Bargain House for sale in Tacoma
A Realtor friend of mine, Bobby Brown, has this great house listed in Hilltop right now. They just reduced the price to $129,950- which I think is an awesome deal. It even has a garage.
You can check out the listing here, but here are the basic stats!
3 Bedrooms
1 Bathroom
1 Car Garage
Fenced Yard
I get so many questions about Rehab loans, especially for Foreclosures in Hilltop and around Downtown Tacoma, that I took a few minutes to talk to Sean Werner of Wells Fargo about how exactly how FHA 203k Streamline loans work. If you have any further questions, post them in the comments and we’ll get you an answer.
What is an FHA 203k loan? This a loan which can be used to renovate a previously occupied home back to acceptable living conditions of the buyers choice. The 203K renovation loan is limited to 35K in improvements. The cost of the impovements are added the loan which is financed. Read the rest of this entry »
I set out today to make a Pie chart of which buildings have condos listed on the MLS in Downtown Tacoma. It was interesting, but it is a bit deceptive. Both The Roberson and Esplanade have vacant units that are not currently listed on the MLS.
Which buildings have condos for sale downtown.
The Esplanade has 11 listed as pending and 10 sold- which leaves about another 140 units for sale that aren’t listed yet, which is more than every other listing on the market in Downtown Tacoma combined. Eek. So if we are being conservative, we could say that there are about 210 Condos and Townhouses for sale in 98402. In the past 12 months, 43 condos have sold. This means that at the current rate of sale it will take a little over 4 years for all the excess condos to be soaked up downtown. Read the rest of this entry »
Once again Moody’s Economy has good things to say about Tacoma Real Estate. Exit 133 is reporting on their story about our appreciation rate this year. It is always nice to be noticed.
You might remember this story from last Spring… Tacoma’s Real Estate Market sure has been getting a lot of attention lately.
The folks at Moody’s have once again put Tacoma on one of their lists. Last year we made the Best Real Estate Market and the Most Likely to Rebound lists. Now, at the beginning of 2010, we are the predicted to be the top performing real estate market in the country this year.
Check out the story at Exit 133.
Scott Cowan over at Keller Williams Real Estate just did a great blog post about all the new changes to the City of Tacoma Downpayment Assistance Program. If your Mortgage Banker isn’t up to speed on the latest rules, make sure you read this- because it might save you a lot of money this year!
Here are some of the highlights:
- The property must be a single family dwelling or condominium. The seller will be required to document the property is vacant.
- The property must be located within the boundaries indicated on the maps and within the city limits of Tacoma Washington.
- An inspection will be required to verify the property meets minimum housing quality standards
- Borrower must be a first time home buyer
- Borrower must provide minimum down payment depending on income.
- Income up to 50% of the median income, max loan contribution is $30000 and min buyer contribute $500
- Income up to 80% of the median income, max loan contribution $20000 and min buyer contribute $1000
Income up to 120% of the median income, max loan contribution $10000 and min buyer contribute $1500
For more details, read the full post here, contact me, or visit the City of Tacoma.
Well, winter is has truly arrived. While we have not yet received our first blanketing of snowy white stuff we have lots and lots of wintertime darkness. This affects the way homes are shown in a big way. I was reading this post by a fellow Realtor Blogger Teresa Boardman in St Paul Minnesota, and thought I would add some of my own thoughts.
With so many vacant, distressed, and foreclosed homes on the market, this often means finding homes that have no no heat or power on at all. If you look at these homes anytime after 4:30pm, it’s probably going to be difficult to see much.
Buyers: Bring a flashlight. One of my lovely #1 clients gifted me a fancy Maglite for looking at foreclosures (Thanks, Lisa!) and it has been the greatest thing ever. You, your Realtor, and anyone else who comes along should each have their own. Most banks do very little to make sure these homes (some of which are halfway through a remodel and missing important things like walls and floors) are totally safe- and the added problem of darkness can make holes in the floor, nails, and various other dangers difficult to see.
Sellers: I know this is not the greenest suggestion, but leave some lights on. It always makes a positive impression on a buyer when you pull up to a house and it looks warm and inviting. I’m not saying every single light in every room in the house must be on (though that is always nice) but turning the Living Room, Kitchen, and Hallway lights on goes a long way to making the house seem bright and friendly on a dark evening. Also, try to make sure the temperature is above 60 degrees. As a lady who is always cold, I’d love it to be above 65 degrees. This is especially important if the house is vacant or if you are away on a trip. Buyers just don’t linger or pay close attention to details in homes that are freezing cold. If they are racing through in order to get back to heated seats in the car- you are losing out. Turn on the heat! Turn on the lights!
Scott Cowan, a Realtor with Keller Williams and a blogger at ClassicHomesNorthwest.com wrote a great post about taking advantage of the $8,000 tax credit. If you’re not ready, or you just can’t find the house you want, disregard the urgency of this message. But if you’ve seen lots of places that could work for you and you’re committed to taking advantage of the credit- pay close attention:
If you have not had an offer accepted by a seller by the end of this week October 18th. 2009 the chances of you closing on time to receive the tax credit are just about nil. If you do not have your financing in place the first thing you must do is to call a lender MONDAY OCTOBER 12th. and get them all of the information they need ASAP so that they can tell you if you are qualified to buy a home and how much you are qualified. If you are going to try to use USDA financing you are most likely out of luck as the USDA loans take longer than 45 days to close. VA buyers you are really, really cutting it close as you will need the VA appraisal to be taken care of quickly and they are running upwards of 3 weeks now.
He goes on to give time frames for different transactions which are pretty spot on. Remember to check with your own lender as closing times vary from place to place. My experience with bank owned properties is that they have been pretty cooperative with getting a deal closed in 30 days- the only trick is getting it signed around in less than a week.
For a refresher on how the tax credit works watch this video.
