Extend and expand the 1st time buyer credit?

Rumblings about a possible extension on the 1st-time buyer tax credit have been growing lately. Let's hope the government abides by the old philosophy of, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Unless of course they want to give all buyers even more money!

Here's a recent article from the Seattle Times about efforts to extend the credit and even raise the dollar amount.

Oh, Market...Where art thou?

So is the market really improving here in Seattle? Take a look for yourself. Decreasing active listings and rising pendings and solds suggest we're at a better place than last fall and winter.

Is your neighbor ugly?

Perhaps more importantly...is your neighbor's house ugly? If you're contemplating selling your own home, the appearance of the surrounding homes in your neighborhood can make a huge difference. A street lined with cute homes and manicured lawns is obviously more appealing than an adorable house in the midst of weeds and peeling paint on other properties.

This article from the Seattle Times looks at what you can do to encourage your neighbors to keep things looking presentable. In some cases, you may have to do the work!

Read the full article here.

A new twist on an old idea?

A local developer is building a brand new rooming house in Capitol Hill. The Seattle times writes, "The rooms are small — about the size of a parking space — but the project's developers say they fit the budget and lifestyle of young adults who might be working as baristas or $12-an-hour clerks in big-box stores."

Personally, I lived in some form of a rooming house for 6 years of college and graduate school...but I knew all of my roommates! Not sure if I could handle close quarters with strangers. Let's hope they all do their dishes...

While not my cup of tea, it is an interesting idea to provide affordable housing here in the city. Check out the Seattle Times article below to read more.

Read the full article here.

King County property taxes

Appealing King County property taxes has become a popular topic of discussion. In fact, the number of homeowners appealing property taxes in King as well as other counties have increased dramatically.

The reason for this is the sharp decline in market value for homes and the delay in how properties are assessed for taxable value. In short, comparable homes sold in 2008 are used to determine property values on January 1st, 2009 for taxes payable in 2010. So those who bought at the height in 2007 or early 2008 caused assessed values for many people to increase. Despite the actual market value decreasing 15% or more.

Below is a great article on the issue and some helpful hints on how to appeal your King or Snohomish County property taxes. If you would like up to date comparables for your house in order to appeal your assessed value...just shoot me an email and I can send them over.

Read the full article here.

Local condo projects slashing prices to attract buyers

Several large, luxury condominium projects in Seattle and Bellevue are finishing construction or are recently completed. The problem is, the down turn in the real estate market has caused sales to be non-existent or extremely slow. Of the 539 units in the Bellevue Towers, only 43 have closed. To stimulate sales, they have slashed prices by an average of 20% at the eastside project.

Vulcan's newest building, Enso, is nearing completion and they are finalizing their pre-sale commitments as well as doing their best to attract new buyers. While Enso won't release their price adjustments to the press, agents were invited to an open house where we were informed some units are now reduced as much as 25%. It's nice to see they are being realistic about the market and their pricing should help move much of their inventory.

On the other end of the spectrum, Olive 8 is refusing to reduce prices and claims they will wait out the market. The developer seems to think the Hyatt hotel that makes up the first 17 floors will carry the building through this down market. Perhaps they should rethink this as only 28 of 229 units are closed.

Read the full article here.

King County home sales in June highest since October 2007

Homes sales in June were up 4 percent from a year ago in June 2008. This is the first increase since the height of the market two years ago. The county hasn't recorded this many sales since October of 2007. Total sales in the southern portions of the county were actually down, while Seattle sales were up 11 percent!

First-time buyers were leading the charge on much of this market activity. But the article from the Seattle Times points out what I've said will happen all along. The people selling to the first-time buyers will eventually buy their next home and create a trickle-up effect.

Prices are still down, however. Median single-family home prices in King County were down 12% in June from a year ago.

Read the full article here.