BUYER’S GUIDE
If you’re planning to buy a home in this area, the best place to start is with the Leavenworth Home Buyer’s Guide.
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Category Archives: Articles for Buyers
Insurance Rates and Credit Scores
This is a guest post from Eric Kossian of Leavenworth Insurance What do Insurance Rates and Credit Scores have in common? Your good credit score can save you up to 50% off home insurance! I know a lot of people don’t like this (the ones with bad credit) and I agree that it is not fair for those otherwise credit upstanding citizens who, due to …
Low Inventory in Leavenworth Homes Market
Moderately priced home sales have really taken off in the Leavenworth Washington real estate market. Today there are only 16 homes under $300,000 and 26 under $400,000. Scarier yet, many of these are small (under 1000 square feet, some under 500) or have other issues that may make them difficult to get a loan for. (Lack of septic and electricity, half interest in …
Why Electric Heat in Leavenworth?
As you walk through homes around Leavenworth, you may notice that most people have baseboard electric heat, electric furnaces or heat pumps, and electric stoves. In fact the only gas you may see is a gas fireplace. Why do most Leavenworth residents have electric heat and appliances? The answer: Chelan Co. has one of the lowest electric rates in the state. The Chelan Co. …
The Psychology of Numbers
Much of real estate revolves around negotiating between sellers and buyers. This is something I count as one of my skills and I am really happy to provide it to my clients in the Leavenworth real estate market. Much of negotiating revolves around what I call the “pychology of numbers.” We all know that a house listed at $199,950 is a $200,000 house. It …
Owning a Vacation Rental
A frequent request we get is a buyer who wants to buy a vacation home, but would like to rent it out when they aren’t using it. It sounds like a great idea in theory, but rarely works out. First of all you need to consider zoning. In the city limits of Leavenworth nightly rentals are only legal in commercially zoned areas. There are …
THE PERILS OF BEING AN UNREPRESENTED BUYER
Mostly we focus on how people shouldn’t be an unrepresented seller. We stress the importance of listing a home with a trusted REALTOR who will put their home on the Multiple Listing Service, look out for their best interest and get them the highest price. However, there is also danger in being an unrepresented buyer. It is dangerous to blindly enter into a contract …
More “non-traditional” homes for sale
Since I posted about homes without permits, wells, or septics being put on the market we have seen a few more. Both are being offered under $100,000 and fit into the tear down category. The previous offerings were nice little cabins, even if they didn’t meet current legal or health requirments. The newest offerings? Little to no value as structures, in my opinion. (I …
Absorption Rates
What is an absorption rate? It is the average number of houses that sell per month and it tells us what kind of inventory we have. I ran some numbers today which confirm what I thought was the case. Currently there are 57 single family homes (not including condos or manufactured homes) in the general Leavenworth market. This includes Plain, Peshastin, and Lake Wenatchee. …
Office Exclusive Listings
As many of you know, we are generally in a “sellers” market in the Leavenworth area. There are very few homes on the market and little for a buyer to choose from. Real estate is very competitive here in our little valley and agents and real estate companies are trying new tactics to protect their business. One such tactic being used is “Office Exclusive” …