Archive for April, 2009

Yes, I know “walkable” isn’t a word, but for those of you who are clients or frequent readers of my blog, you know that I love the web site www.WalkScore.com.

From the web sites main page you can enter any address in America and it will populate a map of the area immediately surrounding that address with all of the amenities the neighborhood has to offer.  Schools, parks, libraries, gyms, grocery stores coffee shops, etc.  It will also tabulate a “walk score”, for that neighborhood.  The Walk Score is a number from 1 to 100 rating of how “walkable”  the neighborhood is.

On the site they have a list of the top 40 most walkable metropolitan cities in America.  Our beloved Seattle ranked 6th.  Here is their top ten:

1.  San Francisco

2.  New York

3. Boston

4. Chicago

5. Philadelphia

6.  Seattle

7.  Washington DC

8.  Long Beach, CA

9.  Los Angeles

10.  Portland

Nice job Seattle.  Not a huge surprise for those of us that live, walk and ride here.

The site goes on to rank the top neighborhoods within Seattle.  I thought this info might be of greater use to those of you who have already decided to shop here in the Seattle area.

According to WalkScore.com here are the top walking neighborhoods in Seattle and their “walk score”:

1. Pioneer Square  99
2. Downtown  97
3. First Hill  96
4. Belltown  95
5. Roosevelt  95
6. International District  94
7. South Lake Union  94
8. University District  94
9. Lower Queen Anne  93
10. Wallingford  90
11. Central District  89
12. Capital Hill  87
13. Ballard  87
14. Freemont  85
15. Green Lake  84

Here are the “least walkable” neighborhoods according to WalkScore.com:

• Blue Ridge  32
• Windermere  33
• North Beach  34
• Arbor Heights  35
• Mathews Beach  40
• View Ridge  40
• Fauntleroy  42
• Rainier Beach  44
• South Park  48
• Broadview  48
• Riverview  49
• Seward Park  50
• Highland Park 52
• Hawthorne Hills  52
• Alki  52

Don’t shoot the messenger.  I know many of you love the neighborhoods on the not so walkable list.  feel free to browse the walkscore.com site though.  I think you’ll find it really helpful and a lot of fun.

As always,  if you are looking for an agent, give me a call.  I’ll be happy to help.

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Rob Graham, Acredited Buyer’s Representative

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 7% [?]

Earlier in the week I created a post about the top ten things to avoid when purchasing a home in Seattle. 

Top 10 Most Important Things to Avoid When Buying Your Seattle Home.

One of the items I listed was to not use the listing agent of the home you are trying to purchase to represent you in the transaction.  I am going to tick off a lot of other agents by telling you this, but tough.

In the standard listing agreement that the multiple listing service provides, there is the provision that the listing agent reserves the right to bring a buyer for the property and receive both the listing commission and buyer’s agent commission. 

It is a situation known as dual agency.  The agent is not truly representing either side and is now in the process of mediating a deal between both sides.  They get paid twice the commission in most cases, but both the seller and buyer receive slightly less service.

Think of it this way.  If the buyer and seller each have their own agent, each agent is required to represent the best interests of their client.  If on the other hand, an agent is representing both the buyer and seller there is no way to represent both sides interests.  In some cases the agent may in fact continue to only represent the best interests of the seller, leaving you to fend for yourself with terms and processes you are not familiar with.

Many agents in these difficult times are willing to perform the services of a dual agent and you can see why.  It is perfectly legal, but in my opinion not in your best interests.  Get your own agent.  It doesn’t cost you a dime and you will have someone representing your interests in the transaction.

I’d love to be your buyer’s agent.   Give me a call if you need help.

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Rob Graham, Accredited Buyer’s Representative

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 4% [?]

Everyone knows that you need to do an inspection and in fact frequent readers of mine have read about me insisting that a sewer scope be done as well. 

To find out more about sewer scopes you can read my earlier post. 

The biggest Mistake a Seattle Home Buyer can Make.

