This article is written to home buyers like you. You’ve been planning to retire in Sequim and now you’re looking at homes online, doing some research on the Internet about Sequim, and you’re anonymously peeking at a few real estate brokers’ websites. You’ve even looked over a few of their resumes. You’re still in the planning stage. You’re not worried about making every decision with absolute perfection, but you definitely don’t want to make any bad decisions, especially at this point in your life. Below is my graphic of “One Chance to Get 4 Things Right.” Enlarge this graphic by clicking on it, and you can read the detailed article at Retire in Sequim.

Who is Watching Out for Home Buyers?

The challenges you have as you transition to Sequim are not insignificant. But you can only do so much. You can only know so much. You may not have all you need to make wise decisions and avoid every possible mistake. After all, you’ve been a professional in your own area of expertise, which is probably not real estate. So what do you do? You do what most home buyers do–they hire a real estate broker they trust. But did you know . . .

Home Buyers Beware

Did you know that online MLS sites like Zillow have their own profit center, and you are not their client, nor are you their priority. Many other MLS sites are not getting accurate source data, and you could be looking at inaccurate information on a home. Many online MLS opt-ins will connect you with a real estate broker or a mortgage broker, but that is not because that person is necessarily the most knowledgeable, the most professional, or the most honest. It is only because they are paying to show up on that site to capture leads . . . leads like you. If you follow the money, you might be surprised how often your interests are low on the priority list of many you do business with as you go through the process of searching for a home, hiring a real estate broker, and all the other parties involved from the offer to closing. There are so many traps for the unwary buyer, it would take a book to list them all. (Actually, I’ve written that book, but this is intended to be a short readable article.)

So my question to you as a buyer is, “Who is watching out for you?” As I said earlier, you can’t know it all when it comes to real estate transactions, so who do you trust with your money, and who do you trust to help you with such major decisions? I promise you can trust me. Interview me. Ask me any questions you want, professional or personal. Do your due diligence on me. Read the dozens of past client testimonies in the right margin of my blog, and you’ll see I am trustworthy. Why this shameless plug? Because I’ve seen so many home buyers get hurt dealing with someone who wasn’t watching out for them. Home buyers can trust this real estate broker, because I am watching out for you.

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Living in Sequim is a dream come true for many of us. I moved here 20 years ago and finished raising my children here. That was the best decision of my life. If you talk to dozens or hundreds of retirees who have lived here for many years or decades, you will hear all of them talk about why they love living in Sequim. There are many reasons, but I thought you might like to know why so many of us love Sequim.

Love Living in Sequim

In the early 1990′s I was stationed at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, and my three boys were young. My oldest boy was in middle school, and gangs were moving into Vegas from Los Angeles. Fights, knifings, and even shootings at the schools were not unusual, and I decided I needed to find a safe and healthy place to raise my family. I also wanted to live in a rural area that was beautiful and with a nice climate. After much research, I found Sequim. I practiced real estate law in Sequim, and we had the lifestyle in Sequim most only dream of having, but growing up in Sequim was the best thing that could ever have happened to my children. The school district is one of the best in the country, and Sequim was a safe and conservative community with good family activities for my family. Living in Sequim has been good to me and my family.

Living in Sequim is Paradise

Now that my children are grown up, do I still love Sequim? Absolutely! I love the peaceful community. I love the friendly people, more friendly than any place I have lived in three states. I love the climate and the famous Sequim Blue Hole, and I love the recreation here, including my personal interests–kayaking, hiking in the Olympic National Park, jogging and bicycling on the Discovery Trail, walking my dog and breathing the fresh breeze that comes off the ocean.

I also love writing and technology, and Sequim has very fast Internet speeds, so while we are in the country, we are well connected with the rest of the world. Many have retired after a long successful professional career, and now have a home based consulting business using the Internet. Some retirees have stumbled onto a delightful discovery: when you do what you love, you often make a lot more money than doing what you have to.

Seattle is only a two hour trip from Sequim, and I can either drive all the way or take a ferry across the Sound. There are so many reasons that living in Sequim is wonderful, I have written thousands of articles and several books on the subject, and I even put together a list of 100 reasons. For your amusement, you can read the first 25 reasons at Why Living in Sequim is Wonderful.

