How We Helped Bethany Buy a Home and Sell It 7 Years Later

“He was a referral from a friend of a friend and he helped me purchase my first home about seven years ago. I was so impressed with his customer service and his attention to detail, so when I decided to sell my home I decided to stick with him. He is a passionate and driven person who is service minded. He will hold your hand through the whole process and make sure that you make the best decision for you.”

1st Quarter Pierce County Market Update

What's going on in our market right now? A good way to get a feel is by comparing the stats from the first quarter of 2017 to those from 2016.

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The Pierce County market is still doing great right now, and a good way to show it is by comparing some stats from the first quarter of this year to the first quarter of 2016. 

Last year in the first quarter, 2,848 homes sold for an average price of $255,000 in an average of 33 days. The average house sold had three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and about 1,900 square feet. Sales ranged from $35,000 to $1.75 million.

It's a great time to sell a house but a challenging time to buy one.

In the first quarter of 2017, 3,205 homes sold for an average price of $284,000 in an average of 23 days. That's actually a 12% increase in sales, which is pretty amazing considering the low inventory. Prices ranged from $27,000 to $1.54 million.

One of the best figures we can use to project the future is absorption rate, which is really just a fancy way of saying supply and demand. Over the last three months, about 1,400 homes have sold per month, and as of April, there are 1,387 homes currently for sale. That's only 1.29 months worth of supply at the current rate homes are selling, making it an extreme seller's market. 

That means that if no new homes came on the market starting now, it would only take 1.29 months for all the available homes in Pierce County to sell. It's a great time to sell a house but a challenging time to buy one. However, interest rates are still low enough for it to be a great time to buy a home for a great cost.

If you have any questions about our market or you're thinking of buying or selling a home, give us a call or send us an email. We're here to help.

How We Were Always There With a Solution for Lynette

“Great! Most of what he did was above and beyond. Some of the things that happened were quite frustrating and he was there with a solution every time.”

Is Waiting to Buy Costing You Money?

If you’re waiting for inventory to pick back up before buying, are you really making the best decision? Waiting to buy could end up costing you.

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Is waiting to buy a home costing you money? There are really two things to consider when it comes to the long-term impact of waiting: home appreciation over time and the cost to borrow money (interest rates).

The Federal Reserve has signaled that they are planning on increasing the interest rates in 2017 at a much more rapid rate than they have in the past. We have already seen interest rates go up over the last six months, and we anticipate that they are going to continue to do so, probably at a quicker rate.

If you’re a buyer, you might be tempted to wait until more inventory comes on the market, but think about this.

If rates go up even 1%, home affordability will drop by 10%.

As interest rates go up, even just a 1% increase will affect home affordability by 10%. This means that there would need to be a 10% drop in home prices to give you the same monthly payment you could get at today’s rates. We don’t see that happening anytime soon.

Home prices are really dictated by supply and demand. When we look at those numbers locally, it’s pretty ridiculous how low our supply is right now. In the last 13 years, I’ve never seen the inventory in our market as low as it is right now.

If you’re looking at a certain price point, let me know. We can discuss the interest rate projections and what it would cost you to wait. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to reach out by phone or email. We would love to hear from you soon.

5 Home Selling Mistakes to Avoid

There are a lot of different mistakes to be made in a home sale. Here are five that you need to make sure you avoid.


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Selling a home is a complicated process. There are a lot of different dos and don'ts, but we’re going to focus on the don'ts today. Here are five things that you should NOT do when preparing your home for the market:

1. Remodeling your kitchen or bathrooms. Although this goes against conventional thinking, there is evidence to back up our claim. The National Association of Realtors has consistently determined that those are some of the worst areas for return on investment. The place where you get the most bang for your buck is actually the deck.

2. Keep wallpaper. I do not recommend installing or even keeping outdated wallpaper, unless you have a luxury home that was designed by a professional. Most buyers don’t like wallpaper.

Replace bold colors with neutral, natural tones.

3. Bold colors. You want your home to be as appealing as possible to buyers. Tone down those bold colors to appeal to a wider audience. You want more natural, neutral colors in your home when selling.

4. Replace carpet with carpet. Most of the time, you can add more value for the same price by replacing carpet with a nice looking hardwood laminate. That’s a pretty good upgrade to do.

5. Gaudy light fixtures. Replace old brass fixtures and modernize them. Above all else, keep them simple.

If you have any questions for us about preparing your home for sale or any other questions about buying or selling, give me a call or send me an email. I would love to hear from you.