For pictures and commentary on why
I believe Wenatchee will continue to be
a good market to invest in real estate…
follow this link.
Carol Williams,
Real Estate Agent
This post was written by Carol Williams, source: Why Is Wenatchee A Good Real Estate Investment
As we move into a new calendar year, it’s my goal is to:
Learn from the past
Enjoy the present
Plan for the future
May health and prosperity follow us all into this beautiful New Year!
Remember:
Information is FREE. Knowledge and Experience Are Priceless
Thinking of buying or selling?
Contact Carol Williams today: Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
This post was written by Carol Williams, source: Happy New Year
I am the exclusive agent in Wenatchee for a Lease-To-Own program that is an excellent option for people wanting to buy a home, but can’t qualify due to:
* Short Employment History
* Insufficient down payment monies
* Poor Credit
* Other reasons
I get a lot of inquiries about this program, so let me give an outline of how it works.
The program I represent prequalifies applicants based on income, not credit scores. We do review the credit report and credit scores, but it’s not how we qualify people. Once we verify the applicants income, we can establish a "price range" for people to shop in. Not everyone qualifies. If they don’t make enough income to purchase a decent house in our market we can’t help them.
You wouldn’t believe the people who call off of rent-to-own ads thinking they’re going to get a great house for cheap and all the rent goes toward the purchase. It’s not going to happen. I have people who want to spend $450 per month to buy a house. That will barely get a crummy apartment and certainly won’t buy a decent house. It might buy an old manufactured home on leased land but, as I explain below, we don’t deal in manufactured homes for the rent-to-own program. It doesn’t work due to slow appreciation factors
I advertise lease-to-own properties every day. The easiest way to explain it is to give a sample conversation with a caller to illustrate how I do lease-to-owns. (Disclaimer: Wanda WannaBuy is strictly a fictional character for illustration purposes only):
Phone: Ring-a-ding-ding (or in my case music to "Take Me Out To The Ball Game")
Cool Carol: Hello. This is Carol
Wanda WannaBuy: Do you have any rent-to-own homes in East Wenatchee (as compared to Wenatchee or other surrounding cities).
CC: Yes, I have over 37 lease-to-own homes to choose from in East Wenatchee.
WW: REALLY? How much do they cost?
CC: I have lease-to-own homes in all price ranges starting at $110,000 on up to over $300,000
WW: Can you send me a list?
CC: No. First we need to pre-qualify you for a price range. I am assuming you want a lease-to-own home because you can’t qualify for financing at this time. Is that correct?
WW: Yes. I went through a divorce and my ex-husband spent all of our money and ruined my credit
CC: O.K. We can deal with that. Let me summarize how the program works and if it sounds interesting, I will have you call the guy who pre-qualifies buyers for me. Does that sound good?
WW: Yes
CC: We qualify you based on your income, not your credit score. Once you are pre-qualified for a price range, you and I go out shopping for a home. You can pick any home you want (that is listed for sale) in your designated price range.
WW: REALLY? (They get very excited about that)
CC: Yes. Once you pick the home YOU want, I have an investor buy the home for you and they (the investor) put you in the home on a two-year (pre-arranged) lease/purchase agreement. Two years should be enough time for you to get your credit straightened out, right?
WW: Yes
CC: I will tell you, though, my investors will not buy manufactured homes. They don’t buy manufactured homes because they do not appreciate in value as quickly, or at the same pace, as regular stick built homes. We want you to be in a home that will appreciate for you in the future and you can build equity. Does this sound like a program that might work for you?
WW: Yes
CC: O.K. Would you like me to have the guy who pre-qualifies my buyers call you or would you like to call him?
WW: I will call him
CC: O.K… here is his number. Blah-Blah-Blah
So, that’s my initial conversation with them. The ball is then in their court to call my pre-qualifier. They will either call the guy who pre-qualifies buyers or they won’t. If they don’t it’s probably because they know they don’t have enough income to qualify.
But, I also have people call who make $3500 - $8,000 per month. I can help these people. I won’t go into all the details, but here are the highlights of the actual lease/purchase agreement.
The lease/purchase agreement is for two years. One year is not long enough for most people. When they enter the program, they pay a $1500 retainer. This does not go toward the purchase price. It is for on-going support. The buy-out price is 110% of the investors purchase price. I negotiate the best price possible upfront for the investor and provide comparable sales to justify the purchase price.
So, considering we are in a market appreciating at over 16% per year, this is a great opportunity for the buyer. It could even work at 5%. Anyway, theoretically, a home purchased for $150,000 would be worth $198,000 in two years. The buy-out price is $165,000. The lease/purchase buyer should have $33,000 equity in the home when they go to get financing. This could cover their down payment AND closing costs… AND it’s treated as a re-fi because they’ve been living in the house for two years.
