Posts Tagged ‘Real Estate’

How’s the Market? Ask a Realtor®!

Everything!, Long Beach Peninsula, Real Estate, water front, water view | Posted by Cheri Diehl

And Discovery Coast Real Estate proudly wears the Realtor®  ”R”!   

Here’s a little update on how things are going in our area of the real estate world.  This Cross_Client_Summary1121 shows MLS listed sales from October 15 through November 5, 2010.  It’s a fairly brief report so if you’d like more information on any of the properties that sold recently, just let me know.

There were 23 single family sales with a median price of $113,500.  Vacant land still lagged behind with only 4 sales in this time period.

The recent report from Northwest Multiple Listing Service, of which we were member/owners, stated in part:

  • “Housing activity around Washington state remained lackluster during October, with brokers reporting year-over-year declines in pending sales. On a brighter note, prices on sales that closed last month showed signs of stabilizing, with eight counties showing price gains compared to 12 months ago.”
  • “ Inventory remained plentiful, despite the addition of fewer new listings during October than during the same month a year-ago.”
  • “’Buyers and sellers need to live in the now and not try to second-guess the market or when it will actually bottom out,’” Wilson suggested, adding the messages to sellers and buyers are unchanged. ‘Sellers need to be realistic’, Wilson emphasized, noting on average 27 percent of listings sell within the first 30 days and 46 percent of listings either take more than six months or don’t sell at all. ‘This is why it is critical to price your home correctly right out of the gate when it is being seen by the most buyers,’ he explained.”
  • “‘The advice to buyers has not changed either, according to Wilson. With interest rates low and inventory fairly abundant, prospective owners should be prepared to make an offer if they see an appealing house that has just been listed.’ “
  • “In a statement accompanying a report last week on existing home sales across the U.S., Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS®, said the housing market is in the early stages of recovery. ‘A housing recovery is taking place, but will be choppy at times depending on the duration and impact of a foreclosure moratorium. But the overall direction should be a gradual rising trend in home sales with buyers responding to historically low mortgage interest rates and very favorable affordability conditions,’ he said.”


For more opinions on the market, I invite you to read this article “Most Say it’s a Good Time to Buy“.

If you enjoy reading these posts, won’t you please tell a friend?  And we’d love to have you “like” us on Facebook and “follow” us on Twitter!  Let’s get the word out that real estate at the beach is affordable and living at the beach is beyond description!

“Even if something is left undone…

Everything!, Long Beach Peninsula, Real Estate | Posted by Cheri Diehl

everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn.”  Elizabeth Lawrence

I love these days of fall when the sun shines one day and the storms hit the next!  You just never know what you’ll find when you wake up.

Wouldn’t it be fun to have your own new home in time for Christmas?  If you’re a first time home buyer (or maybe just need a reminder) here are some tips: http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20101027_buyers.htm

Discovery Coast Real Estate can take some of the stress out of buying a home, vacation home, property or making an investment in your future with real estate.  Call us today and you might be trimming the tree in your own home!

Thinking of razor clams?  Click the pic to get the dates! 

And when you’re done, be sure and visit one (or more) of the many fine dining establishments celebrating the Wild Mushroom season!

Last on my list for today, here’s a revised RESTAURANT HOLIDAY SCHEDULE ’10-’11 Rev.

if you haven’t already!


Wild Weather!

Everything!, Long Beach Peninsula, Real Estate, Weaving & Spinning | Posted by Cheri Diehl

Don’t you just love Fall?  The wind, the rain…  oh – wasn’t that summer?  Anyway, storm watching time is upon us and wouldn’t it be great to be watching it from your own beach home?  Discovery Coast Real Estate is ready to help.  This is a good time to be looking at property and getting a feel for the “beach life”.  There are some very affordable options right now.  Please visit our website, scroll down to the search page and start your own search.  Or, email us and we’ll do the work for you!

