Gabrielle's Blog

Just a quick observation today as I get out of the house and back to the office. Traffic is fast. Moving with a purpose. As I go into a few shops for essentials (time to refill the pantry!), I'm hearing louder voices than usual - and a sense of "let's get going!"

I don't know about you, but I've been drifting for the last couple of weeks between our snow, then ice, then snow and now wind and RAIN. It's been a bit difficult to stay on task--far easier to to gaze out the window at the weather and eat Christmas cookies.

At the office today I chatted with a couple of agents and they're "almost" fired up too! Most everyone is saying "just one more week" and I'll be there. There's a belief that the holiday's over, even though the New Year's celebration is just a day or two away.  

But I sense an impatience - it's time to get back to work! If the speeds on the freeway were any indication, folks are READY!

Let's get GOING!

In the past few months I've found myself working more and more with first time homebuyers. As part of our first "meet and greet," a lot of counseling occurs. Not only do I have an opportunity to meet the entire family, which is sometimes just the Buyer, but we go through some basic mortgage qualification, a discussion of lenders and basic loan types, how a transaction proceeds, the purpose of title, escrow, a couple of the most commonly used purchase forms, and so on.

However, possibly most important information that comes out of this early meeting is determining the Buyer's motivation for home ownership. Now, usually a Buyer's pretty daggone motivated by the time we have this meeting. If they're not willing to have this chat, I can usually find out pretty fast that they're not really going to go all the way down this sometimes very long road. Usually they are, though.

So ... here are some of the reasons that I often hear. I think these provide valuable insight into the transaction itself and can certainly help identify the perfect house for the Buyer:

"I just really want to move into my own place. I've been renting ... (or living at home, etc.)" This often goes hand-in-hand with "I want to be able to paint the walls, have a dog, make some noise, do my own thing"

"I want it as an investment"

"I've always heard you can make quick/good money in real estate"

"I want the security of my owning my own place"

"I want to have a home where I can stay forever" along with "I'm tired of moving"

"I want a place to raise a family"

"I want to feel safe"

"I need to get away from these neighbors!"

"I want a place where I can get my hands dirty - I love to garden"

"I want a place so that I can rent out rooms to my friends"

So, I'm curious to hear what other reasons for home ownership you hear, be it a house, condo, manufactured home, or land?

I KNEW we'd make him mad. I just knew it!

Day after Thanksgiving, my oldest son and hubby decided it was time to do war on the pesky mole sharing our yard, affectionately named "Chester" by yours truly. After all, Chester's been a member of the family since early last Summer. He's singlehandledly aerated our yard, both front and back, for months. Diligently tracking down all the various bugs and grubs that live just under the surface, he's created a maze of tunnels, carefully crafted to trip the most unsuspecting toes, tantalizing the dogs and enticing them to stick noses deep into holes ... and even challenging them to a friendly competition to see who can dig the deepest, the fastest, the most far-reaching web of holes throughout the yard.

So ... that Friday morning, fueled by tummys full of cinnamon rolls, the boys decided to "get Chester." Armed with handfuls of smoke bombs, shovels, and bricks, off they went. Probing for tunnels and plotting their revenge, they gleefully lit fuses, singeing fingers as they dropped them in the holes, then covered all the holes with landscaping bricks. Dancing around like wildmen, it was boys against critter. Their version of no-holds-barred weekend entertainment.

And it seemed to work. Until today. Here's what greeted me this morning -- in just one small corner of the yard:

Chester's revenge. And if the rest of the yard is any indication, he's brought reinforcements.

I wonder if Bill Murray's up for hire. I need an expert.

Hard to believe a month has passed since I began accumulating and analyzing the Auburn area market, which is where I live. Like many agents in the greater Seattle/Tacoma area, I've always managed to work throughout the Puget Sound area. Last month I became an active member of the Auburn Chamber of Commerce and decided I really needed to be sure I knew what was going on in my own home town!

It's been an interesting month. Instinctively, I've felt that homes were selling a wee bit faster, and the numbers prove that for most areas of Auburn, that's appears to be true. Similar to much of the southeast King County and Pierce County areas, homes at the upper end of the residential price points are selling far slower than homes in the $200,000 to $300,000 range, which appears to the real "sweet spot," in residential home sales and purchases. First time home buyers are snapping up distress and bank owned homes, which are seen heavily in those price ranges. There are some real bargains out there right now!

Buyers are obviously in short supply in the Auburn West hill area for homes priced above $400,000, which currently sports over 49 months of inventory (whew!). Interestingly, compare that same price range to the Auburn East hill and the inventory drops to about 14 months.

