Shannon M. Krueger

Dear Scott,

The rental market is quite strong in our area, and rental rates are up. If you are staying in the area, you can probably do a fine job of handling the rental yourself, but I highly recommend using Tenant Screening. Also be sure to get suffcient deposits (most often first month, last month and a security deposit) and most management professionals recommend that you do not allow smoking or pets, as they can cause significant damage to the home.

If you are leaving the area, I think it would be wise to hire a professional property manager. Quality and experience vary, so get recommendations, and if you wish, you can contact me for a reference.

If you are staying in the area, and not excited about becoming a landlord, I would not hesitate to sell your home. If it is priced and presented well, it should sell. You will save a little money on the reduced selling costs, and you will be in a position to make a very good buy on your purchase, between the lower prices, the great interest rates, and the expanded inventory from which to choose your new home.

So many people think this is a bad time to sell and buy, but I think it is a GREAT time to do so. The homes in the more modest price ranges are moving faster than higher end homes, and many sellers are now willing to look at contingent offers, which was almost unheard of a couple years ago. A contingent offer can be win-win for a seller, since they have their "eggs" in two baskets, rather than one. If they find another buyer for their home, they are in good shape, or if the contingent buyer finds a buyer first, they win too. A contingency on a listing is not negetive either, as long as it is short, because it sends the message to other buyers that the home is desireable.

As a contingent buyer, the situation is also win-win because it does not involve any monetary risk. You can take your time and shop, put in an offer, and if accepted, work on getting your home sold. If your home does not sell before the seller finds another buyer, you will get your earnest money back, no loss, no foul. The difficulty can lie in the emotional cost if you become too attached to that new home and can't get your home sold before another buyer shows up. You would probably have the fall-back position of renting your home then, and going forward if your home does not sell quickly enough, but the odds are that your current home should sell first, if it is priced right and in a lower price range than your new purchase.

As always, I recommend that you sit down with a very experienced agent who will help you thresh out your options without pressuring you to make a decision that might be more in their best interests than yours.

Best wishes,
Shannon - Wed Apr 2 2008, 14:18

Hi Dd,

Yes, this is the way it is here, and has been for at least the 25 years I've been working here. It was also the same way in Hawaii, where I worked previously.

A good listing agent works to market the property. They should work with the seller to get the home showing well, priced right, and then market it effectively to agents and buyers. They should also follow up on all showings, be available for answering questions and then negotiate on all offers and follow up through the inspection and closing process.

Most home buyers want to work with one agent whom they know and trust. As they view homes together, they discuss the pros, cons and possibilities of each. A seller can request that their agent be present at all showings, but that will usually inhibits this free flow of comment, just as when the seller himself is present. In this situation, most smart listing agents briefly introduce themselves, point out a few positve features that may not be self-evident and then make themselves scarce. The vast majority of buyers buy on emotion, hopefully guided by logic, so it is important to let the buyer "try on" the house, like trying on a coat, to see if it feels comfortable and good to them. Anything or anyone that interferes with that process will likely do a better un-selling job than make the sale.

If do understand your concern about whether or not the buyer's agent has the necessary knowledge to represent your home well to buyers, as experience varies greatly in this business. There are a couple ways to help improve matters in that situation, since of course, you can't pick the buyer's agent for them!
A Home Book, as described by one agent herein, is a good tool, as are the little cd's, but the most important tool, without doubt, is a carefully detailed MLS entry, with excellent and honest descriptors and photos. Beyond that, for higher end homes, a fully fledged individual web site containing pertinant links to the local neighborhood and school, city and recreational amenties may be very beneficial.
You can also request, when an agent calls for an appointment, or through the agent-only remarks in the MLS, that the buyer's agent call and talk with your agent prior to showing your home, if you seriously feel that certain amenities in your home are likely to be overlooked. I would recommend this strategy over having your agent present, unless there are also security issues that would require making sure the home is carefully locked and alarms reset, and you would like to have your agent do that for you.

