May 25th, 2008
Over the past three months my clients and I have presented nine contracts to pre foreclosure, REO, and Short Sale Sellers. Out of those nine contracts nine have been beat by better offers. In the Northern Seattle area there currently very few REO properties, and in terms of real Short Sales I have seen under ten that are decent over the past month. I wish I had the finesse to illustrate how important it is to negotiate a WIN/WIN offer. I can simply say writing a contract for bottom dollars in the hope of catching a whale is only going to bring up a boot. The Seattle market is not what you see on the news; hear on the radio, or read in the paper in terms of the rest of the nation’s foreclosure woes. The money in this town has just shifted from buying retail to buying wholesale, and there are a lot of hungry wallets burning holes for positive equity investments.
Things to keep in mind for this market:
- Land is an extremely limited resource in this city, Seattle could not experience the “Urban Sprawl” boom resembled of some many other cities foreclosure woes.
- Seattle metro area has a strong economic foundation with many companied that are doing extraordinarily well due to there international presents.
- We have one of the most highly educated populations in the country.
- Our Median house hold income is about $72,000 per year. This also is among the highest in the country.
- Because of the lack of “Urban Sprawl” in Seattle we do not have the inventory of Foreclosure homes that the rest of the country has. I say this all the time to my buyer’s, at auction there is a huge crowd competing over six to ten properties. Even then these homes are being purchased at a 20% less then market value.
So, if you want to beat the competition when it comes to an equity positive real estate investments do not think cheap, think Win/Win. It makes a transaction so much less of a nightmare, and in a few years you will have built yourself a great Real Estate Portfolio is what I think is the best city in the United States.
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April 14th, 2008
My father lives in Costa Rica Most of the year, He is a fisherman, and a great one. He just caught his first recorded worlds record fish. I wanted to share the article with everyone.
Friday, April 11, 2008 World Record Rooster Gets Thrown Back
There’s nothing like breaking the world record for a roosterfish in the 80-pound line class.
Maybe except for when it’s an official, International Game Fish Association (IGFA)-certified record.
Not important, says Richard Shank, who pulled in an 85- to 90-pounder (38.5 to 40.8 kilograms) in Guanacaste on the Dario, a boat from Playas del Coco, unofficially breaking the previous 66-pound (29.9 kg) record.
“I do not kill fish unless by hook kill or if I am going to eat them,” he told The Beach Times earlier in the week. (Roosterfish meat is most definitely edible, but not too popular with seafood diners.)
Notoriously, live bait will bring around the most roosters (Nematistius pectoralis), which is what Mr Shank found out using a greenjack, or cocinero.
The roosterfish, or gallo as it’s called in Spanish, is a member of the jack family, and gets its common name from its “rooster comb” of a dorsal fin — the species is said to be one of the most exciting inshore fishes on the line.
This upcoming weekend anglers will be heading farther offshore for some slightly bigger game during the 12th Annual Presidential Challenge of Costa Rica Sport Fishing Tournament, in which both private and charter boats are scored on their release of sailfish, blue marlin and striped marlin.
A world billfish series-sanctioned event, the three-day tournament begins Saturday with teams trolling in waters eight to 10 miles off-shore using dead bait called ballyhoo. Per Costa Rican Fishing Law, circle hooks, say organizers, are used for a safe catch and release.
The difference between a circle hook and a J-hook, is in the design of the hook. “A J-hook is tougher to get out of the fish; it does damage,” explained Tournament Director Joan Vernon, during last year’s event.
“To make sure the fish is in good health upon its release we either cut the leader very close to the hook, or remove the hook entirely.”
Monies raised from the team entrance fees — last year about $20,000 was raised — benefit the conservation efforts of the Billfish Foundation and OSPESCA (Organización del Sector Pesquero y Acuícola del Istmo Centroamericano).
http://thebeachtimes.com/article.php?id=3
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April 6th, 2008
I deal in a lot of rehab projects. With that comes a number of properties in diverse locations. As part of my service for my clients I have spent sometime at the department of Planning and Development researching a lot of different zoning and land use issues. Here are a few zoning terms that could help you.
What are ECA markers?
ECA markets are controls put in place by the Environmental Protection Association, these are there to protect wet lands and to help prevent land erosion, and everyone other type of environmental protection you can imagine.
Zoning:
L1= structure every 1600sqft
L2=structure every 1200 sqft
L3=structure every 800 sqft
For all Ya’ll that want to build a little commercial under some apartments, you need NC=neighborhood commercial.
NC230= build 30ft high
NC250= build 50ft high
Hope thats helps a little.
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April 1st, 2008
I recently had a client contact me over some fear he has been feeling over purchasing in the market and I wrote him this response…. I want to share it because I feel a lot of might be getting similar fear based questions.Hi Nova,
It seems that the whole American economy is going down and the real estates market is going so slow. And the equity in the property is now not going up but going down badly. How could you think it going up every year? In the past 10 years, what is the average rate for going up locally and nationally? How do you think the real estate market in next 5-10 years? I got a lot of negative feeling with the American economy and the market. You don’t need to answer my questions. I just want to discuss some questions with you.
Thanks!
Dr. ****
“Where do I see the market in 5 to 10 year’s?”
I don’t know. For the most part I see the housing market adjusted back up and stable. It is what I have based my whole business off of. Buy Low during this buyer’s period and reselling in actually 2-3 years. I think the full adjustment will be full actualized in another year. Then from there we will have another year flat. But Dr. **** we are going to have a new president after November and they will pull us out of Iraq, ad start a major economic stimulus package. The cowboy politics will end after November and large corrective changes will begin. At least that is what all Americans are pushing for. The dollar will recover. SO I have started with business that will operate in the down window. So in thinking you are going to be able to buy lower later is going to create a pattern of missed opportunity. And in 3 to four years you will be saying “what if I bought then?” I promise. The time is now. If you can take advantage do it. That is my whole business model. Your negative feeling is right, the economy is shifting, but that is my model is taking advantage of this shifting market. The properties I am showing you will yield money, because the margins of profit are so great.
Also, the Seattle market will continue to grow slowly, but it will continue to grow. We are like San Francisco is that manner there is now more room and the job market here is not based off of housing market it is driven by companies with strong International foot holds. So this is a city that will prosper for many, many years. Dr. **** you have the ability to take advantage of the fear the media is creating, that fear is not based on what is happening in the area is it based off of neighborhoods that where over built and homes sold to people that could never afford that type of life style. I am here with a business model that will allow you to buy cheap and profit greatly in the long run (meaning 2-4 years). The development in queen is a great opportunity because of land scarcity, and housing demand. Queen Anne is still having a 14% equity appreciation because of its proximity to downtown; it is the largest in the city. North Seattle is at 5%. These are the latest numbers. I hope this helps..
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March 24th, 2008
I spent the weekend walking through some pretty distressed properties, with a client that wanted to build an apartment building on the site. One place was so bad, we were walking arm linked on the second floor encase one of use fell through. I was getting hammered by my client by him wanting numbers of what it would take to build a building. Which of course we wanted those numbers in that moment. I am not a GC, I know a bunch of them, but I am not one. But knowing my clients mind set, I prepared by have a CG show up so there could be a rough idea of what it will take. This in turn got me a phone call this morning from that client thanking me for thinking ahead, and a compliment tell me in ten years of his transactions he has never that an agent give him that kind of anticipated response. Calling a GC is free, having them come out to walk a potential job free, gratitude form your client Priceless.
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March 21st, 2008
Yesterday I posted a blog on Activerain.com about how I have my clients get bids on services from vendors.The reason I do this, is to keep my friends in the industry sharp on their job performance and to save my clients money with competitive rates. I got the comments in return referring to how I might be setting my clients up for discount service. Which has me a little preachy now. My preachiness is over the personal belief that I represent my clients first, it is my job to guide them; service them, and protect them from taking more aspirin then me. So, if I am doing my Job right, my clients should be receiving the best value for their dollars, not me taking my clients to the bank so my “friends” can have all their dollars. Granted paying for good value is just that but not having all those people you know that provide great service compete for a job, how is that not servicing your client with the best customer service? If I am to have my business grow, how are broke clients going to purchase more real estate?
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March 21st, 2008
So I took some clients to auction today, of which we stood in the cold as usual due to a law created in the eighteen hundreds. Which for the first 30- 40 minutes we listened to the trust company read off a huge number of home that the auction was postponed by the lien holders. That basically left the 40 people standing there with about with 4-5 homes to bid on that would yield a viable profit. Every person standing there have the same numbers on the maximum bid to yield a profit. But just so happens there was this group there that was bidding way over the maximum bid marks. And I was dying laughing watching these business investor scream obscenities, because of the stupidity of these people. My clients were a little shocked to see the happenings but it was truly comical. People remember to watch your bottom line, and not to let you ego take you over with a “I WIN ” attitude , because you loose when your ego runs your numbers.
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March 19th, 2008
I have been receiving emails from a number of people asking me the best way to get the bank to accept a short sale offer. The simple answer is, do not super low ball the lender. Low balling creates conflict and it ends communication avenues. Banks have been making money long before all of us were twinkles in our parents eye’s, so thinking you are doing them a favor is a mistake. It is a numbers game, they know just as you do, that you will need to purchase the property with at least 20-25% equity to turn a 7-10% net profit. So, be real with your offer, be real with your clients about creating a real offer. Or as usual you will find yourself and your clients at the end of the line. With such low ball offers you will not create a good relationship with the lender on any future offers. And if that does not work, go to Costco, buy a 15 dollar carrot cake and deliver it to the banks L&M department. Food also creates a positive relationship, that will open communication easier.
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