As we enter STAY HOME! STAY HEALTHY! order from Governor Inslee. We enter on a solid foundation of an excellent first quarter 2020. My goal is to be your #1 vetted information source. I am in touch with national, state and local experts + I am watching our various areas to see how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting real estate. Stay tuned for more updates and news breaks! Feel free to reach out with any questions you may have. I love research and would be happy to share what I learn!!

I am excited to share my research with you about the First Four Months of 2017, 2018 & 2019 in Pierce County. The above graph is from the NWMLS: January, 2017 – April, 2019 ~ Pierce County Residential ~ Green Line: Available/For Sale homes; Blue Line: Pended/Under Contract homes. (This does not show SOLDS. Pended homes are what is current, when buyers actually put the contract together and got mutual acceptance. It is Real Time/Current Activity.) The Red Boxes are January – April of each year, 2017, 2018, 2019.

The two green camel humps are Summer 2017 & Summer 2018 when the most homes came on the market/stayed on the market. As you can see for both those years, the blue, pending line separates after the first few months of the year, leaving more homes on the market than buyers select to purchase.

Now, let’s look closer at those first 4 months!

As you can see, 2017 & 2018 look fairly similar; parallel Active/Green with Pending/Blue lines. 2019: not so much!

2017: Continually more Actives/For Sales than those that Pended, but the buyers followed the sellers prices and availability. Steady.

.2018: Parallel line, again, but more that Pended than were Active/For Sale; showing a strong sellers’ market. Steady.

2019: A different story. The year started with limited/slow pending home sales, then was stalled further in February with the snow. March & April saw a sudden a brisk pending market (blue line) with the number of active listings remaining steady with the number of buyers with accepted contracts quickly increasing.

2019 – May and Beyond ~ the graph is yet to be written! Will the Actives and Pendings take more of a parallel route like in the last two years where sellers set their price and buyers followed suit? Or, will it continue to be wiley like the first four months?

Predictions?

The housing market will separate out and be very specific for each area, not only in Pierce County but comparing Pierce/King/Thurston Counties. Comment by Aaron Terrazas, senior economist, Zillow.com :

“Pierce County is without a doubt the hottest housing market in the region . . . Perhaps the hottest market on the West Coast.”

Here in Pierce County we have affordability & job growth. A great combination!

Predictions are for our Pierce County market to increase in value in 2019, about 11%, depending on the area. King County is predicted to continue self-correcting with a value decrease of 2% as a whole, again, depending on the area.

Stay Tuned!

Thinking of selling or buying and want to know the best time? That is a specific conversation for each client! And, I love those conversations! Reach out and lets chat!

Above is a rendering of 3610 Bridgeport Way West, located in The Village at Chambers Bay, in the University Place Town Center.

My fact checker was Kevin Briske, Principle Planner with the City of UP. The building is to be 5 stories with 125 apartment homes; 10,000 sq. ft. of ground-level retail space and 2 levels of underground parking. The completion is estimated for February, 2019.

A local Tacoma firm, SEB Inc. is the contractor. They also built the two apartment towers across Bridgeport from this new tower: Latitude 49 and Clearview 100.

Back in the day, when real estate was booming, the City of UP purchased this property (that housed an existing apartment building) for $2.6 million. The existing apartment building was destroyed, the Great Recession hit and the land then sat as a parking lot for 10+ years. The land was eventually purchased in September, 2017 by SEB for $865,245. Ouch! The City of UP felt they needed to move forward, regardless of the loss to continue to create the Town Center. (Information from Pierce County Assessor + TNT).

Watch this short video if you want to add a bit-of-magic to your home buying process!

Does the idea of trying to purchase a home in today’s market seem daunting? Too many buyers ~ Not enough houses? Too many offers on the beautiful HGTV homes? Are the upgrades you see not to your liking?

Here is a magical idea that could work: A Renovation Loan or Rehab Loan. Pick an area you want to live, find a not-so-perfect house, roll the repairs and upgrades into your home mortgage loan! What starts as a “ho-hum” house could become your HGTV dream home!

In Pierce County, over 28% of all homes available have been on the market 30 days or more. Yes, some are simply over-priced, sellers reaching for the sky! However, there are many that just need some fixing up. What if you could leave your credit card in your pocket and roll updates (like a new kitchen) into your home mortgage?

You can also use these loans for problem areas: new roof, new plumbing, updating electrical. Or to make the home more ADA accessible or more functional for upcoming needs.

Below are some before & after pictures that just might peak your interest!

Sound interesting? Put me to work! Together we will find the right house. I have a team that will assist with the lending, designing, construction and strategy! You, too, can have a beautiful home . . . and a magical story as to how you achieved your dream home!

The kitchen doesn’t have to be a total mess to use a Renovation Loan . . . but it’s OK if it is!

Yes, a Renovation Loan was used to make this 2-story home into a 1-story rambler!

Spend 2 minutes and discover how easy living can be! Perched amongst the trees, this home lives like a rambler ~ yet it has a fully finished walk-out basement for even more space!! Located in the gated Danbridge Community, this move-in-ready home features your master bedroom suite on the main level, complete with spa-like bath and walk-in closet large enough for your morning yoga! With no obstructing walls, the Great Room is perfect for entertaining and your guests can enjoy two private decks as well. A laundry on both levels makes it easy to live all on one floor! And, make sure you see the hidden wine cellar . . . a perfectly fabulous place to open those classic vintages!

And, yes, this home IS in the University Place School District! And, the school bus stops right at the gate! Join others in sending your kiddos off to school!

Enjoy a short, personal tour of this designed-for-the-views home! It is fully oriented to Puget Sound! The nearly 4,000 sq. ft. home has rambler style living on the main level and a fully finished walk-out daylight lower level. Our seller incorporated the elegance of box ceilings, bay windows, formal bow window, wainscoting & multiple fireplaces. Yet, with 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2 laundry rooms and 1 over-sized kitchen life is easy! Live life to its fullest right here!

A quick tour of a unique salvage yard in Tacoma! Come with me for a couple minutes. See my favorite corner of this truly unique salvage yard! Everything from live-edge wood & reclaimed bowling alley lanes to authentic period hardware, such as glass door knobs. It’s a Saturday morning, put your tennis shoes on, grab-a-cuppa-Joe kind of places! With DIY, remodeling, updating and HGTV so popular ~ this is a definite stop for your materials! All these materials are reclaimed, saved from the landfill! Talk to John, the acquisitions manager. He may pick up your salvage! Earthwise Architectural Salvage

This home sold in 6 days with multiple offers! What a difference professional planning did for this home! With a budget of $15,000, we were able to paint the interior & exterior, add new carpeting, transform the kitchen & add features that today’s buyers desire. The ownersof this home netted over 300% ROI, quickly, for over offering price! Congratulations!