Team Reba Real Estate

Buying a foreclosure home in WA State? Be prepared that excise tax may become your responsibility if this Senate measure passes.

Filed under: Pierce County, King County, title/escrow, property taxes, Snohomish County, townhouse, Conventional loans, FHA/VA, single family, market activity, tax issues, buyer, seller, economic issues, legal issues, Puget Sound, foreclosure, real estate, condo, mortgage/loan, Washington — Reba Haas @ 10:54 am

WR Urges Call to Action on Proposed Tax Increase
Please send a message immediately to State House members to stop taxes on real estate. The Senate’s budget increases the B&O .25% on real estate professionals, as well as shifts the real estate excise tax onto the buyer of a foreclosed home. The Senate’s budget passed the Senate and is now being considered in the House.

The message above was sent out to real estate agents who are members of the local multiple listing service along with a link to the site where we could send a message to our representatives. For the general public, I realize that you may not care if real estate professionals are hit with a higher Business & Occupation (B&O) tax, but know that we have the highest rate of such a tax in this state.

The more important issue to the home buying public is the shift of moving the excise tax payment burden from the seller to a buyer of a foreclosed home. All this does is help lessen the costs of banks when selling their foreclosed inventory and it puts a higher cost burden on the buyers, who in many cases for first time buyers are just barely qualifying for the amounts that they’re purchasing in. If excise tax, which runs 1.78% here, is now put on them as a closing cost fee, then that buyer ends up paying the tax twice because they’ll have to pay it again later when they sell the home at whatever that new value will be at that time. Also, it will lessen the amount of home purchasing power that they’ll have, at least when it comes to buying bank owned homes because that will likely be part of the qualifying factors for the lender when they do their underwriting review. If a buyer is qualified at $200k for a traditional purchase but now 1.78% ($3,560 in this case) must be considered, then a buyer may not be able to buy a $199k home because the excise tax payment requirement puts them just out of reach if they originally only needed $7,000 for down payment via FHA (3.5%), PMI payment of roughly the same amount (possibly wrapped into financing) still increasing cost of loan and impacting qualifying factors, and reducing what they might have in their “reserve” accounts which are also factored in for qualifying because most banks want 3-6 months worth of funds available at closing.

If you are in support of not having the excise tax payment shift made to buyers, please contact your State representative immediately!

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Seattle City Council continues action toward 520 bridge expansion

Filed under: monthly newsletter, transit, King County, real estate, Puget Sound, economic issues, Seattle, Bellevue, Washington — Reba Haas @ 1:18 pm

Richard Conlin has a newsletter that goes out monthly that I peruse regularly to keep abreast of changes going on in Seattle. In today’s letter is a link to information on actions that Seattle City Council is taking to do additional research into best options for the west side interchange of what will eventually need to be a new 520 bridge crossing across Lake Washington. Check it out for more details.

For homeowners on either side of the bridge, the eventual work will have an impact on traffic for a while but the final choice for the interchange will also impact quality of life depending on who you are. If traffic can be improved, then it will give more options for homeowners to decide which “side” of the lake they want to be and make commuting to work more reasonable. If a short term view is taken then we’ll be fighting about this for 20 more years when more improvements need to be made because capacity and flow becomes an issue again.

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A very cool way to update your home for not too much money… with Sit + Sip and SAM SHOP

Filed under: King County, staging, townhouse, single family, home decor, wine/food, "Green" home info, Puget Sound, Seattle, condo, real estate, local events & places, Washington — Reba Haas @ 11:12 am

Sit+Sip teams up with the Seattle Art Museum’s SAM SHOP to help you take your home decor from winter doldrums to the fresh energy of spring.

Taking inspiration from the eclectic, artistic and colorful products available at SAM SHOP, and working from real photographs of your home, Piper Lauri Salogga of Natural Balance Home and Office and Sara Eizen of Nest will show you quick, easy ways to perk up and personalize your space for very little cash.