In one of my recent blog posts, I linked to the holiday schedule of our local restaurants.  If you’re doing the cooking and need groceries or a quick drink to get you through the cooking, here’s the Grocery_Libation_Coffee Holiday Schedule ’10-’11schedule!  Thanks to our good friends at Funbeach!  Speaking of Funbeach, you can now “click your pick” of calendars on their site so you don’t miss a single exciting activity.

Speaking of activities, the Spinners’ arm of the Clatsop Weavers & Spinners Guild meets most Thursday evenings at the Shelburne Inn in Seaview from 5pm until about 6:30.  Stop by and see what interesting fibers are being turned into yarn!  Visit our Facebook page and “like” it!

And finally, remember your manners this holiday season (and all the time).  Here’s a helpful reminder of Party Etiquette!

Then and Now…

Everything!, Long Beach Peninsula, New Listings, Porsche and Beemer, Real Estate, water front | Posted by Cheri Diehl

Hard to believe it’s more than a year since we welcomed Porsche the Boxer into our lives. How she has grown! And Discovery Coast Real Estate has grown too. Please pass along the link to our great website to your friends and family. We can help with any type of property: Vacant land for RV use, building or investments; Vacation home, retirement home, first home; Commercial buildings and businesses, income property, business opportunities. Our brokers are “Looking out for you” and we’re here to help with all your real estate  needs.

Don’t forget that you can follow us on Twitter and Facebook!  You can also check on the newest listings at the beach, search by community, price, type of property… 

Let the experts at Discovery Coast Real Estate make your next transaction the best you’ve every had!

Porsche in July, 2009
Porsche in August, 2010

July Sales Report

Everything!, Long Beach Peninsula, Real Estate | Posted by Cheri Diehl

Pacific County saw a bit of an increase in sales in July, which is really encouraging.  With a bit of sunshine, I think more buyers will be getting in the mood to buy!

There was one commercial sale, the Ilwaco Market, which changed hands on 7/15/10.  In the Farm and Ranch category, Cranmoor Farm sold on 7/14/10.  Single family homes, which in clude manufactured homes not in parks and condos totaled 12 with an average price of $132,633 and average 246 cummulative days on the market.  Vacant land sales ranged from $$7,500 to $90,000 in 8 separate sales.  Please note that these are strictly NWMLS listed sales.  For more detail on the sales you can view the Cross_Client_Detail3870

How’s the rest of the state doing?  Here are some excerpts from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service News Release:

Brokers reported 5,571 pending sales across the 21 counties in the Northwest MLS service area. That’s up slightly from June when they reported 5,547 pending sales, but down about 23 percent from twelve months ago when there were 7,279 pending sales.

NAR, in its prepared statement, also addressed the employment picture. “There could be couple of additional months of slow home-sales activity before picking up later this year, providing the economy continues to add jobs. We’ve turned the corner on home prices and they should remain fairly stable over the balance of the year, but we really need to see stronger job creation to have a meaningful recovery in the housing markets,” according NAR.

MLS director Matt Deasy, managing broker of Windermere Real Estate/East, suggested some would-be buyers may not fully understand the advantages of today’s low interest rates. Citing examples from Windermere’s affiliated mortgage company, Deasy said a buyer saves $374 a month on a $300,000 loan compared to three years ago. The principal and interest on a $300,000 mortgage at today’s rate of 4.375 percent would be $1,498. Three years ago, when the rate averaged 6.375 percent, the P&I payment would have been $1,872.

On a $400,000 loan, the savings would be almost $500 per month ($2,495 less $1,997 = $498). For the past 30 years, the average rate is approximately 9 percent, which puts the payment on a $300,000 loan at $2,414 – a difference of $916 per month. “Buyers are motivated when they see these comparisons,” Deasy remarked. He also believes there’s a pent-up demand based on the number of pre-approvals for loans in the mortgage company’s pipeline. He expects many of these potential buyers “will pull the trigger” once rates or prices start edging up.


June Real Estate Report

Everything!, Long Beach Peninsula, Real Estate | Posted by Cheri Diehl

June saw a bit of an upswing as far as sales went but we’re still not where I’d like to be.  If you’d like to see what sold in June, you can click here for the June Sales Report.

