Neale, and Harry Obedin

Real Estate is a long haul business. People who work “in the business” tend to own and manage properties along the way. Neale, and Harry Obedin did just that. Neale is the Real Estate agent and Harry owns Samaras Property Management.

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.

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Twice Sold Tales

Here in Seattle we have a tradition of reading books. The rainy weather keeps people indoors in the winter time. Many people have massive book shelves loaded with hard backs, and even paper backs. 

I was at the library last week to get a book about business by Napoleon Hill. I wanted the book for a video presentation, it was a part of the staging. The library didn’t have a copy, or any copies of his books. You could however download the books through some system the library has.

Well I wanted the book that day so I went a used book store that also didn’t have any copies, which took me to Twice Sold Tales here in Seattle. They also didn’t have a copy. During our search in the store the clerk told me they were closing one of the two last remaining locations. The person behind the counter matter of factly said “people don’t buy books any more.”

I understand. Barnes and Noble is restructuring, other book stores are struggling, online sales is one reason, and electronic books is another. What is sad in the passing of the book store business model is the sense of community.

I spend a lot of time on line. There are people I have never met who correspond with me daily. Between the Face Book, and Twitter, along with all the other network sites, there is a pretty broad base of people who come together every day to share thoughts, or strategies.

In my opinion the book store was going to be a survivor. It does make sense that the small cloister of people who made up the literary scene of Seattle could get smaller and share more online. My thought though was that in trading books you would want to see them. Evidently the collecting of books got to be an even smaller group.

One book seller went from store front, to online, to liquidating her entire stock in one transaction with a book broker. The demand just isn’t as great.

I’m just noting the passage. I have no real opinion of it because like I said I spend a lot of time online.

The store of Twice Sold Tales had been a staple in my life for thirty years. The rows of books along with the cats, there have always been cats in the store, was a refuge. I spent many afternoons looking for books that I wanted, or needed. Today I just Google the information.

It is a loss, and as much as I would say we should save the tradition, I know there is more to do in my day.

http://www.twice-sold-tales.biz/

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Detailed Restoration on Vassar Avenue

We need to get permission to advertise another agents listing. I wanted to get my thoughts down on “paper” as soon as possible while they are still fresh. There is a house that has been completely redone, on Vassar in the Hawthorn Hills neighborhood, that is worth having, no matter what the price.

It happens to be a million dollars, but that is irrelevant to what it’s worth. It’s worth much more.

The concrete work is top of the line. It is the focal point of the curb appeal. Many people are probably more attracted to the cedar shake siding, with tight black trim, but for me the concrete gives you the feeling of crisp lines. This is a place of substance. Your walk in gives you every indication that some one spent a lot of time on detail.

Once you enter it feeling a little more normal. It takes a moment to adjust. You can see the house, but the detail is a little muted. You can see the kitchen, it is meticulously done, much better than anything you have seen, but it seems kind of plain from the doorway. You may even be standing in the kitchen before you see the yard beyond. Then the whole experience once again anchors you into the idea that this is exceptional.

While you stand there looking at the yard, with the concrete, sports court, standing fireplace with Tudor detail, the metal sculpture, you begin to sense the stair case to your left. it’s just a sense until you move that direction, and see the master bedroom. The vista from the open stair case, and bedroom could have you anywhere in Europe.

Below the high ceilings, finishes, and expanse are lit by the windows in the stairs case. You have to move to the front of the house before there is a sense you are below ground. Once you get to the garage, that has wood paneling, the good 1950s kind, you forget about it being a basement. It’s extraordinarily detailed, in every way.

Once you are back upstairs the remaining two bedrooms, and bath, even though they are spectacular, seem kind of routine. There is a folding stairs in one bedroom with a child’s play area in the attic that is expertly finished, with operable skylights.

Now for the nerd factor that is all me, the furnace is in the closet in the attic play room. This is where you know that every little detail has been thought out, and considered. There are two furnaces, one for the main floor, and one for the lower level. You can also see that they sistered in some supports, and the opening for the stairs are anchored with metal brackets.

