Kitsap County Real Estate :: Bremerton, Silverdale, Poulsbo, Port Orchard, Seabeck

I just posted over on my Kitsap Sun Reader Blog “Everyday CK” an article about Kitsap County Commissioner Josh Brown. Like most elected officials these days, you either like the guy or you don’t. Personally, I think he’s made some great strides for the residents of Central Kitsap County.

To read more about Josh Brown’s recent accomplishments, go to Everyday CK.

~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~

Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, and Crabbing in the Hood, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

Bookmark this article to:

Posted in Kitsap County Bites | 2 Comments »

Tags: commissioners, elections, everyday ck, Josh Brown, Kitsap County WA, kitsap sun

Remember the horror movie, “The Blair Witch Project?”

While shooting a documentary, three student filmmakers mysteriously disappear in the woods of rural Maryland. A year later, their documentary footage is found.

Most people hate it or love it. Either it scares you so bad you pee your pants, or it leaves you nauseous with a splitting headache! Regardless, The Blair Witch Project only cost a meager $35K to produce, but grossed nearly $250M! Proving that even the most amateurish, low budget productions can achieve tremendous success.

One of the fastest growing social networks on the Internet is YouTube. The popularity of this platform clearly demonstrates the significant rise of consumer interest in video and the rapid growth of its use for business sales and marketing.

Fortunately, as is typical when certain media trends skyrocket, a greater variety of cost-effective associated technologies becomes available. Such is the case with digital video recording, editing, and publishing.

Enter The Flip Video Recorder!

Available in 4 basic models and priced from $149 to $279, the Flip Video Recorder offers up to 4 hours of quick and easy video recording, allowing even the most technically-challenged to achieve some measure of success!

As simple as it is to record, it’s just as easy to download videos to your computer by using a ‘flip-out’ USB connector. Each model comes with FlipShare pre-loaded software that allows you to quickly edit your videos and seamlessly upload them to popular websites like YouTube.

Video Tip: Poor Man’s Tripod – To help reduce the amount of vibration and shake, find a bolt that screws into the base of the Flip recorder. Cut a length of string nearly as tall as you, and tie one end to the base of the bolt. On the other end, tie a large flat washer. When shooting video from a stationary position, simply step on the flat washer and pull up on the string until tensioned. This will allow you to capture smoother footage, even when you pan a scene. Plus, it fits into your pocket a whole lot easier!

The applications for using video in real estate are virtually limitless:

Neighborhood Reviews, virtual tours for listings, highlight area shops and businesses, feature local parks and attractions, market reports, local expert interviews, real estate advice, etc..

A short video is the ideal solution for Out-of-State clients who want more than a basic photo gallery. A video provides them with a greater sense of floor-plan flow and the surrounding context of neighborhood/area.

Video can allow prospective clients the opportunity to become better acquainted with you before meeting in person, further reinforcing their level of comfort and trust with you.

While you shouldn’t plan on winning an Oscar anytime soon, using the Flip Video Recorder can be one of the more effective tools you can utilize to communicate valued information to prospective clients and further distinguish yourself as the knowledgeable real estate professional for your market.

Check-out a couple of my favorite real estate video RockStars:

The Clark County WA RE Expert Dale Chumbley

The Vancouver BC Penthouse Expert Ian Watt

~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~

Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, and Crabbing in the Hood, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

Bookmark this article to:

Posted in Miscellaneous | 1 Comment »

Recently, a Seller entered into contract with a military Buyer who wanted to purchase their house using 100% financing through the VA home loan. The transaction went along smoothly enough, along through the inspection process. Then the Buyer’s lender ordered up the appraisal.

Unfortunately, the VA sent an ‘out-of-state’ appraiser not familiar with their market who used only a 1 mile radius around the subject property for finding comparable properties to determine her valuation. As a result, the home was appraised for almost 20K less than what the Buyer and Seller had agreed upon. In addition, the Buyer had also requested for the Seller to contribute $5K towards closing costs.

Both the Selling Agent and Buyer’s Agent submitted comps within a 2 mile radius of the subject property. The Buyer clients, knowing that the house was competitively priced and would not find anything remotely close in value within their price range, also got involved in writing letters to the VA.  Even the bank that was financing the deal  agreed that the 1 mile radius imposed by the appraiser was unfair and that the appraisal should be contested.  They took the agent’s comps and sent them onto the VA in a Request for Change of Value.

