Market InfoNeighborhood September 24, 2021

Three new light rail stations – North Seattle, Oct 2nd!

SEATTLE — Commuters will soon be able to ride underground from Downtown Seattle to Northgate traffic-free when three new Link light rail stations open next month.

The 4.3-mile Northgate Link Extension will open on Oct. 2 with new stations in Northgate, the University District and Roosevelt.

The U-District and Roosevelt stations are underground. The Northgate station is elevated and will act as a transit hub with frequent bus connections, a park-and-ride, and a bicycle and pedestrian bridge to North Seattle College.

During peak hours, trains will run every 8 minutes. A trip from Northgate to the Westlake Station in downtown Seattle will take 14 minutes.

Tacoma’s Hilltop, the Eastside, Lynnwood, Federal Way and Downtown Redmond stations open by 2024 and will nearly triple the length of the region’s light rail system from 22 to 62 miles.

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/three-new-light-rail-stations-open-north-seattle-next-month/NBAWQYJOPRDZ5F7LCJDMNZPHWA/

 

FamilyGiving November 12, 2020

It’s Pie Time!

Happy Holidays.

It’s that time of year again when we (me and my daughters, Morgan and Paige) deliver Trader Joe’s Pumpkin pies to all of my clients – past, present and future.

We deliver a freshly frozen pie before Thanksgiving, right to my clients doorsteps – NO TOUCH DELIVERY!

As much as I’d love to travel to other states to deliver pies, I’m one person and try to stick to the Seattle area for my deliveries 😊

So we let my out of town clients designate a Seattleite to receive their pie.

 

Happy Holidays and I hope to connect with you in the coming year!

Robert, Paige and Morgan

P.S. Here’s a little memory from our 2018 delivery. ❤

Market InfoMotivationalNeighborhood May 29, 2020

Pending Sales up +15% vs LY!

I’m still amazed at the residential housing market’s resiliency through all that his happening in our economy.

Cliff notes below from our designated broker, Laura Smith

Expect more new listings. Expect more new pending sales. Historically March to July are the five months with the most new listings (10 year average for King County Residential shown in table below).  The coronavirus likely delayed new listings by 45 to 60 days. What will happen with more new listings?  More new sales. My guess is starting in July number of sales in 2020 will exceed the number of sales in 2019. 

King County Residential Only for the weeks ended Wednesday (5/27/20):

Summary (details below):

The number of new pending sales in the last seven days exceeded the same week in prior year.

  • Expect next week for sales to be between 80% and 100% of the prior year.
  • Memorial Day under the stay order had less impact on sales than Memorial Day with no stay order.

Number of King county pending sales increased for the last nine weeks:266, 309, 367, 460, 489, 508, 598, 622, and 645.

We need inventory! Inventory is down over 40% and sales are equal to a year ago.

Months Supply of Inventory is low enough to make multiple offers commonplace:

  • King County is 0.9 > down 40% from a year ago (1.6).
  • Seattle is 0.9 > down 53% from a year ago (1.9).
  • Eastside is 1.0 > down 50% from a year ago (2.0).
Market InfoNeighborhoodOpen Houses May 26, 2020

Questions to Ask During Your Virtual Home Tour

This is a great article from our Windermere Blog by Sandy Dodge in our new reality of real estate.

Questions to Ask During Your Virtual Home Tour

Posted in Buying by Sandy Dodge

Robert B Johnson, Seattle Real Estate

Image Source: Canva

 

Thanks to COVID-19, the new reality is that many open houses and home tours are being conducted virtually. For prospective home buyers, this new territory brings an added element to prepare for in the home buying process. Some of the questions that should be asked in a virtual home tour parallel those of in-person tours, but others are unique to today’s virtual world.

 

Could you zoom in?

  • Sometimes it can be difficult to get a true glimpse at what you want to see in a room. Asking the agent to zoom in on specific features is commonplace in virtual home tours, and they understand this is part of the viewer experience. Don’t hesitate to ask multiple times. Getting a better look at everything you want to see will help you feel like you’ve gotten the most out of your virtual tour.

 

How many square feet are in this room?

  • Virtual tours can slightly distort space, making it tough to gauge the size. The room-to-room square footage is information the agent is sure to have handy. Since you can’t be there in person, it will help you piece together the virtual visuals with the sense of physical space that we’re all accustomed to feeling in the places we live.

 

What color is that?

  • In the smartphone era, and computer era at large, we have come to understand that digital representations of color are not always true to the eye. Ask the agent to confirm specific colors so you can plan accordingly. Have a color swatch on hand or look the colors up online as you go through the tour.

 

When were the appliances last updated?

  • The importance of this question rings true in past, present, and future. Knowing the state of the home’s appliances, and the likelihood and timing of when they will need replacement, is vital information for both assessing the move-in readiness of the home and understanding what costs might lie ahead.

 

Has the seller provided an inspection?

  • This is another example of a critical question, whether your home tour is virtual or physical. If the seller has already done an inspection, ask the agent to lead you to any areas of concern based on the inspector’s findings. If there is anything that has not yet been addressed by the seller, have your agent ask what their plan is for making the necessary repairs/updates.

 

When is the offer review date?

  • Understanding the seller’s timeline for reviewing and accepting offers will help guide your decision-making process and allow you to strategize based on the timeline.

 

Whether your home tour is physical or virtual, getting the information you need to make an informed decision remains paramount. Although there is no substitute for physically being in the home you are looking to buy, keeping these questions in mind will position you well as you progress through the home buying journey.

FamiliyGivingHome InfoMarket Info May 21, 2020

Phased RE Opening & Rebound

804f962c3f9ef58a0c75e7af_1280x988.png


Gov. Inslee lays out our plan

A 4 Phase plan to re-open Washington from the Stay Home Order.

In this letter, I will give my interpretation of this plan and how it relates to real estate along with updates and clarifications from the WA Realtor Association.

This plan is similar to many other states including NY and CA in that it has specifics about what can open at each Phase but doesn’t put a timeline on future phases.
But, Phase 1 started on Monday the 5th! Each phase should last about 3 weeks.

The WA Realtor Assc. announcement, below, interprets the governors announcement for real estate activity.
It says that all real estate activities will be allowed in Phase 2, with the exception of maybe in person open houses since gatherings are restricted to 5 people total.
Also in Phase 2, housecleaning is allowed which I think gives way to allowing contractors into your house to prep your home for sale.


GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES 4 PHASE APPROACH – from WA Realtors Assc.

On Friday, May 1st Governor Inslee announced an extension of the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order to May 31st and laid out a phased approach to re-opening the State economy. Phase 1 begins Tuesday, May 5th. Please note that this does not affect the modifications that were made to the original Stay Home, Stay Healthy order that allow certain real estate activities to take place.
Phase 2 businesses will include all other real estate activity including commercial real estate, the re-opening of real estate offices, and services such as sign installation. Phase 2 also allows gatherings outside your residence for up to 5 people, which presumably would apply to parts of the real estate transaction such as showings, appraisals notarizations, etc. The Governor’s phased-in plan will apply in counties that have been harder hit by COVID-19. The 10 counties that have not been as impacted by the virus will be allowed to apply for waivers that will let them open up faster (see KING5 story for summary).
Although it is not yet clear when Phase 2 will begin, we will be in constant dialog to make our case for the earliest possible start date that is consistent with maintaining public health as the number one priority, and we also will continue urging the Governor’s office to approve additional, and safe, modifications that we’ve requested to allow brokers to more fully meet the needs of their clients.



RE Transactions Rebound

Transactions in Seattle and King Co. bottomed out the first week of April, down -65% vs LY but have been increasing since this low.

This data plus a decrease in market time to sell a home and a +8% increase in sold home prices in April in Seattle show us that there are still buyers in the market and they are transacting.

The residential real estate market is still active and I think it will be headed back to “normal” once we are further along into Phases 2 & 3 this summer.

