Anthony Sideris's (smoke) Blog

GIG HARBOR HOME FOR SALE - BEST BUY SELECTION

Anthony Sideris — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:29:47 -0700

GIG HARBOR HOME FOR SALE – BEST BUY SELECTION This week’s Best Buy Home for Sale is located in Gig Harbor, WA. This two story Gig Harbor home was built in 2002 and has 3 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, 3234 square feet, and sits on 1.34 acres. The home is located at 13004 Point Richmond NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98332, in the Gig Harbor community of Point Richmond. Point Richmond is a private community with a community beach, park, barbeque/party area and a boat launch. This Gig Harbor home has a partial water view of the Puget Sound and sits adjacent to a wooded area. The home has two covered decks, with one running the full length of the house. A large gourmet kitchen sports a Wolf range and stainless steel appliances, custom cabinets and granite counter-tops. Some other features of this Gig Harbor home include hardwood floors, a built in vacuum system, gas heat and every bedroom has its own private bathroom. The home is priced at $459,000 and its assessed value is $442,400. What earns this Gig Harbor home a best buy rating is its value pricing for a water view home with beachfront access (without the taxes of waterfront), plenty of floor space, covered decks, and a large lot next to a wooded area for plenty of privacy. To view additional information on this home, click the following link: 13004 Point Richmond NW. This Gig Harbor home, as well as previous Best Buy Homes in Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, Bremerton, Silverdale and Key Peninsula, can be seen on our Healthcarehomebuyer.com website at the following link Gig Harbor Best Buy Home and on my personal real estate website gigharbor-realestate.com at the following link Best Buy Home Gig Harbor.

Homes Sold in Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula, Kitsap June 2010

Anthony Sideris — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:39:54 -0700

Homes Sold in Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula, Kitsap June 2010 The Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula and Kitsap (Port Orchard, Bremerton, Silverdale, Poulsbo, Kingston and Bainbridge Island) Real Estate market for single family homes showed a modest improvement in June 2010 for Kitsap, no improvement in Gig Harbor and a decrease in for the Key Peninsula. The figures do not take condominiums or multi-family properties into account, only single family homes. Kitsap County had a total of 256 closed home sales and 224 offers on homes made. Gig Harbor had a total of 70 closed home sales and 64 offers made on homes. The Key Peninsula had 17 closed home sales and 15 offer on homes made. The more important figure to focus on in determining where the real estate market is heading is is offers being made, where as closed sales is a reflection of closed transactions from previous months. The chart below depicts the breakdown of homes according to price range and area. The numbers in parenthesis are May’s numbers. May 2010 ………………..Closed Sales…………. Offers Made Kitsap County under $300,000 175(161) 139(131) $300,001-$600,000 55(59) 68(54) $600,001-$900,000 21(11) 15(13) $900,001-$1,200,000 4(0) 1(3) above $1,200,000 1(3) 1(2) Totals 256(234) 224(203) Gig Harbor under $300,000 26(14) 21(16) $300,001-$600,000 29(24) 35(32) $600,001-$900,000 13(5) 6(12) $900,001-$1,200,000 2(1) 2(1) above $1,200,000 0(0) 0(2) Totals 70(44) 64(63) Key Peninsula under $300,000 14(12) 10(17) $300,001-$600,000 2(3) 5(3) $600,001-$900,000 1(0) 0(1) $900,001-$1,200,000 0(0) 0(0) above $1,200,000 0(0) 0(0) Totals 17(15) 15(21) This post and previous posts regarding the Gig Harbor Real Estate Market & Kitsap Real Estate Market can also be viewed on our website dedicated to healthcare professionals www.healthcarehomebuyer.com and my personal real estate website www.gigharbor-realestate.com.

