Nancy Braam

Bellingham’s Airport Expansion: A Smart Move

Drawing of New Airport Expansion

The real reason Bellingham’s airport has become such a going concern boils down to money. Airlines pay a per passenger fee. SeaTac’s fee is $18. Vancouver’s fee is $14. Bellingham is $2.50. That price has made Bellingham the cheapest airport in the US according to Cheapflights.com.

Right now the airport is 26,000 square feet. Over 100,000 square feet will be added to accommodate Bellingham’s huge increase in customer traffic which is up over 500% in seven years. The airport now serves over 400,000 passengers a year.

The first phase has begun and is adding 20,000 square feet which will add more seats to the gate area. The next phase will add 80,000 square feet. When completed there will be 5 gates, expanded ticketing, security and a real baggage claim. Additional parking areas will also be added.

Bellingham’s cheap flights have attracted passengers from Canada who account for about 40% of traffic. Right now we have north/south flights. The airport has interest from other airlines and wants to include east/west flights, but until the expansion is completed, they just can’t be accommodated.

For local residents, being able to fly directly from Bellingham is a huge advantage. You can be in Las Vegas, San Francisco or Phoenix in about the same time it would have taken to drive to SeaTac.

Thinking of Buying A Foreclosure In Bellingham? Read This First!

Everyone wants to get a steal on a foreclosure these days. Here are the steps:

Watch for upcoming sales. These sales are posted on several websites. Be aware that the sale dates can change…over and over. I saw one where the first sale date was 2/2009, and it is still being postponed.

Research the property. This may seem obvious, but what do you look for?

• Look up how much is owed on the property. Only be concerned with the first mortgage. Any junior mortgages will be wiped out when the house is foreclosed.
• Check the assessed value.
• Check the zestimate on Zillow, but take this with a big grain of salt; even they say they are right less than half the time.
• Drive by the property and try to determine if it is occupied. Do not trespass!
• See if it’s listed. If so, call me or your Realtor to get inside. You must get in the property. Do not under any circumstances buy a foreclosure that you have not personally inspected. It may look fine from the outside and be completely stripped and trashed on the inside.
• Check with the Whatcom County Assessor’s office to see if the property taxes are current and if not, how much is owed. This will be your debt if you buy it.
• Check with the Whatcom County Building Services to see if there are any red flags on permits.

The bank will post the minimum bid price, sometimes the day before or even the morning of the sale. Determine, based on your research, if it’s a good deal. Sometimes it’s not. If it is, you will probably not be the only person looking at it.

Most sales in Bellingham are on Friday morning at 10am in the court house lobby. It’s a good idea to go watch a couple sales before you actually bid. They spend a good amount of the time reading off the sales that have been cancelled or postponed.

Know your maximum price. When it’s your property’s turn, they will announce the minimum bid price and ask if there are any bids. The lowest bid is one dollar more. That’s where you start. If there are no other bidders, that will be the sales price. If there are other bidders, bid up to your maximum and then stop! Don’t be attached to the results. Don’t get caught up in the bidding process.

If you win the bid, you must deliver cash to the escrow company within 48, sometimes 24 hours, check to be sure.

Buying foreclosures is not a casual undertaking. It’s a part-time job. I highly recommend hiring…well, me to help you. Yes, it will cost you a selling commission but this is a complicated process and a competent guide is invaluable. You can get a good deal, in fact, a very good deal. You can also get burned and buried alive if you are incompetent at it. Contact me, if you’d like to know more.

Bellingham, WA 2010 Real Estate Numbers. How’s the market?

Forget prices for a minute. Let’s just look at the volume or number of sales.

You can see by quickly looking at the numbers on the far right that at the height of the market, we sold 1256 single family residences in Bellingham, WA in 2006. Now 5 years later we sold 820. That’s a decrease of about 35%!

Remember the law of supply and demand? Volume represents demand. So you could say the demand for houses has decreased 35% in 5 years. Looking at it this way gives you an idea why prices are still decreasing. Over 1/3 less people want to by a house. Competing for a sale with fewer buyers drives prices down.

You’ll notice that the market was slow to start in January and February for the past two years. A market that takes off in January after the Holidays indicates a robust market. People are ready to go. It’s an early indicator of the rest of the year.

I’ll update you on January volume and we’ll make a prediction about the 2011 market. Watch for the post the first week in February. If you like to talk numbers and would like more information, contact me. I love to talk about this stuff.

The Big Opportunity For Foreclosure Buyers That Hasn’t Existed Until Now

Have you ever been to a foreclosure sale? This is the actual process  where the bank takes back the house. In Bellingham, the sale takes place right in the courthouse lobby.

You’ve heard the stories of how much money you can make buying foreclosures, right? I guarantee that attending a sale will show you it’s not that easy.  It is a great way to make money, but as with most things, there’s a learning curve. And it’s been my experience that learning curves can be costly.

