The Size of Home That Buyers Say They Most Want

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine

The “small home” craze continues as buyers say they find less square footage more desirable. Nearly half of Americans say their ideal home size would range from 1,000-1,999 square feet, according to a recent survey by Relocation.com of nearly 1,500 home owners and buyers.

Just five years ago, the National Association of Home Builders reported the average home size to be 2,400 square feet — that’s 400 square feet larger than what buyers say they now want.

So what’s to happen to all the McMansions out there from just a few years ago when big homes were in their heyday?

Naturally, you would assume that the cost of homeownership has gotten buyers thinking smaller. But according to this survey, when asked whether cost was a main deciding factor in choosing a home, most respondents said it wasn’t very important. In fact, only 29 percent of survey respondents said that living costs was the most important reason when considering a move.

So why have buyers gotten so practical with their home buying decisions?

“As home owners rethink how much space they need, I think we’ll continue to see more innovative approaches to living well and sustainably within a smaller footprint,” said Sharon Asher, Relocation.com chairperson and founder, in a public statement about the survey results.

Other notable findings among the survey results:

• Sububia reigns: The Relocation.com survey also found that 54 percent of Americans continue to find a home in the suburbs the most desirable. They want to live near the city but prefer the peace and quiet of the suburbs. Urban and rural neighborhoods were only preferred by 24 percent and 22 percent, respectively.

• Main priorities in selecting a home: Neighborhood safety was an important factor in choosing a home. Buyers judged neighborhood safety by the upkeep of homes and front lawns in the neighborhood, word of mouth reputation, and local crime reports and statistics. Besides neighborhood safety, respondents also ranked proximity to decent shopping and having a large backyard as important factors in selecting a home.

• Most sought-after features: Survey respondents said the most desirable features of a new residence are central air conditioning (87 percent); custom, walk-in closets (50 percent); and “top of the line” dishwasher and/or refrigerator (43 percent).

• Least sought-after features: The least desirable home features were custom window coverings, followed by an in-ground pool or spa.

Buy Local in Bellingham

This fascinating article about a community developing its local economy reminded me of Bellingham.

When I speak with downsizers one common question is “Where can I have a similar quality of life for less?” We Seattlites value our older, walkable, gentrified neighborhoods, our maritime climate and proximity to water for boating or the mountains for hiking.  We also enjoy the intellectual stimulation that comes from living in a city that attracts creative types, be they artists or entrepreneurs. So, in a way this question is hard to answer, because there is really NO place just like Seattle.

Bellingham, however is one place that comes close, and at an affordable cost. It offers similar neighborhoods of older homes and view properties, lots of water related activities (it’s very close to the San Juan Islands) and Mt. Baker and the North Cascades wilderness, and it offers the stimulation of a University town.  If you need to escape to a big city, Vancouver BC is a quick drive over the border, or you can hop on Amtrack for a weekend in Seattle.

In October, 2010, the median sales price in Whatcom Co. was $244,500 vs. $350,000 in King county.  Bellingham has it’s share of pricy luxury properties like Seattle, but also offers some very tempting values as well. Here are current Bellingham listings if  you would like to browse for yourself.  If you would like to contact a good agent in Belllingham, I know one, and would be happy to connect you.

Can a Yankee find Retirement Happiness in the South?

Ever thought of moving to the South to retire? Many northwesterners are playing with the idea. The Carolinas, with their warm climates and low cost of living, are very popular destinations now. One of the first concerns that pop up, though, is how big of a cultural leap would it be to live in the South?

Top Retirements.com, a website that’s all about relocating to retire, tackled that very question in this article.  It’s a great read, but the short answer is the cultural adaptations are greater when moving from urban to rural than from North to South. In other words, Northerners who choose a metropolitan area or even a smaller college town will find it much less of an adjustment than if they moved to a rural area.

Ultimate Condo Nightmare

Condos have had big challenges lately with unit and builder foreclosures, distressed homeowners who can’t pay dues,  shoddy construction.  The Riverwalk  Condos in Redmond seem to have had the perfect storm. This Times article tells the story, and also has an EXCELLENT list of resources on condos and the law in the sidebar.

Backyard Cottage Design Challenge

Inspired by Seattle’s new backyard cottage ordinance, Method homes sponsored a design competition for backyard cottage designs that could be built as pre-fabs (to lower costs).

It drew a lot of entries from tiny to big, modern to craftsman, and all were pretty cool , take a look.

Now you can be just like the Kennedys and have your own family compound! Backyard cottages are fantastic solutions for extra living space or a studio, multigenerational housing for returning kids or parents. As years go by, you can even move the kids and their family into the main house, and you can downsize to the smaller one out back. And they will have free babysitters!

Another scenario can have the new cottage as an Accessory Dwelling Unit, which can be a legal rental as long as you live on the property.   The Backyard Box website has examples of cottages with prices. From a financial standpoint, these are a make-sense real estate investment in that they would provide a positive cash flow from the start, and provide an decent return on investment.

Cabins are selling in Washington

Three times in the last two years, I have received calls from clients who are wanting to buy a summer cabin or recreational land. Seems that prices for those have fallen too, and like everywhere else, some sellers are motivated. After showing a few, I realized that there are cabins all over the Puget Sound area.