Silverdale Home - Best Buy Pick

Anthony Sideris — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 05:52:51 -0700

Silverdale Home – Best Buy Pick This week’s Best Buy Home for Sale is in Silverdale, WA. After skipping over Silverdale several times because I could not identify home that I considered a best buy, this home with a view of the Hood Canal and Olympic Mountains came on the market. This Silverdale view home has 3 bedroom, 3.25 bath, 3502 square feet and is situated on .97 acres. The home is located at 7505 NW Mountain Vista Lane, in the Sunset Farms development. The home is priced at $480,000 and is a short sale, meaning the price is more than what is owed to the bank by the seller. The home is assessed at $612,090 and was purchased by the current seller in 2002 for $410,000 – I guess he must have re-financed which is why it’s a short sale. This Silverdale home is a daylight rambler, with the main floor having 2340 square feet and the daylight basement with 936 square feet. The views of the Hood Canal and the Olympic Mountains are western exposure which makes for beautiful evening sunsets. Some other of this home’s features include a large kitchen, Corian counters, cherry cabinets, white oak hardwood floors, pellet stove, 2 fireplaces, butler’s pantry and wet bar, large deck to enjoy the view, home theatre, wine cellar, vaulted ceilings, skylights, security system, master suite with it’s own balcony, jetted tub, three car garage and an aluminum roof. Although the Corian counters may make this home seem a bit dated, remember that 15 years ago Corian was top of the line material for counter-tops, much like slab granite is now. For this price however, spending another $5,000-$8,000 to for slab-granite countertops would be well worth it and bring the kitchen up to contemporary styling. As is pretty self-evident, this home comes packed with many nice features. The home was originally built in 1978 with an effective year built as 1985, which means construction was started in 1978, but was not completed until 1985. What earns this Silverdale home a Best Buy Home for Sale rating is its price value for view property in Silverdale, its ample acreage and many nice features. I’m pretty familiar with view property in Silverdale because I have one listed myself at $599,000. Although I feel my listing is well priced for what it offers, this Silverdale view home is a steal at $480,000. This Silverdale home, as well as previous Best Buy Homes in Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, Bremerton, Silverdale and Key Peninsula, can be seen on our Healthcarehomebuyer.com website at the following link Gig Harbor Best Buy Home and on my personal real estate website gigharbor-realestate.com at the following link Best Buy Home Gig Harbor.

Port Orchard Best Buy Home of the Week

Anthony Sideris — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:29:22 -0700

Port Orchard Best Buy Home of the Week This week’s Best Buy Home for Sale is in the Manchester community of Port Orchard, WA. Actually, this week’s best buy as well as last week’s best buy was supposed to be in Silverdale, WA, however I was not able to identify real estate in Silverdale which I feel is a screaming good deal. I try to rotate the best buy selection between Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula, Port Orchard, Bremeton and Silverdale (along with the price range), but I decided not to pick a home in Silverdale just for the sake of having a Silverdale home in the mix if it was not warranted. Last week’s best buy home was in Gig Harbor and this week’s best buy home is in Port Orchard, located at 2544 Alaska Avenue E, Port Orchard, WA 98366, which is actually in the community of Manchester. This Manchester home has 3 bedrooms, 2.75 baths, 3,382 square feet and was built in 1998. The home is situated on .19 acres and has fantastic views of Mount Rainier, the Puget Sound, Seattle, Blake and Vashon Islands. This home was first listed last July at $479,900, was later reduced to $439,000 and reduced again last month to its current list price of $385,000. The home’s assessed value is $464,230. Some of this home’s features include hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings, a large great room, central air, gas fireplace, jetted tub in the master bath, and plenty of deck to enjoy the view on during the summer. What earns this Port Orchard home a Best Buy Home of the Week rating is its price value for waterview property in Manchester. This Port Orchard home, as well as previous Best Buy Homes in Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, Bremerton, Silverdale and Key Peninsula, can be seen on our Healthcarehomebuyer.com website at the following link Gig Harbor Best Buy Home and on my personal real estate website gigharbor-realestate.com at the following link Best Buy Home Gig Harbor.

Gig Harbor Home for Sale - Best Buy

Anthony Sideris — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 09:56:56 -0700

