May 31, 2007 by Joe Kennedy.

Thursday is the day each week when real estate agents hold “brokers opens” for their listings in the area designated by the Northwest MLS as 520, which is described as Bellevue, east of Lake Washington and west of I-405.  Usually these are new listings, but occassionally there will be an older listing included that may have had a price drop or had some improvements done since it was listed.

Today there are 14 homes on the list - and only two priced below a million dollars.  One of these homes is just down the street from where I live, has been on the market for 40 days and just had a $10k price reduction to $739k (I believe that these sellers are ‘fishing’ and that this is still over priced by at least $200k).

The other brokers open today in area 520 that is priced under a mil, is in the Clyde Hill area and described as “very livable” with “limitless upside potential for expansion/new construction”.  Can you say “tear down” with no view for $899,000.

It doesn’t appear that either one of these sellers are being realistic, have been getting good advice, or else they just aren’t motivated to sell.

There are only four other homes on this list that are priced under two million - and one of those is in Newcastle, not Bellevue.  Apparently sellers feel like the market is still strong and that they are going to get these prices.  For their sakes, I hope they sell them soon or offer big price reductions so that they are not holding onto them for a long time …

If you would like to sell your home while prices are this high and get professional representation with reasonable (LOW) listing commissions, please give me a call at 425-455-LIST (5478).

Posted in Brokers Open, Listing, Bellevue, Uncategorized | No Comments »

May 28, 2007 by Joe Kennedy.

Here is an advance of an article that I wrote today for publication in the June issue of Eastside Business that I thought would be appropriate here:

Are you thinking about selling your home this summer?  Maybe you are finally ready to take advantage of the current real estate market.  Perhaps you are ready to sell and move up to a larger home or a different neighborhood.  Maybe your children have left the nest and its time to downsize.  Or quite possibly you are ready to move into a downtown condo with less maintenance – and a lot less driving.

Regardless of your situation, if you want (and/or need) to sell your home I can help – and work to make sure that you realize more of your equity than if you employed the services of another agent or broker.  I do this through lower listing commissions and tough, smart negotiating. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Donations, Commissions, Listing, Bellevue, Uncategorized | No Comments »

May 27, 2007 by Joe Kennedy.

Home staging is the process arranging furniture and furnishings in a house or condo so that it shows potential buyers how it might look when they purchase it and move in.  I can tell you from first hand experience that it definitely works to help sell quicker and for maximum value.  It is critical for luxury properties, but also works wonders for lower end properties as well.

According to an article from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, the home staging concept came about in the late 1970s, when former Bellevue agent Barb Schwarz began to clean up her listings for quicker sale.  She now owns the trademark on staging and writes books on the subject.

It goes to show that a lot of ground breaking work is done here in Bellevue - and not just for building highrises!

Posted in Staging, Bellevue | No Comments »

May 27, 2007 by Joe Kennedy.

Today there are 130 Bellevue condos listed for sale or pending sale on the NWMLS. They range in asking price from $194,950 to $3,550,000, with the average being $508,223. (this is driven up substantially by a small number of units on the high end located in downtown Bellevue). These condos range in size from 446 square feet to 3,588 square feet, with the average size being 1,176 sq ft. The average number of days on market is current 44, although I do look for this number to continue to rise.

If you have a condo you would like to sell, please remember that I list properties for your choice of only 1% of the sales price or $1000 up front. Both of these options include print advertising in Eastside Business and on a large number of websites for maximum exposure.

Posted in Condos, Statistics, Bellevue, SFR | 1 Comment »

May 27, 2007 by Joe Kennedy.

As of this morning there are 328 Bellevue SFRs (single family residences) listed for sale (or pending a sale) on the NWMLS (Northwest Multiple Listing Service). They range in asking price from $399,998 to $7,498,000 and in size from 670 square feet to 12,000 square feet. The average list price is a whopping $1,283,450 and average time on market is currently 64 days.

I will be posting this data at least every week so we can start tracking trends. If you have any questions about this information, a particular neighborhood, or would like more information on real estate in Bellevue, please give me a call at 425-455-LIST (5478).

Posted in Statistics, Bellevue, SFR | No Comments »

May 27, 2007 by Joe Kennedy.

This is the first entry in my new blog at JoeListsHomes.com .  I do have blogs at a number of other sites and am a frequent contributor to the Eastside Business Community Weblog.  I will probably be referring to these blogs in the future.

The goal of this blog is to simply blog about real estate here in Bellevue Washington.  If you have any questions or I can be of assistance, please feel free to let me know - you can send me email at JoeListsHomes(at)gmail.com.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »