New News

News!
As you can see my blog will be changing to have new discussions. I've recently taken a position with eProperty Data the operator of the National Association of Realtors website for Commercial Real Estate.

Future
In the near future I will be posting news and information about Commercial Source. Hopefully you will visit often to view cool new tools and announcements as they take place.

In The Meantime
Please feel free to contact me for more information!

Spokane Real Estate ~ Great Buys!

Looking for a Great Buy?

WOW....we just returned from touring new listings this week and I have to say the new homes at PRASADA PLACE are amazing. Prasada Place is a brand new development in the Spokane Valley.

The fully furnished model home is available to see and they are Open daily from 11 am to 5 pm. This past weekend was the Grand Opening and they have some special incentives that you will want to take advantage of.

The model's floor plan is fantastic ~ A grand entry with high ceilings and open railing wrapping around the entry staircase up to the spacious loft on the second level. Generously-sized bedrooms with large closets ( one of my favorite features ) a master suite with tiled soaking tub, raised vanity and sinks and an awesome kitchen with a large center island.

Here are some highlights of this development:

~ Prices ranging from the $180's to the $260's
~ Fully finished homes for under $100 per square foot
~ 50% off all upgrades up to $10,000 for the first 4 homes sold this year
~ Award winning in-house-design by Viking Construction to help you personalize your new home to your lifestyle
~ An extensive list of included amenities
~ 18 lots available

I think you will have a hard time finding comparable homes at this price in such a great location. We have marketed other Viking Homes at Sonata Springs, and Hunters Run, which is sold out ~ and and they tend to sell very quickly.
For more information, or to arrange a showing e mail us at valley@windermere.com

Photos courtesy of Mike Hollingworth of Northwest Photographics, LLC http://www.mchollingworth.com/ as provided to the Spokesman Review for the January 11th, 2009 real estate cover story on Prasada Place

Spokane Real Estate ~ Opportunity Knocks

Happy New Year
We've made it into 2009. What journey 2008 was...whew! My gut "usually a pretty reliable resource" tells me that 2009 is going to be a better year for all of you home buyers and home sellers out there.

Market Data
I'm still waiting for the Spokane Association of Realtors to publish December Market Data. As soon as I have it I will post it here. I did some preliminary research and it looks like there may have been more closed sales in December than November. I'm pretty sure you are just as interested as me to see where our average and median sales prices ended up. For the last several months we've stayed pretty close to $200,000 for the average sales price. I'm wondering if we've "hit the bottom" of our pricing decline.

Resources
I found a great piece from the National Association Of Home Builders that I am going to share with you here. This site has a great CONSUMER section that you may want to check out. I like this piece because it really summarizes the buying opportunities out there. It talks about tax advantages and also building wealth through home ownership. Take a peek and let me know what you think.

Concerns
My biggest concern is that some will miss out on this age of opportunity. I strongly encourage you to research our market. Talk to your Windermere agent. Get detailed information on neighborhoods you are interested in. I've heard all kinds of predictions about the real estate market in 2009. Take this time to research your timing. Here are some folks who have taken advantage of current market conditions.

Since I've misplaced my crystal ball, and cannot see into the future...we have to look at the facts. Our supply of homes is about the same as it was last year at this time. That means you have good options in choosing a home. Interest rates are phenomenal...in the low 5% range. Yes, you can get a mortgage. And, the snow started melting today!!

Cheers in the New Year!

Spokane ~ Nothing Like A New Home

Memory Lane

I remember when my wife and I purchased our first "new home". Way back in 2000. Wow - have we made some changes to the home and property over the years!
First of all, the home was about halfway done when we first saw it...and get this ~ we were NOT interested in new construction. Ah, but love has a funny way of changing your mind. We fell in love with the floor plan, the neighborhood and the potential we had to make this home really ours!

We were able to "move some walls" to make some floor plan changes. Specifically, a larger archway from the entry to the, "then" dining room. Next we added windows in the kitchen, had the builder punch another archway/bar area into the living room and re-arrange cabinets. Since we did all this before the wiring, and plumbing was done..it was easy and did not cost any extra money.

I want to share with you the benefits of buying new construction. I never thought I would be in the market for new construction...but here I am 8 years later. And I'm quite happy! Hopefully you will enjoy my journey in creating our home, and maybe, it will inspire you to dream about your new home too.


Since Then...


Where do I begin. Let's go inside first. I think my wife has painted 1,000,000 times. And please note, all these changes have taken place over the last 8 years. We finished the basement, affectionately referred to as the "Man Den". Although the laundry room is down there...so guess who gets to do the laundry in the "Man Den". READ MORE

No Snow - Go To An Open House

No Snow

Whew...