Gig Harbor Home for Sale – Best Buy This week’s Best Buy Home for Sale is in Gig Harbor, WA. This Gig Harbor property is a 4 bedroom, 3.75 baths, 4025 square foot waterfront home listed for $699,000. The home is located at 7714 Ray Nash Drive, Gig Harbor, WA 98335, in the Rosedale community. This Gig Harbor waterfront home is situated on .18 acres with 77 feet of waterfront and a dock. The home’s assessed value is $876,100. This home has been on the market off and on since 2006, originally listed at $1,500,000 at the high point of the Gig Harbor real estate market peak. The price was dropped to $850,000 in 2009, then to $769,000 in early 2010 and most recently to its current price. It was obviously overpriced before, but at $699,000 for anyone looking for waterfront in Gig Harbor, it is a very good deal. The views of the water and the Olympic Mountains are western exposure which makes for beautiful evening sunsets. Some other of this home’s features include a large kitchen slab granite counters and stainless appliances, 4 bedrooms each with their own bathrooms, a formal living room and dining room, and three stone fireplaces. What earns this Gig Harbor home a Best Buy Home for Sale rating is it’s price value for waterfront property in Gig Harbor. This Gig Harbor home was built in 1992, so although it might be slightly dated, it has had some nice updates and is not an old home by any means. This Gig Harbor home, as well as previous Best Buy Homes in Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, Bremerton, Silverdale and Key Peninsula, can be seen on our Healthcarehomebuyer.com website at the following link Gig Harbor Best Buy Home and on my personal real estate website gigharbor-realestate.com at the following link Best Buy Home Gig Harbor. The Gig Harbor Real Estate Market is still struggling to recover. It may take 5 years before home prices recover to where they were at in 2007. Until then, it will remain a buyer’s market for homes in Gig Harbor.

Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula, Kitsap Homes Sold May 2010

Anthony Sideris — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:27:44 -0700

Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula, Kitsap Homes Sold May 2010 The Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula and Kitsap (Port Orchard, Bremerton, Silverdale, Poulsbo, Kingston and Bainbridge Island) Real Estate market for single family homes showed somewhat of a slowdown for May 2010. The figures do not take condominiums or multi-family properties into account, only single family homes. Kitsap County had a total of 234 closed home sales and 203 offer on homes made. Gig Harbor had a total of 44 closed home sales and 63 offers made on homes. The Key Peninsula had 15 closed home sales and 21 offer on homes made. The chart below depicts the breakdown of homes according to price range and area. The numbers in parenthesis are April's numbers. As you can see from the numbers below, the numbers of offers made in the under $300,000 price range droped dramatically across the board (and to a lesser extent the $300-$600K price range) for homes in Gig Harbor, Kitsap and the Key Peninsula. The Kitsap real estate market saw the greatest decrease overall. The only marked increase was for offers on homes in Gig Harbor in the $600-$900k price range. It is too early to tell yet if this is a trend. I think it's a good bet that part of the decrease was a result of the first time homebuyer tax credit ending April 30th. The numbers for June's market activity should shed more light on which way the real estate market for Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula and Kitsap is heading for 2010. May 2010 Closed Sales Offers Made Kitsap County under $300,000 161(182) 131(252) $300,001-$600,000 59(43) 54(94) $600,001-$900,000 11(10) 13(19) $900,001-$1,200,000 0(4) 3(2) above $1,200,000 3(1) 2(1) Totals 234(240) 203(368) Gig Harbor under $300,000 14(13) 16(29) $300,001-$600,000 24(23) 32(43) $600,001-$900,000 5(7) 12(8) $900,001-$1,200,000 1(3) 1(3) above $1,200,000 0(0) 2(1) Totals 44(46) 63(84) Key Peninsula under $300,000 12(9) 17(25) $300,001-$600,000 3(0) 3(2) $600,001-$900,000 0(0) 1(1) $900,001-$1,200,000 0(0) 0(0) above $1,200,000 0(0) 0(0) Totals 15(9) 21(28) This post and previous posts regarding the Gig Harbor Real Estate Market & Kitsap Real Estate Market can also be viewed on our website dedicated to healthcare professionals www.healthcarehomebuyer.com and my personal real estate website www.gigharbor-realestate.com.

