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Beach Blog
Hard to say where we are or what's happening in the marketplace right now. There seems to be nothing consistent except the relative lack of activity in the high end price ranges. Still, there is activity, and it seems that when one buyer becomes interested in a particular property, then 2 or 3 other buyers suddenly become interested in the same property. Yet so many listings languish on the market with very little attention.
Most of the foreclosures or short sales that pop up now and then are sold very quickly. That's surely a good sign.
Interest rates are fabulously low. One sale closing next week ended up with a rate in the low 4 percent range.
Great buys available now and we may never see such fabulous opportunities again in our lifetimes. Carpe diem!
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Well, think again! How about this great oceanfront condo for only 199,000 which is uniquely set up to allow you to use it and rent it at the same time. Yes, you really can have your cake and eat it, too! It consists of one bedroom with full bath attached, with a separate entrance. The second full bath is off the hallway which has a locking door this side of the master bedroom suite. The rules allow you to rent out the oceanfront efficiency suite, and still keep your master suite to yourself. Imagine, if you could rent it out for 100 nights a year at $100 per night, that would about pay your mortgage at this price. You'd almost have a free beach home!
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Technology is great, but WOW it is time consuming. Logged onto Facebook today for the first time in a long time. Mothers Day, my son and webmaster spent the day with me. I've always wished I had a techno-wizard riding around on my shoulder all day, and that day I had my wish come true. Thanks, Tony! So, he logged me onto my Facebook page and acknowledged a year's worth of friend requests all at once. Whew!
Now, as I take a breather to update my website blog, I'm embarrassed (again) that it's been so long since the last posting. But that's actually the good news about this posting. It's been busy here on the Oregon Coast. Beach property has been selling all through the Winter and Spring. Okay, so lots and land has been largely ignored, as have most of the high end homes. Most everything over 500,000 has been really stagnant for the last year and a half. However, even that has improved over the last couple of months, it gives me great pleasure to report.
Interestingly, people assume the recent activity has been driven by the tax credit which expired April 30th. Not in my experience. Very few of my sales were triggered by that program, and all but one of my sales, where the buyer qualified for the credit, involved people who were pleasantly surprised that they get a tax credit. In other words, they were looking for a house anyway, and not because of the tax credit.
The only reoccuring themes in my recent sales of beach houses have been that buyers realize we have bottomed out and now is the time to get the best buy, and/or people who are removing their cash from the stock market and back into something REAL. That's why we call it REAL ESTATE.
Put your money into real estate. It's a rock solid investment. Okay, so sometimes it's hard to get your money back out of a rock if you need it in a hurry. I'll grant you that. But if you buy what you can afford to keep for a long time, then your real property is sure to give you a tangible asset you can rely on.
Let me help you find your home by the water in Tillamook County. I specialize in beach homes, lots and land with views of ocean, bay, lake, creek, river, or pond; also waterfront homes or just close enough to enjoy the sights and sounds of pristine waterways in the Land of Many Waters.
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The first quarter of 2010 is easily the busiest first quarter I have ever experienced. Lots of buyer activity, but mostly in the average to lower price ranges. Most active buyers are looking for bargains. Many are looking to buy in time to qualify for the 2 federal tax credits: $8,000 for buying a home if you haven't owned one in 3 years; $6,500 for "move up" homebuyers.
At the beach, however, most buyers are looking for non-owner occupied investment properties or family beach homes which they may or may not rent out on a short term rental basis. With the stock market fairly vibrant and real estate prices appealingly low, many buyers are liquidating stocks while they're high and paying cash for the new beach house.
The high end homes in this county are still sitting on the market gathering cobwebs, but there's a glimmer of hope in that segment, too. In the last 90 days there have been several sales over $400,000 in the local MLS, and I have personally experienced noticeable upswing in the number of buyer inquiries for homes listed in the $400,000 to 600,000 price range. We are moving in the right direction.
So if you're getting the Spring Fever, best spring into action and buy a beach house before this possibly fleeting opportunity has sprung.
