A backup offer is used quite a bit in metropolitan areas and busy markets where there are lots of sales and a lot of competition. But that doesn’t describe the Sequim real estate market, does it? A backup offer might still be a good idea in Sequim, but when would it be an act of futility, and how can you go about gathering the information you need to decide whether to make a backup offer?

Backup Offer General Practices in Sequim

A backup offer is simply an offer, just like any other offer, it just happens to be behind a primary offer that has already been accepted by the sellers. A backup offer might be submitted in a very competitive market where there is a practical possibility that the primary offer will fall through, in which case the backup offer automatically steps into first position. The seller is obligated to close under the terms of the backup offer if they accepted the backup offer earlier. 

In Sequim we don’t have a large contingent of buyers who are first time homebuyers, and whose financing might be rejected, or who may have other issues that could hinder their ability to complete the transaction. What we do have are eminently qualified retirees, most of whom have had one or two careers as professionals, have perfect or nearly perfect credit, and who put down large down payments. They are pre-qualified, and it is extremely rare that one of these highly qualified retirees will have a transaction that fails because of financing.

A buyer could terminate a transaction because the home inspection fails, but that is rare also. Most retirees are not going to make an offer to begin with if the home looks like it has serious issues. Sequim home sellers tend to be very good about maintenance and keeping their properties in good condition, so this is the other reason transactions rarely fail in Sequim. Where a home inspection turns up some minor issues, the buyer and seller almost always work out fixes or credits. Where a home inspection reveals major issues, no one wants that home, so even a backup offer would probably be killed by a buyer.

Backup Offer Data on Active of Pending or Sold

In the past, it has been hard for a buyer like you to find out whether a listing is truly “Active” (available and not pending), or “Pending” (aka Active Under Contract), or “Sold” and closed. 

I solved this problem for buyers long ago on an MLS site I designed and programmed for Sequim buyers. MLS sites in the past would show a listing as “Active” even if it was pending. They did that presumably to get you to call, in other words, as a lead generator. That’s repulsive, isn’t it? I found it less than completely honest, so I programmed my site years ago before anyone else at the local level, to allow you to search for truly “Active” listings and not suck you into thinking a pending listing was still Active and available. 

I also designed my MLS site for buyers to allow them to search for and view sold properties. This site is also 100% accurate since the source data comes from the listing agents data, not scrapped off the Internet like many syndicated MLS sites.

You’ll find my MLS site at Sequim4Sale.com, and you’ll find on that site videos which show you how to find Active, Pending, and Sold properties. On the home page, you’ll see this sentence near the top of the page: “This MLS site has 100% of all the Sequim Real Estate Listings and Port Angeles listings in the OLS. All our listing data and information is UPDATED EVERY FEW MINUTES on this site. Get the most out of this site with this video at: Sequim Real Estate and Port Angeles Real Estate MLS Video.

This information will also help you when you are thinking about whether to make a backup offer. Deciding to draft a backup offer requires some careful thought and analysis about the property, prices, and about your personal plans and finances. There’s a lot to think about before drafting a backup offer. This is where I come in. It will help you to have an experienced player in your corner with whom you can talk through all the issues, and ultimately you will know for sure whether you should draft a backup offer or pass.

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Home ownership by age group is different in the Sequim area than it is in most areas of the country, and the dynamics of how home ownership by age plays out in the Sequim area is an important factor for retirees who want to buy their retirement home here.

Home Ownership in the U.S.

Home ownership among the younger generation, the millennials, is substantially lower than the older generations. That’s not necessarily front page news (as if anyone reads the print newspaper anymore), but this is an important subject, especially as it affects your home shopping on the Olympic Peninsula in Sequim, Washington. 

This pretty graphic shows home ownership in the United States among various age groups. Less than 40% of those around 30 years old own homes today. Student loans have had a big impact on the ability of millennials to own homes. The massive volume of student loans and the huge default on student loans (which goes back to ridiculously expensive college educations and a big disconnect between degrees and post-graduation jobs) has destroyed credit ratings of young people as well as their financial qualifications to buy a home.

