Residential Real Estate in SW Washington State

Residential Real Estate Services with Passion, Integrity, Knowledge

Bonney Lake – 3 Bedrooms, 3 Baths – UNDER $300k!!

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Surrounded by cedars, this immaculate home feels like living in a tree house. Great sun in back yard, big deck, super patio, & awesome floor plan make this home the perfect space for entertaining and just … living!

Great room concept upstairs with living room, dining and kitchen all open and centered by a gorgeous stone-faced fireplace with architectural details. The home features three bedrooms with a fourth finished room with closet on the lower level, plus three full baths. In addition, there’s a bonus/family room on the lower level.

Extras like fresh paint, new bamboo floors, generator wiring, video security with exterior cameras, and outstanding owner attention to detail means you can move right in!

Click here or on the following image to view virtual tour

 

How to Get the Most Money When Selling Your Home

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Every homeowner wants to make sure they get the best price when selling their home. But how do you guarantee that you receive maximum value for your house? Here are two keys to ensuring you get the highest price possible.

1. Price it a LITTLE LOW 

This may seem counterintuitive. However, let’s look at this concept for a moment. Many homeowners think that pricing their home a little OVER market value will leave them room for negotiation. In reality, this just dramatically lessens the demand for their house (see chart below).

Instead of the seller trying to ‘win’ the negotiation with one buyer, they should price it so that demand for the home is maximized. By doing this, the seller will not be fighting with a buyer over the price, but will instead have multiple buyers fighting with each other over the house.

Realtor.com gives this advice:

“Aim to price your property at or just slightly below the going rate. Today’s buyers are highly informed, so if they sense they’re getting a deal, they’re likely to bid up a property that’s slightly underpriced, especially in areas with low inventory.”

2. Use a Real Estate Professional

This, too, may seem counterintuitive, as the seller likely believes that he or she will net more money if they don’t have to pay a real estate commission. With that being said, studies have shown that homes typically sell for more money when handled by a real estate professional.

Research posted by the National Association of Realtors revealed that:

“The median selling price for all FSBO homes was $185,000 last year. When the buyer knew the seller in FSBO sales, the number sinks to the median selling price of $163,800. However, homes that were sold with the assistance of an agent had a median selling price of $245,000 – nearly $60,000 more for the typical home sale.”

Bottom Line

Price your house at or slightly below the current market value and hire a professional. This will guarantee that you maximize the price you get for your house.

It’s a Seller’s Market! Should I Downsize Now?

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A study by Edelman Berland reveals that 33% of homeowners who are contemplating selling their houses in the near future are planning to scale down. Let’s look at a few reasons why this might make sense for many homeowners, as the majority of the country is currently experiencing a seller’s market.

In a blog, Dave Ramsey, the financial guru, highlighted the advantages of selling your current house and downsizing into a smaller home that better serves your current needs. Ramsey explains three potential financial advantages to downsizing:

  1. A smaller home means less space, but it also means less time, stress and money spent on upkeep.
  2. Let’s assume you save $500 a month on your mortgage payment. In 30 years, you could have an additional $1–1.6 million in the bank to get you through your golden years.
  3. Use the proceeds from selling your current home to pay cash for a smaller one. Just imagine what you could do with no mortgage holding you down! If you can’t pay cash, aim for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage and put at least 10–20% down on your new home. Apply the $500 you saved from downsizing to your new monthly payment. At 3% interest, you could pay off a $200,000 mortgage in less than 10.5 years, saving almost $16,000 in the process.

Realtor.com also addressed downsizing in an article. They suggest that you ask yourself some questions before deciding if downsizing is right for you and your family. Here are two of their questions followed by their answers (in italics) and some additional information that could help.

Q: What kind of lifestyle do I want after I downsize?

A: “For some folks, it’s a matter of living a simpler life focused on family. Some might want to cross off travel destinations on their bucket lists. Some might want a low-maintenance community with high-end upgrades and social events. Decide what you want to achieve from your move first, and you’ll be able to better narrow down your housing options.”

Comments: Many homeowners are taking the profits from the sales of their current homes and splitting it in order to put down payments on smaller homes in their current locations, as well as on vacation/retirement homes where they plan to live when they retire.

This allows them to lock in the home price and mortgage interest rate at today’s values which makes sense financially as both home prices and interest rates are projected to rise.

Q: Have I built up enough equity in my current home to make a profit?

A: “For most homeowners, the answer is yes. This is if they’ve held on to their properties long enough to have positive equity that will be sizable enough to put a large down payment on their next home.”

Comments: A study by Fannie Mae revealed that only 37% of Americans believe that they have significant equity (> 20%) in their current home. In actuality, CoreLogic’s latest Equity Report revealed that 78.9% have greater than 20% equity. That equity could enable you to build the life you’ve always dreamt about.

Bottom Line

If you are debating downsizing your home and want to evaluate the options you currently have, let’s meet up to help guide you through the process.

Don’t Let Your Luck Run Out

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With rates climbing and the promise of two or three additional federal rate hikes this calendar year, it’s important to be prepared. Even if you don’t feel you’re ready to buy this year, take a look at the infographic below to see what happens to a potential purchase with a rate of 4.8%.What you want to look at is whether you can save enough money fast enough to keep up with both the raise in interest rates and the 1% a month (or more) increase in prices.

As an aside, my favorite loan officer tells me that rates for very well qualified buyers this week was about 4.375%, already higher than this example.

