In my area of south King County, we’d had a number of just wet little snow blizzards that melted about the time the flakes hit the ground. What I didn’t know, was that the worst of the storm was just laughing at me … waiting for me to go back into the house to finish my skeptical blog post.

For my area of the Auburn east hill, snow was late to arrive, but when it did, it was daggone serious. Now, remember you east coasters … we’re talking about the Seattle area here. We don’t get much in the way of snow. We may get a few inches here and there, close the schools for a day, and then melt off. There’s little snow equipment in the area, we live up/down on hills and the snow we do get is typically very very wet. None of that dry fluffy stuff that’s fun to ski … just Seattle “concrete.”

This time around was no exception. After fits and starts, snow really started to fall on Wednesday and it was wet wet wet sticky stuff. Great for making snow sculptures. That sort of thing.

Thursday morning around 7am, the power went out. A quick look outside said that it had snowed a bit more. With accumulations around 8 inches or so after it’d melted off a bit. Bummer—I wanted SNOW!—and an adventure! At my house, situated on a small community well, septic systems, electric heat, it was going to be a cold few hours – outside was around 28 degrees or so.

But, expecting the best and dressing in layers, we were prepared! Flashlights, generator, a full fridge and pantry full of food, bottles of drinking water and a bathtub full of water for the necessary stuff. Bring it on. We were ready.

HAHAHAHAHAAAA

Fast forward to late Thursday … it’s raining. That’s what was predicted. It was going to rain off all of our accumulations. No problem. What the weather folks didn’t know, is that the rain was freezing. Encapsulating everything and accumulating a deadly layer of ice on top of the snow. And it just kept on accumulating. By the time the rain stopped and turn back to snow on Friday, we’d gathered about an inch of solid ice on top of our snow layer. Stuff is falling off the trees everywhere. (Nothing like laying in bed listening … creeeekkkk, screee, schuuuuuckkkkk, CRASH!) Outside, it’s a winter wonderland with ice coating everything.

But then the snow kept on coming … again! Now there was about two inches of snow on top of the ice! Yikes! I had no idea. Friday morning I decided to let the dogs out front to avoid the broken tree mess in our back yard … and immediately after stepping off the porch all four legs splayed out on both dogs. Getting purchase and standing back up was a challenge for them.

By late Friday we were able to actually make it out of our driveway and back to the world and what a mess it was. Downed trees, downed wires, cars in ditches; it was total destruction. No wonder we had no power. Lines were down on both sides of our private road, huge trees laying everywhere.

But real estate calls just kept on coming. My cell phone kept ringing with people looking for houses. So on Saturday I decided to go ahead and make a showing appointment and give it a go. Yikes, what a further mess. Now our feeder road was totally blocked off, with power line trucks guarding the road so no one could get in or out. Lots of yellow caution tape. (Yay!! Maybe they were working on restoring power!) With lots of talking, we were allowed to carefully go around all of the barriers and trees and off to my showing. Only to be stood up by the Buyers. Sigh … but it was a fun adventure!

Here’s a shot of my favorite shade tree during the ice storm … and after. What you can’t see here is the line of tree trunks that are now just sticks. There’s gonna be a lot of tree removal again this year. I’m thinking that Mother Nature decided pruning was necessary so decided to help us get a start at it. We were very very fortunate – no real damage, but sure a lot of destruction. (And I was mighty glad to take a hot shower on Sunday when the power was restored!)

A few years ago I watched as the area was cleared and developed with streets, lights, and playgrounds, and then the real estate economy tanked and the property sat idle … until recently!

Unfortunately, it appears that the folks at MainVue homes have decided not to list their homes on our local MLS. Visiting both their Web and physical sites indicate that several homes have already been sold, model homes are available, and homes are for sale.

Marketing is driven specifically to consumers and Broker/Agent participation appears to be discouraged.

With registration either on the Web or in person, the builder will recognize that a particular client is represented by a Broker, but they’ve certainly not made it easy. Having worked with Quadrant, Soundbuilt, Kendall Homes, Richmond American, and Polygon in the last year, I’m a bit spoiled, apparently. Those folks welcome Brokers and encourage us to be of help to Buyers. I’m afraid that’s not the case at MainVue.

I love working with Builders. I’ve built my business offering outstanding customer service to both Buyers and Sellers. I’ve helped Buyers sell their existing home quickly so that they were able to buy a new construction home. I’ve directed them to financing that was far better than what they were offered by the Builder’s preferred lender. I’ve helped the Buyers actually get the option package that was advertised by the Builder, but then went missing in their Builder contract.