Key Peninsula Best Buy Home for Sale

Anthony Sideris — Thu, 27 May 2010 09:08:03 -0700

Key Peninsula Best Buy Home for Sale This week’s Best Buy Home for Sale is located in Key Center on the Key Peninsula in Washington. Let me say up front, this is one of my listed properties. I hesitated selecting this property as a Best Buy Home pick because I did not want to give the perception that I was using the Best Buy pick to market my own listings The purpose of the Best Buy selection is identify good values to home buyers who are searching for homes for sale in Gig Harbor, on the Key Peninsula, in Port Orchard, Silverdale, Bremerton or anywhere else the Kitsap Peninsula. Having mulled this back and forth, I finally came to terms with the fact that this home by its own merits should be considered a Best Buy Home for Sale. The home is located at 15109 92nd Street KPN in Key Center on the Key Peninsula just off of State Hwy 302. This is a very unique property. The house itself is an eight sided structure (octagon), 1202 square feet with 1 bedroom and 1 bath. The kitchen-dinning-great room is one open flowing space with a center columns cut from timbers on the property forming a circular cathedral skylight ceiling. Wood panel and stone make up a good part of the interior walls. The best way to describe it is a lodge type retreat. The house sits on 9.94 acres of fairly level land, with a large detached garage/shop, a smaller detached garage/shop and a small guest bungalow (more like a oversized kid’s playhouse). It is an estate sale, so the sellers do want to put any money into it. The deceased owner built the home himself in 1986. The structure of the home is very solid, but it will need some work such as some new skylights, appliances, carpet, etc. It is on a 2 bedroom septic, so there is the option of adding on another bedroom, and it has its own well. The yard immediately surrounding the house is a bit overgrown, so it would take a summer’s worth of weekends to spruce the place up. The assessed value is $360,100 ($100,800 for the house/$259,300 for the land). It is priced at $229,000. The Northwest Multiple Listing Service listing number is 24291. This home is definitely nor for your average run-of-the-mill homebuyer who wants something turn-key ready. It is a unique home for a do it yourselfer home owner or a home owner who may want to put in another $100,000 to customize it into their own personal retreat on private acreage, yet within 20 minutes of all the shopping and amenities in Gig Harbor. This Key Peninsula home, as well as previous Best Buy Homes in Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, Bremerton, Silverdale and Key Peninsula, can be seen on our Healthcarehomebuyer.com website at the following link Gig Harbor Best Buy Home and on my personal real estate website gigharbor-realestate.com at the following link Best Buy Home Gig Harbor.

Best Buy Home for Sale - Port Orchard, WA

Anthony Sideris — Thu, 20 May 2010 06:32:51 -0700

Best Buy Home for Sale – Port Orchard, WA This week’s Best Buy Home for Sale is a 4 bedroom, 2 3/4 bath, 2503 square foot Port Orchard home listed for $369,000. This home is located at 7052 McCormick Woods Drive SW, Port Orchard, WA 98367, located in the golf course community of McCormick Woods. The Northwest MLS number is: 75569. This Port Orchard home is on .330 acres. The home’s assessed value is $414,410, which is $45,410 less than it's listed price. This Port Orchard home is located on the outer loop of the McCormick Woods Golf Course, with a green belt that back up to the house. You don't have a view of any of the golf course's fairways, but non-the-less, it is a great value for a home in one of Kitsap Peninsula's nicest golf courses. Some of this home’s other features include slab granite counters, formal living room and dining room, spacious master bedroom with a walk-in closet, jetted soaking tub, air conditioning, 3 car garage and 6 decks to just name a few of this home’s many great features. What earns this Port Orchard home a Best Buy Home for Sale rating is it’s price value for a home located within a quality golf course community such as McCormick Woods. This Port Orchard home was built in 1991, so although it might be slightly dated for some buyers’ tastes, it has had some nice updates and is not an old home by any means. It would be a great home for a family wanting to live in a higher end type neighborhood such as a golf course community at an affordable price. The market for Port Orchard Real Estate is slowly starting to recover from the drop in home prices that has occurred over the past 2 years. Values such as this one won't be around forever (probably not next year at this time) but until then, interest rates still remain low and it will remain a buyer’s market for homes in Port Orchard. There won't be a better time to buy a home than this year. This Port Orchard home, as well as previous Best Buy Homes in Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, Bremerton, Silverdale and Key Peninsula, can be seen on our Healthcarehomebuyer.com website at the following link Gig Harbor Best Buy Home and on my personal real estate website gigharbor-realestate.com at the following link Best Buy Home Gig Harbor.

