The Hottest Luxury-Home Market VIA the WSJ

The title caught my attention too. I immediately tried to guess the location in my head before reading on to find the answer.  Thoughts of 10,000 sq. ft mansions in the Hamptons, or Ski Chateaus in Aspen, or even those estates in Jupiter Florida that they call houses but are more like luxury hotels, flashed through my head.  I settled on the Hills of LA as my answer to the Hottest Luxury-Home Market in the US.  I had heard of some crazy homes being built and I was settled that this was the market that the WSJ was referring to in their recent May article.  I was about 2000 miles off.  Way off. Wasn’t even close.

Answer? Read: Washington State’s San Juan Islands. The priciest 10% of the homes in this archipelago real estate market rose faster last year than any other U.S. county last year. 

What Does This Mean To You? Expect to see more people and higher prices in your favorite PNW sandbox.

 Want to talk about the market and learn more about what's going on in your backyard? Call us we want to chat! 

Stop Eating Avocado Toast!

An Australian real estate mogul has deduced the real reason the millennial generation are finding themselves increasingly unable to buy homes: avocado consumption.

There is a lot of discussion in the Real Estate industry regarding the “Millennial Buyer”. This generation represents more than one quarter of the nation’s population and achieves about 35% of all consumer spending. According to this Time.com article they are spending their money on avocado toast and not homes. In 2016 only 32% of home owners were first-time buyers, the lowest point since 1987.  Studies have revealed that this age group place value over convenience such as the ease of eating out and spend their money on "experiences" over ownership of goods. While this may be true we think there is more to the story than avocado toast.

The modern housing market is a dangerous, uncertain place for millennials, who are mostly first-time buyers. They are fiercely competing for scarce real estate in the major metropolitan areas against repeat buyers and foreign Investors who have more buying leverage and experience. A shortage of available homes has driven up prices -- particularly among starter homes that tend to fall within first-time buyers' budgets. This dovetailed with things like the staggering costs of higher education, delays in marriage that make young two-income households increasingly scarce; a fluid job market that makes it risky for members of an increasingly mobile workforce to make such a significant long-term investment; city governments reluctant to permit the construction of badly-needed starter homes; and skyrocketing rents that make it difficult for young people to accumulate the savings necessary to make a down payment.

But yeah. Avocados, though.

What does this mean to you? The struggle is real for the first time home buyers. If this is you one of the best things you can do is keep on saving. (in other words make avocado toast at home).  If you are in a multi offer situation and have 20% down vs someone with just 10% that could be the golden ticket.

Need a good agent who knows the art of bidding wars and can help you compete against all cash offers? Call us we’ve got your back! 

Does your refrigerator take selfies?

Can your refrigerator take a selfie and send it to you?  If you answered yes then you probably dwell in a “smart home” The term “Smart Home” is commonly used to define a residence that has appliances, lighting, heating, and security systems that are capable of communicating with one another and can be controlled from any location in the world courtesy of the World Wide Web.

As artificial intelligences continue to develop the options for what can be automated or watched for in the home continue to grow. Which has home owners wondering if any of it is worth the cost? According to this PC Mag article, Americans believe smart homes are cool but cost too much. The article explains that 57% of connected home product buyers were men, and only 20 percent of households with yearly incomes under $50,000 have bought a connected home product.

What does this mean for you? If you are NOT a tech-minded person with a penchant for smart devices don’t worry you don’t need a selfie taking refrigerator just yet. There are other home improvement projects that have a much higher ROI.

Wondering what home improvement projects offer the best ROI? Call us we will tell you where to spend your dollar bills. 

April 2017 Newsletter

Whatcom Watergate Part 2: Why water rights may increase your property taxes

If you missed part one of Whatcom Watergate you can catch up here.

The House of Representatives hearing on Senate Bill 5239 aka the Hirst Fix bill, was held on Tuesday, March 28.  As of today, the bill has missed a crucial deadline and, absent an attempt to move it forward as part of the budget, is stalled in that committee.  The word on the street is that it will be part of the "negotiations" for the budget.

There is another aspect to this court case that is beginning to be revealed: property valuations.  

Skagit County recently re-evaluated the various properties in Skagit county impacted by the prior Swinomish Tribe case (Skagit River basin) and adjusted taxation values based on the lack of access to legal water sources.  This "adjustment" removed over $22,000,000 of value from the County tax roles and resulted in a tax shift to the remaining land parcels in the County - tax increases for those property owners whose property was not impacted.  

There is a movement to immediately provide tax relief for property owners whose parcels are affected by the Hirst ruling.  Rep. John Koster (R-Snohomish County) has teamed up with other legislators to draft a bill requiring that counties immediately conduct revaluations of properties that now lack access to exempt wells following the Skagit County model.  Whatcom County is already facing revaluation requests so it is safe to say that we would experience a similar tax shift. 