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When you look at MLS sites (multiple listing service sites) to search for your home, you probably assume that the information you are looking at is accurate. Think again. Buyers call and email me several times a week asking about information they find on a national MLS site that turns out to be slightly wrong or totally wrong. If you are comparing properties and narrowing your list of homes to look at, wrong information could certainly eliminate homes you would actually like, and could keep homes you would filter out on the list. And one of the biggest frustrations for buyers is large variations in values listed for properties on various national MLS sites. This article will help you objectively get this right.

National MLS Sites Not All Perfect

National MLS sites include sites like Zillow.com, Trulia.com, Homes.com, Realtor.com, HomeFinder.com, BackPage.com, Oodle.com, HomeGain.com, Google.com, RealtyStore.com, Homes.Yahoo.com, Kijiji.com (ebay), eLookyloo.com, and hundreds of other real estate sites where listings can be syndicated.

Here’s what the public and buyers like you may not know about national MLS sites. They are not always accurate, and sometimes the information is terribly incorrect. Sometimes the prices are wrong, the estimates of value are wrong, the specific information is wrong, and sometimes the home is not actually for sale although it is showing as “For Sale” on a national MLS site.

How can that happen? Once I tell you, you will totally get it. Listings originate with a local listing broker. The broker inputs the listing data and photos into the local MLS. Some MLSs syndicate listings to dozens and sometimes hundreds of other real estate sites. While that sounds simple enough, technically it is very complicated. Local MLSs around the U.S. have different software, different data fields, and use different formatted photo sizes. MLSs use what is called an IDX data feed to syndicate, but not all MLS IDX data feeds include the same data fields or the same names of data fields. Some resize photos in different ways, too, which can result in distortion.

National MLS Sites – Data Fields Different

On the receiving end of the MLS data, these national MLS sites all have different software also and different data fields. These syndications are all done with software, and no humans are involved. So you have the merging of data from one system to many other national MLS sites that may not match up, and often do not. So you can lose important data, like the property taxes, the actual tax assessed value, the square footage, the acreage, the number of rooms in a house, or the number of bedrooms or bathrooms, whether there is a guest house or not, whether the garage is attached or separate, and so on.

Some of these national MLS sites are pretty and they sure look good, but that doesn’t mean your information is all good. I have a client whose listing shows up twice on Zillow with different values and different information. We can’t get rid of the second one either.

On top of all this, many national MLS sites are illegally “scraping” data off the internet without permission from the sources. This information is then sold to other companies who do not know it is illegally obtained. Then the data is propagated again on other sites, and errors can be repeated ad infinitum.

Now that you know national MLS sites are not necessarily reliable, would you like to use a Sequim MLS site that is 100% accurate and includes 100% of the local listings? This data comes directly from the local listing agents, and it is reliable. You’ll find this site easy to use, and it’s pretty too: Sequim Real Estate. I think you’ll be glad you used this local Sequim MLS site, not one of the national MLS sites.

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Mole hills abound in farm country, and Sequim is farm country. I rented a little farm when I first brought my family to Sequim in 1994. The 17 acre farm had little mounds of dirt lined up perfectly across the field, which I quickly learned were mole hills. If the soil is good, like it is on a farm, mole hills seem to crop up on a regular basis. No sooner do you knock one over than a new one takes it’s place in a day or two. The answer, of course, is to catch the mole. You might say, “That can’t be too hard,” and I would say after I held back my laughter, “Can’t be. Go get ‘em.” 

Mole Hills Galore

There are three types of mole traps, and various home remedies. You know how it is when your sick? Everyone is a doctor. Or if you have a legal issue, suddenly all your friends are lawyers. Well, ask anyone about how to get rid of mole hills in the country, and everyone is a mole extraction expert. I was told to insert a water hose in a mole tunnel and turn on the water. That will chase them all away. That didn’t work. I was told by a friend of a friend that a hospital employee once told him that pouring urine down a mole hole will get rid of them. Never tried that. And then there are steel traps.

Mole Hills Go Away

I’ve tried all three metal traps, but they don’t catch moles either, unless you know the trick. I don’t have a name tag that says, “Mole Extraction Expert,” but I will share that I found one trap worked the best if used correctly. There is a little trap that you insert into a tunnel, then you cover the trap up and cover the tunnel with dirt. The best location for the trap is at an mole tunnel intersection. Yes, believe it or not, moles have tunnel intersections. The trap is a tube inside the tunnel, and with a little luck the mole will crawl into the tube and get trapped. Believe me, this is much harder than it sounds. Catching a mole in Sequim is almost an award winning event. They are either extremely smart or wary, and apparently they don’t fall for human shenanigans.

