Kj’s Thoughts on Life and Real Estate

For Home Sellers to Consider: Spring market

KJ Lange — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:11:00 GMT

I love numbers.
I love numbers even more when we can make pictures out of them so sellers can see where they fit in the field of homes SELLING.
This was the February Market Update... if you're ready to sell, I can help you take that next step. Let's sell your home together.

From February of 2009 thru January 2010

For Home Sellers to Consider
Prepared Thursday, February 11, 2010

What does this mean to you?

If you had put your home on the market last year in Kitsap County, you would have been competing

against 1800 homes thru most of the year. You can see how SOLD properties began trending UP around June and it was pretty steady thru December.

We can attribute to a few things, not the least of which is the First Time Home buyer Credit. We can also attribute it to pent up buyers' demand and lower market prices.

Let's look at how our Inventory changed:

Now there is where we can see a difference, visibly.

Months of Inventory tell us if all we had is what is on the market RIGHT NOW,

And buyers kept buying at the rate they are CURRENTLY BUYING,

Then it would take 10.5 months to use up all the inventory, for instance, according to Januaryï¿½s figure.

You can see it was coasting along 7-8 months thru the summer and then dropped into the 6 month range in December.

This means it is LESS OF A BUYER'S MARKET. So if you have been sitting on the "Oh-Should-I-list-My- House-or-Not-Fence", it might be a good time to jump off!

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Market Data and Market Savvy: Why you should list with KJ

KJ Lange — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:07:00 GMT

This article is targeted to current Homeowners, especially if you're thinking of selling your home.

Did you know that you might qualify for a $6500 Tax Credit if you buy this year? Okay, just checking. Don't want you to be caught unaware. For qualifying you can talk to your tax advisor or see www.irs.gov if you're the researching type.

Perhaps you've been thinking of putting your home on the market.

Maybe you've already been thinking about it for a year and you've finally made that household decision.

Maybe the agent who sold you your home is out of the business now tending bar somewhere or maybe your agent is still in the business but you'd rather stick needles in your eyes than do business with that schmuck again.

There are a number of reasons and techniques people use in choosing a Realtor. What really interests me is that once you've decided to make a real estate move, you will make the decision of "Which Realtor?" within 72 hours. You may not be 'typical' but you may come close.

That doesn't give me much time to become your Realtor does it?

Wow, have I got my work cut out for me!

You want someone who has Market data. But after 25 years in advertising and marketing, I can tell you this. Lots of salespeople have numbers, but they cannot tell you what it means to YOU.

I can and will do that for you throughout the process. This is especially important in a changing market like the one we have.

So you want someone with Market savvy.

You want someone who cares about your goals and understands your needs.

You want someone who can negotiate the bumps in the road that come up... and you want them to do it without knowing they're even doing it!

You want someone who is going to hang in with you until that magical phone call comes that says "You're recorded." Call the moving truck!

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The Spring Market is Here! Time to List!

KJ Lange — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:04:00 GMT

When I came to the Westsound area of Puget Sound eight years ago, I had NO trouble adjusting to winters. When I herded onto the ferry on foot at some early hour in the dark and in the rain, I was smiling. Inside I was celebrating because I didn't have to shovel my driveway or scrape an inch of ice off my windshield. I had finally left Midwestern winters behind me. Let it rain, I said.

I came to realize that if we waited for it to stop raining, we'd never get anything done 8 months out of the year.

I've come to appreciate the many words for "rain" in the meteorologist's repertoire. I laughed the first time I actually heard the "weatherman" predict SPRINKLES. Once being a student of the weather because we never knew how the weather would change back East, I've pretty much come to realize it doesn't change much here. Except the sun might shine and the rain might stop once in awhile.

I've looked forward to Spring because that's when the clouds seem to part and the sun shines through. Mt. Rainier becomes visible, the Olympics shine in their majesty, the water of Liberty Bay and everywhere around here just becomes so blue, it's all breathtaking. It was one of those kinds of days I remember made me fall in love with this area years ago when I came here for an Ad Age Conference.

I remember that day. I did the tourist thing and walked on the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island. Everything was out including the seals going by on a logging boat of some kind. And the sky was so very blue.

Last year, Father's Day was a day like that. We drove through the mountains to Leavenworth for the day. The sky was so blue I actually caught myself stopping and just looking upward. The green trees and the blue, blue sky. I actually think I caught a few rays of sunshine and it felt good. We sat on the steps in the town and I felt like a dog lazing on the sunny spot in the front porch. It felt good to be in the light and to be warm. Then Monday, the sun was shining again! I was shocked and excited.

We've waited so long for this for spring has been late last year.
"Maybe the weather will finally turned the corner to spring early this year," I have thought.

I drove out along the Hood Canal on Seabeck Highway and had to pull over and look around awhile. When I arrived at my appointment, my client was out in her yard looking up.
"What do you see?" I asked.

She replied, "I just can't believe how blue the sky is!"

Well, maybe because the sky has been gray so long, we forgot!

I dont' know why the sun takes so long to get here and why it's being so shy about staying. Maybe it's the pollution in China drifting our way. Maybe it's the reverse effect of the "pineapple express" (an actual weather phenomenon) or maybe its La Nina or El Nino which I can never keep straight. Maybe it's because Mercury is in retrograde.

This week, the clouds and rain have lingered.

But I find myself thankful as I watch the news this week and seeing record breaking snow back East. I've been pining for snow since we've had none this year. But i think I'm over it.

I'm not a subscriber to the global warming theory. When I was in high school years ago, "they" told us we were headed for an Ice Age. It's hard to sift through the political meaning of it all and I'm not on anybody's side. I do believe God is a lot bigger than Al Gore though.

For Bremerton/Kitsap County

On average, the warmest month is August.

The highest recorded temperature was 101°F in 1981.

On average, the coolest month is February.

The lowest recorded temperature was 7°F in 1990.

The most precipitation on average occurs in December.

So we are past the month with the most precipitation and the coolest temps. So there's nowhere to go but up! The spring market is here in real estate, time for the weather to follow.

If you've been thinking of listing your home, now is a good time.

A year ago, we had 15 months worth of inventory on the market. Right now it's closer to 6 months which means houses are selling faster when they are priced right.

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