Gig Harbor and Kitsap County Real Estate

Anthony Sideris — Fri, 14 May 2010 06:30:43 -0700

Gig Harbor and Kitsap County Real Estate The Washington real estate market in Gig Harbor the Key Peninsula and Kitsap County, which includes Port Orchard, Bremerton, Silverdale, Poulsbo, Kingston and Bainbridge Island, for single family home during April 2010 showed some promising numbers. The figures do not take condominiums or multi-family properties into account, only single family homes. Kitsap County had a total of 240 closed home sales and 368 offer on homes made. Gig Harbor had a total of 46 closed home sales during April and 84 offers made on homes in April. The Key Peninsula had 9 closed home sales and 28 offer on homes made. As you can see from the numbers below, real estate in Kitsap county for homes under the $300,000 price range doing very well. Real estate in Gig Harbor is also starting to improve, especially for homes in the $300,000-$600,000 price range. Although Gig Harbor is a more higher end real estate market per capita than Kitsap County, Bainbridge Island in Kitsap County is a similar real estate market to Gig Harbor, with many high end waterfront homes. Six of the Eight over $900,000 homes in Kitsap County are on Bainbridge Island. Real Estate on the Key Peninsula is still struggling with almost all of it’s closed home sales and offer being made under $300,000, despite there being a good number of waterfront homes for sale. April 2010 Closed Sales Offers Made Kitsap County under $300,000 182 252 $300,001-$600,000 43 94 $600,001-$900,000 10 19 $900,001-$1,200,000 4 2 above $1,200,000 1 1 Totals 240 368 Gig Harbor under $300,000 13 29 $300,001-$600,000 23 43 $600,001-$900,000 7 8 $900,001-$1,200,000 3 3 above $1,200,000 0 1 Totals 46 84 Key Peninsula under $300,000 9 25 $300,001-$600,000 0 2 $600,001-$900,000 0 1 $900,001-$1,200,000 0 0 above $1,200,000 0 0 Totals 9 28 This post and previous posts regarding the Gig Harbor Real Estate Market & Kitsap Real Estate Market can also be viewed on our website dedicated to healthcare professionals www.healthcarehomebuyer.com and my personal real estate website www.gigharbor-realestate.com.

Best Buy Home for Sale - Gig Harbor, WA

Anthony Sideris — Wed, 12 May 2010 06:23:41 -0700

Best Buy Home for Sale – Gig Harbor, WA This week’s Best Buy Home for Sale is a 6 bedroom, 4 bath, 4518 square foot Gig Harbor home listed for $439,000. This home is located at 4605 74th Ave Ct NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98335, located in the Artondale community of Gig Harbor. This Gig Harbor home is on .289 acres. The home’s assessed value is $501,700. Just like many great deals, this home is a short sale. This Gig Harbor home is located in a cul-de-sac, dead end street, and has Olympic Mountain views off of its back deck and many of its rooms. Some other of this home’s features include slab granite counters, large master suite with private deck and a large walk in closet, large exercise room, built-vacuum system, security system, walk-in pantry just to name a few of this home’s many great features. What earns this Gig Harbor home a Best Buy Home for Sale rating is it’s price value, this home’s enormous size of 6 bedrooms and 4518 square feet and views of the Olympic Mountains. The Gig Harbor home was built in 1995, so although it might be slightly dated for some buyers’ tastes, it has had some nice updates and is not an old home by any means. It would be a great home for a large family or anyone wanting an affordable large home in Gig Harbor. This Gig Harbor home, as well as previous Best Buy Homes in Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, Bremerton, Silverdale and Key Peninsula, can be seen on our Healthcarehomebuyer.com website at the following link Gig Harbor Best Buy Home and on my personal real estate website gigharbor-realestate.com at the following link Best Buy Home Gig Harbor. The market for Gig Harbor Real Estate is still struggling to recover from the drop in home prices that has occurred over the past 2 years. It may take 5 years before home prices recover to where they were at in 2007. Until then, it will remain a buyer’s market for homes in Gig Harbor.

Best Buy Home for Sale - Silverdale, WA

Anthony Sideris — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:57:46 -0700

Best Buy Home for Sale – Silverdale, WA This week’s Best Buy Home for Sale is in Silverdale, WA. This best buy home is located at 10888 Hillsboro Dr NW, Silverdale, WA 98383, which is off of Ridgetop Blvd. This 1991 built home is a 2-story, 2443 square feet, 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 2 car garage on .19 acres. We consider this a best buy home for sale because it is listed at $319,900 and it offers a large master bedroom with a vaulted ceiling, a walk-in closet, hardwood floors, and has been updated with granite tile countertops, stainless steel appliances and a new roof in 2009. This Silverdale home was purchased in 2006 for $362,000 and is currently assessed at $285,120. Many factors go into qualifying this Silverdale home as a best buy, including it’s price compared to other similar Silverdale homes for sale, it’s list price vs. assessed value its updates and it’s location in Silverdale’s Ridgetop neighborhood. You can view this best buy listing via the following link: Silverdale Best Buy Home for Sale. You can view previous best buy homes for sale in Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, Bremerton, Key Peninsula and Silverdale on our website’s blog at Healthcarehombuyer.com