Mole hills are not the most difficult challenge you’ll face in life, but I thought you would like to know about them. If you ever see a farmer sitting in a chair out in the field with a shotgun across his lap while staring at a mole hill, you’ll know what he is up to. Trust me, he’s not likely to hurt a mole. More than likely, the worse he will do is level the mole hills with that shotgun.

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As a buyer, you are undoubtedly searching public Sequim MLS sites online for your home or land. You may be using a local Sequim MLS site, or you may be using a site like Zillow, Trulia, or Realtor.com. Did you know that there are two MLS listing services for real estate brokers in Sequim, and did you know that not all the other national sites mentioned will include all those listings? Did you know that sites like Zillow are posting a lot of incorrect information about properties? This article will share how you can be sure you are getting 100% of the local listings on a Sequim MLS site, and how you can know the data is accurate.

Sequim MLS Information

There are two Sequim MLS (and Port Angeles MLS) services, the Olympic Listing Service (OLS) and the Northwest MLS (NWMLS). All of the local listings are in the OLS, but only about half of the local properties are in the NWMLS. That is because many local brokers are not members of the NWMLS. The NWMLS is important because that is the MLS all Seattle brokers use, as well as most of the rest of the State of Washington. Those two MLS services have different IDX data feeds, which means local listings are broadcast to different sites, depending on where they originate.

What does all of this mean? It means that for a buyer it can be confusing and frustrating if all you want is to be able to see 100% of the Sequim MLS listings, and you want 100% accurate information about those properties. Is there one Sequim MLS site where you can be absolutely certain you are getting all the local real estate broker listings, and where you can be absolutely certain that the data and photos are accurate?  How about a Sequim MLS site with information that comes from the source data, i.e. the listing agents’ own data sheets?

Sequim MLS Site Online Free for Buyers

There is such a site, and it was designed just for you. Tens of thousands of dollars were spent and many years of hard work went into this site so that buyers like you could get the most accurate information for all listings. Did I mention it is totally free for you to use. You’ll find it at Sequim-Homes.com, and the listing information on this site is absolutely accurate and includes all the Sequim MLS properties.

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This is a true story about multiple home sales all tied to each other. I sold a home in Sequim to a buyer from Norco, California, for $518,000, and the offer was contingent on the buyer’s home selling in California. The buyer in California put their home on the market and sold it in the first week for full price, $625,000. Here is where it gets interesting.

Multiple Home Sales

The buyer of my Sequim buyer’s home in California also made an offer contingent upon the sale of their California home. So now we have a buyer for a Sequim home who must sell their home in California, and their buyer also must sell their home first.

The seller of the home in Sequim wanted to downsize and stay in Sequim, so she made an offer on a home that was contingent upon the sale of her home, which of course was already pending. But that also meant at the time she made the offer that her buyer’s (my client’s) home must sell to another buyer who must sell their home first. (Is your head spinning yet in this multiple home sales scenario?)

As luck or good fortune would have it, my Sequim buyer’s buyer in California sold their home a couple of weeks later. Just in case you’re getting bored, the California buyer of the California buyer of the Sequim buyer had to get approved for financing.

The Story of Multiple Home Sales in Sequim

So let’s catch our breath with this brief summary. We have four houses, two in California and two in Sequim. If any of the contingencies fail for any one of the homes at the beginning of these real estate dominoes, my Sequim buyer cannot buy her home, and the seller of this Sequim home cannot buy her downsized home in Sequim, which also means the seller of that 5th home in this story will not sell her home.

We already have 4 buyers and 5 sellers in this story, but we have more actors that must enter the stage. The buyers at the beginning of this labyrinthian chain of dependent events, who are waiting for their loan approval, got a call from their parents. Apparently, the parents put out the word to friends and family that they wanted to raise a gift of money for the “children.” The social network of friends and family gave the children $500,000 cash to go toward the purchase of their home. With that gift, the first loan contingency went away. All the homes in this multiple home sales story can now proceed to close on schedule.

Wow, I feel like I just ran a quarter marathon. Multiple home sales can be a challenge, mostly because there are so many variables outside our control in the other real estate transactions.

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What are the prices of Sequim homes sold? And how does that compare to Port Angeles? If you’re looking at homes in Sequim or P.A., and you are wondering what the price distribution is for homes sold, this may be of interest. This data only includes site built homes and does not include mobile homes.