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This will be one year I look forward to like no other. 2009 has been rough going. The toughest part is empathizing with folks who really need to sell their homes and who cannot compete with the distress sales, auctions, short sales and foreclosures. The next toughest part is pouring marketing expenses down the drain to attract buyers!
But, the 2010 New Year's Baby holds a lot of promise. There are signs of recovery everywhere I turn.
We have recently experienced a marked and dramatic upswing in the local real estate market. This is clearly evidenced by the sales activity in the last quarter. As we began this year, we had an inventory of homes for sale in Oceanside which, at the rate sales were taking place during the first 2 quarters, would have taken 3 years to sell. However, the 4th quarter saw an influx of buyers who in many instances were competing for the same properties. At the rate sales have taken place in Oceanside during the last 3 months, it would take between 6 months to a year to completely sell out the existing inventory of active listings. That may sound like a long time, but it's a huge improvement over 3 years! Here is a link to the 29 current active listings in Oceanside and the 23 homes which are sold or have sales pending http://www.flexmls.com/link.html?oyapnlf9hde,3,1 This link is valid until 1/30/2010. A close look at this list will show you that most of the sales took place during the fourth quarter, which is normally the time for a seasonal slowdown in real estate market activity. Additionally, these stats show that there was a notable uptick in the price range of homes that have been selling recently. During the first 3 quarters, only the very low priced homes were seeing any activity. Those homes priced in the 400,000 range and higher only began to move in September. This seems to be a turning point in home sales. However, because the market was so poor during the first half of the year, the appraisals on the recent sales have come in low, forcing the prices lower than buyers were willing to pay. This is a phenomenon that always occurs when the market is turning. Supply&Demand push prices higher as buyers compete for the best listings. However, appraisals are based on the sale prices of recently closed sales, so the appraisals dont reflect the increase in value that market forces create. Nearly every one of the recently closed sales might have been 5 to 7% higher, but were forced lower because of low appraisals. During the last few years prices in this area have been declining. 2005 was the banner year, and each year thereafter saw a decline in the number of sales and in prices. The last 3 months is the first upswing since the end of 2005.
Great cause to celebrate tomorrow night. Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010 - a brand new start on what promises to be a return to balance.
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During the 12 years I have been in Oceanside selling real estate, I have noticed nearly every year that October is my best closing month. All beach towns experience seasonal ups&downs in home sales, and we on the Tillamook County Coast fit right in to that norm.
What I have noticed in a dozen years selling beach homes, is that January typically brings a blip in real estate activity, presumably because people have done their taxes and decide they either need a tax write-off, or that they can now afford to buy that beach house they've been wanting. Maybe some just think that January is a good time to get a good price, and/or that it's a good time to look at houses on the coast to see first hand just how they are standing up to our dramatic storms.
Spring vacations in March usually bring on a raft of lookers, and then June through August are nearly always brisk, for obvious reasons. But October, my favorite month for many reasons, is not so obvious.
Why have most of my Octobers on the coast been lucrative? For one thing, the weather on the Oregon Coast is usually show-stopping in the Fall. It's much easier to sell a house which has an ocean, bay, river or lake view when the sky is blue than it is when the sky is socked in or drizzly. But another reason seems to be that many people spend their Summer weekends exploring different communities or neighborhoods along the coast, trying to decide just where they want to buy. Once the area is decided, Summer may be winding down. There are only so many weekends available during that short 3 months when the kids are out of school. By end of Summer, people start getting serious about the houses which have made it to the "short list". Septembers are usually busy with family activities, so that leaves October, wonderful October, for writing up serious offers. Hence, October is usually a good month for real estate sales at the beach. Usually.
This October was busy enough. I can't complain. Especially after a disappointing level of activity during the first 6 months of this year. What has me surprised about 2009, is that November didn't put on the brakes this year like it usually does. Most years, the phones just stop ringing in November. Here we are now into the first week in December, and there are still offers flying around and buyers shopping for beach homes.
2009 will go down on record as having an unseasonal season for real estate sales on the Tillamook County Coast.
