Duvall – Single Family Home – $350,000

WOW! Robbie’s new super duper Zearch site is very, very COOL! But let’s put it to the test. I checked my listing in Duvall and I didn’t have a light blue dot. Seems to me a single family home for $350,000 should have a light blue dot, no? Now I’ll do a post on it and see if the post link shows.

[photopress:1.jpg,thumb,alignright] First error is that the photo that shows in Zearch is not the photo that shows in the mls as the main photo. This is a glitch in the mls system and not in Robbie’s search tool, so I have to go into the mls and erase all of the photos and reload them to correct it. Even though when I pull up the mls, I see the photo shown here of the actual house, downloads, including Robbie’s, pick up the OLD photo number one. The only way I know to fix this is to empty the entire photo cue and start from scratch. Let’s see if that works.

[photopress:2.jpg,thumb,alignleft] One of the problems with all of the available public sites is that people who are looking for reasonably priced single family homes think they do not exist. If you are not familiar with Duvall, for example, and do not realize that it is within “target range” of Microsoft and other densely populated areas, they might never search Duvall. All search engines should allow you to put in a radius of where you WORK!

[photopress:3.jpg,thumb,alignright] Here’s a question. I took this great photo of the flowering plum tree on the front lawn before I listed the property. A couple of weeks later when I put it on the market, the flowers were gone. Early spring flowering trees sometimes only bloom for a few weeks. But I love this tree in bloom! Do I have to go take a picture of the way it looks now with all reddish leaves and no flowers?

[photopress:4.jpg,thumb,alignleft] Also, I took a lot of the photos before it became vacant and before I listed the property. Do photos need to show the way it looks today, without that table and chairs?

[photopress:7.jpg,thumb,alignright] This was my “original” photo number 1, which is the view FROM the house, not a picture OF the house. I have since changed that some time ago to photo number 7 or so. But the dowloads, including Robbie’s, show it as photo number 1 as if the mls has some kind of memory bank that doesn’t update when I change the order of the photos in the mls, and only remembers that this is photo number one when doing a download.

When agents pull up this listing they see a completely different photo (the first one above) than the public sites. Again, I think this is a Rappatoni glitch, and not a Zearch glitch. I also think I know how to fix it.

Woohoo…I feel like a techie fixing download problems! Not bad for a “Granny”!

Don’t Get Carried Away!

A couple of weeks ago I had occasion to take three different clients through the same house – an attractively-priced 1967 split-level home just north of Microsoft. So everybody knows that Microsoft will be hiring a lot more folks over the next few years, and a lot of those folks are thinking maybe they should pick up an investment rental in that area – with so much high-income job growth, there should continue to be great appreciation. Great logic. But don’t get carried away by the opportunity.

In this case, the home was priced at $375,000 – for a 1967 split-level home, 3 bedroom, 2.25 bath, 1,820 sf, 2-car garage. All the right specs. Price egregiously low. First, that low price led people to look at the house who were not anywhere near qualified for the price it would actually sell for. Second, that low price led investor bidders to fight over it in a bidding war that maybe should live in the annals of northwest real estate. So here’s what I have heard: the first winner got it for $475,000 – and then failed financing. Seller put it back on the market, same low price, same bidding war (if there were 10 to start with, there might be 9 still standing – hopefully fewer as they realized what it was really going to take to win it). Second winner got it for about $470,000.

Was it a great deal? I don’t think so. Was it a reasonable deal – maybe so. This place was structurally sound, but needed to be completely updated and refinished. It would be fair to say that a lot of the house was original (almost 40 years old) and worn out, including the garage doors – and on and on. The lower level would need to be stripped down to the studs and re-wired and re-sheetrocked. The baths needed to be redone. The kitchen space needed to be reconfigured (i.e. move walls) and then rebuilt. If the new owners are both thoughtful and handy at doing a lot of the work themselves, they will probably come out fine.

If you knew it was going to be $475,000 to start with, you might have looked for one in much better shape and saved yourself a lot of work. Don’t get carried away!

Seek a Qualified Mortgage Consultant to Ensure the Best Results

Taking the step into home ownership is one of the most important financial decisions a person will make in their lifetime. There are many factors to consider when embarking on this venture. Literally hundreds of loan programs are available, and it is important to find the one that best fits your personal long-term goals.

First and foremost, you must have a mortgage consultant in your corner that is willing to take the time to know what your long-term goals are. Communication is the key factor here.

Curious prospective home buyers sometimes turn to Internet-based services just to see what current interest rates are. But a faceless web site will not take the prospect’s future financial planning into consideration or guide the potential borrower through the many nuances of the loan process. When shopping for a home loan, be wary of web-based services that offer programs to reel prospects in with attractive rates that are based upon unrealistic time frames.


If a lender is offering a terrific rate based on a 10-day lock-in period, it is unlikely that the potential home owner would actually be able to find their dream home, get through the negotiation process and win approval from a lender within such a short period of time. This is called short-pricing, and when it comes time to close the transaction, the rate that was originally offered is simply no longer available. As a result, the unfortunate prospect is bulldozed into a loan program with a higher interest rate.

It is highly unlikely that a qualified loan originator whose business is based upon referrals will use unscrupulous tactics such as this to get new customers in the door!

Once you have found a mortgage consultant that you feel comfortable working with, lay your goals out on the table because it will have a tremendous impact on choosing a loan program that meets your specific needs. One of the most important factors to consider is how long you wish to borrow the money for. For example, if you know you will only be in the home for five years, it wouldn’t make sense to opt for a 30-year loan program or pay points up front to secure a lower interest rate. You would not be in the home long enough to benefit from such action.

Your mortgage consultant should be able to narrow down a selection of programs based on the information that you have provided, and present you with an easy-to-read spreadsheet that clearly defines viable options for your interest rate and amortization schedule, monthly payment and any potential savings you may realize by paying points up front.

Moreover, a reputable loan originator will not hesitate to share this information with your tax consultant or financial planner so they may offer additional feedback on your behalf.

Home ownership imparts a rewarding vehicle for building wealth and a strong financial future. The mortgage consultant that you choose should be there not only when your loan closes, but should also provide you with ongoing service to assist you in managing that debt over time.

Too Close for Comfort?

[photopress:100_1963.JPG,thumb,alignright]I found a great article on the land rush in the Pacific Northwest. This article has accounts of many people and their experience trying to buy homes in a seller’s market caused, in part, by a lack of land.

What I found most interesting was a resourceful answer to the shortage of space that was highlighted in the story. Some developers have started condensing houses – and by condensed I mean building upwards of 37(!) separate homes on an acre of land (though most seem to hover around 17 per acre). The houses have individual charm and a real community feel with a shared common area for all. Some people like the closeness of the neighborhood and the high quality of the construction- though the lack of parking was an issue for some. It may not be an option for all, but what an efficient use of our hot land commodity!