This week in Tacoma there were 26 Houses sold and 3 Condos.  They ranged in price from $55,000 - $715,000.  The median price on Houses was $187,250 and on Condos was $172,000.  The sold houses averaged 1,844 square feet, and the condos were an average of 1,024 square feet. The average days on market was 119.  That means that if your house sold today, you put it on the market back in July.  According to the MLS, the average sale price was 95% of the currently listed price.    This was my favorite house to sell this week: Lincoln District Craftsman   4 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, for a total of 1750 Square Feet.   Hardwood Floors... Nice Paint... Nice Trim... It's in my neighbrohood (Lincoln District) and sold for $215,000.  This house is really cute.   Nice living room with fireplace. Accord... 11/23/2008

Yesterday I did a 10 mile run ( shorter than last weekend since I am looking @ doing the half marathon even for the Seattle marathon next weekend, just have to see if I can still register)     The day was one of the most beautiful I have seen in months and it was a totally perfect run, decent time and lots of fun and not even a touch of knee pain.   Then I came home and made lunch for everyone and got things together with my family before heading to the office to print off my open house fliers for my "Tell 100" on my newest listing.  ( this is part of my marketing plan for homes where this really makes sense. ) The home is located @ 4214 North Highland and is a rambler with about 1100 sf, hardwood floors, french doors, a great deck and a nice lay out.  I really like it.  What I learned ... 11/23/2008

Here's a great article by the News Tribunes Dan Voelpel, (who is my favorite because he mentioned me and linked to my website in a story once) about Harold Allen.  Harold is retiring after 60 years in Real Estate and will be honored at Cheryl O'Brien's Installation as Tacoma Pierce County Association of Realtors President tonight at the Tacoma Yacht Club. 11/21/2008

I thought it might be interesting to take a look at two ends of the sold spectrum in the City if Tacoma. I ran a search for homes that had SOLD for over $1,000,000 since January 1st, 2008. Here she is... Miss Tacoma... The Most Expensive House to Sell in 2008 (so far!)  This house was on Ventura Drive in Narrows area. It has 4 Bedrooms, 3.5 Bathrooms, and 5,240 Square Feet. It has an inground pool with some pretty amazing views of the water, and an outdoor kitchen. It sold for $1,645,000.  It was listed for $1,850,000 and was on the market 200 days.  There were 7 houses and 1 condo that sold for more than $1 Million Dollars in Tacoma this year.  They spent an average of 148 days on the market and sold for an average of 92.5% of their list prices.            This is the winner though, at... 11/20/2008

You know you have one.  That bad christmas sweater that you got from your mom, your grandma, or some distant aunt who still thinks you're 11. In celebration of the bad christmas sweater- Doyle's Public House in Downtown Tacoma (both the Stadium District and St Helens Neighborhood claim this awesome bar) is having a Bad Sweater Party.  Mark your calendars for November 26th at 8pm! There is no cover, but you have to be 21.  There will be prizes! Raid your grandmas closet or head over to the Goodwill if you're too classy to have one of these waiting for you in your closet! 11/20/2008

Here's what selling in Downtown, and how much it sold for. This is all a matter of public record- So don't feel like you're doing anything naughty when you look. They all sold within in the last 60 Days. Reverie at Mercato 1501 Tacoma Ave S #419 Listed at $349,900 Sold for $320,000 2 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, 1040 Sq ft This one came with 2 parking spaces, Lucky! The Walker 405 6th Ave Unit#: 303 Listed for $468,837 Sold for $465,000 2 Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms 1383 Sq Ft Concierge and Room Service from Maxwells. 27th Street Station A103 2 Bed 1 bath 760 Sq Ft Listed & Sold for $149,990 A203 2 Bed 1 Bath 760 Sq Ft Listed & Sold for $158,990 C301 2 Bed 1 Bath 790 Sq Ft Listed & Sold for $165,000 No HOA Dues til 2009 and giving a $4,000 Buyer Bonus Rainier Vista 1919 S I St #2 2 Beds 1 Bath 725 ... 11/16/2008

So I have been working an expired plan for thepast few weeks now and have to say that I am frustrated.  Not by the amount of No's I receive or rude comments.  Most sellers are very polite when I call.The frustration is that I do not understand some sellers sometime.  For example, I have been talking to one seller who does not understand why his house has not been shown by other agents.  Even though I usually do not mention the previous agent at all I had to share with him that his agent and company did not include photos, agent or public remarks describing the house, no Internet presence nor was it on a new listing tour, blah, blah, blah He had already received my resume which outlines my marketing plan, referrals and number's he could call to talk to past clients.  I feel I had nailed ... 11/10/2008

