Snohomish County

June 2009 Snohomish County Resale Statistics Available

Our June 2009 Snohomish County Residential Resale Report is now ready for purchase.  Edmonds, Woodinville and Woodway were bright spots in the county as areas that showed an increase in the number of sales in comparison with June 2008.  Another positive sign was in Stanwood as their Average Sales Price was up 8% in comparison with the same month a year ago. Let's hope these are trends that quickly spread to the rest of the county!

It is no longer compliant with the Office of the Insurance Commissioner to post resale statistics or give them away for free, we must now charge $1.  Please contact us if you would like us to send you a copy.

Every month we go directly to the county when we gather our resale statistics.  This way we can account for every transfer of ownership rather than just those listed via the local multiple listing service.  Our report uses the following criteria for reflecting monthly sales:

• Current use code of single family homes.
• Sale dates are recorded and reported by the county within the reports time-frame.
• The sales price is greater than 35% of the assessed value (thus eliminating quit claim deeds with no monetary consideration and other likely transfers).

Snohomish County April 2009 Sales Statistics

Our Snohomish 2009 All Snohomish County Market Stats Report is ready for viewing.  Please visit our Snohomish Co. Blogs over on the right to see the statistics for your specific area.   

  

We go directly to the county database when we gather our statistics. This way, we can account for every transfer of ownership rather than just those listed via the local multiple listing service. Our Talon Market Stats report uses the following criteria for reflecting monthly sales:

• Current use code of single family homes. (look for a condo sales report in the near future!)
• The sales price is greater than 35% of the assessed value. (eliminates quit claims with no monetary consideration and other like transfers)
• Sale dates are recorded and reported by the county within the reports time-frame.

For more detailed information, please contact our friendly Property Information department. 

County Recorders Office Closure Dates **Amended**

The Snohomish County Treasurer's office issued a memo yesterday announcing additional furlough days and office closures.  Keeping those dates in mind as you schedule your real estate closings should make the transaction run smoother for both you and the consumer.   

 

Regardless of whether the closing is taking place in Snohomish, King or Pierce County, The Talon Group would like to be your preferred title and escrow service provider. 

Follow Big Bird to the EMP

May 23rd, Big Bird, Kermit the Frog and other Sesame Street Characters, will be featured at the Experience Music Project in Seattle.

Jim Henson, artist and puppeteer created imaginary worlds filled with puppets and unique characters.  His work can be heard in dozens of languages in over 100 countries in the world.

Among the variety of exhibition items are puppets, television and movie props, photographs of Henson and his collaborators at work, and original video productions.

The exhibition runs from May 23 to Aug. 16 at Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, 325 Fifth Ave. N., Seattle.

Paine Field Commercial Airline Service Up and Coming

Commercial airline service is closer than it’s ever been for Paine Field. Both Horizon Air and Allegiant Air are planning to launch flights within weeks at Paine Field, Horizon destined for Spokane and Portland and Allegiant flying to Las Vegas. Many people travelling to Spokane or Portland, currently drive, simply because of the difficulty in getting to Seattle International Airport.  He said Sea-Tac airport is “getting further and further away from Snohomish County every year” and noted that travel on I-5 will be even more challenging in the future as the region’s population grows and as highway constructon, including the Viaduct and SR 520, disrupt traffic even more.

Once they leave Paine Field and arrive in Portland, travellers will have full access to the rest of the national air transportation system.

Fly Paine Field’s online poll last fall was unscientific said co-sponsor Todd Brunner but “the survey showed more than 1,000 people a day could choose to use Paine Field instead of making that long drive.”  Passenger service will create more jobs in the county, he said.  Russo said Horizon flights from Paine Field will not affect the airline’s flights from Bellingham.

The air service would be used a great deal by businesses as well as the general public, said Todd Brunner, who maintains that the airport is a major public asset for the county that’s little recognized.

“There are four basic areas of importance there,” he said, “starting with aviation and aerospace industries. That’s a direct economic driver for the county. There’s also general aviation, corporate and business jets to support local businesses and commercial aviation, which provides local access to our national and international air transportation system for all the citizens of the county. We need a balanced and fair use of the airport for all of these groups.”

Why Staging Homes Listed is so important!

Staging homes in todays market is probably more important then it's ever been.  You must have a competitive edge and often buyers need a visual to see themselves living in a home.  "You've got that first few seconds to get them to say, "Wow, I can see myself living here."  says, home stager Karalee Donlan, of Seattle.   Though staging can be a somewhat costly endeavor, it typically pays for itself. 

 Not long ago, most home stagers focused their energy on upscale and vacant homes.  Now staging occurs in homes of all price ranges and not only vacant homes.  Stagers are even starting to stage outside the home as well.   "It all starts at the curb," Schwarz said. "It's got to be staged on the outside."

"When the market was hot, oftentimes you'd hear, 'I don't have to do anything,' " said Henry Samonte, a John L. Scott agent in Seattle. "Well you don't hear it in this market. ... In this market, you better be the best of the best, or the best value. Your yard better be nice. You better not need paint."

Keeping borrowers informed is a snap with Talon Escrow!

Extended closing dates have become the norm for this recent refinance boom. The Talon Group understands the importance of keeping your borrowers informed throughout the entire loan process and has developed a tool to accomplish this goal.

Our weekly client update tool makes it easy for loan originators to keep their borrowers informed from the time escrow is opened until the day the loan is closed! 

This unique communication tool combines the following features that can be easily managed by the loan originator or assistant.

• Provides a space for making comments to the borrower
• Completed escrow tasks along with items "To Do"
• General Loan Information with Loan Officer completed tasks
• Reminder of items needed from borrower to complete loan package
• Title report with supporting documents
• Educational resources and informative videos
• Tracks the history of what has been sent to the borrower
• Provides flexibility to limit what information is shown on the update

View our input screen to see how easy it is to consistently communicate with your borrowers when The Talon Group is chosen for your escrow and title needs.

Restaurants strive to survive despite the Economy

With the faltering economy we have seen several restaurants shut their doors.  Those that are still around are constantly cooking up new ideas to boost business.

Luca Nasti, owner of Luca’s Ristorante and Pizzeria in Lake Stevens is offering a new perk, “kids eat free"  on Thursdays and Sundays.  Many of us may not be aware that typically only 4% of each dollar brought in goes to a restaurant's profit.   “If traffic is down and if you are not carefully watching food and labor costs, it doesn’t take much for the 4 percent margin to disappear,” Anton said.

"Restaurant owners need to make sure they examine all their costs and labor output as customers scale back, he said. At the same time, restaurant owners need to maintain quality and preserve their reputation. Nothing makes owners better than new competition and tough times", Anton said.

County Recorder's Office Closure Dates for 2009

In our market a transaction is "closed" once the new deed has been recorded.  So wouldn't it be helpful to know which days your county recorder's office is closed?  Keeping those dates in mind as you schedule your real estate transactions should make everything run smoother for you and more importantly, for the consumer.  Regardless of whether the transaction is closing in King County, Pierce or Snohomish County, The Talon Group would like to be your preferred service provider for both title and escrow.

  

Click on the appropriate underlined county up above for a schedule of their 2009 closure dates.

Why do title companies need an identity affidavit?

Attempting to read and understand a title report can be very difficult for real estate professionals, not to mention the average consumer!  The following video includes a conversation between a "seller" and title company regarding why an identity affidavit is needed to clear an exception off of the title report.