“When the Going gets Tough!”….Today’s Sellers on the Kitsap Peninsula WA

October 30, 2007 at 2:42 pm · Filed under Bremerton Real Estate, Silverdale Real Estate, Port Orchard Real Estate, Bainbridge Island Real Estate, Poulsbo Real Estate, Real Estate Bites, Buyers, Sellers, Sparks from Sparky, Gig Harbor Real Estate

These are challenging days for Sellers, not only here on the Kitsap Peninsula, but in housing markets throughout the country. Inventory levels of available homes are at an all-time high; many homes languish on the market for what seems like an eternity, with little or no activity; loan underwriters have tightened their purse strings, making it much more difficult for hopeful buyers to qualify; global uncertainties, from the war in Iraq, to the price of crude oil, has consumer confidence faltering, keeping many potential buyers sitting on the fence.

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There is a wide spectrum of Sellers out there:

• The ‘Late Show’ Seller - this one is lost in a time warp and still thinks it’s a brisk Seller’s Market. Their listing price is over a year old and about 25% too high.
• The ‘Upside Down’ Seller - their adjustable rate mortgage just went throught the roof, and they owe more than the house is currently worth. Surely someone will pay more than what they need to net?
• The ‘Perceived Value’ Seller - “Our house is the nicest house in the development. We’ve invested a lot of money into improvements over the years, and we think it should sell for a lot more than what other homes are selling for.”
• The ‘Robbing-Peter-to-pay-Paul’ Seller - this Seller has an offer on another house and has to sell their current home for ‘X’ amount of dollars in order to make the new purchase work.
• The ‘Testing-the-Water’ Seller - “We don’t HAVE to move, but let’s price it really high and just see what happens.”

Tough market conditions call for equally Tough questions:

1. Why are you selling your house? What is your motivation? Do you HAVE to move right now?
2. When your Listing Agent conducted their market analysis, what price range did they determine/advise? How does that price compare with what your house is listed for now? What counsel does your Agent have for pricing today?
3. How long can you afford to NOT sell your house?
4. What ’other’ viable options are there to selling? A Lease/Purchase agreement? Conversion to a rental?

They say that there are only 3 reasons why a house doesn’t sell:

• The house is overpriced.
• There is some obvious, glaring material defect with the house that screams out, “Don’t Buy Me!”
• Your Listing Agent has fallen asleep at the marketing wheel.

These are the only reasons. If your house has been on the market for any length of time, without any activity, showings, or offers, it’s has to be one of these three.

There are 3 things that determine how quickly and successfully a house will sell:

1. Location
2. Condtion
3. Price

Of these 3 things, you, as a Seller, can control 2 of them. You can work to improve the condition of the property - the curb appeal, how well it shows; and you can determine the asking or listing price.

A great resource for Home Sellers is “Preparing Your Home to Sell: How to Increase Your Home’s Sales Appeal“ by David Knox.  I have several copies of this DVD available for loan, or go to www.davidknox.com

Even though the market has slowed, there are still Buyers out there who are moving to our area. Hopefully, asking yourself some of these tough questions will enable you to more aggressively market & sell your home, helping you to “Achieve the Next Adventure in Life!”

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“Late Crabbing Season Re-Opens!” - Bites of Kitsap County

October 29, 2007 at 4:01 pm · Filed under Bites of Washington, Bites of Kitsap, Sparks from Sparky

For all our fellow SoundBiters:   The Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife recently announced that 5 areas of the Puget Sound will reopen to recreational crab fishing.

This is welcome news to those of us here in Kitsap County who religiously drop our crab pots out on Hood Canal during the Summer months. The past couple of seasons have been rather short and disappointing, to say the least. Crabbing season used to start in early June and close towards the end of September. The last couple of years they pushed the start out to July 4th weekend, and closed it Labor Day weekend. So this reopening affords us a few more opportunities to stock our freezers!

Starting at sunrise November 1st, Marine Area 6 (eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca), Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet), Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton), Area 11 (Tacoma/Vashon), and Area 12 (Hood Canal) will all reopen for sport crabbing.

Unlike the normal Summer season, this Late Season opening will allow crab fishing all 7 days of the week. All other size and daily catch limits apply. This Late Season will extend through January 2, 2008.

So if you can play hooky from work on a sunny day, or don’t mind braving the cooler Fall elements, then head out and snag up a few more Dungies!

For more details, go HERE.

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Westsound Bank — A Kitsap County Lender In Trouble

October 25, 2007 at 5:54 am · Filed under Bites of Buckwheat, Bites of Kitsap, Mortgage Bites

Yesterday I decided not to publish an article about the troubles one of our own is having in Kitsap County. I hate to see a local company struggling. But Westsound Bank’s struggle has just become very public. Both the Kitsap Sun Newspaper and the Seattle Times published articles this morning concerning Westsound Bank’s recent SEC filing.

Yesterday’s information came as no surprise to those of us in Kitsap County mortgage lending. The abrupt departure of a key employee last month and the almost immediate closing of the mortgage lending department at West Sound Bank caused quite a stir, raised numerous questions from locals and created considerable concern among area builders and property developers.

The NASDAQ has Westsound Bank as the worst performing stock for the day. Share values fell almost 43%.

Westsound Bank is under investigation by both the FDIC and Washington State’s DFI (Department of Financial Institutions). There is more speculation and rumor, than facts available right now. But there is no doubt, the next few months will be difficult ones for the Bank.

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WA Foreclosures - What is a Deficiency Balance?

October 24, 2007 at 4:44 pm · Filed under Bites of Buckwheat, Bites of Washington, Mortgage Bites, Credit Bites

Life can be overwhelming at times. It happens to us all. There’s information overload, the mounting costs of everything from gasoline to college educations, the internet explosion, health care cost increases, international strife, the whole political tennis match, FHA reform, rising foreclosure estimates in America and the day-to-day business of living while raising families. Have you tried to help your children with their homework lately? It’s no wonder many Americans consider “letting the house go back to the bank” as a viable solution to the ever-present stress of living life.

As a solution to debt problems, Foreclosure may not provide the financial relief some homeowners are seeking. Rather than ending up with a more managable budget after foreclosure, many consumers are horrified to find they must still make payments to a lender on a home they no longer own. The problem didn’t get better, it got worse.

Homeowners with significant equity in their homes tend to fight vigorously to save them. Homeowners who believe they have little to lose in equity, are more apt to “throw in the towel” when financial times get tough. These homeowners often get hurt the worst. And its not uncommon.

A deficiency balance occurs when the proceeds of the sale are insufficient to cover all the costs associated with the property being sold. First, there is the mortgage (sometimes there are more than one). Then there are late fees, attorney fees, court cost and any penalties that were assessed during the Foreclosure process. Sometimes there are back taxes that must be paid and unpaid utility bills. Once all these amounts are added up, they often exceed the amount of money generated by the sale of the property by tens of thousands of dollars. Now the homeowner is a renter with a huge liability owed on a home they no longer own as well as the cost of rental housing.

One of the hardest things for any of us to do is to keep a clear head while under financial pressure. It is the one time we can ill afford to make a poor decision. A decision to allow a home to be foreclosed that results in this scenario, does nothing to alleviate the stress a homeowner with financial trouble is under. It just prolongs the misery. Think twice before “throwing in the towel”. Is there ANY other way to work your way out of this tight spot?

To make matters even worse, if the Lender decides to “Forgive” the deficiency balance, don’t be surprised if the IRS labels this as Income and demands taxes on the money. They have done it many times in the past.

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October Wind Storm - Pacific Northwest Style!

October 24, 2007 at 2:55 pm · Filed under Bites of Buckwheat

The Pacific Nortwest is my favorite place in the world. But when Mother Nature decides it’s time to prune some trees, things get a little dicey! This was just a reminder of who built the mountain ranges around here.

Click on the photo to see a larger view.

To give you some perspective…This is a Washington State Ferry. It is not a small boat. These Ferries hold up to 125 vehicles plus passengers. That is a very LARGE wave in the Puget Sound.

Typically, all the motorcycles are parked at the front.

(Photo credit: Unknown. This was sent to me in an email. I’d love to acknowledge the photographer)

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VA Loan Limit Raised to $1,000,000

October 23, 2007 at 10:02 am · Filed under Bites of Buckwheat, Bites of Washington, Mortgage Bites

Just a few weeks ago SoundBiteBlog posted an article about VA Loan Limits and Ginnie Mae. In short the article stated that, beginning September 1st 2007,  Ginnie Mae has lifted the maximum loan limit cap on VA Mortgages. This seemed like big news to me at the time, yet there still has not been much media coverage on the subject.

