Sequim and Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC was the beneficiary of a surprise audit by the Washington State Real Estate Division, which has the right to audit any real estate broker at any time unannounced.   The bad news?   There is none.   The good news?   Chuck Marunde’s records received a Gold Star.   Why is this relevant to buyers or sellers?

The audit is important because it showed that our records are impeccable, which means our files, our documents, our chronological history on each transaction, and our handling of client funds is of the highest professional, legal, and ethical standards.

“I think it is important that our clients know that our legal documents are not only well drafted with unambiguous language [Chuck was a real estate attorney for 20 years], but that we keep the documents together in precise chronological order.   In this day and age when an offer may go back and forth a half a dozen times or more before mutual acceptance, and the counteroffers can be transmitted through mail, faxes, and email scans, and when only some sections or terms of a transaction are changed, and some may be changed multiple times, it can be challenging to piece together what documents actually make up the full and final agreement and what the exact terms are.   Multiple handwritten changes with initials and dates that are often hard to read, and the avoidance of potential conflicting terms, can make this a challenge even for an ex-lawyer.”

Sequim and Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC is a client-centered business model.   Complying with the law is absolutely important, but doing it with the client’s best interest in mind and doing it better than anyone else for the client’s sake is another small way we demonstrate how we take care of our clients.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Real Estate on your iPod
• Sequim Real Estate Selling
• Is Now the Time to Buy Real Estate?
• What About Mineral Rights When I Buy Real Estate?
• Sequim Real Estate Market Leading Indicator Improvement

Searching for Sequim homes for sale?   The inventory of homes for sale is good, although if you’re looking for a great home in a great area with special features, what you’re looking for may be in the top 5% of the inventory.   Here is an idea of what is in the MLS in Clallam County.   I only included site-built homes, not manufactured nor condos or townhouses.   All data is from the Olympic Listing Service.   To view the homes in each price category, just click on the link.   Once you’re in that category, you can narrow the search parameters yourself.

There are 124 homes for sale in the price range of $100,000 to $200,000.
There are 247 homes for sale in the price range of $200,000 to $300,000.
There are 153 homes for sale in the price range of $300,000 to $400,000.
There are 84 homes for sale in the price range of $400,000 to $500,000.
There are 56 homes for sale in the price range of $500,000 to $600,000.
There are 37 homes for sale in the price range of $600,000 to $700,000.
There are 24 homes for sale in the price range of $700,000 to $800,000.
There are 39 homes for sale in the price range of $800,000 to $10,000,000.

The actual number of homes in each category will change with time as homes are sold, expire, or are withdrawn.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim (Blyn) 2 Br 1,600 Sq.Ft. Garage
• Sequim Bell Hill Home for Sale with Mountain View 5008 Sq.Ft. $449,900
• Sequim Real Estate on your iPod
• Homes Listed for a Long Time and Not Sold
• Sequim Real Estate Selling

I believe the best Sequim MLS and Port Angeles MLS site where you can search all the local real estate listings is one I had programmed specifically with buyers in mind.   The reason this unique is because you can search the entire Olympic Listing Service and the entire Northwest Multiple Listing Service easily from this page.

If you didn’t know, we have two MLS’s here in Clallam County, so our listings are bifurcated.   Well, theoretically 100% of our listings are in the OLS, and from my statistical analysis, about 67% of the listings are also in the NWMLS.   The reason this is so important to buyers is that they could be searching an aent’s website that only pulls in listings from the NWMLS, which means you will be looking at all of their listings but not all of the listings available here.   If you have been reading my articles, you’ll already know that I am very consumer-centric, and I don’t like consumers not getting what they expect to get.   Some agents might prefer you only see their own listings, so they can double up on the commission.   That’s not the way consumers (buyers) ought to be treated.   I’m a member of both systems, so I had my programmer set this page up so you could search both MLS’s here.

Search the Sequim MLS and
Port Angeles MLS in the OLS and NWMLS

Notice the pull down menu near the top of the search section in the middle.   You can select either Olympic MLS or Nowthwest MLS.

Working hard night and day to provide buyers like you with the tools you need to do powerful searches on the Internet without me or anyone else getting in your face.   If you have any questions, you know how to reach me:   chuckmarunde@gmail.com or 360-775-5424.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Real Estate on your iPod
• Sequim Real Estate Selling
• Is Now the Time to Buy Real Estate?
• What About Mineral Rights When I Buy Real Estate?
• Sequim Real Estate Market Leading Indicator Improvement

When you purchase a home in Sequim or Port Angeles for your perfect retirement, the last thing you want to do is find yourself in a major fight, locked into a cage to do battle until you or the seller taps out.

