Spokane Real Estate Rocks!

Spokane real estate appears to be on the rebound. According to a report by CNN Money Spokane is slated for a 2.8% increase in value this year! It may not seem like much but considering that some areas, including Hanford California, Miami Florida, and Ft. Lauderdale Florida are expecting to see drops of over 20% this year I'll take the almost 3% gain!

What rocks even more is that not only do they report a gain but they place us, Spokane, as 14th in the nation for estimated appreciation in the market this year!

If you want to rock your financial world this year you better hurry and jump on board! If you have been putting off buying a home OR upgrading this is your chance to get in at absolutely the lowest price and watch your equity grow!

Plus don't forget, there is still time (not much time thought) to take advantage of the Move-Up tax credit, the First-Time-Buyer tax credit, and super duper low interest rates.

The Mystery of the FSBO Illusion Revealed

As an agent it seems as though I hear about a couple or individual that is planning to sell their home FSBO almost every day. Generally the reasoning is that, "Hey, it's not rocket science and I'd sure love to save myself the fee." which does make some amount of sense on the surface. But are you really saving any money?

In the same way that a FSBO owner is trying to save money, so too is the buyer. Any savvy buyer knows that a FSBO is not paying a fee to a broker, so why would they pay a price that is comparable to that of a home that has broker representation (which is what the FSBO used to arrive at their price)? You're right, they wouldn't.

So for example if a FSBO is priced at $200,000 and is priced comparatively to other homes listed with brokers with a 6% real estate fee built in, the FSBO Illusion would tell you that you'd save $12,000 in fees. But again the buyer knows this and they want a piece of the action right? I sure would! So if there is no representation on either side therein lies the FSBO Illusion; there are no savings!

Ultimately the savvy buyer and the FSBO seller negotiate a price of $188,000 since the price is not inflated to cover the cost of professional help.

The FSBO simply sells their home for less and in the process does a whole lot of work marketing, opening the door to strangers, potentially opening themselves up to significant legal issues, and countless hours of paperwork to save $0.00 dollars. Oh yeah, did I mention that statistics show that on average a Realtor nets the seller 16% more for their home? Pretty simple math, huh?

The FSBO Illusion... Don't be fooled.

Watch Out for the Pirates!

Free stuff is great but as most of us have learned at one time or another usually if something is "free" there are some strings attached. According to a report by the Seattle Times

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2011300727_pfcreditreport14.html

the same is true of the free credit report commercials we have all seen. They say that, "Free isn't free with this guy [the pirate] unless you buy something..."

However, for those of you who have been confused by these somewhat misleading commercials and advertisements good news is on the horizon. Soon all of these ads will be forced to have proper disclosure on the details of getting your "free" report. Things like, "you must buy this service before you'll receive your free report" etc.

But be aware that that is not coming up until September 1st according to the report so in the mean-time be cautious of the pirates (and others) that may try to steal your booty!