Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Gone To Seattle

Dear Readers,
I probably won't post for the next couple of days.

Gone To Seattle...

Have a great week!
Carol

Wannabe Millionaires

Dear Readers,
There was an interesting article at CNN Money about the current No Money Down Real Estate Mania. With the real estate craze going on, more wannabe millionaires than ever are flocking to the gurus to teach them how to get rich with no money. These gurus make it sound like you can do deals with no money, no job AND no (bad) credit. Sadly, many of these "students" are sorely disappointed at the difficulty and complexity. No money is one thing, but a job and decent credit helps immensely. It has been done, and can be done... but it's not as simple as they make it sound! The truth is, it's easier to do no money down deals in a slow market when buyers are not so plentiful.

I work "creative financing" deals with investors... but it's not easy. There are no money deals out there, but not everyone has the temperament or ability to actually carry through, and when you're a new investor it's difficult to come across as credible.

This kind of reminds me of the Gold Rush Days. It wasn't the miners making the money, but the guys selling the picks and shovels. Do you see the correlation here?

Anyway, good article. I recommend reading it.

Have a great day,
Carol

Monday, June 27, 2005

Finding My Current Posts

Dear Readers,
I've made several posts in my other real estate blog in the last few days, so please check it out.

The Wenatchee real estate market remains extremely active, with several new housing developments being built up at a record pace. Recent statistics indicate about 30% of our current sales are attributed to out-of-town buyers. A few of these are taking jobs here, but some are bringing their jobs with them (mobile technology, you know)... and many of them are retiring here for the sun and plethora of recreational opportunities.

Thanks and...
Have a great evening,
Carol

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Wenatchee Real Estate Building Boom

Dear Readers,
In the week-end issue of the Wenatchee World newspaper, there was a substantial article about the building boom going on in the Wenatchee and East Wenatchee area. For complete text of this article, titled "Space Race", click here.

Have a great week-end,
Carol

Friday, June 24, 2005

Rent-to--Own: The Pros & Cons

Dear Readers,
I've always liked the rent-to-own or lease/option as a way to market unique properties, or homes where the seller really needs more than fair market value. I've done several of them with Wenatchee real estate and most of them have worked out fine. I think the national statistic for lease/options that actually close is about 20% but, if properly structured, offer significant benefits to both buyer and seller... and WILL close.

Lease/Options are rarely advertised because sellers generally want to sell outright and get out from under the monthly obligation. But, remember, with the obligation comes some significant tax advantages. Even in a hot, hot, hot real estate market such as we are experiencing now... there are properties so unique that stepping out of the main stream is required.

The other reason you rarely see them advertised is because most real estate agents don't want to bother with them. They don't understand how to put them together.. and, more importantly, think they won't get paid. I believe I am the only Wenatchee area real estate agent that actually promotes the rent-to-own option.

If you can find a buyer through a lease/option that 1) offers higher than market value, 2) provides an up-front (non-refundable) deposit and 3) payments to cover and exceed the monthly expense it can be a very attractive option to many sellers.

If you're interested in reading more information on the pros and cons of lease/options, here's a link to an article from the MrLandlord website.

Have a great week-end,
Carol

Put Everything In Writing With Tenants

Dear Readers,
I was reading an article earlier in the day that addressed the issue of landlord/tenant communications. It said put everything in writing... everything. If a tenant calls to request a repair, have them also put it in writing. If you call them about their rent being late, also send them a letter. Keep copies of all this communication to create a good paper trail. This will help you should any future disputes arise, and also with your tax filing records.

Have a great week-end,
Carol

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Watch for Wenatchee Real Estate Market Summaries

Dear Readers,
Starting in July, I will do monthly market summaries for the following areas:
Wenatchee & East Wenatchee
Rock Island
Malaga
Cashmere
Leavenworth

In early July I will post a summary of the first six months of 2005. From that point forward, I will attempt to post a monthly market summary. This will include active listings, closed sales, and current pending sales... and average Days On Market (DOM) information.


Realtor, ABR, e-PRO, GRI, RECS, REI
Serving all of Washington State
Specializing in Wenatchee & Surrounding Areas
Phone: 509-670-7840 * Fax: 419-818-4009
real estate website:
http://TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
residential blog: http://CarolsWenatchee.com
investment blog:
http://RealEstateSuccess.blogspot.com
e-mail: Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Summer Solstice

Dear Readers,
You've gotta love the longest day of the year.
I was out showing property until nearly 8:30
this evening... no worries about impending darkness!

Want to know more about summer solstice? Check out this link.

Crazy Busy

Dear Readers,
Sorry I haven't posted for a couple of days. It's been kind of crazy busy for me lately. Saturday, I spent the entire day with a couple transferring in from Reno. The Wenatchee real estate market is so hot here now, our inventory is very limited. After spending the whole day looking at homes, they decided it may be necessary to find a short term rental (which is another problem), buy a lot and arrange for a home to be built.

After our experience on Saturday, I was excited when a new listing popped up on Sunday that looked perfect for them. Despite the fact I had other out-of-town clients in town for the day (Sunday), I previewed the house for my new Reno friends and confirmed it was something they would most definitely be interested in. I called the clients and set an appointment to show it to them on Monday. During the showing, I called the listing agent to ask a question. She informed me there were 3 offers coming in that day! Mind you, this home (priced in the low 200's) had been on the market one single day.

It's a crazy time.

Saturday, June 18, 2005

4-Plex Bonus Income

Dear Readers,
On my other blog I posted an article today about how to make some extra money with your multi-family units. If you're considering building a multi-family unit, you might want to consider this strategy.

Have a nice week-end,
Carol

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Now I've Done It!

Dear Readers,
This morning I was trying to get inspired about what to write in my blog entry for the day. I've been doing alot of work on my other blog and my main real estate website and haven't posted here for a couple of days.

I've been posting daily residential activity on my other blog and don't want to duplicate here because, rumor has it, the search engines don't like that! They consider it spamming the search engines, I guess. So, I went to Yahoo, and typed in "Wenatchee real estate news info and trends", hoping to find something to kick start my brain.

Anyway, I was surprised to see my other blog was listed as the #1 source and this blog is the #3 source. The link between me and myself didn't even work. So, now I've created quite a dilemma. I am the source of news, info and trends in Wenatchee real estate... so I better go out and make something happen to write about. :-)

Ummm. Not a bad problem. Gotta go....

Cheers!
Carol

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Buying Foreclosure Homes

Dear Readers,
Regardless of the "hot" real estate market, there are lots of foreclosure homes on the market these days. I often get calls from people who want to buy foreclosure homes because they think they can buy them for pennies on the dollar, as they are led to believe... by, what I consider, somewhat false advertising.

The reality of dealing with foreclosure homes is not what most people have been led to believe. First of all, many of the foreclosed homes have been over-mortgaged. The only craze hotter than the home buying craze has been the lending craze. How many solicitations for re-financing your home have you received in the last year? Probably at least one per week.

If you really think about it, if a homeowner could sell their home for more than what they owe they'd do it... and keep the difference. This would certainly be better than getting kicked out of your home with nothing to show for it.

The truth is, most people owe more than what they would net (after paying off the mortgage and selling costs). So, what is happening is the banks are re-possessing the homes and trying to sell them for what is owed on the property. They are not trying to make a profit. They are just trying to recover their investment (plus legal fees to foreclose and sell).

O.K... so let's say you do find a foreclosure you are interested in and the price actually does seem to be a good deal. Should you jump on it? Maybe and maybe not. The next problem with foreclosures is that the banks make you accept the house in "as is" condition. That means they make no warranties or guarantees. They know nothing about the property and take no responsibility or liability for it. You've got to do alot of "due diligence" when buying any home but even more so with a foreclosure homes, because there is nobody to take responsibility if there are undisclosed problems.

The next problem is financing. Many foreclosure homes have maintenance and repair issues. I've actually seen foreclosure homes where the toilets and kitchen cabinets have been stripped. Bitter occupants take what they can and leave in the night. Anyway, the foreclosing banks don't want to spend the money to fix them up. They want to sell them "as is". This causes a problem when trying to get new financing. The "new" lender doesn't want to finance a home needing repairs... so you need to have a large down payment (or all cash) to make the deal work. Then you need more cash to actually make the repairs.

If you actually do have enough cash to buy a foreclosed home, you might consider looking for a "desperate" seller BEFORE foreclosure happens. You could probably buy the home for less from the seller than from the lender. If it actually goes through foreclosure, the lender now has the added foreclosure costs on top of their already high mortgage balance.

Every situation is different, of course. If you see a property you are interested in, I'd be glad to analyze and discuss some strategies on a case by case basis.

