Ok normally that would be an ok way to end a story AS LONG AS YOU PROVIDED THE 5 SIGNS THAT IT’S A GOOD TIME TO SELL in a very clear and outlined manner. I was so disappointed and I knew I could do a better job so here goes my version of the 5 signs that it’s a good time to sell.

1. (see how this makes it clear the five signs are beginning and you need to pay attention starting now.)
“For Sale” signs go up and shortly after they come down. That generally is a good indicator that homes are. in. fact. selling. Plus that’s an easy way for all of us to gauge home sales.

2. Pick up a newspaper, magazine or open up your browser and search the term real estate. You will no doubt come across lots of articles talking about low inventory, low interest rates and buyers buying homes. This is not rocket science.

3. Ask a broker. We are experts. We will tell you how many homes have sold, what they have sold for, what the price per square foot was, what percentage of the list price the home sold for, and how long it sat on the market. And we like to talk about this. A lot. So if you have been around anyone who is a broker or anyone buying or selling a home you will no doubt hear them say that buyers are buying so it’s a real good time to sell.

4. Inventory is low. There are just not enough homes coming on the market so it’s creating bidding wars, escalation clauses and homes selling at or above asking price. If you are a seller and you price your home right (this is the key), you will probably have an easy time selling your home.

5. Rates are still very, very, very low. Like under 4%. That is low.

I hope these 5 easy-to-understand signs that it’s a good time to sell have been helpful and if you are a seller that read this and now feels the need to get your house on the market, please call me!

The homes (there were 2) that backed up to 405 resulted in the following comments from 2 different buyers: 1. The road noise didn’t bother either one. 2. Both found it acceptable because it was a continual state of noise and one went as far as to say it sounded soothing. 3. The only real draw back was both worried it would negatively affect the resale value of the home when it was time to sell. Neither one ended up making an offer on the home but it didn’t have anything to do with the freeway noise. I also didn’t offer my advice on the topic until after I heard their thoughts because once upon a time before I was a broker, I looked at a home on the freeway and the broker told me if I closed my eyes it would sound like the ocean and that has always bothered me. It sounds like a used car salesman’s tactic and I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now. I did however explain to them (after I heard their initial opinions) that if the exact same house was selling down the street and away from the freeway, it would no doubt be priced a little higher than one that backs up to a freeway. They agreed and we moved on.

The home that was on Avondale was set back about 50 feet from the road. One of her complaints about the road noise was the loud accelerating of cars going by and the intermittent, unpredictable noise from all kinds of vehicles. There were also no sidewalks which I think bothered her more than the road noise. She initially passed on the home but then decided she wanted to pursue it until we found some other defects with the home unrelated to road noise.

The condos on Woodinville Redmond road are separated by a fence but it does not block the road noise or the sight of cars passing by. However, these are condos without a yard or deck so the number of times spent outside and hearing the noise would be far and few between. The noise level was definitely not a negative factor for this buyer.

Lastly I met with a seller who was right next to the sound wall of 520. It not only overlooked 520 from one whole side of the home, there were two decks and a decent sized yard from which the sound of the road noise is hard to escape. This seller did not believe this should negatively impact the price of his home, in fact he thought buyers should pay a premium for the mountain view that you can see out the same windows from which 520 is so clearly visible. I think you would have a tough time convincing buyers of this so we agreed to do a little more research and meet again later.

Regardless of the type of busy road a home may be on, it may not necessarily deter a buyer, especially in this market where we are a bit low on inventory. I think location and price will sell a home, even if it means you have to close your eyes and pretend you are vacationing on the Oregon Coast.

Remember when red paint was IT? Ok, I admit I still have 2 red rooms but I do not pride myself on having any decorating ability whatsoever and those of you that know me are nodding your heads in complete agreement right now. Nowadays clients ooh and ahh over neutral walls that aren’t white and aren’t dark but are just kinda NOT boring.

Remember when granite was in? It’s definitely not out but I see clients get more excited over butcher-block counters than granite. The consensus with my pickier buyers is that granite is hard to keep clean.

Remember when ceiling fans were popular (ok, me either). I’ve shown a couple homes lately with ceiling fans and buyers look at them like they can’t even imagine what that contraption could possibly be used for. Air conditioning is all the rage these days.

Remember when people used entertainment centers (and of course I still do) but now if a TV is not hung on a wall with zero cords showing and all equipment hidden buyers seem irritated. And also remember when there was some sort of mathematical equation that told you what size TV to get according to the size of the room where you were putting the TV? I think that was either lost or destroyed because the size of the TV’s I’ve seen in homes lately are ENORMOUS.

Remember when formal living rooms and dining rooms were in? Ok, you got me there. Were they ever in?? In fact if you ask most buyers they would prefer not to have either one and would rather have bigger kitchens and living rooms. In fact, when I show a house with the great room concept and no formal rooms whatsoever, buyers instantly make a comment about what a great floor plan the home has.