The biggest risks and downfalls of buying foreclosures are 1. You have to have cash 2. You cannot inspect the property (until now, that is) and 3. The owners may still be living there and you have to get them out and don’t know it they will strip or trash the place.

This market right now has 3 incredible opportunities for foreclosure buyers that have not been possible before. First, a number of the houses are currently on the market, so you can get inside, even do an inspection if you wanted to risk the money. Secondly, many of them are vacant. That is a huge blessing for foreclosure buyers. Lastly and the best, there are some that already have a buyer in place wanting to pay more than you can buy it for.

Recently a home sold at the courthouse that was on the market for $215,000 with comparable sales in the area at $225-240,000. There was an offer on the house for $200,000 awaiting approval of a short sale by the bank. Now follow this – the minimum bid price on the house was $15o,000! How stupid is that? The bank won’t approve a bona fide offer of $200,000, but will sell it for $150,000 at the courthouse. There’s an example of good business.

But for you, the foreclosure buyer, you buy it for $150,001 and have a buyer already in place who will pay $200,000! Now there are some buying and selling costs but you could make a $35,000-$40,000 profit within 30 days on an investment of $160,000 or so.  That works for me.

Why didn’t the $200,000 buyers buy it – you may ask? Pure and simple – they didn’t have the cash. That’s the biggest deal – if you don’t have the cash you can’t play the foreclosure game.

If it is a game you want to play, find out the rules.

The 2 Ways You Can Buy Foreclosed Properties

There seems to be some confusion about how you actually buy a foreclosure. There are just two ways: On the courthouse steps or from a Realtor. That’s it.

1. On the courthouse steps. When the bank gives the sale date it is public record. You can get this information from a realtor, the title company or the courthouse. A trustee for the bank holds the sale in the lobby of the courthouse.  The bank sets the minimum bid price and you can buy it for $1 more if no one else is bidding against you. It used to be that the minumum price was the amount owed against the house. Not so anymore. The minimum prices can be really low compared to value.

If you are the winning bid, you have to pay cash.

There are some obvious pitfalls to this method. You do not get to inspect the house. You have to have cash. There are no warranties or recourse.  The owners could still be living there, in which case, you have to get them out and hope they don’t strip or trash the house.

2. Buy from a Realtor. After the bank takes the house back, they process it and then list it with a Realtor. Generally, the price starts at market value and then is systematically reduced until an offer is generated. It’s like a regular sale and you will make the offer subject to an inspection and financing.

There is no secret list of foreclosed properties. If the bank has taken the home back, it will be listed with a Realtor. You can’t buy them directly from the bank after they have been foreclosed, unless you are a huge investor buying “blocks” of homes.

It’s possible to get a great deal on a foreclosed home, but you need to know what you are doing. If you’d like some help, contact me.

3 Reasons Why Now Is The Best Time To Sell

1. If you are selling to buy something bigger/better - is that opportunity knocking? For instance, if you are moving up…this market is great for you. Outgrown your present home? Just want more space? Acreage, maybe? Now is your time. In the Bellingham area, there are some tremendous bargains in the $399,00-$499,000 range. For that you can get a big house – 2700-4000sf, newer, in a good to great area. Or you can have a 2000-2500+ sf house on 5 acres with a shop. Throw in a view of Mt Baker. If you are willing to do some work, pay even less than that. If you have been wanting and planning to move bigger or better, do not let the fact that you can’t get what you want from your present home stop you. Now is not the time to be short-sighted.

From a percentage basis, the lower end homes have depreciated less than the higher end homes. The market is on your side if you are moving up.

2.If you are buying your last home.  I have heard this line from many clients only to be selling their home 5 years later. So let’s say, for people in  the age 60+ category. There are many areas around the country that have lost more value than we have in the Pacific Northwest. Yet many of these areas are places that would be great to live. Where do you want to live, or go back to, or follow grandchildren to? This might be the time.

3. If you want to move to Arizona. I’m not kidding – there are some absolutely screaming bargains for beautiful retirement homes in golf course communities, gated, un-gated, pools, no pools. Whatever you want. If that’s where you’ve been dreaming of going, this is your market. Our market has held up very well in comparison, yet many Pacific Northwesterners enjoy the opportunity to live in a dry climate. Even if you don’t want to sell now – buying the second home in Arizona is a savy move you would thank yourself for later.

If you need help pricing your home or for referrals to good agents in other places, contact me.

Buyer’s and Seller’s Markets in Real Estate: A Simple Lesson In Pictures

The law of supply and demand in the real estate market. It’s like a see saw.

Buyer’s Market:

Fewer buyers, more inventory, prices go down.

Seller’s Market:

More buyers, less inventory, prices go up.