December 3rd, 2008 and NO SNOW!! In fact, I'm looking out my window at blue skies here in Spokane. I may even play a little golf this weekend at one of our local courses that is still open for business...Check out ESMERELDA GOLF COURSE.

Open Houses

Back in April I posted a blog on Open Houses What would I have to do to get you to read it again?

Anyway, with the weather being so nice and incredible buying conditions...why not go check out some open houses? So far there are 78 homes being held open by Windermere Agents in the Spokane area this weekend. You can PREVIEW them HERE

Interest rates are still in the low 5% range...which gives you buyers incredible buying power. We toured new listings on the market yesterday and I was impressed with the pricing. Here is an example...and it just happens to be Open this weekend! 1/2 acre lot, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, shop in the back yard - that has heat...for $167,900!!

Wait...WHAT?!
I've been hearing all kinds of weird comments from buyers. Like, "I'll just wait until things get worse and then the government will give me a loan at 3% to buy a home". WHAT??? First of all, where did you hear that and second...how can you be sure things will get worse in housing in Spokane and how can you be sure that if you wait rates will still be in the low 5% range. Why not take advantage of real rates right now?!

Do yourself a favor, trust us...there are great buys in the marketplace right now. We've been trying to get the word out but CNN steals your attention with headlines like "real estate, worst ever" or something like that. Remember, there are areas in the US that are in bad shape. Spokane is plugging right along. Look at some of my previous posts for market data.

Open Houses are a great way to see, touch, smell and feel homes on the market. You can look at a thousand pictures on the net, but getting inside the home is the only way to really get a feel for it.

Take the time to ask your Windermere Realtor questions about the home, other homes in the neighborhood, school information, etc.

Hey, you can't go skiing so have fun, go see some Opens this weekend and considering buying a home.

Fun Windermere Real Estate Commercials

These are great Windermere Spots that I thought you would enjoy. Make sure your sound is turned on.

Welcome to my Blog

So...I've been blogging now for over a year..but in a different place. Please visit http://www.windermerespokanevalley.com/blog to see my previous posts.

I'm hoping to create more traffic to my blogs so I'm branching out into this format. I would love to hear any suggestions you may have or comments on Spokane Real Estate. I've also just started a new blog for New Construction in Spokane, WA. You can see it HERE.

Thank you for visiting and I hope to hear from you soon!

Carl

Spokane Real Estate Market Update

I'd like to start today's blog with a quote. Post a note if you would like to comment.

Here is quote from Glenn Crellin at Washington Center for Real Estate Research. You can view his entire October 30, 2008 presentation by clicking the link at the end of this posting. The quote below is about Housing Affordability in Spokane.

"In Spokane the typical home is affordable, with the current measure indicating a 22.1% cushion on the ability to afford a home. Now, the industry needs to convince consumers the time is ripe to buy without appearing self-serving. With the kinds of affordability numbers we saw in the first half of this decade it comes as no surprise that the market took off and prices surged. It wasnt irrational exuberance or unjustified lending driving the local market it was common sense!"

We are still selling homes in Spokane!

Here is the latest market data from the Spokane Association of Realtors. Please note that the average sales price compared to last year is only down 2.3%. Also, please note that inventory is coming down as well. I've noticed in our offices that we are not taking as many listings.

This is a good thing for you current sellers in the marketplace. Less competition for the buyers who are out there. For buyers who may be "waiting" to see if prices will continue to fall you may have missed the boat. I think we have stabilized as far as average sales price goes. Take a look at this: August 2008 average sales price $203,493, September 2008 average sales price $201,372 and October 2008 average sales price $201,797. Each of these months are pretty similar. You can look at previous posts to see the other months of the year.

As a side note, there have been 703 new construction homes sold through October 2008. This may be a surprise to some of you. The average sales price for new construction is $292,718. CLICK HERE for more new construction data.

October residential closed sales for site built/condo on less than one acre totaled 439 closed sales. This total is down 26 closed sales from September. The average sales price for October was $201,797 and the median sales price was $177,000.

Year to date sales total 4,364 closed sales through October compared to 6,006 through the same period last year.

The average sales price through October is $207,003 down 2.3% from one year ago. The median sales price through October is $184,700 compared to $186,000 over the same period last year.

Inventory for the second month in a row is down from the previous month 3,173 compared to 3,387.

New home sales reported to the SAR MLS totaled 79 for October up one over the total for September.

Here is a link to some interesting facts and figures regarding homeownership. CLICK HERE

And for those of you who like graphs and charts...take a look at this from the Washington Center for Real Estate Research. You will notice that Spokane and Washington in general our quite healthy and are not seeing the level of foreclosures that other parts of the county are. CLICK HERE