Some Highlights:

  • The “Cost of Waiting to Buy” is defined as the additional funds it would take to buy a home if prices and interest rates were to increase over a period of time.
  • Freddie Mac predicts that interest rates will increase to 4.8% by this time next year, while home prices are predicted to appreciate by 4.8% according to CoreLogic.
  • Waiting until next year to buy could cost you thousands of dollars a year for the life of your mortgage!

Tiny Houses

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I certainly don’t have to tell you how intriguing and just downright cute so many tiny houses are. Every now and then one catches my eye and I think … wow, maybe we should add this to our backyard! I mean, after all, that would’ve solved the “how do we share our space with a grown child?” and the “my aging best friend is running out of money and needs a place to live!” quandries.

Every locale has rules about what you can build where and this post doesn’t begin to address that issue. Be sure to check out what zoning, permitting, rights and restrictions you have in your area before attempting to install one of these on your property. In the meantime, here are links to couple of tiny houses that I think are absolutely amazing!

The first two are Ana White videos. If you’ve not seen her work and videos before, be sure to subscribe to her feed on YouTube, or visit her website at Ana-White.com. There are plans for furniture, how to build a Tiny House, and so on!

Country Living also has quite a number of Tiny House posts. This is one of my favorites:

One more, then I’ll let you do your own Google search for Tiny Houses. There are pages and pages of plans, ideas, considerations, etc.

Here’s a cutie posted by TreeHugger:

Enjoy!

Where Did Americans Move in 2016?

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This is a fascinating chart and oh so very true! Last year I assisted three out-of-state buyers in their move to our area. Although, come to think of it, there were two more that moved cross-country to the east coast as well. We’re a mobile sort of society, that’s for sure!

 

Some Highlights:

  • For the 5th year in a row, the Northeast saw a concentration of “High Outbound” activity.
  • For the first time ever, South Dakota held the top spot for “High Inbound” states.
  • Much of America’s outbound activity can be attributed to Boomers relocating to warmer climates after retiring.

SOLD! — Affordable Country Living

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SOLD! Full price, one day! This one took some time to bring to market, but the seller did all the prep work I suggested and then, once it was ready, it SOLD FAST! Thanks for letting me help!

18204 SE 346th Street
Auburn, WA 98092

It’s unusual to find a home of this size on land that’s affordable and conveniently located near golf courses, shopping, and commuting. Just 20 minutes to Costco & Covington shopping, 5 minutes or so to Lake Holm & Washington National golf courses, you’ll love coming home to your own little slice of the country.

With its outstanding floor plan, the home features living, dining & family rooms, along with three huge bedrooms and two full baths. The home has been recently refreshed for sale including new paint, carpets, counters, furnace, heat pump and more.

Bisected by a gully with seasonal creek, the front portion of the property includes all of the living spaces, patio, deck, pergola, oversized garage with office, RV parking. The back section is large enough for animals — truly a beautiful piece of property!

Click following photo to activate Virtual Tour:

 

Do You Know the Real Cost of Renting vs. Buying?

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Some Highlights:

  • Historically, the choice between renting or buying a home has been a close decision.
  • Looking at the percentage of income needed to rent a median-priced home today (30%), vs. the percentage needed to buy a median-priced home (15%), the choice becomes obvious.
  • Every market is different. Before you renew your lease again, find out if you could use your housing costs to own a home of your own!

The Great News About Rising Prices for Homeowners

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Recently there has been a lot of talk about home prices and if they are accelerating too quickly. In some areas of the country, seller supply (homes for sale) cannot keep up with the number of buyers out looking for a home, which has caused prices to rise.

The great news about rising prices, however, is that according to CoreLogic’s US Economic Outlook, the average American household gained over $11,000 in equity over the course of the last year, largely due to home value increases.

The map below was created using the same report from CoreLogic and shows the average equity gain per mortgaged home from June 2015 to June 2016 (the latest data available).

The Great News About Rising Prices for Homeowners | Simplifying The Market

 

For those who are worried that we are doomed to repeat 2006 all over again, it is important to note that homeowners are investing their new-found equity in their homes and themselves, not in depreciating assets.

The added equity is helping families put their children through college, invest in starting small businesses, allowing them to pay off their mortgage sooner or move up to the home that will better suit their needs now.

Bottom Line

CoreLogic predicts that home prices will appreciate by another 5% by this time next year. If you are a homeowner looking to take advantage of your home equity by moving up to your dream home, let’s get together to discuss your options!

SOLD! Meticulous Starter Home in Close-In Puyallup

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15509 120th Ave E, Puyallup, WA 98374

15509 120th Ave E, Puyallup, WA 98374

I was so thrilled to help this couple sell their home so that they could get onto the next goal in their life — seeing their grandchildren! Thank you!

 

This is the perfect starter or downsizer home near Sunrise in Puyallup. It’s been meticulously maintained and is definitely MOVE-IN READY!

The huge fenced yard with a lovely partially covered deck combined with a country kitchen and family room (or dining room) make entertaining a pleasure. There’s a private 3/4 bath for the master bedroom along with another full bath for the other two bedrooms.

If few stairs are important, note that there’s only one step up to the front door and a second one to enter the home. One step in the garage as well, and then three steps from the deck to the back yard. Oh so easy on aching knees!

Finally, there’s no HOA in this tidy neighborhood, so you can park your RV or boat next to the long driveway. Be sure to visit this home quickly. Homes in this great condition have been selling quickly!

(Note that while this home is on a septic system and has three bedrooms, the septic “As-Built” shows approval for only two bedrooms. This is a Springfield Community septic system with the tanks on your own property and then community drainfields.)

Click the following photo to visit the virtual tour and see additional photos: