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Homes and Land in Sunny Sequim, Washington

Homes and Land in Sunny Sequim, Washington

Sequim's No.1 Buyer's Agent Where Knowledge & Experience Count.

(360) 775-5424
Email: ChuckMarunde@gmail.com

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125 Olympic Ranch Ln, Sequim, WA 98382

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Sequim Homes for Sale: How Much to Offer

by Chuck Marunde / Thursday, 13 April 2017 / Published in Sequim Homes For Sale

Looking at Sequim homes online is fun, but it is also hard work when you are on the hunt for your ideal retirement home. But what happens when you find the ideal home and want to make an offer? How much should you offer? How can you know what true fair market value really is for the home you like?

Sequim Homes

Sequim Homes for Sale

I’ve written extensively on this blog as well as in my paperback and Kindle books (and iTunes books, including the one above in the iBookstore, “Buying Your Retirement Home”) about Sequim homes and how to determine fair market value and how to decide how much to offer. Figuring out how much Sequim homes are worth is much more challenging than you might think. Why?

In a metropolitan market or any urban area with a large population, finding comparable sales for a home is easy. Where you have 10 or 20 homes just like yours that all sold within the past six months, the true fair market value of your home can be calculated within a few hundred dollars. But now look at Sequim homes in a market with a small inventory, a limited number of buyers, and where most homes built here by retirees from around the country are unique and sometimes one-of-a-kind. It is almost impossible to find any mathematical approach that will accurately show you the true fair market value of Sequim homes for sale. There may be zero comparable sales to use in a CMA (comparative market analysis).

Sequim Homes and True Fair Market Value

As I explain in Buying Your Retirement Home (and in many articles on this blog), there are several approaches to arrive at true FMV (fair market value). I use all of these methods for my buyers before I draft an offer:

  1. A CMA using comparables, but since there often are not very similar comps, I use a mathematical approach to differentiate homes for my CMA;
  2. Cost of replacement, which is calculated by adding the value of the land today, the cost of excavation and site preparation, installation of utilities, construction of a home, and minimal landscaping;
  3. The tax assessed value, which is rarely correct and needs to be adjusted for FMV; and
  4. An intimate familiarity with local real estate sales and values, which sounds subjective, but with experience can be very accurate.

Each of these approaches has taken me years to develop and do well, and because I have been here in Sequim for 22 years and have viewed hundreds and hundreds of homes, I can connect the dots with each of the approaches and with my experience to recognize when Sequim homes may be overpriced or reasonably priced or underpriced. 

Yesterday I worked through this process on a home with a value in the six hundred thousand plus range. As I reviewed comparable sales, I found several homes that sold for $20,000 to $75,000 more and less than their true fair market value. How does that happen? Buyers and sellers, and frankly some real estate agents, don’t know how to figure out the true FMV, and some buyers are paying too much, while some sellers are not getting as much as they should. By the way, prices have appreciated in the Sequim area from 15% to 30% since 2013, and some homes are back to their pre-2007 values.

This proves that the Sequim real estate market is an inefficient market, meaning that the market is not efficiently determining the true FMV of Sequim homes by virtue of supply and demand and buyers and sellers who negotiate intelligently. Buyers have to rely on a local real estate agent when they draft offers, and sellers really don’t know what their homes are worth. They only know how much they have in their homes and how much they need to buy their next home. If all Realtors knew exactly how to determine value, that could improve the efficiency of pricing, but let’s face it, all Realtors do not know how to do this. And to make matters more challenging, we don’t have a large database of sales of similar Sequim homes, so we don’t have reliable pricing models.

This makes it difficult for buyers from all over the U.S. who are not familiar with our local real estate market. Fortunately, I do all of this research for clients who hire me. Sellers are entitled to the true FMV of their homes in this market, and my experience saves my buyers from paying too much for their Sequim homes.

 

Possibly Related Posts:

  • Sequim Homes: Pending and Sold
  • What if I Lose Out On The Perfect Home?
  • Sequim Homes Selling Fast and Very Fast
  • Home Shortage in Sequim
  • Should I Submit a Backup Offer on a Pending Transaction?

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About Chuck Marunde

After practicing real estate law for 20 years in Washington, Chuck opened iRealty Virtual Brokers covering the Sequim and the beautiful Olympic Peninsula. Chuck is the author of numerous magazine and Internet articles with a primary focus on real estate. He is also the author of over a dozen books, mostly about Sequim real estate. Chuck is a photographer, videographer, and Registered FAA Drone Pilot. Chuck has combined his love for real estate and technology to create a growing Internet presence in his market, and enjoys building his websites and blogs, including SequimBlog.com and Sequim4Sale.com and LuxuryWaterViewHomes.com. Chuck has degrees in Economics, Law, and Education.

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Chuck E. Marunde, J.D.

Sequim Buyer's Agent
(Atty Ret.)
Founder and Broker of
Sequim & Port Angeles Real Estate dba iRealty Virtual Brokers
125 Olympic Ranch Ln,
Sequim, WA 98382
(360) 775-5424
ChuckMarunde@gmail.com

Blog Articles by Date

From Los Angeles

It's rare, but once in awhile life provides the perfect collaborator for an important endeavor such as buying your new home. For me that person was Chuck Marunde. His two decade background as a Real Estate Attorney, his prolific career as an author of articles and books on Real Estate and his forthright and moral character made choosing Chuck a no-brainer. Chuck is dedicated, thorough, incredible at the negotiating table, knowledgeable about all local laws & regs but, most importantly, Chuck loves what he does. And what he does is find his client the perfect property. Chuck isn't about making the sale, he's about making the sale that is OPTIMUM for his CLIENT and this makes Chuck a rare bird indeed. I love my new home in Sequim and I am indebted to Chuck for making it happen. Kevin E.

From Seattle

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Chuck over the past three years in selling my parent's estate. It was a tough time to sell during the housing recession, but Chuck always kept things on the positive side. With his real estate law background, he offers sound, practical advice. He helps you along with the process using discussions and reason, rather than opinions and speculations. If Chuck doesn’t know the answers, he will get them for you. In several instances, Chuck took the initiative to meet with county officials to get up-to-date facts about zoning and regulations. I was always impressed with his company’s tech savvy communi-cations and internet presence: weekly email updates, blogs, videos, links, Linked-in networking, etc. He is truly pioneering the future of buying & selling real estate. Brian M.

From California

"Andy Romano is a successful motion picture character actor with over 40 years in 'the Biz.' Mr. Romano has a home in beautiful Santa Barbara, California, but he chooses to live most of the time in Sequim, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula in the great Pacific Northwest. Why? In his own words, 'Because it's even more beautiful and surrounded by more beauty in this incredibly peaceful and quiet place. With respect to real estate agents or brokers, well my friend Chuck Marunde, owner of Sequim and Port Angeles Real Estate, is hands down the best there" Andy R.

Intro by Chuck Marunde

From Florida

We do our homework for the task at hand and we look for and expect to enlist partners that do the same. It was our good fortune to select Chuck Marunde of Sequim and Port Angeles Real Estate to represent us as a buyer's broker in our search for a home in the Sequim/Port Angeles area. Chuck's site is all encompassing and super fast compared to many others, he knows the market at every conceivable level and his guidance through the process of selecting and purchasing a home is priceless - above and beyond that of anyone with whom we have ever worked. Add to all this his 20 year background in real estate law and you have discovered a superb asset in the adventure of purchasing a home. Greg and Marilyn

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