Only time will tell how the Stay Home Order will ultimately impact our housing market.

So far, real estate is fairing better than most segments of our economy.


Almost $700k for our neighbors in need!!

Thank you, thank you to all that helped support this incredibly worthy cause to help our neighbors in need and bring food and resources to our local food banks.

Our agent supported Windermere Foundation matched $250,000 to the $440,000 raised to get the total donation to almost $700,000! Amazing!



Life goes on…

I know it’s been hard for all of us to adapt to this crazy time and it is so much

more challenging for the most vulnerable in our city.

Things around my house have been moving forward, sometimes without me. I owe so much to my incredible family!

They have all stepped up and kept a positive attitude while spreading some kindness.

With love, the Johnson’s

My wife, Lari, and I celebrated our lucky

13th wedding anniversary in early May!

 


Market Info October 23, 2019

Gardner Report 2019 – Q3

Our esteemed economist, Matthew Gardner, has released his 3rd quarter assessment of our Western WA real estate market. Enjoy!

FamilyMotivationalNeighborhood September 10, 2019

Proud to support our #tacklehomelessness for Mary’s Place!

GivingMotivationalNeighborhoodPop Culture March 11, 2019

Debuts & Discoveries – What’s new in Seattle beverages

Debuts & Discoveries – Beverage Tasting – Saturday, March 16th from 5-8pm

D&D is a great gathering of new talent from the Seattle beverage world with offerings from wineries, breweries, cideries and distilleries. Food trucks on site as well.

See link for all details & to get tickets.

Enjoy some tasty food and beverages and support Outdoors for All.

Helping children with disabilities get out!

I’ll see you there. https://lnkd.in/dx7hU58

MotivationalTestimonial March 11, 2019

From Istanbul to Seattle!

The best, best part of my job is when I get to handover the keys to a first time home buyer! And this time Yasemin came all the way from Istanbul and has made a life here in Seattle and has now bought her first home!

Her mom is even here from Istanbul to help her move in!

It gets me a little choked up when someone gets into their first place and they’re so excited just to walk through the door! Best feeling and best part of my job!

Welcome home Yasemin!

Home IdeasHome Info February 12, 2019

The Big Melt 2019 – This phase could be the most damaging yet.

Here are a few thoughts about melting snow, possible water intrusion and houses from Don McFeron at Scout Building Inspections:

“Gutters and downspouts full of snow and ice can back up if it starts raining before the snow and ice melt.

Water backing up in the gutters can be a real problem if you have a house without much of a roof overhang, because instead of wetting the soffits, it can get into the walls.

Roof downspout in-ground drains can ice up, and then the water coming down the downspouts can spill out next to the foundation. If the house has a finished basement, the water next to the house could get into wall cavities through the footing-to-foundation joint, and any through-wall penetrations or cracks. Make sure that water coming out of the downspouts runs down into functioning in-ground drains, or route the water on the surface far enough away from the foundation that the water cannot run down next to it and get into the basement or the crawl space.

Snow in a basement window well can get up against the windows and window trim. When the snow melts it could get in through small gaps between the windows and trim.

Water from melting snow that has piled up against a door can get in through weep holes and weather stripping as it melts.

When you shovel a walkway, be careful to not pile the snow up against the side of the house.

Snow on a roof can get up under the flashing around skylights, chimneys, plumbing vents, attic ridge vents, etc. Pretty much all of the flashings and roof boots are designed to protect against water that is flowing down hill. Blowing snow can get under the edges of flashings or pack in around them and then drip down behind them as it melts. Usually the amount of water would not be noticeable, but in a situation where there are several inches of snow followed by a quick melt and a lot of rain, it could be a problem.

I cleared the snow off of my roof top deck tonight because the snow was deep enough that when it melted it could have gotten up under the siding, through gaps between the door to the roof or through perimeter flashings and into the house. The through-wall drains were packed with snow so that water may not have been able to drain through them.

Keep dry,

Don”