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It’s Friday, let’s take a quick sweep of this week – articulating bite-sized pieces over Pandora radio (commercial free version), my favorite iced beverage, video shoots happening at the office, high heels on for today yet will be in flip-flops as soon as the Windermere Cup and Mother’s Day weekend begin – let’s do this, together.
At a glance – #’s we should know + Foreign money and proper disclosure + a café for notecards + The WRE Cup experience…
#’s we should know | “Housing Inventory Improves, But Market Still Favors Sellers” – headline from the NWMLS April statistical report, released hot off the press yesterday. Note: we all receive this stats report monthly – a day prior to released to the media. Today will most likely see these talking points pushed out to the public – let’s get ahead of it and continue to educate our marketplace. Talking points…
- “Successful buyers are working closely with their brokers to study the market, choose great lenders, and make smart choices in composing compelling but not careless offers.” ***I agree, although certainly seeing risky behavior for both Buyers + Sellers.
- “Low inventory and low interest rates are still putting upward pressure on prices, but hopefully last month’s bump in new listings is the start of a longer trend, and will lead us towards a more balanced market.” ***Keep in mind this is a “bump” – folks, not a surge.
- “Waiving financing is of particular risk when combined with bidding wars as we’ve seen an increase in low appraisals.” ***Be sure you are familiar with low appraisal strategies – to include WRE Form 43, > Increased Down Payment on Low Appraisal Addendum to Purchase and Sale Agreement. Your manager is ready to coach you through these “what if” strategies…
- Across the 23-county market area, there is a 1.85 months of supply, a slight improvement from March when there was a 1.79 months of supply, but down from the year-ago level of 2.36 months of supply. King County continues to have the scarcest inventory, with only 1.1 months of supply. How does our Metro Seattle stack up? Click here for statistical graphs by area. West Seattle (area 140) wins the lowest inventory category > a whopping 0.60 months of inventory supply. SODO-Beacon Hill takes the trophy for the highest > 1.14 months of inventory supply.
- Full statistical report hosted on the homepage on NWMLS. #’s we should all know, monthly!
Foreign money + Evidence of Funds | If you have Buyer clients with foreign money – i.e. funds (cash or cash equivalent) that are not immediately available from a financial institution(s) in the United States – be sure to get the scoop from your Buyer(s) on when & how those funds will be available. I’ve had several conversation this week regarding client moneys being in China and India – both of which a signed around PSA needed to be in place before moving funds to the US. A note on disclosure: Demco confirmed for me that we should use NWMLS Form 22EF (Evidence of Funds) to properly disclose such foreign money. Paragraph #2, “Disclosure of Sources of Other Funds” is the perfect spot for protecting your Buyer in disclosure. We are here to coach you through this. Just. ask your manager.
A café for buying your notecards | If you are anything like me, I spend a ton of money on cards for handwritten notes. Click here to browse + stock up. I bought 144 Thank You cards for $37, boom done! ***Michele Flinn from our Wedgwood office shared with me this resource – thank you Michele!
See you at the races tomorrow! | It’s Windermere Cup time! We are celebrating 30 years – wowza. If you’ve never been to the races, a sneak peek of one of the “most unique courses” in the sport or rowing. An awesome experience.
Thanks for taking this sweep with me on Friday! I’m having fun with this. Here to help, always the ultimate goal. Give me feedback along the way – this content is geared for you – Sand Point + Wedgwood + Northgate + Eastlake + Madison Park + Ballard – our six!
Laura Smith, General Manager | Windermere Real Estate Co + Northwest, Inc.
