Accurately pricing a home is key in todays market. Your price should be based on recently sold properties, preferrably within the last six months, and currently listed properties as similar to yours as possible. If your home has been on the market for six weeks or more with no offers, it is likely time to adjust the price.
The below video gives a great glimpse at a real example of a price adjustment, and the effect it had on the sale of the home.
0 comments • Dan O'Donnell • August 27 2008 12:06AM 
Watch Video Robert Kiyosaki and some of his closest advisors explain our current economic situation and how to benefit from volatile times. Kiyosaki is a successful investor and the best-selling author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", and many other widely read financial books. He explains where real estate investing, along with other strategies, fit into our economic times, and why saving alone is not enough.
This video is part four of a four part series, the rest are all on youtube as well.
Please feel free to call or email if you or your friends and family need anything in real estate, I'm happy to help. Sincerely,
Dan O'Donnell, 360-220-7157
RE/MAX Whatcom County, Inc.
The majority of my clients come by referral. This means I can spend my time providing excellent personalized service for my clients. As a result, my valued clients refer their friends, family and coworkers to me for real estate advice. I am committed to building strong, lasting relationships, one person at a time. Who is the next person you know who is considering purchasing or selling real estate?
3 comments • Dan O'Donnell • August 26 2008 11:57PM
According to an August 12th article in The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham area home prices posted a 1.2% decline in the second quarter of 2008 as compared to the same quarter of 2007. This small decline is a far cry from what the evening news might lead you to expect. Also, according to the same article, Bellingham foreclosures accounted for only 3.5% of total sales, compared to the national average of 14.5%.
The general real estate slowdown has certainly had an effect on our market, but not nearly to the same degree as in many other areas. What this says to me is that Bellingham is a very desirable area experiencing a small price correction. This correction comes as no surprise following a great run of price growth from 2003-2006. I believe the area will continue to outperform most other parts of the nation.
Population continues to rise in Whatcom County and plenty of retirees are choosing the area both for travel and relocation. As for the exact local effect of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, no one knows for sure, but it sure can't hurt. No matter what the national real estate market does, Bellingham will continue to attract people looking for mountains, islands, and mild weather. Not to mention our proximity to Seattle and Vancouver.
These market slowdowns do not last forever, and are a great opportunity to invest in local real estate. Whether you're a fist time homebuyer, or considering buying your next rental property, either one can have a huge positive effect on your long-term wealth. I encourage you to read the full Bellingham Herald article cited earlier, and the paper's other recent articles on the local market.
Dan O'Donnell, 360-220-7157
RE/MAX Whatcom County, Inc.
The majority of my clients come by referral. This means I can spend my time providing excellent personalized service for my clients. As a result, my valued clients refer their friends, family and coworkers to me for real estate advice. I am committed to building strong, lasting relationships, one person at a time. Who is the next person you know who is considering purchasing or selling real estate?
0 comments • Dan O'Donnell • August 26 2008 11:41PM
Keys to selling your Bellingham home
Yes, you can sell your home in this market. However, the market is slower than it has been. Home sales by number of transactions was down about 25% in the second quarter of 2008 compared to 2007.
There are fewer buyers out there than in past years, but the fact remains, you only need one buyer. The market statistics are interesting and worth looking at, but don't get too hung up on them. Your home will not 75% sell or 25% not sell, it will either sell or it will not sell, period.
How do you ensure you are one of the "solds" as opposed to the properties just sitting on the market gathering dust?
If you have any questions about selling your Bellingham or Whatcom County home, please feel free to call me any time. I'd be happy to talk with you at no obligation. Thanks for reading,
Dan O'Donnell, 360-220-7157
RE/MAX Whatcom County, Inc.
The majority of my clients come by referral. This means I can spend my time providing excellent personalized service for my clients. As a result, my valued clients refer their friends, family and coworkers to me for real estate advice. I am committed to building strong, lasting relationships, one person at a time. Who is the next person you know who is considering purchasing or selling real estate?
0 comments • Dan O'Donnell • August 22 2008 06:51PM
Many investors, new to working with a professional management company, don't know what is a fair or typical fee structure.
With smaller rental properties, there are typically two types of fees. A "leasing fee" (for example, 50% of the first month's rent when a new lease is signed) and a monthly percentage of the rent amount (anywhere from 3-10% is not uncommon, with 6-8% being common in my experience).
I personally have never agreed to pay a "leasing fee" on my properties. I don't like the idea that my manager gets paid more if my tenant turnover is higher and they're signing a new lease every year or so. I want my manager to find tenants that are likely to stay for a longer period. Turnover is costly, carpet, paint etc adds up if you have tenants moving in and out annually.
So I pay only the monthly percentage of rental income, usually 6-8% depending on how many units, location etc. On larger multifamily or commercial units, the percentages can be much smaller.
With this simple approach, the more money that comes in, the more income you and the manager get, so your incentives are aligned. Realize though, that the expenses of operating the building do not directly affect the manager, so he/she may be in favor of costly improvements that may seem excessive to you.
As with everything, it is key to get recommendations from fellow investors for good property managers and interview several. And remember, their commissioned sales people, so ask good questions and don't just listen to their pitch. Don't be afraid to be direct and ask any question that comes to mind. With a good manager, you should be able to have open and common-sense communication.
Think of the market value of your property. Now imagine you had a car worth that same amount. Would you let just anybody drive it? Of course not. Your property is just as important, so be smart about who you hand the keys to.
I hope that is helpful, and feel free to contact me directly if you have any further questions. I'm here to help.
Dan O'Donnell, 360-220-7157
RE/MAX Whatcom County, Inc.
The majority of my clients come by referral. This means I can spend my time providing excellent personalized service for my clients. As a result, my valued clients refer their friends, family and coworkers to me for real estate advice. I am committed to building strong, lasting relationships, one person at a time. Who is the next person you know who is considering purchasing or selling real estate?
1 comment • Dan O'Donnell • August 19 2008 07:27PM
Not 55 but found a place you like?
Are you looking for a mobile home and frustrated that so many parks are "55 and over parks"? You might want to dig a little deeper.
I recently sold a home in a 55+ park and was told by the manager that a certain percentage of people there can be under 55 years old. So he told me that my buyer didn't necessarily have to be 55+ as long as they met the rest of the parks tenant screening criteria.
This particular park is in Bellingham, Washington and the laws may differ in other areas. But it is worth asking the question. instead of just assuming you aren't eligible to live there.
So that's the hot tip of the day, I hope it's helpful. If you have any other questions feel free to call any time, I'm here to help.
Dan O'Donnell, 360-220-7157
RE/MAX Whatcom County, Inc.
The majority of my clients come by referral. This means I can spend my time providing excellent personalized service for my clients. As a result, my valued clients refer their friends, family and coworkers to me for real estate advice. I am committed to building strong, lasting relationships, one person at a time. Who is the next person you know who is considering purchasing or selling real estate?
0 comments • Dan O'Donnell • August 19 2008 06:11PM
When you own investment property and have a professional manager in place, make sure you are actively watching that manager. "Shopping" the manager, calling and pretending to be a tenant, may seem strange, but don't hesitate to do it when you have a lasting vacancy.
I once had a 6 plex with 3 vacancies, so I had my friend "shop" my manager. He called and was first directed to several other properties. When he insisted on information regarding my property, which was 50% empty, he was told there was nothing available! To this day I don't know why that happened, but I fired that company instantly and made sure the broker (boss) knew exactly what her employee had done.
Want another example? Ok, how about the time when the person responsible for returning phone calls on my property got in a motorcylce accident and nobody bothered to cover his responsibilities while he was in the hospital. So I had 3 vacancies out of the 12 units they managed and prospective tenants weren't even getting a call back! FIRED!
I also highly recommend having a good bookkeeper looking at your monthly profit and loss statements (yes, you should absolutely be getting a monthly statement!) to catch any mistakes that may happen. These can be simple honest mistakes, or deliberate. Either way, it's good to have another set of eyes looking over the numbers.
So, watch em like a hawk, even if you are trusting and don't like to spy. If you do pick the wrong manager at first, at least you will minimize the damage and quickly move on to what will hopefully be a great manager. A great manager has a HUGE positive impact on an investment. When you find one, make sure to treat them well and refer business to them if you can. A great manager is worth his/her weight in gold.
Let me know if you have any questions, I hope this is helpful.
Dan O'Donnell, 360-220-7157
RE/MAX Whatcom County, Inc.
The majority of my clients come by referral. This means I can spend my time providing excellent personalized service for my clients. As a result, my valued clients refer their friends, family and coworkers to me for real estate advice. I am committed to building strong, lasting relationships, one person at a time. Who is the next person you know who is considering purchasing or selling real estate?
0 comments • Dan O'Donnell • August 19 2008 12:46AM
Hot Tip of the Day
A friend of mine was once buying an investment property, a rooming house. He asked the bank if he could use his 3% commission as part of his down payment. They said "sure".
Being the clever guy that he is, he thought "I wonder if I was getting a 205 commission if I could use that as my 20% down payment?" He asked the bank, the bank said "no". So my friend said "how about 15%?" and the bank said "no". Next he said "how about a 10% commission used toward my downpayment?" and the bank said "hmm, well, ok fine."
