Real Estate Blog

•Use better financing for today’s real estate market.

•Maximize the benefits of leveraging with smarter loans.

•Decrease taxes, and increase net profits.

•Use 1031 exchanges to increase your wealth while decreasing your investment risk.

•Use long-range planning to build your portfolio at a faster and more profitable rate.

This seminar is presented in cooperation with Liberty First Services Inc., Puget Sound 1031 services & Investment Dream Services LLC and is open to the public, there will be NO solicitations, registrations, or sales offers associated herewith.

source: Free Real Estate Investment Seminar

"Falling" may not be the proper term to describe what’s currently happening with mortgage rates because I think of "falling" as a drastic drop.  Rates have come down for several weeks, though.  Here’s a link to additional information and some details on what’s happening with mortgage rates.

Rates are still good and it’s a good time to buy, before values go up any more.  Remember, our local home appreciation rate in the Wenatchee area is forecast at 16% for the next 12 months.   If this holds true, that means a $200,000 home on today’s market will cost $232,000 next year at this time. 

For answers to your real estate questions in North Central Washington contact:

Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com 

Search homes and land for sale in Wenatchee and the surrounding area

source: Mortgage Rates Falling

source: Stupid Complaints Quash Growth

Click image to enlargeI was in Chelan recently playing the beautiful Bear Mountain Ranch Golf Course.  Every single tee box and fairway has a fabulous view of Lake Chelan and the surrounding area. 

If you’re a golfer, I highly recommend playing this course… and there is a special rate for Chelan & Douglas county residents.

For recommendations on other courses, or for answers to your real estate questions, contact:  Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com

source: Bear Mountain Ranch Golf Course In Chelan

The other day I received an e-mail asking what the taxes are for a specific property.  This was from someone (approaching retirement) who now lives in an area where taxes have skyrocketed.  He was annoyed that his taxes have increased so much and wanted to move to an area with lower taxes.

The thing you need to know about property taxes is the actual "tax rate" probably doesn’t change that much over time.  What increases taxes is the escalating values, making the total tax bill higher.  I don’t know what the property tax rate in King county is (for example), but I would guess our rates in Chelan and Douglas counties are a little higher, yet our taxes are lower.  The reason for that is the total tax is based on value.  Our values are considerably less than King county so, therefore, our property taxes are actually lower… despite a higher base rate.

A typical tax rate of 1.25% (of assessed value) in this area would create a total tax of $2,500 on a $200,000 home.  This $200,000 home may be $400,000 in King county, thereby creating a much higher tax bill.  As the baby boomers are moving here to build or buy their retirement home, my advice to them is "Build or buy the home you want and need, but don’t make it any bigger (or more expensive) than you really need it".   If you pay $200,000 for a home that increases in value 15%, your new tax bill will be around $2875 (up from $2500).  If you pay $300,000 your current tax bill will be around $3,750 and your future tax bill (at the 15% appreciation rate) will be $4,125.   Do you see the point I’m trying to make here?

The up side of buying a higher priced home is that appreciating values are generally on a percentage basis. 15% of $300,000 is $45,000 whereas 15% of $200,000 is only $30,000.   You’ve made an extra $15,000 (on paper anyway).  Looking at it in that light, in an escalating market, it is good to buy the most expensive home you can afford.  However, once the appreciation rate flattens out, you’re stuck with higher taxes. 

Theoretically, you would think the local governing agencies, setting the property tax rates, would be able to lower the rate as values increase.  This isn’t likely to happen, so weigh the pros and cons and make an informed decision based on YOUR goals and budget.

For answers to your real estate questions, contact:

Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com

Search the entire Wenatchee MLS for homes and land

source: Wenatchee Property Tax Rates

I recently received an e-mail with the following question:

"I’m researching new construction in Wenatchee, looking for 4 bdrm home around 1800-2100 sq. ft. What builders and communities are you aware of in this range?  It is hard to find builders, prices, floorplans and neighborhoods on the internet."

My reply went something like this:

What budget are you working with? New construction in the Wenatchee area currently runs from about $125 - $175 per square foot (and up), depending on quality of construction, upgrade package,  lot size & location. Most of the 4 bedroom homes have more square footage than you indicated being interested in, but there are certainly floor plans to accommodate your inquiry.   I have contact with builders in all price ranges and can heartily recommend some and consider others to need more "supervision" during the project.  Please let me know how I can help".  

Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com  
Search local, state or national listings

source: Wenatchee Builders, Prices, Floor Plans

source: The “MySpace” Ingredients

The most recent issue of the Columbia Basin Herald newspaper has an article predicting a full blown housing boom for Quincy, Washington.   Quincy has promoted themselves with the slogan "Opportunities Unlimited" for many years.  Perhaps this has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

Is Quincy the next boomtown in our backyard?  Will you, too, be looking at the homes for sale in Quincy section of the newspaper or on the internet?   Quincy is about 30 miles south of East Wenatchee, so similar in distance from Wenatchee as Leavenworth (which is 25 miles west).

Here is an excerpt from the article:

" QUINCY — Local officials here fully expect to experience a housing boom in the next two years as 800 new homes are constructed, jumping sharply from the past when a robust year of growth meant 15 homes were built.

The city is also trying to expand its growth management area to gain more control of valuable real estate surrounding this community of about 5,400 people, enabling it to supply municipal services to future industrial residents.

Yahoo! Inc. broke ground here last week on a jumbo data center. Microsoft Network is already well under way building its largest ever data center. The two Internet heavyweights, along with others who are considering a move to Quincy, are attracted to the area’s inexpensive power. But Quincy also has cheap land, sits 10 miles north of Interstate 90, and has a 40-acre intermodal facility with direct rail links to Seattle and Tacoma. "

For full text of the article, click here.

For answers to your real estate questions, contact:

Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
Search the local, state or national MLS database

source: Quincy, Washington Housing Boom Forecast

I’m seeing a flurry of price reductions through the Wenatchee MLS during the last week.  Could the market be changing a bit? 

For the latest info and trends, contact:

Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com

Search the local North Central Washington MLS for homes and land for sale

source: Price Reductions

Click on image to enlargeHave you ever seen a real live turkey close up?  I hadn’t until we stopped at Smallwoods Fruit Stand, between Leavenworth & Peshastin.  This turkey was, literally, just strutting around at his (or her) leisure.  Pretty cool.

Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
Search for homes and land for sale in the Wenatchee area

source: The Turkey