Starter Homes defined as $350,000 or less with at least 3 bedrooms and 1.5 baths.
BK = Bothell, Kenmore
KBR = Kirkland, Bellevue and Redmond
03,14,15,25 = last two digits of zip codes in North Seattle
Because I am seeing more people coming out to buy a starter home for $350,000 or less, I thought it would be a good time to point out why the odds of getting one are greater...and where.
Worth noting, in the green and blue areas, townhomes are generally NOT included, in the orange area townhomes are generally included. That makes the liklihood of finding a true single family home with a yard in those areas of 98103, 98115, 98117, 98125 even smaller. So if you are on the Seattle side, heading up toward Shoreline or points south, will likely be necessary.
The good news is you are almost EIGHT times more likely to find one in Kirkland Bellevue and Redmond, than you were in 2007.
In Kenmore and Bothell, homes sold in 2009 for $350,000 or less, represented more than 1/3 of the total homes sold.
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Required Disclosure - The data used in this post is not compiled, verified or posted by The Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Hand calculated by ARDELL.
Reviewing the Condo Resale Certificate - A Workshop Post
The "condo" development I am looking at today has slightly over 200 units, and those units are side by side townhomes. The townhomes were built between 1995 and 1997, and there is no clubhouse or pool. What I am looking for IN the Resale Certificate is governed by the major components of the total community. Reviewing a Resale Certificate without having seen the townhome complex as a whole, is not as good as knowing in advance what you are looking FOR vs. AT.
The packet is usually between 2" and 5" thick.Remember, this is a RESALE Certificate, so this is not how you conduct a condo new construction review.
I am the Agent for the Buyer. If I were the Agent for the Seller, I might look at a few things differently. WHO I represent when looking at something, influences what I am looking for. From a Buyer's point of view I am projecting forward, more than when I am looking at a Resale Certificate from a Seller's point of view. That goes without saying, I think, but just in case - worth mentioning.
1) The first thing I do is grab the small 5 page or so document that was especially prepared for this buyer shortly after the buyer and seller signed this specific Purchase and Sale Agreement. These numbers are as of NOW, for the most part, and so the most relevant.
For instance The Balance Sheet might seem most important, but it is as of 12/31/08. The information in the form titled "Washington State Condominium Resale Certificate" (in this case) has the most current and relevant info. The main reason you review this first is, if there is something there that strongly suggest you wouldn't want to buy in this complex, you are done. You cancel based on the Resale Certificate and go find a different condo in a different complex to buy. So to avoid wasting your time...start with the most current and relevant data.
A quick review shows me:
1) There are amazingly few delinquencies. Over 200 townhomes and less than 2 months of dues in arrears. That is beyond good. Looks like 1 person is 1 month behind, plus a penalty fee for being delinquent. In today's economic enviroment, that is astoundingly good and somewhat unexpected. Makes me wonder if Uncle Guido is their dues collection enforcer. THAT good :)
2) The document confirms that there are no Special Assessments. Don't rely on the property Listing Information in the mls in that regard. Always look for special assessments in the Resale Certificate. Big Red Flag here...determining if FUTURE Special Assessments might be an issue, is much more difficult, and not in this step #2 of the review of this form, but hugely important. In fact, likely the biggest mistake that condo buyers make is taking everything at "face value" in the Resale Certificate, and not adequately ascertaining if future Special Assessments are imminent, though not yet identified as such.
3) I skipped "current monthly dues" above, as most times you already know that before you make an offer to purchase the townhome. A quick glance so see that the regular monthly dues are "as expected" takes about two seconds. Important, but the instances where that is not the case are very small, particularly in July. Most times when they are higher in the Resale Certificate, it is due to a recent change since the property was listed for sale. Most increases happen on 1/1, so this will often happen if the property is listed in December. It can also be the case if the condo has been on market for many months, and a change happened during the term of the listing.