Home Ownership Among Retirees

As you can from the national view of home ownership, more than 60% of people above the age of 45 own homes. But this gets more dramatic in an area like Sequim, Washington. The Sequim area does not have a lot of new manufacturing or industrial type jobs for a younger generation. The turnover is very low for the best jobs, like fireman, nurse, Sheriff’s deputy, school teacher, Pharmacist, and government employee, so these jobs are very hard to get. If you are an EMT (emergency medical tech) in Sequim or Port Angeles, you have a great paycheck, and you’re living in one of the best and safest places to raise your own children. That’s why the professional job turnover is so low here. 

As far as non-professional jobs, retirees, or those in their 40s and above, are best suited for the jobs at Home Depot and Safeway and the health food stores. This is the demographic of the Sequim area. What does all this mean for home ownership in Sequim? It means that we don’t have a significant number of millennials moving to Sequim and buying homes. The typical buyer is in their 50s and 60s. 

If you’ve read my article describing the demographic of home buyers in the Sequim real estate market, you know precisely where you fit in with respect to other buyers, and precisely what buyers are looking for in a home in this market. [I recommend you read The Sequim Bell Curve: Sequim Homes Hard to Find.]

Who are you competing with when it comes to home ownership in the Sequim area? If you’re in your 50s and 60s, well educated, a retired professional(s), stable and married for a long time, conservative financially, mature mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually, have a perfect or nearly perfect credit score, and know precisely what you want (a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home, 1800 to 2400 square feet, single level, modern kitchen with an open floor plan, some kind of view (whether a water or mountain view), and not too far out of town (like 5 miles), then you are competing against yourself. This is who the vast majority of buyers are in the Sequim area, and it describes the demographic of home ownership. 

So if I may suggest an important strategy for you, even if it sounds self-serving, I strongly recommend you hire an experienced professional buyer’s agent with integrity who can help you navigate these waters. Contact me (text or call 360-775-5424) far ahead of coming to view homes so we can plan and strategize, because you are competing against some very intelligent and good people, like yourself, and it will not be easy finding the ideal home, negotiating successfully, and getting through all the necessary due diligence without someone who has the knowledge, experience, and who you can trust to represent you as you hope they would. I recommend reviewing my full resume at Chuck Marunde Resume. BTW, if you call me and I don’t answer because I’m on the phone with someone else, please leave a message. I cannot return phone calls with no message and phone number. Clients are hiring me months in advance, so that’s why I write this. Plan ahead. Find the best buyer’s agent you can. I hope I have the privilege of working for you.

Sequim Buyer’s Agent Chuck Marunde, 360-775-5424.

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You may need a Sequim locksmith. Should you change the locks on your new home? The question is valid, and the truth is, most home buyers do not change the locks on their homes after they move in, but it is clearly a good idea. It will cost a little money, and you’ve got to find a good locksmith who charges reasonable fees, but I can help with that.

Find a Sequim Locksmith After Closing

When you close on your new home, you get a key to the front door that has been handled by a lot of people in the prior months. Asked a Sequim locksmith how many people have had access to the average home, and the number can easily be 3 to 6. The seller undoubtedly made some copies of their front door key while they owned their home, and over the years they may have give a copy of that key to a neighbor, to their landscaper if they spent a couple of winter months in Arizona or Nevada, or to their house cleaner. Some people have a regular maintenance man who they trust and who has a key.

Homeowners also give a copy to their listing agent, who may have made an extra copy for the real estate office. During the time the home was on the market, dozens of Realtors may have used the key to open the front door. Contractors may have been given entry to the home to do work to satisfy a buyer. The point is, there may be a number of people who have had copies of the key to the front door or access to the home. It’s a good idea to have the door locks changed, and you’ll want a trustworthy Sequim locksmith to do that.

Change the Front Lock with a Sequim Locksmith

I receive no referral fee of any kind, but this Sequim locksmith came to my home and changed my lock at an incredibly reasonable fee of only $60. You won’t beat that, and this young man is professional and very pleasant. I highly recommend him.