Buying a home in Sequim or Port Angeles involves so many details, I sometimes find myself amazed, and I’ve been doing this for almost three decades as a real estate attorney and now real estate broker.   What details am I talking about?   Here are some of the details that have come up for my buyer clients recently.

The Home Inspection.   Most of my buyer clients are from out of the area, and while they are here when we look at homes and write up the offer on their ideal home, they are typically not here for the home inspection a week or more later.   Who should handle your home inspection?   Who is the best home inspector around?   Who can attend your home inspection if you are not here and hold the inspector accountable just like you would if you were here?   What kinds of issues need to be addressed for repair or replacement, and who will repair or replace those items?   Who can bring the supervision and attention to detail that you would if you were here?   There’s much more to a good home inspection than most people imagine.   If I am your buyer’s agent, I attend the home inspection for you and follow up on all the details.   Read What Does a Home Inspection Involve?

The Crawlspace.   One of the most important aspects of a home inspection is a thorough examination of the crawlspace beneath the home.   What if your inspector cannot find the entrance to the crawlspace?   That just happened.   This home inspector and I looked for 45 minutes, and we could not find the entrance, and believe me we know where to look.   Even the seller (heirs to the elderly parents who owned the home but passed away) did not know, and couldn’t find it after searching.   The home inspection could only be completed when the sellers had to cut a hole in the floor to get under the house to find the entrance.   It was hidden behind thorn bushes and disguised in the siding of the house.   But all of this meant that the inspection deadline was looming and an extension had to be coordinated so the buyers did not lose that protection.   Who handles all those details for a buyer, especially one from out of state?   Again, I do for my clients.

The Appliances.   True story.   The cooktop in the kitchen island was cracked and had to be replaced.   My clients were already back in California, but they needed the model number of the cooktop so they could special order a new glass top.   Of course, customer service is one of my pet peeves, so I went out to the house to get the model number.   I could not for the life of me read it.   I had to pull the drawer out from under the cooktop, slide into a narrow space on my back while holding my weight above the lower drawer guides, and look up to the bottom of the cooktop with a little label that was turned the wrong way, and I couldn’t get my head close enough to read it because of braces in the way.   After some thought, I took my digital camera and held it where I had been lying and took several shots until I finally had one of the label, which I then blew up on my office computer where I could read the model number.

The Sprinkler System.   One of these houses had a sprinkler system that did not turn on with a simple flip of the switch.   I scheduled an inspection by a sprinkler system expert for my out of state clients and met him there.   Too many problems to mention here, but we are working through those issues to the satisfaction of all parties, and within the inspection time lines.

The Garden and Landscaping.   What if the home you are purchasing has a beautiful garden with lots of specially planted trees, shrubs, flowers, and an extensive watering system?   Who will make sure all of those gorgeous and expensive plants stay well watered and cared for between mutual acceptance and closing?   Just another of many details that need adult supervision while you are absent.

The Septic System.   Is the septic system okay?   Does it need maintenance or repair, and should it be pumped before closing?   Not all septic tanks should be pumped, and doing so can actually be damaging to the system.

The Water and Irrigation Systems.   Is there an outside water source, such as an irrigation system?   Is the potable water and the irrigation water on the same or different systems?   Does the irrigation water run year round or only from April 15th to September 15th?   Sequim has a lot of private irrigation systems.   Some systems have a hook-up fee for $2,500 or more, like the last house I sold on the John Wayne Marina water system.   The seller neglected to mention it, and the listing agent didn’t know about it.   These are things buyers need to know.

The Title Report and Clouds.   Will you get a preliminary title report as soon as your agent gets it?   There is a five day deadline to review it for potential restrictions on the property.   Is there a 60 foot wide utility or public road easement on part of your property?   What other clouds or encumbrances hinder your use of the property as you intend to use it?   This is where I am glad I was a real estate attorney and know how to interpret these things for my clients.

The Seller’s Disclosure Statement.   There is a new line on the Washington Purchase and Sale Agreements.   It’s line 9 on the first page and it deals with the buyer’s remedies regarding the Seller’s Disclosure Statement.   This is a legal subject that unfortunately is terribly misunderstood by many real estate agents and brokers.   As a buyer, you definitely need to have a handle on this issue.   Read articles on Seller Disclosure and Buyer Beware.

The Addendums to a P&S.   There are numerous possible addendums to a purchase agreement.   Which ones you need depends upon your agent’s experience in knowing which ones to use to protect your interests as a buyer.   Most buyers don’t know how many legal documents are associated with buying a home.   See List of Washington Documents to Buy a Home.

