How a home for sale is advertised and promoted to prospective buyers is a fascinating study.  Buyers often share their frustrations about how different a home appears when they see it compared to the photos or descriptions they saw online.  I’ve been watching this since the mid-1970s when I first got in real estate sales in Fairbanks, Alaska.  Then I observed how a typical home for sale is advertised as I lived in Spokane, Las Vegas, Puyallup (in the Tacoma-Seattle metropolis), and for the last 18 years in Sequim and Port Angeles.

Home for Sale Ads

When you’re looking online for your perfect retirement home, you’ll undoubtedly filter through hundreds of homes.  It’s tough to narrow that search down to half a dozen to one dozen homes, isn’t it?  The job is made harder if descriptions or photos of a home for sale are not precisely accurate depictions of what you will see in a live 3D version when you get here.

I had a client call me from southern California to tell me he was going to get on an airplane and come to Sequim to look at a home that sounded absolutely perfect.  He said the advertisement described it as a bungalow with a traditional kitchen and a water view.  One of the photos showed a nice water view.  I told my client on the phone, “Before you spend the money and time to fly here, let me run out to Discovery Bay and look at the home, take a few photos for you, and call you back with my impression.  In other words, I’ll be your boots on the ground before you come to Sequim.”  He liked that, and what I found out saved him the trip.  The house was so old, it was barely inhabitable.  The kitchen was traditional if traditional means 1934.  There was no water view from ground level or from any of the windows in the house, but there was a peek-a-boo water view if I stood up on the hill behind the house with my feet level with the peak of the roof.  The water view shared a lot of power and telephone wires and a large shop building on a neighboring property.

Home for Sale Advertisements True or False

Today on the business news the commentator boasted that Bank of America stock was up 16% this year.  This reminds me a lot of the way that some homes are advertised.  What the commentator represented was technically true, but actually was the opposite of the real story from a longer term perspective.  This graphic illustration makes the point by showing the real story of Bank of America (BAC) stock.

Home for Sale Representations

It can be hard for buyers from outside the Sequim area to view homes online with photographs and limited descriptions, but I’m here to help if you need more photos or more information about what is adjacent to the home or what the views really are.  I can be your boots on the ground and preview the property for you, email you photos, and share my observations of the property, it’s condition, and what the views are around the home.  I love doing that, so please don’t hesitate to ask.  I’d love to help you find the perfect home for sale and make it your dream home.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Safe Internet Search for Real Estate
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• Looking at Sequim Homes
• Sequim Homes for Sale in the MLS – Shocking Discovery
• Sequim Houses for Sale

Sequim Houses for Sale can be searched on Sequim’s most powerful and easy-to-navigate MLS site.  Here is a fun example of a search for Sequim houses for sale at $500,000 and above.  There are 44 current MLS listings for homes priced above $500,000.  Click on this image to see the actual search results where you can open up the details and also view the full photos.  There are some gorgeous homes in this search.

Sequim Houses for Sale

Sequim Houses for Sale in Luxury Market

Sequim does have some beautiful luxury homes for sale, but if you’re a buyer you will be glad to hear that the percentage of buyers for these more expensive homes is a very small percentage of the buyer population.  That is not encouraging news for sellers, but it means this is a super buyer’s market in the luxury home market, and that is good news for buyers.

Sequim Houses for Sale – Super Buyer’s Market

I thought you might be interested to learn how many Sequim houses for sale in this price range of $500,000 and above actually sold in calendar year 2011.  How many would you guess?  The answer is 19.  Nineteen.  That’s not very many.  That’s why this is such a super buyer’s market.  As a qualified buyer in this price range, you have tremendous negotiating power.

Change your parameters on your search and have some fun looking at Sequim houses for sale in whatever price range you set.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Safe Internet Search for Real Estate
• How Does the MLS Days on Market (DOM) Affect Buyers?
• Looking at Sequim Homes
• Sequim Homes for Sale in the MLS – Shocking Discovery
• How a Home for Sale is Advertised

What makes this Sequim Buyer’s Agent tick?  That’s not a very interesting question except as to how it relates to your best interests as a buyer.  I’ll ask the question in another way.  What do buyers from outside the Sequim area really want from a Sequim Buyer’s Agent?  The question could also be asked this way–What does this Sequim Buyer’s Agent do for buyers?  These three questions may seem like quite different questions, and they would be except that my answer to the first question intimately tied to the answer to the second and third questions.

Sequim Buyer’s Agent On a Mission

How you form a question has everything to do with the answer you get, right?  The question, “What do buyers from outside the Sequim area really want from a Sequim Buyer’s Agent?” gets to the core of what I do everyday.  If I cannot answer that question, and if my personal work and passion are disconnected from that question, buyers will simply not gravitate toward my service, and they won’t be inclined to retain me as their buyer’s agent.  Most of all, if I can’t answer that question, I am not really doing anything for buyers.