Home Sales in Port Orchard, WA during April 2010 (thus far)

Anthony Sideris — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:49:48 -0700

Home Sales in Port Orchard, WA during April 2010 (thus far) The Real Estate Market in Port Orchard, WA (including Olalla) seems to have come alive this month. Since the beginning of April there have been 68 offers made on homes in Port Orchard. The majority of homes are under $300,000 price range, which could be influenced by first-time and move-up home buyers trying to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit, which is due to end this month. There have also been a handful of homes in the $300k-$550k that have offers made on them, which is fairly respectable considering Port Orchard’s more affluent real estate neighbor to the south, Gig Harbor, has only been able to eek out only 32 offers so far this month. Last month there were a total of 84 homes in Port Orchard that had offers on them, so this month is shaping up to be even better than March. So far for the month of April, there have been 19 closed home sales in Port Orchard. This number reflects homes that most likely had offers made on them back in March or earlier. This number is a bit low considering that last month, of the 260 total closed home sales in Kitsap County, 92 of them were in Port Orchard. Well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the total numbers are at the end of the month to reach any type of conclusion. There are currently 533 single family homes for sale in the Port Orchard area. Considering roughly 12% of the homes for sale in Port Orchard have had offers made on them during the first half of April, compared to only 5.5% of Gig Harbor’s total of 578 homes for sale as we reported on our website's blog, Healthcarehomebuyer.com, I’d say Port Orchard’s real estate market is starting to make a stronger come back for sellers right now. It’s still not great because there are still many short sales and bank owned homes that are driving down prices, but the sooner the inventory of homes decreases, the sooner that home prices will start to recover. Until then, there is no better time for home buyers to be in the real estate market. With interest rates still hovering around 5%, I don’t believe that this time next year will present home buyers with the same buying power that they currently have. Tony Sideris.

Gig Harbor, WA Homes Sold during April 2010 (thus far)

Anthony Sideris — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 07:41:22 -0700

Gig Harbor, WA Homes Sold during April 2010 (thus far) The home buyer tax credit is about to run out the end of April (in two weeks), so I was curious how single family home sales in Gig Harbor have been going thus far in April. I ran the numbers on the Northwest Multiple Listing Service and found there have been 32 offers made on homes in Gig Harbor thus far in the first two weeks of April (this does not include across the Purdy spit on the Key Peninsula, which also has a Gig Harbor zip code). The majority of them are in the less than $500,000 price range, but there are a handful in the $500k-$600k price range and even one waterfront home on Horsehead Bay listed at a whopping $3,495,000 - I'll be curious to see what that sells at when the transaction closes. There are 578 listings of single family homes for sale in Gig Harbor. This means that roughly 5.5% of homes for sale had offers made on them during the first half of Apirl, compared to Gig Harbor's less afluent real estate neighbor to the north, Port Orchard, which is more than twice as high at 12%. We reported on our website's blog, Healthcarehomebuyer.com, March's real estate market activity for Gig Harbor had 55 closed transactions, which represents offers made on homes most likely in February and earlier. There are 19 closed transactions for homes sold in Gig Harbor so far this month, which is slightly behind last months 55 closed transactions. So what do all these numbers mean? What they seem to say to me is that any recovery for Gig Harbor real estate still has not materialized. With so many bank owned homes and short sales still glutting the Gig Harbor real estate market and driving prices down even further than what they were last year at this time, I wouldn't count on any good news for home sellers in Gig Harbor this year. On the other hand, if you have a stable job, decent income and good credit I can't think of any better timing to buy a home if you have been tossing around the idea. Let me qualify that by stating the obvious first - if you have to sell your current home in order to be able to afford to buy another home, one obvious factor you have to consider is when did you buy your current home. Considering that current home prices in Gig Harbor are close to where they were at in 2004, if your purchased anytime after that year you probably don't have much more equity in your home other than what you put down on it. If you've taken out a second, well then you can pretty much forget about it. Of course this is a generality, so examine your specific situation objectively, and if you think that it may be a good time for you to get into another home, now may best time to make your move.

