If you’re one of those that truly believes your home should be your castle, here is a link to several castles that are for sale.
See anything that interests you?
Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
www.TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
www.CarolsWenatchee.com
source: Is Your Home Your Castle?
There has been a lot of talk recently about an impending "housing bubble". Here is a link to a blog dedicated exclusively to the topic of the housing bubble theory. Today’s post gives a summary of various markets and what is happening with inventory and price reductions across the country. I am getting more notices, through our MLS communication system, alerting us of sales that have failed before closing, and of price reductions. Is our market cooling a bit?
From my perspective, the affordable housing market in Wenatchee and the surrounding areas has cooled because there is, essentially, no inventory in the under $150,000 price range. People shopping in this range cannot afford homes in the higher price ranges… so they’re not buying OR their financing is failing and the transactions are not closing. There is demand. There isn’t inventory in the "right" price range.
For answers to specific real estate questions, contact:
Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
www.TopPropertiesWenatchee.com : Search homes and/or land for sale
www.CarolsWenatchee.com/wenatchee-realestate: Current news, info & trends
At $1,850,000… Here is a link to the most expensive listing currently on the market in the local Wenatchee area right now. It’s a 3700 square foot home on several acres along the Columbia River about 10 miles north of East Wenatchee.
On the other end of the spectrum, here is a link to the least expensive listing currently on the market… at $18,900. It is 924 square foot, 1981, single wide mobile home on leased land.
If, for some reason, the links don’t work e-mail me and I will send you the listings direct via e-mail.
Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
Since I’ve been posting the current foreclosure information on this blog, I’ve been getting a lot of inquiries lately. That’s a good thing because it means the blog is getting read. However, it’s also important to understand the reality of dealing with foreclosure properties so I’m re-posting anarticle I wrote last year for my other blog:
Dear Readers,
Regardless of the "hot" real estate market, there are lots of foreclosure homes on the Wenatchee housing market these days. I often get calls from people who want to buy foreclosure homes because they think they can buy them for pennies on the dollar, as they are led to believe… by, what I consider, somewhat false advertising.
The reality of dealing with foreclosure homes is not what most people have been led to believe. First of all, many of the foreclosed homes have been over-mortgaged. The only craze hotter than the home buying craze has been the lending craze. How many solicitations for re-financing your home have you received in the last year? Probably at least one per week.
If you really think about it, if a homeowner could sell their home for more than what they owe they’d do it… and keep the difference. This would certainly be better than getting kicked out of your home with nothing to show for it.
The truth is, most people owe more than what they would net (after paying off the mortgage and selling costs). So, what is happening is the banks are re-possessing the homes and trying to sell them for what is owed on the property. They are not trying to make a profit. They are just trying to recover their investment (plus legal fees to foreclose and sell).
O.K… so let’s say you do find a foreclosure you are interested in and the price actually does seem to be a good deal. Should you jump on it? Maybe and maybe not. The next problem with foreclosures is that the banks make you accept the house in "as is" condition. That means they make no warranties or guarantees. They know nothing about the property and take no responsibility or liability for it. You’ve got to do alot of "due diligence" when buying any home but even more so with a foreclosure homes, because there is nobody to take responsibility if there are undisclosed problems.
The next problem is financing. Many foreclosure homes have maintenance and repair issues. I’ve actually seen foreclosure homes where the toilets and kitchen cabinets have been stripped. Bitter occupants take what they can and leave in the night. Anyway, the foreclosing banks don’t want to spend the money to fix them up. They want to sell them "as is". This causes a problem when trying to get new financing. The "new" lender doesn’t want to finance a home needing repairs… so you need to have a large down payment (or all cash) to make the deal work. Then you need more cash to actually make the repairs.
If you actually do have enough cash to buy a foreclosed home, you might consider looking for a "desperate" seller BEFORE foreclosure happens. This is the Pre-Auction phase. You could probably buy the home for less from the seller than from the lender. If it actually goes through foreclosure, the lender now has the added legal and other foreclosure costs on top of their already high mortgage balance.
Every situation is different, of course. If you see a property you are interested in, I’d be glad to analyze it and discuss some strategies on a case by case basis.
For customized service or for answers to your specific real estate questions, contact:
Carol Williams: Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
Wenatchee Real Estate Specialist
According to an article at Bankrate.com , the Feds did not raise short term interest rates. This move is intended to encourage continued consumer use of credit cards and home equity lines of credit.
For current information on the Wenatchee housing market, contact:
Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
Or visit her (information laden) website at:
www.TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
source: Feds Hold Interest Rates
I’ve been watching the "Flip That House" program on TV lately and find it interesting. I am, however, quite bothered by the way they calculate "profit". They have a very simple (and misleading) formula for calculating profit. They take the difference between the final sales price and the original purchase price (plus the cost of renovation):
(Selling Price) - (Original Purchase Price + cost of renovation) = Profit. WRONG!
What they have not plugged into the formula were the loan origin fees (to finance the purchase price) OR the selling costs involved to sell the house at the end. Loan origination fees generally run from 1.5% - 3% (and up). Selling costs will run about 8.5%, depending on the county and state. When working with a real estate agent to sell the property, the fees are negotiable so there is some flexibility… but I’m trying to show you a realistic picture of buying and selling costs. And, be sure if you’re getting a loan on a property you intend to "flip" (selling quickly), be sure you do NOT get a loan that has a pre-payment penalty. These penalties can be substantial.
