Discovery Bay homes for sale are not very common, at least not beautiful homes with gorgeous water views.  Discovery Bay is one of the Olympic Peninsula’s best kept secrets, like Sequim Bay, although more retirees are learning about our Bays in magazine articles discussing the best places to retire.  Sequim has been on the “10 Best Places to Retire” list many times.

Discovery Bay

I wrote about this home in an earlier blog article, but our multiple listing services are data sheets with still photos, and I thought you might enjoy a video of this Discovery Bay Home as well as the two additional lots that are available and on which I stood when I took some of the video.

Discovery Bay

Discovery Bay

This Discovery Bay home is 5,900 square feet on almost 3 acres with an additional 5.46 acres available above and behind the home.  This lot has a stunning view of Discovery Bay and would be a great building site.   The house can be purchased without the additional 5.46 acres, or the home and the lots can be purchased together, which would make a beautiful little estate of about 8 acres.

You can see the full MLS sheet and more photos at Discovery Bay Home for Sale.

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The Sequim Home Show was held recently at the Sequim High School gym, and lots of vendors had their booths and tables set up to show their wares.  There were home builders, cabinet makers, roofing companies, window installers, and all kinds of home construction and remodeling companies represented.

Sequim Home Show

Sequim Home Show

I attended the Sequim Home Show, but mostly because I am fascinated with how businesses in the real estate industry market to their customers.  I am a marketer as a Realtor, and I love marketing.  I have been a student of marketing in the real estate industry for almost 30 years.  My passion compels me to study marketing, and I am constantly learning what works and what does not work.  In this economy, this is no subject of little importance.  It is my livelihood, and for the businesses at the Sequim Home Show, it is their livelihood, too.  So how we market and where we put our money and time is incredibly important.

Sequim Home Show

As part of my personal continuing education and as a fun endeavor, I informally surveyed a few vendors, friends in the business.  Did any of the vendors expect to actually get any customers at the Sequim Home Show?  No.  Did any of them expect to get any commitments at the Sequim Home Show?  No.

So what did these vendors expect?  They all seemed to be resigned to the fact that these shows have not produced customers in the past and will not likely produce customers now.  The term “branding” was thrown about by a couple of vendors.  One home builder told me that his business was strictly work of mouth.  Here’s what I took away from these conversations.  Most of these vendors are technicians in their specialty, but I think it is fair to say that they are not and never have been marketing experts.

Imagine a good auto mechanic who wants to reach out to more customers.  Most mechanics don’t have formal educations in sales and marketing, so they typically listen to their newspaper salesman, who talks them into running ads periodically.  The mechanic has no idea if this works, but the newspaper salesman tells him it does.  The mechanic has no way of tracking the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of any of his past print ads.  But today the vendors at the Sequim Home Show openly shared that print advertising is no longer very effective, and it is far too expensive.  So, they do what they can.  They set up a booth at a home show.  They hope it brings customers, but they have a feeling it will not.  They hope it will help with branding, but they can’t really describe how branding works, if it does, for their business.

I enjoyed going to the Sequim Home Show to see some of my friends in the business and chit chat with others.  But the cold hard reality may be that home shows are a blast from the past, from traditional marketing techniques that no longer are effective.  Who makes money from home shows?  Think about it.  The media companies that put on the home shows charge fees for the booth spaces, but even more than that, they charge some substantial print advertising and radio rates to promote the vendors at the home show.

I love marketing.  I love watching what other businesses do, and what they don’t do.  I think I learn more from my mistakes and the mistakes of others than from the success stories.  Realtors are struggling with effective marketing, too.  But I’m having a blast with my technology and Internet marketing tools.  They work.  I do zero print ads and zero radio ads.  They don’t work anymore in the real estate business.  Clients know how to find me, and I love my clients.

The Sequim Home Show is another interesting study in marketing, but I don’t think the Sequim Home Show was much help to buyers or sellers of real estate.

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Sequim real estate is selling, even in the slowest and coldest month of the year in January of 2011.  I showed houses yesterday to a wonderful couple from out of town, and we discussed the state of the Sequim real estate market, what homes are selling and what homes are not selling, and we discussed what has been happening to prices.

Sequim Real Estate

In this graphic above I’ve included the total number of homes sold in Sequim in January of 2011.  Forty seven properties sold in January in Sequim.  That’s an amazing number of homes sold in this small market in the slowest month of the year.  Twenty two 3 bedroom homes sold in January.  That’s amazing.  Sometimes we wonder what is going on in the Sequim real estate market, and we tend to think it is a slow market and that nothing is selling.  Au contraire.  The Sequim real estate market is alive and well, and that is certainly apparent when we look at the numbers.

Sequim Real Estate Market

The segment that is selling are the best homes in the best areas at the best prices.  Now that may be very obvious once I say it, but many don’t realize the implications of this simple conclusion.  It means that the best homes are being taken off the market–gone–not available for sale again for many years.  What does that mean?  It means that the home you may consider the perfect retirement home will not be on the market at any price.  These are the homes that are selling, and once they are off the market, the inventory of the best homes in the best areas at the best prices decreases.

In this graphic above, only 6 homes sold in Sequim in January above the price of $300,000.  [DOM = Days on Market]  The home that sold for $320,000 was sold by yours truly.  These are the homes that most retirees want, normally newer homes in nice areas and preferably with a water view or a mountain view.  I’m sometimes surprised at how most retirees who move here have very similar tastes and preferences in homes, which accounts for why they tend to look at the same small number of homes.  You can imagine that with a number of retirees focusing in on the same short list of two dozen or three dozen homes listed for sale, it is a little more competitive than most people realize.  It’s almost a contradiction in this real estate recession that retirees don’t have all the time in the world or a huge inventory to choose from, but this is the reality of the Sequim real estate market.

