...and it takes a local mortgage originator to figure it out.
If you read the Seattle PI on Sunday of this past week you learned this:
- Chelan and Douglas County are in the top 5 areas of growth for Washington State
- Chelan and Douglas County populate approximately 105,000 people
- Our growth has been approximately 14% (mostly retirees)
- Our median home sale price is $239,000
- Almost all of the growth areas contributed new construction as a large growth factor
So I have to ask this...our valley's median income does not support a $239,000 loan.
Where do we get our down payments?
- Retirees? (Most are not from here...good luck. Heard of a reverse mortgage?)
- Premium pricing? (please forgive me brokers)
- Seller Paid Costs and Prepaids (sorry sellers, just seems to come up more and more in conversation. Don't blame your Realtor).
- Interest only loans (thank you Fannie Mae for the recent enhancements)
- Forget down payment...I want a $1200 rent payment (works for some people...I need as many tax deductions as I can find).
The solution is simple and I will start it right away. For all of the general contractors I work with I will call them and tell them to lower their prices...last August you could buy new for $185,000. I recently closed ~6 new construction for ~$190,000 and the are being flipped for a profit. Is our market overpriced? You're the professional you tell me.
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