Depending on who writes/designs a home buying diagram the process can look slightly different. Reviewing a lender's, escrow's, or title's buyer flow chart they all start a bit different yet end at the same place, closing. The below buyer's diagram starts at the real estate broker but experience shows the buyer starts in 1 of 3 places: the real estate agent, the lender, or home searching on their own.

In a neighborhood not so far away and in the heart of Snohomish County, we stop the Neighborhood Spotlight caravan at Lake Stevens' Soper Hill. Borrowing its name from Soper Hill Rd, and annexed into Lake Stevens in 2007, Soper Hill is a smaller community with approximately 1,200 residents all in a 292 acre area.

Being a real estate broker it may be easier to sense the changing weather patterns. The winds are calming and the multiple offer storms and perilless negotiations could be subsiding.

We probably aren't the only ones; appraisals are starting to come in 'low' forcing negotiations of a different kind, the renegotiation. With that said, other real estate brokers may be having a difference experience yet review the statistics for yourself and see if the market is shifting, again.

June 2014's Housing Inventory

Snohomish County's housing inventory is at 2.3 months which continues to favor sellers as it has for the last 2 years. Could this be due to a 37% reduction in REO inventory as reported by KCM?

As of 4:31pm there are 2,483 residential units for sale in Snohomish County - these are properties listed on the NWMLS and don't include FSBO's or other for sale properties. 

In July's issue of Neighborhood Spotlight we jump to Snohomish County southwestern boarder and the city of Mukilteo and the Chennault Beach & Harbour Pointe neighborhoods. Being two of Mukilteo's premier neighborhoods, Chennault Beach & Harbour Pointe offer luxury homes, mind blowing views, access to a top tier school district, excellent location to Boeing (or other business centers), Naval Station, and medical centers.

Below are data tables from June's recorded lot sales, unrecorded lot sales, and new construction home sales for Snohomish County Washington. DR Hortorn, Seattle Pacific, Pacific Ridge, and Lennar continue to purchase lots, develop, and build. All the sales are in cronological order of sales dates (dates are not included).

Recorded Lot Sales

Unrecorded Lot Sales

Pacific Ridge has two plats and Lozier has one plat in the works in south Snohomish County.

The real estate industry is ever changing with search functions, new home search apps, various search methods, which brokerage or website has the most property information, who has the latest homes for sale, and this is all inside a highly competitive industry. That competition stems from agent personalities, abilities, and a strong desire to gain more exposure for their listed properties and when viewing the industry at a company level the competition is no-less than fierce.

Talking about title insurance isn't the sexiest real estate topics out there. Title insurance doesn't have all the pizazz and blinkies of fancy advertising nor does it have the attraction of a HGTV show. Title insurance is the behind the scene work horse that keeps property buyers safe from liens, clouds, and false information that effect a property's possession and title transfer.

What does title insurance do? One word, protection.

To build on yesterday's post Buying a Home Zero Down Doesn't Mean Free here are the Do's and Don'ts for a smooth home loan approval. A common theme is 'as long as the money is in the bank who cares?'. In this day and age risk management is priority, evaluation of funds makes sure those funds are not from terrorist organizations, and people have the debt-to-income ratios that makes sense.

Buying a home is one of the most rewarding accomplishments. It builds confidence, rewards hard work, and creates a path for future wealth building. However, the trend of assuming zero down means free, or at no-cost, seems to be prolific. Also, the lack of responsibility for having zero savings and expecting everyone else involved 'to make it work' is both disrespectful and unrealistic.

Navigating the Snohomish County website is daunting task in itself with endless page links and sometimes frustrating website architecture. I find myself getting sucked into pages and soon land on an intriguing yet unrelated page. The upfront design is getting better but farther into the site traveled the more it appears like web 1.0. However, the vast amount of information on Snohomish County's website makes it a valuable resource.

The other day, while researching potential changes to building rules, I came across a page containing multiple interactive Snohomish County maps. It was nerd heaven especially for someone in my field. I regularly use 2 but the other 3 were some welcomed news.