Gabrielle's Blog

No matter how much educating I do and how much keeping in touch with past clients and how many times I pop by, sometimes a call comes in like this one:

Client:  Hey Gay, I was just wondering if you'd be available sometime tomorrow afternoon? We drove past a couple of houses that were for sale and have an appointment to see them. We wanted to know if when we could get together in case we like the houses."

After chatting for a while about the kids, the jobs, the existing house, the market, etc., I ask

Me: "Now, tell me about these houses you drove by. Who's your appointment with?"

Client: "Well, the name of the agent that's on the sign, of course!"

Me: "Would you prefer to work with that agent, or did you want me to help you?"

Client: "Well, we didn't want to bother you ... and the name on the sign is selling the house, so we thought she should show it to us. But we trust you. You helped us with our last house and we see you all the time! So, of course, if we decide we like the house we want you to be our agent!"

Yikes! Somewhere in all of the handholding and massaging and reminding and educating, I've not gotten the point across -- Call ME when you're driving around and see a house with a For Sale sign in the yard that you absolutely have to see!

Bless them, they did call me! And we're going out together this afternoon to see these houses! And bless the listing agent; she was so kind and understanding about my call! Whew.

Maybe I've skated around the "Call ME!" message without saying it directly. Guess I'd better include it in big letters on the newsletter that goes out next week!

January sales in Auburn, Washington were slightly up during the first month of 2009! Granted these are small gains, but I'll take 'em!

Trying to get a sense for the current market trend as far as how long it might take to clear out the current inventory was a bit tricky, however. Our snowy and rainy weather during December and January, combined with the holiday season, really put a damper on sales. Because the last three months comprises November, December, and January, I've used information for the last six months (August through January) in order to determine what might be a predictor for how long it could take to sell a home.

Remember, however, that this information is just an estimate. Your house WILL SELL as long as, in the eyes of a buyer, it's the best house on the market -- both as far as condition and price. It's important that an agent evaluate the market right around your own home to determine just what's necessary in order to achieve a quick sale. Of course, it's up to both of you -- your agent and you -- to define "quick!"

Lakeland Hills and all of its neighborhoods is a master-planned community on the east side of Auburn, just north of the Lake Tapps border. While the majority of homes in Lakeland are in King County, a portion of the community is actually in Pierce County.

With it's combination of single family homes, townhouses, condominiums, apartments, shops, theatres, parks and beautiful views, Lakeland is one of my favorite Auburn places!

Since I prepare sales statistics for Auburn, my home town!, I was asked to please prepare a little closer look at Lakeland activity this last month. So ... here you go! Please let me know if I can answer any questions!

A quick review shows that homes in Lakeland priced between $200,000 and $300,000 currently sell the quickest, with approximately 7 months worth of inventory currently on the market. This number is a calculation based on the number of homes currently for sale (active) as compared to the number of homes that sold within the past six months in the area. Normally I like to run this number based on only three months, but with Thanksgiving through our bizarre December and January weather, sales slowed down even more and calculating numbers based on that period would just be skewed, in my opinion.

The other piece of information you may find useful is a quick break down of where these sales are occurring:

Private sales - i.e., sold by the owner or through corporate relocation of some sort, as compared to New Construction (either completed or in presale form) or bank owned properties. I also break out short sales separately-even though they're technically "sold by the owner," they require lienholder approval  and are therefore, not quite the same.