Sorry to report, though, that even though sales are keeping up into the normally slow season, none of this applies this year to homes priced over $500,000 - at least not in Tillamook County. The buyer activity is almost exclusively in the affordable homes price ranges.
But, this is great news for high-end buyers, because if you can afford to buy an upscale home, you know this is the very best time to get an excellent value. Time to step up and go for it.
'Tis the Season!
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It's been really busy here at the beach, and saying that at this time of year is pretty amazing. Usually activity seems to come to a screeching halt by the first of November, but it's busier now than it has been at any time all Summer this year. At this time most of the bank owned and short sale listings are sold or have pending offers in line. About 2 months ago, I counted 34 foreclosures and/or short sales in little Oceanside. I keep hearing doomsayers warning that another wave of foreclosures is in store. However, I have been watching the "pre-foreclosure" list (which is a list of default notices) and am not seeing any indication of a wave of new foreclosures for this area. So, there seems to be a turnaround in the works here.
Kudos to Congress for extending the $8,000 bonus to buyers who haven't owned a primary residence in the last 3 years, and furthermore offering a $6,500 bonus to "move-up" buyers. This should help keep the sales activity fairly brisk through this winter.
So, it's time for you to think about being a "move-up" buyer. No better place to move up to than an oceanview home in Tillamook County, Oregon. Call me today about your next "Home by the Water", whether it's oceanfront, oceanview, bayfront, bayview, riverfront, riverview, or just a little cottage in the vicinity. I'm here to help.
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Great news to report: most of the bank owned and short sale homes in this area are now sold or sale pending! That is thanks to an amazing spike in the buyer activity over the last 30 to 60 days. This has been among the busiest few weeks I have ever had. Still, the unfortunate truth is that most of the buyers coming around are all circling around the same houses, resulting in multiple offers on a few houses and other "normally" price homes sitting on the shelf like wall-flowers at a dance. The popular ones are the bank-owned and other distress sale properties. People are looking to capitalize on the down market. But, this frenzy is a necessary step toward healing what's been hurting local homesellers for at least the last year. Maybe now, if we can avoid a new wave of foreclosures, we can experience prices stabilizing and hopefully coming back above the line. Hold that thought!
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New U.S. Home Sales Rose by 11 Percent in June The government says new U.S. home sales rose by the largest amount in nearly nine years last month, in another sign the housing market is finally bouncing back from the worst downturn in decades. (Click HERE to Read the full article)
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Whether you are a Buyer or a Seller, in these times you need to set your jaw and get serious. This is no time to wimp out or to fool yourself. We need to be aggressive, and we need to be realistic.
I am making sales. That's the good news for me, at least. Most of the sales are going to bargain hunters. That's the not-so-good "news" --although by now it probably doesn't even qualify as "news" since this has been going on since April. There continue to be too many houses on the market, and the numbers of foreclosures and short sales continue to grow. Among new homes, especially, the competition grows more and more severe. Many homeowners cannot afford to compete with the prices builders are having to accept in order to move inventory.
Still, though this report sounds bleak, it should actually be a herald for the turnaround. What is happening now is exactly what has to happen before we can start the uphill climb again. It's wonderful to report that people are out buying houses. And now even some lots have sold, though very few. This is the first step to recovery. Those sellers who are taking the low offers are helping the market by helping to decrease the inventory of homes for sale. If you have your home on the market today, and you expect to get it sold during this "selling season" (in this area of the Coast, the selling season typically goes through October), then be as aggressive on price as you can bear. It's a contest. Because there are so many homes for sale, your house has to come in First Place by being the easiest to show, and the best looking house for the best price. You are competing with dozens of other homes in your price range for maybe one buyer who is willing to venture out right now and capitalize on the Buyer's Market.
Put your best foot forward, be aggressive on price, and give yourself the greatest chance to succeed.
One more indicator to report: In the last 2 weeks, the number of hits on my websites has been higher than in any 3 month period in the last year. Buyers are starting to get the message that now is the time to buy.
The Looky-Loo's Prayer: "Oh, Great One, please give me a sign when the real estate market has bottomed out, and this time I promise I won't blow it like I did before."
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503-842-3046