Sequim Homes Sold by Price

In 2013 a total of 154 Sequim homes sold from $100,000 to $200,000, and 171 Port Angeles homes sold.  In the price range of $200,000 to $300,000 those numbers are 169 and 92, respectively. Generally, you could almost say that twice as many homes sold in each $100,000 price category in Sequim as in Port Angeles starting at $200,000. From $600,000 to $700,000 three times as many homes sold in Sequim as in P.A., and from $700,000 to $800,000 three homes sold in Sequim in 2013 and none in P.A. 

Sequim Homes and P.A. Homes Sold

In the higher price ranges, only one home sold in Sequim and P.A. combined in 2013 above $800,000, and only three sold in Sequim above $700,000. Of Sequim homes and P.A. homes sold under $200,000, the vast majority are just under $200,000. In other words, don’t expect to find a livable home priced anywhere close to $100,000. A very humble home starts at around $175,000 plus. Now you know the prices of Sequim homes sold. 

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How hard is it to find your ideal Sequim home or your perfect Sequim farm? Of course, that depends on a number of factors, including how specific your parameters are, and it depends on your timing. But what I am going to share in this article is that it is getting harder to find the ideal Sequim home or the ideal Sequim farm. It’s getting harder to find any specific unique Sequim real estate. If you want a simple subdivision home or a crackerbox home, and it doesn’t matter what year it was built, you won’t have any problem, but that is not what most retirees are looking for when they move to Sequim. Most people would prefer a custom home and something uniquely special, like this five acre Sequim farm.

Sequim Farm with Acreage

You can buy a nice home in Sequim or Port Angeles for $200,000 to $300,000. But in this price range you’re not going to get any acreage, and many of the homes are older homes built in the 1980′s or 1990′s. If you step up to $300,000 to $400,000, now you’re looking at some newer custom built homes with modern floor plans, custom kitchen cabinets and beautiful kitchen counters and modern appliances. And in this later price range, you will find some, but not many, properties with two to five acres. If you get lucky, your five acres will have an irrigation ditch running along the boundary. Very few properties do, but water is becoming very valuable these days, especially if you want to water animals or have a mini-orchard.

Sequim Farm or Special Homes

Here’s what I can do to help you find your unique Sequim home or Sequim farm. First, I have a powerful MLS site, and you can search for exactly what you want. You’ll find that site at Sequim MLS Online. Second, when you find some homes online that you like, you’ll want to know more about them or the area. You may need more photos. Email me with the listing address, and I’ll answer your questions. Chances are I’ve already shown that property and can tell you all about it. I’m Chuck Marunde, and it would be my privilege to serve you and help you find your Sequim home or your perfect Sequim farm.

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Bell Hill in Washington is one of the wealthiest communities in Washington. “Based on per capita income, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Bell Hill ranks 21st of 522 areas in the state of Washington to be ranked. It is also the highest rank achieved in Clallam County.” This comes from the United States Census Bureau. [Read Bell Hill on Wikipedia.] What is the significance of this to retirees moving to Sequim and buying their home in the Sequim area?

Bell Hill Homes

Not very many retirees choose to buy a home on Bell Hill. Bell Hill is Sequim’s most prestigious hilltop overlooking Sequim and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Not all homes on Bell Hill have stunning water views, but many do, and because the land and homes on Bell Hill are in the upper price range of homes for sale in the area, it is where some of the wealthiest congregate, at least on a per capita basis.

Sequim has also been the city of choice for the major big box stores on the Olympic Peninsula, major stores like Home Depot, Office Depot, Costco, WalMart, Petco, Ross Dress For Less, and Fred Meyer (apparently coming). More are undoubtedly examining Sequim. All of these major corporations have done their demographic studies for the long term, and they have chosen Sequim, not Port Angeles (P.A. does have a Walmart). You know what that means? All of these multi-billion dollar companies have done their independent demographic studies and concluded that the best growth would be in Sequim, not the neighboring communities.

Bell Hill Plus Corporate Demographics

When you consider Bell Hill and it’s high per capita income and the large corporations’ conclusions that Sequim is the place to be for economic growth over the next two to three decades, retirees ought to be greatly encouraged when thinking about buying a home in Sequim. The economic strength and projected steady growth of the Sequim area bodes well for real estate appreciation into the future. Appreciation may not be the primary reason you buy your Sequim home, but isn’t it nice to know Sequim is much more than just the Home of the Rain Shadow. It’s one of the best places to buy a home for the long run, even if you don’t buy a home on Bell Hill.

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