4) Amount in Reserves - This is probably the most important number, and yet the most difficult to determine as to sufficient or insufficient. In my opinion, no one who has not seen the complex can adequately advise regarding this all important aspect of The Resale Certificate. Hiring someone to Review the Resale Certificate for you, who has not seen the complex ever, is pretty much a waste of time and money. If they have the full and complete Reserve Study (not just the summary page) maybe...but rarely does a Resale Certificate have the Reserve Study, or even the relevant portions of the Reserve Study, as they are not required in WA to be in the Resale Certificate. There is a recent law compelling a complex to DO a Reserve Study, but not yet one requiring the Summary Page be IN the Resale Certificate, to the best of my knowledge. Even if you have the Summary Page or even full Reserve Study at your disposal, but have not been to the complex, that is only 80% OK. Reason being, the Reserve Study may have missed or misrepresented the cost of a Major Component of the complex (and that is often the case).
Parts of the package I do not review as the agent for the buyer, unless there is a reason for me to do so, are listed below. I expect the buyer to very carefully examine the House Rules. I only look at House Rules if my client had a parameter that included something that may be prohibited by the House Rules, such as pet issues. If I have no such issue to look for, then the buyer is to review the House Rules on their own, as I have no basis for judgment of which House Rules they may have a personal issue with.
1) Condo Owner's Association Management Agreement
2) Condominium Declaration
3) By-laws
4) Full Master Insurance Policy
(I do look at what is called "The Dec Page" which is a brief declaration of basic coverage. In this one I see a $5,000 deductible, which is twice as good as I expected, so OK on that and I look at the Earthquake deductible of 10% which is 30% better than I expected, so OK. I expect a $10,000 deductible on general claims and a 15% or more deductible on Earthquake. So $5,000 and 10% is good.)
5) Big list of unit nos. and addresses
I do glance at the financial statements, and look more closely when I am not happy with the total amount held in reserves. All HOA dues break down into X dollars for Operating and X dollars for Replacement Reserves.
Operating tells me they have a surplus operating net income. So OK. I note that the largest single expense is landscaping and the second largest is insurance. All OK
This is a particularly well run community with what appear to be adequate reserves. Since there is no Reserve Study, I will make an appointment with the management company to review the Reserve Study in detail. I also have a few questions regarding a current replacement project, and the information in the Resale Certificate does not match what the agent for the seller said and what the Form 17 said. That is reasonable, as most owners know "a story" that is either true or not true, when it comes to what repairs are being done in the complex. The facts need to be checked and the only info you can rely on is the info that comes from the Management Company, not the unit owner. I am making copies of a few things that I need to double check on next week.
The unit owner needs to be accuarate as to what he owns singularly, and the Resale Certificate has to be accurate as to what the unit owner has an interest in with regard to common area and overal complex management, repair and maintenance.
I glance through the minutes for red flags, but expect the buyer to carefully read all of the minutes in the Resale Certificate and note any questions that they may have.
I now deliver the Resale Certificate to the buyer for his review. My review is complete except for a couple of questions I need to address with the management company regarding the Reserve Study and current repair project.
If this were a different buyer and or a different complex, I would likely have different steps, so I will try to do a workshop post each time I review a Resale Certificate, so people can see the various issues one might look for during their review.
Jul. 9, 2009 - "Bad" Neighborhoods - Where NOT to buy
Where to live; where not to live...that is the question. Finding homes on the internet is great...but let's talk about how the internet can "hurt" you.
One of the reasons some neighborhoods appreciate more than others, is largely due to the fact that free information seems to stop short of "don't live THERE". Consequently word of mouth draws a large portion of homebuyers to the same neighborhoods, and those neighborhoods appreciate more than others as a result.
You can google thousands of real estate agent blogs and thousands of articles written by the real estate sections of area newspapers. But rarely will you see a list of "live here - don't live there".
The reality is:
1) You have to listen very closely to what is NOT being said.
