Beyond Real Estate

I love jazz music and listen to our local KWJZ station here in Seattle. I heard over the weekend that this year the 10 Grands concert is coming to Benaroya Hall on May 17th.

If you haven’t heard of the 10 Grands, it’s a concert featuring 10 grand pianos played by well known musicians like David Lanz (one of my favorites), Deems Tsutakawa (a local artist), Tom Grant and several others. There’s even a meet and greet before the show and tickets for the whole thing are $75 including the meet/greet through KWJZ’s special pricing. I think I’m going to surprise my mom with tickets for Mother’s Day. She’d love that!

Concerts are always fun things to do in Seattle!

~ Annie

I just read an interesting article in the Seattle PI about foam food boxes and such possibly being banned. While I do agree that helping protect the environment is a smart move, I’m not a fan of this proposal. The major reason I do not agree is, what about people who on food stamps?

As someone whose family used to have food stamps, I can’t see how this helps them. They already have meager finances and to have even .20 cents x how many bags of groceries they have added to the mix, it can mean make or break for them. What about those times between paydays when they’re down to their last few dollars and have to choose between putting gas in the car to get to work and putting food on the table? Will have to choose to provide less food for their families because they can’t afford $2 for grocery bags? Or is this a cost that will be allowed to be paid for with food stamps for these people?

I’m sorry but this just doesn’t sound productive to me. The gap between poverty and wealth keeps getting larger and moves like this are a part of that reason. And it seems like moves like are becoming more than just a part of the reason - it’s becoming the major factor.

Wrong and sad.

Here’s the article from the PI.

Sorry for the soap box rant. Have a great day!

~ Annie

After reading and hearing about the foreclosure issues facing lenders and homeowners alike lately, I’ve come to the conclusion that there are some misconceptions out there. I’d like to say a few words . . .

While it is true that many of those properties in foreclosure are owned by folks who bit off more than they could chew, there are a good number of properties owned by honest, hard working people that have hit hard times. I hate that some people think that *only* people who bought with zero down at high prices and bought more than they could truly afford are the ones in foreclosure. Simply not true.

Case in point: I have a friend I’ve known for literally most of my life who bought a house about 20 years ago and has until the past year, had an excellent job. She’s paid her mortgage faithfully for those 20 years and refinanced a couple of years ago to pay off her student loans.

Last year, she lost her job when she had to go back to school to update her degree. Her former employer promised to re-hire after she finished and to date, they have not.

Now, please don’t tell me it’s only dumb idiots who are facing foreclosure or that just because a person *is* facing foreclosure, they must be a dumb idiot who bought more than they could financially handle and they deserve to lose their home. That totally pisses me off, quite frankly.

Homeowners do deserve some form of help and I certainly hope they are allowed some.

~ Annie

With the current mortgage and foreclosure crisis, is right now a good time to buy a home?

It seems this is a question many people are asking. And many sources point to this being the case - the Fed has once again lowered interest rates, there is possibility of government backed bailouts for homeowners and home prices are falling in most areas. I’ve even seen this in my county where typically home values have risen more than 6% annually (and sometimes 6% every six months) for several years now.

On average, home prices have dropped 11% recently. This is quite huge. Coupled with the current 7-8% mortgage rate for the average borrower (5-6% for those with excellent credit), and the amount of house you can buy for the money has risen signifigantly.

It could definitely be a good time to buy a house. CNN Money has also mentioned it’s prime time for vacation home or second home shopping as well. There are some real bargains to be had.

However, this doesn’t mean one should go rush right out and buy the first thing they like - now is the time to do “due diligence.” Shop slow, shop around and watch out for any unfair practices in the lending industry.

I’ve heard it mentioned several times lately that some lenders are not providing Truth in Lending documents within the 3-day requirement. When questioned, borrowers have been told it will come with the loan documents at closing. This is totally wrong. The lender has 3 days from the date of application to provide the TIL to borrowers. Should this happen to you, kindly ask the lender if it was just misplaced or overlooked and to please send you another one. If they make excuses, they’re trying to hide something and you would be wise to demand it be disclosed immediately. Be fair about it, but be firm.

You know, it’s interesting to note that many of todays real estate millionaires got started back in the 80’s during the mortgage meltdown. Play right and perhaps you could be one of the next set of RE millionaires in 20 years. You can bet we are on the lookout for good deals and will snatch up any we see.

~ Annie

For the past week, I’ve noticed on several local RE websites and blogs that people seem to be saying not much has changed around the Puget Sound area, that the economic crunch hasn’t really been felt yet. But I’ve seen evidence elsewhere that points directly to the opposite.

My husband works for a stone wholesaler (granite, marble, etc) and February and so far, March, have been very slow for them. This is a company who sells slabs and tile to builders and contractors and the fact that their business has slowed down, tells me that we are indeed seeing some of the crunch in Snohomish County.

I’m just not convinced everything is rosy here. I find it odd in some ways, because trends in many areas of the country are showing it’s actually cheaper to build your own home right now than it has been for at least a decade, if not longer. Yet building has slowed tremendously here and as I mentioned already, slabs and tile are not selling.

Additionally, there are a couple of homes in our neighborhood that have been for sale for going on 4 months or so now. In the past few years, homes like these would have sold within 45 days, tops. One of them is a spacious home on a corner lot, about a block from a prime elementary school and whose price has been reduced at least twice since it came on the market. It’s even vacant! Someone could move right in! But there it sits . . . And a block away from us, is a duplex that was built last summer. It is still sitting there with a for sale sign as well.

You might remember my post last week “Real Estate Local: Tanked” and this is why I’m still trying to justify all this information in my own mind. Statistics from various sources and the news from those same sources are in conflict with one another. It’s baffling.

Historically, the Pacific Northwest has been slow to feel an economic crunch and while we haven’t noticed the same effects as the rest of the country even now, I think we are catching up to the recession everyone else has been feeling for quite some time.

What have you noticed? How is real estate being affected in your neighborhood?

Until later,
Annie