Sequim Locksmith

The best way to contact this Sequim locksmith is by calling his office phone number, and if he isn’t in, leave a message. Sequim Locksmith, SureLock Services, LLC: 360-726-2592.

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The home buying process can be a bit intimidating if you haven’t bought a lot of homes. Even if you’ve bought a couple of homes in different parts of the country, the home buying process is always unique to a local real estate market. This podcast gives you an overview of the home buying process from A to Z.

Home Buying Process

As I said on this podcast, you really need to do a good job with your due diligence. Buying a home is not a time to make any big mistakes, especially if you are retiring. Who wants a nightmare in retirement? So I always recommend finding a very professional buyer’s agent with experience and integrity, and I always recommend hiring a local mortgage broker. Buying a home is hard enough without mistakes or lack of knowledge that could cost you your dream home, and when I say “lack of knowledge,” I’m not referring to you, but to the professionals you hire.

Master the home buying process with the right professionals, and everything will go as smoothly as it possibly can, which still means no transaction is going to be a cake walk.

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Sequim Buyers have paused slightly as we go into the fall months, but not because of the seasons of the year. There is a reason many Sequim buyers have hit the pause button on their plans to retire in the Sequim area and buy a home. Can you guess what that reason is?

Sequim Buyers and Weather

The vast majority of Sequim buyers are retirees coming from all over the country and a small number are from Europe. That means that our buyers come from New York to California, from Alaska to Florida, and Hawaii and almost every other state in the Union. These buyers are typically selling their current home, or they’ve already sold it, and they have been looking at the Sequim area for months and very often for years. Such a move is a major transition for anyone, of course, and takes planning and time to coordinate the sale of a home, the purchase of a home, moving a lifetime of personal possessions, and making all the other transitional decisions necessary.

So what happens when there is a hurricane that devastates a major metropolitan area? It interferes with plans to sell homes and move to the great Northwest. What happens when there is a once in a lifetime hurricane that hits Texas and gulf states, followed up by another massive hurricane that hits Florida and eastern states? 

Sequim Buyers Pause

Epic natural disasters not only hits the pause button for Sequim buyers from those states, but look at how many states are effected:  Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. And now a third hurricane is threatening to hit the east coast, so add North Carolina, Virginia, and all the way up to New York. And Californians are on edge with the recent 8.1 earthquake in Mexico and a series of small quakes across the fault lines in California all the way up to Alaska.

Of course, none of this will affect the Sequim buyers who already sold their homes and are sitting on cash, need to find a home to live in, and can pull the trigger quickly when they find it in Sequim. But that is a smaller percentage of the buyers compared to all the buyers affected by the hurricanes. 

What does this mean for the Sequim real estate market? It means we are seeing a slight pause for Sequim buyers, and so the hot market is cooling a little for a period of months. Eventually, we will get back to normal and find balance in the demand and supply curves.

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A bump clause is a special clause in an addendum to a purchase and sale agreement that gives a seller the right to continue to accept other offers and possibly bump the first offer out of the picture entirely. This means a bump clause can either help a seller or hurt a buyer. In this article I’ll explain when and how to use a bump clause.

Bump Clause Favoring the Seller

When does a bump clause come up? When you make an offer on a property, you may offer all cash or maybe you’re going to apply for a loan. There is no bump clause involved in those cases, but if you are going to make an offer contingent on the sale of your existing home, there is a bump clause in that addendum. 

Not all sellers will accept an offer contingent on the sale of the buyer’s home, but if they do, the form in Washington is a “Form 22B Buyer’s Sale of Property Contingency.” The bump clause gives the buyer a specific number of days to get the sale of their current home under contract, and if they don’t have it under contract, the entire transaction is terminated. While it is pending, the bump clause gives the seller the right to accept better offers and give you, the buyer, a notice that you can either waive your contingency or the transaction is terminated and the seller will sell the home to the other buyer.

Some buyers will cross this bump clause out so the seller cannot bump their offer, but a seller may reject that, too.

Bump Clause Favoring the Buyer

If you get a seller to agree to accept an offer that is contingent on the sale of your current home with a bump clause crossed out, like in the image above, then that clearly favors you as a buyer. Who wants to get bumped, right? On the other hand, a seller doesn’t want to take his home off the market for several months waiting for you to sell your current home either. 

All of this boils down to whether it is a seller’s market or a buyer’s market, and how motivated the seller is to accept an offer with a bump clause. 

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This election year has substantially slowed down home buying in the Sequim area (including Port Angeles and Port Townsend). A presidential election year typically has a brief negative impact on home buying in retirement areas, and Sequim and Port Townsend are major retirement areas for residents from all over the U.S. But this election year in particular has had a huge impact on home buying. Here is what is happening in this small real estate market this election year.

Election Year and Home Buying

When we experience major economic effects, like a big slow down in home sales, the cause is rarely one thing. We often find the answer in a combination of contributing factors. Election year is one factor, albeit a major factor, that has caused buyers to postpone their home buying decision in an area like Sequim.

The slowed pace of home sales can be attributed to these factors, and each of them are significant, but combine them, and you have a substantial impact on home sales.

First, this is probably the most tension filled presidential election year in our lifetimes, and it is extremely contentious, and the future of our freedom and the foundation of this nation hinges on the outcome. No matter who you plan to vote for, everyone agrees on the importance of this election year. With so much uncertainty, buyers’ default position is to postpone their home buying plans until after the election, and perhaps after the new year when the dust has settled.

Second, the inventory of homes retirees want in the Sequim area is so low, it is at a crisis level. Buyers are having a hard time finding the home of their dreams, because there are so few in the MLS (multiple listing service). This clearly inhibits home sales.

Third, retirees around the country are worried about our economy and their retirement mutual funds, because there are rumors of rumors of a massive stock market bubble that is about to pop. Who knows whether there is any truth to that, but the concern adds to the uncertainty that people already are feeling.

Fourth, retirees always slow down or postpone their home buying decisions as we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year’s Eve. 

Election Year Good News

There is good news this election year for home buyers in the Sequim market. You have an advantage if you are coming to look at homes in Sequim between now and the end of the year, because many buyers are staying away. For those who stay away, the home they dreamed of buying will be sold to those who do dare to come to Sequim despite all the uncertainties of life and despite this crazy election year. Wait until spring, and the home you have been watching on the MLS will almost certainly be sold.

The best homes in the best areas are selling now, and there are not very many of them in this current inventory crisis. Use me as a resource to gather information until you come. Email, call, or text. It may be a crazy election year, but I’m still working hard for buyers making their plans to retire in Sequim.

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Digital signatures have become the mainstay in signing real estate documents, at least for rural retirement areas like Sequim, Washington. Buyers come, look at homes, and either sign an offer while here or soon after with digital signatures when they arrive back home. Even after mutual acceptance there are documents that will need acknowledgement or approval with initials, and that can be done with digital signatures.

Remember Teletype machines? You may be too young to remember them, but surely you’ll remember the early fax machines. I remember when faxes came out, I said something I laugh at now. I said, “Wow, what are they going to come up with next!” I had no idea. Computers and the Internet have launched us into hyper space compared to the old fax machines. And digital signatures are part of your future if you plan to buy a home.

Digital Signatures in Real Estate

There are a number of digital signature systems, and if you’ve used one, you’ll have no problem using another. They are very similar. When you receive a document for digital signatures, you’ll receive an email with a link that will ask you to authenticate that you are the correct recipient. Then you’ll choose your signature font, and most people just use the default choice. Then you’ll use your computer mouse to click on each signature or initial, and the software will take you through the process until you have completed your digital signatures everywhere they are needed.

Digital Signatures – No Printing – No Emailing

Once you complete your digital signatures, the sender will automatically receive the completed form back immediately. You don’t have to email anything back. You don’t have to scan and email, and you don’t have to fax anything. The final document is a pdf, and can be emailed to anyone, including the other Realtor and the escrow company. This technology simplifies and speeds up the paperwork process for everyone. I love coordinating documents with digital signatures.

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There is such as thing as architectural chaos. It’s hard to define, but I’m reminded of how Justice Stewart Potter described pornography in a 1964 Supreme Court case. He famously said, “I know it when I see it.” That’s how architectural chaos is. It would be virtually impossible to define, but I definitely know it when I see it.

Architectural Chaos

I showed three homes yesterday to a couple who are very excited about moving to the Sequim area, and each of the three homes was unique and substantially different than the others. The first home was nice and fairly traditional, but as we walked through the home, nothing happened. In other words, it wasn’t emotionally thrilling, exciting, or moving. It was just a floor plan. Nothing weird, but nothing particularly noteworthy. 

The second home we walked through was a delight from the moment we walked in the front door. There was no architectural chaos in this home. This was a home built in the ’70s, but the floor plan was especially pleasing. It was a little different than the traditional living room, dining room, kitchen combo, but it was somehow very pleasing on a deep emotional level. The kitchen and dining room had been remodeled nicely, and everything seemed to flow. This is what really wise architects do. A great architect creates a floor plan that flows and is pleasing to the emotions and the subconscious. On paper, the average person cannot tell the difference, but when you walk through a home with architectural chaos, your spirit will know it immediately. You may not be able to define it, but when you see it, you’ll know it.

Architectural Chaos Not Limited to Older Homes

The third home we viewed was a modern home, probably 40 years newer than the second home, and it was built with excellent materials and workmanship. But . . . this home instantly sent messages of architectural chaos to me and my clients. It was subconscious at first, but then as we walked around the home and discussed its features, the good, the bad, and the ugly, we began to recognize the architectural chaos we were feeling deep inside.

A good architect will not create architectural chaos, but clients often have an idea they will insist an architect put to paper. What’s an architect to do if the client insists on a certain floor plan if the client is the boss and the client is signing the checks? 

This home had a combination of big archways Spanish style adjacent to contemporary obtuse angles and something that appeared to be a combination of several architectural styles. The result was architectural chaos that you could feel, but not necessarily describe. No wonder this home had been on the market for a long time. While no one probably understood why this home had not sold for a long time in a very hot market when almost everything was selling, I believe the reason had more to do with architectural chaos than anything else.

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What if a buyer and seller talk directly without their Realtors involved as intermediaries? This can happen, sometimes unintentionally, and sometimes before closing a buyer and a seller have an occasion to meet each other and talk. What are the pros and cons of a buyer and seller talking to each other?

Buyer and Seller Talking! OMG!

Most Realtors get paranoid at the very thought of a buyer and seller talking to each other. Realtors want to “control” their clients, because they fear their clients will say something wrong. There are many stories about the seller who says to the buyer, “Since we got rid of the termites, we haven’t had any issues.”

Buyer and Seller and Ethics

There is an ethics issue for Realtors. A Realtor cannot communicate with the other Realtor’s client directly or indirectly. That’s why a seller should communicate through his listing agent, and the buyer should communicate through his buyer’s agent. But the clients themselves are not subject to the Realtor’s Code of Ethics, so if they talked to each other, they would not be in violation.

As a general rule it certainly is not a good idea for a buyer and seller to talk directly with each other during negotiations. But I have had buyers who did talk to a seller to get instructions on how to operate an irrigation system.  And frankly, if buyers and sellers have to go through their Realtors just to say, “Hello,” or something else that does not effect the transaction, especially when the buyer and seller get along very well, a Realtor would be hard pressed to stifle the clients when it would just be rude and offensive.

I believe there’s a bigger danger. If a Realtor does not communicate well with their own client, and they are making poor decisions on behalf of their client without telling their own client what is really going on, the Realtor can be the cause of a transaction dying.

Good communications between the buyer and seller are important, and that also means that both Realtors need to be good communicators, too.

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