Sequim Real Estate News on New Blog

This site has been upgraded to a new more powerful site, which you can bookmark by going to:

http://sequim-real-estate-blog.com/

You'll see our entire archive of articles on the new site, and you can subscribe to the weekly email newsletter at the new site to keep informed about Sequim and Port Angeles real estate, prices, market data, foreclosures, and much more.

Continuing to serve you without cost, I remain yours truly,
Chuck Marunde, J.D.
Broker/Owner/Realtor
Sequim & Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC

Sequim Water View Lots

Sequim Water View lots in prestigious Bell Gates, 4 lots available.

Port Angeles Water View and Mountain View 3 Story Home

Port Angeles Water View and Mountain View 3 Story Home, 1117 W. 11th, $569,900. For a showing email chuckmarunde@gmail.com or call 360.775.5424.

Port Angeles Home Plus Large Shop for Sale

Port Angeles Home with Large Shop for Sale, 259 Hunt Road, $425,000. For a showing email chuckmarunde@gmail.com or call 360.775.5424.

Port Angeles Freshwater Bay Cedar Home on 5 Acres

Port Angeles Freshwater Bay gorgeous cedar home on 5 acres $298,000, 92 Lawrence Pointe Road. For a showing, email Chuck Marunde at chuckmarunde@gmail.com or call 360.775.5424.

Port Angeles Foreclosures

I have clients and others calling me and saying, "We are in the market to purchase a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in a nice area. Is it true we can get a good deal on a foreclosure?"

Almost everyone knows someone who has a friend who bought a home out of foreclosure and immediately picked up $100,000 in equity. Right? And everyone is talking about all the foreclosures around the country. So why not buy one?

Trying to find a good home in a nice area at a steal of a price is a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack. Believe me, it is very time consuming to do your due diligence on all the possible pre-foreclosure and foreclosure homes, then to narrow it down to the few possible good deals, then to find the owners and try to cut a deal. Many of those owners are still trying to save their home from foreclosure, and some will get a loan to reinstate, or work out a forebearance with their bank, or sell their property to someone else at a reasonable discount, but not a discount of $100,000.

I have written several articles on foreclosures for your reading pleasure:

Sequim Real Estate Foreclosures
Sequim and Port Angeles Foreclosure Help
Foreclosure Properties For Sale in Sequim and Port Angeles
Foreclosures in Sequim and Port Angeles
Short Sales and Foreclosures
Foreclosure Opportunities for Investors

If you find a home that is in either pre-foreclosure or the Trustee Sale date is coming up, and you have all cash to bid on it (you have to have a cashier's check at the sale), you are welcome to use me as a resource. Having done many foreclosures as an attorney, I may know something that could be helpful to you. Anything I know or have learned is yours for the asking.

Sequim and Port Angeles Real Estate Secrets

Articles worth reading on Sequim and Port Angeles Real Estate for Buyers and Sellers:

1. Sequim Home Builders - Does Size Matter?
2. Can I Pay You a Referral Fee?
3. Buying Real Estate Anonymously
4. Sequim Relocation Package Online
5. Building Your Retirement Home in Sequim or Port Angeles
6. How to Negotiate Like an Expert

Courtesy of Chuck Marunde, J.D.

Sequim Homes For Sale - Search

Search Sequim homes for sale at your online MLS search: Search MLS Listings.

Brought to you courtesy of Sequim & Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC.

Sequim Real Estate Market in Trouble

The Sequim real estate market and the Port Angeles real estate market are hurting badly. The real estate market and the American economy have taken some pretty good hits for quite a while now, but these things are cyclical and happen all the time in our history. The big news here is that this slowdown has taken on new meaning as time drags on without recovery. Having a headache for a few hours or even a couple of days is a pain, but when the headache doesn’t go away for months, it brings entirely new health implications that are deep and wide.

Read the full article at Marunde Blog.

We Upgraded

News Release

We have upgraded our Sequim Real Estate Blogging platform from great and content-rich to more power, more navigable, and more useful.

The new blog is located at:

http://sequim-real-estate-blog.com/

You will still find this blog here, and it will still have all the archived articles intact, but the new blog also will have the archives, so be sure to update to the new blog.

Working hard to give you the best of cutting edge real estate news and information, I remain yours truly,

Chuck Marunde, J.D.
Broker/Owner/Realtor

Sequim Lots Sold

Sequim lots sold for the first 5 months of 2007 compared to 2008 will tell us something about out-of-state buyers and the comparative pace of new home construction. Here's what the first five months of 2007 looked like for lots sold in the Sequim area.

List Price Sold Price: DOM:

HIGH LOW AVERAGE MEDIAN LOTS SOLD $2,700,000 $50,000 $205,816 $134,999 $2,700,000 $44,000 $197,901 $133,500 68 574 0 135 120

And here's what the first 5 months of 2008 look like in Sequim lot sales.

List Price: Sold Price: DOM:

HIGH LOW AVERAGE MEDIAN LOTS SOLD $950,000 $59,900 $190,636 $139,500 $860,000 $50,000 $172,034 $135,000 49 675 0 147 79

When you compare DOM, the number of days the lots were on the market until they sold, and the average listing and selling prices, there isn't much of a difference this year, except in the number of total lots sold, 49 this year verses 68 the first 5 months of last year. Interesting.

Courtesy Sequim & Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC

Sequim Market Dependent Upon California Market

The Sequim real estate market (and Port Angeles' market) is heavily dependent upon markets in other states, including California and Arizona. Signs of improvement in California's real estate market bodes well for sellers here. I would estimate that more than 50% of our home and land buyers for the Sequim area come from outside the area (CA, AZ, TX, CO, and Seattle).

The quarterly UCLA Anderson Forecast said foreclosure rates will remain a significant problem in the state [of California] at least through the end of 2008 and into 2009, economist Ryan Ratcliff wrote in one section of the overall economic forecast. But "we may be transitioning from the free fall" of widespread foreclosures that drive down home values and prompt more foreclosures.

Ratcliff said the fact that home sales in some Bay Area and Southern California counties have increased from year-ago levels just recently is "an encouraging first sign of a market starting to find its new equilibrium." [Read full article.]

Lost Gatos, California may be seeing signs of strength. "A look at the single family home situation in the town of Los Gatos reveals an improvement over recent months." [Read full article.] Sacramento is seeing sings of improvement [Read full article] as well as Santa Barbara [Read full article.]

Arizona is seeing signs of strength.

“Investment interest is being driven by the anticipation that home prices will rise again in the next few years,” said Butler. “The lower median price is being impacted by several forces, including the large number of vacant homes, especially in certain neighborhoods. Further, capital is available for lower-priced housing, but lacking in the higher priced housing market.” [Read full article.]

The Seattle market is also showing positive signs for buyers, and not so negative news for sellers.

“Despite national reports which suggest that no homes are being sold, a sales rate of nearly 98,000 units (statewide) is similar to the number of sales that prevailed 10 years ago,” a statement accompanying the report said. Although Washington’s year-to-year sales drop was a bit bigger than the nationwide decline, “the state’s markets remained more robust than many areas in the West.” [From the Seattle PI, Read Source here.]

What does this mean for the Sequim and Port Angeles market? It means when markets improve in these areas, sales here get a strong push. If you're a seller, position yourself to connect with these buyers when they're ready to move.

Sequim Real Estate Homes For Sale

Finding a Sequim home for sale in the price range of $200,000 to $250,000 is very difficult. It's been hard to find what most clients are looking for in that price range. But here is a complete list of the 31 Sequim homes for sale in this price range.

Sequim homes for sale $200,000 to $250,000:
Click Here to View Listings

There are 66 Sequim homes for sale in the price range of $250,000 to $300,000, and here is the list:
Click Here to View Listings

You can also search the Entire Sequim MLS here.

Courtesy Chuck Marunde, J.D. and Sequim & Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC.

Negotiating Prices for Sequim Real Estate and Port Angeles Real Estate

Buying or selling Sequim real estate or Port Angeles real estate? How you negotiate can mean $10,000 more or less in your pocket when the dust settles. Imagine two card players. One has spent a lifetime learning how to play cards, has become an expert on mathematics and statistical calculations, on human behavior and psychology, and has studied and practiced for decades. The other is a school teacher, a good and honest person, who has taught 3rd grade for 22 years, but has never played cards, and has had no interest in the technical skills required to be a good card player.

Both enter a national card playing tournament. Who would you bet on? Who would win the majority of card games? So why would anyone with virtually no experience negotiating the purchase or sale of expensive houses, gamble when they buy or sell their own house? One might argue, "Well, I've sold two houses in my life." Buying or selling one or two houses does not a lifetime of experience make.

