Ready To Buy A Home?

Guest Blog Post: Jodi Ashline, Coldwell Banker Evergreen Olympic Realty, tour Jodi's listings at www.jodiashline.com or contact Jodi directly at jodiashline@gmail.com or 352-7651.


What’s the first question you ask yourself when you’re ready to buy a home? It should be, “How much can I afford?” Without that crucial piece of information, you can’t even begin your search. Figure your monthly income and debt payments and determine how much you can put down. Now, apply for pre-approval from a lender, to shop for the best interest rate and terms. You can choose fixed or adjustable rate, and a conventional or government or jumbo loan, among the most common types of mortgages. Now, what do you want out of your new home? Want a location within the city, right downtown, in the suburbs, or a rural setting? How many bedrooms and bathrooms, in a single family home or townhouse or condo? Now that you’ve figured out what you’re looking for and what you can afford, locate the neighborhoods that satisfy your requirements. An area real estate agent can give you information about schools, your work commute, and proximity to shopping and recreation. Find your agent through referrals and interviews to get the right “chemistry.” You can browse listings online, but the agent should be able to provide a list of suitable properties right away. Make appointments for tours and attend open houses if available. My upcoming blog will guide you through the next steps!

Local Housing Report: Positive Signs for 2011

This time of year many people ask us, “what’s going to happen in real estate this year?” While our "crystal ball" is not clear, we are seeing positive signs that our local housing market is improving.

At the start of the past few years, the market faced serious challenges: high unemployment, falling stock and housing prices, to name just a few. The housing market is not completely out of the woods, but there are a number of factors that point to a more positive 2011.

The net result is that we are seeing a palpable uptick in interest from buyers compared to a year ago. The fact that there is so much more buyer interest at the start of this year is really saying something about how buyers are viewing the market. In its recent nationwide survey of home buyers, the National Association of Realtors found that twice as many buyers in 2010 compared to just two years ago said the timing of their purchase was based on affordability. This is a big confidence signal – and it is coming without government stimulus. It takes more than affordability to create a sustainable recovery. Employment numbers and the broader economy must provide a healthy foundation. Both are trending in a positive direction for the first time in a long time.

Very few people would be satisfied with where the job market stands right now. Jobs might be the single biggest challenge on the demand side of the local housing market in 2011. With the legislature facing a budget deficit, hard choices will be made. However, our local job market is in much better shape than a year ago when the unemployment rate stood at 9%. Today it is 7.6%.

Look to the States’ larger markets to see how much the Legislature’s actions impact our local job market. Some encouraging news comes from healthy increases in retail and housing sales (and the taxes that go along with them). In Seattle, for instance, housing sales and prices were up in 2010. That is a very positive sign after several years of declines.

This is all good news, but there remains a note of caution on the supply side of the market. The number of foreclosures still on the horizon is unknown. Thurston County has seen a steady flow of about 30 foreclosures notices per week - about three times the "normal" number. While we expect that trend to continue through 2011, the steady volume over the last few years suggest that more is behind than in front of us.

Given the reality sellers have to keep a realistic eye on market value and price competitively. With a lot of homes for sale, buyers are taking time to be savvy shoppers. They are acting quickly on homes priced competitively and ignoring homes that are priced about above the competition.

Home Sellers - Are You Making Potential Buyers Sick?

The clients have seen the pictures of your home on-line. It looks right for them in so many ways. They’re very excited. The Realtor opens the door and….the smells of perfumed air fresheners hit them immediately. Quickly, the clients turn and head back to the car, deflated and no longer interested.

This reaction is becoming more prevalent, but the reasons for the reaction vary.

A growing number of people are finding that exposure to fragrances, including perfumes and scented products, adversely affects their health. Many of the fragrance chemicals consist of volatile organic compounds that are known to be respiratory irritants. For some people, the reaction is immediate and dramatic – bringing on migraines, nausea, fatigue, and/or allergy-like symptoms.

Results from a study by Drs. Stanley M. Caress and Anne Steinemann found that 30.5% of the general population reported they found scented products on others irritating, 19% reported adverse health effects from air fresheners, and 10.9% reported irritation by scented laundry products vented outside.

There are also those buyers who are not adversely affected by scents, but will be thinking, “what are they hiding?” Some buyers believe where there is smoke there is fire, and scents sometimes signal other problems.

In any market, but especially a buyer’s market, you don’t want to lose a potential buyer over something so easy to correct. So now you’re saying, “Wait a minute, I want my home to smell pleasant for showings; what can I do?”

First and foremost, clean your house – thoroughly. This is a good time to spend a little money on having a professional house cleaner come in and clean from top to bottom. Oftentimes, they will pick up on things that need attention, things you might not have noticed. (Think about the lengths you go to clean your car to sell it; you get out the toothbrush to scrub the wheels, vacuum in every crevice, wax the car, steam-clean the engine – why when selling your house would you assume a routine cleaning is all that’s necessary?)

Also, there are many options to freshen the air that are natural and non-toxic. Baking soda is known for its ability to absorb odor. Use it in your sink drains, in garbage cans, and sprinkle it on carpets before vacuuming. To rid closets or powder rooms of musty, stale odors, you can shake some baking soda into decorative containers and leave it out in the room to absorb odors.

Vinegar is another natural way to clear odors. Mix one part white vinegar with five parts water in a spray bottle, and spritz into a room to freshen the air. Another option is to pour full strength vinegar into one or two bowls in the room that has strong odors, and leave it there overnight. And for, no kidding, “all-out war”, simmer apple cider vinegar (full strength) on the stove for about a half-hour, making sure it doesn’t burn. You may want to clear out of the house for a time after that, but it will neutralize the heavy odors.

And after you have cleaned the air, you can add in pleasant or homey smells. When possible, open windows and let fresh air in; bake cookies (yes, it really works); heat some vanilla in the microwave or oven; simmer some apple cider with a couple of sticks of cinnamon; or simmer some citrus peels (lime/orange/lemon) in water.

Your home will be cleaner, fresher, and less toxic -- your family will be healthier, you will capture more prospective buyers, and the next owner of your home will thank you.

Guest Blog Post by Lou Ann Dunlap, a Real Estate Broker with Coldwell Banker Evergreen Olympic Realty. She can be reached at 360-701-2085, or e-mail at louann.dunlap@cbolympia.com. You can view her website at http://www.louanndunlap.com/.