Statistically, every neighborhood is different; it's critically important that you know what's going on in your own neighborhood and for homes similar to yours as you analyze your home's sale ability. Similarly, as you shop for a new home, you'll want to know how the home you are considering shapes up to the homes within a half-mile or so.

Looking at this carefully, it's obvious that homes ARE selling, but it's ever so much more important that a Seller's home be aggressively priced, impeccably prepared, and effectively marketed.

This morning a close friend called me up to test a new service provided by Google. So I had to try it too! This is great!

I don't know about you, but I get a little ticked off when I need to find a phone number and get charged for the service, or when I'm searching all over the place for the number for the local pizza place down the street -- one of what seems to be a million franchise locations!

The Google 411 service is FREE (gotta love it!), is used for business listings only, and is very snazzy! ('course, I'm hoping the Google folks will appreciate the plug here)

Here's how this works:

From any phone, dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-4664-411). The google guy answers and asks you for the name of the city and state for the number you're seeking.

So ... let's say you're looking for my office:

The google guy says: "What city and state?"

You say: "Maple Valley, WA"

Then it asks you for the type of business, or the name of the business.

You say: "RE/MAX Select" ...

The google guy then says "here are the top 3 results," and goes on to list them. You want choice #3, #1 being one of the agents in my office (HOW did she do that? I have to figure that out yet,) #2 being the property management gal in the office, and #3 being the office itself.

And there you go! The call is automatically connected! Is that cool, or what??

For more info, visit the google 411 site: http://www.google.com/goog411/

This morning was Voting day in our house. I know that Tuesday, November 4^th is the real day to vote, but our household has always voted by mail, so today was the day.

This is the first time our just-turned-18-year old had a chance to participate. He wasn't real enthusiastic about the process, but then he tends not to be real enthusiastic about most things. (big mother's sigh here ...) Anyway, as we studied the ballot and the various issues, names and faces, once again we realized that there were so many issues and people we'd not researched nor followed closely enough to make any sort of informed decision.  I mean, I have no idea who to vote for when it comes to local elections of Superior Court judges. I don't know these people. AACK.

Personally, I'm tremendously glad this whole campaign season is coming to an end. Not just because it's time to change, reelect, and decide upon issues, but because I'm sick to death of all of the commercials, infomercials, phone calls, and mail slamming one candidate or another. Yesterday's mail contained a full 22 pieces of election-related mail. My e-mail inbox is receiving several pieces daily also - mostly from various real estate boards aimed at helping me understand how various candidates support real estate issues and letting me know their endorsements. Then I get the same sorts of things from my local Chamber of Commerce, and a couple of other membership groups in which I have some sort of interest. Enough already. It all hits the round file without any interest on my part at all. Seems like the candidates could save themselves a lot of money by laying off these mailings. Everyone in our house gets a piece.

So ... voting is a big complicated mess this time around. Will we get the big change everyone is looking for with either presidential candidate? We'll see ...

I have listing client in particular that delights in telling me that after the election her house will sell and the world will start moving again. I have another one that says ... nah, it'll be next May at the earliest. Crystal balls. Hmmmmmmm.

I've been watching the progress of the Boeing machinist's strike for the last several weeks. Looks like the vote came in yesterday to end the strike. Finally! The Boeing employees, contractors, and suppliers affected by this must be very relieved to have this finished. With money tight and prices up a bit everywhere I know that this has been a difficult time for many many people.

On a real estate note, I have one client in particular hasn't been able to buy because she's been out on strike. She's on my call list for today!

Have a great Sunday everyone. This is the start of what is sure to become one of the most interesting weeks in US history, I'm sure!

P.S. - Did you turn back your clocks????

Like all agents,, I keep track of what's going on market-wise in the area I regularly practice. Defining that area can be a bit tricky, however. My working "area" is pretty large -- I actually work throughout southeast King County and well into Pierce County. That's a LOT of statistics.

However, I live in Auburn, and that's my "watch point." But Auburn's a big area too. Lots of neighborhoods. Lots of diversity as far as housing goes. Some areas tend to have less expensive homes, while others currently focus on big, perhaps newer houses.

I always look at the statistics printed in the newspaper and reported by our MLS with a bit of caution. Not that's it's not good stuff. It's just that I know I'll get a call from a client, citing the statistic they read and wondering why their house hasn't sold, or appreciated, or depreciated at the rate posted. But comparing the entire "area" statistic for Auburn, for example, doesn't really help you in your own neighborhood.

