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In addition to the current affordable housing, another 60 units, a combination of rentals and single family homes, will soon be under construction. Division 95, the last chunk of land previously not committed to any one in particular to build affordable housing has finally found at least one developer.

For those of you not familiar with Division 95, it is North of Park Drive, on the West side of 25th Ave NE, and right at the intersection of 25th Avenue NE and Logan Street.

The site plan calls for 50 rental units (location indicated by the blue shading in the picture) and 10 single family homes. The 10 single family homes will be directly adjacent to 25th (as indicated by the red shading in the picture). These homes will be built by Habitat for Humanity and are scheduled to break ground sometime this year. If you would like to help out in this project, please check out the volunteer page at the East King County Habitat Website.

Port Blakely is still trying to find a non-profit builder for the 50 rental units. They have proposals out to several different builders currently. If no builder is found in the next 12 months, PortBlakely will most likely step in and take the ball on this.

And for all of you who might be concerned about “Affordable Housing” bringing down property values or not fitting in the community, here is some food for thought. “Affordable Housing” already makes up about 20% of Issaquah Highlands real estate. It must pass the same Architectural Review Standards that all the other homes do to ensure there is a level of consistent quality. In addition, to qualify for affordable housing you must meet certain income requirements. Depending on the unit you are trying to acquire, a single person can make up to 80% of the median income to qualify for the most affordable programs, all the way up to 120% of the median income before they no longer meet the requirements. The median income in 2007 for a single person was $54,500.

It’s been an interesting ride with the Federal Reserve and our market place hasn’t it? Most people are asking me what the heck is happening and why aren’t the rates rolling down like we thought it would. In a nut shell, the Federal Funds Rate does NOT impact the 30 year interest rate. It only impacts HELOC’s (Home Equity Lines of Credit) and credit cards. Last week we had a 5% interest rate available to us on the 30 year fixed and, in a blink of an eye, it was gone. It’s crazy to say the least.

Economic notes, new jobs created numbers were up per the “speculated” numbers. As further numbers come in, the actual numbers may go down slightly. We are still doing good America!

Fourth quarter GDP report came in lower than expectations significantly. The GDP (Gross Domestic Products) grew only 2.2% during 2007, the slowest growth rate since the economy was coming out of a brief recession in 2002.

Now we know that the Fed lowered the fund rate by 50bp ( bp = basis points), what could happen next? Well remember when the Fed cuts the Fund rate, typically rates react the opposite. It creates fears of inflation. Remember fixed mortgage rates are directly affected by inflation, because a fixed rate mortgage provides the investor with a fixed rate of return for a long period of time. As inflation increases, the buying power of the fixed return is eroded and the dollar goes down.

Here is some history to react to, supplied by Barry Habib on his Mortgage Market Guide:

The last time the Fed had a long cutting cycle was back in 2001. The Fed cut eleven times in eleven months, and eight of those cuts were by 50bp, for a total of a 4.75% drop in the Fed Funds Rate. But mortgage rates were actually higher throughout this drastic cutting cycle, because inflation ticked higher. Let’s look at more recent history, and as we have pointed to previously: the Fed cut by 50bp on September 18, 2007, and after prices enjoyed a move higher that afternoon, Mortgage Bonds lost 94bp over the next two days. On October 31st, the Fed lowered by 25bp…and over the next five trading days, Mortgage Bonds lost 78bp. On December 11th, the Fed lowered by another 25bp, and over the next two days, Mortgage Bonds lost 64bp. Most recently - the surprise 75bp cut by the Fed cost us about 150bp on our rate sheets over the next two days.

What is the lesson learned by this? If you are sitting on the fence, you need to ask yourself why? What do you have to gain by sitting there? Interest rates are moving up at least again today. Could you be missing out on some great opportunities? Only you can answer that for you and your personal situation. I do think people need to start putting themselves in a position to take advantage of what is happening out there though.

In a previous post on the appreciation in real estate prices that Issaquah Highlands has seen comparing 2006 to 2007, I showed some data on the resale’s that had occurred in Issaquah Highlands between 2006 and 2007. Shaq, one of my readers, inquired about specifically about one home that had shown a anemic 1% increase in price from the time it was first purchased in 2006. So I decided to dig in a little bit to investigate why this house is such an outlier.

House 29 indeed has had an interesting history.

The home was first on market in 2005 as new construction and was originally listed in the high $600,000 getting moved up to $704,950 where it generated an offer in May of 2006. The house finally closed in November 2006 with a sales price of $713k,000. The increase in price probably was related to upgrades put into the home as well as the increase developers were making in prices at the time to account for market demand.

The original buyer then tried to sell the home only four (yes you read that right; FOUR) months later in March of 2007 hitting the market at $800,000. In my opinion, the listing was overpriced and underwent a series of price reductions:

• first reduction - 04/12/2007 - $775,000
• second reduction - 05/21/2007 - $769,950
• third reduction - 06/04/2007 - $759,950
• fourth reduction - 06/20/2007 - $755,000
• fifth reduction - 08/13/2007 - $739,000

The home finally generated an offer at the $739,000 asking price. The home closed on October 1, 2007 for $722,000 - still an increase in price over the original sales price a year earlier.

This quick turnaround does not appear to be the result of someone trying to “flip” but rather a less than timely relocation as the property was originally listed with the owners of record on the deed, but that changed to a relocation firm shortly before the house sold. In my opinion the 7 month market time was in large part due to an overly optimistic original listing price. I would suspect that if the home were originally listed closer to $760,000, it would have sold sooner and closer to asking price than it did. Stair stepping down in price is not the way to get your house sold. When you do that, you end up chasing the market.

While this example is interesting because it shows us what happens in value over the course of a year or two (it did increase) obviously in this instance the increase was not enough to cover the expenses. That being said though - I don’t know many people who end up having to list their home for sale four months after moving in. My guess is the employee was “bought out” of his home by the relocation company and the relocation company / new employer was willing to take the hit. They will even be able to write it off.

I do think real estate is a great investment - but I believe in the buy and hold method vs flipping.

Wondering what to do with old electronics that have since been replaced by great gifts you received over the holidays?

The Take It Back Network can help you with that dilemma. They have several locations in King County that recycle old TV’s, computers, monitors, etc. This is a great resource since you can no longer dispose of these types of items in your garbage container in King County. Costco also works with a company called Green Sight where you can recycle the stuff for free and potentially get some trade in value.

They can also recycle old cell phones, but if you have cell phones to dispose of, check out Cell Phones for Soldiers or WirelessFundraiser.com where you can choose a wide array of charities that will get the proceeds from the recycled cell phones.

Both organizations will help get cell phones or money into the hands of those in need.

As an Realtor and Accredited Staging Professional like myself, it is my job to help home sellers get top dollar for their home. Staging a home to sell plays a key role in making sure that sellers get every last dollar of value out of their home. In order to do that, it is imperative that you market and price a home well as to attract the largest pool or buyers, but you have to grab the buyers attention when they open the door. It is in those first few seconds that you want to make sure potential buyers can easily see themselves living there.

Once you put a For Sale sign in the yard, you should be mentally moved out of your home. Detaching yourself and your emotions from your home is one of the hardest parts of selling your home but it it is also one of the most critical. You need to convince yourself that while you may still be living there, it is no longer YOUR home. Rather it is merely a house that is nothing more than a product to be sold for top dollar to someone else who will soon make it THEIR home. YOUR next home is now waiting for you wherever your next destination is, be it down the street, across town or across the country.

With this in mind it is imperative that you get to packing those things that make your house a home. Pack up all your personal photographs and family heirlooms. Buyers often times can’t see past your personal style choice and touches to the house, and the last thing you want is for them to be distracted. Buyers need to imagine their own photos on the walls, and they can’t do that if yours are there! You don’t need to make the house look like it is deserted and vacant but you do want it to be de-personalized enough that buyers can see themselves living there.

