Costco in Gig Harbor is having their Grand opening!

It's hard to believe but Costco is getting ready to open in Gig Harbor.

According to the official site of Costco, the new store will have its grand opening on Friday, November 2nd. I met a friend at the YMCA (also a new facility in Gig Harbor) who told me they thought it was opening Thursday evening.

In any event, it is exciting to have a Costco just this side of the Narrows bridge.

There will be a pharmacy, a gas station, optical goods, a one-hour photo center, as well as a bakery, produce section, service deli, meat and seafood sections.

Now is the time to buy investment properties in Gig Harbor.

If you are interested in buying a home in Gig Harbor, now is a great time; the market is clearly in favor of the buyer. The market may go down a bit more or stay flat for a while but you should take advantage of the time to pick the best properties without having to compete with a lot of other buyers.

What is the best price range to invest in when buying residential real estate? I like the entry level market. It is the price range that most people can afford, the most limited segment of the market, the price range that appreciates the fastest, is the first price range to go up and the last price range to slow down. Now those are good reasons!

The other thing I like about the entry level price range is it requires less money down to make the property cash flow or break even. All markets have different entry level markets – some are extremely affordable and make great investments, others are just priced way to high to make sense. To determine the entry level market in any market place you need to see the inventory and the sales. Market condition reports and absorption rate reports will clearly demonstrate the entry level price point as well as the most active price point. Market condition reports for Gig Harbor can be seen at GigHarborRealEstate.com/market-condition-report.htm . Absorption rate reports can be seen at GigHarborRealEstate.com/absorption-rate.htm .

If you referred to the market reports you will have seen that the entry level market in Gig Harbor is right around $250,000 - 300,000.

Gig Harbor has relatively few lots left to build homes on and is expecting a large influx of people and jobs with the new developments under way that include Costco, the new St. Anthony Hospital, and the Uptown Gig Harbor mixed use center that sits on 29 acres in the 4700 block of Point Fosdick.

Now is a great time to invest in Gig Harbor!

How to get your offer to purchase a home accepted.

How to get your offer accepted, even when there are several offers on the table, and at the same time accomplish your goals and address your concerns.

Keep in mind that an offer to purchase a home usually addresses more than just price. It can include, the closing date, the possession date, terms, the deposit amount, inspection contingencies such as house, pest, toxic materials, well, septic, roof, soil, and the list can go on.

Here is an example of a seller's perspective: Jack and Jill have an outstanding opportunity, as a matter of fact, this is the dream of a lifetime. However, they need to sell their home within a certain period of time, lets say 60 days, but possibly continue to work in this area for another 60 days. They need to be able to move to a different area of the country with 20 days notice and they have lots of furniture, much more than would fit in a normal apartment. They list their home at market value and receive three offers.

• Buyer # 1 offers $5,000 over list price but the offer is contingent on the sale of his home, financing, inspections, and a long time before the transaction might close.


• Buyer #2 offers full price but they have lots of contingencies and the time periods of their contingencies range from normal to slightly longer than normal.


• Buyer # 3 offers $5,000 less than the list price but prior to making the offer they try to find out what are the most important issues to the seller. After investigating the sellers' needs the offer reads like this: Financing contingency subject only to appraisal, as they are pre approved for the required loan amount. Closing to occur 30 to 60 days from the time of mutual acceptance and the seller can choose the closing date. The seller can rent back the house for up to 60 days and only needs to give 10 days notice of intent to vacate. There are just a few contingencies with short time periods.

Which offer do you think is most appealing to the seller? Will the seller be willing to accept less in exchange for the other benefits? If the seller would not accept less, which offer do you think he would want to work with first? Do you think the seller would be inclined to try and find out what things might be important to the buyer? Is price this seller's hot button?

Some people don't give it a lot of thought but quite often, price is not at the top of the sellers list, sometimes it is not even in the top 3. There are lots of emotions that a seller can feel when offers come in. When they sign the contract they have embraced the next step in their life and if the transaction fails it could have a major effect on that stepping stone.

When writing an offer, try to find out what is important to the seller. Ask their agent when the seller wants to close, do they want to carry a contract or get cashed out, when do they want to give up possession, are there any points that should be covered in the contract that are of particular concern to the seller.

Remember that all parties to the contract have a mutual goal; the buyer wants to buy, the seller want to sell, and the real estate agents want a smooth transaction for everyone concerned.

When a seller sees that you are making a genuine effort to address their concerns they will usually want to work with you in addressing yours. In reference to your contingencies, they are certainly an important part of the contract and should be there, but only use contingencies for the areas you really need to address and keep the time periods as short as possible. The sooner all contingencies to a contract are removed, the sooner the seller feels comfortable that the transaction will close and that allows the seller to move closer to his or her goals. That is worth a lot.

Earnest money deposits are something that a buyer can give "big" to a seller with no cost to the buyer. The earnest money deposit can give the seller a sense of security but there is no risk to the purchaser unless he defaults on the transaction because the deposit is applied to the purchase price. It is important to understand that default (on the purchasing side) occurs after all contingencies have been satisfied or removed and the purchaser will not close the transaction. On the other hand a small earnest money deposit can be interpreted that the purchaser may not be committed to the transaction and might walk away if something better comes along.

When you do something nice for someone they usually try and reciprocate. When you have genuine concern for another person's goals you will find they want to help you as well. Getting your offer accepted is easiest when you avoid the adversarial position and make an earnest effort at creating a partnership; after all you do have a mutual goal.

Mike Esteb
Keller Williams Realty
Gig Harbor, WA
253.851.0744
Mike Esteb has been selling real estate since 1988.

The real estate market in Gig Harbor is tumbling? - NOT TRUE!!!!!

For the last year I have been advising clients that the real estate market was going down and it certainly has. My reasoning for the downturn had to do with the price affordability index and what was happening in the national real estate market. National markets are affecting our market.

ENOUGH is enough! I am tired of hearing about the doom and gloom. Florida, Southern California, Detroit, and other parts of the country do not represent the market in Washington.
The Washington real estate market is a stable and responsible market place for home buyers.
I just received some interesting information from Washington Realtors. Here are some facts:

• The foreclosure rates today are the same as they were 10 years ago.
• Fewer than 1% of mortgages end in default in Washington State.
• As of mid June, sub prime, adjustable-rate loans represented 20% of loans nationally, but just 6% of loans in Washington.
• Home appreciation continues to out perform the rest of the nation with year-to-year price increases every quarter since the spring of 1995.
• The home market is not keeping pace with the growth of the states population, which is continuing to increase at 1.8% per year.

On October 15th, 2007 media campaign was started exposing the truth about the strength and stability of the Washington housing market.

There are way too many positive things happening in Gig Harbor. The market will turn around. If you have thought about selling, the selling market may not be too far in the future. If you are thinking about buying, it might be time to get going.

I just updated the Gig Harbor market reports. They can be seen at www.GigHarborRealEstate.com/market-condition-report.htm if you have been looking at these reports regularly, you may have noticed the slight trend of an improving market in the lower price ranges.

By the way, all of our listings can be seen at this site as well.

Mike Esteb