So to recap, if you want a buyer to love your home you must do the following: paint over the red walls, install butcher block, immediately tear down all ceiling fans, tidy up your TV cords and all the junk that goes along with it and somehow draw more attention to your kitchen and living room instead of your formal rooms if you have them (I have no idea how that’s possible, it just sounded good). And for more fun trend updates, stay tuned to my blog at all times.

What does shadow inventory have to do with the price of rice? Well I’ll tell you so not only can you sound super smart at your next dinner party, but so you can educate yourself if you think you’ll be in the real estate market sometime soon. Shadow inventory has a pretty big impact on the housing market, especially with pricing since most bank owned homes are sold at a discount. In fact, most experts agree that prices won’t start going up until all the shadow inventory has cleared out. It makes a lot of sense if you think about it.

Most banks don’t move through the foreclosure process very quickly so by the time a borrower stops making payments to the time that that homes goes back to the bank and on the market can be an extremely long time, years even. Sometimes just the foreclosure process itself is slow or sometimes the banks can’t take on more inventory. There is also the delay in getting a home ready to put back on the market because many of these homes have been neglected, vacant for too long or purposefully damaged. It’s a big. giant. headache in a lot of ways and who’s to say when it will end. For one, there is no clear number of the amount of homes currently considered to be shadow inventory but it seems that people can agree it’s in the millions. Two, nobody knows if this will happen gradually or all at once. Either way, it will most likely drive prices down which is good for all you buyers out there but not necessarily great for you sellers.

The bottom line: now seems to be a great time to sell. You have a lot of buyers wanting to take advantage of the low interest rates and there isn’t a whole lot of regular inventory out there to choose from. Most people are trying to stay away from short sales because of their uncertainty and well-priced, non-distressed homes are being snatched up fairly quickly. If you are thinking of selling, let’s get my sign in your yard!

Most people pick their brokers because they are friends, relatives or by referral. It always surprises me how many people don’t use the same broker they’ve used in the past. In fact, most don’t even remember who their broker was. (Don’t worry Adrian and Geoff, I totally remember your names! And I’m sorry I never called again but obviously I do this stuff myself now!) And the common thread with being a friend, relative or referral is the built in trust. Ok, so not quite groundbreaking news but if you stop to think about who your broker was (or will be) I imagine you have a great deal of trust in them. If you used your broker through some other means, that is one lucky broker who was probably in the right place at the right time.

Anyway, during the class we narrow down some more important qualities of a broker because after the trust piece, there is still room for that broker to mess up. For example, many people want a broker to return phone calls and emails (and texts and tweets and facebook messages) promptly. They also want someone who is skilled at negotiating, smart, organized, a hardworker and knows a lot about the real estate market. They also want someone who seems to have a lot of clients yet will treat them like they are their only client. Wow, I am still definitely not breaking the ground with this information am I? But putting it all out there does help people realize what’s important in a broker which is crucial since there are lot of them out there to choose from!

The other day I was in a Windermere seminar and they were talking about this very topic. The person giving the seminar put up a quote on the screen written by Dave Ramsey, financial guru. It went something like this (sorry my handwriting is so bad that I can barely make out what I wrote so it won’t be an exact quote…but close). “When looking to make a large financial decision or investing in real estate, choose someone with the heart of a teacher, not the heart of a salesman.” Holy smokes, so that’s why they say teachers make great real estate agents! Plus as quite possibly the only former teacher in the room, I was pretty certain he was talking about me. Ok probably not but I loved this quote and of course stand behind it 110%.

If you are looking to invest in real estate and want someone with the heart of a teacher plus all those other great qualities above, I am now hiring buyers and sellers! If you want to share a fun fact about how you chose your broker, please consider leaving a comment below!

For example, you can set your requirements for the following attributes:

• Price range
• Square footage
• Lot size
• Number of bedrooms
• Number of bathrooms
• Type of structure
• Location

Most listings include photos of the home and if you are lucky views of the property as well. However, what if you wanted more intelligence about the home? What if you wanted to see the layout of the neighborhood and how your prospective home fits within that neighborhood? Well you can take advantage of a great search engine tool that can provide you with aerial views of homes.

I bet some of you are having an “a-ha” moment because I bet most of you have heard of or used the satellite feature of Google Maps. Maybe you have not thought of using that feature when you are home buying, but it is a spectacular tool in your arsenal for evaluating potential homes.

For those that have not utilized Google Maps here is a step by step guide using Google Maps to get an aerial view of a current listing.

First you must cut and paste the exact address of the home you want to buy in Google. The first search result should be a picture of a mini-map and the home address hyperlinked in blue font color. Click on the linked address.

The default view setting for Google Maps is the Map view which displays a basic map of roads, bodies of water and landmarks. You now want to click on the Satellite feature in the upper right corner of the Map view (Check out the red box in the image below).

Now you have an aerial view of the home you are thinking of buying. You can zoom in or zoom out with the slider feature on the left side of the map. The “A” pinpoint marker indicates the exact home of the address you entered as the search query. In this case the search query was 13508 95th Ave. NE Kirkland, WA 98034 which I circled in red for this post.