Best Buy Home for Sale in Bremerton WA

Anthony Sideris — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 11:41:02 -0700

Best Buy Home for Sale in Bremerton WA Last week our best buy home for sale was in Gig Harbor, WA. We have previously had best buy homes for sale on our website Healthcarehomebuyer.com in Port Orchard, WA, Silverdale, WA, Key Peninsula, WA and of course Gig Harbor, WA, so now it is finally the turn of Bremerton, WA for best buy home of the week. This week's best buy home for sale is a 1983 built, 3000 square foot, 4 bedroom, 3.25 bathroom single story home on .29 acres located at 1292 Lansing Avenue NW, Bremerton, WA 98312, listed for $229,500. The home has an additional 776 square foot basement with a separate kitchen, bath and laundry, and a 3 car garage. This home also has a nice waterview of Sinclair Inlet. This is a bank owned home (U.S. Bank) and is sold as is. Considering this home was purchased in 2004 for $275,500 and is currently assessed at $347,340, it is a pretty good investment choice, assuming no major problems come up during an inspection. The link for this home's listing is: 1292 Lansing Ave W

Best Buy Home in Gig Harbor, WA

Anthony Sideris — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 10:16:36 -0700

Best Buy Home in Gig Harbor, WA Well, since our last Best Buy recomendation on our website Healthcarehomebuyer.com for homes in Gig Harbor, WA is now pending, I guess someone else also felt it was a pretty good deal as far as real estate in Gig Harbor goes. The last home was a 3651 square foot home priced at $499,900, so this time our best buy recommendation for a Gig Harbor home will be a more moderately priced home that would be ideal for the first time home buyer to take advantage of the first time homebuyer tax credit before it expires the end of April. This week's best buy pick for Gig Harbor real estate is a 1974 built one story home with a daylight basement, 3 bedrooms, 1 3/4 baths, 2112 square foot on .26 acres located at 7601 35th St NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98335, MLS number 52858. The home has 2 bonus rooms, a rec room, two fireplaces and a large master bedroom. The bathrooms have been updated and it has newer carpet. The home is a short sale, listed at $189,000. That being said, short sales can be a dicey proposition as far as getting an offer approved by the bank that has the loan. Some banks turn around offers within a week, other can litterally take months mulling it over. Considering that this home's current assessed value is $220,200 and that it was purchased in 2003 for $194,950, you really can't go wrong financially purchasing this home unless there is some significant problem that would turn up during an inspection. To see this listing click on the following link: 7601 35th St NW

This Week's Best Buy Home - Port Orchard, WA

Anthony Sideris — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:15:38 -0700

This Week's Best Buy Home - Port Orchard, WA We've tried to make it a custom on our website Healthcarehomebuyer.com to pick a home each week in the Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula and Kitsap County, WA real estate market, which we think is a best buy. This week's best buy home is in Port Orchard, WA, located at 15383 Horseshoe Ave SW, Port Orchard, WA 98367, across from Horseshoe Lake Park, MLS number 10330. This is a two story, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2565 square foot home, situated on .3 acres, built in 2008. It is priced at $339,000. It was originally priced at $369,000 when it first came on the market in January 2010. Assessed at $363,570 and purchased in 2008 for $395,000, this is a pretty good deal, if nothing else than just looking at the numbers. Located across the street from Horseshoe Lake County Park and close to Horseshoe Lake Golf Course, this home offers the setting of a vacation getaway with all the amenities that you would want in a home for daily living, including hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings, chef's kitchen jetted soaking tub and a heat pump. This home shares a common driveway with it's twin home and has a detached 2-car garage in the back. When making a best buy selection for real estate, we take various factors in to account including price, size, location, features, etc. In the end however, it's somewhat of a subjective decision, kind of like selecting a good movie. I think Monty Python movies are hilarious to the point that I'm crying tears of laughter - my wife can be sitting next to me without a even giving up a smile throughout the whole movie. So take it for what it's worth. Tony Sideris.

