If you click on the map above and waive your cursor over the houses, you can get some details on the open houses in Kenmore this weekend. Please keep in mind that non of these listings are mine; however, if you have any questions regarding them, please call me at 206.713.2102.
I’m in a “statistics” kind of mood tonight. Yuck, you say! Why torture us with the numbers? Well, I do like to provide you with periodic reports of the real estate market in Kenmore. It’s important that you have a general idea of what’s going on out there. So for tonight I’m going to keep it simple. Take a look at the charts below:
The report above breaks out Kenmore real estate into four basic categories: Single family homes, Condominiums, Multi family properties and Vacant land. I chose this report because it isn’t too detailed. Sometimes it’s helpful to get a general idea of a market. Now let’s break things out in a little more detail:
This report breaks out all of the active listings in Kenmore by price, number of units and days-on-market. What’s important here is the average priced homes (between $500K-$650K) have been on the market over 90 days. The summer months are generally a slower time for real estate. As a realtor, I must say that this inventory is overpriced. How much longer the sellers can stand to stay on the market?
Pending sales are those homes which are either going through inspection or are on the way to closing. The important fact in the report above is that only 30 or 10% of the total number of properties in Kenmore are pending. This means that we have many months of inventory on the market.
Finally, here are the sold properties dating back to February 1st. It’s important that we don’t look back further than three months in this market. Basically this report shows a fairly lethargic market in Kenmore. I’m not afraid to say that most sellers are not being realistic about the value of their homes. It’s time for sellers to get real about their pricing strategies.
My wife and I spent this Memorial Day weekend with my sister in E. WY. During our visit we had the opportunity to go through a box of old family photos and memorialabilia. We came across some real gems: old photos, postcards, letters and the documents in this post. In honor of my father (and all those) who served in Europe during WWII , I’d like to share these discharge letters. I am particularly impressed by the language used in the message from George C. Marshall below:
Allow me to quote one section that states:
“Start being a leader as soon as you put on your civilian clothes. If you see intolerance and hate, speak out against them. Make your individual voices heard, not for selfish things, but for honor and decency among men, for the rights of all people. Remember, too, that no American can afford to be disinterested in any part of his government, whether it is county, city, state or nation. Choose your leaders wisely–that is the way to keep ours the country for which you fought. Make sure that those leaders are determined to maintain peace throughout the world. You know what war is. You know that we must not have another. As individuals you can prevent it if you give to the task which lies ahead the same spirit which you displayed in uniform”
I was mightly impressed by the words of General Marshall. It strikes me as odd how we seem to forget that fighting for a just cause, against a real enemy, should be seen as a battle for all of us. That soldiers give their lives “for the rights of all people.”
My father was a good and honest man. Interestingly, he never spoke about his time in the war. Like so many of the greatest generation, he kept his experiences to himself. I can tell you this: my father was a firm believer that everyone in America deserves a right to succeed, no matter where they come from, no matter what color, no matter how poor.
If you would like to read the whole text just click on this address: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2218/2528354588_d675aa18aa_o.png.
Look at all this lemony goodness! In March my wife and I took a quick trip to New Jersey to celebrate my brother-in-law’s 60th birthday. One evening he treated us to some of his homemade limoncello and I was JEALOUS. So when we returned, I went to work and whipped up some of what I hoped would be the delicious Italian nectar! I made my first batch of homemade Limoncello. For those of you who enjoy a nice after dinner liquor, this wonderful Italian elixir wasn’t too difficult to make. Here’s how I did it:
The recipe includes the following:
10-15 lemons, rinsed
5 cups of 100 proof Vodka
3 cups sugar
4 cups water
1. Peel the lemons using a knife or potato peeler. Just make sure you don’t peel too deeply. The white pith beneath the yellow skin is bitter. Place the peels into a large glass bottle or jar. Pour in vodka. Cover loosely and let infuse for four to six weeks at room temperature.
2. After the limoncello infuses for four to six weeks, Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. DO NOT STIR. Boil for 15 minutes. Allow syrup to cool to room temperature.
3. Strain the lemon skins out of the infusion into a large container for mixing. Add the simple syrup to taste. I used 2/3 of the total syrup as I didn’t want the limoncello to be overly sweet (as many of the commercial brands are). Place the finished limoncello into glass containers and seal. You can let the mixture age for 2 weeks at room temperature but, fortunately, you can enjoy your limoncello right away!
The limoncello on the left is my homemade blend and the decanter on the right contains a commercial product. By the way, my limoncello isn’t half-bad!
Anyone traveling on 80th Avenue in Kenmore has seen the Brightwater Sewage Treatment Portal project. Over the past couple of years my curiosity grew and grew until I asked one of the project managers if I might be allowed to visit the site and find out what’s going on “down there.” Well, my request was graciously accepted, so I will be visiting with the project manager tomorrow!
For those of you who don’t know what Brightwater is: It is a regional sewage treatment plant being constructed from Woodinville, WA to the Puget Sound. It’s main facility in Woodinville is being constructed on a 114 acre site. The project also includes a conveyance system which is intended to convey the treated materials across the county into Puget Sound. Tomorrow I will be visiting the Kenmore Portal which is part of the conveyance system.