As a transaction progresses, it’s frequently necessary to indulge in a bit of professional and friendly nudging with the Builder to be sure that the Buyer ends up with the home of their dreams, while helping them with all facets of their home buying process. As a new construction homebuyer, you’ll have a lot of questions – at the time you choose your lot, your model and floor plan, and throughout the build. You need someone to look out for your interests. (By the way, Mr. Builder, I also kept Buyers happy, answering their questions, interfacing with your representatives, and keeping them out from underfoot so that you can do your job! You should want to work with me!)

When you’re ready to buy a home at The Bridges, please be sure to use a well-qualified Broker. If you choose to visit The Bridges on your own without your Broker, do so only once, and be absolutely certain those folks know you’ll use your own Broker for your purchase.

I’m delighted to be of service to you … and am happy to represent your purchase of a MainVue home – even if the Builder isn’t excited about working with Broker/Agents.

Be certain you’re well represented during this most important purchase! There’s a lot of money involved and you deserve the best!

My husband, the amateur weatherman, has been obsessively following the build-up to the “Megastorm” of decades, currently predicted for our greater Seattle region. We’ve been watching for days, experiencing a bit of snow here, and a bit of snow there. At our home in east Auburn, so far we’ve accumulated a couple of inches, which largely went away today even through additional flurries of wet heavy snow.

I grew up in Seattle and remember a few good-sized snow storms from my childhood; even one or two while raising our own children. This storm, however, is expected to dump somewhere between 12- and 18-inches in our yard, according to the “Futurecast” radar displayed on one of our local news sites, KIRO7. That’s a significant amount of snow. Significant!

According to AccuWeather, the history of great Seattle snowstorms is as follows:

1. Jan. 5-9, 1880: Est. 36.0″ with 6-foot drifts
2. Jan. 31-Feb. 3, 1916: 33.4″
3. Jan. 26-31, 1969: 30.7″
4. Jan. 12-15, 1950: 26.8″
5. Dec. 23-27, 1965: 14.9″
6. Dec. 30-31, 1968: 13.0″
7. Jan. 23-26, 1972: 12.6″
8. Jan. 25-26, 1950: 12.4″
9. Dec. 26-27, 1974: 9.8″
10. Nov. 20-22, 1985: 9.4″
11. Nov. 27, 1985: 7.6″

Twelve-to-eighteen inches. I’m expecting the roof to be fine, but I’m thinking the tarp-type carport under which we park our riding lawnmower and various “stuffs” to probably take a hit. We’ve brought pellets for the stove into the garage. The chickens are safely ensconced in their coop with plenty of food and water. The dogs are oblivious, but will love it. The cat? Well, we may have to hand-carry him out now and then to visit the kitty potty.

Twelve-to-eighteen inches, followed by rain. It should be exciting!

Much of Lakeland Hills is new(er) construction in a planned community with a variety of housing choices and prices, shopping, parks and entertainment. Here you’ll find apartments, condominiums (both attached and detached), along with single family homes.

A large portion of the newest homes … perhaps those built from about 2007 and later … sit on the typical new construction smaller lots, under about 6,500 square feet. Older neighborhoods with homes built in the ‘70’s or so may have yards that are a bit larger.

Because so much of Lakeland Hills is new, prices and sales have been impacted by the real estate downturn with new construction continuing to play a huge role in home sales in the area.

Prices in Lakeland Hills spiraled during the 2005-2007, falling significantly in mid-2008:

As with much of the south King County area (the majority of Lakeland Hills), somewhat due to the difficulty in closing short sales and bank-owned properties which have been a significant part of the area, new construction is starting to pick up, and certainly played an important part of closed sales in 2011.  

Here’s another look at the same information, sorted by type of sale rather than year: 

Considering a move to the area or thinking of selling your Lakeland Hills home? I specialize in the Auburn area — please don’t hesitate to give me a call, just to talk through some of the possibilities. I’m always delighted to be of service!

The last couple of weekends have included a few hours helping our son decide what car to buy. We’ve been to this dealer and that, had him prequalified … and have driven a number of cars, usually with the all-chatty salesman in the backseat telling us exactly why this car is THE one to buy. We’ve driven some brand new cars and are now taking a look at a few that a just a couple of years old (Mom insisting that maybe the payment will be a bit easier on his monthly budget.)

Now that we’ve graduated to the used car market, I’ve been busy reading CarFax reports, looking over my son’s shoulder and hanging onto the passenger “Lord Help Me!” strap conveniently located just above most of the passenger windows. (Word to the wise … don’t ever go on a test drive with a 21-year old male …. )

Now that I’m safely home, I’ve been able to reflect on the disparity between buying a car and buying a house. We’re out driving around in a $18,000 car, testing the brakes, going around corners, up steep hills, accelerating on the freeway–all with a eye on making sure that the vehicle seems safe, feels good, and is worth going to the step of taking it to our trusted mechanic before going down the buying path.