While yesterdays .5% cut by the Federal Reserve won't necessarily translate into lower interest rates on 30 year fixed rate loans, it will lower the rate on most home equity lines of credit.  Most home equity lines of credit or HELOC's are tied to the Prime Rate, which is currently at 4.00%. TIP: If you have a home equity line of credit, the first thing to look at is what your current lender is adding to or subtracting from the prime rate to calculate your interest rate. This is called the "Margin."  For example if you have a Prime + 2% Home Equity Line of Credit, your rate would be 4.00% + 2.00% = 6% vs a lender that has a Prime -.75% or 4.00% -.75% or 3.75%.  Most borrowers who took out a 2nd mortgage or piggy back loan, depending on how much you put down are paying Prime + 1.00% or 2... 10/30/2008

Do you buy mostly organic food?  If so you know it is not the most inexpensive way to eat.  Those of us who go out of our way to eat organic usually believe that the true cost of eating any other way is much higher than eating organic....but that does not mean we LIKE paying higher to eat more healthily...   So for all of you who like to eat organic food and like to use organic cleaning products and so on, there is a well kept secret on the South End of Tacoma.  It is called McGregors.  You will find it just off the corner of 84th and Pacific, just past the Walgreens.  It is a little 2 story building that does not even look much like a store, but it is.   McGregors is a discount organic food store.  What will you find there?  Well it's al little different every time.  If you find someth... 10/26/2008

Well, had not been there yet until last night, but we had a coat that had a lifetime warranty on it need a new zipper and so we ventured into the "NEW" Nordstom store in Tacoma Mall. Our family has been going to the "OLD" Nordstom store ever since we moved to Tacoma in 1992, so the change, well....is a bit of a shock, we  could not find anything.  ( Which in our case is usually the ladies bathroom which we need to find fast since we have a potty training 2 year old in the family).  We now know where the women's bathroom ( "lounge") is  and from what the Nordstrom's staff tells me everything that is not the cafe' and women's clothing is down stairs, everything that IS women's clothing and the cafe' is upstairs....sounds simple, but things just looks so different that it will take me some... 10/24/2008

  Tacoma and local cities market update 10/24/2008 ( EdwinZetino.com )  This update is an example of how important it is to be priced correctly to become part of the number of homes that are being sold. Today the NWMLS reported 150 sold properties in the local area of Tacoma and Pierce County. This number translates to approx. 12% percent of new listings, re-priced and properties with some kind of activity today. There are also another 15% of properties which became "pending sale" today. The market trend shows that there is plenty of positive activity in our market today but it is crucial that listings are priced accordingly to be considered by any potential buyer. For any assistance or questions in regards to real estate please contact The Rock Solid Team at Keller Williams Tacoma. 253... 10/24/2008

If you have a mortgage in the $417,000-$567,500 range you may be interested to know that interest rates have fallen below 6.00% (6.039APR).  Here's an example of a loan All Tech Mortgage closed last week:  $563,000 loan amount, 46% LTV, 756 Fico Score, Rate/Term refinance at 5.875% (5.938 apr) with No Points or Loan Fee.  The only costs associated with this refinance were third party fees, title escrow, recording fees etc.  Based on the media reports you would think getting a mortgage would be close to impossible, but that's simply not the case.  One of the borrowers on this refinance transaction, commented how lucky they were to be getting a loan in this environment.  Here's the good news, as long as you can verify your income, have good credit and low loan to value, there's plenty of ... 10/23/2008

How Does a Wall Street Bail-Out Bill Affect Main Street? Large and small companies across the globe rely on access to money markets to finance their daily operations, including inventories, and payrolls. Lenders routinely make loans to these companies, and to each other, to make it all happen. When lenders have confidence in these markets, and investors have confidence in this system, we have a functional marketplace that, for the most part, is sustained by competition. When confidence in this system is shattered, however, like it has been recently, credit becomes expensive and scarce to all parties, and small and large companies alike can choke to death waiting for the short-term capital it needs to fund its long-term success. This directly affects you and your family. It means a slowe... 10/19/2008

