A video intro to Sequim real estate, and a little about buying homes and land in Sequim.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Real Estate Agents
• Sequim Real Estate Listings for Sale
• The Real Estate Market: Are Homes Selling in Sequim and Port Angeles?
• Sequim Real Estate on the Cutting Edge
• Sellers Worry About What Buyers Want

The way real estate is bought and sold has dramatically changed in recent years, especially the last two to three years.  The traditional methods we used 20 and 30 years ago are no longer very relevant.  For example, the expensive brick-and-mortar office with massive overhead is killing brokers like poison all over the country with the market downturn.  But there’s much more going on, and that has everything to do with changing consumer preferences and Internet technologies.

These are exciting times for real estate experts, authors, and geeks who know how to reach out and connect with buyers and sellers, but who also are able to practice fundamental principles of sales and customer service that never will change.

Chuck Marunde is the Sequim and Port Angeles Virtual Real Estate Agent practicing what he preaches.  Read more about the changes in buying and selling real estate at the Virtual Real Estate Agent.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Real Estate Agents
• Sequim Real Estate Listings for Sale
• The Real Estate Market: Are Homes Selling in Sequim and Port Angeles?
• Sequim Real Estate on the Cutting Edge
• Sellers Worry About What Buyers Want

Buying a home in Sequim WA is changing.  So many things have changed over the years that buyers must look to new methods and new technologies to find their homes.  I’m 55 years old.  If you’re around my age or older, you’ll remember rotary phones, manual typewriters, and thick books with real estate listings.  It really is amazing when you think about the rapid development of technology and the Internet just in the past decade.

I believe one of the great changes taking place is that consumers, meaning home buyers, are more in control now than ever before because of technology and the Internet.  They no longer are subject to the control of obnoxious salesmen or at the mercy of a real estate agent who controls all the listing information, or who hides the ball so consumers must go through him or her only.  The real estate profession no longer has a strangle hold on buying and selling homes.  In a very real way buyers have been set free.

Now, you–the home buyer, have more control than you’ve ever had in the history of real estate.  The challenge many buyers have is locating the best tools on the Internet to search for and find their ideal home.  But buyers also want to find the best resources with good and honest information about Sequim, Washington (and Port Angeles, which is only 15 miles to the east).  And buyers also need to be able to have an intelligent approach to researching real estate agents to get the best Sequim buyer’s agent they can find.

I have spent years and a small fortune creating those resources for you–all absolutely free.

Consider that this blog alone has over 750 articles written specifically about Sequim and Port Angeles real estate issues.  These are not light fluffy articles written just to hook clients and reel them in.  As you will see, they deal with real issues that regularly concern buyers and sellers.   And many of these issues are written about extensively with links to more resources, forms, examples, and even real estate law.

You’ll also find the most powerful and easy-to-navigate MLS search online for your free use 24/7.    We were the first to have our site programmed to allow you to search both the Olympic Listing Service and the Northwest MLS for your home so you wouldn’t miss any listings.  You’ll find a mobile Sequim real estate application if you have an iPod.  You’ll find foreclosure and short sale help.  You’ll find online relocation packages for Sequim and Port Angeles.  You’ll find videos on a number of real estate issues.  And much more.  All of these resources have been designed and programmed specifically for you–the buyer.  No one has spent as much effort, time, and money to create these free Sequim and Port Angeles resources for buyers as we have.

How about a free real estate lawyer with your Realtor?  We are taking professionalism to higher levels to serve our clients better.  We are very focused on giving you the best information and the best customer service you’ll every get.  And if you do not find your answer on this site, email chuckmarunde@gmail.com, and he will answer your question if he can.  Can’t find some of our resources?  Email us and tell us what you are looking for, and we’ll email you back with the link.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Real Estate Agents
• Sequim Real Estate Listings for Sale
• The Real Estate Market: Are Homes Selling in Sequim and Port Angeles?
• Sequim Real Estate on the Cutting Edge
• Sellers Worry About What Buyers Want

I received these excellent questions about Sequim from some potential buyers, and since other clients have raised similar questions, I thought I would post the answers here for everyone.