Anyway, let me show you a couple of scenarios from yesterday’s programs:
Home #1
Purchase Price $152,000
Cost of renovation 58,000
Total cost of acquisition: $210,000
Sales Price $315,000
Reported profit: $105,000 WRONG!
Reality:
Purchase Price $152,000
Cost of renovation 58,000
Finance fees @ 1.5% on 80% LTV $1,824
Total cost of acquisition $211,824
Sales Price $315,000
Less 8.5% selling costs: $26,775
Net Sales Value: $288,225 (less original cost of $211,824)
Actual profit: $76,401
* * * * *
Home #2: This one is very alarming when you look at the bottom line!
Purchase Price $1,050,000
Cost of renovation 85,000
Total cost of acquisition: $1,135,000
Sales Price $1,249,000
Reported profit: $114,000 WRONG!
Reality:
Purchase Price $1,050,000
Cost of renovation 85,000
Finance fees @ 1.5% on 80% LTV $15,750
Total cost of acquisition $1,150,750
Sales Price $1,249,000
Less 8.5% selling costs: $106,165
Net Sales Value: $1,142,835 (less original cost of $1,150,750)
Actual profit: <$7915> NET LOSS
* * * * *
Do you see the point I’m trying to make here. When you are calculating profit, please be sure to include ALL costs of acquisition and ALL costs of selling. It’s critical to the actual bottom line.
For answers to your real estate questions, please contact:
Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
www.TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
source: Profit From Flipping Houses
Below is a list of addresses for homes currently scheduled for auction in the Wenatchee, East Wenatchee and Malaga areas. If you find one of particular interest, let me know. I can suggest the best course of action for contacting the owner or lender.
In my opinion, pre-auction properties hold more potential than foreclosure properties. These are people who are having difficulty making their mortgage payments but have not yet gone into foreclosure yet. Not all these homes will actually be auctioned because the owners will find a way to pay their delinquent account before that happens. If it does go to auction, it is usually because there is not enough equity in the home for the owners to bother trying to salvage it. Where there is substantial equity, they often find a way to pay-off the delinquent payments before it actually goes to the auction. Because these homeowners are having difficulty making payments, you may be able to negotiate a good sale price and get a better value than on a home that is already in foreclosure.
Once a home has gone into foreclosure, the bank has incurred additional expenses and tacks those fees onto the base price of the home. Foreclosure properties tend to be in less desireable condition. People who are losing their home to foreclosure do not continue to maintain the property and often leave it in a state of disrepair.
East Wenatchee:
1127 N. Devon Ave. 3 bed / 2 bath
1761 Manhattan Dr 4 bed / 3 bath
1801 - 3rd St. N.E. 2 bed / 1.5 baths
520 Lacy Place 2 bed / 1 bath
1604 Flora 2 bed / 2 bath
3126-E Sunset Hwy 2 bed, 1 bath
215 S. Kentucky 3 bed / 2 bath
576 Morning View 4 bed / 2 bath
1026 Gilbert Ct. 4 bed / 3 bath
20 N. Nile 3 bed / 2 bath
1617 N. Astor Ct. 3 bed / 2 bath
2513 N. Ashland Ave 4 bed / 3.5 bath
612 S. Larch 3 bed / 2 bath
Wenatchee: (Sorry no bed or bath info)
1314 Poplar Ave
1791 Judkins
1602 Walnut
165 Brookside
1710 Springwater
545 Chrisand
550 Methow
704 Okanogan
834 Walker
512 Red Apple Road
360 Crawford
404 S. Chelan
1329 Castlerock
1036 Madison
932 Monroe
1005 West Park
1309 McKittrick
820 Monroe
343 Malaga
820 Monroe
1261 Millerdale
1639 Ridgeview Loop
Malaga: (Sorry no bed or bath info)
3499 Marlette Place
For answers to your real estate questions, contact:
Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
www.TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
source: Pre-Auction Homes
While our local Wenatchee area economy appears strong, Inman News reports the National foreclosure rate is up 24%. That doesn’t mean 24% of mortgages are foreclosed upon. It means there are 24% more foreclosures.
For current information on the local real estate market in Wenatchee, East Wenatchee, Rock Island, Malaga, Cashmere, Waterville and other North Central Washington areas, contact:
Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
www.TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
source: National Foreclosures Up
Homeowners often face the decision as to whether they should remodel their existing home or just sell and find another home more suited to their needs. I recently read an article on the Seattle PI real estate blog that identified the pros and cons of each. It’s worth a read.
If you have real estate questions, please contact:
Carol Williams, Realtor, ABR, e-PRO, GRI, PME, REI
Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
source: To Move or Remodel ?
A beautiful new listing has just come on the market… 100 feet of Columbia River Waterfront property near East Wenatchee, with a contemporary 3200 square foot home, boat dock and riverfront prestige and lifestyle. Listed at: $899,900. For complete listing details and to schedule a preview of this beautiful Lake Entiat waterfront home, contact:
Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
Search all homes and land for sale in North Central Washington
source: Columbia River Waterfront
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