Sweet Little Girl Happiness is Waiting - Kris Orlowski

I just saw this awesome video of a song by Kris Orlowski via @veganscore on twitter. My first thoughts were Seattle Real Estate oriented, as in.

Opening Shot - Is he the drywall guy taking a lunch break, as I viewed the rough opening of a door frame behind him.

Second Shot - Is that what they are doing with the partially completed abandoned condo projects in Seattle? Using them for recording studios? :)

Video background in it's entirety - How many people HAVE taken their picture via iPhone at the Seattle Troll under that bridge?

I know I'm stretching on the "real estate" significance of this post...so let's just call it a blatant plug for a local Seattle talent - Kris Orlowski. Enjoy!

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How many short sales sell outside of the mls system? was the actual question asked of me by a friend and colleague this morning in my email.

This is an important question, as more and more people "quote" the mls publicly available reports as the be-all-end-all of what is "selling" and "sold", but the tax records may in fact be more accurate as to "recorded sales".

For that purpose, "outside of the mls system" is the most important part of my colleagues question, regardless of whether that was a short sale, a regular sale, sold at foreclosure (so someone other than the bank "taking it back") or post foreclosure.

In this initial response I will simply compare the # of sold property between the two "systems" without delving into the underlying detail. So these stats would include the bank "buying" the property at Trustee Sale, even though that property will again be sold to a private party and may in fact show twice in the County Records as being bought by the bank who then sold it to a private party.

I am using 98033 and a price range of $90,000 to $500,000 to eliminate nominal exchanges. The bank/lienholder buying the property at Trustee Sale, generally is NOT shown as nominal value, so I would have to hand sort. It is also difficult to sort "type" of property in the tax record without "error", so I have initially selected a sample price range that would more than likely not include commercial exchanges, though I did not exclude them specifically in either search.

Tax Record - Recorded Sales 9/1/09 to 1/31/10 between $90,000 and $500,000 in 98033 - 114 (includes all types condo and single family, etc.)

MLS - Recorded Sales 9/1/09 to 1/31/10 between $90,000 and $500,000 in 98033 - 117 (includes all types condo and single family, etc.)

Without regard to price, but with the same parameters, 117 is not enough of the total homes sold (231) to draw a satisfactory conclusion, so I am moving the price up to $750,000, which should still exclude commercial property for the most part.

Tax Record - Recorded Sales 9/1/09 to 1/31/10 between $90,000 and $750,000 in 98033 - 189 (includes all types condo and single family, etc.)

MLS - Recorded Sales 9/1/09 to 1/31/10 between $90,000 and $750,000 in 98033 - 180 (includes all types condo and single family, etc.)

One more time as that is 78% of sold property, and I'd like to get to at least 85%. I'll take it up to $900,00 in this next round.

Tax Record - Recorded Sales 9/1/09 to 1/31/10 between $90,000 and $900,000 in 98033 - 194 (includes all types condo and single family, etc.)

MLS - Recorded Sales 9/1/09 to 1/31/10 between $90,000 and $900,000 in 98033 - 201 (includes all types condo and single family, etc.)

Interesting that the mls picked up more vs. fewer solds in this round. Still the variance is not great and my conclusion based on this small sampling is that the mls data is not largely different. That accounts of 87% of sales in that period in that place, and so I will stop here.

I will send a link to this to my colleague who asked the question, and see if this info is sufficient to his purpose. If not, and he asks a follow up question, I will also answer that here so many benefit from the question of one.

Required disclosure,this data is not compiled, posted or verified by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Sex and Real Estateis not about "sexy houses" or sexy people in the advertisements to sell houses.

Sex and Real Estate is about people, with children,having sex IN the houses.

One of the biggest problems in real estate is that agents are reluctant to talk about things that matter to the buyers of homes. Sellers too. But for the most part sex and real estate is about home buyers vs. sellers.I have yet to hear a seller say "We LOVE our home because we can have loud, noisy sex without the kids being able to hear us! YAY!"

Think about it. Everyone needs a kitchen because they will likely cook everyday. There are likely thousands of conversations going on right now all over the Country between agents and home buyers about gas stoves vs. electric stoves. About granite kitchen counters or laminate kitchen counters. About stainless refrigerators or white ones.

Lots and lots of talk about cooking in the kitchen...but no one's talking about what's "cooking" in the Master Bedroom.

Agents and home buyers don't need to discuss this too much becausemost builders design homes that create a "buffer" for sex noise between the master bedroom and the children's bedrooms.The floor plan above is a great example. It's not an expensive home. It's a smaller, three bedroom home. But it does have excellent positioning for noisy sex whether that is happening in the Master Bedroom or the big 5 piece master bathroom.

Not only does no child's bedroom touch the master suite in any way shape or form, but you have the Master Bedroom Walk-in-Closet AND the child's Walk-in-Closet back to back for a HUGE "noise buffer" zone for the child's bedroom on the right.

The bedroom on the left has the "toilet room" buffer and the full expanse of the master bath with the jacuzzi at the furthest point from the child's bedroom. Even if the kids were sitting in their walk in closet [unlikely] there is still a buffer from the place the parent's are likely to be having sex.