While Pacific County isn’t exactly the market the Northwest Multiple Listing Service gets the bulk of its figures from, it does show the general trend in Washington state: 

 KIRKLAND, Wash. (July 6, 2010) – Not even the lowest interest rates in decades could entice wary house-hunters last month. Home sales around Western and Central Washington remained sluggish with pending sales lagging year-ago levels, but not all the numbers were down.

June’s pending sales (mutually accepted offers) outgained the total for May by 5.8 percent. Closed sales were up from both a year ago and the previous month. Brokers also applauded congressional approval of legislation to extend the tax credit deadline on contracts signed by the April 30 deadline. That measure, which President Obama signed on July 2, pushes the deadline to Sept. 30.

“In general consumers seem to be stuck in uncertainty surrounding the world’s economic concerns, our lack of jobs and the rollercoaster of the stock market. They seem to be hunkering down despite the lowest interest rates in years,” said NWMLS director Frank Wilson, managing broker at John L. Scott, Inc. Poulsbo.

 The MLS summary statistics for June show:

Pending sales of single family homes and condominiums (combined) fell 28 percent from a year ago, but rose 5.8 percent from May.

Year-to-date (through June), pending sales are up 12.4 percent compared to midyear 2009.

Closed sales for June outgained the same month a year ago by 617 transactions (up 12 percent), and rose 8.9 percent from May’s total.

The median price for last month’s completed transactions is down about 7 percent from twelve months ago.

Four counties (Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Lewis and Pacific) reported price increases from a year ago, while eight other counties had declines of less than 5 percent.

House-hunters have plenty of choices. Brokers added 10,354 new listings to inventory last month, bringing the selection to 42,940 residences being offered for sale system-wide. That’s up about 4 percent from a year ago. Included in the current listings are 36,027 single family homes priced from $8,500 to $25 million, and 6,913 condominiums priced from $20,000 to $15.6 million.

 As far as what happened in South Pacific County, there were 18 single family home sales ranging in price from $95,000 to $805,000.  Average days on the market were 332 with four of the homes being on the market in excess of 2 years.   One of the homes was in Sunset Sands, 4 in Surfside.   The $805,000 sale was in Butterfly Shores. 

Vacant land fared a little better than last month with 7 sales ranging from just $6,000 (1-1/2 acres probably not buildable) to 3.65 acres of view property in Ilwaco at $278,000.  The sales prices averaged 82.65% of the list prices.

(note that these figures are only based on MLS listed sales – there may be additional sales between private parties that are not part of the computations)

On the market right now there are:

Condos:  25 ranging in price from $28,500 to $210,000

Single Family Homes (including manufactured):  384 with prices from $12,900 (singlewide in a park) to $1,485,000 for a 5000 sf home on Willapa Bay.

Vacant Land: 341 starting at $12,900 (Surfside, no utilities installed) to $2,100,000 for 24 acres with part of it bordering Loomis Lake on the east and the other to the western upland boundary on the west.

 So, is it a good time to be a buyer?  You bet!  Contact any one of our brokers for more information.  Charlie Diehl, Kaapi Corsi, Butch Calvert, Warren Ani, Cheri Grocott.


Karen Kissler’s Kritter Treats Co.

Cats In Our Lives, Everything!, Long Beach Peninsula, Porsche and Beemer | Posted by Cheri Diehl

Karen is severely handicapped but loves dogs.  She, her care-givers and her wonderful job coach, Judy Jones of the Pacific County Health Department, make dog biscuits from oatmeal, dry milk, water, oil, chicken/beef/vegetable bullion.  They are packaged for sale with pull dates.  The recommended donation for a package is $1.00 and all the proceeds are donated to our local, community supported, no-kill animal shelter.

Today, March 26, Judy took the money they had collected and purchased dog food which was delivered to the shelter.  Judy also donates  the money for ingredients.

Look for these great dog treats in various businesses on the Long Beach Peninsula, including Discovery Coast Real Estate where you can find a home for you and your best friend(s)!  Don’t have a best friend?  There are several loving dogs and cats waiting for their forever homes at the South Pacific County Humane Society. Remember, the adoption fee for all the cats in the “Jungle Room” has been paid for by Discovery Coast Real Estate.

