When an appraiser comes out there are things they look at that add, or subtract from the value of Comparable Properties. Comparable Properties is kind of a meaningless term. I use town homes as my best example. Comparable Town Homes can be just as worthless as the one that is being appraised. Adding value for a view doesn’t translate into a property value. The view has a value, but the property is questionable. I’m told I may need to adjust my prejudice against town homes as time goes on.

The same is true in a property with obsolescence. The interior may be gorgeous, but the systems may need updating. One classic example is when the appraiser, or home inspector notes there is low water pressure in a newly remodeled kitchen, or bathroom. It could be caused by a lot of things, but there is a good chance it’s the pipes. So the remodel is actually a liability to getting at those pipes.

A buyer’s agent should know property value. They should know the market place, but they should also know what has value, and what to avoid. You learn that by looking at houses, closing transactions, and getting feed back. It helps to have taken apart a few places.

People in the Real Estate business, lifers, are worth the time to find. All agents charge the same, but a few have value.

Seattle was called The Jet City, and we had the Seattle Super Sonics basketball team. The city rallied around Boeing, and supported their continued growth.

Jet City Real Estate was a small Brokerage that was abandoned. In 1986 I wanted to open a Brokerage on Phinney Ridge with that same name. In 2003 the domain name was still available so I bought it, and built a web site around the name. It included links to history about Seattle, and the Boeing company. The internet was changing rapidly, and I was losing links faster than I could add them. Images were also bought by Getty, of Boeing planes, and cityscapes of Seattle so they were no longer available for free.

I’ve included some of those links here, and a page about the Jet City. The Jet City name ties in to some of my more recent articles about Internet Brokerages. I would like to promote an old school approach to Real Estate. Back in the day when you hired an agent you could trust to show you properties of high quality that had value.  

The focus of this site is to bring back some credibility to the Real Estate profession by promoting those agents, and Brokerages you can trust.

She told the story with a matter of fact point that the value of the house was solid, it is what it is, and some one should buy it for the price it was listed for.

That makes it sound like Mary’s a big talker when she is actually too busy for chit chat, or preoccupied. Constantly moving forward with great attention to detail she engages her day with the tasks she has to do for her clients. Mary is absolutely brilliant.

This is the agent you want on your side. When working for you she keeps track of what your goals are. As she moves through her day of working with properties, being in the field, keeping track of her geographic area, she’ll call you when she has results.

The agent’s point is that people need help today more than they did in the past. There is a lot of information on line, but I’m also finding people call me to ask for an opinion about the property they own.

If you have a portfolio set up for price appreciation, or rental income, great, hold on to it. This is also a good time to position yourself for rental income. 

What I’m addressing are the number of people who got the idea Real Estate was a good investment ten years ago and today they need some guidance. There is also a growing group of people who have planned for retirement that want help navigating the changing Real Estate landscape.

Some agents are equipped to handle the market place today, others are stuck in a distant past. Brokerages can have both kinds of agents. I’m finding that some Brokerages are dominated by two or three agents who have put together teams.

It’s important for you today to find the agent that will bring you the highest level of personal service. Just because you hear the name of the brokerage, it is better for you to interview the agent.

Jim is an easy going guy who was not at all apologetic about the price of the property. He held his Open Houses, and the property eventually sold, for about asking price. 

For me as a new agent Jim became a topic of conversation. I was told that he was that guy who was OK, but not universally accepted in the Real Estate community. Jim Stacey was a Buyer’s Agent before any one knew what that was, so if it’s not normal it must be bad.

He plowed ahead and started giving classes in Real Estate at the North Seattle Community College. He must have published his book by then because my fiancee at that time had a copy of it. She took his class so she could relate to me better about Real Estate.

He took them on a field trip to show them what was a bad Real Estate purchase. It was a marblecrete exterior house on the corner of 92nd, and Wallingford. It still has the white picket fence, but is still ugly. It’s extremely functional, but ugly.

After what is now 25 years, the over priced listing I met Jim at, and the ugly marblecrete house, still look the same. Jim’s over priced listing is still a sought after property, while the marblecrete is still ugly. For me it’s an indication of the value of a good eye for property.  

We need more savvy Buyer’s Agents in todays quirky Real Estate market place.

