NCW Real Estate Blog

The State Legislature is in session, so we all need to watch out for our livelihoods! Governor Gregiore put out an Executive Order Setting Greenhouse Gas Emissions Goals.  That order has been embodied in House Bill 1718.

It’s also known as “Cap & Trade” and is supposed to reduce Washington’s carbon footprint to 50% below 1990 levels by 2050.  Whether or not you believe that CO2 is a threat, this bill would change your life if it passes.

Here are some of the highlights according to an analysis by Representative Matt Shea:

• New Taxes, lots of them!
• Tolling the I-90 bridge with the fund going to reducing greenhouse emissions, not transportation infrastructure.
• Mandates reduction in vehicle miles driven for both commercial and private vehicles (pay as you drive/don’t drive).
• Creates what appears to be stringent rent control regarding new buildings.
• Fully incorporates “green building codes” at an enormous upfront cost to builders and new home buyers.
• Implementation of “complete street principles” increasing the cost of transportation projects.
• Severely limits use and disposal of real property.

 Those are just some of the highlights of this bill.  Certainly this bill would impact real estate as well as almost every other aspect of trying to live and make a living in the State of Washington.  A hearing was held that started already, at 8:00 a.m. this morning.  However, you can still provide feedback to your legislature and others.  You can phone call the legislative hotline number at (800) 562-6000 to call and express your viewpoint.  The website to find your legislator’s contact information is at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx

Tags: Construction, Design, General Interest, Land Use, Northwest by Al Lorenz
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In addition to SB 5099 requiring annual assessments and SB 5000 we discussed earlier, Senator Linda Evans Parlette is sponsoring SB 5425 which requires that if a county that values property on a multiyear schedule (as opposed to annual valuations) has a drop in overall real property values of ten percent or more in a single year, properties that were valued during that year would have to be revalued again the following year. To determine the drop in property values, a county must use the market data as determined by the Washington State University center for real estate research.

She is also co-sponsoring SB 5368 that provides for annual revaluations and provides funding by adding $5 to each real estate transaction to fund counties changing to annual revaluations.

Here she is via audio talking about her property tax relief efforts:

Tags: General Interest, Local by Al Lorenz
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The national news is frightening these days.  I’m not about frightening here.  However, I’m not about ignoring the world around us either.  While we are so far in a much better position than most of the nation, we are impacted by what happens to the market nationally.  The voices that were claiming (hoping) the national situation wouldn’t have too much impact here have pretty much gone silent.

The following video illustrates the extraordinary and historical amount of printed money the Fed has dumped into the banking system that has yet to get banks lending.  Banks have money.  But it is not easy to get a loan.  The banks are sitting it out.  They know how awful many of their financial situations are.  They know option ARM recasts the next couple of years are going to be bad.  For many banks, the asset side of their balance sheets is going to suffer when overpriced real estate enters foreclosure and they have to mark it to what it will fetch on today’s market.  So, many of the banks are holding onto the TARP money so that they can bail themselves out. 

I am optimistic and know that anything can be fixed.  I am also not blind and am concerned what this will cost all of us, and our children.  Speaking for myself I will proceed, but carefully.

Tags: Finance, General Interest by Al Lorenz
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Wenatchee finished 2008 along the same trend line it has exhibited for the last several months, with both dollar volume and residental sales transaction volume down by about 30% for December and for the year.  Building permits for the year are off by 49% for single family homes which is the 2004 level.

The latest Snapshot Report from Pacific Appraisals includes graphs of Sales Volumes, Number of  Homes Sold, Average Sale Price, Multi-Family Vacancy and Number of S.F. Building Permits by year since 1994.

Number of Homes Sold for 2008 have dropped back to 2003 levels and Dollar Volume is below 2005 levels.  The Average Sale Price has declined only slightly, by 1% in 2008 in Wenatchee, while Median Sale Price has fallen 3% for 2008.    The year ended with a 9 month supply of homes on the market.

Tags: General Interest, Local, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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I came across a post with a very clever method to help ethical agents combat an often used practice of competitors who might “buy the listing.”   

When a potential seller asks to get a listing presentation on their property, a conscientious real estate agent will work very hard to figure out the actual price that they believe their property will sell for in the market.  However, it is not uncommon for an agent to go in and knowingly present a price to the potential seller that is substantially higher than the market price other agents are likely to present.  That is “buying the listing” and is a deceptive and destructive tactic.  It can also often be a pretty effective way to sign listings because the seller would like to believe their property may be worth more than it actually is.  When an agent confidently tells a seller their property is worth more than others may say, they want to believe it and often sign a listing agreement based on a false hoped for price.

What happens after that is simple.  The property does not sell, as any overpriced property will not sell.  Then the seller, who notices that they don’t have any potential buyers coming to look at their property, [Read more →]

Tags: Marketing by Al Lorenz
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Buying and selling property should be FUN! With that in mind, I thought you might enjoy this real estate web site from Ian Watt, a Vancouver Condominium Specialist, and his use of Video Blogging.

