The Spokane-Coeur D’Alene Home Guy Blog

I recently decided to tear down the builder supplied deck that was virtually falling off of my house and erect a much larger composite deck.  I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the handyman around the house, and my skills are better used cleaning up the debris from construction rather than actually constructing, but I decided to take this one on myself.

I did a little research.  Code has changed a lot in the 7 years since my home was built and the deck originally fastened so I thought I’d find out the right way to do it.

Spokane County has a great resource that helps even a novice handyman (like myself) determine the materials and support methods needed for a basic deck.  Simple diagrams and charts (yes, they had to draw me a picture) made it easy for me to determin what I needed.

Take a peek here.

I’d like to give a shout out to Steve Pirtle of Foundations and Up Home Inspections (509) 954-5922 for spending a weekend helping me build my new desk.

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Looking at the data from Closed Sales January through May, I’m seeing that prices are holding firm and sellers on average are getting between 97% and 98.5% of their asking price.  Granted, this does not account for any price reductions and time on market, but what it does tell us is that when a property is priced correctly, Spokane buyers will pay the price.  Pricing is very important.

 Our best month for closed transactions (Jan-May) was March with 978 closed transactions, but March was also the lowest average price per transaction at just over 200k.  Since then the transactions have leveled out to between 559 and 627 and the average transaction price has climbed between 209k and 213k. 

Sellers gave up more in January and March taking home between 97.12% and 97.6% of their asking price.  May was considerably better with 98.39% (a couple thousand dollars based on the average sale price).

For a graphical review of this report, click here.

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Like I do every few weeks, I stuck my little toe into Paragon and pulled some statistics.  This week I pulled the 150-250 price range for residential, site built properties the Spokane County area.  To my surprise - things seemed to be going quite well in this sector.

Out of 2,332 listed since Jan 1, 2008 a surprising 1 in 3 has sold (1 in 5 expired) with an average time on market of 65 days.  Not too shabby!

To further detail - the average price of those sold was $193,623, and the average price of the unsold properties was $201,492.  If you are a seller curious on whether you should price your property - under 200k seems to be the mark.

The 150 to 250k range is pretty hot, and to make it hotter - price and PRESENT your property well and it will sell.  For information on other areas and price ranges please do not hesitate to contact me!

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Spring was out with all its rays for two whole days.  Buyers woke up and started looking for properties.  My open houses were extremely successful.  I was able to meet a lot of great people out enjoying the day looking for properties.   Occasionally I get asked - “Isn’t it better to list a home now, in the springtime.”  To which I always answer  - whenever it’s best for you, you should list. 

Low-and-behold - I was watching HGTV while eating dinner and up came the 25 biggest Real Estate Mistakes show.  They addressed the same question.  Their answer was similar.  Sell when it’s best for YOU.  Don’t put off your dreams and everything just for weather.  With 100+ days on the market in most areas, it’s important to get your property listed when it’s right for you.  With that said - they noted that there may be seasonal aspects to your home that you can really utilize to make your home more desireable.

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According to a recent report I ran on FlexMLS the Post Falls Residential (stick built) market appears to be on the rise.  Inventory is declining (11% down from last year) which will help prices remain firm, and the average days on market for a listing is down 32% from 2007.

 There have been some definate adjustments to the market - the most apparent being the 10% drop in the average sale price across Post Falls.  This could be in large part because of increased motivation from sellers, bank & foreclosure sales sellers using price to be competitive in a marketplace that is moving slowly and with lots of competition.

Either way, slowing inventory and faster turnover is a great sign for Post Falls Real Estate!

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Just recently I heard that most conventional 100% financing options are gone (for the time being).  There are still options to go 100% financed with FHA or VA (with VA probably being one of the best options).   What does this mean to sellers?

Offering FHA is a GREAT option when selling your home - if it qualifies.  The buyer pool for FHA loans is growing more and more every day.  FHA still has some legal gift programs such as Neamiah where sellers can gift funds to help buyers get into homes easier with less down.  For the conventional buyer - you’re going to need a down payment.

Why is this happening?  The banks can write the notes, but they can’t get their Privat Mortgage Insurance to cover the loan, which is why FHA and VA can still do it - they are government backed loan programs which aren’t affected by the PMI issues. 

For more information - I’d be happy to put you in touch with my lender, give me a call or shoot me an email and we’ll discuss it! 

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For the first time since July home sales have risen across the US, but the average price has fallen.   Demand is back but buyers are being pickier and negotiating harder on the homes they purchase.

 On average prices have fallen 8.2 to 8.7 percent between condominiums and single family homes respectively. 

More on the Article.

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I’ve always been facinated with Manito Park and the whole Manito area.  So much neat Real Estate around there.

I thought this was interesting - the Friends of Manito are putting on a Tropical Plant Sale. Check it out!

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With the tightening grip of lending institutions and stricter requirements to get a loan, many home buyers are turning to alternatives.  One of these alternatives is a Lease with Option to purchase. 

 I’ve seen many different ways sellers structure their Lease Options, some say put something in writing and we’ll go from there, others want a very large, non-refundable option price, and a rather high monthly payment, and some want you to enroll in credit repair programs to ensure you’ll be able to excersize your option during the period.

What is a Lease Option?  A lease option is an interest in Real Property that gives you the right to purchase the property at a pre-determined & pre-negotiated price anytime within a negotiated period of time.  The option typically costs money to purchase and is usually preferred second to a conventional method of finiancing (loan).  Options can be protected by recordation at the courthouse for a minimal fee.

Options can be setup as Purchase and Sale agreements with early posession / delayed closing, or elaborate documents prepared by competant attorneys.  Either way there is a lot to consider.

Most options have:

1) Option Price - can be several thousand or tens of thousands, depending on the terms the seller is willing to accept.
2) Monthly payment
3) Timeframe

A lease option is still a lease, so you are still a tenant while you are in the home so don’t be surprised if the seller does not want you to make improvements or do anything that a typical landlord wouldn’t let you do.  I suggest having the option managed by an escrow company (from a buyers perspective) to ensure that the seller is paying the mortgage, taxes and other items required by the property owner (property taxes can be negotiated either way in an option). 

If you are tight on credit or are considering a Lease Option - I’d be glad to assist and help in any way possible.  Please give me a shout.

Tags: Idaho Real Estate, Spokane Real Estate // Add Comment »

Now I may be accused of being a bit biased here, BUT take what I’m about to say seriously.

Many argue that the as home prices across the country continue to decline that they intend to wait until it “hits the bottom” before they jump off the fence and buy.  Now it’s difficult for anyone to predict where the bottom is, and many times the bottom passes and on the slight incline the economy takes on it’s first few weeks of recovery many start to buy.

As the economy recovers interest rates will rise again.  Take for example a 5.5% loan on a $218,900 mortgage (the rate some people grabbed a few weeks ago).  They could expect to pay around 994.31 / month.  If home prices were to drop 10% over the next year, to bring the home price to $197,010 and finance at a mere 6% - the payment would be $994.94 - not much difference.  It pays to do the math - either way you’re going to pay about the same out of pocket.

Where someone potentially gains is if the market completely rebounds to it’s previous numbers, but I highly doubt that will happen quickly.  The market corrected -  and that’s a healthy part of any economic situation.

For more information on this article visit rightonyourmoney.com

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