Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Hill Day in Olympia

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Washington Association of Realtors' Hill Day at the State Capitol. It's an annual event, but my first time. Over 600 Realtors (the largest showing ever) came together discuss the state of the real estate market with legislators. With a massive state budget deficit, the real estate industry can be an easy target for new taxes. The current ones being considered in Olympia are to tax real estate services (commissions) as a sales tax and to double the current excise tax by making buyers, in addition to sellers, pay it. Needless to say, both of these would be devastating to the recovery of the real estate market in Washington. Many sellers are barely selling for more than they owe and a sales tax could turn a regular sale into a short sale very easily. On the buying side, first time home buyers are driving that market (I have 2 in escrow right now) and many of them are scraping together every last penny to pay their down payment and/or closing costs. Adding 1.78% tax to that could price them out of the market. It has been statistically proven that since 1960 the real estate industry has led Washington out of recessions. It makes no sense to me for our state to impose a crippling tax on the industry that must regain strength so the state can start growing again. Okay, I'll get off my soapbox, but as you can see it's a vitally important issue to our economy.

On the bright side, I had the chance to speak with 3 state legislators on Hill Day: Sen. Derek Kilmer and Reps Todd Kelley and Jan Angel. All three were very interested in the real estate industry and understood it's importance to the state's economy. This was the first time I've ever "lobbied" for any kind of cause and I really felt that it was productive. Definitely going back next year...

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Lookin' for a Duplex?




I have a new listing today. It's a sweet duplex built in 1910 and located very close to the Stadium District, Tacoma General and 6th Ave. It would be perfect for an owner occupier. It still has it's original woodwork and charm.

Click here to check it out!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Sweet new listing in Gig Harbor


Every now and then I see a new listing on the agent tour that compels me to blog about it. Sometimes they are spectacular waterfront homes that I want to show off. (Saw one of those today.) But a lot of the time they are just nice, charming well priced homes that I would be proud to show any buyer. (Saw one of those today too.) I am going to blog about the charming, well priced house because the listing agent is Michael Robinson and he owns my office. : ) It's in the Madrona part of Whitley Hills (Gig Harbor) and is good sized corner lot, fully fenced and nicely landscaped. The floor plan of the house is awesome. 4 beds, den and bonus room, but what I especially liked is the color palette of the home. It's kind of robin's egg blue with off white accents and dark wood floors. Very soothing and inviting.
Click here for photo gallery.

It's over 3200 square feet and listed at $469,000. Want to buy it? Give me a call!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Website of the Week

Every now and then I like to post something that has absolutely NOTHING to do with real estate. Even a Realtor needs a break now and then. This week's Website of the Week is a throwback to my previous career in motion picture marketing. Back then I used to fly domestically and internationally all the time. Too much of the time, in fact, which is why I left that business. This website celebrates something that is very near and dear to any frequent flier's heart... Airline food. It's a hoot! Ever wonder what Kenya Airways serves for lunch? (Probably not.) This is the website with the answer. They even have vintage photos from the 50's and 60's.

http://www.airlinemeals.net/index.html

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Something to smile about...

As many of you have probably read on the internet in the last day or two, Tacoma is projected to be the strongest real estate market in the country in 2010. These are the top five cities for projected growth according to Moody's Economic Forecast:

The top 5 cities for home prices

  1. Tacoma, Wash. (+2.44%)
  2. Memphis, Tenn. (+0.99%)
  3. Pittsburgh (+0.89%)
  4. Charleston, S.C. (+0.18%)
  5. Seattle (-0.50%)
It's kind of sweet to beat Seattle at something. ha ha

It's not a huge projected growth but it's definitely something to smile about. My feeling is that this modest growth will happen in the under $300,000 price range. Needless to say, this growth is off of current home values, not necessarily what you might have paid for a home in 2006, when the market was hot. So, here are two snap shots for Pierce County home sales. The first is sales under $300,000 for the last 6 months. The second is sales over $300,000. This includes residential single family homes, new and existing construction, no condos.



Monday, January 4, 2010

Real E-State of the Union

Here is a good, quick read from the Wall Street Journal about the state of real estate going into 2010. What I like about it is that it examines affordability based on interest rates and median home prices vs. median incomes. The conclusion is "homes are cheap." I would like to point out, though, that this is a very general look at the market, not specific to Tacoma. While we have experienced a decline in home values it's nothing compared to Florida, Nevada, etc which are factored in to his numbers. Click the link below.

HOMES ARE CHEAP