How a Sequim Buyer’s Agent addresses these questions and how he views his clients will be the guiding force for his business model and everything he does for his clients, or doesn’t do for his clients.  [Please insert "or she" or "or her" wherever you read "he" or "his" in this article.  I made this last sentence gender neutral, but after six times in the same sentence, it was ridiculously hard to read.]

Sequim Buyer’s Agent – Personal Mission

My personal passion is to help buyers who are retiring to Sequim search for their ideal retirement home (or land), negotiate the best possible price and terms, complete all the due diligence necessary to protect them, and get all the way to closing without any problems.  There is much more to these simple steps than most people comprehend.  Having been a real estate attorney for 20 years, I could recite a long list of traps for the unwary that catch people all the time.  So doing it right is no small task.  As a buyer’s agent it is my passion to help my buyers do it right, with the greatest amount of success and the least amount of stress.

Why is this my passion?  One reason is that my whole life has been real estate, starting in the mid-’70s as a Realtor, then as a real estate lawyer, and again as a real estate broker and teacher and author.  But the one thing I love most is working mano-a-mano with my buyer clients as a Sequim Buyer’s Agent.

The other reason helping buyers like this is my passion is because part of my life mission is to help people improve the quality of their lives.  This is one way I personally fulfill that mission one client at a time.

Sequim Buyer’s Agent – Huge Benefits to Buyers

So the key question I asked myself years ago is, “What do buyers from outside the Sequim area really want from a Sequim Buyer’s Agent?”  Every day I answer that question as my mission statement.  That’s why you’ll find the most powerful and easy to use tools for searching the Sequim MLS, for real estate market reports, for real estate price analysis, for specific articles written for buyers about every aspect of buying Sequim real estate, and why I’ve written an entire book about buying Sequim real estate just for buyers.  Who does that?  I do, because my passion is serving buyers as a Sequim Buyer’s Agent, and I’m devoted to that mission every day.  This is what I do. 

That’s how you benefit.  That’s how I connect the dots to the questions I raised.  Ultimately, all of the benefit flows to you as a buyer.  I hope this helps you understand me as a Sequim Buyer’s Agent a little better, and I hope you’ll feel that there is a personal benefit to you in retaining me as your Sequim Buyer’s Agent.

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There are many Sequim real estate traps for the unwary.  I’ve been writing about traps for the unwary buyer for over a decade.  As a real estate lawyer I saw so many good people get caught by Sequim real estate traps for the unwary that I have made it a point in my writings to help buyers avoid those nightmares.  Believe me, life will go so much smoother when you don’t get caught unexpectedly in a stressful conflict with a seller or a neighbor.  One of the most profound secrets to a successful life is simply avoiding major mistakes.  And so it is when you are buying your Sequim retirement home.  Avoid major Sequim real estate traps for the unwary, and your transition and retirement will be a much happier experience.

Sequim Real Estate Traps for the Unwary

Traps are dangers we don’t recognize initially, or we misjudge what appears to be something it is not.  Perhaps these images will make the point better than giving 100 specific real estate examples.  Which line in this image is longer–the upper line or the lower line?

You are correct if you said they are the same length.  Sure looks like the upper line is longer, doesn’t it?  It really is true that things are not always as they seem.  That is true in real estate, too.  If you’ve spent time looking at listings online in our Sequim MLS, and if you arrived in Sequim to look at some of those homes, you know that what you thought you were going to see was not necessarily what you did see.  Listings are often not real good representations of a home for sale.  Buyers tell me that.  Buyers tell me the photos often don’t match what they see when they view a home.  The water views are often not at all as represented in photos.

Sequim Real Estate Traps for the Unwary – The Misperceived

Collecting information from a seller, from the title company and the auditor’s office, and from the county and state agencies for water and septic issues can be a challenge.  None of those parties are watching out for your best interests.  Hopefully your buyer’s agent is watching out for your interests, but again that depends on his or her experience level.  There are traps everywhere for a buyer.  Ignorance of a danger is a trap itself.

Sequim Real Estate Traps for the Unwary – Subtle Chicanery

Wouldn’t you say the inner narrow rectangle is lighter in color on one end and darker at the other end?  Sure looks like it.  At least that’s what our eyes and brain tells us.  But I copied that section and pasted it here.  It’s the same color all the way across.

Negotiating the price and dealing with counteroffers and amendments is full of Sequim traps for the unwary.  You can’t be too careful these days, and when your shopping for a home in Sequim, I hope you’ll find the articles on this blog helpful in avoiding the traps.  You’ll be a lot happier if you do avoid Sequim real estate traps for the unwary.

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Sequim MLS listings (homes) are way down as we enter 2012.  They are down so much, it is worth pausing to consider why?  This is true of Port Angeles, too.  I cannot recall when we had so few homes in Port Angeles listed in the MLS.  As of today there are only 230 homes in the Port Angeles MLS area, and that includes a large radius east and west of Port Angeles.  When the search parameters are narrowed for Port Angeles homes between $200,000 and $325,000 where many retirees want to be, there are only 57 homes listed in the Port Angeles MLS.