It is no surprise (or shouldn't be) that you can get more home or a better home for your money in an area that is deemed to be inferior for some reason or another. Could be crime, could be inferior schools, could be lots of things no one is talking about out loud. Consequently when you spend too much time sorting homes via the internet, you may be targeting the worst areas and neighborhoods, as they will have the "too good to be true" values.
If you are getting too much for your money...there has to be a reason...right? Finding that REAL reason is easier said than done.
A real estate agent will not sit you down and give you the facts of life about where NOT to live. Reality is they often can't, for a lot of reasons we won't go into here.A good agent WILL point you in the right direction, but they will do that without harping on the reasons WHY where they are NOT going, is the "wrong" direction. In fact. if you ask them why, they likely can't answer. If you press the subject, they will bring you "there" against their better judgment". Don't pay high commissions, and then push an agent to give you bad advice by forcing them to go off their best judgement and best advice path.
Put your list of homes together. Then without showing the agent your list, simply ask the agent to come up with a list of the 5 best houses on market. They can't do that online, as in our mls there is a rule against openly discussing other agent's listings, even if you are saying good things about those homes. It is considered "advertising another agent's listing" and makes the agent subject to a $5,000 fine for EACH of the homes they talk about on the internet.
5 homes = $25,000 fine. So DON'T expect agents to be listing the 5 best homes on market on a blog or website. All they can give you is their own listings, or their friend agent's listings (with written permission from friend agent). So publicly available info is really just an ad "best home on market".
We're not allowed to tell you the REAL "best home on market", unless you are our client, and even then, we can't do it publicly. So if you see those words on the internet, it is obviously an "ad" vs. a true unbiased observation.
2) You have to choose an agent that you trust to represent your best interests, and then trust them to "DO" vs. "SAY".
When the agent gives you the list of the 5 best homes as noted in point 1) above, look for the homes on your list that match the homes in their list. Those are likely the best of the best. If there are no matches, go out to see your top 5 and the agent's top 5. Then after seeing them all, ask the agent to list THEIR top 3 before you give the agent YOUR top 3.Let them DO what they do best, without directing them to move away from their best advice.Often if you do it this way, why they picked theirs vs the ones you picked, will be somewhat obvious...sometimes not.
Most often when we finish, the top 2 or 3 houses come from my list vs. theirs. If you hire an agent to ONLY show houses that YOU pick vs. ones THEY pick, you are leaving lots of value on the table, and paying full commission for a lesser result.
3) You have to study the stats, and notice areas that sell well vs. those that don't sell well, and pretty much rely on "the crowd's opinion".
Since the items 1) and 2) above involve how to operate well when using the expertise of a good agent, I'm throwing in this third advice for people who don't want to use an agent at all, or who want to use an online agent who "shows homes" at a reduced agent cost vs. helping pick the ones they "should see" at a higher agent cost.
Google "Absorption Rate" as there are many sites that will give you this statistic for various neighborhoods. You will see one area has a 2 month absorption rate and another has a one year absorption rate. Often this has to do with "price tier" vs. "neighborhood". But if you can get the absorption rate of all homes in the same price range in various neighborhoods, that would give you a better idea of which are the preferred neighborhoods and which sell much less easily OR have the most "issues".
Absorption Rate = the number of sellers trying to sell divided by the number of buyers buying "there". You may never be able to find the real WHY people are or aren't buying in various places, but simply knowing that is happening is of value, even if you never figure out exactly why.
Example:
42 people trying to sell "there" (Active Listings) in that price range; 3 people bought "there" in the last 6 months.
vs.
12 people trying to sell "there"; 24 sold in the last six months
"The wisdom of the crowd" is a time honored principle. Yes, it would be great if "the crowd" would come out, and online, explaining all the whys of their behavior. But they really never do, so stop wishing so much for that.
It is much more likely that those having MORE trouble selling, will be speaking the loudest in places where you can see them, than the ones that have less trouble selling. Think about that for a minute...and you may realize how very right I am on this.
The very, very best home on the internet...is more likely to be in the very, very worst location, making it appear to be the "Best Value", on a price per square foot basis.