How does this affect you? A shift in property taxes

·      If you own land that is affected by the Hirst bill you may be provided with tax relief.

·      If you own property in Whatcom county you may experience a property tax increase.

Show me the Money: Home flipping profits on the rise

ATTOM data solutions, curator of the nations largest property database, released its 2016 Year-End US Home Flipping Report, which showed that 193,009 single family homes were flipped in 2016. This is up 3.1% from 2015. In fact, home flips in 2016 accounted for 5.7 % of all single family home sales during the year. ATTOM believes the culprit for the increase was low inventory of homes in sellable condition coupled with a flood of capital searching for generous returns and stability available with US real estate. Home Flipping profit reach new record highs in 2016. Home flipped in 2016 sold for a median price of $189,900, a gross flipping profit of $62,624 above the median purchase price of $127,276 and a gross ROI of 49.2%. Both gross flipping dollar amount and ROI were the highest going back to 2000!  

What does this mean to you?

Whether you are investing in real estate or the stock market there is always money to be made. The key in this particular environment is to uncover the asset’s intrinsic value....value investing 101.

If you looking to flip a property, call us we are here to help.

Bellingham's Backhanded Compliment 

With over 2 million subscribers, online lifestyle publication Thrillist, ran an article identifying “The Most Underrated Places in Each State”.  It is an interesting read and surprisinglz  informative.  We know what you’re thinking: What is Washington’s Most Underrated Place?! Spoiler Alert: Yes, the city of Subdued Excitement got the official nod.  In our opinion its great to keep “underrated” status, because of course, no one wants to be overrated.  But the question now becomes, how do we keep our underrated status, right?

And there’s more….

Its no secret that Bellingham is home to some robust businesses and plays host to some unique industries in the PNW, but how does our home town stack up to the rest of the country.  Fortunately, Forbes has done the homework for us and produced some riveting statistics bolstering our community and its business potential. Get more details and the article in its entirety here

What does this mean for you?

People migrating to the PNW is not going to slow anytime soon. If the current economic landscape and interest rates stay relatively stable it looks like 2017 will remain a sellers market.

Wondering what your home is worth? Call us we will give you a free market analysis.

March Newsletter 2017

The Whatcom Watergate 

The topic creating hoopla around our office water cooler these days is, well,…well water. By now you may have heard that the Washington State Supreme Court issued a ruling in the case of Whatcom County v. Western Washington Growth Management et al, which basically shut down all new rural development in Whatcom County. This ruling was a shock to many and has hundreds of vacant land owners wondering if they will ever be able to develop their land using a building permit dependent on an exempt well. What we know as of now is two paradoxical Bills are being drafted. The first counteracts the ruling which would essentially reinstate the ability to develop land using exempt wells. The second Bill contends that the Supreme Court does not have the ability to reverse the ruling and that the instream flows are a protected water right, thus put the kibosh on rural development.  

How does this affect you?  The boiler points are these:

• Land that is not serviced by public water and that depends on an exempt well for a building permit, currently falls under a Building Moratorium.
• You can still obtain a building permit by using a Rain Water Catchment System.
• The moratorium is in effect until later this spring but has the ability to be extended.

Have questions or need to find out the impacts on your property, contact us today!

PEAKED INTEREST

Mortgage rates are “having a moment”. These rates have been especially fickle lately, taking big jumps up and then back down again on the daily. Home prices, however, are not retreating. In fact, they continue to increase more rapidly than incomes and inflation and apparently homebuyers don’t give a darn.  According to this article lenders saw no letup in loan demand. It also touched on the fact that purchase activity remains on par with a year ago, which suggest that recent wage growth of nearly 3 percent is helping to offset the increase in interest rates.  

What does this mean for you? 

If rates do settle into an upward climb and the current economic environment remains relatively the same this will inevitably put pressure on home sales and we may even see prices level off…what goes up must come down so they say.

Do you need to talk to a mortgage broker? Contact us, we know a few.
 

Nerd Alert 

We are geeking out on the 2016 Whatcom County housing annual report, which reported home sales increased 6.8% from 2015. It also stated Whatcom County median home price increased 10% to $315,000. (National average was only a 5.2% increase). The main culprit for the increase is low inventory and according to this report that is not going to change anytime soon. It appears 2017 will be bleak on the inventory front.
 
What does this means to you? 

If you are looking for affordable real estate in Whatcom County things got a bit harder. Homes sold in the $150,000k and below price range fell 48% to 11.8% of the market. On the flip side if you are a Whatcom county homeowner your home's price tag just boosted your financial report card.
 
Are you wondering what your home is worth today? Call us for a free market analysis on your home.
 

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