Many buyer’s however are not as familiar with these ten things that can make a transaction very hairy. 

1.  Do not spend all of your savings on the down payment and closing costs.  Moving always carries with it extra expenses, not to mention all the cool furniture you will want to buy once you move in.  Keep a decent amount of money in reserve for the first six months after you move.  If you find you have too much left over after that you can always make an additional payment toward your principle. 

2.  Do not use the listing agent to purchase a home.   The listing agent has entered into an agreement with the seller to represent their best interests.  By agreeing to work with you and the seller at the same time, a situation is created where the agent gets paid double but honestly is not able to fully represent either the buyer or seller’s interests.  It is called dual agency and while it is a great payday for the agent and perfectly legal, it results in you getting less then great representation most of the time.  Since using a buyer’s agent isn’t going to cost you anything anyway, why not have your own agent negotiating on your behalf?

3. Have your agent do a walk through of the home prior to the day of closing.  The standard purchase and sale agreement allows for the buyer’s representative to do a walk through and visual inspection of the home prior to closing.  Most agents do not perform this service, but it is a big deal.   The walk through is to ensure that the owner’s possessions are completely removed and the home is in swept clean condition.  There is nothing that ruins moving day more then getting the keys for you new home and finding boxes and boxes of the previous owners junk still in the home.  Once the house closes that junk becomes your problem.  If it is discovered prior to closing, the closing can be delayed until the previous owner removes the items. 

4. Get everything in writing.  This one sounds like a no brainer, but it bears repeating.  Don’t assume that nice second fridge or big screen TV is included in the sale if it isn’t in the contract.  Even if you have gotten verbal confirmation that certain items will stay, if they are not attached to the property, you better get it in writing.  Otherwise the seller can take them with them and you will have not have any recourse.

5.  Visit the home more then once. It never ceases to amaze me that people make such an enormous emotional and financial decision, without visiting the home more then once.  I recommend, you visit during the weekday and also on the weekend.  It is also a good idea to visit the home in the daylight and also at night to see what the difference is. 

6.  Shop your loan.  I know people who will go to 10 stores before they buy a TV, but to only one bank for a $400,000 mortgage.  Banks do differ.  Once you know what you qualify for from one bank, see if you can’t beat that offer.  Good clients are in short supply and if you tell a bank you already have one pre-approval and that if they beat it they can have your business, they will jump through hoops to try to find you a better deal.  Banks jumping through hoops for you is a good thing.

7.  Schedule the closing for the early part of the month but not before the 5th.  You have to trust me on this one.  Banks will give you amnesty for the first month’s mortgage payment.  Obviously you want to have the longest possible period of time before your first payment.  If you close on the 6th of May for example, you will not have a payment in June.  Your first payment will be due July 1.  If however you close on May 4th, your first payment will be due on June 1st.  So do yourself a favor and close between the 5th and the 15th or so and save yourself a months payment.

8.  Never use an agent you can not meet face to face.  I love the internet (obviously), but I would never use a real estate or mortgage agent I can not reach by cell phone and meet in person.  It is criminal how many transactions go bad because some fly by night company offered some phenomenal deal to a client and then can’t be located when a problem comes up.  Fortunately the recent downturn has run many of the cheap skate agents out of the business, but they are still out there.  Be careful and work with a reputable agent you can see and get a hold of.

9.  Drive your commute.  Sure it was a snap getting to the house during the Sunday Open House and on the following Saturday when you brought your folks by with your agent, but what is the drive like on Friday at 5 PM?   How long will it take you to get to work if there is construction on the bridges or a Mariner’s game?   Make the drive to and from work during the time you will normally be driving.  That way there are no surprises when you move in.

10.  Always get the ALTA Homeowner’s title Insurance.  When you purchase a home the seller is going to pay for a title insurance policy for you to cover you in case there is a claim against title in the future.  There are three different kinds or levels of insurance.  Obviously the seller would prefer to get you the cheapest kind with the least amount of coverage, but don’t fall for it.  The cost between decent and good coverage is negligible and I have never seen or heard of a transaction being held up because the buyer insisted on a better title insurance policy.  The ALTA policy is pretty standard across the industry and is the coverage you want for the vast majority of residential transactions.

