3 Types of Homes on the Market: Your Questions Answered

I want to take a minute to explain that today there are 3 types of homes for sale:

1. Organic

2. Short Sale

3. REO/Bank Owned

The type makes a difference to you the buyer because each sale has a different closing time frame and closing probability. The first think you must determine is HOW SOON WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE MOVED INTO YOU HOME?

Based on your answer to the above question will determine which properties you should look at.

Let’s go over each Seller “type” of home and discuss them each.

1. Organic. This is a normal equity seller. They are typically not financially distressed. They typically are not late on their mortgage and are not facing foreclosure. This is where the current home owner wants to sell their home and they are either breaking even or they may have equity. BENEFIT: We can close the sale in typically 30-45 days. No bank approval delay. We can get an answer on your offer immediately (24hours). The condition is typically better than Short Sales or Bank owned homes.

2. Short Sale. This is where the home seller is late on their payments and may be facing Foreclosure. The listing agent lists the home at an aggressive price hoping to secure an offer. If the seller accepts the offer, the offer then has to be sent to the bank or banks and or trustee for approval. CHALLENGE: This can take 3-6 months (sometimes up to a year) to close a sale. You will have an answer from the seller immediately but the banks may take several months to approve the sale. Also the seller actually has to qualify to Short Sale their home. If the seller has too much money in the bank or makes too much money monthly at their job, they may not qualify. The condition can vary but is typically poor.

3. REO/Bank Owned. The original home owner defaulted on their loan. The bank Forecloses on the home and lists it for sale at a discounted price. BENEFITS: Typically the best buy on the block. Fast closing 15-30 days. The condition can vary but typically the homes need some work.

So I hope that helps you out in looking at homes. You must first determine when you would like to be moved in. If you have lots of time you have more options. If you have a short period of time you should consider the property types carefully.

Momentum building as home buyers respond to lower prices, favorable financing

Northwest Multiple Listing Service members reported a 43 percent increase in pending sales of single family homes and condominiums during May compared to the same month a year ago. Sellers accepted offers from 7,509 buyers last month, up from the year-ago total of 5,242 pending sales.

Year-to-date pending sales are slightly under the total for the first five months of 2010 when sales were boosted by a federal tax credit. Through May 2010, Northwest MLS members had reported 35,454 mutually accepted offers; this year's total for five months is 33,612 (down about 5.5 percent).

"We're seeing a definite shift in the market – especially in the areas closer to Seattle and Bellevue," remarked OB Jacobi, president of Windermere Real Estate and a member of the Northwest MLS board of directors. "Homes that are priced aggressively are seeing a lot of competition and we're even getting reports of some homes selling before buyers can act," he stated.

Members reported 5,015 closed sales during May, about 5 percent fewer than the year-ago total of 5,290 completed transactions. For the first five months of this year, a total of 20,473 transactions have closed, which compares to 21,861 for the same five months of 2010 (down about 6.8 percent).

For the four-county Puget Sound region (King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties), pending sales through five months are at 97.6 percent of year-ago levels, while closed sales are at 95.6 percent of year-to-date totals for 2010.

Northwest MLS reports both pending sales (mutually accepted offers) as a barometer of the most recent sales activity, and closed sales (completed transactions).

Matt Deasy, the general manager of Windermere Real Estate/East, considers the small differences between year-to-date figures for 2011 and the "tax incentive fueled market" of 2010 to be "good news."

Mike Grady, president and COO of Coldwell Banker Bain, was also upbeat in his comments about the current market. "The substantial jump in pending home sales reported today won't be surprising to the brokers working in the core urban markets of Seattle and West Bellevue," observed Grady. He also noted the increasingly strong demand for homes and falling inventory "is making for a very competitive market in those areas, with multiple offers on the best properties becoming more common."

"Low interest rates, low down payment requirements, and lower adjusted prices are attracting buyers into the market," reported J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate. "We are seeing healthy sales activity close to the job centers of Seattle and Bellevue, creating a low inventory of homes for sale," he noted.