This is a work of art. It would be another example of properties worth owning. It’s worth the price as a whole, but it is also a massive investment in minute detail.

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The Lones Group

Denise Lones has been a fixture in our local Real Estate market place for decades. She’s in Bellingham, I’m in Seattle, and I don’t think we have ever met. She sends e-mails, cards, and a newsletter called the Zebra Report. She does one on one training for Real Estate agents who need help marketing.

Her presence has been felt by every one here in the Pacific Northwest whether we have used her services or not. She represents what traditional Brokerage is all about, the interaction of people. Her very style is being out there, present in the market place.

Real Estate is local. It’s a personal experience for every one who buys or sells a property. Denise has brought that personal touch into Real Estate marketing, while expanding the service. Her next set of projects are internet blog based. We wish her the best. She has certainly uplifted the Real Estate community.

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The Ability to Negotiate

There was an article in our Sunday paper about how people find the property they buy on line. It’s now up to 47% of people, shopping for a property find the property online. That is probably a true figure because more, and more people come into a Real Estate office clutching a fistful of papers of properties they want to see.

Once the list is compiled, and the agent opens the doors of the properties on the list, the buyer may chose one, write the offer, then send it off into the hands of the listing agent. Unfortunately that probably happens more times than not. The agent may suggest a lower price based on sales statistics, but beyond that it’s become a pretty frightening experience.

Number one is the cost of maintaining the property once the buyer takes on that responsibility. There are things that need to be done that the inspector won’t bring up, because they aren’t defects, they are maintenance items. There may be, and today there surely are, things done to a property to get it sold. We deduct for a lot of that, such as refinished hardwood floors. Bad paint jobs are my pet peeve. Then there are the things about a property that are unique. These can be beneficial or a hindrance.

This may, or may not be the right property for you. I usually use a second pair of eyes from people in the Real Estate business, and we usually discuss purchases. Do you get the same feed back? Better yet do you use your personal financial plan for a property as a negotiating point? Are you getting a planned investment?

The ability to negotiate, for me, is one of the main reasons to hire an agent. If it is just opening doors then, yes, any one could do that.

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Seattle as the Center of the Universe

It’s very apparent to me why Seattle Washington, and Washington State became such an economic power house. We have old money. We have timber, gold, and shipping money by the bucket loads. We sat in between the California, and Alaska gold rush. We were a stop over on the way to some place else, maybe to China.

When the wars came we had an air plane factory. We forget that we also had Naval Ship Yard, and we were well defended. We sent logs to Japan at premium prices, along with apples. Then there was technology.

We have a lot of great companies here, even if they are based some place else. Our system of politics is a little tax happy. We were, after all, a Socialist State.

There has been a lot of speculation about where the next round of commerce will be for the State of Washington. There seems to be a loss of direction since Washington Mutual closed under a cloud. The Bio Tech Industry that was setting up here seems to have stalled, as it should be, by ObamaCare. No one seems to be talking about the future of the City, or State.

What that means is opportunity. Rents are declining, and commerce is in short supply. Old money can afford to play wait and see, but this time is different. Big players have already left, never to return. Political hacks milked the system of high taxes, with frivolous government job creation. The next step down will be massive lay offs with unfunded transportation. We’ll see about the seawall.

This all means opportunity. Bad news is good news in building a Real Estate.

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La Marzocco Seattle

La Marzocco is an Italian espresso machine maker. They have been based in Florence Italy since, I think, the 1920s. Most people know who Starbucks is. They know they are a Seattle company. They make coffee and the espresso they made, past tense, was made in a La Marzocco machine.

There was a distributor here in Seattle of the la Mazocco machines who were happy to sell the first few hundred machines to Starbucks. As Starbucks expanded so did the distributorship. When Starbucks went International the Seattle distributors bought the Florence factory, and added a plant here in Seattle, in Ballard exclusively for Starbucks.

