings need to be priced competitively – just expect them to get a boost shortly.
Click ‘Play’ to hear me summarize proposed FHA loan program changes in 2010.
A few years ago FHA loans made up only around 3 percent of the home loan market. Now they make up closer to 50 percent, due to their lower down payment requirements (3.5.%) and less stringent qualification standards, combined with the virtual disappearance of conventional zero-down loans and second mortgages.
Some quick background: FHA loans are backed by the Federal Housing Administration, and despite their less strict qualification standards have typically had a pretty healthy rate of repayment; however, during the mortgage crisis many subprime borrowers turned to the FHA program, and it’s expected that the FHA loan repayment rate will worsen significantly over the next few years. Bankrate.com has a pretty good overview of the FHA loan program.
Changes in Store for FHA Loans:
On December 2 HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced the following proposed changes that will affect new FHA borrowers:
1. Increasing the required initial cash investment.
This could be done by increasing the down payment from the current minimum of 3.5%, and/or by not allowing borrowers to finance the FHA premium.
2. Increasing the minimum FICO (credit) scores requirement.
3. Increasing mortgage insurance premiums.
4. Reducing the allowable seller concession to the buyer from its current cap of 6 percent, to as low as 3 percent.
These are big changes, and not all of them need Congressional approval. In other words, some are expected to be implemented early in 2010, so if you know of someone planning to purchase a home with an FHA loan this year please let them know about this post!