The Appraisal.   In this chaotic market, is your appraiser going to objectively and intelligently appraise your home without including foreclosures and short sales that went for a deep discount?   Who will help you work through that issue so you can get your appraisal done right with a decent loan to value ratio?

Well, this is not a comprehensive list by any means, but let’s stop there.   Your head may be spinning already.   I guess it is obvious at this point that if all of the details on your next purchase are not handled with great attention to detail and professionalism, you could end up in a major fight with the seller, or you could lose the home to another buyer.   Enough said.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Real Estate on your iPod
• Sequim Real Estate Selling
• Is Now the Time to Buy Real Estate?
• What About Mineral Rights When I Buy Real Estate?
• Sequim Real Estate Market Leading Indicator Improvement

I wrote earlier about how there is a burst of activity in Sequim, and buyers have suddenly shown up and are making offers.   This weekend I sold two houses.   The first involved clients from California who purchased a stunning home in Sunland, and the second was one of my listings in Sunland, a gorgeous home right on the golf course.

Beyond my own sales, I note that the total number of transactions that have a pending status in our MLS has jumped to 91 (which does not include my two).   This number, which represents the number of offers that have been accepted but have not closed yet, has been stuck at 81 for a couple of months, and only this weekend did it jump to 91.   This could mean that 6 to 10 houses sold this weekend alone.   (I’m being careful with statistics here because pure numbers don’t always tell the whole story.) That’s impressive for a small market like this.   [8/12/09 Update:   A few days after I wrote this, the pending ("active-under contract") transactions jumped to 100.]

This is a good sign for the Sequim and Port Angeles area.   It doesn’t mean sellers are home free, because buyers are still cherry picking the best homes, but we can see that buyers from out of state are making their move to Sequim especially.   It also tells buyers that when they see the right home, they should make their move before someone else does on that same home.   On the first home where we reached mutual acceptance, there was another couple who have been seriously looking and re-visiting the home.   They waited too long.   My clients pulled the trigger and it’s off the market.   On the second home, my listing on the golf course, the other buyer who called me and said she wanted to buy it for sure also waited too long.   I feel bad for her but good for my own clients who have sold their house and can move on to their next project.

Isn’t it interesting how things work out?   Just thought you would appreciate an insider’s view of the Sequim market this weekend.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Real Estate on your iPod
• Sequim Real Estate Selling
• Is Now the Time to Buy Real Estate?
• What About Mineral Rights When I Buy Real Estate?
• Sequim Real Estate Market Leading Indicator Improvement

Are Sequim homes selling?   Are buyers showing up and looking?   The answer all of a sudden is “yes.”   I showed houses all day today, and one of the nicest homes that we looked at just had a offer written and accepted.   I showed my clients one of my own listings, and they loved it, but it’s an incredible custom built home on the golf course in Sunland.   There’s not another home like this, but that’s not because it is so expensive or unusual, but because the floor plan is stunning and the quality of the materials and construction is second to none.

But watch this.   This same home was shown twice today, and by three other Realtors this week.   Wow!   As my mother used to say, “when it rains, it pours.”

Why the sudden burst of buyer activity?   It’s hard to say, but one of the factors is a fear that interest rates are going to start taking off on an upward climb.   In my opinion, that is a legitimate concern.   All indications are that interest rates are about to get launched.   How fast and how high?   Who knows?   But what clients are relating to me is that the calculations they are doing is enough to cause them to pull the trigger on a purchase they intend to make sooner rather than later.   For example, if the interest rate goes up by one-half a point, their mortgage payment can go up by $200 to $300 per month, depending on the total balance of the mortgage, points paid up front, and so on.

One might think the $8,000 first time home buyer credit could be a motivating factor, but for most of the retiree buyers in the Sequim area, they are not first time home buyers.

The other reason people may be making a move is the time of year.   Spring and fall are the main moving and transition times of the year.   In the fall people want to move before winter sets in.   For some this may be the main reason.   Either way, while it’s been slow for quite a while, buyers are now making their moves suddenly this week.

It’s something to think about.

[See the full information on this Sequim golf course home.]

