What is
Real-Real Estate. It is simply my thoughts and opinions of our local Real Estate market, the greater eastside of Seattle,Washington. This includes but is not limited to Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Issaquah, Sammamish and Bothell. My goal is to cut through the hype and misinformation we are fed on a daily basis by the media, the banks, the real estate agents and the public. It's Real, it will at times be controversial and I hope this sparks some great debate.
My name is Matt Stapleton. I have been a residential Real Estate Broker for 22 years. I grew up in Bellevue and have lived in Redmond, Issaquah, Kirkland and Newcastle. I know the lay of the land, I know the Real Estate business, I know the local economy and I consider myself a well read expert on many topics in addition to Real Estate.
Here we go: The market has not hit bottom yet. I believed we were getting near the bottom back in January but the local market has declined 3% to 10% since then. The percentages depend on your location. I don't think we will see a bottom until the end of 2011. If you are going to sell you must and I mean
must be real with your price. It is pretty simple, homes priced to sell-
SELL in a reasonable time, overpriced homes sit for months and usually sell for less than market value. Do not put your home on the market unless you are willing to price it at today's market value and be willing to drop the price if needed, otherwise you are wasting your time.
Note: If a Real Estate agent prices your home above market value-
Fire them. If you insist on pricing your home above market value, the Real Estate agent is a fool for taking the listing.
This is called the Total Denial listing.
Banks are a Joke. When the banks get serious about lending money to credit worthy people with reasonable terms then we will see a normal market for both buyers and sellers. The banks got us into this mess through sheer greed, truly the biggest Ponzi scheme in American history. What the leadership at banks did make
Bernie Madhoff look like an amateur. The likes of
Kerry Killinger (WAMU),
Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide and scores of politicians should all be in jail for this crime. They created this mess, made billions, ruined the economy, yet they get bailed out by a corrupt Washington D.C.-Shocking but not surprising.
Now the pendulum has swung so far the other way it is truly embarrassing. Good people with good jobs and good credit are getting denied for loans at an alarming rate. In the Nov.19th issue of the Puget Sound Business Journal (
www.pugetsoundbusinessjournal.com) a front page story called"
Jilted at the Step" is a perfect example of the insanity of what banks are doing to qualified borrowers. I could go on and on with stories. The point is, even with record low interest rates the process is so daunting to borrowers that they decide to opt out of the market, which continues to put downward pressure on home prices and sales. As I previously stated, when the banks get real about realistic lending practices, we will not see any price stabilization or increase in home sales.
Until the Fed steps in and forces the banks to get real we are in trouble.