Seattle and Eastside homes of this type are most often called Split Entry homes (not to be confused with split level homes). In a split "level" home, the bedrooms are not on the same floor as the kitchen, as they are in a bi-level or split entry home. It's basically a rambler or ranch home, with a basement that is partially and sometimes entirely above ground.
A newer one, which we don't see too often, would likely look like this:
My favorite that you can find in this area, but don't see too often has this window configuration in the living room:
The standard version that you see most often in the Seattle Area looks like this one that my clients recently bought for $300,000 in Bothell King County in the Northshore School District. It was a bank owned property that previously sold for $465,000. If it were not a bank owned property, it likely would have sold for about $360,000.
The top floor plan is pretty standard and usually all of the interior living space walls are easily modified, as the supports for the structure are rarely contained in those walls.
The floor plan above is the main floor plan and the house is pretty much a full rectangle, so that the basement square footage is often pretty close to identical to the main floor. They usually have 3 bedrooms up as shown. Many have a master bath, that is usually a shower bath, basically behind the hall bath and accessed from the master bedroom which would be larger than the size of the bedroom shown above.
There are usually two fireplaces, one on the outside living room wall and one on that same wall below, making a nice family room, often with sliding glass doors out to the yard. The kitchen often has a counter that makes the kitchen a U-shape, and separates the dining room from the kitchen. Some prefer to make it one big kitchen with no wall, and with kitchen flooring extending into the dining room.
This floor plan above shows the master bath option, but most often there is a shower stall there and not a tub as shown. The tub is only in the hall bath. This version also shows the kitchen with a counter between the dining room and kitchen, which is more often the way I see it.
You should never try to price this style of home using a price per square foot method. If you do, only use the main floor footprint, as the basement doesn't value out the same. Make sure you know the main floor footprint from the tax records before studying the "comps".
Pay particular attention to the main floor footprint as they generally vary from just over 1,000 square feet to about 1,300 square feet. Remember, that difference is often doubled, as the basement area is also larger. The home in the last photo that sold for $300,000 did have the extra master bath, and was 1,300 square feet on the main floor. One of the larger ones. Some have one bath with two doors, one from the hall and a separate door into the bath from the master bedroom. Most of the variations on the main floor have to do with the bathroom.
The one I note as my favorite with the big glass window is often much larger and pricier. I had clients who bought one in early 2008 (a short sale) in Tam O'Shanter near the Lake in Bellevue that was over 1,750 square feet on the main level.
A lot of people don't like them at first sight, but they clearly offer you the most house for the least price. Men tend to like them more than women because of the big garage and tons of basement space in addition to the family room. They almost always have a nice big yard, and there should be a deck behind the dining room and kitchen, with sliding glass doors and steps down to the yard. This way you can access the yard from the family room, or from the upper living space.
It's a great "starter" home in this market, because you are not likely to grow out of it, and can usually have a 4th bedroom on the lower level in addition to the family room and garage. If the lot is large enough, you can even amplify the living space by finishing the garage and building a separate detached garage or carport to the side.
A great home that often meets the needs of most any growing family. Also makes a lot of sense for people who work from home, as the basement area usually has room for an office, if that room is not used for a 4th bedroom. The lower level often has the laundry area at the bottom of the steps under the kitchen plumbing, and a 3/4 or full bath on the basement level behind the laundry area.
So the larger ones are easily 4 bedrooms, 2 3/4 baths, a living and family room both with fireplaces, plus a two car garage. A LOT of house for the money.
May. 10, 2009 - Mommy gets a house for Mother's Day!
We never have a closing on Mother's Day, since it is always on a Sunday. The next best thing is having your offer accepted on Mother's Day.
The Seller Mother would have preferred to wait for tomorrow. I was able to convince the other agent that my client, a relatively new Mommy with her first absolutely beautiful baby, would get a Mother's Day present if the offer was signed around today.