Members added 10,293 new listings to inventory during May, about 900 more than the same month a year ago for a 9.7 percent increase. Despite those additions, the selection is smaller than 12 months ago. At month end, there were 36,261 active listings of single family homes and condos in the MLS system. That's about 5,400 fewer than a year ago when inventory totaled 41,690 listings, a shrinkage of 13 percent.

"On King County's Eastside, we are seeing a decrease in the number of listings that are short sales or bank-owned properties," said Kathy Estey, managing broker of John L. Scott Bellevue Main. "Inventory of quality homes in median price ranges is low and we see multiple offers in most price ranges, including homes in the higher prices ranges. Some of the old, stale inventory has sold. However, the majority of homes are still selling for less than full price."

Jacobi said a recent review of Windermere's sales data shows that 40 percent of homes in the median price range are selling at list price and many of these buyers are paying cash. "With that being said, the market is still very price sensitive, so sellers need to continue to be realistic about the value of their home," he stated.

The median price for last month's sales system-wide was $239,999, about 11 percent less than a year ago when it was $269,950. Brokers attribute much of that price decline to the fairly high ratio (estimated at 30-40 percent in many markets) of foreclosed homes and short sales that are being sold at deep discounts.

In King County, prices slipped 8.4 percent, from $346,000 a year ago to $316,750 for last month's closed sales of single family homes and condominiums. For single family homes only (excluding condominiums), the median selling price was $345,000, down about 9 percent from the May 2010 figure of $379,000.

Grady is encouraged by the momentum. "The last few years, home sales haven't sustained much momentum without government support," he noted, adding, "This year, however, the momentum is continuing to build naturally, as we would normally expect in the spring and summer months. Remember, by this time last year we had already experienced all of the benefit of the homebuyer tax credit, and sales began to wane after that credit had expired. We see an entirely different dynamic this year."

It's obvious not all local markets are improving equally, Grady acknowledged, suggesting, "It's also obvious that the basic market forces of low supply and high demand are beginning to shift buyer or seller attitudes in many neighborhoods. That's good news for sellers, and perhaps a cautionary message to buyers as well."


Northwest Multiple Listing Service, owned by its member real estate firms, is the largest full-service MLS in the Northwest. Its membership includes more than 22,000 real estate brokers. The organization, based in Kirkland, Wash., currently serves 21 counties in Washington state.

Curious about QR codes?

A few statistics underscore the skyrocketing popularity of QR (Quick Response) codes, with real estate professionals being among those who are embracing this nifty tool.

The Nielsen Company estimates U.S. smartphone penetration will hit 50 percent by the end of 2011. New York-based eMarketer, an authority on digital marketing, media and commerce, reports there are currently 73.3 million smartphone users.

According to the new site Mashable and JumpScan:

52% of mobile users have seen or heard of QR codes; of those,
28% have scanned one. iPhone users scan by far the most, at 68% (versus 26% of Android users and 4% of Blackberry users).
QR-code scanning rose a whopping 1,200% from July to December 2010.
Companies like Starbucks are already using QR codes (as well as barcodes) to enable users to pay for their purchases via mobile. A whopping 3 million customers have already tried it.

Many of the major airlines are now using 2D codes as digital boarding passes, and by the end of 2011 all carriers will be required to provide this service for international flights, notes Jeff Korhan, an online marketing consultant/blogger, professional speaker and coach. "I tried this myself and it works like a charm," he reported, adding, "My only suggestion is to not rely on the link, but rather to save a copy of the image on your phone. You don't want to risk not being able to find a good signal when you need it most!"

SunMaid, a 99-year-old company, hopes to leverage the technology in a promotional tie-in with DreamWorks Studios and last month's debut of its animated movie Kung Fu Panda 2. Packages of its raisins are adorned with the QR code. Upon scanning it, consumers land on a mobile website where they can enter a contest for a chance to win prizes, including the grand prize VIP trip for four to the Giant Panda center at the Atlanta Zoo.

QR codes have been in use in Japan, where they were invented, for more than a decade. Denso Wave, a subsidiary of Toyota, holds the trademark, but that company is not exercising its patent rights in order to encourage widespread use. (The codes were initially used for tracking parts in automobile manufacturing.)

