NCW Real Estate Blog

The member meeting for Chiwawa River Pines Community Association was held on Saturday.  There were three covenant amendments on the ballot and here they are and the results:

1. Allow Long Term, low impact, service oriented businesses?
   YES 226   NO 15
2. Allow long-term, residential rentals for a period of more than six (6) consecutive months?
   YES 183   NO 51
3. Allow short-term residential rentals for a period of less than six (6) consecutive months?
   YES 78  NO 160

The community association is also running a blog site for getting out information to the community that can be found at www.chiwawariverpines.wordpress.com

Tags: General Interest, Local by Al Lorenz
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The National Association of Home Builders predicts that  60% of all custom, upscale homes will be built with two “owner suites” by 2015!   Sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, snoring and other sleep difficulties seem to be driving much of the trend.  Here is one of those statistics that pops up that makes me think wow, I didn’t know that!

The trend is pretty clear, with only 12% of married couples sleeping alone in 2001 as compared to 23% in 2005 from surveys conducted by the National Sleep Foundation.  These are the types of lifestyle trends that impact home design so expect to see more homes with multiple “master suites” in the future, whether custom homes or not.

For more information, here is a link to an article from CNN.com.

Tags: General Interest, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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The latest tactic in the now slower real estate market it to use a raffle to sell a home.  For a $300,000 home, you would only have to sell 3000 tickets at $100 each to get it sold!

Many states regulate raffles under gambling laws.  Raffles for homes or properties are illegal unless the homeowner has a nonprofit organization as a partner, and the homeowner cannot make more than the appraised value of the house. (Some states, including New York, forbid even nonprofits from raffling off a home.)  So, with the marketing involved and working with a non-profit, a raffle is not an easy way to sell a home.

However, the process does have its fans.  Below is an excerpt from a New York Times article on how a couple sold their home by raffle:

Ms. Crawford came up with a novel strategy: she would hold a raffle. Tickets would go for $100 each, and one lucky person would win the farmhouse. If they could sell enough tickets, they could walk away debt-free. [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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The City of Wenatchee has released a Request for Proposals, Mixed Income, Affordable Housing Development.  The available sites for the project are shown here, on land currently used as public parking.  The City is offering to discuss incentives such as density bonuses, required parking reductions, fast track permitting, tax abatements, permit fee wavers/reductions and/or publicy financed infrastructure.  Wenatchee is asking respondents to the RFP to identify the incentives they think may make the project feasible.

Those are all costs to normal development.  Why everybody can’t get “fast track” permitting I have no idea.  [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Land Use, Local by Al Lorenz
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Pacific Appraisals has sent out their wonderful Snapshot Report for August.  There is a new addition to the format, where they have included sale and active listings by price range.  “Months Supply” by price range has been a feature for awhile now.

The change in average and median prices for August compared to one year ago is 0% in the overall MLS area and up 3% for the average and 1% for the median in the Wenatchee market.  Volume year to date is down about 30% from last year.

The total listings in Wenatchee are down by 3% compared to last year.  Vacancy rates for rentals continue to be very low.  Have a look and my thanks to Pacific Appraisals.

Tags: General Interest, Local, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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Chelan County is hosting public open houses in Wenatchee and Chelan, with a third meeting being hosted by the City of Leavenworth. The purpose of these meetings will be to confirm priority transportation improvement projects for Chelan County and City of Leavenworth Transportation Plans with community members. Decisions established by this effort will influence the future of all modes of transportation in the County and City.

 Information will be the same for the events in Wenatchee and Chelan, but the Leavenworth event will focus [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Land Use, Local by Al Lorenz
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According to Realty Trac this morning, there are 8 properties scheduled for foreclosure auctions in the Chelan zip code, 1 in Manson, 6 in Leavenworth, 24 in Wenatchee and 3 in East Wenatchee.  The auction dates range from the 10th of October to the 1st of December.  That is the largest number I’ve seen and it would appear that North Central Washington is not immune from the increases in foreclosures that have been happening in other areas. 

What we are not seeing is large tracts of homes where a major builder has defaulted or entire neighborhoods with large percentages of foreclosed homes.  Where that is occuring, that level of foreclosures is devastating a few parts of the country. But I don’t expect to see that level of issues occur in North Central Washington.  Foreclosure sales are rarely happy events for the parties involved.  But, for those who are interested in perusing foreclosures in hopes of finding deals, they now have something more to look at in North Central Washington.

Tags: General Interest, Local, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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According to the NWMLS, single family homes in King County (excluding condos) had a median sale price or $314,000, 10% below last years $349,900 for completed sales.  While low interest rates and abundant selection are making for good buys, tighter credit and the elimination of seller funded down payment assistance continue to inhibit sales activity.

Across Western Washington inventory is leveling off with pending sales comparable to the last 4 months.  11,415 new listings were added in August compared to 14,500 in August of 2007.  There are still 8.1 months of inventory system wide and a 7.4 months supply in the 4 county Puget Sound area.  Nationally, there is an 11.2 month supply.  6 months supply is typically considered a “balanced” market between buyers and sellers.

Seven counties showed price gains in August. Median selling prices in Clark, Grant, Island, Kitsap, Mason, Okanogan, and San Juan counties were up in August from the previous month. 

With inventory leveling off, prices may be at a point where the market is flattening and becoming more balanced.  Stay tuned right here to keep abreast of it all!

Tags: General Interest, Marketing, Northwest by Al Lorenz
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