Yesterday, the first lender in Washington (that I know of) sent out a memo to Mortgage Brokers announcing they have raised the VA Loan limit to $1,000,000! It was bound to happen. Someone had to be the first to jump on this opportunity. The previous VA Loan Limit was $417,000. This is a huge jump. In case you are wondering, the lender is Network Mortgage Services, Inc. of Lynwood, WA.

This increase applies to 2, 3 and 4 unit properties as well as Single Family dwellings.

Other VA guidelines remain the same. VA only makes loans on Owner Occupied Properties. So, a VA Borrower wishing to purchase a 4-plex, must live in one of the units. Regardless of that fact, what a terrific way for a local buyer to get into the real estate investment game!

In speaking with a number of Real Estate Professionals I have noticed there is quite a bit of misunderstanding about VA Loans and how the VA Funding Fee works. Here’s a brief explanation.

The maximum guarantee that VA will make on a property has not changed. What this means is if a buyer wants to exceed the $417,000 conforming limitation, VA will guarantee the larger loan, but the borrower must have some down payment. Now before you shake your head and say “there had to be a catch”, consider how it works.

VA will guarantee up to $417,000. The buyer must come up with 25% of the amount above $417,000. As an example, on a $517,000 purchase, the buyer will need to raise $25,000 for down payment. That is 4.8% down! It sounds like a great deal to me! Especially if the buyer is purchasing a 2, 3 or 4 unit property. Very few multi-family loan programs are in the same ballpark. 4.8% down, no mortgage insurance, attractive fixed rates and reasonable credit guidelines. Just try to find a better loan package than that.

I would imagine now that Network has raised the bar, other VA lenders will soon announce they have raised their limit too. The one question I still have is whether or not this increase applies to Refinance Transactions. At this time, refinances have not been addressed at all.

All in all, this is great news for Washington Real Estate buyers, Realtors® and Loan Originators.

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New Seabeck WA Marina: “Definitely Worth the Wait!”

October 18, 2007 at 1:01 pm · Filed under Bites of Washington, Bites of Kitsap, Sparks from Sparky, Business Bites

As many of our readers may know, there is a project currently underway to build a new marina out in Seabeck WA. As an avid recreational boater, this news is music to my ears! While there are numerous marinas on the eastern side of the Kitsap Peninsula, there aren’t any places to moor your boat or gas up on the Hood Canal side.

The new marina (renamed “Olympic View Marina”) is the venture of a Seattle-based marina development group comprised of 4 partners, including local Poulsbo resident, Erik Bentzen, a professional yacht surveyor and marine consultant.

Supposedly, all plans for the project have met with approval from all local, County, State and Federal agencies. The development calls for a new breakwater and 200-slip marina, restrooms, fuel dock, and a sewage pump-out station. Space accomodation is also being made available to current store owners, like Seabeck Pizza, Turie’s Seabeck Espresso, Seabeck Landing General Store, and Barbie’s Cafe.

Exceptional care and concern has been consistently demonstrated by the developers of Olympic View Marina with regards to the positive environmental impact of the reconstruction, including addressing issues concerning adequate parking and local traffic safety; view restrictions; and any potential impacts on aquatic/tidal habitats and fishery resources. It has been the intention of the developers from the very beginning to go ‘above and beyond’ the permitting requirements.

The new marina offers a significant improvement to the previous one which was condemned as ‘unsafe’ and closed down for over two years. The design of the new marina will have a ‘low impact’ environmentally, and will actually make stated improvements to water quality and fish habitat. Additional repairs will greatly improve the visual aesthetics along the Seabeck shoreline.

While only some initial clean-up work has taken place, look for the reconstruction efforts to go into full-swing in the Spring of 2008.

Real Estate in Seabeck WA has experienced a tremendous amount of growth over the past several years, making the area very popular, especially for Kitsap waterfront properties. Valuations for both vacant land and residential properties should continue to increase, especially with the marina reconstruction.

For many local boat owners like myself, the new Olympic View Marina it will definitely be “Worth the Wait!”

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