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Real Estate on your iPod
• Sequim Real Estate Selling
• Is Now the Time to Buy Real Estate?
• What About Mineral Rights When I Buy Real Estate?
• Sequim Real Estate Market Leading Indicator Improvement

This is a list of houses in Sequim that are in various stages of foreclosure, according to Foreclosure.com.   I pay for a monthly subscription fee to be able to access specific information on these sites.   I wish their system would simply allow me to include a link you could use for more detailed information, but Foreclosure.com’s system will not allow that.   But if you see one you have driven past   and you like what you see, you can email me, and I’ll get you the information in the database and email it to you.   Courtesy of Chuck Marunde.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Real Estate on your iPod
• Sequim Real Estate Selling
• Is Now the Time to Buy Real Estate?
• What About Mineral Rights When I Buy Real Estate?
• Sequim Real Estate Market Leading Indicator Improvement

Here’s a great way to view the Sequim homes for sale in our MLS.   Simply go to this link, and you’ll be looking at a nice map showing the location of each listing, and you can view the details of each listing with more photos by clickking on the map icon or the thumbnail photo below the map.   We’ve worked hard to create this software advance and the features to make it super convenient for you:

Search the entire Sequim MLS for homes from $295,000 to $500,000

If you like these features, please let us know.   You can change the price range and parameters in the search options.   And if you want to view any of these homes, simply call or email and we’ll schedule a showing with you.

Very truly yours,

Chuck Marunde, J.D.
Broker/Realtor
360-775-5424

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim (Blyn) 2 Br 1,600 Sq.Ft. Garage
• Sequim Bell Hill Home for Sale with Mountain View 5008 Sq.Ft. $449,900
• Sequim Real Estate on your iPod
• Homes Listed for a Long Time and Not Sold
• Sequim Real Estate Selling

With all the talk of foreclosures and short sales, I thought this brief article on why short sales don’t work 99% of the time might be helpful to homeowners in financial stress (or foreclosure), to buyers seeking to find a steal in this real estate market, and to real estate agents wanting to handle a short sale (as a listing or as a buyer’s agent).

First, I don’t want you to think I have no clue on this subject.   Between practicing real estate law for 20 years (and having done many foreclosures and forfeitures and short sales) and being an Real Estate Broker now, I know the process of foreclosures and short sales intimately.

Second, I also don’t want you to think I am insensitive to sellers who need help selling their distressed property or to buyers who are looking for a good deal.   I love helping people.   That’s why I do what I do.

After handling hundreds of transactions over the past 30 years involving many foreclosures and short sales, I would say to any buyer wanting to buy a property prior to the Trustee’s Sale date (foreclosure) via a short sale, or to any seller wanting to sell their home as a short sale (assuming there is not enough money to continue to make the monthly payments on the mortgage) . . .

Don’t bother.

Here’s why.   The short sale departments of banks and other large corporate entities in the sky have been forced to accept extremely cumbersome investor requirements that will make the transaction all but impossible for both buyers and sellers.

I recently decided to help a good client by listing his home and trying to sell it as a short sale, because it is worth less than the mortgage balance, and because he ran out of money and no more monthly payments would be made on the mortgage.   I did my comps, listed it, advertised the heck out of it, promoted it in the MLS, fielded dozens of calls from both Realtors and prospective buyers, spent a lot of time working with the short sale department, put together all the documents they required in their checklist, got all those documents signed and faxed to the short sale folks, coordinated two offers on the property and submitted those to the short sale department, only to be told when I did a follow up call . . .

“Oh, we have another checklist of items we now require in this phase of the short sale process, and we need the seller’s last two year’s tax returns, his complete financial statement (income and expenses, assets and liabilities), his bank statements for a period of months, a HUD-1 Settlement Statement, and . . . ,” and the list went on.   But this was only the second checklist.   I was informed there would be another.

When a homeowner loses their job bad things happen.   There are ugly consequences to running out of money in this life, and some of the typical consequences include constant harassment by creditors on the phone and by mail, arguments at home under the financial stress, often divorce, separation from family and loved ones, loss of important possessions of great personal value, loss of connectedness with loved ones and friends, feelings of depression (often accompanied by thoughts of suicide), and additional crises with their own devastating consequences, such as the inability to meet child support payments, which results in automatic suspension of a driver’s license and possibly the suspension of professional licenses so you can’t drive to work or even making a living anymore, assuming you even have a job.   I have learned about these terrible consequences through many clients over the years, and I’ve learned some of them through my own personal trials.

On top of these consequences, homeowners are often forced to move out of the home and to another area to search for work.   Have you ever seen a psychological checklist of stress items?   Check a bunch of them, and the stress level goes through the roof.   That’s where many people are when their home is in foreclosure and when they are trying to get it sold.

In the midst of this the short sale department of almost every bank will “require” that the items on their multiple checklists be completed in order to “process” the short sale.   Does anyone really think a distressed homeowner is emotionally capable of spending many hours putting all this information together with narrative explanations of how their life has fallen apart?

