Four Washington state-based banks, including the Bank of Everett, will begin operation as one institution Monday.

Bank of Everett will consolidate itself into Bank of the Northwest, along with Bank of Bellevue, Bank of Tacoma and Issaquah Community Bank. The move is intended to alleviate pressure on the banks’ Michigan-based holding company, which was hit hard by federal regulators last year.
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In a continuation of the bank mergers and acquisitions, the Bank of Everett, the Bank of Bellevue and the Bank of Tacoma and the Issaquah Community Bank have all merged in under the Bank of the Northwest.  What this means for consumers is still not clear.  My main concern is for what this continuing consolidation of lending power means to the home loan market.

All we can really do is wait and see what effect the bank consolidations and raising of the Fed interest rates will have on consumer home loans.

On Friday, January 22, 2010, Evergreen Bank, Seattle, WA was closed by the Washington Department of Financial Institutions. Subsequently, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver. No advance notice is given to the public when a financial institution is closed.
All deposit accounts, excluding certain brokered deposits, have been transferred to Umpqua Bank, Roseburg, OR. For more information on Umpqua Bank, visit us at www.umpquabank.com.
The FDIC has assembled useful information regarding your relationship with Evergreen Bank. Besides a checking account, you may have Certificates of Deposit, a business checking account, a Social Security direct deposit, and other relationships with the institution.
Please select the link below to read more about this event:
FDIC Bank Closing Information for Evergreen Bank
Online service will remain available.

Most home owners in the Seattle area are in a short sale situation.

I am not a big proponent of letting the banks foreclose on homes.  Foreclosures are hard on your credit and makes it impossible to buy a home again in the near future.  Letting the bank foreclose on your home also means a 200-300 point hit on your credit report.  Not a good thing.

The much anticipated government programs to get banks to do loan modifications is not having a stunning effect.  I have heard few success stories, and while it is possible, it is not a guaranteed thing.  Plus, this is only an option if you are planning on staying in your home.  If you have to move, tough luck.

That leaves short sales; the bane of real estate agents lives.  Many are even charging money up front just to take a short sale listing.  I still don’t but it is a trend I am seeing more and more.  Some agents are not even taking short sale listings or even showing them to their buyers if they can avoid it! 

Short sales mean we need to not only find a buyer from your home, but convince the bank that they need accept an offer that they should take less for your home than what is owed upon it.   I would love to tell you that I am capable of making banks process short sales and that every one I have laid hands on has magically gone through, but banks don’t work that way.  Offers made on short sale properties can take months to process.  Much of that time is just sitting in the dark, and that is AFTER we get an offer.

What I can tell you, is that you absolutely need an experienced, skilled agent that can keep the sale of your home on track.  Not submitting the right piece of paper, or saying the right magic words can result in the bank rejecting an offer or denying your short sale.  This isn’t for the faint of heart. 

Sadly, if you are upside down in your home right now and have to sell, a short sale is your only option.  It isn’t an easy process and no agent, no matter what they say, can guarantee success.  What I can tell you is that I have been doing short sales for my clients from before it was a household term. 

Are you are in a situation where you need or have to sell your Seattle area home?  Call me today at 425-773-3149 right now!  With short sales, time is of the essence, especially if you are behind on your payments and are looking at an auction date coming up.

Not in the Seattle area and need to sell a home?  Feel free to contact me for a referral to a top notch real estate agent or real estate investor that can help you get out from under your home.

Photo courtesy of TheTruthAbout…

Stop by and check it out the next time you are headed into town.  The address is 7024 Evergreen Way so drop in and take a look!

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If you have been shopping for a home and been dealing with the banks, you will definitely relate to this video!

This is a great reason to have me on your side when you are dealing with bank owned or short sale properties.  I can be at least a little buffer between you and the lunacy of the banks, and I actually enjoy verbally bludgeoning other agents into action.

The elections this past Tuesday were not a referendum on President Barrack Obama or his plans and policies. How do we know that? Because everyone associated with the Obama administration loudly insists that this cannot be so. They ought to know, right?

Senators and Representatives from states and districts that supported John McCain in the last election might have second thoughts, though, and this is very far from being a bad thing.

Americans insist to each other that they want a government that gets things done — except when they happen to be suffering under a government that is getting things done. If this election was not a referendum on Obama, it was a loud, angry shout about what the government has been doing lately.

The last time voters repudiated an over-ambitious president — the last six years of the Clinton administration — the nation experienced a period of tremendous growth and prosperity. The American people recoiled in horror from socialized medicine, and the resulting government — liberal president, conservative congress — was amazingly beneficial for the American people.

How? By getting nothing done, that’s how.

For free markets to work at their best, entrepreneurs need to be able to plan for the future. If they can surmise that prices and credit terms will not swing wildly over the next few years, they can plan their investments with a sense of security.

And if not? Not.

The Obama administration’s herky-jerky dance of currency inflation, stimulus programs, emergency bailouts and tax credits not only cannot stabilize the economy, they do exactly the opposite: They convince entrepreneurs that now is not a safe time to make plans for the future.

This goes for the real estate market, too. Buyers sit on the sidelines waiting for new tax credits. Sellers live in dread of future interest rate hikes. The Cap and Trade bill promises to complicate life for every homeowner.

So how might these elections have helped us all? It’s simple. If Senators and Representatives are afraid to act, nothing will change. And when nothing changes in Washington, everything changes, usually for the better, for everyone else.

Contributed by: Phoenix Realtor Greg Swann

If you are at step zero with no savings and shaky credit then I would encourage you to make a one year plan for the purchase of your first home.  I know it is a long time to wait in our ‘on demand’ instant satisfaction world, but it is realistically the time frame you should look at.  In that year, there are some things you need to take care of.

