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
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.
Clover Creek Condos
Ok, so these aren’t in Downtown Tacoma- but they are exactly 10 minutes commute from Downtown Tacoma. If you work at McChord and are looking for something that’s close to work and not too far from civilization call your Realtor, (or call me!) and check these out. They range from $164,900-$169,900- which puts your monthly payment going VA at about $1,200/mo with everything- even insurance.
Here’s a link to the listing.
Everyone's gossiping about Downtown Tacoma Condos These Days
Everywhere I go these days, people are asking about the Downtown Tacoma real estate market. “It seems like it’s picking up! Is it picking up?” The answer is, it depends on the price range and it depends on where we’re talking about. Over the next couple days I’m going to talk Tacoma (as usual) starting with Downtown Tacoma Condos in 98402.
Right now there are 11 pending condos, half of those are at 505 Broadway, which has been rewarded for its aggressive price reductions with lots of closed sales. It would be great to see The Roberson and The Esplanade (once it’s done being forclosed on and relists as bank owned foreclosures or whatever they decide to do) follow 505 Broadway’s lead and start pricing to sell.
So far this year there are 21 closed condo sales. The median sale price of a condo in downtown Tacoma is $308,415 for 1,214 square feet with a low price of $131,000 for a studio at Cliff Street Lofts and a high of $742,650 for 1,919 square foot palace at 505 Broadway. Here’s the breakdown:
Before I became a Realtor, I was a buyer. I bought 2 houses before I became licensed, and I remember obsessively searching on different real estate companies websites. It was always a struggle to sort through their layers of branding, “featured listings”, and mandatory sign-up sheets. My fabulous Realtor (and now Real Estate BFF) Craig Bergstrom would find houses for me based on my criteria. As a buyer on a budget, my criteria was changing constantly, and I loved searching through all the listings myself.
These days buyers have so many great home search sites beyond those offered by real estate companies. I recommend Trulia to my clients, but there are many others. My #1 Client Matt just sent me this article about using Google Maps in your real estate search, which I thought was fantastic.
What are some other sites that you have used successfully?