People always worry from the time they submit an offer until it is signed and the property is taken off the public sites as "Pending" vs. "Active". So whoopee! The seller signed and my new Mommy client is having a Happy Mother's Day with less stress.
Happy Mother's Day everyone! Do a little something for a mother, anyone's mother, every mother you meet today, to make their day a little brighter.
Apr. 15, 2009 - Do Homebuyers Make these 10 Mistakes?
There's an article floating around the web: "Top 10 mistakes of First Time Buyers" first seen on Smart Money. I generally don't like to regurgitate popular web articles, but would like to add my $.02 FWIW on this one.
1) The article suggests that the #1 mistake first time homebuyers make is not knowing how much home they can afford. I think that's old news, as lenders are more cautious these days about giving someone a mortgage they can't afford. My particular beef with the response to first time buyers in this article is that they should get the answer from a mortgage professional.
My advice would be to determine the monthly payment, including taxes and condo fees or home owner's insurance of the type of property you might buy. Let's say you are paying rent of $1,000 a month, and the monthly payment if your purchased would be $2,000. I would suggest that you "pretend" you are paying $2,000 a month by religiously, on the first of each month, pay your $1,000 rent and put an extra $1,000 into your savings account. If you can do this for up to a year without struggling, you have proven to yourself that you really can afford to pay the amount the "mortgage professional" told you that you could afford. Don't just take someone else's word for it. Try it before you buy it.
2) Making assumptions that foreclosures are great deals. My thoughts? Rarely, if ever, can a first time buyer purchase a true foreclosure property at the courthouse steps. I'm sure it's very rare. So they are likely really talking about bank-owned properties and short sales. More often than not those are better deals. I think more people make the mistake of thinking a huge price reduction is a great deal and getting burned that way, than who get burned overpaying for a foreclosure property.
3) Showing the seller or seller's agent how much you love the house. Actually, I see the opposite more often. Buyers "kicking tires" and trying to convince the seller he's got a crappy house, to get the price down. Often the seller will just say, "Hey! If you don't like my house, get out!" You want a balance of letting the sellers know that you do like their house, but market conditions scare you and so you are cautious about overpaying for it, even though in a different market it would have been worth more. Sellers appreciate people who like their house, and sometimes will sell it for less to a buyer who loves their house. Sellers appreciate a first time buyer's fear of losing their downpayment to declining home values. Sincere and honest responses are good. I would caution buyers looking at homes when the seller is not home, that often the seller is hanging out next door or across the street. Screaming how much you love it because you think no one is home, especially when you are outside of the house, is not recommended. But pretending you don't really like it, but are making an offer on it anyway? No one's buying that ploy.
4) Find a good buyer's agent. The article goes on to recommend finding an EBA (Exclusive Buyer's Agent). Maybe EBAs will make a comeback in this market, but generally they are too few and far between for that to be good advice. An agent with local experience is often better than an agent from another County who happens to be "an EBA". No matter how good your agent is, stay engaged in the whole process. I would say the bigger mistake buyer's make is delegating everything to the agent, period. You will be the one living there. You will be the one paying that mortgage payment. Stay engaged in the process.
5) Understanding the full costs of homeownership. I agree with this one. I especially recommend that people make sure the $8,000 First Time Homebuyer Credit in 2009 be used as a reserve against unexpected (or expected) repairs.
6) Failing to budget for property taxes. Nope - these are almost always paid by the lender for a first time buyer, and part of the monthly payment.
7) Assuming your first offer will be accepted. Nope - more often the first offer doesn't go through to closing due to inspection issues than failed negotiations.
8) Skipping the inspection. Nope - Even in the hot market, a buyer often does a pre-inspection prior to offer or an informational inspection in multiple offers. I don't think I'd let a buyer buy a house without any inspection prior to closing, unless they were going to tear it down and are buying at lot value.