I know this is a difficult topic for many, BUT it is also an everyday reality, and agents MUST sometimes raise the issue though often they do not know how to broach the subject.

First floor Master Suiteis a newer floor plan that often leaves home buyers scratching their heads. Then they ask the agent "Why would the builder put the Master Bedroom on the main floor, and the children's bedrooms so far away?" I'm not sure what most agents answer, but my answer is often "a Master on the Main can improve the quality and longevity of your marriage." The expression on my face says it better than the words coming out of my mouth. :)

On rare occassions I run into houses where the design neglected to place appropriate "buffers" between the Master Bedroom and a child's bedroom. I have seen this in both inexpensive and expensive homes. Even for me, someone who is pretty much not afraid to tell my clients anything and everything they may need to know before buying a house, it is difficult for me at times to point this out. Never, does the client notice it during the showing. Sometimes I don't know the people very well at this point in our client/agent relationship. But I must point out the home's "weakness" even if they have no children.

Frankly, it is when people are going to be having children, or have a little baby, that they do not notice this flaw in the floor plan. The ONLY buyers I have seen notice this "weakness" in a home, are the ones who plan to have a room mate vs a child in that bedroom. Young single people with a room mate notice this immediately, and moreso than couples with children who are buying homes. Not sure why that is :)

The floor plan below would not work as well as it does, if the bathtub were in that closet area butting up directly against the bedroom 3 wall.For most children, even hearing the parent taking a "naked bath" while doing their homework in their bedroom, is a bit "disturbing".Again, most home builders' architects absolutely consider these issues when designing homes, so that we only have to notice and raise these embarrassing home weaknesses on very few occasions.

Below is a very common floorplan that works very well when bedrooms 3 and 4 are used for the children, and bedroom 2 is used as an "office" for the parents.

BUT,once in a while my clients start talking about using the smallest room, bedroom 3, as the office...

...and that is when, even though it is difficult for me,I must with a red face explain that in this case...size is not likely as important as position.

Many agents will not notice, or they will leave that for the parents to "figure out" after they buy the house, because they are reluctant to talk about Sex and Real Estate. But the reality is thatthose parents may not have bought that house, if they knew that one of the children would end up in the 10' X 10' bedroom.

Sex and Real Estate...don't overlook this important factor when choosing a home to buy. Agents, if you have NEVER in your real estate career had to raise this uncomfortable topic with your Buyer Clients...it's time to ask yourself why not.

Split Entry - Raised Rambler - Raised Ranch - Splanch Homes

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Median Home Prices in King County vary. Also there is a huge variance between a newer or remodeled home, and an original condition 1960's home.

Below I am showing the median for all homes, and then the median for those that have "granite" in the marketing remarks. A majority or newer and remodeled homes have granite, and most times the agent notes granite as a feature of the home in the remarks section. So I'm hoping this sorts values for you a bit and gives you a range of value.

Median price means half sold for less and half for more than the numbers shown (approx) to calculate the "median" price. The final number is the number of homes sold and the "ALL" homes includes those with granite counters. This will also give you a rough idea of what % of the total homes sold were newer or remodeled.

Redmond Home Prices - Median Home Price - Sold 2009 -:

With granite counters - $580,000 - 294 sold

All Redmond Home Prices $505,000 - 779 sold

Bellevue Home Prices - Median Home Price - Sold 2009 -:

With granite counters - $667.500 - 236 sold

All Bellevue Home Prices $550,000 - 843 sold

Kirkland Home Prices - Median Home Price - Sold 2009 -:

With granite counters - $580,000 - 191 sold

All Kirkland Home Prices $479,000 - 633 sold

Queen Anne Home Prices - Median Home Price - Sold 2009 -:

With granite counters - $610,000 - 58 sold

All Queen Anne Home Prices $615,000 - 255 sold

Green Lake Home Prices - Median Home Price - Sold 2009 -:

With granite counters - $360,000 - 131 sold

All Green Lake Home Prices $395,000 - 322 sold

I will revisit this as we are obviously picking up the difference between townhomes on the Eastside vs. Townhomes in Seattle. The price with granite is higher on the Eastside, as I would expect. In Seattle the reverse is happening because many of the newer "single family homes" are newer townhomes vs Eastside where townhomes are condos and not single family homes, for the most part.

Time Magazines 50 Best Sites to Visit of 2009

Adding this entry to my "Blogroll" category so that I can visit them more regularly and easily.

The blue ones are sites I already know and many are ones I use frequently. The red ones are ones I already know and would like to visit more often. The others I am not as familiar with and would like to check out and color code at a later date if I have interest in them.

Unlike the Time Magazine Article which describes the sites, the below links are links directly TO the sites, so if you want to know ABOUT them, click the link above. If you want to go TO them, click the links below.