Not likely.   “Let them foreclose on the home.   My credit is shot anyway.”   That’s the logical answer of a homeowner.

What about buyers?

If you’re trying to purchase a home as a short sale, without the seller’s full cooperation with the short sale department ad infinitum, it is impossible to get through.

Someone who knows just enough to be dangerous might say, “Well, I’ll just bid at the foreclosure sale.”   That may be a dead end, too.   The bank is going to want the current balance of the mortgage plus accrued interests and costs as the minimum bid.   No one will do that in an upside down situation.   So the bank will bid minimum, take it back, process it to get title in their name, send it to an REO to get it listed with a Realtor, put it back on the market at a listing price still too high, and it will be listed for sale for 256 days   (or longer) while it either gets terribly run down and is worth far less, or the bank continues to pump money into this black hole in the form of property taxes and maintenance.   So now we are about two years-literally-from the date of default on the mortgage payments by the homeowner.   No one claims the banks or their short sale departments are wise (or should we say their investors who lay down all these requirements).

By the way, I’m told by the local rep conducting the Trustee’s Sales that virtually no one is bidding on the dozens of homes he is taking to the court house steps.   The prices are way too high.   If it’s not a good deal, no one will bid, and that’s what is happening.

I can count on two fingers the number of great short sale deals I’ve seen out of hundreds of possible transactions, which makes all the work and the low probability of success just ridiculous.   You can make more money working at McDonald’s than you can chasing foreclosure deals or short sale transactions in the present system.   I know, someone out there knows someone who knows someone who popped a $75,000 profit on a deal.   Right.   And I know someone who knows someone who won the state lottery back in ‘82.

This whole scenario is a disaster for Realtors, too.   On a $225,000 short sale, the selling side commission is about $5,000 and maybe $7,500 if you get the bank to pay a really high percentage.   But the odds of getting this sale through are 1 in a 1,000, or some low probability.   It would be one thing if a Realtor was working at minimum wage, but to work for nothing for six to 10 months when the sale cannot be consummated is a serious waste of time and energy.   Once answer for Realtors would be to charge a reasonable up front fee, such as $3,000.   But sellers in foreclosure can’t afford to pay that, and buyers simply won’t pay a buyer’s agent $3,000.   In theory they will, but in practice no.   Would I spend a lot of time on a short sale if I got an up front fee?   Yes, but seriously it would have to be $5,000, and no one is willing to pay me $5,000 up front for six to 10 months work, which works out to be about minimum wage.   If there were a guaranteed result, maybe, but there are no guarantees with short sales.

Life is too short to waste it chasing pipe dreams.   I say, “Let the banks go through the entire foreclosure process, list the homes at excessive prices, and end up selling them at garage sale prices two years later.   Maybe if they lose enough money, they will finally start to realize they need a system that actually works.

Read more articles on this site about foreclosures and short sales at Foreclosures and Short Sales.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Real Estate on your iPod
• Sequim Real Estate Selling
• Is Now the Time to Buy Real Estate?
• What About Mineral Rights When I Buy Real Estate?
• Sequim Real Estate Market Leading Indicator Improvement

Sequim home sales and Port Angeles home sales from January 1st through June 23rd (today) of 2009 are shown in this spreadsheet.   I’ve weighted the data to more accurately reflect the market by only including homes from $150,000 to $600,000.   This range represents something close to 95% of the homes sold.

The columns from left to right represent the number of bedrooms, the total number of listings, the total number of these listings that sold, the average listing price, the average sales price for those that actually did sell, the ratio of the listing price to the selling price, and the days on market for those that actually sold.   Those that did not sell are either expired (about a third of all the listings expired without a sale), or their DOM continues to increase (not shown in this spreadsheet).

It’s no surprise that the largest number of homes listed for sale are three bedroom.   That is the standard, and even for retirees, having one spare bedroom for company or family and a third room for a study or computer room is popular.   Of these three bedroom homes, a third of the homes listed did not sell and the listings expired (not shown in the data here).   Of those remaining listings in this category, only a fourth of them sold in this first six months of the year.   The average selling price was 95% of the listed price.   That means a home listed for $400,000 sold for $380,000.

All of this is worth knowing when it comes time to negotiate the purchase of your own home.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Real Estate on your iPod
• Sequim Real Estate Selling
• Is Now the Time to Buy Real Estate?
• What About Mineral Rights When I Buy Real Estate?
• Sequim Real Estate Market Leading Indicator Improvement