It’s Friday! | tune up + myth busting + economic corner + client appreciation

Welcome to yet another Friday in which Seattle is doing it’s best to show off again! I hope you have your favorite Friday beverage in hand – mine?…venti passion iced tea unsweetened – let’s take a quick sweep…cheers to a fantastic weekend in productive work + play – let’s face it, we do both on Saturdays and Sundays…

At a glance for this week > Tune Up team happy hour + Myth busting “technical excellence” + a sound bite from our “economic corner” + client appreciation (done for you) – tickets still available – I’ll see you there!

Tune Up Team | Quarterly we meet as a six office Tune Up team to discover how to best support you. Bottom line, we know you are busy, we are here to help – just ask. That is all I want to say about that today – a quick look at us raising a glass at Happy Hour – ok,  really 2.5 hours of us talking about you + drinking smoothies (my kind of happy hour!) + figuring out best practices in rolling out additional support at the branch level and beyond. Eastlake office hosted this meet up, Sand Point is next up! Awesome people collaborating on what matters most – supporting you.

Technical Excellence | 5 bullet points worth discussing this week – thank you Michael Nelson for getting this conversation started (manager, Eastlake).  A summary below that encapsulates conversations with Lars Neste (Demco attorney), Justin Haag (NWMLS attorney) and Chris Osborn (prior house counsel for the NWMLS). NOTE: whatever you do, do not take this as true legal counsel – I’m simply the messenger today. Each of your managers will have a deeper dive email in their inbox for discussion. Interesting stuff. Most likely these talking points might just bust a few myths out in the marketplace.

1.  A Seller is not obligated to take a full price “perfect” offer.
2.  A Seller is certainly not obligated to take a full price “perfect” offer if it comes in shortly after a property was listed.
3.  A Seller can counter any offer at any time higher than what is being offered EVEN IF that offer is full price.
4.  A Seller is not offering to SELL a property when it is listed.  They are inviting Buyers to submit offer to purchase and they then get to decide if they like any of the offers.
5. Of the three real estate attorneys we debated this topic with over the past 10 days NOT ONE has ever heard of a successful claim for commission in this situation.

Economic Corner with Matthew Gardner | A quick market sound bite below – for the full article grab a printed copy of “A Note from Jill & OB” – they are floating in & around your office…

***While home values have grown quite precipitously over the past four years, we have added very little to our debt load. Mortgages peaked in 2008 at around $10.7 trillion, but have since tapered to $9.49 trillion, and remain well below there 2006 peak. (big words + big #’s!) What does all this mean? Well, with home prices rising and consumers not taking on additional mortgage debt, all important home equity levels have grown substantially to $12.54 trillion and are closing in on the 2006 record. > This data should ease people’s concerns regarding the formation of a housing bubble (nationally). Should any unforeseeable drop in home values happen, growing equity levels will certainly act as a cushion – Windermere Chief Economist – Matthew Gardner

(Tickets still available!) Husky Fans meet UW Coach Chris Peterson | Husky fan or not, invite your clients to join you on Wednesday, June 1 at the Don James Center in Husky Stadium from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. for a networking reception where UW Football Coach Chris Petersen will give an update on how spring practice went and a preview of the upcoming season. He’ll also explain his mantra “built for life” and how he prepares his team for life beyond football. We’ll end with a Q & A session. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. I’ll see you there! Quick access to order tickets under Featured Events. Marketing materials available with your branch staff. We are all here to help.

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 specifically geared for you – Sand Point + Wedgwood + Northgate + Eastlake + Madison Park + Ballard – our six!

Laura Smith, General Manager | Windermere Real Estate Co + Northwest, Inc.