I researched sales for the past year, and found that 124 cabins had sold in King, Island, Skagit, and San Juan counties only. They ranged from falling-down shacks to original cabins on Lake Washington waterfront property, from very nice traditional log cabins to modern pre-fab structures. Some were in the mountains, others on lakes or Puget Sound. Locations included rural areas, resort areas, and some were in small towns like Langley on Whidbey Island or Port Townsend.  The median sales price was $238,000.

Another option is to buy land  or a lot. There are now very nice prefab structures available that you can have put on your lot, for an almost-instant cabin.  I ran across Backyard Box in Seattle and IdeaBox from Portland in my research.

If you think a water or mountain getaway of your own at a great price may be just what you need, contact me. I enjoy working with rural properties as well as in-city. Tell me what or where you’re thinking of, and I can send you some listings.

Fantastic Mortgage Rates this Week!

I am getting inquiries about refinancing this week, with rates so low.

Here’s my advice on shopping for a mortgage:

1st, you want to be working with someone proven, that can get it done.
As you’ve probably heard, that can be tricky now days.
My two favorite brokers are
Mona Lisa Dickinson at Mortgage Advisory Group.  Her cell is 206-227-6662
Jon Wagher at Alpine Mortgage. His phone is 206-769-3738.

2nd, to compare, you want to know both what your interest rate and
payment will be, and what it will cost you in fees and closing costs.
It also helps if you know your credit score ahead of time as rates and
fees depend on that number. (You can try to get it free at
https://www.annualcreditreport.com. I have heard it works, but haven’t
used it myself)

3rd, Call all your prospects on the same day, so the rates are the
same. Know your mortgage balance, approx. value of your home, credit
score, and when you want to close. If they all have the same scenario,
you should be able to compare rates and fees.

Happy Shopping!

Greg

Questions to ask a financial planner

I am noticing  more and more clients are wanting to work with financial planners to get the larger perspective on their financial condition and goals in light of our new economic conditions before they make any real estate decisions.  I think it is a great idea.

My wife and I have started working a couple of times with financial advisors, but found pretty quickly that they seemed to end up recommending vague insurance products as something we needed to have. When we researched the products, we found that they were mainly designed to provide good sales comissions, but not necessarily good results for the policy holders. Furthermore, the interest rates were pretty low, and the investments are not insured.

Another recommended a pile of  mutual funds that her company has. After she left, we compared all the fee-laden funds to simple index funds, and found that 8 of the 10 were outperformed by simple index funds! Now, with the recent Wall St fiascoes, we have been more reluctant to trust our savings to any financial firms at all!

So we have begun researching the idea of working with a fee-only financial planner. I would much rather pay a planner for their time and expertise and have them recommend products that are appropriate for me, not them. To select a planner, I would expect them to work like I do: ask a lot of questions, provide a lot of options,  stick with the process until we have a plan that makes sense, and provide monitoring along the way.

I came across this blog post that has questions to ask a financial planner, and found some of the questions pretty interesting.  Most of them relate to finding a planner who has similar values to mine, and one who practices what he or she preaches by doing personal investments in line with what they recommend for clients.

Does anyone else have any recommendations for planners, or how to find a good one?

Sliding Walls and Sharp Design make this Super-Efficient Apartment.

Here’s a video of Gary Chang’s 330sf  ”Domestic Transformer”. This architect designed 24 combinations of luxury space in his unique Hong Kong apartment.

View video here

Seattle Homes and Accessory MIL Apartments

Accessory units seem to be the theme of the week. I have buyers looking for them, looking at them, and figuring out how to create them. Also, more of my recent listings have had them.

As I show homes, more and more homes seem to have these extra separate living spaces.  Usually it is a finished basement that features a separate kitchen, bathroom, and entrance. Homes with basements seem to lend themselves very well to creating accessory units, although sometimes I see them as an addition onto a main level, or sometimes in a separate building in the lot, often a converted garage structure. (not all cities approve of converting garages to living space, check with your local building dept.)

Many of these units are built for extended family living, older parents come back home, or sometimes children, sometimes with families, moving back home. The separate living quarters allow extended families to live close, but keep some parts of their lives separate. For some people, when children grow up and move way, it is a way for the parents to remain in the home and resist the downsize move. Some rent to college students to keep youthful energy around the house.

Another reason so many have been built is to generate income in a house that is too big, or to pay a mortgage that has become otherwise unaffordable.  Later in life, having an extra unit in the house can allow homeowners to live independently for longer by utilizing the apartment for caregivers to live in.

Many apartments in homes are built illegally, in other words permits have not been taken out build them. I think its always a good idea to take out a permit to make sure the work is done safely and correctly, especially the electrical and plumbing.  As a Realtor,  I can say that homes with unpermitted work can be more difficult to resell at times. Most towns and cities allow accessory units either in or attached to an existing structure. Recently, the City of Seattle has been working on a project to allow more back yard accessory  units in the name of increasing density and affordability. Here is more info.

Here is a link to a nice USA TODAY Story on backyard cottages.

Click on Photos to browse listings:

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Â	Small Houses