Don't lose money negotiating your hard earned investment. If I seem passionate about this subject, it is because I am. I've seen people lose a lot of money simply because they assumed they could do what it has taken others a lifetime to learn. Assuming is gambling.

Read more about negotiating the best price at Sequim Real Estate - Negotiating for $1,000's.

Courtesy Sequim & Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC

Home Builders and Low Ball Estimates

Are Sequim home builders and Port Angeles home builders all the same? What about the low ball prices listed in advertisements? Can a builder really build a home at the same prices that were being quoted a decade ago?

This raises another question. How can the average person who wants to have a home built tell if a contractor is telling him the truth about the costs associated with building a new home? And how does a person distinguish between good builders with integrity and honesty from builders who practice dishonesty and false advertising?

As a real estate attorney I saw many clients who were in nightmare scenarios with bad builders. It is much more common than people realize. I talk to people regularly who have had horrible experiences with their builder. I recently called the Washington State attorney general's office, and they told me they don't handle such issues, that I should call the Department of Labor & Industries. I called L&I, and they said they don't have jurisdiction, that I should call the attorney general's office.

No one wants to touch this issue, but where is consumer protection when you need it? Literally 100's of innocent victims are getting hurt in the State of Washington, and the state rule is, "caveat emptor," or "buyer beware."

I will attempt to address this issue with public education in several ways:

1. Writing articles about how to find and interview a builder;
2. What questions to ask a builder;
3. How to compare apples with apples when interviewing more than one builder; and
4. How to research a builder today with powerful Internet tools.

We'll start with these articles, and we'll be adding much more, so check back from time to time. You can also email me at chuckmarunde@gmail.com.

Hiring a Building Contractor
Elderly Couple Get Ripped Off
Building Your Sequim or Port Angeles Home
Having a Home Built? Beware

Courtesy Sequim & Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC

Port of Port Angeles - Ships Under the Setting Sun

The Port of Port Angeles with ships under the setting sun. Photo by Chuck Marunde taken 6/7/08.

Bristol Marunde Wins Fight at Emerald Queen Casino June 7th

Bristol Marunde of Sequim dominated his opponent, Will Courchaine, at the Emerald Queen Casino June 7, 2008 in another MMA (mixed martial arts) battle. The fight ended at the close of the first round (4:51) when Bristol submitted his opponent with a Kimura arm lock.

The fight began with Courchaine trying to slug it out with Bristol with powerful strikes to the head, but Bristol's defenses held up well. An early punch caught Bristol on the side of the head, but Bristol remained calm.

Bristol controlled the fight, and when Courchaine tried to kick, Bristol took him down and dominated him with strikes to the head and stomach in a north-south position. The fight ended quickly when Bristol locked his opponent's arm in a painful Kimura.

Bristol's game is better than ever. He's deadly not only in his standup, but his technique in submissions has cobra-like effectiveness. You don't want to get tied up with Bristol. His unusual strength and speed combined with his technique are paying off in the ring.

After the fight, Bristol reflected, "I felt really good, totally calm throughout this fight, and I had a really great corner helping me. God is good."

For more photos of Bristol's fight, go to Northwest FightScene.

Sequim Real Estate Prices

Sequim real estate prices are reasonable but not as low as some areas of the Midwest United States. I often receive email requests or telephone requests for a stick built home with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a garage under $125,000. The average price of homes sold in Sequim in the first five months of this year was $324,450.

I've talked with many builders in the area, and they all express the same sentiment. They cannot build a home and sell it for less than $279,000, and with a few upgrades most people want in their homes, that boosts the price of a new home to above $300,000. That's pretty much rock bottom pricing.

Most new homes, including the price of the land, site preparation, and home construction are $350,000 to $450,000. A significant number of retirees to the area are spending a total of $550,000 to $750,000 on land and construction. Those are not even luxury homes. Luxury homes are much higher.

You can find an older stick built home for less, but you can't replace it today at that price. Homes that are inhabitable and listed under $225,000 are gone. In a heartbeat.

Here is some real data in the form of listings that you can view in the Sequim market for homes priced under $200,000. In fact, here is a complete list as of this date of all homes listed for sale in Sequim for $200,000 and under. There are only seven, and you can click on this link and view these listings. There maybe one in here that is ideal for you, and if there is, you can email me or call me. I'd be glad to either get you more information or show you this house at your convenience.

