We are in the midst of a buyer’s market.  That’s not front page news.  What is news is that every single transaction is unique and presents a whole set of challenges that every buyer does not anticipate.  I kid you not.  After hundreds of transactions, I can testify on behalf of hundreds of buyers that there is almost always some surprise or some twist of events that presents its own challenges.  In fact, one can almost guarantee that when you purchase a home in Sequim (or anywhere) that there will be some hurdles that either terminate a transaction or come close to terminating the entire transaction.  These challenges are not the exception but the rule.

What challenges am I talking about?  How about some real life examples from Sequim real estate transactions?

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There are many Sequim homes for sale and nearly all of them are listed with a Realtor in the MLS.  There are a few homes on the market that are FSBOs (for sale by owners), but these are not in the Olympic Listing Service (our local MLS), so they don’t get the broad promotion on the Internet.  Most buyers are not even finding the FSBOs, and probably 98% of buyers are looking on real estate agent sites to search the MLS (or affiliate sites where the listings show up).  So my question is focused on listed properties.  Are Sequim homes for sale that are listed in the MLS too high or too low?

My answer won’t surprise anyone who has been looking in our MLS and comparing homes and prices.  Some listings are over priced, and some listings are listed at a very reasonable price.  I’ll explain.

I’ve shown some houses to out-of-state buyers that both my client and I thought were over priced, and some were perhaps $90,000 to as much as $200,000 over priced.  Now this isn’t a mathematical science, so no onc prove that a home is over or under priced by a precise dollar amount.  But what we can do is compare a home to dozens of other similar homes, and the average buyer gets a pretty darn good feel as to whether a home is priced fairly in this market.

On the other hand, there are many homes listed that are currently listed at very reasonable prices, even in this real estate recession.  I have a home listed on Bell Hill right now that is getting a tremendous amount of attention, and it is because it is priced so reasonable.  [See Sequim Bell Hill Home for Sale]  Of course, Bell Hill in Sequim is a popular area, and many of the homes have gorgeous water or mountain or valley views, and so if a nice home is priced right on Bell Hill, it is going to get some attention.

The Sequim real estate market is not perfectly balanced when it comes to pricing.  Some homes are listed at low prices and some are listed at high prices.  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find your ideal home and negotiate to get it at a price you know is a great price.

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Buying Sequim homes for retirees can be a challenge.  Real estate from east of Sequim to west of Port Angeles offers quite a variety of homes and land.  The challenge that many buyers have is in deciding what they want.  Not knowing can create confusion and frustration in the process.  Knowing generally what the ideal property would look like will simply life immensely.  For example, knowing what specific parameters to put into an online search for an online Sequim MLS search will give you a list of potential properties to look at.  If your parameters are too broad, you will be overwhelmed with possibilities.

Even after knowing and doing this kind of search, you still can’t tell from simply viewing the online photos and data on Sequim homes whether this is something that you would really like until you see it.  But when you arrive in Sequim you can’t be looking at a hundred homes.  There isn’t enough time.  This is where a professional buyer’s agent can email with you to answer questions and talk to you on the phone so you can narrow down your prospective list of homes or land.

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Another Sequim custom home sold by yours truly.  Perhaps the emphasis is better placed with this phrase, “Buyers cherry pick another Sequim custom home.”  I’ve written elsewhere about how buyers are coming to Sequim to find the perfect retirement home in a great location and at a really good listing price (leaving room for negotiating), and they are Cherry Picking the Best Sequim Homes for Sale.  I see the reality of this cherry picking again and again.  In another article I explained it this way.

Buyers are cherry picking the best houses in the best neighborhoods at the best prices. This makes 90% of the existing inventory irrelevant or not part of most Buyers’ universe of potential homes. Since the cherry picked homes are not part of the 90% of remaining homes for sale in the MLS, the available inventory that is suitable for a particular buyer is really quite small, perhaps only 10% of the actual inventory.

In Clallam County, we have about 800 single family residences in the MLS for sale. If I am right about this cherry picking process that is going on right now, that would mean there are probably only 80 homes that might actually be suitable for you. But then we both know that you would narrow that list of 80 homes down very quickly, because that includes all homes at all prices in all neighborhoods. So by the time we filter that list of 80 homes based on your parameters, that will leave something like 20 homes on the market that might be suitable for you.

How long do you think those 20 homes will last when all other buyers like you are doing the same thing you are doing–cherry picking the best homes in the best neighborhoods at the best prices?

Imagine a private setting just outside the Sequim city limits on three gorgeous acres.  Then add a 2,100 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2 bath custom built home with genuine hardwood floors, high ceilings, tiled kitchen and bathrooms, away from traffic and noise, and listed about $100,000 below its replacement value at today’s low prices.  This home was just cherry picked off the market by a wonderful retired couple from Salem, Oregon.  Above is a photo of this incredible find, and my clients are very fortunate to have found it before it crosses the radar of other buyers arriving here in the busy spring months starting in March.  There simply are not very many homes like this in this small market.  That’s why I refer to “cherry picking” homes in Sequim.

By the way, there is much more to this home than this photo or my brief description.  There is also another house on the property, a 650 square foot guest home that matches the quality and appearance of the main home, and it also has a garage.  The driveway is all asphalt, too.  All I can say is my clients have stolen one of the finest homes at an incredible price.  How much did it sell for?  Well, let me just say this.  The listing price was $397,500.  My clients bought it for less, and it would have been a bargain at the listing price.  Today’s replacement cost (land, excavation, electric, well, septic, driveway, main house plus guest house) would be approximately $519,000.

You can search the most powerful MLS online website for your retirement home right now at Sequim Homes For Sale.

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The Sequim Sunland Golf Course is very popular, and Sunland as a subdivision of nice homes in a beautiful residential community is a strong pull for southern California or Arizona residents considering retirement here.   Here’s a great example of a custom home for sale right on the golf course, and I’ve included photos so you can get a vignette of this Sequim community.

This is a stunning custom built home on the golf course. It’s a corner lot on the 17th green. The kitchen has granite, Corian and butcher block counters, a propane cook stove for the chef of the house, a custom bar you’ve got to see, 3 fireplaces, very high ceilings, a huge master suite with a walk-in double custom shower. There’s a guest room with an outside entrance off the back deck near the hot tub.   There are two bedrooms plus the guest room.   This is one of the highest quality custom homes in Sunland, but it’s priced to sell in the current market at a price that would be hard to replace if you had to build it, $439,000.   The seller will consider helping to buy down the interest rate for you by paying some loan points, but don’t wait too long if you are buying, because interest rates are going to continue a steady upward trend.

You can see the full listing detail on this custom home at Sunland Custom Home on Golf Course, and you view more photos, including the custom interior on the next page . . . (more…)

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Chuck Marunde who is a Sequim and Port Angeles real estate broker and Realtor (and retired real estate attorney) has been a writer for many years, but many local residents don’t know that Chuck’s real estate expertise is sought on a national level by many other Realtors, brokers, investors, and buyers and sellers.   Chuck is regularly published in the Chicago Sun Times, the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and Nielson, and his articles are syndicated in many places on the Internet.

Read the latest Chicago Sun Times Article here on How to Research Your Real Estate Agent.

Possibly Related Posts:

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• 1573 Doe Run Road, Sequim, WA
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