1. Flickr
2. California Coastline
3. Delicious
4. Metafilter
5. popurls
6. Twitter
7. Skype
8. Boing Boing
9. Academic Earth
10. OpenTable
11. Google
12. YouTube
13. Wolfram|Alpha
14. Hulu
15. Vimeo
16. Fora TV
17. Craiglook
18. Shop Goodwill
19. Amazon
20. Kayak
21. Netflix
22. Etsy
23. PropertyShark.com
24. Redfin
25. Wikipedia
26. Internet Archive
27. Kiva
28. ConsumerSearch
29. Metacritic
30. Pollster
31. Facebook
32. Pandora and Last.fm
33. Musicovery
34. Spotify
35. Supercook
36. Yelp
37. Visuwords
38. CouchSurfing
39. BabyNameWizard.com's NameVoyager
40. Mint
41. TripIt
42. Aardvark
43. drop.io
44. Issuu
45. Photosynth
46. OMGPOP
47. WorldWideTelescope
48. Fonolo
49. Get High Now
50. Know Your Meme

Redfin.com Home Search for Seattle is still the #1 choice for most of my clients when looking at property in the mls for both Seattle and The Eastside cities of Kirkland, Bellevue and Redmond.

Congratulations to Redfin formaking the Top 20 moving up from #22 to #18of the top real estate websites.

I would like to remind people who are searching for homes on the internet in King County that Redfin.com has an mls direct feed and all of the homes listed in the mls. Some of the other Top 20 sites that rank higer than Redfin, do not have an mls feed in the Seattle Area. Realtor.com, Zillow.com, Trulia.com, all useful sites for various purposes. But if you are looking for all property currently on market, Redfin.com is the best search tool, IMO, and my clients agree.

The Real Estate Market in King County is running at 2005 levels. Whether you are thinking about buying a home or selling a home, this is important for you to know.

If you want to sell your house for more than you paid for it, you likely had to have purchased it before 2005.

If you are a home buyerand want to know if someone's asking price is realistic, knowing when they bought the house, vs what they owe on it, is also important. Someone may have refinanced after they purchased their home.What is owed on it is not as relevant as what they paid for it and when they bought it.

Earlier this week we talked about where home prices may be going in 2010.

If you are a seller, you likely want to get on market before the home buyer credit expires at the end of April. If you are a buyer who is eligible for that credit, you likely want to do the same.

If you are not eligible for the credit, you may want to wait until a few months after the credit expires, to see if home prices recede as a result.

Looking at the graph below, it is unlikely that prices will go up into LATE 2006 levels or down into EARLY 2004 levels. So that graph is likely the big picture for the foreseeable future.

2010 King County Home Prices

Below is a graph of where I do NOT think they are going, which is into 2004 price ranges. Earlier today I wrote a post describing myhopes and fearsfor King County Home Prices. For the most part I expect them to go up and down 5% from where they were in June 2009. I am restating that as a month vs a dollar amount, so that we can apply the valuations to various neighboring cities like Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland to name a few.

While I posted the graph below on Rain City Guide, I wanted to keep a copy for myself for future reference. Expect the market to stay in this high (2007) to low (2004) range for years to come.

(Required Disclosure - Stats are not compiled, verified or posted by The Northwest Multiple Listing Service)

2009 Home Prices in Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond - combining 98033, 98034, 98052, 98007 and 98008 without a lake view.

One Story median price $362,000 - 253 sold

Split Entry - $395,000 - 134 sold

One Story with a basement - $405,000 - 68 sold

Tri-Level - $425,000 - 81 sold

2 Story - $585,000 - 468 sold

Two Story Breakdown:

$460,000 built before 1980

$530,000 built 1980s or 1990s (no price difference)

$580,000 built 2000- 2005

$652,000 built 2005 or later

Add a basement to that newer 2 story house and the median price goes up to $775,000

Add a lake view to that 2 story with a basement and the median goes up to $1.2 million

(Required Disclosure -Stats are not compiled, verified or posted by The Northwest Multiple Listing Service)

Townhome Prices in Seattle - 2009:

98103 - 168 sold - Medians: Price $340,000 - sf 1,460

34 currently for sale in 98103 with a median asking price of $349,450 - sf 1,505

98115 - 33 sold - Medians: Price $399,000 - sf 1,450

7 currently for sale in 98115 with a median asking price of $429,900- sf 1,410

98117 - 40 sold - Medians: Price $332,500 - sf 1,400

12 currently for sale in 98117 with a median asking price of $341,975 - sf 1,310

98105 - 53 sold - Medians: Price $350,000 - sf 1,245

9 currently for sale in 98105 with a median asking price of $455,000 - 1,520 sf

98107 - 92 sold - Medians: Price $371,550 - sf 1,484

12 currently for sale in 98107 with median asking price of $394,500 - 1,447 sf

Townhome considerations:

Busy Road? Walk to shops? Is the 3rd bedroom really a bedroom? Do you access your front door from an alley? Are the closets big enough? Do all three bedrooms have easy access to a bathroom with a tub or shower? Do you feel like you are taking your driver's license test when trying to get in and out of your garage?

I'm not going to do a 10 year graph of townhome prices because they are a relatively new thing in Seattle and as you can see from the info above, supply and demand is a factor. High inventory creates lower prices. Low inventory creates higher prices.

(Required Disclosure -Stats are not compiled, verified or posted by The Northwest Multiple Listing Service)