Kitsap County WA real estate :: SoundBiteBlog.com

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.

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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

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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

The following is a brief analysis of the combined single-family home and condo market within Kitsap County, Washington for February 2010, provided by Rich Jacobson of Windermere Real Estate, in Silverdale, WA (this includes data for Bainbridge Island WA)

• Properties currently active on the market:  1730
• Properties closed in the last 180 days:  1358
• Average Sales Price:  $284,294
• Average List Price:  $295,084
• Ratio of List Price to Sales Price: 97%
• Average Days on Market: 94
• Sales Pending this Week: 93

Central Kitsap WA statistics separately: (Area 150)

• Properties currently Active on the market:  144
• Properties closed in last 180 days:  160
• Average Sales Price:  $236,201
• Average List Price:  $238,972
• Ratio of List Price to Sales Price: 99%
• Average Days on Market: 80
• Sales Pending this week: 7

For additional area specific market statistics, go to www.KitsapLife.com

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE MARKET NOW?

If I could pick one word to describe the current housing market, it would be ‘uncertainty.’

Most of us would love to believe that things will pick up as we enter the Spring season. Typically, we see a notable overall improvement in both buying and selling of residential properties. But with all the unknowns and instability of our nation’s economy, it’s difficult to accurately predict the direction the market will go in the next month or two.

Short Sales and Foreclosures will obviously continue to impact the market, but to what extent, no one is  sure.

Home prices here in Kitsap County WA, continued to slide in January, adding to the nearly 9% drop we experienced in 2009 over 2008, according to data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

As a comparison, the median sales price of closed homes in January 2010, $224,000, was 4.4 percent less than in January 2008.

Regardless, there continues to be a few exceptions to the rule. There were three north-end communities – Poulsbo, Lofall and Hansville, and two communities in South Kitsap -  Retsil and Manchester – that all enjoyed positive increases in sales prices when compared with the previous month. Close proximity of these communities to ample waterfront was no doubt an influence.

Poulsbo’s median closing price in January was $364,250; Lofall’s $450,000; Hansville’s $429,900; and Retsil and Manchester were at $287,450.

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEW BLOG ‘EVERYDAY CK’

‘Everyday CK’ – My New Blog on the Kitsap Sun

Just wanted to mention that I was recently afforded the opportunity of joining the team of bloggers on the Kitsap Sun website.

My blog is entitled ‘Everyday CK’ and is geared towards sharing information and encouraging conversations about the Central Kitsap area.

Please take a moment to hop over and subscribe!   ‘Everyday CK‘

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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

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Posted in Kitsap Market Reports | No Comments »

Tags: central kitsap wa real estate, kitsap county wa market report, Kitsap County WA real estate, kitsap peninsula, kitsaplife.com, Silverdale WA Real Estate

I experienced a ‘First‘ in my real estate career the other day.

In my 10+ years as a professional agent, an appraisal for one of my listings here in Kitsap County WA came in ‘under‘ value. In other words, an appraiser was sent out to determine if the home they were buying was worth what they had agreed to pay my Sellers. Unfortunately, the Appraiser’s NOV (Notice of Value) resulted in a rather substantial shortfall.

Did I mention that the Buyer’s are using VA financing?

Yes, that’s right, the Curse of the VA Appraisal STRIKES Again!

For those of you familiar with my articles here on SBB and over on ActiveRain, you know that I’ve written on this topic on a number of occasions, such as:

“Very Arbitrary” = VA Appraisals in Kitsap County WA

“Curse of the VA Appraisal in Kitsap Couty WA“

“Death of a Dream” – VA Appraisals Re-Visited

“VA Appraisals and The Luck of the Draw“

I feel very fortunate to have gone so long without any of the homes I’ve marketed and sold have an appraisal come back ‘under’ value. Now part of that is probably just sheer luck. But a big part of it is the pride I take in understanding and knowing our local real estate market, and pricing my listings at or near market value.

So when this particular appraisal came up short, I was surprised, to say the least. Well, shocked was more like it. No, I was really pissed!

Maybe you’re in the same boat and that’s what’s brought you to this article. You’ve come to the realization that “VA Appraisals are like a Box of Chocolates – you never know what you’re gonna get!”

What are your options as a Seller when a VA Appraiser’s Notice of Value comes in low?

1.   You can agree to lower your sales price to the lower appraised value, and move forward to closing (certainly the easiest resolve, but not always the most financially prudent).

2.   Have the Buyers make up the difference in ‘cash’ at closing, or negotiate/agree to share/split the difference (unfortunately, in a slow market (Buyer’s Market) it can be rather difficult convincing the Buyer to be generous).

3.   You can Request a Change to the NOV. Some call this a ‘Reconsideration of Valuation‘ or ‘Challenging‘ the VA Appraisal.