Hope that tip helps you with your home buying search as much as it has helped my search.

Of course there are the obvious buzz words that usually try to make the home sound better than it is. And I know because I’m guilty of some of them. For example, “charming”  most likely means the home is tiny. I’m sorry but that’s the honest truth. A 2500-3500 square foot home will almost never be referred to as charming. Also too many exclamation points may mean the agent is trying hard to make this home something its not. “Easy to maintain yard!!!!!!” might simply mean there’s a yard. And there’s some grass in that yard. And maybe a few plants. And my favorite “great floorplan” might mean the agent can no longer think of anything else to say about the home.  Oh and don’t forget “custom” which sometimes means it’s a bit of an odd feature but it was something the previous owner had done to the house and it worked for them therefore its custom.

However, when a great home comes along you will read the completely amazing description and it will match the completely amazing pictures and when you go visit you will probably see a completely amazing home. On the flip side if the pictures are terrible and the description matches, you will probably go there and not be one bit surprised that the home isn’t one bit completely amazing. And that’s ok because you were prepared.

The bottom line is that if the home is great, the pictures and description should be great. If the home is distressed or falling apart, it should be very obvious from the pictures and description (and if there is only one picture be very skeptical!) And for all the homes in between, the agent should definitely highlight the good areas but make sure the photos and description are accurate so the buyer isn’t disappointed when they visit the home in person.

Here is an actual description of a home (and no its not the home in the picture above). Despite it being pretty gloomy, you have to give the agent credit for honesty and believe it or not, this home had an offer in 5 days!

This home has been vacant for over two years without heat due to a faulty furnace. Broken water lines have caused damage to walls, floors, and appliances. Some roof repair is needed. Also some siding Damage. Home is sold “As-is”.

If you are looking to sell, I promise to do a great job marketing your home!

Fast forward a few years and somewhere along the way I decided I really, really liked real estate and enjoyed actual networking and if the topic of real estate didn’t come up I would be more than disappointed.  I stopped wanting to talk about teaching and kids (topics I was more than familiar with) and began wanting to talk real estate (a topic I was becoming more and more confident with).  Instead of dreading the question “how’s the real estate market” I found myself hoping someone would ask. So today when I stare out at the snow (who at the moment is being an awesome babysitter for my kids and not costing me a dime) I am reflecting on my networking and how to move forward with it in the new year.

The beauty of networking is that you can meet with people you like at places you like during times that work for your schedule. And depending on who it is, you may even be able to get away with wearing your Lulu Lemon pants and your Uggs. Networking is definitely on my to-do list this year and I’ve already got a good start! Text me or facebook me if you’re up for some networking. And if you need to use our networking as “networking” just to show your husband or your boss that you are out meeting with actual people, I’m cool with that!

HAVE FUN BOYS! NO NEED TO HURRY HOME!

Yes, prices have been steadily falling but the general consensus for those of us in the biz is that they may decline a bit more but most likely they will stay about the same. Foreclosures and short sales will continue to drive prices down a bit which is good and bad, depending on who you are. If you are looking to buy this year, good for you! If this is the year you plan to sell, maybe not so great. But interest rates are once again at historic lows so it will bring buyers out of the woodwork, making home sales rise and hopefully decreasing the amount of time homes will sit on the market.

Should you buy or wait? My advice is buy. If you already own a home, buy an investment home. If you are renting, take advantage of the low interest rates…you will probably save money.  Will waiting another year ensure that prices will drop even more? They might, but what if interest rates go back up? Then it won’t matter. Take advantage of low rates and pretty low home prices. As long as you don’t have to turn around and sell your home in the immediate future, it’s a smart choice.

As for me, my goal is once again to do better than I did the year before, continue to make Cara in the House a recognizable brand and improve the real estate market, one happy client at a time!

Have you been to the mall at all since Thanksgiving? If you have you probably had as much trouble as I did finding a parking spot and maneuvering around the busy stores. You probably also stood in very long lines at the food court (or if you were at Bellevue Square you stood in a very long line at either PF Changs or the Cheesecake Factory). To me this means that people are spending money and that’s a good sign.

Have you paid attention to all the vacations people are taking lately? If you haven’t been on Facebook you might be clueless but I swear every time I get on Facebook (ok, not every time because that would literally be a massive amount) I read people’s status updates talking about their vacations. To me this means people have a little extra money to spend and that’s another good sign.

Jobs are back in style. The unemployment rate (according to the Seattle Times and not my own research) has dropped to the lowest point since February of 2009. And to me, that is the most critical piece and probably the best sign of all.

So to recap, lots of people are spending money at the malls, eating out in restaurants, taking vacations and working. They are also buying houses (thank you to all my wonderful clients), donating to charities and participating in more recreational activities. Unless I’m living in some kind of weird bubble, I’m sure you have noticed the same. So let’s keep up the good spending, I mean let’s keep up the good work! I love blogging about good news.

Happy Holidays!