Keely's Broker Blog

Seattle: One of 10 Top Cities for Singles

According to Forbes' recently released "Top Cities for Singles", Seattle makes the list at #6.

1. Atlanta

2. San Francisco

3. Dallas

4. Minneapolis

5. Washington, DC

6. Seattle

7. Boston

8. New York

9. Orlando

10. Phoenix

New Industry Alert

There are companies sprouting up whose sole purpose is to spray paint green the brown lawns of foreclosed properties.

Seriously?

http://www.mygreenergrass.com/

"Houses for Sale" Search Term Soars

Could it be that investors are out to take advantage of this sour housing market?  Hitwise Intelligence reports that the term "houses for sale" just hit a two year high.

Housing Woes

I'm stuck at home today while insulation is being installed throughout my house.  I thought I'd take this time to post some new blog entries and to kick things off a reminder about ways to reduce your energy costs considering 'ways to reduce' anything money wise these days are at a forefront.

I knew, when I bought my house, that it came with no insulation.  I didn't deal with it right away and my first winter, the home's heating bills averaged over $500 a month.  Talk about motivation to get THAT handled!  From what my installers tell me, no insulation in your crawl space is one of the major ways heat leaves your home (odd considering heat rises).  The cost to me today, about $900, but it should mean considerable savings this winter.

Here are some other ways to reduce your heating tab:

1. INSULATION

2. Windows, if you can't afford to update windows, buy pane kits that shrink wrap plastic over your current window panes (pains?)

3. Seal cracks and gaps around all interior to exterior vents, piping, etc.

4. Ensure your heating system is running efficiently by having your furnace tested and inspected each year, especially if you have a gas furnace.

5. Wrap insulation around heating ducts and water pipes.

Buy An Italian Villa for $2

In 1968 an earthquake destroyed the town of Salemi, Italy. The historic part of the town never recovered and the homes and buildings in the area stay vacant which has compelled the new city mayor to offer the buildings for $2 dollars US (one Euro).  The new owners must renovate within certain timeframes and maintain the property's asthetics but for $2 I'd go for it! 

See video. . .

This Is Not a Joke!

This house actually withstood Hurricane Ike, when none of it's neighbors did.  I had to make sure it wasn't photoshopped before I posted it here and indeed, it wasn't.  These folks had their home retrofit after the last Hurricane and apparently, it worked!  A rather desolate place to return home though isn't it?

Here's some news footage about the home. . .

Domestic Partnerships Now Can Hold Title

In July, the Washington Legislature allowed for Domestic Partnerships to hold title for real property. Domestic partnerships become community property, just as a typical husband/wife marriage in the eyes of the State of Washington.

Domestic Partnerships are created by filing with the Secretary of State. Often they are same sex couples, senior hetero couples creating a domestic partnership for economic and support reasons and possibly any two persons who decide to create a domestic partnership. The State is giving Domestic Partners the same home ownership rights and status and a married couple. Ownership is considered community property.

Typically there are 4 ways one can hold title. They are: 1. Community Property/Domestic Partnership. 2. Tenancy in Common 3. Trust and 4. Joint Tenancy.

Here are some questions and answers that are provided by,and used with permission, from Commonwealth Title regarding holding title under community property/domestic partnership:

Who can take title?
Only husband and wife or domestic partners.

How is ownership divided?
Each spouse/partner is presumed to own a community interest in the real property after marriage or registration of domestic partnership.

Who holds the title?
Title is usually vested as: John and Jan Doe, husband and wife or John Doe and John Doe, domestic partners.

Who has possession?
Each spouse/partner has the right to manage and control the property.

How do owners convey their interest?
Both spouses/partners must convey by a single written deed. In limited circumstances, one spouse/partner may convey the real property associated with a family business.

What is the purchaser's status?
Purchaser may acquire an interest, if the interest is conveyed by a deed signed and acknowledged by both spouses/partners.

What happens in case of death?
If a spouse/partner dies intestate (without a will), the decedents' community interest vests in the surviving spouse/partner.

What is the successor's status?
A spouse/partner may devise by will one-half of the community property. If so, a tenancy in common between devisee and survivor results.

What are the creditor's rights?
Community real estate shall be subject to mechanics' liens, judgments for community debts, and execution sales.

To learn more about Domestic Partnership in the State of Washington, Click HERE

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/realestate/archives/148902.asp?source=rss

Short Sale Inequities. . .or Discrimination?

One of my agents just sent me an interesting article from the New York Times about short sales.  Having just completed a short sale transaction with Citi last week (I was the listing agent) this article falling in my lap was ever so timely because Citi is mentioned exclusively throughout the article and it highlights the problems people are having trying to close short sales (with Citi in particular).  I've never had a worse short sale situation than with Citi for the exact reasons detailed in the article.

Yikes, if banks can't get some systematic approach to dealing with short sales, we will all lose. Each and every time I negotiate one of these transactions it feels as though the bank is doing so for the very first time.

See the article here. . .

New Countrywide Scandal Affects Me. . .

Yesterday I got a letter from Countrywide that said in summary. . .

"We are writing to inform you that a former Countrywide employee may have sold unauthorized personal information about you to a third party.  Based upon a police investigation, that personal information included your name, social security number, birth date, loan information, etc. (So it WAS sold then, not 'may have been sold'?)"

We apologize for this inconvenience (how about for this ILLEGAL INDISCRETION?!) and further are offering you the below code to have two years of Countrywide provided credit monitoring."

So at first I thought that maybe this was a scam to purchase the credit monitoring service, but then I found the following articles online. . .

http://www.komonews.com/news/consumer/28335699.html

Here's a copy of the letter.  They have caught the guy who did it, he's a 36 yr. old CA man, formerly with Countrywide.  He would upload all of the customer data Sunday nights and sell the info on the black market.  Nice.

http://www.azfamily.com/20080909_countrywide.pdf

By the way, I haven't had a Countrywide loan since 2006.

NWMLS Data for August - Just Released