Lower home values in the greater Maple Valley area have contributed to a larger number of single family homes being converted to rentals. Owners are drawing the line on their bottom line and resolve to wait out the real estate recovery. It’s easy to find a tenant right? While the concept of renting is simple; find tenant, tenant moves in, tenant pays rent, landlord makes mortgage payment….the realities are much different. Especially today. Who’s Renting Today? Many of today’s tenants are former homeowners. People who have good incomes but due to some sudden, unforeseen circumstance, fell behind on payments or had an adjustable loan reset which subsequently priced them out of the market. They either sold their home short, or let it go back to the bank. But other applicants are looking to scam the system and sometimes flat-out lie about their circumstances. I’ve heard of more than a few Landlord/Owners, falling for hard-luck stories, or mismanaging tenant’s funds or not following Landlord/Tenant Law and getting themselves in trouble. Many investors don’t realize the advantages of using a professional Property Manager for their rental property and get more caught in the cost that they fail to see the bigger picture
For Sellers
Short Sale Myths
Short sales are certainly a hot topic in the real estate market these days. If you’re not familiar with the term, a short sale is a situation where the seller wants or needs to sell but there is not enough equity for the lender to receive a full payoff of the amount owing on the mortgage (or mortgages in many cases). There has been much written in the news, reported on TV and talked about around the cul-de-sac with respect to Short Sales and whether they are worth a Seller’s time or effort. I don’t know why, but for some reason everyone in the Universe seems to think they are an expert when it comes to dispensing real estate advice. Here are a few myths I’ve heard recently: If you’re not behind in payments, the bank won’t consider your short sale. Not true! While you’ll likely have to demonstrate a hardship to your lender, you do not always have to be behind in payment in order for the bank to consider your offer. Once you’ve received a Notice of Trustee’s Sale, there’s no help for selling so you might as well hand the keys over to the bank. Not True!
Real Estate and Pregnancy
Waiting is hard! I’m not a patient person. When I want something, I usually want it now. So I am especially sympathetic to clients during the closing process who are waiting for “the big day”. The day of closing when their purchase or sale is final and they can settle in, or get their money and move on with their lives. Unfortunately, closing dates are a bit like a pregnancy due date…subject to change. Sometimes we’re lucky and we can close early. Most times we hit the date without any problems. But more and more lately it seems as if closing dates have become even more indeterminate than ever before. Today we are dealing with stricter underwriting guidelines. New HVCC rules are causing appraisals to come in low or triggering field reviews (which have panned out to be a big waste of time and money in my experience). And over-worked loan processors and escrow closers are burning the candle at both ends, trying to do more with less people. I have very patient clients right now who have been waiting to move into their home for more than a week. At first it looked as if we could close early.
Sunshine and Summertime
Be Safe and have fun!
Maple Valley Swimming Holes..Where to Cool Off
I posted this a year ago just prior to a VERY hot weekend here in town. It’s been a popular post and with Summer almost “officially” here, I thought it might be helpful to repost. If I’ve missed any good locations please share. We all want to “stay cool” this summer! Origianlly published June 25, 2008 It’s going to be HOT here in Maple Valley this weekend! To me, 70′s is perfect, 80′s is HOT and 90′s are intolerable! I was born and raised in the Midwest so it’s odd that I consider mid-80′s to be HOT, but I’ve lived here for 21 years and seem to have acclimated to the cooler Northwest Climate. One thing’s for sure though, I definitely don’t miss the muggy heat of Cincinnati or the gnats….I hated them! (I do miss fireflies though) When my husband and I moved to the Puget Sound area in the late ’80′s I was dismayed to find there weren’t very many options for outdoor pools for our kids. There were indoor pools, but how fun is that on a hot day? Silly me, I didn’t realize that when you live in the Northwest and it gets hot, you head
We have a Lazy Boy in our Kitchen!
Fortunately it hasn’t been there very long. And hopefully it won’t become a permanent fixture. It’s actually been bouncing around the house for a few weeks, ever since my son decided he didn’t want it in his room anymore. I can’t decide whether to send it to storage for if/when any kids ever move out, or give it to Goodwill. But when I rounded the corner and saw the chair sitting right smack in the middle of the traffic zone between the Kitchen and the Great room my first thought was “Please, please please….. Let no one ring the doorbell tonight!” I would be mortified to have anyone think we actually lounge in the Lazy Boy which is now sitting in my Kitchen. (Although you’ll notice Carson thinks it’s no big deal) But this is what life’s like when your home is not on the market. Things are out of place, sometimes not exactly the way we would like them to be. We live in our homes much differently than we do when we are selling. Sometimes, I actually feel slightly hypocritical for telling people what should be done and should be moved and should be eliminated altogether in order
Joining the “Sold” Club in Maple Valley
Q: Are homes selling in Maple Valley? A: Yep. Q: Are many homes selliing in Maple Valley? A: It depends on your definition of “many”. All kidding aside, if you’re thinking of selling now or in the near future, your chances of success are much greater if your home falls within the popular price range. Since the first of the year, there have been 43 Single Family homes sold & closed according to NWMLS. Currently there are 65 sale pending the close of escrow. (Contracts accepted, awaiting finalization of financing). Of those 43 closed sales, 60% of them were homes priced under $350,000. Of the sales which are in Pending status, 77% of those are homes priced under $350,000. However…there are currently 264 Active Listings on the market and 62% of those listings are priced over $350,000. So 3/4 of the Maple Valley market’s absorption is happening among the bottom 38% of the inventory. In other words, 7 out of ten home buyers are purchasing homes priced under $350,000, which leaves the remaining 3 home buyers (out of ten) to absorb more than half the active inventory. As you can imagine, that may take a little while.
Smell Trumps Sound
Remember the game “Rock, Paper, Scissors”? Two people make a fist, count to three and then reveal their hand to show they’ve chosen Rock (the fist), paper (open palm) or scissors (“v” made with the index and middle fingers). Rock beat scissors, scissors beat paper, paper beat rock….. This game came to mind a few weeks ago when I was showing nearby homes. We went into one “funky” house, and while funky isn’t always a bad thing, this one was not only funky, but it smelled really bad. It was a smell I couldn’t associate with anything (which frankly concerned me….we usually can put a name to the bad smells right?). We were brave though, covered our mouths and rushed through the house. As we were rushing out the door, the buyer commented he thought it was funny they had gone to the trouble of setting up ongoing music (the house was vacant) as if that could someone overcome the smell. And he was right; Bad Smell beats Sound every time. There are just too many homes out there for buyers to choose from; they are in a position to be choosy. Pet odors, smoke, even too many air-fresheners or