March 2010 Home Sales Gig Harbor WA, Key Peninsula WA, Kitsap County WA

Anthony Sideris — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 05:21:11 -0700

March 2010 Home Sales Gig Harbor WA, Key Peninsula WA, Kitsap County WA The real estate market for March 2010 in Gig Harbor, WA, Key Peninsula, WA and Kitsap County, WAwas a mixed bag. The total homes sold, including condominiums and manufactured homes, in Gig Harbor was 55. The total homes sold in the Key Peninsula was 23. The total homes sold in Kitsap County was 260. Although Kitsap county contains a larger population base than both Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula combined, the disparity in total homes sold between Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula at 78 versus 260 for Kitsap County suggests that Kitsap County's real estate market is making a stronger recovery at this point in time than it's neighbors to the south. Let's look at the numbers below and then qualify things a bit more: Gig Harbor Key Peninsula Kitsap County $000,000 - $300,000: 15 21 190 $300,001 - $600,000: 29 2 61 $600,001 - $900,000: 8 0 5 $900,001 - $1,200,000: 2 0 1 over $1,200,000: 1 0 3 totals: 55 23 260 It's pretty obvious from the numbers that the real estate market under $300,000 in Kitsap County is pretty hot right now. All the homes sold in Kitsap County above $900,000 were on Bainbridge Island, which makes up the bulk of Kitsap County's higher end real estate market. The under $300k price range is just about 90% of the Key Peninsula's real estate market. Although the Key Peninsula generally has more afordable homes in the lower end price range, it also has some very nice waterfront homes. The bulk of Gig Habor's home sales was in the moderately price range between $300k-$600k, with just a handful above that. The conclusion that can be reached from the number of homes sold in March in the various price ranges indicates that the real estate market in Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula and Kitsap County has yet to start a recovery in the mid to higher end price range. With the economic recovery still at its initial stages, the unemployment rate is still hovering just under 10%. Banks are still being quite stingy about making jumbo and super jumbo loans above the conventional loan limit of $417,000. Combining those two factors, it's not surprising that it will be quite some time before the mid to high end real estate market starts its recovery. For previous monthly real estate market activity in Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula and Kitsap County visit our website which caters to those home buyers working in the healthcare industry - Healthcarehomebuyer.com.

2010 Home Sales In Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, Silverdale, Kitsap County WA

Anthony Sideris — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 09:46:53 -0700

2010 Home Sales In Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, Silverdale, Kitsap County WA I recently gave my opinion about Home Sales in 2010 for Gig Harbor and Kitsap County WA on our website's blog Healthcarehomebuyer based upon a CNN Money article which recently came out forecasting home price increases in 20 cities across the United States. Surprisingly of all places predicted to have the an increase in the median price of homes by 3.9% is Tacoma, WA. The article also predicted a 4.7% increase in the median price of homes in Bremerton, WA. I often wonder where many of these housing market prophets get their data from. I, just like everybody else, would like to be hopefully optimistic that the real estate market in Puget Sound will quickly start to improve, but with so many short sales and bank owned homes driving down prices, it seems to me a bit optimistic to expect such significant home price increases in 2010. Real Estate in Gig Harbor, WA, which has some of the higher priced homes in south Puget Sound (Tacoma area), is still facing significant challenges for home owners trying to sell their homes. I'd say the average price that homes in Gig Harbor have been selling for this year compared to the same time last year has dropped an average of 10%. From the standpoint of buyers, that's great news. Some of my clients who were home buyers over the past year have made a killing on their purchases. Just as an example, one home listed for $1,295,000 (after already being reduced by $100k) was sold for $1,000,000, which is 23% less than the listed price. Another home originally listed for $950,000 was sold for $700,000, 24% less than the originally listed price. And finally a home listed for $749,900, (originally listed at $849,000) will close next month for $640,000, a modest 15% less than the already reduced list price. Right now I love working with clients who are buyers. You can just about ask for everything including the kitchen sink from sellers and get it. Working with my clients who are selling their homes is a different story. It's a real challenge getting home sellers to accept that the sale price of their home is pretty close to 2004 home values. The question I always ask them is "Do you want to sell your home or just keep it listed?" When trying to educate them that they need to list their home at a price where it is one of the top three best buys in their market (comparing apples to apples) in order to get their home sold within 90 days, the common response I get is that any offer is going to be less than what they list it anyway because it is a buyer's market. What I tell them is that if they are one of the top three best priced homes, they will get pretty close to what they are asking in a lot shorter time, than starting out high and eventually reducing the price over the course of a year. Trying to separate the emotions of sellers when trying to make a sound business decision, often requires more expertise in psychology rather than real estate. For more informative articles on real estate, please visit our website Healthcarehomebuyer.com. Anthony Sideris.