These listings are best viewed in Internet Explorer, so if you are using Firefox, click on the link below but then switch to Internet Explorer if all your images are not showing correctly.

Click Here to View Listings

Courtesy Chuck Marunde and Sequim & Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC

Searching the Sequim MLS and Port Angeles MLS v. NWMLS

The Sequim MLS and Port Angeles MLS consists of the Olympic Listing Service (OLS) and for some the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS). All local brokers and agents are members of the OLS, but not all are members of the NWMLS.

I've been meditating on this issue in light of the great conflict that stirs quietly behind the scenes among brokers. Mediation is a good thing. It reduces stress and sometimes gives us answers that seem to drop down out of the heavens.

While I was meditating on the relative merits of these two competing listing services, I had a revelation, and suddenly something hit me on the head pretty good. I thought God's messenger had miraculously tapped me with wisdom. When I got up, I realized it was just the book on my computer monitor that fell. Fortunately, my head cushioned its fall. Unfortunately, my revelation probably found its roots in terra firma rather than the heavens.

By now, you're probably thinking, "So, what is the revelation?" Perhaps it's more of a reflection, rather than a revelation. Okay, here it is. Since us local agents are all members of the OLS but not all members of the NWMLS, that makes the NWMLS pretty much useless. Let me explain.

When an agent does a search of the listing database of all homes and land for sale in Sequim and Port Angeles, he needs a complete database. If the database is incomplete, he cannot expect to pull together a decent set of comps to determine price or make accurate comparisons. Since not all local brokers are members of the NWMLS, that database is incomplete, and any data used to arrive at price comparisons will also be less than complete.

Some brokers or agents like to make the argument that having a listing in both systems gets exposure to Seattle side agents and buyers, but no agent I know in Sequim or Port Angeles has been able to tell me that they have sold a listed property that way. Local agents use the OLS, not the NWMLS to search for local properties and to email clients reports.

I have used both listing services, and there's no question at all which is better--it is the NWMLS. The NWMLS has much better technology, and it has much better content with the statewide forms. Unfortunately, because many brokers refuse to be part of the NWMLS but all are members of the OLS, that means only the OLS is a complete database. Why don't all agents and brokers simply agree to be part of the NWMLS? I have no idea.

Hmm. Maybe I'll meditate some more on this subject, but this time in the middle of the room far from my computer monitor and the book shelf. Perhaps the MLS is not the only way to promote a property on the Internet. Perhaps I know the deep secrets of Internet marketing that could sell your property for the highest price within a reasonably short period of time. May I suggest you meditate on that?

Courtesy Sequim & Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC

Sequim and Port Angeles Mortgage and Foreclosure Help

Sequim and Port Angeles mortgage default online help is now available, and homeowners who are struggling to make loan payments can work directly with their lending institution, and this new system has the capacity to get very quick responses through this well connected database network.

Homeowners who use the system are able to get responses from the banks in as little as one week. That's practically unheard of. This is cutting edge technology, and it's a business model desperately needed now. I believe this could be an answer for thousands of people across the country. I have been authorized by the owners to make this exclusive news announcement, and I am the first to announce this new system for homeowners in Washington state. I urge you to take advantage of this help, if you need help with your current mortgage.

We are in challenging times, and a loss of job or reduction in hours can be the cause of a default, but there are many other legitimate reasons a person might find themselves in trouble. Divorce, death of a spouse, injury, or other circumstances can cause a person to get behind on their mortgage payments.

As a retired real estate attorney and now as a Broker/Owner/Realtor, I've spent time interviewing the founders and owners of this company, and I am greatly impressed with what they've put together. I highly recommend this site if you need to communicate with your lender to seek a modification of your loan, a forbearance, or a refinance.

If you are in foreclosure on a local level in Sequim or Port Angeles, be proactive to find solutions. Don't wait until the 11th hour of the Trustee's sale when it may be too late. Having been a real estate attorney, I understand the process inside and out and what can be done. I also have a site where buyers can look at listed foreclosure properties: SequimForeclosures.com or PortAngelesForeclosures.com.

To modify your loan or to communicate with your lender for other requests, go to this site: Resolving Your Loan Default Now. You'll be glad you did. Email me and let me know how they were able to help you.

Courtesy Sequim & Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC