This “Best of Craigslist” post is a lot of fun and even better since it comes with fun graphics! You may not agree with this guy’s commentary or choice of who he’d vote for but you will likely get a kick out of his comparison of those running for our nation’s top spot and the characters of Star Wars.
2008 Pension Plan UpdatePlease note the following pension update for the 2008 Pension Plan Year:
The above is offered as general information and not as tax or legal advice.
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=174873,00.html
Which is your favorite way to search for properties?
Real estate office
1%
Real estate publications
2%
Driving through a community
15%
Internet
79%
Over on Zillow I will occasionally reply to various requests for information from the public. I consider it one of the many educational forums that we at Team Reba can provide and it’s a nice way to help out others. A lady recently asked about whether or not liability issues would be raised if a seller had a “bouncy” on their property – I’m guessing that this is one of those inflatable type systems or a smaller version of a trampoline.
You can read my reply, as well as others, here…
An incredibly huge TV size of 150 inches was revealed at the consumer electronics show this week. Check out the photo used in this online article about it and in the photo below you’ll get an eyeful of some Sumo wrestler’s WAAAYYY too up close for my tastes.
Although this big item seems to fly in the face of what MSNBC is saying is most popular at the trade show – small technology items.
We’ve always been a fan of the 2x a year 25 for $25 program that runs in November and in April especially since one of our favorite Ballard eateries, Market Street Grill, is on the list. What’s great is to see that there is a new, similar program called Dine Around Seattle’s 30 for $30 that is running in January that brings on a whole new list of newer restaurants. These are spread out over a larger geographic area and includes some places on the Eastside too. Unfortunately, none in Renton, but perhaps the southend will come up with their own program sometime in the near future.
An excellent follow up post from Deborah Burns regarding the new law that requires house flippers to register as contractors is here on Rain City Guide.
Also, expect in the next few weeks to see a series of articles from Gerald Grinter about how flipping is impacts your insurance coverage and the pitfalls to look out for when insuring a property you are purchasing as a flip investment.
The beginning of the year is always a busy time but let’s do a quick check and compare activity from just 2 months ago. On November 19th, 2007, I wrote this article that discussed how new homes on market were on par with the number of homes implementing price drops. To update to January 2008 (at least the first few days) here are today’s current numbers for the 24-hour market watch as of this post date/time:
New listings: 903
Back on market: 349
Price Increases: 49
Price Reductions: 459
Contingents: 11
Pendings: 218
Solds: 265
Expireds: 191
Inactives: 219
That’s quite a shift in a relatively short period of time, but it’s not shocking because the first quarter of each calendar year is generally the most busy in real estate particularly for getting listings on the market. Most people ramp up after the holidays.
I’ll be watching the daily numbers and reporting on occasion what we see and if there are any particular trends that occur.
I’ve been an associate member of Rental Housing Association of Puget Sound (www.rha-ps.com) for many years now and I have to say that they offer really great courses for landlords that I don’t think enough people take advantage of locally. Chris Benis is one of the most well regarded and premier attorneys locally with respect to landlord/tenant law. He’s teaching this class coming up next week. Other classes are available through the RHA organization and should be on every landlord’s list for “things to do” particularly if you are newer to rental property ownership.
| Seattle Landlord Tenant Law Clock Hours Available by: Chris Benis, RHA Legal Counsel & Board Member |
| Thursday, January 10, 2008Location RHA Conference Room 529 Warren Ave N Seattle, WATime 3:00pm – 6:00pm ProgramCost Members – $45 Members /w Clock Hours – $60-SPACE IS LIMITED PLEASE REGISTER EARLY Please RSVP before Wednesday, January 9, 2008Don’t be in the dark about the challenges of being a Landlord in the City of Seattle. The landlord tenant laws of Seattle are unique and not always intuitive. In this class, we focus on everything that a Seattle landlord must know to comply with the City’s laws. Special attention is paid to the Just Cause Eviction Ordinance, Landlord Prohibited Acts Ordinance, Rental Agreement Regulation Ordinance, and Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance. More info or to Register Online… |
Happy New Year, Everyone…
Here is a link to my “January Real Estate Update”:
http://realtytimes.com/110/RebeccaHaas
This Newsletter is full of interesting and useful information that I think you will enjoy whether you are a buyer, seller, homeowner, or renter. Articles are written by a variety of authors from the real estate industry, including myself.
This month’s issue includes topics such as:
“Top 10 Tax Breaks, On The House”
“Battle of the Warring Housing Price Indexes”
“Smoothing The Rough Road To Refinancing”
“Going Green: Easier Than You May Think”
“Understanding How Federal Reserve Rate Cuts Work”
Plus a roundup of December real estate activity as well as much more advice and information.
I hope you enjoy this monthly newsletter. If you have any comments, please e-mail them to me. Or, if you would like to see a certain topic covered in future months, let me know that too!