Bring photos of your home, or email your photo now to pr@seattleartmuseum.org to be considered as examples and inspiration in this lively presentation. Photos submitted before March 5 will be entered to win great prizes.

Wine and door prizes from the Seattle Art Museum and SAM SHOP will be up for grabs during the event.

Date: 3/11/2010
Time: 6-8 pm
Location: SAM SHOP
1300 1st Ave
FREE & Open to the public

Click here for more information.

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An interesting video explaining One West Bank profit model on “short sales” of former IndyMac loans

Filed under: King County, market activity, tax issues, real estate, Pierce County, Snohomish County, Conventional loans, FHA/VA, single family, condo, mortgage/loan, seller, economic issues, legal issues, buyer, Puget Sound, foreclosure, short sale, interest rates, Washington — Reba Haas @ 10:12 am

This is an interesting video about former IndyMac loans that were purchased by One West Bank and how the short sale process enriches that company. I had a short sale that I negotiated for a client last summer that included a 1st lienholder as IndyMac (now One West Bank) and our understanding of how these transactions worked helped us close a great deal for our buyer - without the… seller taking on a promissory note. What frustrates me is to see the lenders who buy discounted notes and won’t negotiate in good faith on the “short”.

Watch Video

Keep in mind, that if the short sale was an investment property, there is not only the possibility of a promissory note to the seller, but there are tax implications for any forgiven debt. Currently, with the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007, primary residences have had some reprieve from taxation on forgiven debt, but a lot of underwater loans belonged to people convinced of buying single family homes as investment properties who weren’t that financially stable to begin with but who had hoped to grow their assets but who are now losing nearly everything.

If you know someone who is in a position of needing to do a short sale in the King, South Snohomish or North Pierce County areas, please feel free to have them call us to learn some of the options available to them.

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FHA albatross of a townhome condo transaction is almost over!

Filed under: real estate, condo, market activity, King County, FHA/VA, Redmond, mortgage/loan, seller, economic issues, buyer, Puget Sound, HOA, Washington — Reba Haas @ 9:18 am

Many of you have read various posts from me over the past few months regarding FHA and the nightmares that it has been causing when trying to sell condos or townhomes with HOA’s. Well, my longest lasting closing is just about to finish this Friday. Tonight, I was able to give the happy news to my client that we got the final sign off on FHA approval to insure the loan on this property sale.

When the newer FHA rules came in to play we got caught up in the middle of it all in November when we learned that the reserve study the HOA had in hand hadn’t been approved by the board yet and FHA now would not accept spot approvals for anything with a reserve study outside of 12 months. Because of this, we thought it was a dead deal and the contract was rescinded in early December. Then it was like Phoenix Rising as in late December we heard that a lender was willing to consider the loan by using the budget review of the HOA as the determining factor. Ok, we said! So, back into contract we went.

Then December moved slowly on by and our goal of a January 6th closing extended further into January, with our extension for closing pushed to mid-January. Mid-January came and went and the next thing we knew it was pushed to late January.

Now, during part of this time I began to learn that the buyer was also dragging his feet. It became a catch-22 as the buyer wouldn’t follow up with loan conditions as he waited for FHA to move first with their approval. This caused unnecessary delays as having the closing loan conditions cleared would have helped with moving the loan into the hands of FHA earlier.

One of the many beneficial things we did on the seller side of things (I am the listing agent in this scenario) was for me to contact other listing agents in the same complex to build support for homeowners to apply pressure to their board to accept the reserve study - even if it was with conditions for review of certain elements. This along with another agent working with yet another lender to submit a full FHA approval packet for the development (only 1 out of 5 divisions had originally held FHA approval) which was approved within a day of our spot approval. Our client had at least passed an FHA appraisal in November and I believe that helped us as well since it would have been recorded against the property in the FHA database, plus at least 3 other homes had sold via FHA loans in the 6 months prior to all these changes.

So, our last extension put us to a Friday closing of this week. My fellow agents and our friend/clients out there, please cross your fingers for us and knock on wood that this is it!!!!

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King County reports upcoming 4-day closure info on South Park bridge starting Jan 30, 2010. Plan accordingly!

Filed under: South Park, Tukwila, Georgetown, safety issues, King County, transit, buyer, Puget Sound, West Seattle, Washington — Reba Haas @ 3:55 pm

January 25, 2010, King County Road Closure Update

Released: Jan 25 2010 10:53AM

The King County Road Service Division will close the South Park Bridge spanning the Duwamish River to both vehicle and marine traffic from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. daily Saturday Jan. 30 through Tuesday, Feb. 2. The four-day closure will allow engineers to perform noise and water quality testing and simulate vibration that might occur during bridge construction. During the closure, engineers will conduct pile driving to measure noise, vibration and take water quality samples. Data collected during the tests will assist the county in planning for construction of a new bridge when financing becomes available. During the closure, motorists can detour via the First Avenue South Bridge. This alert will be updated as conditions change and can be found at this link: www.rpin.org.

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Hard work pays off in getting FHA approval on a condo complex

Filed under: professionalism, real estate, title/escrow, townhouse, FHA/VA, condo, mortgage/loan, seller, economic issues, buyer, Puget Sound, HOA, Washington — Reba Haas @ 11:42 am

We’ve been working on a transaction for one of our clients since late October 2009. The client came to us the year prior thinking it would take him 2 months to get ready for on market, but then took 7 months to get there. I’d done a lot of early review of the property to try and determine our chances with FHA since only one part of the complex was initially approved when the development was completed. For those not familiar, if your complex isn’t already approved you can do what is called a “spot approval” with FHA but only IF your building meets certain criteria. At the beginning we were in good shape.

However, late 2009 brought lots of changes in FHA and as most of us agents know the spot approval process was in jeopardy of going away - and that’s exactly the kind of buyer we ended up in contract with so we knew it might be touch and go as we targeted a closing to meet the initial 1st time buyer tax credit deadline. The FHA spot approval cutoff is now pushed to Feb 1st of 2010, but many of the tightening aspects of FHA have been happening along the way to that new deadline. For one, we got hit with this transaction failing at one point because even though we’d had an FHA appraisal completed, we got turned down for spot approval because the association hadn’t yet approved their recent reserve study. FHA was requiring that reserve studies be within the 12 months prior and the last approval of one was from 3 years ago - even though the association had a study in hand, it just hadn’t been approved by the board yet as they continued getting bids for the roofing element.

The buyer’s agent and the lender for this deal have been great about staying diligent with the file and found alternate ways to have the budget review of the association used for the spot approval - and on my end I was coordinating with other listing agents with clients in the complex to have us all pushing support of approving the reserve study. One agent had her client’s lender submitting the entire complex to FHA for approval.

With all of us working in concert with each other we got the wonderful news on Friday that our approval from FHA was accepted! Not just for my client’s spot approval, but the entire complex will now be approved. YEAH! Now, we are back on track for closing - 2 months later than expected - but closing nonetheless. All the selling clients involved are very relieved and the buyers are all starting to get excited about their purchases again. It’s a new day and time in real estate, and those of us with the nerves of steel and willingness to work hard, and together, to overcome the obstacles that arise for our clients it is very worthwhile.

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Jan 24, 1-4pm open house at fantastic Summerwind home in Renton! $425,000 for 4bd/2.5ba + office

Filed under: market activity, King County, single family, Renton, real estate, seller, Puget Sound, open house, Washington — Reba Haas @ 11:21 am

$425,000.00 - Open House Jan 24, 1-4pm! Gorgeous 4bd/2.5ba home + office in prestigious Summerwind development of Renton

Location: Summerwind

Come live in the fantastic Summerwind neighborhood! Inviting and cheerful home with hardwood floors throughout, main floor has very open circular floor plan with a nice flow of living room, dining room, great room has kitchen w/ slider access to back yard and its expansive Trex deck. Four bedrooms upstairs, 5-piece Master Bath & big walk in closet. Additional full bath upstairs, and guest 1/2 bath on Main. Fun center in back for playtime or check out the 3 nearby parks or athletic court. Enjoy the 2 car garage where groceries can be unloaded right into the house on those rainy days—no dodging raindrops.

Contact Information

Reba Haas

reba@teamreba.com

425-970-3697

www.TeamReba.com

Pricing

Price: $425,000.00

Additional Pricing Information: Take advantage of the extended and expanded tax credit when buying this home!

Special financing offer: Use Eric Aasness at Bank of America for your financing and get a 1% closing cost credit! Contact him at 206-915-ERIC or eric@ericismybanker.com.

Property Location

1817 Field Pl NE

Renton, WA 98059

View Map

Links

Virtual Tour all photos

Features

Bedrooms: 4	Bathrooms: 2.5
Parking Spaces: 2	Year Built: 1992
Subdivision: Summerwind	Lot Size: 10790
Garage Size: 2	School District: Renton
Square Footage: 2830	Agent Name: Reba Haas
Broker: RE/MAX Metro Realty	MLS #: 29161509

Attributes

Appliances

Range/Oven

Full Refrigerator

Washer/Dryer

Dishwasher

Sink Disposal

Microwave

island cooktop

Interior Amenities

Fireplace

Hardwood Floors

Kitchen Island

Attic

Exterior Amenities

Fenced Yard

Grass Lawn

Play equipment

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VFLYER ID: 2955351

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All information in this site is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and is subject to change

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Open house today, 1-4pm at this 4bd/2.5ba in Fairwood Greens of Renton!

Filed under: market activity, King County, FHA/VA, Conventional loans, local events & places, Renton, seller, buyer, Puget Sound, open house, Washington — Reba Haas @ 1:00 pm

Come say “hi” at the open house today at this wonderful home in Renton. Slideshow of all photos via the link.

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King County Courthouse holidays for 2010

Filed under: title/escrow, King County, single family, commercial real estate, real estate, mortgage/loan, legal issues, seller, buyer, Puget Sound, Washington — Reba Haas @ 10:29 am

In order of the calendar:

Jan 1 - New Year’s, Jan 18th - MLK Day

Feb 15 - President’s Day

May 31st - Memorial Day

July 5th - Independence Day

September 6th - Labor Day

November 11th - Veteran’s Day, November 25th/26th - Thanksgiving

December 24th - Christmas, December 31st - New Year’s Eve

If you’ll be buying or selling property in King County throughout this year, it might be good to put these dates on your calendar so you don’t inadvertently put the closing date of a contract on the wrong day and have an automatic bump to the next business day. Also, these dates are announced without King County having put in any furlough days, as they did in 2009. If budget issues arise, you might expect to see that again as those were instituted and then updated not necessarily at the beginning at the calendar year in 2009. So, for 2010 keep your eyes open for any possible changes. Next up…. Snohomish County recording office closure dates.

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March 9, 2010

Buying a foreclosure home in WA State? Be prepared that excise tax may become your responsibility if this Senate measure passes.

March 5, 2010

Seattle City Council continues action toward 520 bridge expansion

March 2, 2010

A very cool way to update your home for not too much money… with Sit + Sip and SAM SHOP

February 12, 2010

An interesting video explaining One West Bank profit model on “short sales” of former IndyMac loans

February 10, 2010

FHA albatross of a townhome condo transaction is almost over!

January 25, 2010

King County reports upcoming 4-day closure info on South Park bridge starting Jan 30, 2010. Plan accordingly!

January 20, 2010

Hard work pays off in getting FHA approval on a condo complex

Jan 24, 1-4pm open house at fantastic Summerwind home in Renton! $425,000 for 4bd/2.5ba + office

January 17, 2010

Open house today, 1-4pm at this 4bd/2.5ba in Fairwood Greens of Renton!

January 8, 2010

King County Courthouse holidays for 2010

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