In some ways, QR codes are similar to barcodes. Unlike the linear one-dimension barcodes, which have a capacity of 20 numerical digits, QR codes are two-dimension matrix codes with the ability to hold thousands of alphanumeric characters of information. The information encoded can be text, URLs or other data and digital content, and the codes may appear in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards or other objects that consumers can scan to access more information.

QR codes can be scanned or read with a number of mobile devices, including iPhones, Android, BlackBerry or other camera-enabled smartphones. (See box for links to download readers and code generators.)

In an article Korhan authored on practical uses of QR Codes, his list of current and anticipated applications include:

Business cards and other stationery
Brochures and other marketing materials
Advertisements
Vehicles
Product tags and packaging
Name badges
Event ticket stubs
Point of sale displays
Coupons and special offers
Signs
Recommendations for complementary products and services
Purchase receipts
Links to installation and assembly instructions and demonstrations
Customer feedback forms
Warranties (e.g., sources for replacement parts and services)

A review of govloop.com, a social network for the government community, indicates rising use of QR codes in the public sector. Examples range from tourism (Manor, Tex., Long Beach, Wash., and Michigan Dept. of Transportation), to GSA campaigns and events, building permits (New York City), and conferences (Baltimore).

Real estate professionals are also adding the codes to their marketing arsenals. Rose Harris, a Realtor at ONE Sotheby's International Realty in Miami, told "Biz Byte" columnist Tasha Cunningham that she has been using QR codes to educate clients about the properties she sells. "We use them to drive traffic to our single listing websites," said Harris. "Our clients love them because they can simply scan the code and find out everything they need to know about a property without having to go to a computer to search for it. It's right there in the palm of their hand."

(Editor's note: Northwest Multiple Listing Service has rules governing two dimension barcodes, such as QR codes and Microsoft Tags. In general, they may be added to signs or fliers, but cannot be uploaded as listing photos.)



In an interview with Media Life Magazine, the publisher of Entertainment Weekly was asked about the future of QR codes. "They're definitely getting more traction," replied Jason Wagenheim, noting Microsoft's recent announcement that five billion of its MS Tags have been printed since their January 2009 launch. The same report indicated the number of product scans had doubled in just the past three months.

"I really feel that it's a technology that's here to stay and it will only get better, faster and allow for more interactivity, especially as we see adoption rates continue to increase," Wagenheim stated. "Like every other piece of new technology in this fast-changing market, we need more and more consumer adoption for it to be meaningful for our advertising partners, and we need our advertising partnershttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif to deliver strong messaging and rewards that makes it all worth it for our consumers."

Wagenheim expects the next phase of QR code technology for Entertainment Weekly will include building out a more robust destination that includes an opportunity for users to share just-scanned codes with their social network.

READ MORE
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
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List of recommended QR-Code reading software, available for download: http://www.mobile-barcodes.com/qr-code-software/
Code generators: http://www.mobile-barcodes.com/qr-code-generator/http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
"Who is Scanning QR Codes?" Considerations when producing a mobile strahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giftegy. The Po!nt: Mind your QR P's and Q's: http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/2271/who-is-scanning-qr-codes-heres-a-quick-update#ixzz1LCxMdWa1
20 page white paper titled "Harnessing the Power of the Mobile Web. http:http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif//www.knotice.com
How QR Codes Can Grow Your Business. http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-qr-codes-can-grow-your-business/
10 Ways to Use QR Codes and Microsoft Tags to Attract New Customers. http://www.bizbytes101.com/
QR codes and Microsoft Tags can boost your bottom line. http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/30/2241785/qr-codes-and-microsoft-tags-can.html
Microsoft Tags (works on various devices). MS tags can incorporate logos and images, but require a Microsoft Tag Reader, available at: http://tag.microsoft.com/download.aspx

Copyright © 2011, Northwest Multiple Listing Service

Home sales to rise 5% in 2011, according to Freddie Mac

Freddie Mac released its U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook showing a pick-up in economic growth in the second half of 2011 and a projected 5 percent increase in 2011 home sales over 2010, on a calendar year basis.