Looking for a home to rent where your land lord welcomes Fido too?  I have a client with a great 3 bedroom 1.5 story home with an extra room as well in a nice part of South Tacoma.  He will allow for dogs in this location. The house has lots of light and is close in to everything.  The back has a deck and there is a fenced yard for your dog.  The rent is $950 a month.   This same client also has a house for rent that will soon be available in the Tacoma/Lakewood/UP area.  It is a cozy 2 bedroom with a fire place, and a garage and  will rent for $850 a month.   He is also about to purchase ( it closes this month) another South Tacoma home in Fern Hill area it has 4 beds, a garage 1.5 baths and a big yard.  Rental amount for this one to be determined.  Please contact Anna Matsunaga of Tea... 10/13/2008

I've been writing a series of blogs about how to take care of all those seemingly minor items that always seem to pop up on inspection reports.  They've been spread out over the last couple months so I wanted to re-cap them here: Tip #1-Vegetation Tip #2-Light Bulbs Tip #3-Caulk and Grout Tip #4-Smoke Alarms Tip #5-Cellulose Debris Tip #6-Wallplates   "Be sure to check out my other blog entries. You can get your 10 daily comments in right here, right now! Simply scroll through the blog entries in the widget just under my picture at the upper right." Tacoma Home Inspector   10/07/2008

When I first ventured into this profession, I did a lot of research on my competition and what I found surprised me. For one, I didn't find any inspectors that offered different inspection choices. I'm not talking about ancillary services like septic, radon and mold. I'm talking about different types of the home inspection itself. Also, I found that most inspectors don't offer many benefits to their potential clients like a free warranty, referral rewards, voice mail discount or live chat for immediate customer service. Without further ado, enjoy a free inspection if you can find a local inspector (Western Washington) that rewards their clients with ALL of these benefits: Choices! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee Referral Rewards Program VidTip FREE 90 Day Warranty FREE Pest Inspection FREE... 10/05/2008

We sold our house yesterday. What sold our house in this slow market?  ME. Just kidding. Paintings, updates and attention to every detail. We kept our house staged and extremelyclean from the very first day on the market. We put new furnace in, new tankless water heater, good appliances. We spend 25,000 on landscaping last spring. Well, we didn't know that we are going to get a job transfer. Sound view and some fantastic wall finishes completed the package.  And how important the photos of the listing? Our buyer is actually in New Orleans right now, her children came to see the house and loved it. But their mum said, yeas, let's buy it, after looking through photos of the house I took on Internet. How amazing is that? Than we got a call from a different agent that was quite upset becaus... 09/22/2008

Tacoma Real Estate stats for sold condos in the Downtown and North Tacoma are showing some interesting trends. With 38 units sold in the last 6 months in my market sample, the Tacoma condo market can still be described as soft, although I do see signs of improvement for prospective sellers. Median Tacoma Condo units that have sold are as follows: 2 bedrooms 1.5 baths 900 sq ft Selling price of $237,000 84 Days on Market  With a median price of $237,000, plus incentives such as the 10 year Tax Abatement, $7,500. first time buyer tax credit, and Tacoma's down payment assistance program. It's truly a great time to be a buyer! But there is one figure that points to hope for the seller as well. The median % of list price to sales price is 96.7% This is a rather telling statistic for Tacoma r... 09/15/2008

I was contacted by a reporter from the Boston Globe a couple weeks back she was working on an article about truth in advertising for getting a house sold.  (pretty much that it is good to tell it like it is.)  She came across a blog I had written, "Personal Ads/Real Estate Ads, reading between the lines." She contacted me for quotes and had some questions.  I just got an email today to let me know that the article just came out.  A fellow KW agent was also quoted.  I hope it helps get the much needed information to sellers and Realtors alike, in this market, and every market in fact, but especially THIS one, it is so important to tell it like it is. That way when you say some thing is fantastic people will believe you. Also you don't waste the time of a buyer who really is not a fit, yo... 09/14/2008

On Saturday, September 20th, my family and I will be joining a huge crowd of folks for the "4Us" event.  Ride4Us is a 5, 25, 42, or 62 mile bike trip through Tacoma and Gig Harbor, for those of you who enjoy bicycling.  Run4Us is a 5k or 10k race through Pt Defiance along Commencement Bay for those of you who are into running.  For the rest of us, there is Walk4Us, a 5k walk through Pt Defiance.  Everybody will enjoy Fun4Us, with live music, inflatable big toys, diaper dash and toddler trot, food, go-carts, etc!  Fun, basically. 4Us benefits CareNet Pregnancy & Family Services.  Their studies have found that over 90% of women who are able to see an ultrasound of their baby choose life over abortion.  That number staggers me.  Problem is, many women can't afford ultrasounds.  Enter CareN... 09/12/2008