Hamilton's Property

Got $3 million and a dream? The luxury housing market in King County was a good place to be in 2011! The average price per square foot, average sale price and number of homes on the market all point to the continuation of a huge buyer’s market in these higher price brackets. While there’s no set definition of what the “luxury” market is ($1 million buys a lot more home in Phoenix than it does in Seattle), for this we’re looking at homes that sold for $3 million or more.

The by-the-numbers list below shows a steady decrease in price per square foot, and on top of that, at the current pace of sales, it would take four years for all those homes to sell. In a balanced market, there would only be 4-6 months of supply.

Redfin area manager Febe Cude works mostly in Mercer Island, Laurelhurst, Ravenna and Queen Anne. She says

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Risky mortgage lending played a significant role in the credit crunch that started the financial meltdown of the past 4 years.

The housing boom saw 100% plus mortgages and ‘pile-em high sell-em cheap’ supermarket style mortgage pricing.

When the market peaked in 2007 just about anyone could walk in to a high street mortgage lenders branch and apply for a 125% loan to value mortgage.

Although the mortgage market seems to have almost corrected itself, the Financial Service Authority (FSA) has published its recommendations for reform. The

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With the recent run-up in row-crop farmland prices, savvy investors should be looking to similar investments that offer many of the same benefits of crop land ownership, without the hefty price tag. Timberland is just such an asset. In fact, timber is a crop. It just has a much longer production cycle. And here’s a secret…when you look at the asset classes held by the ultra-wealthy, almost without fail, you will see a heavy timberland flavor. Institutional investors, and high net worth individuals have already begun to take advantage of this opportunity. If you have not recognized this opportunity until now, it’s time to educate yourself on the benefits of timberland ownership.

Now I’ve mentioned the wealthy a couple of times here, but that does not mean you need 10 million dollars socked away to buy into a timberland asset. Those w

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After reading this, be sure to check out Winnipeg Home Finder  Print This Post

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Perhaps the most common question would-be home buyers ask me is What do you think this house will sell for?.  (Actually, home OWNERS ask the same question).

The real, honest answer is: Whatever someone is willing to pay for it.  Since we dont have a Crystal Ball, no one can predict the final selling price.  It all depends on how many offers there are on a house, and how badly someone wants it.  Incidentally, I dont like the term bidding war, because that is really not correct or descriptive of the process.  But here are a couple of guidelines to help us along in the offer process:

If the house has been on the market for a few weeks, or even months (yes, that DOES happen, even in Winnipeg), and the owner and their agent have never adjusted the price, the buyer might try to offer something a little lower than asking-price.  Provided that the buyer (with his own agent)  has done some comparing and homework, and assuming that the listing price of the house is not pie-in-the-sky-dreamin, an offer of a few thousand below asking price might be accepted.

If the house is taking offers on a given date, and the buyer is lucky enough not to have to compete, putting in an offer of full-asking price might not be a bad idea.  Again, I stress that the buyer thru his agent, has performed a comparison-study of the house, and assured that it is fairly priced.  Assuming the asking price is realistic, a buyer might be well advised to count their blessings for not having to compete against a number of other buyers.

If the house in question is receiving 5, 6, (thirty?) offers, then all bets are off.  Ive seen some pretty scary and ridiculous things happen in a case like this, and my best advice to my buyer would be: Write your best offer.your walk-away price.  In other words, if the house goes for more than your offer, you feel youve given it your best shot and dont wake up the next day going Doh ala Homer Simpson.

The reason that bidding war is somewhat of a misnomer: In a case of so many offers, the process is really pretty simple..put your best offer forward and hope for the best.  On the plus side, at least you will find out almost immediately (within hours, anyway) whether your offer is accepted.

Ive had a few buyers who have tried to buy a Private Sale, and were left hanging for a week before being rejected.  In their case, they could not go out and pursue other homes, while their offers, (along with the deposit cheques) languished in the home-owners hands.  It seems that some private sellers are being coached to hold on to offers and tell the buyers that they have to think about it?.  Then, during the next week, while they are no doubt thinking hard, they are also shopping the offer around.

Please remember this:  yes, the market is hot, competition for homes is fierce.  However, homes listed with Realtors still have certain rules to follow, whereas private sellers are pretty much left unregulated.  Its buyer beware to the extreme

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Two Riverton residents were sentenced Thursday for their roles in a mortgage fraud scheme involving properties in Davis, Salt Lake and Utah counties.

U.S. District Judge David Sam sentenced Christopher Ethington, 36, to three years and one month in federal prison for his guilty plea to mail fraud. His former wife, Janet H. Ethington, 34, was sentenced to 30 days in a county jail and was put on probation for five years for her guilty plea to mail fraud.

Sam also ordered the pair to pay $1.3 million in restitution.

James Merrill Roberts, 42, of Cedar Hills, also is serving a 37-month federal prison sentence for his guilty plea in the case.

Roberts and the Ethingtons were charged in a 12-count indictment in June 2010 that alleged they operated a scheme to identify residential properties, recruit straw buyers and then use false statements on loan applications to inflate the value of the properties and convince lenders to grant loans for amounts in excess of the properties’ market value.

Federal prosecutors said their investigation focused on 18 residential properties, but a significantly larger number of homes were involved in the scheme.

Roberts pleaded guilty in May to mail fraud and money laundering. A

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