Should I Sell My Home Now or Wait Until Spring?

Should I sell my home now or wait until spring? This is a common question among sellers. There are certainly advantages to selling now rather than waiting.

The Seattle housing market has been difficult for buyers for several years. There was so much competition for very few homes, that buyers got burned out. They were exhausted by making offers and not getting the house they had counted on. The market has changed and we're seeing more buyers in the market again. One of the differences with a more normal market, is buyers are taking longer to make a decision as well as having home inspections done and seeing more homes before they make an offer. This is to your advantage. Many of these buyers will wait until spring but many are tired of waiting and they want to buy a new home now. There is traditionally less competition for homes in the winter and buyers are ready to make that move.

Mortgage rates are also usually better in the winter. With record low rates for many years, we're seeing the interest rates start to rise and we do expect that trend to continue. Again, a strong reason to consider selling now.

One other important thing to remember is houses are bought and sold every day of the year. Good agents want to help you buy and sell in all seasons. This is a great time to sell and a great time to buy. Give me a call and I'd love to talk about it.

Live Love Own

Live, Love Own.. the Windermere Wall Street Group has a wonderful website.

On the live tab, you can learn more about the transportation, government, development and taxes in Seattle. On the Love tab there are things like food, pet resources, Seattle attractions, art, culture and sports. Under the Own tab there is a home search feature, information on schools, neighborhoods and neighborhood blogs. There are also tabs for informational blogs and reports on market conditions. We can't forget about the contact us feature with location information for our offices and an email contact form. Check it out today. Tell me what you think and let me know if I can help you with your real estate questions.

Home Tips, Selling and Buying

I just read an article that got me thinking about selling and buying. Now I think about these things each and every day as I'm actively helping buyers and sellers but this article made a couple of different observations.

One was that if you're thinking about buying home near the water, consider the recent natural disasters on the east coast and the south coast. FEMA flood map changes are aggressively expanding the flood zones, forcing owners to buy flood insurance for the first time and forcing others to pay thousands more annually. Some insurers are also imposing coverage caps so you might not recover as well as you thought.

Another thought for people selling homes in the future is to do an exterior photo shoot on your home this fall. You'll be able to show fall colors, flowers and things will look better than during the winter months if you take marketing photos now.

Also, remember that curb appeal can increase prices by 10% or more.  A few new plants, or native plantings can add that curb appeal easily and little expense.

Mortgage Payments

So it's time to pay your mortgage. Again. Would you like to be done with that obligation forever and always? Many of us would like to see that one go away. Did you know that you do have some options however.

If you refinance to a 15 year mortgage you will gain several advantages. The monthly cost will likely be higher than a 30 year mortgage payment but you will save thousands in interest over the life of the loan.  You will also shorten the payoff time.

You can refinance to a lower rate but keep payments the same. That way you will have the option to pay the smaller amount if your financial circumstance changes but if you pay a higher amount each month you not only work on lowering the principal balance but lower the interest cost over the life of the loan.

If you have financed more that 80% of the conventional loan you are most likely paying PMI or private mortgage insurance. After  you've reached a 78% loan to value, you will be able to drop the PMI and reduce your payments but 0.05%-1% of the loan amount annually.

Use those tax returns, bonus checks or inheritance payments to pay down the principal balance. Again, this will shorten the life of the loan as well as the long term interest paid.

You also always have the option of making extra payments or higher payments. Maybe a payment every two weeks is a good option for you. Make sure however that the  lender will apply this amount to the principal balance and not just toward the interest. You might be able to shave as many as 6 years off the life of your loan.

The bottom line however is choose the best option for you. If you have a steady income, a shorter refinanced term may be the best option. If your income is less consistent, the flexibility of extra payments when you can, may be a better option.

What Kind of Neighborhood Should I Consider When I Want to Buy A Home

Buying a home is an important decision. When you buy a home, most people go with emotion "How does this home make me feel?' This is a good place to start but there are some other things to consider. The area I want to chat about today is the neighborhood. 

You can assess a neighborhood in many simple ways but I would like to talk about ways that I use.

1. I walk the streets. Talk with neighbors and see how they feel about the area.

2. Determine which people are owners and which ones are renters. If there are more homeowners the neighborhood will be more stable and likely have higher real estate value.

3. How is the neighborhood maintained. Do the homes have nice yards. Do they take pride in the way the houses and lawns are kept up?

These are good indicators that this is a neighborhood that you will want to invest your time and money in.