Edmonds Christmas Events!

Santa Photo Day

 

Pictures with Santa will be held on Saturday & Sunday, December 5th and 6th, from 1pm to 5pm

Cost:  FREE!

Where:  Coldwell Banker Bain:  108 5th Ave South, Edmonds

*Donations will be accepted for Toys for Tots

 

 

 

Free Gift Wrapping

 

 Purchase a gift at any local downtown Edmonds merchant and have it wrapped for free!  Just bring your gifts to the Coldwell Banker Bain office @ 108 5th Ave South, Edmonds on either SATURDAY or SUNDAY December 12th or 13th, 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM.

Sponsored by the Edmonds-Woodway High School Cheerleaders and the Realtors at Coldwell Banker Bain in Downtown Edmonds.

 

 

 

 

Federal Tax Credit Extended

The President has signed legislation that contains an enhanced tax credit extension.  Not only was the first time buyer tax credit extended, but a tax credit for current home owners was included as well.   Below, are some of the commonly asked questions about this new legislation. 

Who Gets What?

First-Time Homebuyers (FTHBs): First-time homebuyers (that is, people who have not owned a home within the last three years) may be eligible for the tax credit. The credit for FTHBs is 10% of the purchase price of the home, with a maximum available credit of $8,000

Single taxpayers and married couples filing a joint return may qualify for the full tax credit amount.

Current Owners: The tax credit program now gives those who already own a residence some additional reasons to move to a new home. This incentive comes in the form of a tax credit of up to $6,500 for qualified purchasers who have owned and occupied a primary residence for a period of five consecutive years during the last eight years.

Single taxpayers and married couples filing a joint return may qualify for the full tax credit amount.

What are the New Deadlines?

In order to qualify for the credit, all contracts need to be in effect no later than April 30, 2010 and close no later than June 30, 2010.

What are the Income Caps?

The amount of income someone can earn and qualify for the full amount of the credit has been increased.

Single tax filers who earn up to $125,000 are eligible for the total credit amount. Those who earn more than this cap can receive a partial credit. However, single filers who earn $145,000 and above are ineligible

Joint filers who earn up to $225,000 are eligible for the total credit amount. Those who earn more than this cap can receive a partial credit. However, joint filers who earn $245,000 and above are ineligible.

What is the Maximum Purchase Price?

Edmonds Halloween Events!

Frighteningly Fun Halloween Events Coming to Edmonds

Coldwell Banker Bain is pleased to announce its annual Halloween Extravaganza taking place in Edmonds with fun and FREE events for the whole family.  Be sure to mark your calendars!

Pumpkin Carving – FREE
Sunday, October 25, 2009
11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Horizon Bank Parking Lot at 6th and Dayton, Edmonds

Movie: Ghostbusters II – FREE
Sunday, October 25, 2009
1:30 PM (doors open at 1:15 PM – tickets available at the pumpkin carving event)
Edmonds Movie Theatre – 415 Main Street, Edmonds

Haunted House Coloring Contest – FREE
Now through October 30, 2009
Entries can be picked up at the following locations:
Coldwell Banker Bain – 108 5th Ave. S., Edmonds
Horizon Bank – 103 5th Ave. S., Edmonds

Halloween Costume Photos – FREE
Saturday, October 31, 2009
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Coldwell Banker Bain – 108 5th Ave. S., Edmonds

Sponsors of this year’s Halloween Extravaganza include the following companies:

Coldwell Banker Bain of Edmonds, Edmonds Beacon, Edmonds Movie Theatre, Horizon Bank, Kinder Britches, QFC, and Robin Hood Lanes.

 

 

 

 

206.799.3877

TylerEch@Cbbain.com

12 Month Market Trends

These graphs were created through “Trendgraphics” using residential listing, pending, and closed stats from the NWMLS from the South Snohomish County market area.  

Chart one shows us the trend of the number of active homes  compared to the number of pending and closed sales in each month.  As you can see, we currently have significantly less inventory than a year ago, and pending sales are up about 50% as well, all very good!

 

 

 

 

 

Chart two shows the market areas ”months of inventory” which is obtained by taking the number of active homes divided by the number of Sold homes in a given month.  Also known as the absorption rate, this shows us how long it will take to sell the current inventory in the current market. 

Typically, a “Seller’s Market” would be 3 months or less of inventory, a Buyer’s market would be 6+ months of inventory, and a balanced market would be 3-6 months of inventory.

If you would like more information about your own specific market area, e-mail me and I will run this same report for the neighborhood you live in. 

 

 

 

Tyler J. Echelbarger

TylerEch@Cbbain.com

206.799.3877

Interest Rates more Important than Home Prices???

 

 

 

 

In today’s unique market, a Buyer should consider worrying  less about price and focus more on what the interest rates are doing.  It could save them literaly tens of thousands of dollars at closing and even more money over the life of their loan, here is how…

In previous articles, I have talked about the fact that, as a buyer,  it is impossible to purposefully buy at the very bottom of the market.  We will not know that the bottom has actually hit until we are at least six months down the road and prices are already on their way back up or they have at least flat-lined.  When seller’s realize the market has stabilized, they are less likely to accept an offer below their asking price, give up concessions such as closing costs, or perform seller paid home repairs prior to closing.  Closing costs and repairs alone could easily cost a buyer $15,000 to $20,000 out of pocket, a buyer needs to know the facts and be in the best position to negotiate from the start.