Have you got the date right yet?

Everything!, Long Beach Peninsula, Real Estate | Posted by Cheri Diehl

A whole month of 2010 is gone – are you still writing 2009?  I’ve finally made the switch but it wasn’t easy.

There’s a lot of real estate going on right now and by that I mean going on the market.  New listings practically every day.  You can find all of Discovery Coast Real Estate’s exclusive listings at Our Listings.  Remember, you can also search for all listings through our “Real Estate Links” on the home page.

Another great feature is the interactive map.  It’s located on our home page – be sure to scroll down and see it!  We’re planning some changes to the site to make it easier to find.  Suggestions?

Just a reminder that Valentine’s Day is fast approaching!  Don’t let your sweetheart down.  There are so many fun things to do here at the beach.  Check out Funbeach for all the details.

I ran across an interesting article regarding color.  Written for Realtors, it has interesting advice on paint colors and how they might relate to getting your house sold.  Read about Color Psychology.

Well, that about wraps it up for now.  Remember, Discovery Coast Real Estate can assist you with all phases of real estate.   We know the beach!  Whether you’re interested in buying or selling; whether on the ocean or in town; investment or vacation home, condos or vacant land, we’re looking out for you!  Come see us soon.

Sunshine at the Beach!

Everything!, Long Beach Peninsula, Real Estate | Posted by Cheri Diehl

What a glorious, if cold, week it’s been!  The sky has been so blue and the sun so bright it was amazing.

The hummingbirds were busy at our house this icy week, too.  I lost count at 13 and that was just the back yard!

IMG_1478 IMG_1479 IMG_1481

Here is an update 2009 chart showing the National Average Mortgage Rates for the previous 46 years, Courtesy of  The Kilkenny-Valenta Lending Group at Pinnacle Mortgage Planning. Coupled with the great prices at the beach and the extended home-buyer credit (remember, it’s not just for FIRST TIME BUYERS!) you might want to think about that beach property!

mortgage rates

Here’s a quick snapshot at Mortgage Rates Today:


30 Year Fixed Conventional:                        4.75%

15 Year Fixed Conventional:                        4.25%

5 Year ARM Conventional:                           3.875% (yes, still that low!)

5 Year Interest Only Conventional:           4.00% ($300,000 loan; payment is $1,000 for 5 years.  Not for everyone, but maybe for the right situation)

30 Year Fixed FHA:                                           4.875%

30 Year Fixed VA:                                             5.250%

USDA (Rural, $0 Down) 30 Year Fixed:     5.25%

Jumbo (>$417,000) 30 Year Fixed:             5.75%

Jumbo (>$417,000) 5 Year ARM:                4.00% (amazing rates on Jumbo ARM’s)


IMG_1502 Here’s a shot of some geese sitting on a strip of ice at Black Lake in Ilwaco this morning.  Funny how there were just a few frozen spots!

That’s all the news for today.  Things get crazy this time of year so take some time for yourself.  Come to the beach, look at property with us, have a nice meal, enjoy the coast.  Remember, at Discovery Coast Real Estate, we’re looking out for you!

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A Real Estate Question for you…

Everything!, Long Beach Peninsula, Real Estate | Posted by Cheri Diehl

Assume you’re a potential buyer (many of you are, I hope!).  You don’t live here yet, but want to.  Where do you start looking?  Do you search on Google or Yahoo?  What keywords do you use?  Have you found some sites that are really helpful?  Will you share them?

If you’ve already purchased a property here, how did you find it?  How did you find the agent who helped you?

My goal for Discovery Coast Real Estate is to get the most information out to everyone in the most economical and logical manner.

I sincerely thank those of you who take the time to answer these questions!

Cheri

©2012 NWMLS. All rights reserved. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. The listings presented here may or may not be listed by the Broker/Agent operating this website. Listings that are provided courtesy of NWMLS are marked with the NWMLS "three tree" icon. Information last updated on 5/18/12 8:00 AM PDT.

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