As the components change, you can start to see a change in the market. Are the number of sales going down or up? That represents the number of buyers in the market. Are the number of homes on the market growing or shrinking? That’s the inventory. Those two factors will tell you what’s happening with prices. No magic here.

Buying A House? Top 10 Credit Do’s And Don’ts

You’re ready to buy a house. Your credit is good. You have your down payment. Don’t wreck it by making credit faux pas during the loan process.

1.   DON’T APPLY FOR NEW CREDIT OF ANY KIND. 

2.   DON’T PAY OFF COLLECTIONS OR CHARGE OFFS during the loan process. 

3.   DON’T CLOSE CREDIT CARD ACCOUNTS.

4.  DON’T OVER CHARGE ON YOUR CREDIT CARD ACCOUNTS. 

5.  DON’T CONSOLIDATE YOUR DEBT ONTO 1 OR 2 CREDIT CARDS. 

6.  DON’T DO ANYTHING THAT WILL CAUSE A RED FLAG TO BE RAISED BY THE SCORING SYSTEM. This would include adding new accounts, co-signing a loan, changing your name or address with the bureaus. The less activity during the loan process, the better. 

7.  DO JOIN A CREDIT WATCH PROGRAM.

8.  DO STAY CURRENT ON EXISTING ACCOUNTS. 

9.  DO CONTINUE TO USE YOUR CREDIT CARD AS NORMAL. 

 10. DO CALL YOUR LENDER if you receive something in the mail from a creditor or collection agency.

Short Sales: 5 Hints To Stack The Deck In Your Favor

Short sales are a royal pain in the butt. If you don’t know the first thing about them, please read this first.

After doing a little research, if you decide to go ahead, there are a few things you can do to keep your sanity and maybe even get a good deal.

1. First and foremost: Get a Realtor who knows about them. Just saying they do short sales is not enough! You can waste an incredible amount to time when they really don’t know the ropes. It would be best if they had a professional designation in short sales. The CDPE (Certified Distressed Property Expert) is the best and most comprehensive. It would be better if, in addition to their designation, they had a number of successful short sales under their belt. Grill them a little on this – you’ll thank me later.

2. Know market values. How can you know a good deal if you don’t know what market value is for that type of house? Do some looking. I recommend a “marathon”. You will be amazed at what you can learn in a single day if you see a dozen houses in a narrow price range.

3. Know market numbers. In Bellingham, houses sell for between 92-98% of list price on average. Don’t kid yourself on this, you will not be buying a house for 50% below list. If you want a crack house in inner city Chicago, maybe.

4. Be ready and able. Get your ducks in a row. Get pre-approved – not just pre-qualified. Financing is tricky, get all your paperwork together. Don’t violate any of the credit rules while you’re waiting for bank approval of the short sale.

5. Be patient. If you are under some time constraints, it’s still possible, but you have to look for a “pre-approved” short sale. That means there was a deal on it, it got approved by the bank and for whatever reason the buyer went away. You can step in and close fast. Otherwise, allow up to 6 months to close.

5 Things You Need To Know About Short Sales Before You Jump In

Everyone’s heard about them, relatively few have the facts straight. Briefly, a short sale is a home that the owner is hoping the bank will accept less than is owed on it. If you are thinking about buying a short sale you need to know these 5 things to start.

1. The asking price has nothing to do with what the bank will accept.You can offer full price, wait 4 months and have the bank counter tens of thousands of dollars higher. Routinely, short sale listings are listed at market value and then there is a series of aggressive price reductions until an offer is generated. Many times this is to hold off the home from being foreclosured. The bank will usually extent the foreclosure date if there is an offer.

2. You can’t know if the seller even qualifies for one. Not just anyone can do it. Just because a seller is upside-down doesn’t mean the bank will take less. They have to show a hardship – loss of job, transfer, death, medical problems, divorce, etc. They can’t have other assets – they need to be broke. You are not privy to this information when you make the offer.

3. It can take forever. The short sale process is not standardized, at all. It varies wildly between banks. The time range for approval is between a week and a year. No kidding. Shelf-life for most buyers seems to be around 3 to 5 months before they lose patience and move on. If there’s a first and a second mortgage it will take longer almost every time.

4. Not all “short sale specialists” are created equal. Some listing agents don’t have a clue what they are doing. Even if your buyer’s agent is just a whizz bang of an agent, they can’t control things like whether the listing agent sent the bank a complete packet which is crucial, or how and when they communicate with the lender.

5. Some short sales are not even good deals. As part of the acceptance process, the bank will have the house appraised. The appraisal is supposed to come in at market value. The bank will counter at the appraised price. Where’s the deal in that? You can pay market value for any house, why jump through the short sale hoops?

Is there an upside at all to short sales? I think so. Learn to stack the deck in your favor.