The lease/purchase buyer’s payments are based on a formula that pays all of the investors acquisition costs…. mortgage, taxes, insurance, ROI for downpayment, etc. It’s just as though they are buying the house themselves… but using the investors money and credit. Of course the house isn’t in the tenant/buyers name yet but they get to accumulate appreciated value during the lease period so it’s easy to finance.
The rest of the story, and the key to the exceptional success of the program is the tenant/buyers must agree to entering our credit consulting service. The credit counselors go over their credit report with them and outline a plan to get them on track so they can pay-off debt, raise their credit scores (or whatever the issue is) and be ready to finance within two years. They can buy any time within the two year period. If they buy early, say after one year instead of two, they get a reduction on the buy-out price because the investor doesn’t have his/her money tied up for so long.
Does all of this make sense? Can you see how this is a good alternative for rent-to-own buyers? We have over an 80% success rate with this program and, in my opinion, it’s because we don’t let people get into more than they can afford and we make them accountable to do the things they need to do in order to get financing when the time comes.
Oh… by-the-way, we can work this program with new construction (pre-sales) too.
Information is FREE. Knowledge & Experience Are Priceless
Contact Carol today: Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
I’ve been talking about it for months, and the latest statistics out indicate home prices in the Wenatchee area are rising faster than previous forecasts. Our appreciation ranks 5th in the entire nation for the first three quarters of 2006.
Despite some cooling, according to an article in the week-end edition of the Wenatchee World newspaper, home prices have increased 22% since the first of this calendar year. Earlier forecasts were in the range of 16%.
What is fueling the growth? Aside from the flurry of baby boomers choosing Wenatchee as a retirement and second home destination, our strong and diverse economy should support long term stability, and a strong housing market.
Home inventories remain very tight in the under $250,000 price range. To search homes and land for sale in all price ranges, click here.
To follow the construction of a new home being built click here.
Information is FREE. Experience & Knowledge are Priceless.
Contact Carol today: Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
The October 2006 SNAPSHOT of Wenatchee Real Estate activity has been released by Pacific Appraisal Associates. A summary of some of the info in the report is as follows:
MLS Market Area Totals:
Number of homes sold year to date: 1,018
(up 3% from one year ago)
Dollar Volume of homes sold YTD: $233,678,144 (up 14% one year ago)
Median Sales Price YTD: $206,450 (up 18% from one year ago)
Number of homes on the market: 190 (down 19% from one year ago)
Building Permits Issued (for the month):
Single family homes 376 (down 8% from one year ago)
Multi-flex units 21 ( up 133% from one year ago)
Rental housing vacancy rates:
Single family housing 5% (up from 2% one year ago)
Multi-family housing 4% (same as one year ago)
Information Is FREE. Knowledge & Experience Are Priceless!
Thinking of Buying or Selling a home? Contact Carol Williams today:
Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
Last Thursday there was an article in the Wenatchee World, which was extracted from the Washington Post, that was outlining changing preferences among home buyers. This article seems to reflect what is happening here in the Wenatchee Valley. The bottom line is: bigger homes on smaller lots.
While I was talking to a builder the other day, he indicated they can’t justify building small homes anymore because of the cost of land. The cost per square foot of the home is too great in relation to total value.
Here is just an example illustration of what I mean:
Scenario 1
Lot $65,000
1600 square foot home @ $125 per square foot = $200,000
Total cost $265,000 ($165 per square foot)
Land cost equals 25% of the total value
Scenario 2
Lot $65,000
2500 square foot home @ 125 per square foot = $312,500
Total cost $377,500 ($151 per square foot)
Land cost equals 17% of the total value
The larger home is 8% less expensive (per square foot) than the smaller home.
Given a choice, the builders working on a profit margin, will opt for the higher value every time. It’s more efficient for them to build one large home rather than two small ones for the profit generated.
The problem with all of this is that it’s making it more and more difficult to find builders willing to construct the smaller, less expensive homes. A solution, of course, is to find inexpensive land so the option of building smaller homes is more palatable to the builders. This will, no doubt, require moving our affordable expansion sights to outlying areas (probably toward the Columbia Basin) with large quantities of less expensive land.
For answers to your questions, contact:
Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
source: Smaller Lots, Bigger Homes
314 E. Ash * Waterville Click on image to enlargeHere is some statistical info, revealing some real estate market trends comparing the first 9 months of this year with the first 9 months of 2005. Statistics can be misleading (depending on various factors), so take it for what it is… interesting info, but not gospel. This info is for detached single family residences. Condos, manufactured homes on land, and mobile homes on leased land are not included in these figures.