Sequim MLS Listings Way Down

There is a total of 399 homes listed in the Sequim MLS area, which includes an area much wider than the Sequim city limits in all directions.  There are only 120 Sequim MLS listings (homes) for sale in the $200,000 to $325,000 price range.  These numbers are way down from previous years, so the question is why?  Perhaps other ways to address this scenario is with these questions, “Why are so many sellers not listing their homes for sale in the Sequim MLS?  Are they keeping their homes off the market because prices are low or because they are tired of having their homes listed for sale but not selling?  Or did their listings expire on December 31st and they don’t have confidence in their real estate agents, so they don’t renew the listings?  Or are they waiting for the winter to pass, thinking that buyers are not looking at homes in the cold months?

Why Sequim MLS Listings Are Down

I’ve talked with many home owners, and the answers vary, but the reasons given include all of the above.  Many homeowners are just tired of having their home listed with no substantive activity and no sale.  Many have said that it takes an emotional commitment to keep a home listed and always ready to show at a moment’s notice.  That can be tiring.  So some have simply said, “We’re taking it off the market for a while.”  

One couple told me they had their home on the market for over two years, and they had no serious lookers.  They decided to take it off the market until the real estate market comes back, and they believe that may be three to five years.  Another couple told me they were not happy with their real estate agent.  That doesn’t tell us why the house didn’t sell.  It could have been over priced or maybe it was not the floor plan or area that retirees wanted.  Or maybe their real estate agent didn’t market it well.  We don’t know, but it does tell us how the sellers feel about the process.  They’re frustrated.

Apart from Sequim MLS listings (homes), Sequim land listings are up.  There are a total of 736 vacant lots for sale in the entire Sequim and Port Angeles area, 480 in Sequim and 276 in Port Angeles.  Why so many lots?  Buyers are not buying lots and building homes lately.  The cost per square foot of a new home today is more than the cost of similar Sequim MLS listings (homes).  I have sold a few lots and have some clients building, but the numbers are down.  That means the listings for vacant lots are way up, and sellers are leaving those listings in active status in the MLS.

Sequim MLS Listings – A Super Buyer’s Market

What does all of this mean for buyers?  It is more proof that this is a buyer’s market, or as I like to say to make the point, “this is a super buyer’s market.”  This is not good news for sellers, but it is great news for buyers.  I spent today showing houses to a wonderful couple, and I have three other couples all looking at homes, having already decided they will buy a home in the Sequim area.  And as a note of interest, none of these couples are looking at Port Angeles homes.  That’s interesting.

Interested in seeing what is currently listed for sale?  You can search the database of all Sequim MLS listings (and all Port Angeles MLS listings) at Sequim Homes for Sale.

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Flying to Washington state to look at Sequim homes is an exciting event I know.  My hope is that I can give you valuable free information on this Sequim real estate blog that will make your trip to look at Sequim homes more productive and very enjoyable.  Whether you decide to buy a home or not, Sequim welcomes you.

A Trip to See Sequim Homes

Heading Toward Sequim Homes

Flying to SeaTac is not a bad flight from just about anywhere in the U.S.  A two to three hour flight covers most of the country, and the drive from SeaTac to Sequim is two hours or more if you stop to eat.  I’ll tell you where I eat when I fly in and out of SeaTac.  Instead of getting caught in the busy I-5 traffic congestion, I prefer to stop halfway between SeaTac and Sequim in Silverdale.  There are several nice restaurants in Silverdale, including my favorite (and my daughter’s favorite), The Olive Garden.  There’s also a Red Robin, an Applebees, Silver City Restaurant and Brewery, and more Silverdale Restaurants.

Preparing to Look at Sequim Homes

I won’t list all the resources available on this site and through my many other sites.  I’ve done that elsewhere, but perhaps the best way to learn about them is to simply search this site and the links in the right hand column.  I made it my goal years ago to provide retirees moving to Sequim more free online Sequim real estate resources than any other broker by an order of magnitude, and I achieved that goal, although I’m far from done.  The resources are all online.  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find all these resources I created and effectively use them to do your due diligence and find your perfect retirement home among all the Sequim homes listed for sale.  There are over 1,000 articles on this blog alone written specifically to help buyers like you on almost every aspect of buying a home in Sequim.

Enjoy Your Sequim Tour

If there is anything in advance you would like to know about Sequim or Sequim homes before you arrive, please don’t hesitate to call on me by email or phone, 360-775-5424.  And while you are here, if you would like to visit over a cup of coffee, I would thoroughly enjoy meeting you and answering your questions or just chatting about what it’s like living in Sequim.  My hope is that your search of Sequim homes will be fruitful.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Safe Internet Search for Real Estate
• How Does the MLS Days on Market (DOM) Affect Buyers?
• Looking at Sequim Homes
• Sequim Homes for Sale in the MLS – Shocking Discovery
• How a Home for Sale is Advertised