DID YOU KNOW:  If you wait too long to buy and interest rates climb just 1% it could cost you over $220/month?  That is a significant amount of money, and when you pay that over the life of a 30 year loan,  it equates to nearly $80,000 more out of your pocket.

Pending Homes Sales Up in Snohomish & King Counties

More good news is emerging from the housing market as pending sales rose 30% in Snohomish County from a year ago.  Despite a 9% drop in median price from June 2008, Western Washington has seen a 4.4% increase since January of this year according to the Northwest Multiple listing service.  Most of the sales are coming in the low to mid price ranges from $200,000 to $500,000.  However, the upper end market is also showing since of improvement as buyer traffic has increased significantly over the last two months.

Read the full story from the Everett Herald here:

http://heraldnet.net/article/20090706/BIZ/907069987#Pending.home.sales.up.in.Snohomish.County

 

Closed sales are up 4% from a year ago in King County but the median price during that same time edged down slightly.

Read the full story from the Seattle Times here:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2009424140_webhomesales06.html

 

As always, thank you for trusting me with your referrals.  I do not take them lightly and will always provide excellent information and professional real estate service to my clients.  Have a great week, Tyler

 

 

 

206.799.3877

TylerEch@Cbbain.com

Alderwood Boys and Girls Club’s: 2008 Volunteer of the Year!

Congratulations to our 2008 Volunteer of the Year, Tyler Echelbarger!   

 Tyler has been involved with the Alderwood club advisory board for several years and has helped with our annual auction, Campaign for Kids, and work parties at the club.  He has helped produce marketing material and hosted volunteer information parties.  Tyler is also on the committee for the Ed-Lynn Golf Classic helping to raise money for the Edmonds and Alderwood Clubs.  The club thanks Tyler for his dedication and efforts.

~ The Alderwood Club Staff

Click below to see all that is happening at the  Alderwood Club:

http://www.bgcsc.org/main.asp?id=47

April 2008 to April 2009: The Latest Stats

The Northwest Multiple Listing Service released their April stats yesterday and outlined the fact that 2009 has some positive signs emerging in what has been a difficult and troubled market. 

 The statistics show that pending single family home sales rose over 28% in Snohomish County and 15% in King County from a year ago.  The surge is being attributed to lower prices, low mortgage rates, and buyer incentives such as the first-time home buyer tax credit.

 The majority of the recent sales have been in the lower end market which should trigger a similar surge in the “move up” market in the next two or three months.  Despite the fact the million dollar market continues to struggle, once these other segments stabilize, we should see sales pick up considerably in that upper end market as well.

Here are the links to the May 6^th articles from our local papers:

Seattle Times:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009180657_homesales06.html

Everett Herald:

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090506/NEWS01/705069742#Hopeful.sign.for.housing.market

 

If Boeing “fly’s away”, our Real Estate market could follow

Despite the fact the State of Washington has diversified its commercial industries over the last two decades; The Aerospace industry, namely Boeing, has always been our state’s most important when it comes to the economy, jobs, and net-in migration.

 

The front page of the Herald on April 23, 2009 read, “Could Boeing Fly Away?” and outlines the idea that our State is not a competitive business climate and claims the “clock is ticking” on Boeing’s relocation. 

 

Read the full article here:

http://heraldnet.com/article/20090423/BIZ/704239866&news01ad=1#Could.Boeing.fly.away.from.Washington

 

Should Boeing phase out of Washington over the next 10 or 15 years, how would that effect our economy, net migration, and of course, real estate?

 

In the April 14^th publication of the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy, they help answer these questions and paint a rather dismal picture of our State’s economy through the year 2030 should Boeing leave.

 

Here are a few highlights (really low lights) from that report:

·        Boeing has a “job multiplier” of 3.96 where each Boeing job supports nearly 3 additional jobs.  The loss of Boeing’s 72,000 jobs would result in a statewide loss of around 285,000 jobs.

·        Net-in migration decreases year to year through 2022

·        Home prices decline by an estimated 6.5% by 2030.

·        Employment shortfalls total 320,000 jobs by 2022 and 375,000 by 2030.

 

Call Olympia and let them know that they must act now to encourage Boeing’s future investment and production stays here in Washington, our State’s economic future depends on it.

 

E-mail me to receive the entire eight page report from the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you know anyone thinking about buying or selling real estate, I would be happy to give them great advice and help however I can.  I never take a referral lightly and appreciate the opportunity.

206.799.3877

TylerEch@Cbbain.com

First-Time Homebuyers, this ones for you!

 

 

 

 

Looking to buy your first home, condo or townhouse?  Or, haven’t owned property in the past three years?  Now you can benefit from the governments new and improved first-time homebuyer tax credit, part of this year’s stimulus package.  Learn more here about this extra credit, and contact me for more details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sign up to receive Market Remarks by e-mail, Subscribe from the home page, right column.  Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

 

Tyler J. Echelbarger

206.799.3877

TylerEch@cbbain.com