When:  Saturday, May 19, 2012  •  9:00am until 12:00pm

Where:  REMAX Eastside office: 11555 SE 8th St Bellevue WA 98004 (parking lot)

We had such a great time last year! Let’s get together again!

Take your spring cleaning to the next level! This year we are shredding again plus adding the option to bring old electronics to recycle. We all hope to see you there to “Thank YOU” in person for your support.

Cost: FREE – Northwest Harvest will be accepting non-perishable food donations on site if you would like to donate. (We’ve already paid for you to be able to bring your stuff!)

Shredding company rules:
1. The boxes that papers come in will not be shredded and will go home with client.
2. Staples are okay; please remove paper clips.
3. Folders with metal tabs in the top should have metal cut off.

Electronics recycling company rules:
1. Company will take all electronics including small appliances
2. Items not accepted: Batteries, light bulbs, air conditioning units

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Art in the Garden
June 2nd and 3rd – 10am to 4pm
LasswellArts Home Studio
1621 S.W. 168th St., Normandy Park, WA 98166
206/947-9479

Directions:
From I-5; take Hwy 518 West to Burien, left on 1st Ave. S., right on 160th St., left on 16th Ave. S.W., right on 168th St. S.W., third house on the left, down the long driveway. My Home Studio is just minutes away from my Resident Artist Studio in Burien at Moshier Community Art Center.

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Other services they offer are leases that have been reviewed by attorneys for use in our area – ones you find on the internet are not always legal in our state (WA) – credit and background checks, move-in/move-out forms and so much more!

I’m posting the most recent set of classes and dates for May below for anyone who is interested:

May Seminars

All seminars held at RHA Office, 2414 SW Andover St, Suite D207 – Seattle, WA 98106, unless otherwise noted.
* All Seminars $45 unless otherwise noted.

CH = Clock Hours (CRE)

May 09 – How to Read a Credit Report; 12-1 pm FREE
May 10 – Financial Basics of Investment Real Estate 101; 9-11 am
May 10 – New Landlord Orientation – South Sound; 3-4:30 pm FREE
May 16 – Increasing the Value of Your Property; 8:30-11:30 am
May 16 – New Landlord Orientation; 5:30-7 pm FREE
May 17 – How will Probate Affect Your Estate; 1-3 pm FREE
May 23 – Leases & Forms; 3-6 pm CH
May 24 – New Laws & What You Should Know; 4-6 pm
May 30 – Certified Lead Renovator Training; 8-5, $200
May 31 – The Move-OUT Process; 4-7 pm

You may register online for these seminars by clicking the links above, or by contacting Holly at 206-905-0605

All Seminars for 2012 are up online! Visit our event calendar to see what’s happening this year!

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A simple way of describe what it does is that it allows a homeowner to not have to pay tax on forgiven debt. Example: a short sale occurs and a homeowner is allowed to have $100,000 of mortgage debt forgiven by their lender. In a normal situation prior to the MDRA, this would be a taxable event. Meaning, if the homeowner is in the 28% tax bracket, up to $28,000 of tax would be due to the IRS. ($100,000 x .28 tax rate)

In the article, there is a notation that President Obama has planned for extending the MDRA within the Nation’s budget through 2014. Given how many homes are still potentially going to be foreclosed upon between now and then, let’s hope they don’t take away a much needed tax break from these homeowners who are already experiencing some difficult financial matters. If they don’t allow it, then there may be quite a surge this summer of short sales coming on market that may overwhelm lenders yet again. Thankfully many of them are in Equator and streamlining processes, but with Fannie and Freddie now saying they’ll make faster decisions on the loans they own, they may get more than they asked for this year.

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1. When the State required the licensing, they didn’t realize that they were also setting up 2 classes of inspectors. A) Those who have pest inspection licenses through the Dept of Agriculture, and 2) Those that don’t.

In the past, before licenses were necessary, ALL inspectors had to have this pest inspection license. Roughly half of all inspectors dropped this license once the new rules went into effect and it was no longer required. SOOOOOOOoooooooooo, if you want a house to be reviewed for possible wood destroying organisms (WDO), you better hire someone who is licensed and with a pest inspector’s license OR expect to have to pay for a 2nd inspection or to not get one at all. In our area, there are lots of insects who like to eat damp wood and there are some who bore into dry wood too as a nest, plus WDO’s also include things like rot…. another item found regularly in our damp Western WA.

2. Not all inspectors carry Error & Omissions Insurance (E&O). This is significant because if something big gets missed and you try to go back to the inspector for any kind of compensation, and if they don’t have E&O coverage, you’ll be out of luck. Most inspector contracts limit their liability to the cost of your inspection – so roughly $300-500. Only about 40% of inspectors actually carry this coverage so there is a lot of risk in not asking if your inspector has it or not.  As a comparison, ALL real estate agents must carry E&O on every transaction we are involved in.

3. Education requirements of 40 hours every 5 years. – I’m happy to see they do require continuing education because…. read item #4.

4. You don’t have to take any special courses to become an inspector, although you CAN take classes for it, you just have to pass a test.

Our recommendation? Be sure to hire an inspector who is licensed both for home inspections and pest inspections AND be sure to ask if they carry E&O Insurance!

Many thanks to John Lasswell of Lasswell Home Inspection for sharing his broad knowledge base with us on the topic of home inspections.  If you’re looking for a great home inspector, you can reach him using the following details:

John Lasswell – owner/chief inspector of Lasswell Home Inspection.

Phone: 206-793-0118 or John@LasswellHomeInspection.com

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It was funny that she thought they still had to keep the indirect contact after closing….

It’s good though that she is looking for these kinds of details because one of the items that is covered by title insurance (if you get the right policy) is non-permitted work.  It’s always good to have whatever you can get on a property when purchasing so that when you resell later you have the documents for the next purchaser.

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Timelines for those with mortgages held by Fannie and Freddie will get faster answers with a requirement of 30 to 60 days turnaround. If a short sale is countered by the GSE, then the broker will have 5 days to reply with an answer from their client and then another 10 days for the GSE to respond.

For those agents, like me, who’ve worked on several short sales with these folks as the back end investor, this is really great news. I had a deal a couple of years ago that we spent 18 months working on and we lost out on 6+ contracts till Fannie Mae eventually foreclosed after forcing the couple into default. I, for one, am THRILLED that they’re finally bettering their standards and processes.

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During this presentation, Michelle Broderson and Julie Johnson will educate attendees about:
• How rents factor into the purchase of a property
• How rents factor into the cash flow of property
• How rents are set – marketplace not value
• Setting and increasing rents
Learn more about your presenters…

Rents are starting to creep up in the Puget Sound Region. Learn how to set your rents and what you need to be looking for when purchasing investment property.

When: Thursday, May 17
Time: 6-8 pm
Where: Carpet Liquidators – 4400 4th Ave S, Seattle
Cost: Only $30! Includes presentation, dinner, drinks & parking

RSVP Today – This event will fill up!

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