May :: SoundBiteBlog.com 2007 :: SoundBiteBlog.com

You just have to love a small town where everyone is a neighbor, troubles are shared and victories are celebrated. Where else can you find a Marching Band in your driveway?

Last Monday, the Central Kitsap High School Band gathered in force, completely uniformed, in a local neighborhood to perform a serenade of support for one of their assistant principals who was recently diagnosed with cancer. The cheerleading squad and the guard drill team were also involved in this one-person parade. Their goal was a simple one. To show their care, concern and support for a neighbor in distress.

“Cancer” is one of the scariest words in the English language for many of us. Facing the fear and enduring the medical treatment must be almost unbearably difficult. “What of my family?” and “What will happen to me?” are just a couple of questions that would terrify anyone. It is a lonely battle that can drive a patient to depression and tear a family apart.

Debbie Belew-Nyquist, one of the High School’s assistant principals, was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months ago. She and her family have been living with the fear and upset. But on Monday, she found that her fight is a little less lonely. There was a marching band in her driveway to prove she’s not alone!

I was injured about a month ago and was blessed to learn the same lesson. Meals were prepared with care and delivered to my home (thank you Martha and John, thank you Rich), my lawn was mowed (thank you Jim). Household shopping and household chores were taken care of for me and my family (thank you mom, Jim and everyone else). Phone calls and emails arrived almost daily with words of support and offers of help. Neighbors, friends and family let me know I was not alone.

You just have to love a small town where everyone is a neighbor, troubles are shared and victories are celebrated. I know I do.

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Posted in Kitsap County Bites, Miscellaneous | 2 Comments »

Tags: central kitsap high school, central kitsap schools, kitsap community, kitsap county schools

Local voters here in Kitsap County drove their collective ‘Chevy to the Levy’ this past Tuesday, but the levy turned up dry as the initiative to increase the tax rate failed by more than 5,000 votes (55 percent of those casting ballots voted no).

Kitsap Regional Library officials and supporters watched in shock and disbelief as the election results were revealed Tuesday evening. Director Jill Jean suggested that the failed measure was a public backlash towards other recent tax increases and the rising cost of gasoline.

But some have suggested otherwise.

In 2001, voters approved Initiative 747 which limited how much revenue the library system could bring in each year. Unfortunately, rather than plan and adjust their spending accordingly, the library expenditures have rapidly increased and outpaced their revenues. In 2006, the library spent $10.2 million in operating expenses while bringing in $8.86 million in revenues. It even had to dip into its reserve fund for $1.86 million to maintain existing services.

So maybe, this is the ‘real‘ supposed backlash from the general public? Why would voters want to approve more tax dollars to an organization that can’t seem to adequately manage the money they already have? Can library officials openly disclose/explain their current operating expenditures, and then justify the need for additional funding?

Perhaps that would help to sway a few more votes over to the ‘Yes’ column the next time around?

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Posted in Kitsap County Bites | 1 Comment »

Tags: kitsap county libraries, kitsap county news

(picture is the view from my listing on Mt. Washington Court in Union, WA, on Hood Canal. MLS# 27079936) 

Real Estate Market Report/Conditions for Kitsap County WA for 04/01/2007

The following is a quick analysis of the combined single-family home and condo market within Kitsap County, Washington, provided by Rich Jacobson of Windermere Real Estate, in Silverdale, WA.

• Properties currently active on the market: 1695 
• Properties closed in the last 180 days: 1508
• Average Sales Price: $300,851
• Average List Price: $306,878
• Ratio of List Price to Sales Price: 98%
• Average Days on Market: 90 days
• Sales Pending this Week: 73

The ”Way We Were”comparative snapshot:

• Active Listings:                         2006 – 983;   2007 – 1695
• Days on Market:                       2006 – 61;     2007 – 90
• Absorption Rate:                      2006 – 17;     2007 – 23
• LP/SP Ratio:                            2006 – 99;     2007 – 98%
• Closed Sales last 6 months:    2006 – 1744; 2007 – 1508

Current Market Conditions: It’s an interesting market right now. As is typical for this time of year, activity has picked up. Many Sellers are planning their relocations for right after the end of the school year. Depending on the specific area and price range, our market can be both a ‘Sellers’ or a ’Buyers’ market. 

Quadrant Homes, a popular builder here in the Seattle area since 1969, has two large developments on the Kitsap Peninsula: Stendahl Ridge in Poulsbo, and The Ridge at McCormick Woods in Port Orchard.  Carsten Rode, Community Sales Manager for The Ridge, and fellow Windermere agent, boasts of over 100 homes currently under contract in their developments, with prices ranging from the mid $250′s to the mid $260′s.