So there you have it.  10 very simple and very common mistakes made by buyers and bad agents. 

Give me a call if you need help.   I’d love to be your agent.

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Rob Graham, Accredited Buyers Representative

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 49% [?]

It is a sunny Friday afternoon and I thought I would take a quick departure from talking about the nuts and bolts of buying a home in Seattle for a single post and share with you a fantastic piece of wisdom that was given to me today. 

I, much like you hope to be, am in the process of moving.  As such, I am going through all that I own.  I am to the point of dividing up my stuff into, garbage, charity and save piles.  I have made 4 trips in the past several days to various charitable organizations.  Today I was in a rush.  I have been carting around one box in particular for over a day in the back of my car.  After an inspection this morning I rushed to grab some food and noticed a donation center.  After I got my “nutrition” I headed over to drop of the box. 

I must have seemed like I was in a tremendous hurry (which I was).  A kindly elderly gentleman took my box and asked if I was moving.  I was not expecting the question and temporarily struggled to find the patience to answer, but did manage to let him know that I was in fact moving.  He handed me back my box and I thanked him and turned to jump back in my car.  My mind began to race with all the things I had to get done before showing homes that evening.  I would have completely forgotten the entire incident in seconds if it had not been for what happened next. 

From the direction of the old man, I heard “HEY!”  I was surprised and turned around.  The many waved me back.   My first thought was, “Oh what now.  All I want to do is go back to my office and get some things done.”   As if he wanted to whisper something secret in my ear he waved me close to him and said,

“Moving is stressful.  Be sure and take some time for yourself.  Always remember that the things you are moving are not nearly as important as YOU are.”

As I got back in my car it occurred to me how often I miss this simple points with my clients.  The stress I am going trough is probably small  compared to theirs.  After all I have no kids, pets and very few possessions comparatively.   I am intimately aware of the ins and outs of moving.  How often have I glossed over their stress.  I admit I narrowly focus on the details of every transaction at the expense of my clients emotional needs. 

It is funny how wisdom often finds us from the strangest places.  I don’t think I will ever forget the kind men who offered me a simple phrase he has probably shared hundreds of time.  I also hope I never forget the importance of what he had to say.  Most importantly I hope I can remember that supporting a client’s emotional needs is just as important as overseeing the transactional details. 

Popularity: 2% [?]

If you are reading this you are probably a fan of blogs.  I can also assume you have some interest in the Seattle real estate market as well given the title of my blog.  So it occurred to me that you might find a list of helpful blogs about Seattle neighborhoods valuable.

I have to admit that I got the idea because a blog all about Beacon Hill recently picked up an article that I posted and posted a link to it on their site.  I was flattered and thought that home buyers currently shopping might want an list of other blogs. 

If you are familiar with Seattle, you know that every five blocks in this town has a different personality.  To find the one that fits you and your lifestyle the best here are some helpful blogs.

Beacon Hill:

http://beaconhill.seattle.wa.us/  Thanks again for the link love.

West Seattle:

http://westseattleblog.com/blog/

Capital Hill:

http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/

Queen Anne:

http://www.queenanneview.com/

Georgetown:

http://www.blogginggeorgetown.com/

Magnolia:

http://www.magnoliavoice.com/

Ballard:

http://www.myballard.com/

Wedgwood:

http://wedgwoodblog.spaces.live.com/

Belltown:

http://www.belltowner.com/

South Lake Union:

http://www.thesouthlake.com/

Wallingford:

http://wallingfordseattle.tumblr.com/

If you want to subscribe to any of these blogs just click on the RSS feed within any of them.  You can receive any new posts to the site when they are made available.  It is a great way to keep you eyes on a neighborhood. 

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Rob Graham, Accredited Buyers Representative

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 80% [?]