As the Starbucks expansion continued the two factories couldn’t keep up with the demand. Another division was formed to make automatic espresso machines. They combined three other machine manufacturers to make faster espresso machines. Then there was McDonald’s who wanted to sell espresso drinks.

Once McDonald’s entered the espresso business all artistry went out the window. La marzocco severed ties with Starbucks, and went back to making the world’s contender for best espresso machine. The factory in Ballard closed, leaving a new parts distribution center in the older part of Ballard.

Future articles will talk about the art of coffee, and I started a www.rumblefishespresso.com blog.

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$309 Thousand Dollars!!!

Three hundred nine thousand dollars will buy you a tear down in my neighborhood. That’s $309,000. It’s a tear down, there is no hope for the structure. The Real Estate agent was rattling off the improvements the current owners did, but the house was never built to last. Some old guy, it’s always an old guy, built it during some very lean years, maybe out of what he could find.

The back yard is spectacular. The current owner certainly made an oasis of the large back yard with Southern exposure. That part is worth keeping. The rest of it has to go. It may have a foundation to work with. There is no basement, just a tall crawl space.

Using the rule of three the house built on the lot would need to be at least a milion dollars. The neighborhood can support that so maybe there is a chance for a sale. I was just shocked by the price.

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Making a Low Ball Offer

One of the first things to consider is that no one likes to carry a low offer to a property owner. In todays market it will become more normal. The real estate blogs are filled with advice on how you should proceed. Sales data, even historical data will be of little use.

What people forget is that in real estate there have always been formula buyers. Some buyers will buy anything that fits the formula they have. Number one is the ability to pay off a property quickly. If you have a business plan in commercial real estate you follow that. Residential purchases can work the same way.

A young couple that I worked with ten years ago made an offer on a house that was as much as they could afford. They were tired of looking at properties, and just took the chance. It turned out the seller was making an aggressive price reduction if the property didn’t sell over that week end, they had to be in Boston in a month.

You never know what the circumstances are for the seller of a property. Low offers will become normal this year. What you should do is have a plan, to go along with the offer. You’re also going to need an agent who can present the offer well. You need some one to go to bat for you.

An investor who made an offer on one of our properties was making twenty offers a week. His agent was simply faxing in the offer with no follow up. I, as a comparison want to present my own low ball offers, at least to the agent, or the agents broker.

In my opinion no one should be offended by getting an offer from a qualified buyer. Getting a pre approval for over the loan limit on a specific property helps a lot in having the offer considered. Your ability to close a loan will be a huge factor this year. All your negotiations should be up front, get an inspection done as soon as possible, and be willing to walk away.

Never nickle and dime a deal once you have it. Just assume that the house need at least $5K worth of work. You’re going to want it your way, anyway, so just figure you’ll be doing repairs. Become a serious buyer who is there to close the deal.

Real Estate is an investment. Think like a professional.

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The End of the Housing Panic

Most people look for information about Real Estate online from Real Estate sales sites. Big Real Estate companies put home searches on line so you can “shop.” Those sites also provide a forum for people to discuss the Real Estate market.

The internet is filled with opinions, this blog has my opinion. Another site that had an opinion was called Housing Panic which closed a couple of years ago after the housing market crash. The writer predicted the crash and followed the demise. He has a new blog called Soot and Ashes.

In an interesting twist last month the author return to the site, that now sits idle, with a prediction. He says now is the time to buy Real Estate http://housingpanic.blogspot.com/

He doesn’t really present a compelling reason, he’s simply saying to buy. In my opinion he is presenting a view point I had when I set up this blog. The Real Estate market declined sharply so that there is a panic about owning property.

I just thought it was interesting that his opinion would come out at the end of last year, and will follow what he has to say. My conclusions may be different, but the idea is still the same. You can buy now, buy well, if you make a solid financial decision.

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