Chris Doucet | Monthly Market Report April 2019

The numbers are in and February's record snowfall didn't slow down March at all! Both pending sales and new listing activity around Western Washington surged during March as buyers, sellers, and brokers defrosted. The current market is healthy for both buyers and sellers so reach out today to chat about what opportunity lies in store!

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Tale of a City (Columbia City that is)

Written by Chris Doucet

Given that I have been a Seattle resident since 1969 and practicing real estate for 3 decades, I like to think that I am ahead of the curve on predicting up and coming neighborhoods. And I am--except to my husband. 

Opportunity comes from areas in transition and I help my clients take advantage of it. Sometimes, I do it for me too.

Almost exactly four years ago, I saw an opportunity in Columbia City. It was a rundown mid century duplex across from Genessee Park. Those of you who know me understand that I love mid century dwellings for their simplicity and lack of pretension. I don’t seem to be alone as Millennials have discovered them too.

It was in bad shape. Long term renters had occupied the property—or shall I say long term hoarders. It needed almost everything replaced ,but the two units, a top and ground floor were over 1000 square feet each, captured tons of light and had parking. Best of all was the price-under $400,000. Perfect, I thought. I will use my design and real estate abilities and transform it.

What I didn’t plan on was the skepticism of my husband. We had renovated multiple other homes and our combined skills (he is in a contracting related field and VERY handy) are a good match. CC Duplex (as we would call it) would make a wonderful investment located between 2  Light Rail stations and a long block across the park to the burgeoning shops and restaurants of lively Columbia City.  It was an area with great upside potential. But he did not like the neighborhood and it was a struggle to convince him to proceed.

I will spare you the saga of our construction hiccups (or, Hubby calls disasters) but 6 months later, and a total rehab, we welcomed our new renters. The place was darling and we ended up doing much of the work ourselves which did give us a lot of satisfaction. 

What I didn’t expect is that the opinion of my Hubby did not change once the project was complete. He still did not see the value in Columbia City despite new townhomes being constructed around us and the neighborhood amenities improving. Fast forward to a few weeks ago when Seattle Magazine comes out with a cover story on the 21 hottest neighborhoods in the greater Seattle area. What is on the first double page feature? Columbia City and the Light Rail that has transformed the south of I-90 area. 

Do I feel victorious? It would be nice to gloat but I have lots of convincing still to do at home. Despite that, I am on the hunt for the next investment area and I have my husband to thank for humoring, and trusting, me. Onward.

SPRING SUPPLY AND DEMAND IN SEATTLE AREAS

By Chris Doucet 

I start every morning (early, about 4:30 am) by jumping on the Multiple Listing Service and checking on new inventory for all of the many market areas where I work. This area encompasses north to Mukilteo, south to Normandy Park and Seattle east to Sammamish. A broad area, I know, but one where my clients take me. It has been a point of discussion in many of my agent groups that the pickings are slim and the spring listing rush has not yet begun. It is widely known that, historically, spring is the best time to list and sell a home. Flowers are popping up, lawns are green and we are favored with a few more hours of daylight. Every year there are more people who get an early start and list in February. So far, that hasn’t happened and we are now into the 3rd week. Granted, we have been digging ourselves out of a historically long snowfall but this is unusual. 

Yesterday, in 9 market areas there were 3 new listings in a 24 hour period. 

Why should this be so when the interest rates have decreased and the buyers are out of the holiday hiatus? Prices have stabilized to a more balanced market so perhaps greedy sellers are not as predominant, but this is crazy. 

It is the old adage of Supply and Demand. We have buyers but not sellers. The few properties that I have listed over the last few weeks are getting tons of interest and multiple offers. Multiple offers are not a thing of the past, they are happening RIGHT NOW. 

If you are a seller, get that home listed NOW before everyone else does who is dragging their feet and waiting for spring to arrive. Take advantage of the demand without the competition that will invariably appear in mid March and April. 

The early bird gets the best buyers

Sewer Issues: Regardless of the condition of the home, I always recommend a sewer scope to a home purchaser.

Sewer Issues 

When I became a real estate agent, I never expected to spend hours watching sewer scope videos on YouTube. Unfortunately, it has become routine. 

Recently I have represented both buyers and sellers on homes build between 1900 and 1940. All of these were in Seattle, where clay and concrete sewer pipe was common. Years of earth movement and root intrusion and the aging of these pipes can created blockages and offsets that can cause backups into home basements, lower levels, or allow raw sewage to flow directly into the earth. 

“Regardless of the condition of the home, I always recommend a sewer scope to a home purchaser. “

A surprise to most owners, they are responsible for the line to the city main that is usually in the middle of the street. Sometimes this can be a long line. Many times, sellers are unaware that they have an issue until a scope discovers one. 

The scope is inserted into the clean out at the home (you should know where this is) or a lower level toilet can be pulled to feed the camera through. Root intrusion can be jetted out but pipe cracks and displacement can be an expensive fix with either replacement or re-lining. 

Sewer companies recommend a product called Root X which helps with keeping the lines clear. 

If you have large trees or abundant vegetation of the property, a small displacement can cause big problems. 

Here is a link provided by the City of Seattle. 

http://www.seattle.gov/util/MyServices/DrainageSewer/YourPropertysSideSewer/index.htm

Please let me know if I can be of any assistance in recommending companies who do sewer scopes or repairs.

A Tree House tale of before and after

Rarely do we as real estate agents get to par take in a before/after property. As a former designer, I loved the challenge. This wonderful property in Bonney Lake is affectionally called “The Tree House”.

Great structure, just in need of being updated and refreshed.

There once was a northwest contemporary nestled on an acre lot across from a lake. No one was living there at the time and it was sad and ready for a new owner to make it their own. Custom built in 1985 and lived in by one family since, it had great bones, wonderful privacy and serenity and a huge garage. 

We gave it love in the form of new paint, inside and out, some new windows, lighting, landscaping, new flooring and an inviting staging and listed it for sale.  Within hours, buyers were clamoring for the tree house. Agents were lining up to show it.  It seemed as though everyone wanted this piece of paradise. One lucky family got it after looking for the right place for two years. 

House is happy, sellers are happy and buyers are happy.

And that is the happy ending...

3 BR | 2 BA | 1,696 Sq Ft | 45,302 Sq Ft Lot
Sold for $27,600 over list price
Bonney Lake / Buckley

Have a home that needs a bit of love and you don’t know where to start? I would love to come see it and explain through my eyes to you on what we can do to your home to get it ready to sell.

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