So they raised the purchase price by 7% (the difference between the original 3% commission and the higher 10% commission), and my friend used his 10% commission as half of his 20% downpayment. Of course the property had to appraise at the new higher price. The funny thing about appraisals is they often tend to come in at the purchase price. Also, each bank will have it's own ideas on this concept, but it sure can't hurt to ask, and ask, and ask.
So there's an easy way for you agents out there to keep some more dough in your pocket when purchasing a property, one of the many perks to being both and agent and investor.
I hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions.
Dan O'Donnell, Bellingham, WA
10 comments • Dan O'Donnell • August 19 2008 12:07AMBellingham has wonderful outdoor opportunities. One of my favorite is the hike to Park Butte. This past weekend, my friend Forrest, my dog Frog and I set out to Park Butte, which is just south of Mt Baker and has incredible views of Mt Baker, the Twin Sisters, the San Juan Islands, Mt Ranier etc. It is an incredible spot.
Friday night we drove about 20 minutes south on I-5 and then headed east on Highway 20 to the Baker Lake Road, which takes you to the Forest Service Roads that lead to the trailhead.
The hike is about 3.5 miles and we arrived just after nightfall under a full moon. We set up camp and slept in our bags under the stars. The moon was so bright it was actually tough to fall asleep.
Saturday morning we woke up and hiked up the "Railroad Grade" which leads up the south side of Mt Baker. We hiked up to about 6,500 feet, with stunning views all the way. Marmots whistled and of course it drove Frog crazy. He'd chase chase after one and it would just duck into it's hole while a different one started whistling at him. Below is a picture of Frog looking West from Mt Baker, ears flapping in the wind.
We spent some time talking with climbers who were supposed to be sleeping for their 1am climb to the summit. But they were too excited and were just hanging out taking in the views. They were with a guide team and told me one of their guides had climbed Everest. I didn't get to meet the guides because they were sleeping like they were supposed to. We spent some time just hanging out below the foot of the glacier before turning around.
We slid down some snowfields hiked back down "Railroad Grade" on our way back to Park Butte. Passing some really interesting rock formations. Mt Baker is a volcano, so there are some neat shapes and patterns.
After getting back down to the meadow, we forced our tired feet up Park Butte again and up to the lookout cabin. The cabin was originally a fire lookout built by the Forest Service in 1932 but is now maintained by the Skagit Alpine Club. It is set right on the top of the Butte and has a 360 degree view and a deck wraps around the entire cabin. If you're lucky enough to be the first one there (or the people there are friendly) you can stay the night in the cabin for free. To our surprise, the cabin was empty. So we moved broke camp and moved to the cabin. Check out the view of Mt Baker from the window!
We lounged around the cabin and met many fellow hikers who stopped by to take in the view. We got some much needed rest and ate our freeze dried curry and blueberry cheesecake, which were surprisingly delicious. Then came the ridiculous sunset looking back northwest toward Bellingham and Whatcom County, the San Juans and even Canada! Below are some pictures of the sunset, the cabin etc.
I hope this gives you some inspiration to get up in the mountains and enjoy the outdoors in our area. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me any time.
As always, I'm here to help you with any of your real estate needs, so feel free to call or email with no obligation. Thanks for reading my blog!
Dan O'Donnell, 360-220-7157
RE/MAX Whatcom County, Inc.
The majority of my clients come by referral. This means I can spend my time providing excellent personalized service for my clients. As a result, my valued clients refer their friends, family and coworkers to me for real estate advice. I am committed to building strong, lasting relationships, one person at a time. Who is the next person you know who is considering purchasing or selling real estate?
0 comments • Dan O'Donnell • August 18 2008 01:16PM"Staging" is a great investment of time and energy before listing your home for sale. Make a great first impression on buyers for a quick sale with less hassles. In our local Bellingham area market right now, staging is very important. There is a lot of competition out there and you want your home to look it's best. Buyers are emotional, they want to visualize their own life in the home, not yours. Watch this great video and feel free to call my anytime with any questions/comments. Thank you,
Dan O'Donnell, 360-220-7157
RE/MAX Whatcom County, Inc.
The majority of my clients come by referral. This means I can spend my time providing excellent personalized service for my clients. As a result, my valued clients refer their friends, family and coworkers to me for real estate advice. I am committed to building strong, lasting relationships, one person at a time. Who is the next person you know who is considering purchasing or selling real estate?
0 comments • Dan O'Donnell • August 15 2008 03:08AMContent © 2009 'Frequent Contributors'. Design © 2009 ActiveRain Corp.
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