According to Ian Watt himself, he has “achieved unparalleled success due to a focused digital marketing plan, a powerful “organic” web presence, and an unmatched level of traditional customer service.”

Here’s an example of one of his videos, and a link to his web site:

There’s even a contest for real estate video blogs that is being hosted by Ian Watt and Strutta.com and Ubertor.  I’m interested in the contest.  If you are interested and want to cooperate, or have an idea you think I should try, let me know at al@golakechelan.com.  I would love to see a good local entry in a contest like this.  The details are in a video, of course:

 
Ian Watt’s Video Blogging Contest with Strutta.com and Ubertor from Ian Watt Vancouver Condo on Vimeo.

I am a big fan of digital marketing. So much so that I am adopting a new digital marketing plan at Criterion Properties, which I will be unveiling even further on a property that is being prepared for the market now.  I haven’t given a video blog a go yet, but maybe I should by March 15th!

Tags: Marketing by Al Lorenz
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I was slow finding this, but way back on January 12th Representative Mike Armstrong also introduced Property Tax Relief  legislation.  The measures would eliminate the state portion of the property tax and cap assessments.  To see all of the bill Mike is working on, click on his picture to go to his web site.   Specifics on House Bill 1027  from Representative Armstrong’s office:

Making good on his promise to seek meaningful tax relief for 12th District home- and property owners, Rep. Mike Armstrong has introduced legislation that would eliminate the state portion of property taxes. House Bill 1027 was among the first bills to be introduced today during the opening day of the 2009 legislative session.

“The state budget deficit has attracted a lot of attention in Olympia. But I think the biggest issue affecting the 12th District is property tax relief. Homeowners in North Central Washington are getting hit hard with skyrocketing property taxes. It’s especially difficult for long-time residents of Leavenworth and Chelan where properties are in demand, which drives up prices,” said Armstrong, R-Wenatchee. “People are struggling with assessment increases as high as one hundred percent. In this economy, many don’t know if they can afford to stay in their homes. The goal of my legislation is to prevent government from taxing people out of their homes and allow them to keep what they own.”

Under House Bill 1027, the state property tax levy would be incrementally reduced over six years until it is entirely eliminated.

“Twenty-four percent of the property taxes you pay go into that deep, dark hole known as the state general fund where [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Local, Northwest by Al Lorenz
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Senator Linda Evans Parlette has also already been active this session on the property tax issue as well.  She is the prime sponsor on Senate Bill 5099 which requires annual revaluations of property for property tax purposes.  She is also a cosponsor of Senate Bill 5000 limiting property taxation.

Language from Senate Bill 5099 that would eliminate the fluctuations in valuations seen in Chelan County caused by the current system of revaluation every 4 years includes “Not later than January 1, 2014, all taxable real property within a county shall be revalued annually and all taxable real property within a county shall be physically inspected at least once each six years.” 

Senate Bill 5000 sounds very similar to the approach taken by a Chelan area group,  [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Local, Northwest by Al Lorenz
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Being that this ended up as sort of a legislative roundup day, our very own Representative Cary Condotta has also been very busy.  While he has not introduced property tax legislation (although I would bet he is aware of and supportive of other efforts), he has been very busy as well.  His bills cover topics including: the family leave program, use of industrial insurance funds, veterans services, a variety of business tax related issues, license plates and many others.  But, since this is a real estate blog, we are going to talk about his bills in this session regarding water rights!

He is a secondary sponsor on two bills, House Bill 1268 concerning relinquishment of water rights and House Bill 1334 concerning water resource management on the Columbia and Snake rivers.

House Bill 1268 eliminates partial relinquishment of a water right back to the state for lack of use.  As I read it, if a property owner does not use their entire water right for a period of 5 years, but still uses a portion of it for its intended purpose, they do not automatically relinquish part of their water right.  Some pertinent language from the bill “a person shall not be deemed to have voluntarily failed to beneficially use said water right if the person has continued to use at least a portion of said right for the established purpose of use.” [Read more →]

Tags: Land Use, Local, Northwest by Al Lorenz
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Yesterday Voters for Fair Property Tax received feedback from the Code Reviser that their Proposed Initiative to the People (I-2207.1/09) was reviewed by the Code Reviser and put in the correct style and form. The suggested changes (other than correcting punctuation and capitalization) are to change the term “shall” to “must” (according to the grammatical rules of the bill drafting guide).

The group considers the comments minor and to make sense. Tomorrow some of the group will be travelling to Olympia to meet with an attorney, who focuses on Initiatives to the People. He will be asked to look at and address legal and substantive issues around the Initiative I-2207.1/09. This is the same initiative being promoted by Courtney Cox from the Chelan Valley.

According to an update received at GoLakeChelan.com today, as this effort moves forward the largest obstacle appears to be [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Local by Al Lorenz
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