I hope this helps. I would not be concerned about this selling practice as it has worked here very effectively for years. Right now, our market is in a transitional stage, after the staggering inflation of the last few years. I believe it is unfortunate that the Fed did not step in to curb the wild housing appreciation going on here and in so much of the country in '04-06, but honestly, 20% per year appreciation is not the norm here! We are now giving back some paper equity if we've owned our homes for several years, but the situation is dire indeed for people who bought at the peak of the market and do not have the opportunity to ride the market back out again. Appreciation will return to our market, just as it has to the stock market after it's dips and dives. As excess inventory is absorbed, I would expect to see a return to our more normal 3-5% per year appreciation. We are not San Francisco, San Diego or even Seattle and I don't think we'll see double digit yearly inflation returning just any day now.

Best wishes, Shannon - Thu Mar 27 2008, 14:01

Hi Nicole,
Spanaway, Lacey, Yelm and south Tacoma will generally offer the most home for the dollar. If you are moving here with the military, which is my guess, I would not rule out any location until you get here and can see them for yourself. On your first day or two looking, a good agent will introduce you to each area, showing a couple of homes that meet your criteria in each location and talk with you about the pros and cons of each. Real estate is like so many things in life; there are pluses and minuses to everything and only you can be the final judge of what will work for you and your family.
For the first ten years or so of my real estate career, I worked almost exclusively with military and corporate transferees. We'd start with a broad target and then narrow down as we refined our search criteria, after evaluating what was out there in the marketplace. You are very fortunate. Right now, inventory is high and you will have many homes to choose from and the opportunity is there for you to make a very good buy. It will be crucial, I think, for you to make a choice that has excellent resale potential, and an experienced agent can be invaluable as you work towards making that final decision. Best wishes, Shannon - Wed Mar 26 2008, 16:44

Hi Laura,
Our market now is slow compared to the frenetic pace of the last few years, but it is vastly improved over January according to MLS statistics. We are in to the early spring marketing time, which is typically one of the best times to sell herein the Northwest. One of the agents who answered this question mentioned having 45 people at a recent open house in the North End, but did not mention if the home sold or not.
The homes that are selling, as opposed to those that are sitting on the market are the homes with high perceived value. That value can come from a high emotional response to a wonderful home, or from 'getting a good deal’, which often translates into a lot square footage or extra amenities for the price
A lot really comes down to why you might want to sell. If you are planning to buy a more expensive home, now is a fantastic time to buy. There is a lot of inventory for you to choose from, many great buys, and most sellers are will consider contingent offers, which was almost unheard of when the market was red hot, so you have nothing to lose if your home does not sell. You are likely to sell your lesser priced home for a little less than it might have sold for previously, but you should be able to make an even better buy on the more expensive home of your dreams and then you can ride the market back up in your beautiful new home.
Of course there are a myriad of reasons for needing/wanting to sell. I suggest you sit down with a very experienced, knowledgeable agent who will take the time to help you come to the best decision for you and your particular circumstances. Please feel free to visit my web site and contact me if you wish. Good Luck! - Tue Mar 25 2008, 17:23

HI Tina,
Yours is a difficult situation faced by many in our market today. When our market was red-hot, everything was selling. I do not know the particulars on your home, but I'm pretty familiar with Roy. It is in a bit of a "no man's land" in terms of freeway access, with traffic on Pacific or Spanaway Loop just awful at commuting times. Primary buyers for Roy are most often the military, retirees, or those looking for bigger yards and the biggest bang for their buck and who willing to put up with the commuting hassles. Right now, although we have tons of military in the area, many are not buying because of the war. Many others who might buy up into your home can't do so because their homes aren't selling. Still more are questioning the cost of the commute, now that gas is so incredibly high. All this translates, along with the general economic malaise, into a situation where your home is likely not worth what you paid for it.
I've been selling real estate here in Pierce County for over 20 years. Up until the crazy inflation of 04-06, we averaged an increase in the 3-5%range, year in and year out. With typical selling costs in the 9-10% range, if you had to sell in just a couple years, you would likely have to pay money out of your pocket or your equity to make the sale. I'm sorry to say, but it is not realistic to expect to come out on top in the situation you describe, unless you made a phenomenal buy when you purchased, or have significantly improved the property since. We are currently in a flat to declining market, giving back some of the huge appreciation of '04 and '05, and although appreciation and the market will rebound, over the short term you have a tough decision to make. I think you need someone who is honest and knowledgeable to sit down and talk with you, to help you make the decision that is best for you. - Sat Mar 22 2008, 14:58