Posts Tagged ‘seattle home buying tips’

In the past few years, home buyers in Seattle have gotten pretty savvy.  Gone are the days of competing with 12 other offers to get the home of your dreams and with it the sellers omnipotence.  Now buyers are able to negotiate for all kinds of things they could not before.  The biggest change I see is that buyers all want to have an inspection done and that is great.  It is really important to have a professional go through your home and take a look to see what is in need of attention, and even give you tips on how to maintain your home after you move in.   But there is one thing that home buyer’s are rarely aware of until I encourage them to have it done.

The Sewer Scope

What is a sewer scope?  A sewer scope is when a professional comes to the house just like an inspection and puts a camera down the sewer line.  They take a look to see if there is any damage or collapses in the line that would be your responsibility after the sale of the home.  It sounds like a small thing but a collapsed sewer line can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

I always tell the story of a friend of mine who had a collapsed sewer line that cost $40 thousand dollars to fix.

It’s not something you want to find out about after the sale.  Find out during the inspection timeline, and have it addressed or negotiate a better offer in light of the information.

A sewer scope is going to cost about $200 in addition to the $400 an average inspection is going to cost, but for the piece of mind of knowing your line, and in light of the potential cost to fix a collapsed line, it is definitely something you want to have done.

Hopefully the sewer line is just fine, but if it isn’t you want to know before the house is yours.

Related posts:

Always do an inspection!

Give me a call if you need help.

Rob Graham, Accredited Buyer’s Representative

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

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A few days ago I posted about the neighborhoods that have the highest inventory of single family homes.  I thought I would do the obligatory follow up with inventory numbers for Seattle condos.

To see the post about single family homes click here

As a quick recap, when realtors talk about inventory.  We are talking about the relationship between how many homes are for sale and how fast they are selling.  It is the numbers we use to determine if it is a “seller’s” or “buyer’s” market. 0-3 months of inventory is considered a seller’s market, 3-6 months is considered a balanced market, and more then 6 months of inventory is considered a buyer’s market.

Put simply: The more homes and the slower the pace, the better it is for Buyers.

So here are the numbers:  Seattle Metro Average 12.1 Months of Inventory.

All neighborhoods are still in the buyers market range and considerably have higher inventory then the numbers for single family homes. 

The reason for the discrepancy is largely due  to over development and the sudden difficulty with financing for condos.  Long story short, many condos do not qualify for FHA financing, in particular if they are a condo conversion or new construction and less the 50% sold. 

Click here to see my post on FHA financing.

The bottom line for condos is that they offer some of the best opportunities for first time buyers.   You need to be able to qualify for the financing, or look for a building that is FHA approved or would pass FHA spot approval and is 50% sold.  Still there are bargains out there to be had. 

Give me a call if you need help,

Rob Graham, Accredited Buyer’s Representative

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 1% [?]

You have no doubt heard people refer to it being a buyer’s or seller’s market, but what does that mean?  When realtors use those terms we are referring to "inventory".

Inventory is the relationship between how many homes are for sale

and how fast they are selling.

The more homes for sale and the slower the selling pace, the better it is for buyers.  Generally more then 6 month of inventory is considered a "Buyer’s Market".  Meaning, that if no new homes came on the market, at the current pace, it would take 6 or more months for buyers to buy up all the homes currently for sale.

The most recent inventory number for the month of December in the City of Seattle is: 7.6 months of inventory (Buyer’s Market)

But Seattle is very neighborhood specific.  So how do specific areas of town compare to the average?  Here are the #’s.

Single Family Homes Only (The higher the inventory number, the better it is for Buyer’s)

Higher inventory numbers generally mean that there is more bargaining power for the buyer.  You can generally negotiate better terms, have the seller pay more toward closing costs, etc.  That isn’t to say that bargains aren’t to be found all over the city, just that in general there are more houses for sale and moving more slowly in some areas.

Keep in mind that these are single family homes only.  I’ll post condos soon.  The numbers are interesting.  NE Seattle has faired the best and that is typically true.  In fact right now, NE Seattle is actually a balanced market.  Many people might be surprised by that.

One more thing to keep in mind.  An area as large as NE Seattle includes some very different neighborhoods.  Laurelhurst and Lake city for example.  W. Seattle includes everything from White Center to Belvedere.  So if yo have specific questions about a particular neighborhood or zip code, leave me a comment and I’ll get the info to you.

RELATED TOPIC:

Most Buyer Friendly Seattle Neighborhoods: Condos

Give me a call if you need anything.

Rob Graham, Accredited Buyers Representative

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 2% [?]

The short answer is a lot.  The following chart shows how much purchasing power you loose with each half a point rise in interest rate.  Each line represents what you can afford if you keep your monthly payment the same and only increase the interest rate on your home loan.  The numbers are pretty powerful.

A rise of 1.0% from 5% to 6% represents 10% less home you can afford.

Considering interest rates have come down dramatically this year and home prices have also fallen, now represents a great time to buy.

As of this writing, the average interest rate for a 30 year fixed loan is 4.75%

Also, keep in mind that if you look at historic trends, interest rates fall gradually over time but they tend to go back up fairly dramatically.

RELATED TOPIC:

Best Financing Options for Seattle First Time Home Buyers: FHA Loans

Let me know if you need help.

Rob Graham, Accredited Buyer’s Representative

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 2% [?]

One of the great things about being a real estate agent in Seattle is you get to tout all the great things about the city.   Often people considering a move to Seattle are not aware of how many great institutions there are here. 

One place that is near and dear to my heart is Seattle Children’s Hospital.  As many of you who know me well are aware, Children’s has been a part of my life for nearly 8 years now. 

I started volunteering there long before I was an agent and continue to go (weather and health permitting) once a week, to the Teen Zone at Children’s.  I take it as a personal challenge to be as entertaining, goofy, mischievous and all together distracting as I possibly can for three hours each Wednesday night. 

Families considering moving to the Seattle area need to know that we have a world class pediatric institution right here.  So renowned is Children’s, that US News and World Report named it one of the top ten pediatric hospitals in America.

Children’s treats thousands of patients each year.  In my experience most hail from neighboring states like Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Hawaii, Wyoming, and Montana.  Sometimes children’s however sees patients from other parts of the world who come to seek medical treatment they are not capable of finding in their home country. 

One of my favorite things to talk about is Children’s uncompensated care fund.  Children’s has a policy of never turning away a patient based on their ability to pay.  Everyone who comes through the door gets the same level of care.  This is only possible through the incredibly generous contributions of the community through such organizations as The Moyer Foundation, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and many others.  Community contributions from thousands of citizens and the help of volunteers also keep the doors open. 

So if you are considering a move to Seattle, breathe easier knowing that you have a first rate pediatric facility right here at home for all the bumps and bruises or illnesses your little ones may get. 

Also, if you are ever there on a Wednesday night, feel free to stop in the Teen Zone and say Hi.

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