Well, let's examine these stats just a bit. Here you'll find information about all houses identified with "Auburn, WA" as their mailing address. That doesn't necessarily mean that these are exactly within the City of Auburn limits. Some areas are unincorporated, but still sport the Auburn address.

Within "Auburn, WA," there are several areas that are somewhat definable. Homes in the Auburn valley sell differently than, say, homes in the Auburn Academy area

Why is that important? Well, suppose you want to buy a home in Lakeland, but your budget is only $200,000. As you can see from these stats, that's just not going to happen. Nothing is currently "Active," in Lakeland under $200,000 that's a detached single family home. Hmmm. But take a look at the Auburn Valley. Not only are there eight active listings under the $200,000 mark, 11 homes in that price range sold in the last six months, eight of which that sold in the last three months. That means that if you find the house you like, you really should move right along and make the offer. Houses in that price range in the Auburn valley area are selling at the rate of 1 per month.

Now, as you take a look at these statistics as a whole, notice that it would take approximately 8 months to sell all of the homes currently on the market. But when focusing on the Auburn East Hill, it would take a full year to clear the inventory. Just for clarification, I typically look at Absorption Rate (how many months of inventory on the market) by comparing the last three months of sales to active listings. This market has changed so rapidly that, in my opinion, the more current and "close to now" the information, the more realistic it is.

Another really great piece of information for you to know, as you both sell or buy in the current market, is how many days homes are actually staying in the market before marked as Pending (DOM). I'll include that data next month.

These statistics will vary again for your personal neighborhood, for homes that look like yours, and depending on the time range used to prepare the information. As you evaluate working with a particular agent to assist you in marketing your home or in purchasing your next home, be sure that your agent is up to date on information such as this. And be sure that your agent is fully prepared to gather this basic information for your unique area. It'll help you understand exactly what's going on!

State of the Market in Auburn, WA
Residential Single Family Homes with Auburn Addresses
	All prices	$400,001 -	$300,001- $400,000	$200,001- $300,000	$0 - $200,000
	Auburn Mailing Address
Current Active Listings	578	178	208	172	20
Sold in last six months	409	62	162	162	22
Sold in last three months	213	32	73	94	14
Months of Current Inventory	8.14	16.69	8.55	5.49	4.29
	Auburn East Hill
	(approx N and E of Green River, inc. Lea Hill, Lake Holm, Moneysmith,Washington Nat'l)
Current Active Listings	160	73	57	22	8
Sold in last six months	83	25	34	21	3
Sold in last three months	40	14	11	12	3
Months of Current Inventory	12.00	15.64	15.55	5.50	8.00
	Auburn Academy/Wabash
	(approx NE of White River up hill towards Muckleshoot & Wabash)
Current Active Listings	7	5	1	0	1
Sold in last six months	10	3	1	4	2
Sold in last three months	5	1	0	4	0
Months of Current Inventory	4.20	15.00	6.00	0.00	3.00
	Auburn West Hill
	(West of Highway 167)
Current Active Listings	136	33	53	48	2
Sold in last six months	86	10	30	40	6
Sold in last three months	47	6	14	24	3
Months of Current Inventory	8.68	16.50	11.36	6.00	2.00
	Auburn Valley
	(approx W of White River to Highway 167)
Current Active Listings	114	11	29	66	8
Sold in last six months	93	3	14	65	11
Sold in last three months	54	1	8	37	8
Months of Current Inventory	6.33	33.00	10.88	5.35	3.00
	Lakeland Area
	(Lakeland Hills -- all)
Current Active Listings	102	24	56	22	0
Sold in last six months	79	12	46	21	0
Sold in last three months	35	6	17	12	0
Months of Current Inventory	8.74	12.00	9.88	5.50	0.00
				Prepared	10/31/08

I have the privilege at the moment of working with a wonderful young couple buying their very first home. They've done everything right. Saved up some money, paid down their debt, learned about houses, and understand that one's first house can't be a mansion on a hill.

In combination with FHA, the City of Tacoma has a downpayment assistance program that, at the moment, provides up to 6% of the purchase price for use with down payments and closing costs. In addition, Washington State also provides a method for interest rates to be bought down at minimal cost, helping keep house payments within reach. My young clients were able to lock in their rate at 5.75% fixed for 30 years. They're thrilled to death! And I'm so excited for them.!

For more information about each of these programs, visit:

Tacoma Down Payment Assistance Program:
http://www.cityoftacoma.org/Page.aspx?hid=1073

Washington State Housing Finance Commission HouseKey program:
http://www.wshfc.org/buyers/index.htm