However, buying a house … many times more expensive, doesn’t include that same test drive. There’s no chance to sit in the house long enough to decide if it’s drafty, cook a meal in the kitchen and see if the layout really truly works or pack the closets to see if the clothes all fit. All of those things are a bit subjective. We think it’ll work. We walk through the house–maybe a few times–then begin the purchase process. With careful thought and due diligence, we hire a trusted inspector to test and prod the house to reveal its strengths and weaknesses. We measure the rooms, sometimes draw them out on paper and hope everything fits.

But test drive? Nope. That’s reserved for much smaller purchases … like cars, trucks, and RVs.

As Agents/Brokers, it’s important to provide as many opportunities for our Buyer clients to look at a house at their own pace. To figuratively kick the tires, lay on the floor of the empty bedroom to see if the bed fits and stand in the pantry to evaluate the food storage. Because buying a home is truly the largest purchase they’ll ever make. It’s the best we can do .. their test drive begins the day they move in.

*photo courtesy of egg on stilts via Flickr

At least so say the weather stations.

The greater Puget Sound metropolitan area is a unique place when it snows. We’re hilly around here and our typical warm ocean breezes prevent us from getting much in the way of significant snowfall, which means most of the cities and towns in our area have a minimal amount of snow equipment to deal with the mess. We don’t dump a lot of sand or salt on the roads. Some … but not a lot.

Oh sure, once a year or so we get dumped on with a couple or three inches, but then it rains away within the next day or so. I know, I know – you Seattle’ites remember the recent great snowfall of ‘ought eight’ when we had 6+ inches on the ground for a week or so.

It was darned cold out there and the stuff was packed hard on our road. (We happen to live almost at the bottom and no way were we getting out of here.) It was exhilarating! Snowball fights. The dogs romped through the yard like puppies. BIIIGGG snow creatures adorned the yard.

I remember that the Mayor of Seattle got into all sorts of trouble for not arranging to have side streets and a few major hills plowed (as if he could do much about it with the few plows available), and so on. It was chaos out there.

But I love the snow. Snuggling inside with hot cocoa and a good book.

So … just a word to the wise: Beware!! Real estate .. and everything else involving cars … is coming to a screeching halt if we get 1/2” of snow on Sunday. …….

……

……

… of course, then it’ll all start back up again in a day or two and we’ll be raring to go back to work.

Enjoy!

One of the very first steps in the home buying process is determining how a Buyer will pay for their new home. Not only must a Buyer determine much they can afford, but how an offer must be structured–whether closing costs must be paid by a Seller, gift funds will be used for a down payment, how much of a down payment will be paid, and so on.

Having a great lender as part of the Buying team is critical, but especially so with short sale purchases.

It can be difficult for a lender to help a Buyer determine exactly how much they might need to close the sale. A good faith estimate on the front end of a short sale might not be appropriate; interest rates, dates of closing, and other terms may change before lender approval occurs several months later.

Will the Buyer have sufficient funds to close? Will they have sufficient reserves; will they be comfortable with their payment?

A GREAT lender prepares an estimate of costs at the beginning, then meets periodically with the Buyer throughout the process, updating them on the changes and making sure they understand the numbers. They help the transaction succeed – from start to finish.

Working with an agent experienced in both listing and assisting buyers with short sales … and considering their recommendations for a great short sale lender will ensure success and confidence as a buyer proceeds through the process.

Here’s a quick look at the numbers:

Who says the economy still not improving!? Compare the numbers from 2008!

The next chart compares year end stats:

I’m jazzed! Look at that nice up-tick in closed sales!

So … what sold in Auburn in December?

Traditional sales are creeping up in number …. a really good thing, but equally good is noting that Bank-Owned property sales are also closing, getting some of those low, low priced homes off the market. I expect to see a gain in short sale property closings in 2012 as some of the big banks are finally getting their acts together and realizing that closing on short sales actually keep prices up a bit higher than foreclosing and then dropping the price even further.

One final quick note: remember that sales that close in a given month probably received offers in the previous month … typically about 45 days prior to the date of closing. Unless we’re talking about short sales, of course, which continue to take about 60 days or more to receive bank approval after an offer is presented to them and then another 45 days to close the transaction.

The Sellers will be ticking off the very short list of requested repairs in the next few days … seems like there’s always stuff in the gutters in our area, no matter when they were last cleaned … and then this beautiful home will go to some also very excited Buyers.

Congratulations to everyone involved! Your home sale is Pending! Now let’s get this one Closed!!