Kary L. Krismer's Discussions

The time to buy is generally when the press is reporting things are bad. I do that with stocks. By the time the press hears of something, it's typically already past.

Aldreth, you clearly have an agenda. But your last post clearly shows you're operating on old news. But in any case, I've never pushed a client to an interest only loan or ARM (especially now where fixed rates aren't that much higher). You don't even mention option ARMs, which are even worse (although there are people they fit). In fact, my standard advice is not to look at the price level that the mortgage broker indicates you qualify for. Being a slave to your house isn't a good lifestyle.Finally, note that the exposure of markets is local. Seattle doesn't have the same exposure to sub-prime loans that other parts of the country do. Also, the lenders are trying to avoid foreclosures, and will sometimes renegotiate to terms better than the existing note.

Adreth,Our sales volumes are down about 11% from a year ago, but a year ago was a buyer frenzy situation. Being down 11% from then would be expected. Your link is just something that gives an incomplete picture. Comparing two time points is typically meaningless.What's surprising is that with lower volume and higher inventories, median prices are up in many/most areas.

Aldreth,How long ago was it you lost 10% on the sale of a condo in Washington state? Was it in King, Pierce or Snohomish Counties? The prices in those counties have been skyrocketing, so a recent loss in one of those counties would be unusual.

I'd agree with Marci. You won't know until you make an offer.

Typical experation around here is 9:00 p.m. the next day, but it is sometimes shorter.

There can be several things going on.If for example, your house is a 3 bedroom/1 bath, you can make it as nice as you want and it won't affect price much, because few people want one bathroom houses. There will practically be a ceiling on its value.Also, there are many improvements you can do that won't return anywhere near what you put into them. That's especially true of your tastes vary from the standard style.But in general, improvements do improve the price of a house, and help it sell faster.

IMHO, lower rates only lead to higher prices. The effect on volume is marginal, at least at the rates we've been having the past several years.If we get really high rates, like the late 70's early 80's that will hurt sales.

By agenda, I mean your trying to convince people the sky is falling. I don't do that, nor do I try to convince people that things are rosy (look what I wrote on the person asking to invest in Seattle condos).Not sure about the old news comment--I don't think you've linked that before, but what I was referring to was your arguments regarding why the market will decline. It's old news. As I indicated, when the press gets a hold of an issue, it's too late. So citing current articles doesn't really mean anything--those are too late too.As to the last link, that doesn't appear to be a map of sub-prime loans. It's not clear what it is, but perhaps it's a maps showing what loans are "option" payment loans. I'm not a big fan of those, but for some people (e.g. Realtors), they're a good idea.Finally, I do worry about my clients defaulting. So far I've only had one client that I was concerned about, and they recently called inquiring about buying something better. So apparently my worry was not necessary.

Aldreth, you can pay Realtors hourly. Redfin does that.