Personally, I don’t like using the term ‘challenging’.’ It comes off as being somewhat ‘adverserial’ in nature, and the last thing you want to do is alienate  or upset the VA Appraiser!

In the VA Pamphlet 26-7,  Chapter 13, pages 26-28, it states that the NOV can be changed if either the change is clearly warranted and fully supported by real estate market or other valid information considered adequate or reasonable by professional appraisal standards, or, the issuance of the NOV involved fraud, misrepresentation or substantial VA or lender administrative error.

Your Listing Agent should be able to help formulate any supporting documentation necessary for submitting your Request of Change. Most Listing Agents normally prepare a detailed Comparative Market Analysis for their Sellers to guide them in determining market value/listing price.

The Sellers can also elect, at their own expense, to have another professional appraiser, not assigned by VA, to conduct an additional valuation, and supply that information to the Lender for consideration.

The Request of Change to the NOV must be made in writing and should be submitted to the Buyer’s Lender. The Buyer’s Loan/Mortgage Officer should be able to provide you with a fax number or email address for the Lender so you can submit your documentation directly to them.

Once the Lender receives your Request for Change, they will normally forward it onto the VA appraiser originally assigned to the file, but only if it involves a value increase of more than 5% but less that 10%. If the Request for Change involves a value estimate of more than 10%, the Lender forwards the Request onto the VA Regional Office of Jurisdiction.

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the VA appraiser will amend or change their original valuation findings based on any supporting documentation you provide. In the end, their say is final, and their appraisal remains in effect for a period of 6 months. This means that if you decide to terminate the contract, and put your house back on the market, any subsequent Buyers using VA or FHA financing will be required to use the low appraisal. This can have a significant negative impact on the marketability of your home and effectively reduce the pool of potential Buyers.

All the more reason for you to build a strong, persuasive case for a value increase using solid, reasonable market data.

Have an appraisal question for VA? Click HERE and go to your respective State, where you can email your question to the VA Regional Office for your area.

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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, Crabbing in the Hood, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail: kitsapagent@gmail.com

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Posted in Real Estate Bites | 3 Comments »

Tags: Kitsap County WA real estate, va appraisals, va appraisers, va financing, va lenders

“Social Media is the new Water Cooler.

It’s where People Connect and Interact”

~ Rich Jacobson ~

I had recently published my second article in the series “Developing a Social Media Strategy for Small Business” to my blog over on ActiveRain and wanted my local SBB readers to know about it.

You can find the full article here:

“The ‘WHY’ of Social Media for Small Business”

The article explains some of the basic reasons why using social media makes sense for promoting and growing your business. Much of what I share is born out of my experiences in real estate, but can be easily adapted and applied to other business models.

To access the 1st article in this series, go to:

“Social Media is a Conversation, not an Advertisement”

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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, Crabbing in the Hood, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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Posted in Miscellaneous, Social Media for Small Business | 2 Comments »

Tags: Kitsap County WA real estate, small business in kitsap county wa, social media, social media marketing, social media optimization, social media strategy

An article in today’s Wall Street Journal casts a dark cloud over recent optimism that the housing market, and US economy in general, is in recovery (to read the full article, go HERE).

According to the article, authored by James Hagerty and Sara Murray, new home starts were down 10.6% compared to last month. They also quote current foreclosure statistics from LPS Applied Analytics, a research firm in Denver that 3.4% of US households (or about 1.9 million homeowners) are 120 days or more overdue on their mortgage payments, but are not yet in foreclosure.

What this means is that even more bank-owned homes and short sales will be flooding the market over the next year, adding homes to many areas that already suffer from over-supply.

How this will affect the Kitsap County WA real estate market is any one’s guess. The past few months have seen a significant drop in the number of foreclosed homes, compared to numbers posted mid-Summer. In July, nearly 190 homes fell into foreclosure versus just over 60 in October.

With the recent extension of the $8000 1st-Time Home Buyers Federal Tax Credit until July 1, 2010, we should see continued activity and positive opportunities for this segment. In addition, a Repeat Buyers Tax Credit up to $6500 was also approved, providing added incentive for current homeowners (to read more about these recent tax credits, go HERE).

Obviously, the people most challenged will be those who need to relocate, but bought their homes at the peak of the market. With little or no equity, competing against dropping home valuations, and the pending increase of foreclosures, will make selling these homes difficult, to say the least.

If you find yourself in a difficult or challenging situation, give me a call and I’d be glad to assist you, and discuss available options (360-440-4758).

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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, Crabbing in the Hood, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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Posted in Foreclosure | 1 Comment »

Tags: $8000 1st time home buyers tax credit, foreclosure rate, foreclosures in kitsap county wa, Kitsap County WA real estate, market condition, repeat buyers tax credit, short sales