Building up your down payment
I would make saving 5% of your purchase price your target for the next year.  This may sound stiff, but the more down payment you can save, the better your loan, and the more prepared you will be to purchase a home.  This means in the next year that you will need to cut your expenses and do what ever you can to increase your income.  If you can save up $1,000 a month for the next year, that will give you a 5% down payment on $240,000 home!

Improve your credit score
Banks don’t care how nice a person you are, or if you have good intentions.  They really only see you through the lens of your down payment and credit score.  The higher the number the better, but you should work to get your score above 620 and preferably above 720 to get really good loans.  Get a copy of your credit reports and start looking for negative items you can fix.  Challenge incorrect items, pay off any collections and overdue items. 

Be careful not to close any credit cards, only pay them down.  A common mistake is to pay off and close credit cards thinking it will help.  The truth is that closing a credit card changes your ratios and will actually reduce your overall credit score!

Educate yourself on the financing process
All too often first time home buyers get burned on their home loans because they didn’t realize all the ways that lenders have to make money off of them.  Learn about loans, the fees and so on, so when you sit down to get a loan, you won’t be getting ripped off!  If you have any questions about your loan, I would also suggest that you consult with your real estate agent.  They should know enough about loans to give you an honest opinion.

Find and work with one good real estate agent
You have a year before it is time to buy a house so interview several real estate agents and find one that will work with you and give you solid advice and counsel on areas and what homes are right for you. A good real estate agent will definitely be an asset in your goal of purchasing a home.

Be patient!
Not everything we want in life comes at us at the speed of an order at the McDonalds drive through.  Sometimes we have to wait to get what we really want.  If you have any questions or need a referral to a great real estate agent, feel free to contact me at Jacquie@JacquieCliff.com!

Here is a map to the Sustainable Living Fair.  I won’t get to attend because I will be out showing homes all day, but I am sending the rest of the family down to check it out and learn more about living sustainably!

There is a new Fred Meyer in Lynnwood opening up Friday Sept. 25 at 2902 164th Street Southwest and I couldn’t be happier!  For months the construction has been underway at the Alderwood location on the corner of 164th and Alderwood Mall Parkway for a new shopping center anchored by a spacious 177,000-square-foot Fred Meyer grocery store.

I have often times visited the Fred Meyer on 196th, but it was not a convenient location for me to get to.  Apparently, the executives at Fred Meyer were thinking the same thing and filled the grocery store gap along this stretch of 164th.

The new Fred Meyer even has a fuel station, which should have good prices if their other stores are any indicator.

It is nice to see this sort of project coming together in a time when we definitely need more jobs in the community.  The new Fred Meyer expects to employ over 300 people, which explains the very full parking lot I have been seeing there the last few days.

According to the article in the Enterprise about the new Fred Myer, Friday will be a festivity filled day with free doughnuts in the morning and an official cake cutting in the afternoon. 

I would like to finish up by saying welcome to the new store, I am sure you will have plenty of customers, one of which will be me!

Fred Meyer Official Website

Step zero in selling your home in 5 days is choosing the right real estate agent.  Why is this step zero?  Because without a professional real estate agent you aren’t going to go anywhere fast!  Enlisting the help of the right agent to help you sell your home is key to getting it sold fast.  They have to know what they are doing and be accessible to answer questions and get things done!

The first step to selling your home in 5 days is having it staged correctly and ready for buyers to see. This means that your home is clean, clutter is removed and it is 100% showroom ready. As a professional real estate agent, I can tell you with certainty that a home that is cluttered, dirty and/or smells bad will turn buyers off instantly! You are already planning on moving, so take this opportunity to pack away all your personal items such as photos and extra clothes, as well as some of your furniture. Helping my clients decide what needs to be done to their homes prior to listing is

Step two to selling your home in 5 days, is to have a professional home inspection done ahead of time. This saves buyers some worry about what work needs to be done and gives you time to address any items that may come up. In all likely hood, you will recoup the cost of having an inspection done via the speed in which you sell your home and final selling price.

The critical third step to selling your home in 5 days, is pricing. For a fast sale you must price your home aggressively. I would suggest 10-15% below your nearest competition. This may be a hard pill to swallow, but when time is against you and you need to sell NOW, it is what needs to be done. With the abundance of homes on the market, buyers can be picky, and the first item on their list is almost always the price of the home. Price aggressively and you will get offers!

Step four to selling your home in 5 days, is offering to pay closing costs right up front. Almost all buyers are going to ask for at least some concessions to pay for closing costs, so speed thing up a little, and make your home more attractive to buyers by offering a reasonable amount towards their closing costs right up front. This may be the ticket in getting the buyers that were riding the fence, to make a move on your home.

Step five in selling your home in 5 days, is actually accepting an offer. In my career, I have seen it happen several times that we have brought a property to market staged and priced correctly and gotten an offer very quickly, only to have the sellers balk at it. They assume that if they got an offer that fast, they may be able to get a better one if they wait a little while. This is a false assumption. In general, you will almost always get your best offers first. The longer your home is on the market, the more shop worn it will be and the a lower price it will garner because of it. Speed is your friend. The faster you can get an offer in and accepted the better. Remember that every day that you are sitting in your home you are paying interest on your loan.

Those are the main five steps in selling a Seattle area home in 5 days. These rules apply to other areas of the country as well, but there may be some differences depending on your market. While there is no guarantee that following this formula will get an offer in 5 days, it normally should. 

If you have more questions or need to sell your Seattle area home, give me a call at 425-773-3149!  Good luck and I hope to talk to you soon!