9) Doing too much too fast. I give my buyer clients my Mom's advice "give it a year". By the time you are living there a year for 4 seasons, you know what you really need to add or change, including landscaping issues. You don't want to pull great flowers, thinking they are weeds, or plant over bulb you don't know are there. Give it a year and only do what you have to during that time.
10) Failing to have a mortgage contingency clause. Nope. I think they were stretching to get to 10 things in these last few. They should have quit at 5 :) I have never seen this happen. Making the contingency too short is more the mistake, vs. not having one at all. Haven't seen one in 20 years where the buyer forgot to have a mortgage contingency.
Rushed through the end there as I have an appointment. If you have any questions or disagree, I'll follow up in the comments as needed.
Find an agent you trust. It seriously is that simple for a first time homebuyer. Undue Stress for a First Time Homebuyer boils down to two things. Fear of the Unknown and Fear of Commitment.
Finding the right professionals for you, and then trusting in them to make things as smooth and easy as possible sounds easier than it is. But once you do that, IF you can do that, you choose the Easy Way vs. the Hard Way. The big difference between War Stories and Success Stories is very often the agent.
I know that sounds self-serving, and anyone who reads me on a regular basis knows how hard it is for me to boil it down to that simple fact. But sorry, It's true. It just is.
Let's assume the purchase price is $315,000 and the loan amount is $283,500. Some costs are based on the loan amount, so we need to make some assumptions. Since the costs vary only slightly if the sale price changes, this should be a fair idea of what the costs will be. I will total all of this up at the end after I break it down from the simplest to understand to the hardest to understand. (Note: I round up so that at the end there is a little buffer for variances.)
Total cash needs at time of closing $7,600.00 less any seller credits built into the offer. Add the $900 you already paid for the Home Inspector and Appraisal, and you have $8,500 plus your downpayment of $31,500 and that equals a grand total of $40,000 less the $10,000 you put up front as an Earnest Money Deposit. Before closing $10,900 will be paid and the day of closing you bring your Driver's Licenses and a Cashiers Check Payable to Escrow in the amount of $31,100. Costs $8,500 downpayment $31,500.
Here's a breakdown.
Escrow fees are split 50/50 between the buyer and the seller. These fees are based on Legacy Escrow, and can vary from one escrow company to another. The buyer's half is $539.06 including tax and an additional $108.90 for the second mortgage. The seller pays for owners Title Insurance and the buyer pays for Lender's Title Insurance, which should be about $465.00 plus $40 to record the second mortgage.
Add about $100 for recording fees to record the new deed with the County and $50 or so for misc Delivery fees.
Actually that $1,350 total are the only real COSTS except for your lender fees, which are the largest cost item. You can lower the 1% origination fee, but that usually increases your interest rate. There are loan processing fees, underwriter fees, flood cert, tax service and lots of miscellaneous fees associated with the type of loan you will need. The lender fees alone will be about $4,000, so added to the other closing costs, let's call it $5,500.00.
At $5,500 we are still less than the $6,000 I estimated could be built into the offer, as a seller credit.
But we also have fire insurance, say $600 for a one year policy paid up front. Plus $150 for three months toward next year's insurance policy to be put into the lender escrow account. That's $750 for insurance. Then we have real estate taxes of $270 or so a month. If you closed at the end of November, you would have to pay $270 to the seller who already paid December of 2006. Then you would have to pay 3 months or so to the lender, so he can pay six months worth of taxes come April. So $270 + $270 x 4 = $1,355.00.
So if you build in $6,000 toward closing costs, less $5,500 for costs, equals $500 left. Then $750 for insurance costs equals $250 you would need at closing pus the $1,355.00 equals $1,605.00. Let's call that $1,600 as I rounded the taxes up on the monthly.
$1,350 in costs + $4,000 lender fees + $600 ins + $1500 in Prepaids (prepaid taxes and insurance)
My commission that we discussed up front is not included, as that is paid from the Seller's Net Proceeds.
Let's total that again. $1,350 costs + $4,000 lender fees + 750 ins + $1350 RE taxes + 400 for home inspector + $400 for appraisal equals $8,250 that I rounded up to $8500.00 plus 10% of the Purchase Price for a downpayment. You may be able to build in $8,000 as a seller credit. We won't know that until you find a house and make an offer.
Until we identify the house in question, I cannot firmly determine who will be paying the closing costs. But in the $300,000 give or take price range, many, if not most comparable sales, would have had $6,000 or so in closing costs paid by the seller built into the price. Consequenty, for valuation and negotiating purposes, it will likely be best for Adrianna to request $6,000 in closing costs from the seller in her eventual offer.
Before we get to "cash TO close", let's talk about cash BEFORE close needs. At time of offer, an Earnest Money deposit of $1,000 or $5,000 or $10,000 will be in order. The more you like the house, the more certain you are that "This is the ONE!", the higher the Earnest Money deposit. Since the downpayment is expected to be $30,000 to $33,000, an Earnest Money deposit is simply and advance against the downpayment.
On the one hand, if there are any doubts about the house you should maybe try to get away with $1,000. On the other hand, $1,000 sends a clear message that you may have doubts about the house. It's a catch 22.
Besides the Earnest Money Deposit at time of offer, there are two other out of pocket expenses before you close on the house. One is the Home Inspection fee which is about $400 and the other is the Appraisal Fee which is also about $400. Possibly $900 for both. These monies are gone, once spent, whether you buy the house or not.
Next we will examine how much of the total cash to close is expected to be met by the $6,000 requested of the seller in the offer. Let's see if Adrianna has any questions regarding this part before we move on to the costs at tome of close.
Jul. 16, 2006 - How is a Real Estate Transaction Like a Pregnant Woman?
The real estate transaction, like a pregnancy, breaks down into Trimesters. Also, as in a pregnancy, the first trimester is the most disruptive to the buyer's daily schedule, the second trimester becomes more relaxed and the last trimester involves a final, and sometimes (but not always) intense event, the net result of the intense event being life changing!
Just as the body goes through many changes in the first trimester of a pregnancy, that can leave a woman feeling absolutely nauseous most of the time, the first trimester of a real estate transaction can leave a buyer's head spinning. In succession, and sometimes simultaneously, many things transpire at the beginning and need to be completed about 1/3 of the way through the time frame.
The offer is made, negotiated and accepted.
The buyer applies for their mortgage, supplying all documents needed to process the loan.
The home inspector is selected, appointment made and results negotiated.
The appraiser goes out to check that the sale price represents a good value for the lender.
All parties receive, complete and return escrow instruction paperwork for the closing agent.
In a 30 day escrow, almost everything the buyer needs to do is completed in the first ten days, sometimes all at once. It can leave a buyer with their head spinning, dizzy and sometimes nauseous in that first ten days, the same as a pregnant woman in her first trimester.
Also like in a pregnancy, the second trimester should be the easiest. It's as if everything has settled in and a full 1/3 of the total time is a respite between the first trimester and the last trimester.
The third trimester starts off with a bit of worry that leaves you feeling tired and ready for all this to be OVER! Is everything done? Did I do everything I need to do so that the final event is successful? Am I packed? Am I ready for all this?
Just as a woman heads off to the hospital for the final event, at the end of the third trimester, a buyer heads off to the closing agent's office to complete the final paperwork that results in their owning a new home. Some people are in and out with no major pain, while others seem to agonize and sweat and take forever to get all of those documents signed properly.
The end result of both is a joyous event. A new baby! A new home! Three trimesters, the first the most world shaking and the second the easiest and the third the most eventful!
The good news is, unlike a pregnancy, where each trimester lasts 3 months, most trimesters of a real estate transaction last only 10 days. 3 x 10 = 30 day escrow.
ARDELL
DellaLoggia
On Seattle Real Estate including Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond, Green Lake and most areas around Lake Washington North of Downtown Seattle.
Phone: 206-910-1000 - Mailto:Ardell@RainCityGuide.com
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