After more than two weeks and numerous errors, i.e.,  paperwork lost, given to the wrong person, the parties were informed that the Request for Change had been refused.  No reason or explanation was provided.

To compound their problems, the Sellers had been waiting for the appraisal results so they could act upon a counter offer for buying another house  – a house than they would now lose because other competing offers had come in on the property.

To make matters even worst still, both Buyers and Sellers will now miss their eligibility for the Federal Tax Credits being offered which end on April 30th.

This is yet one more example of the flaws inherent within the VA appraisal process and how people’s lives are impacted negatively as a result.

~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~

Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, and Crabbing in the Hood, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

Bookmark this article to:

Posted in Mortgage Bites, VA Financing | 3 Comments »

Tags: bangor subase, Bremerton WA Real Estate, Kitsap County WA real estate, va appraisals, va financing, va home loans

If you’re like me, it’s hard to keep up on all the new social media tools that crop up daily and weed through the ones that offer some semblance of value or benefit to your business.

A while back, I came across a tweet on Twitter from Mariana Wagner gushing with props about a new social media toy, Flavors.me

Of course, I did what any self-respecting, social media-obsessed adopter would do, I joined flavors.me and created my own custom web page, which you can find HERE.

So what’s the big deal about yet another social media profile aggregator?

Think “Your Own Unique Social Media Business Card.” You throw up some basic bio info, enter in all your various SM profiles and outbound feeds (blogs, websites), then it aggregates/organizes them onto a simple splash page that you can personalize with custom formatting and your own image background. The whole process takes all of about 10 minutes without any coding skills.

from Flavors.me Designer, Jack Zerby:

“When we set out to create Flavors, we never expected that people would catch on to the vision so quickly. The uniqueness and personality of each page is why I believe everyone is a designer, but may not know how to bring the vision from their head to the screen. Web design “themes” don’t allow the user to think like a designer. We wanted users to build their personal pages just like a painter would, layer by layer. Using a combination of wireframes, backgrounds, colors, and fonts, the possibilities become limitless. The personal homepage died with the popularity of social network profiles, and we aim to bring it back.”

Flavors.me is simply one more tool for providing prospective clients or business associates with a quick snapshot of who you are and the various web/blog sites you author and social media platforms you frequent. It’s a fun and creative way to further distinguish youself from the masses of other agents out there. Embed a link to your Flavors.me profile on your website or your email signature!

To join Flavors.me, use the invite code ‘heat’

~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~

Rich enjoys using the tools of social media to brag/boast about the quality of Life on the picturesque Kitsap Peninsula in scenic WA State. He is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, ActiveRain, Crabbing in the Hood, Everyday CK, Facebook,  Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

Bookmark this article to:

Posted in Technology Tools for Business | No Comments »

Tags: flavors.me, social media aggregators, virtual business card

Real Estate Market Report for Kitsap County WA 04/08/10

I thought I would do something a bit different this month, and show all of the specific MLS zones within our county, rather than just collective county-wide figures.

As you can see, each area is broken down by ‘Active Listings’ (how many homes are currently available for sale), the calculated ‘Months of Inventory’ for each area, how many homes have ‘Sold’ in the past 6 months, the average ‘sales’ price of those homes sold, the average ‘Listing’ price of the homes sold, the ratio % of sales price versus list price, and the average ‘Days On Market.’

Obviously, East Central Kitsap and West Bremerton are still the selling ‘hot spots’ as are Poulsbo, Port Orchard, and South Kitsap West of Hwy 16.

Where the market is heading right now is anybody’s guess. The tax credits courtesy of Uncle Sam for 1st Time Buyers and Repeat Buyers are soon to expire, so there will probably be some spurt of last minute activity for those. The changing season to warmer weather tends to bring out more Buyers and more Sellers as well. Additional short sales and bank-owned properties will continue to have a negative effect on pricing and appraisal valuations.

Whether you’re a Buyer or a Seller, there are opportunities out there. Give me a call and I can help you make better sense of the market, and determine what is your most wise and prudent direction.

~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~

Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, and Crabbing in the Hood, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

Bookmark this article to:

Posted in Kitsap Market Reports | 4 Comments »

Tags: april 2010, Kitsap County WA, market report, real estate