Average sales price:
Wenatchee 2005: $196,347
Wenatchee 2006: $221,124 (up 13%)
East Wenatchee 2005: $199,110
East Wenatchee 2006: $234,642 (up 18%)
The total number of homes sold in the Wenatchee and East Wenatchee areas so far in 2006 was up about 5% over the same time period for last year.
Featured Value:
The home pictured above is listed at $99,900 and one of the best values on the market today. New kitchen cabinets, new range & dishwasher, new flooring and paint throughout, remodeled bathroom with claw-foot tub. Available as an outright purchase or on Lease-To-0wn terms.
For answers to your specific real estate questions please contact:
Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
source: Wenatchee Housing Market Trends
I continue to see a trend toward more price reductions and homes coming back on the market as a result of pending sales failing to close. I’m not certain what the reason is for these failed sales, but they are most likely for one of three reasons:
1) Buyer does not qualify for financing
2) Home does not pass inspections, or repairs are too costly
3) Homes does not appraise for the sale price
In order to reduce the risk of any of these happening to you, here are some suggestions:
1) As a seller, insist on seeing a letter of pre-qualification (or better yet, a pre-approval) for your prospective buyer before you sign the Purchase & Sale Agreement. As a buyer, get pre-qualified before you ever go house shopping.
2) As a seller, have a home inspection done before you put the home up for sale, so there are no surprises for you or the future buyer. This will cost a few hundred dollars, but could save you considerable money and anquish later in the transaction. With a positive home inspection, you can price your home, and negotiate a sale, with greater confidence. As a buyer, if the seller did not provide the results of a home inspection, have one done as a condition of the sale. It’s well worth the expense.
3) As a seller, have an accurate price analysis done by an experienced real estate agent, or an actual appraiser, so you are not misled as to the value of your home. Most real estate agents will do a price analysis for FREE, with the hope of listing the property. But, there is no obligation to list the property just because they do a price analysis (often referred to as a CMA).
If you have any specific questions about selling or buying a home contact:
Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
http://TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
http://www.CarolsWenatchee.com
source: Price Reductions & Failed Sales
What is more difficult than putting a square peg in a round hole? Being a first time home buyer in the Wenatchee Valley.
It’s becoming so difficult to find homes for the, working class, first time homebuyers these days that I thought running a summary of all price ranges would be interesting. As of tonight, of the 203 single family homes for sale in the greater Wenatchee and East Wenatchee areas, here is the breakdown by price range:
14 @ $18,900 - 99,999 (7 are mobiles on leased land)
8 @ $100,000 - 124,999
9 @ $125,000 - 149,900
25 @ $150,000 - 199,999
32 @ $200,000 - 249,999
40 @ $250,000 - 299,999
15 @ $300,000 - 349,999
11 @ $350,000 - 399,999
18 @ $400,000 - 499,999
13 @ $500,000 - 599,999
6 @ $600,000 - 699,999
3 @ $700,000 - 799,999
3 @ $800,000 - 899,999
3 @ $900,000 - 999,999
3 @ 1,100,000 - 1,850,000
This is alarming and a very difficult situation for most first time homebuyers, with limited cash for a down payment. Other than the mobile homes on leased land, ALL of the homes under $100,000 need considerable work. Many of those in the $125,000 - $150,000 price range have similar problems. Most of them, if not all, will not meet current financing requirements… meaning they will need to be sold to investors with all cash or purchased under some sort of re-hab financing option. The mobile homes on lease land have financing challenges of their own.
I have a large group of real estate investors truly itching to buy… BUT most, if not all, of these (under $125K) homes do not meet their buying criteria because they are in locations that do not appreciate at a rate equivalent to the market average.
We used to see affordable condos come on the market now and then but they are becoming oh so rare too. I’d sure love to see a new, affordable, condo development in the area… priced in the $125,000 - $150,000 range. A lower price range would be even better. It’s probably not going to happen, but one can always hope!
For a custom search or for the answers to your real estate questions, contact:
Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
Or, do your own search for homes and land in the Wenatchee MLS:
www.TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
source: Some Alarming Numbers
Hopefully time will permit me to be more diligent about posting current information on properties that are scheduled for Auction and also those Bank Owned foreclosure properties in the Wenatchee and East Wenatchee area. Occasionally, I will take the time to research outlying areas such as Rock Island, Malaga, Waterville, and Cashmere. But, in the meantime, if you’re interested in a specific town or zip code (local, state, or nationwide) let me know and I can do a custom search for you.
Here is the current count, as of 09/05/06, for local Auction and Bank Owned (repossessed) foreclosure properties:
East Wenatchee -
46 scheduled for auction
15 bank owned
Wenatchee -
44 scheduled for auction
15 bank owned
I have details for each of these listings, so for further info please contact:
Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
www.TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
source: Current Wenatchee Foreclosures
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