As to Snohomish County assessments, last year I was an expert witness on the value of a property near Lake Stevens. I was “hired” (pro bono) by the debtor and the appraiser was hired by the secured creditor. As I recall, we both agreed that the property was worth less than the assessed value (it was going up further, and maybe the appraiser came in lower than the increased assessment, but higher than the original amoutn, I don’t remember). The court found the value to be less than either assessed value. And this wasn’t because of declining values. The period we were valuing it as of was early 2007.

Can you send me ten that sold for tax value or less than tax value? Maybe tax values increased too much They clearly did in Snohomish.

Actually, yes, it is quite normal in this housing market for prospective buyers to offer $75K-$100K less than asking price of the home. Many buyers are now using the tax assessed value as a baseline bargaining tool.

THE MARKET DETERMINES THE PRICE. So if a property has been on the market for a very long time, the property simply is priced too high. The longer a property sits on the market, the more likely buyers will submit low offers … the longer, the lower in this market.

Some realtors and sellers wish to believe that the market has hit bottom. No, the the housing market is going to get much worse before it gets any better all across the country, and buyers are offering substantially less than listing price and fewer are budging with counter offers. Those sellers who are refinancing in an attempt to wait until the market picks us are in for quite a surprise, as the bottom of the market will not hit for years down the road.

Sad but true, an incredible number of homes are now selling for less than tax value and less than mortgage value.

Short term swings are interesting to follow. I remember back in 2005 when a lot of out of town people were buying up Kirkland condos like crazy. That pushed Juanita condos up as out of town people treated all of Kirkland the same.

I’m watching it closely now to see if their gains recede moreso than Kirkland Downtown.

Same I think would be the case if people buy more duing the time and preceding the time of the U.S. Open. Will those values then hold long term…time will tell.

Here is the response I posted after my conversation with Ardell:

As it goes right now there are not any new home developments on the course, and home prices around the course have followed suit with the rest of Tacoma and the south sound. There has been some appreciation, but the days on market keep extending, and inventory has gone up. Chambers Bay is a links style course which makes it difficult to have any homes right on the course.

A lot of the Real Estate in University Place already had spectacular views, so the course was more of a added bonus. It used to be a rock quarry, so there is only one road along the course. If you look at it from a map, it goes Grandview Rd./Course/Bluff. I don’t see it having enough room to really put many home around it. Also, I haven’t heard of any intention the county has to sell the existing property for development. But, you never know. I do believe having the US Open will help Real Estate prices. Plus if the real estate cycle follow typical trends it should be in an upswing while the US Open is in town which should help.

YES and YES and sellers as well. Eastside and Greenlake. Maybe your clients are not as technology oriented as mine.

If so, were you able to keep a straight face?