Have a great day!
Carol

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Wenatchee - 8 Bedroom Home + In-Home Office

Dear Readers,
I have a 5375 square foot, eight bedroom, 4 1/2 bath home listed. I've often thought this would be a great house for a family with lots of foster children. There is such a huge need for foster families and they pay per child, so it would make it possible to afford this big home on nearly one acre of land. Listed at $485,000 and willing to negotiate.

Have a nice day!
Carol

Friday, June 10, 2005

Weddings & Real Estate

Dear Readers,
With June here, we are reminded about what a popular month it is for weddings. This got me to thinking what the average cost of a wedding is these days, so I started searching the internet. I visited several sites and was shocked at the amount of money people are apparently paying for weddings. Did you know the average cost of a wedding now is around $30,000? I knew it had gotten exorbitant, but that blew my mind. This is even more scary when I think of the divorce rate.

Being a practical person, I couldn't help but wonder what more productive (and profitable) thing could be done with that money. Being a real estate person, it made me wonder what would happen if a small wedding was planned and the rest of the money was used for a down payment on an investment property (no, not a primary residence).

It seems like you could have a decent wedding for $10,000, doesn't it? $10,000. That's still a lot of money! So, if they took the other $20,000 and made a 20% down payment on a $100,000 investment property (no not primary residence) what would happen?

Being conservative and looking at long term appreciation rates, we could use 5% as a reasonable annual rate of appreciation. In 30 years a 100,000 property should be worth $300,000 or more, through compounding. In the meantime, with a 20% downpayment, the property should "pay for itself". By "pay for itself" I mean cover all expenses... mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc.

The average age of a bride these days is 27. 29 for the groom. So, by the time they are 57 & 59, they already have an investment that will generate a nice cash flow or can be used to refinance for cash to put into another investment. The wise thing, of course, would be to watch the value (and income/expense ratios) and refinance when it "computes", so they can keep investing in more investment properties. By the time they are of actual retirement age, they're going to literally be real estate millionaires... and all this is because they were willing to have a "small" wedding.

Practical? I think so. Something to seriously consider? Absolutely.

Have a great day!
Carol

P.S.: In my post I mentioned the $20,000 should not be used for a down payment on a primary residence. Why? Because I think it should be used strictly for an investment. The primary residence should be paid for from the couples earnings. They may rent for a while, and move several times over the course of their marriage. But, the original $20,000 investment is setting them up for life!

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Wenatchee real estate inventory out of balance?

Dear Readers,
Since I've been posting some statistical info on my other blog ( www.CarolsWenatchee.com ), I've been wondering if our inventory of Wenatchee & East Wenatchee real estate is getting a little out of balance. I confined my analysis and did not include real estate from Cashmere, Rock Island, Malaga or other outlying areas.

Here's what our current inventory looks like:

Current Inventory:
Under $130,000 : 56 homes (29 closed in May) 52%
$130,001 - $200,000 : 77 homes 64 closed in May) 83%
$200,001 - $300,000 : 140 homes (19 closed in May) 13%
$300,000 - $400,000 : 25 homes ( 4 closed in May) 15%
$400,000 + : 22 homes ( 5 closed in May) 23%

Ummm... do you see a trend here? If you were building "spec" homes, which price range do you think would be best?

It is interesting to note that the homes in the under $130,000 are selling a smaller percentage of inventory than the over $130,000. Much of this is because the inventory in that price range includes mobile homes on leased land and lower end condos, which are selling but not at as swift a rate as higher priced homes. Homes over $100,000 and under $130,000, in a good location, are selling within days of listing (regardless of condition)... and closing within 30 - 45 days.

It's a good time of year to be selling, so it will be interesting to watch how the trends go. To do your own home searches, go to www.TopPropertiesWenatchee.com

Enjoy your evening,
Carol

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Wenatchee real estate activity

Dear Readers,
If you're interested in a summary of the overall real estate activity in the Wenatchee, East Wenatchee, Malaga, Cashmere and Leavenworth... please go to my other blog at: http://www.carolswenatchee.com This includes some information for Orondo, Waterville and Plain, Washington.

I have summarized the month of May, including new and sold listings of residential lots, acreage and primary residences. There was no apparent activity in Rock Island, Washington last month.
If you'd like to do a FREE property search in any given price range, visit:
www.TopPropertiesWenatchee.com

Have a great day!
Carol

Monday, June 06, 2005

Big Estate Sale in East Wenatchee

Dear Readers,
This week-end we're having a monster estate sale in East Wenatchee. A two-story home is jam packed full of stuff... from common household items to antiques. I'll have more details on the sale time schedule later in the week.
Have a great day!
Carol

Wenatchee Summary To Follow

Dear Readers,
I played in a golf tournament both days of the week-end, so I'm running a bit behind. It's not like me to skip two days of posting.

Anyway, I'm working on an update of the last weeks activity... plus a summary of the entire month of May, so keep checking back.

Have a great day!
Carol K. Williams
Realtor, ABR, e-PRO, GRI, RECS, REI
Serving all of Washington State
Specializing in Wenatchee & Surrounding Areas
Phone: 509-670-7840 * Fax: 419-818-4009
website: http://TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
blog: http://carolswenatchee.com/
blog: http://realestatesuccess.blogspot.com/
e-mail: Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com

Friday, June 03, 2005

Eatery & Tavern + Building For Sale

Dear Readers,
Yesterday I noticed a new commercial investment listing pop up on the daily "hot sheet". It is an eatery and tavern in the town of Waterville, Washington... which is about 35 miles north of Wenatchee. I don't work the Waterville real estate market very much because it's a rural wheat growing area. I have sold and listed properties in the area, but I don't do it on a regular basis because I keep busy in the immediate Wenatchee real estate market.

The tavern caught my eye, though. This is a long established business. I have no idea what the income/expense records look like but I would certainly be interested in reviewing them. Let me know if you know anyone interested in this kind of a venture and I'll get what additional info I can.

Waterville is actually the county seat of Douglas County. They have a number of special events in the area, including the North Central Washington District Fair in late August. It is August 25th - 28th this year. The fair features a rodeo, horse racing, carnival rides, animals, exhibits, food, live entertainment and much more. My husband and I usually make a point of going up on Sunday during the fair so we can watch the final day of the rodeo.

Here's a link to the town of Waterville website, if you'd like to check out more info on the area. If you want more info on the eatery and tavern, call me or send an e-mail.

Have a great day!
Carol

Carol K. Williams
Realtor, ABR, e-PRO, GRI, RECS, REI
Serving all of Washington State
Specializing in Wenatchee & Surrounding Areas
Phone: 509-670-7840 * Fax: 419-818-4009
website: http://TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
blog: http://CarolsWenatchee.com
blog: http://RealEstateSuccess.blogspot.com
e-mail: Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Leavenworth Acreage for development

Dear Readers,
On my other blog at www.CarolsWenatchee.com I've started posting a summary of the statistics of what's going on in the Wenatchee real estate market, and surrounding areas. I invite you to check it out when you get the time.

On yesterday's "hot sheet" (which I explained on the other blog) I noticed some acreage that came on the market in Leavenworth. Leavenworth is about 25 miles west of Wenatchee and is a significant resort town. It has been transformed into a, now famous, Bavarian village. Last year (or was it the year before) A&E television named Leavenworth as the best Christmas celebration town in the United States.

Anyway, zillions of tourists go to Leavenworth each year to take part in their planned activities, but there is also tons of recreational opportunities there... hiking, cross country skiing, fishing, winter sleigh rides, summer hay rides, etc. Tourist come in droves throughout the year, filling up the town and all the motels in the area.

I noticed yesterday that an intriquing 9.49 acres came on the market in Leavenworth. It is priced at $750,000. The price seems kind of steep at slightly over $79,000 per acre BUT the zoning gives it some serious upside potential:

Zoned: RM (Residential Medium Density) This allows Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) including small single family homes, duplex, triplex, condos and/or apartments for primary residences or rentals. According to the listing sheet, the zoning allows for construction of one dwelling unit per 2,000 square feet of land space. With slightly over 413,000 square feet my fingers started jumping around furiously on the calculator. Of course, you've got to calculate parking areas, common areas, etc... but, the point is, there appears to be some pretty good profit potential with the right planning and development. It would cost some big money to develop, but I can see the potential.

That's it for today. Again, I invite you to visit, and bookmark, my other blog at:
www.CarolsWenatchee.com

Have a great day!
Carol

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Wenatchee investment real estate listings needed

Dear Readers,
I have buyers for Wenatchee real estate investment properties. Do you know anyone who might want to sell? I have buyers for the following types of properties:

1 Duplex,
2 Four-plexes
1 Apartment building (5 or more units)

I also have buyers for single family homes in all price ranges under $250,000.

I would appreciate you giving my name to potential sellers. I will be glad to provide them with a FREE detailed price analysis.

Thanks!
Carol