If you have a specific area of interest, whether as a Buyer or Seller, just drop me a quick note, and I would be glad to give you more specific data/information relevant to that area.

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Posted in Bremerton WA Real Estate, Buyers, Port Orchard Real Estate, Poulsbo Real Estate, Real Estate Bites, Sellers, Silverdale WA Real Estate | 3 Comments »

Tags: kitsap real estate market report

Okay, so maybe it was just a small bug bite on the Massive Internet News Windshield, but I thought it was pretty darn cool.

Yours truly (Rich Jacobson, aka ‘Sparky’) was mentioned and quoted in a recent Inman News article dated Thursday, May 10, 2007, entitiled “Real Estate Agents Learn to Google Themselves.” This was the 3rd part in a series on Web Trends written by Glenn Roberts, Jr.

My portion of the article dealt with the long shelf-life and lasting impact that our blogging has, and the measures we should employ to safeguard and protect the content we write, as well as the precautions over ‘what’ we write. Several other prominent members of ActiveRain, the real estate network, were interviewed in the article, including Denver’s own Kristal Kraft.

Of course, I’m still playing catch-up with my distinguished compadre, Bucksnort. His articles have been nominated twice now by the Magnificent 7, and he was interviewed by the Seattle Times. Or was that the Post-Intelligencer? Maybe it was the Kitsap Sun or the Central Kitsap Reporter? Nah, I bet it was the Ridgetop Junior High Bulletin. Go Raiders!

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Posted in Real Estate Bites, SoundBite Bites | 7 Comments »

John and Mary are frightened and more than a little upset. They need to ask for an extension on the closing of their new home purchase because the financing is not ready. They made an offer on their new home 26 days ago and had no idea their Loan Approval Letter was not worth the paper it was written on! Now their Earnest Money is at risk and the money they already spent on a moving company is in question. In addition, they have already paid for the appraisal.

When is a loan approval not a loan approval?

This is not a frequent occurance. It does happen often enough that savvy Realtors® and experienced sellers are somewhat wary of Mortgage Pre-Approval Letters from loan officers they don’t know through previous transactions. The reason they are wary is simple. Experienced Realtors® know that Pre-Approval Letters are written by loan officers, and loan officers can’t approve loans!

The who’s who of a mortgage transaction.

A Loan Originator is the real name for a person like me who is more commonly called a Loan Officer. A loan originator does exactly what the title implies. He or she creates (or originates) mortgage business. A loan originator’s primary job is to supply a never-ending flow of new loan clients. The title of Loan Officer is rather misleading. A good loan originator does not have to work very hard to maintain a flow of business. Previous happy clients and satisfied Realtors® will keep him or her pretty busy without the need to spend much time marketing.

After they find a client to work with, loan originators are responsible for making certain everything that must be done to close the loan, is indeed accomplished. This includes coordinating a Title Company, an Appraisal Company, a mortgage processor, two Realtors® (one for the buyer and one for the seller) and of course, the borrower. But, a loan officer does not approve loans.

The Loan Underwriter is an employee of the bank. The underwriter’s job is to make sure the borrower (represented by the Loan Originator) fits the Lenders Guidelines for Approval. The underwriter is the person who actually approves the mortgage loan. Very few borrowers ever speak with a Loan Underwriter. Many underwriters prefer it that way. They are busy people who want to be able to move quickly from one loan to the next. There jobs are dependent on speed and accuracy. Getting bogged down with client phone calls does not help with either speed or accuracy.

Whether you, as a borrower, are working with a Bank or a Mortgage Broker, your primary contact is probably a Loan Originator, not an underwriter.

How do you make sure your Pre-Approval Letter is worth something?

A Loan Commitment Letter is the document an underwriter sends to the loan officer once a loan is approved. This is the real thing! A commitment letter will detail every aspect of the mortgage. It will include the terms and interest rate. It will itemize the “Conditions” (the items that must be provided or explained for final approval). The commitment letter will be dated and it will have an expiration date. It may be signed by the underwriter. The Loan Commitment Letter is a formal, legally binding document.

So, if you want to be sure your pre-approval is really an approval, request to see the Commitment Letter! If you are unfamiliar with anything in the letter, have your loan officer explain the unfamiliar portions. It is after all, your loan commitment letter and there is no reason you shouldn’t see it!

In Washington State and many others, the seller has the right to request this proof from the Buyer’s Agent. If the seller has a savvy Agent, the Agent will verify the validity of the Pre-Approval Letter by requesting a Loan Commitment Letter.

In John and Mary’s case, had they simply known to ask for a copy of their Loan Commitment Letter, they would have found out that the loan was not yet approved when the Pre-Approval Letter was written. It shouldn’t have happened the way it did, but this happens often enough that as an educated borrower, you must verify that your pre-approval is a genuine approval.

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