No matter where you are, but especially in a neighborhood like Issaquah Highlands where resellers are still very much competing with new construction, staging your home is very important.
Stay tuned for the next posts in my series on Staging Your Home To Sell.

For more information about staging your home or Accredited Staging Professionals like myself, feel free to give me a call.

Every neighborhood has it’s ugly side. You know, the stuff that nobody wants to talk about. For some neighborhoods it could be the Home Owners Association. For others it might be that bad resident that parks cars on their front lawn and leaves their trash out in the street all week long or that the city is going to build a giant monorail smack dab through the middle of the development.

My husband recently sent me an email from one of the Issaquah Highlands residents and I immediately realized what the ugly side of Issaquah Highlands is.

TRASH!

That’s right, you heard me. TRASH! For some reason visitors to the Issaquah Highlands think the side of our roads and our green space is a proverbial dumping ground for their milk jugs, beer cans and Mc Donald’s lunch bags. Take a look at some of these pictures below and you will see what I mean.

I am sure their is a resident or two that are guilty of this kind of behavior, but by and large this is being done by non-residents. This kind of behavior infuriates me. I take pride in my community and I want visitors to see that pride when they come here. I don’t want them to see a landfill.

If this kind of behavior and defamation of our neighborhood bother you too, I encourage you to contact the Issaquah Highlands Council and sign up for the proposed Adopt-A-Block program. In addition, please report all litterbugs to the non-emergency number for the Issaquah Police Department; provide as much detail including license plate numbers if possible. It is a pretty steep fine for the infraction and might make someone think twice about doing it. And last but not least, pick up a few pieces if you see this stuff. Everyone pitching in a little goes a long way.

Please do your part to help  keep Issaquah Highlands clean and green.

 

As of January 15th, I am happy to announce that Issaquah Highlands has one more shop open for business. And on top of that, it is the FIRST of many to go into the new Starpoint buildings at Park and 25th.

Alice’s Beauty Salon occupies one of the wonderful live/work spaces on the ground floor of Starpoint North. Alice Abercrombie, the owner of the salon does everything from basic haircuts for men, women and children to fancy colors and perms all at very reasonable prices.

I am super excited to see the shops starting to open up in Starpoint. With the pet spa opening up in February and the pizza shop and espresso bar opening up at the end of this month, our neighborhood is really starting to fill out.

Has anyone been paying attention to what the interest rate market has been doing lately?  The 30 year conventional loan which allows for amounts up as high as $417K has gone as low as 5.25% today!  We are almost at the all time low here?  This is some interesting times going on don’t you think?  If you aren’t ready to refinance or purchase your new home now, when will you be? 

Regardless of what is happening in the economy right now, you MUST take a look at your own finances and see if this is the time for you to take advantage of these incredible rates.  Do anything you can to consolidate your 2^nd mortgages or credit card obligations into these rates.  If you’ve got the equity to do so this is your time. 

Even jumbo rates have started to come down again.  Those are loan amounts over $417.  The scare of the summer when lenders were uncomfortable lending in those higher loan amounts are starting to calm their nerves and I’ve seen those rates as low 6.5% for the 30 year fixed loan.

I know it is scary out there with our questionable economy.  But don’t be afraid to make things better in your own finances.  As I said earlier this year, my goal is to give everyone positive information to make their lives better.  Here is one way it may work for you!  Call us to see if this is a possibility for you and your family!

That’s all. No big fancy blog post. Too dark to take any good pictures of the white stuff. But it is coming down and sticking.

The retail area in the Issaquah Highlands is finally starting to come together. Recently, Port Blakely and Opus released renderings of what the planned development for The High Streets will look like. Port Blakely and Opus brought in five different architects to design the various buildings so that there could be as organic a feel as possible to the design but trying to maintain some level of consistency and quality in the process. I like that they are doing this a lot.

I really like the plans that they have put forward and can’t wait until it all starts to come to fruition. This certainly will add a great deal to the Issaquah Highlands community as well as make more people want to move here and call the Highlands home.

Below are some of the site plans and approved renderings.

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