Last weekend began the new season of the Lake Forest Park Commons Farmer’s Market. It wasn’t the largest event but it’s nice to know that local producers will soon be providing us with nature’s bounty. Make sure you stop by the market this season and support local growers. Also, I can’t resist recommending a book that relates directly to purchasing local produce:
Michael Pollan has been writing about “nutirtionsim” (the belief that food can be manufactured and designed for our consumption) for many years. He is considered one of the most well respected critics of this notion. In this book he proposes some magic words to live/eat by: Eat Food, Not to Much, Mainly Plants! I’ve heard several recent interviews with Mr. Pollan. He usually has the host bring in a couple of common food items and then examines the “ingredients.” It’s amazing how much of what we eat simply isn’t food. His litmus test is: if you grandma doesn’t recoginze it, it probably isn’t food! In Defense of Food is a thoughtful, provocative study of our relationship to food. One thing’s certain: he would highly recommend our local market.
If you would like to tour the open houses in Kenmore this weekend, simply click on the map above and waive your cursor over any of the “little houses.” I am not the listing agent for any of these properties; however, if you have any questions regarding them or would like to take a look, please don’t hesitate to contact me at (206) 713-2102.
Erwin Wurm: House Attack, 2006.
Outdoor sculpture at the Museum Moderner Kunst (MuMoK) in Vienna
Our local real estate market has not been immune to the problems experienced around the country. We are fortunate that our local economics have been strong: the manufacturing, service, biotech and computer industries have kept unemployement low and productivity high; nevertheless, there are a great many home owers who are “upside down” in their mortgages. This means they owe more than the property is worth; they are behind on their payments and, essentially they have no assets. In order to avoid foreclosure, one option is to short sell the property.
Short sale - negotiating with lien holders a payoff for less than what they are owed. You put your house on the market, accept an offer, submit the offer to the lien holder/s, and pray that they allow the sale to go through at a loss.
Sounds easy, but I warn you, executing a short sale is a far more difficult process than simply asking the bank to let you off the hook. If you, your friends, colleagues or family are having difficulty making your payments and face a foreclosure, allow me to make the following recommendations:
1) Consult your attorney and CPA to discuss your options. There can be serious legal and financial consequences connected with this process.
2) If you proceed with the short sale of your home, make sure your agent has experience with this process as it is not for the weak of heart. Your agent will be required to prepare an extensive package for the lien holder/s, negotiate an acceptable price with the lienholders and then follow the transaction to closing. It has been taking, on average, 2-3 months to complete a short sale.
3) Be prepared to provide your agent and the lienholders with the following: a hardship letter, two years full tax returns, your last two pay stubs, two months bank statements, notarized authorization that your agent can talk with the lien holder/s, financial statements and bank statements. Your file is going to be scrutinized closely so be prepared!
Finally, the most important thing to remember is that there is help out there. Don’t let your financial situation become so bad that you can’t get out: ASK FOR HELP! You’d be surprised how many resources and people there are willing to give you a hand.
The graph above gives a dramatic picture of the current real estate market in King County. What it shows is the relationship between active listings and those properties that are “pending sales.” (pending sales are those properties that are either being inspected or on their way to closing) You will note that there were 15,359 active listings in April with 2419 pending sales. “So what?” Well, the ratio between the numbers is called the absorption rate which is the percentage of homes that are selling in a given period of time. Take a look at the chart below:
15.8% of the homes listed in April went pending or were “absorbed” by the market. This means that there was almost 7 months of inventory on the market in April. So what does this mean to home owners who want to enter this market or those who want to purchase a home? A few things:
1) If you intend to put your home on the market in this market, make sure you have a firm grasp on reality. Your competition is huge today in most neighborhoods. There are currently 192 active listings in Kenmore. Days-on-market have reached an average of 4 months! You must be willing to spend some money to prepare your house for sale. For example: dress your home for success (which may involve spending money on new paint, staging, landscaping, etc.). You’ll also want to find an agent who knows YOUR LOCAL market and who has experience in listing homes.
2) If you intend to purchase a home today there are a huge number of opportunities to negotiate (in a kind and caring way!) concessions that were unavailable just last year. It’s not uncommon to find sellers willing to give concessions on closing costs or to be more “understanding” when you ask for repairs. I highly recommend that you consult with a lender to explore your options.
I hope this “Cliff’s Notes” version of absorption rates helps you better understand what we realtors drive ourselves (and our spouses) crazy about when we examine the market.
The lady pictured above (circa 1946) is my mother, Jennie Pezzetti. You would never know it by looking at her, but my mom was one tough woman. Born in Clinton, IN (Feb. 13, 1923) to Italian immigrants, the small family moved to Cle Elum, WA where they cultivated a small farm for many years until moving to the Bay Area in the early 1940’s. My aunt refers to her sister as their father’s only son, because my mother did all the farm work: milking, bailing hay and tilling the land with a two-furrow plow! Even so my mom always said that her happiest days were spent on the farm with the animals, picking wild mushrooms and spending time in the hills near her home. Her connection with Cle Elum remained strong even though our family moved a number of times over the years (Reno NV, Burburnett TX, Layton UT).
This is a picture of my grandparents: Guiseppe & Giovanna Pezzetti at the farm in Cle Elum, WA.
Shortly before my mother died in 2004 I took her to her 62nd high school reunion. It was amazing to see some 40+ depression-age elders reunite in a world that is much different from the one they knew in the 1930’s. My mom told me that her family truly was poor in the modern sense: no indoor plumbing, no modern equipment, no electricity, not even a radio. She would occasionally mention that people would be happier if they weren’t chasing after a bunch of stuff they don’t need. Yes, my mom the philosopher.
My mom died on September 13, 2004 at her home outside Sparks, NV. I consider myself fortunate to have called her the Friday morning before she passed away. In true form she told me it was beautiful outside and she was going to spend the day in her garden. A cultivator to the end, she was found that afternoon in her garden, unconscious. She passed away 3 days later at the age of 81. I really miss her.
Jennie (Pezzetti) Lupori
2/13/1923 - 9/13/2004
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