Question:  Are there areas that have less wind, are more sheltered for better weather – or areas to avoid because of wind or fog?

Answer:  The windy areas are north of Sequim on the bluffs and beaches.  For example, north on Sequim-Dungeness Avenue, which turns into Anderson Road, it gets more windy as you approach the Strait.  I lived five miles north of Sequim adjacent to the Olympic Game Farm.  That was 14 years ago.  I know that because my daughter is going to be 14 in July and she was born there in a 100 year old farmhouse with the assistance of a midwife.   Even though we were about two miles from the water as the crow flies, it was always windy.  Of course, a lot of people don’t mind the wind, or it is a fair trade for a high bluff or beach front view.

Question:  Is the “Mains Farm” area windy?

Answer:  Yes in some areas, because Mains Farm has high bluff frontage, but not back in the many areas within Mains Farm that are sheltered by trees.

Question:  What about septic systems & wells? Is it risky or fine?

Answer:  We are lucky to have really great water and private wells that produce plenty of water, but there are exceptions in a small number  of properties, so this is a property specific issue.  The same is true with septic systems.  Some properties are in lower areas that don’t perc well, and more expensive mound type septic systems are required.  Of course, for those properties on public utilities, these are not concerns at all.  But even for private systems, I include addendums that require an inspection of the well and the septic, so you would have a full report.

Question:  Are the lenders savvy about short sales, or does it take forever?

Answer:  As a broker and Realtor I don’t list either short sales or foreclosures.  That isn’t because I don’t know them, because I did many foreclosures and short sales as an attorney, so I have more experience on these  two than most.  But the reason I don’t list them is because we cannot get the banks to cooperate, and because the REOs working for the banks are demanding a 40% referral fee.  I have had clients who made offers on short sales that were accepted by the sellers, but after 3 to 6 months of waiting for the bank to make up its mind, they still jerked us around and ultimately would not cooperate except with a ridiculously unreasonable price and terms.  The truth is, the best prices are not found in short sales or foreclosures, at least not on the Olympic Peninsula.  The best prices and best homes are listed with a Realtor right now.  I just sold a home on Bell Hill in Sequim for $150,000 less than it’s fair market value.  It wasn’t a foreclosure or a short sale.

By the way, even though I don’t list foreclosures or short sales, I do help my buyers write offers, because I know exactly what fees and costs can be negotiated away and how the banks and REOs work behind the scenes.

Question:  Anything else we should think about?

Answer:  What my clients from outside the area tell me consistently is that after narrowing down the possible ideal properties listed in the MLS online, there’s nothing like driving around with me and getting a good handle on the best areas and then filtering through the homes as we look at them.  Then we draft an offer, and negotiate hard and work through the details to get what makes the most sense.  Everything I have ever learned, including 20 years as a real estate attorney, is all yours at no cost.  I love being a professional buyer’s agent, because I help my client beat up the seller, . . .  but it is the seller who pays my commission at closing.  Is this country great, or what?

[You'll find more articles on every issue raised here with more details to help you avoid traps for the unwary.  With over 750 real estate articles on Sequim and Port Angeles real estate, you should find what you are looking for, and if you don't find the answer to your question, email me, and I'll do my best to answer it.  You can use the search box to find the Sequim real estate issue you want to know more about.]

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Real Estate Agents
• Sequim Real Estate Listings for Sale
• The Real Estate Market: Are Homes Selling in Sequim and Port Angeles?
• Sequim Real Estate on the Cutting Edge
• Sellers Worry About What Buyers Want

Sequim real estate broker and buyer’s agent Chuck Marunde:

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Real Estate Agents
• Sequim Real Estate Listings for Sale
• The Real Estate Market: Are Homes Selling in Sequim and Port Angeles?
• Sequim Real Estate on the Cutting Edge
• Sellers Worry About What Buyers Want