Sequim Real Estate Sold and Gone Forever

Granted . . . more homes will come on the market, and some of those will be great homes, but the vast majority of retirees are focusing on the same small number of nice homes, and it is this small inventory that is being depleted.  The rest of the inventory is still very large, and there are plenty of homes in the $200,000 to $250,000 price range that the majority of retirees do not want.  Foreclosures are coming on the market in larger numbers, adding to this inventory.  But retirees are not interested in foreclosures, at least not in this market.  The foreclosures here are not typically in nice areas and are not typically the nicer homes with good floor plans and nice kitchens.

Sequim real estate is still a strong magnet for retirees from around the country and they are buying every single month.

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Sequim Buyer’s Agent Chuck Marunde shares his background in this short video for out of state buyers looking their own buyer’s representative in Sequim or Port Angeles.  Avoiding the conflict of dual agency is wise.

Sequim Buyer’s Agent

Sequim Buyer’s Agent v. Dual Agency

The reason why so many buyers want their own Sequim Buyer’s Agent is because the conflict inherent in dual agency is becoming fairly well known around the country.  You have a dual agent if your real estate agent is both your buyer’s agent and the listing agent of the home you want to buy.  Here is a common sense way I think about dual agency.  Imagine a listing agent working with a seller for over a year, having listed the home, had numerous meetings with the seller, emailed and talked on the phone a lot, spent a lot of time  and money developing advertising campaigns, and essentially having a important relationship with the seller.  The listing agent has promised that seller the highest possible price, and in fact the agent owes his client a legal and fiduciary duty to get the highest possible price.

Now imagine the same agent begins working with a buyer who comes to town.  The buyer likes that house, and the agent has a legal and fiduciary duty to get his client the lowest possible price.  The conflict is very real.  Who will the agent fight for the most?  Where will the price end up?

Sequim Buyer’s Agent Chuck Marunde

As your Sequim Buyer’s Agent, Chuck Marunde represents you and your interests exclusively without conflicts in showing you  homes, in drafting your purchase and sale agreement and relevant addendums, in negotiating the best possible price and terms, and in following up on all inspection items and transaction details all the way through closing.

“I hope you will consider giving me the privilege of representing you as your Sequim Buyer’s Agent.”

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Welcome to the Sequim Real Estate Video Series by Chuck Marunde.  This series focuses on Sequim real estate issues, documents, drafting, addendums, contingencies, negotiating, loan modifications, short sales, foreclosures, market economics, investment opportunities, surveys, appraisals, buying an existing home versus building a new home, working with contractors and finding the best home builder, private well issues, septic system issues, community well sharing, easements, adverse possession, road maintenance agreements, dual agency, buyer’s agents, and unique Sequim real estate issues that buyers need to know.

Sequim Real Estate Video Series

Sequim Real Estate Issues

If you’ve purchased several homes in your lifetime or if you have hired a builder to build a home, you know from the school of hard knocks that there are many traps for the unwary.  Our free enterprise system is the greatest economic system the world has ever known, but it also means the latin phrase “caveat emptor” (buyer beware) is a part of the system.  No amount of consumer protection laws on the books will save you from all the traps in buying or building.  If you plan to retire to Sequim, why not make sure you are covering all the Sequim real estate issues that can come up?

Sequim Real Estate Help

It is my hope that this Sequim real estate video series will help buyers and retirees to find the ideal home in Sequim, avoid the major and minor nightmare issues, and have a wonderful and pleasant experience. My argument is that this is all possible, but not easy, and getting wise counsel throughout the process can save you from all manner of difficulties.

Enjoy this Sequim Real Estate Video Series and watch for more right here.

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Should I hire a Sequim real estate agent or an attorney to help me buy a home?  I received this question from a buyer from out of state who plans to buy a home in Sequim and retire.  It’s not an unusual question form someone from another part of the country. Real estate transactions in some states do involve other professionals like attorneys, and I’m told that in a few states you have to have a surveyor complete a property survey before closing.  Neither are required here, but there is more to the explanation.

Sequim Real Estate Agent or Attorney

Sequim Real Estate Agent or Not

You could hire an attorney to help you review your purchase and sale agreement, the financing contingency, the home inspection and the various clauses, and other documents that are used in Washington buy your home.  You could hire a Sequim real estate agent to act as your buyer’s agent.  You could also represent yourself. I’ve bought real estate as an individual, as a Realtor for clients, and as a real estate attorney for clients.  For what it’s worth, here is my experience.

Sequim Real Estate Agent

First, if I were from outside the Sequim area, I would not try to represent myself as a buyer simply because:  1.) I wouldn’t know the area well and the potential pitfalls of buying the wrong property in the wrong area, 2.) I wouldn’t know the legal documents and customary practices that are used in Clallam County and Washington, and 3.) Unless I had a lot of experience buying and selling real estate and negotiating, I could lose a lot of money.

Second, I would not hire an attorney to help me find a home. I don’t know of any attorneys in the area who have subscriptions to the local multiple listing service, so they won’t be able to locate and compare properties quickly for you.  I should also add that the majority of attorneys are not real estate experts.  Most attorneys are general practitioners and were never Realtors.  That also means that the vast majority of attorneys are not experts in buying and selling real estate.

Third, if I were buying a home in Sequim I would look for a Sequim real estate agent who has knowledge, experience, professionalism and who is trustworthy.  This person will bring more to the table for you as a buyer than anyone else.  By the way, I don’t write this because I am a Sequim Buyer’s Agent. I write this because it is true.

Do your due diligence to find your Sequim real estate agent and you’ll be glad you did.

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