Other key findings from the report:

Over 250,000 new jobs are needed monthly, on a sustained basis, to reabsorb the jobs lost since the recession.
Average unemployment duration was 38.3 weeks in April, down slightly from the record of 39 weeks in March.
The rate of seriously delinquent mortgages (8.6 percent average) will likely trend lower during 2011, but will continue to remain at extraordinarily high levels for an extended period.
During the first quarter of 2011, home prices decreased by 2.8 percent nationwide.
Home buyer affordability remains extraordinarily high, mortgage rates low, house prices are well off their cyclic peak, and contract signings for existing home sales are up.

For the full report, visit: http://www.freddiemac.com/news/finance/docs/May_2011_public_outlook.pdf.

Foreclosure activity reached 40-month low in April, according to Realty Trac

Foreclosure activity dropped 9 percent from March 2011 and 34 percent from April 2010, according to RealtyTrac's latest U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. Foreclosure filings, which include default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions, were reported on 219,258 U.S. properties in April, the lowest level in more than three years.

The report also shows one in every 593 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during April 2011.

RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio said that the slowdown in foreclosure activity has more to do with ongoing delays in processing foreclosures than the result of a housing recovery.

“The first delay occurs between delinquency and foreclosure, when lenders and services are no longer automatically pushing loans that are more than 90 days delinquent into foreclosure but are waiting longer to allow for loan modifications, short sales and possibly other disposition alternatives,” said Saccacio. “Data from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows that about 3.7 million properties are in this seriously delinquent stage. The second delay occurs after foreclosure has started, when lenders are taking much longer than they were just a few years ago to complete the foreclosure process.”

Nationwide, foreclosures completed (REOs) in the first quarter of 2011 took an average of 400 days from the initial default notice to the REO, up from 340 days in the first quarter of 2010 and more than double the average 151 days it took to foreclose in the first quarter of 2007.

The foreclosure process took much longer in some states. The average timeframe from initial default notice to REO in New Jersey and New York was more than 900 days in the first quarter of 2011, more than three times the average timeline in the http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giffirst quarter of 2007 for both states.

The average foreclosure process in Florida took 619 days for foreclosures completed in the first quarter, up from 470 days in the first quarter of 2010 and nearly four times the average of 169 days it took in the first quarter of 2007.

The average foreclosure process in California took 330 days for foreclosures completed in the first quarter, up from 262 days in the first quarter of 2010 and more than double the average of 134 days in took in the first quarter of 2007.

For the full report, visit: http://www.realtytrac.com/content/press-releases/foreclosure-activity-at-40-month-low-6578

10 Markets Set for Biggest Housing Rise in 2011-- and Washington has 5 of the 10!!

Despite U.S. housing markets being generally dreary since 2008, there are a few promising patches across the country, according to 24/7 Wall St. Review . 24/7 Wall St. looked at data from Fiserve Case Shiller, which gathers and analyzes housing information, and compiled a list of ten markets that will rebound the most in 2011.

The list indicates that two kinds of real estate markets are on the rise: one that was generally stable, but was hurt by the recession; and one that will rise because lower housing costs are making it affordable for residents to buy a home for the first time in decades.

The twelve cities in which homes prices will increase the most in 2011 are divided into two categories. One comprises cities in the Northwest with mostly white populations, stable middle classes andone or two major industries that dominate employment. Some of these cities are removed from larger metropolises like Chicago or L.A., meaning they serve geographic areas that might stretch several hundred miles, making them business and agricultural hubs.

The second category of cities is composed of cities that have not been as economically prosperous, but have made the list because lower housing prices have changed the residents’ ability to purchase homes that were previously unaffordable.

10. Great Falls, Montana
9. (three-way tie) - Cheyenne, Wyoming; Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Washington; Myrtle Beach-Conway, South Carolina
8. Idaho Falls, Idaho
7. Bremerton-Silverdale, Washington
6. Grand Junction, Colorado
5. Bellingham, Washington
4. Spokane, Washington
3. Tacoma, Washington
2. Madera-Chowchilla, California
1. Mobile, Alabama