The idea Jim Stacey was promoting is that people needed to know they could rely on him to work in their best interest when buying a property. At the time the sellers were the only one’s who had a contract to pay a Real Estate commission.

Chuck Cady, who was new to the business about the same time, was also smart enough to agree that as a listing agent it was hard to turn around, and represent buyers. Ann Babb-Nordling was working with Chuck, and they agreed she should work with the buyers while he concentrated on listing properties.

Ann, ultimately, inspired this site. She was the first person I asked when I converted this site to Word Press. Since the mid 1980s she has consistently represented buyers in a wide variety of transactions.

Other business models have come, and gone over the past twenty years, and this idea of Buyer Representation continues to be a controversy. Through all of the debate Ann Babb-Nordling has become the very best of that skill set.

Working in teams is something hard to explain. In this particular match up all team members work for Windermere close to the Windermere neighborhood. They are life long residents of the areas of Laurelhurst over to Montlake. It was natural to form an alliance rather than compete. In some cases a team can deliver much more, and that is the case here.

This is a group of people who have lived, and worked in the communities they represent. It is the most grounded example of the very best type of representation you can get from a Real Estate professional. It’s small town booster meets high powered negotiator, in a nice way.

I should write about clout some time. It’s more than a big stick, because all of the Maider Knowles team are the nicest people you would ever want to meet. It’s the confidence you can have when they are involved. They bring the highest level of integrity to deep rooted industry knowledge.

On the HUD1 statement the buyer’s agent commission is still shown in the seller’s expense column so many people want to claim that the seller is paying both buyer, and listing commissions. The fact is a HUD1 is a mortgage industry form that is going to be hard to change. The law however is fairly clear to me. Buyers have the right to be represented. http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=18.86&full=true

Phew!!! that was a lot to say about something that should be very clear. Another fact is that I have been in discussions about Buyer Agency with Real Estate Brokers for the past two weeks. My opinion is that brokers want to keep buyers from being represented. Most brokerages feed off the free agent buyer who gets passed from online searches, to other agents, to shopping open houses then one day they find what they want, or an agent shows them what they will buy, and they hire the agent who is closest, at that time.  

It’s a game.

In the next post I’m going to talk about the Buyer Agency Agreement most brokerages want you to avoid. Most buyers also want to avoid being tied to an agent for an extended period of time. I have my opinions though about how a property search could be better handled.

I have a lot of online discussions about schools, or job centers at places like Ballard, or Fremont, but The Public Market, the village in Magnolia, or Wallingford’s walkability play the added role of making a community desirable.

My absolute favorite of local business lore is the Honey Bear Bakery which is now out in Lake Forest Park. It was near Green Lake, and the location is now a bar called Tangle Town. Home buyer’s still refer to the area by the business name. Real Estate agents will put in marketing comments that a home is near Tangle Town.

These nuances to a Real Estate market are why there is the phrase “Real Estate is local.” When looking for a property, or when marketing a property, it helps to know what makes the community valuable. There are more than statistics that make up market trends, and great agents are involved with the community, many times helping change happen.

I have posted the names, and some stories about agents that are great resources for the consumer. In following posts I’m going to explore more of that.

These are dedicated hard working people. There isn’t really anything fancy about them, they have jobs that they are good at, and look to have some fun along the way. They are both grounded, common sense, honest talkers who have a wealth of knowledge.

When you look at properties listed by Neale you know it’s a solid house, priced well. There’s none of that second guessing that it’s too expensive, or too cheap; it’s fair, and a good value. Neale appreciates property. She is as knowledgeable about site placement as well as construction for the era, no matter what era.

Harry has always been active in the politics of Real Estate. I was surprised that Samaras Property Management was his company. I knew it, I have met him several times over the years, but he has always been Harry, rather than the great company he built.

I should do a separate post about good property management. It’s an art to maintain property properly without breaking the bank, and giving a good value. Dealing with both land lords, and renters is a hair pulling experience. It’s like being constantly in grade school. Rent must be the hardest check to write, and land lords think we are in a time of lords, and masters. In reality it’s a business that gives both sides an advantage, over the course of time.

So, Neale, and Harry compliment each other, support each other’s business, and have been the best value you can get. Many fortunes have been made with them, and I hope they continue to be what the Real Estate business ought to be.