Real Estate Briefs

Home Sales Down Nationally, Up Locally
Buyer wariness is resulting in slower existing home sales across the US, the Associated Press reports. The drop of 4.1 percent in July from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.33 million units was the lowest level since January 2004, the National Association of Realtors reported.

The picture is different here in Thurston County, where the Olympic MLS statistics show that homes are selling quicker (average days on market down more than 7% between June and July) and for more (average sale price was up 5.3% between June and July). OMLS numbers also show the average home selling price up 21% over a year ago, to $301,129.

Real Estate Superstitions
Will your home will sell faster if you bury a statue of St. Joseph upside down in your front yard? That's what some believers assert. Or maybe it's a buried statue of St. Joe in the backyard that brings homeowners good luck when selling their house. Those are among the practices mentioned in a Daily Press story today. Of course, we're certain that non-Catholic/Christian real estate sellers have a host of other beliefs. What's your story?

Subversive (or Subverted?) Website
Is a certain FSBO website a front for terrorists? Or is it an innocent pawn, hacked into by bad guys? Those are the questions being asked of www.fsboa.com, an ordinary looking for sale by owner site. The insidious part is that if you add a couple letters to the URL, you end up on what frontpagemag.com asserts is the official website of Syrian terrorist Abu Musaab Al-Suri, al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya al-‘Alamiyya (The International Islamic Resistance). Whatever the truth in this case, take this as a warning to 1) know who you're doing business with, and 2) watch for signs of undesirables hijacking your own website for their purposes.

Yanni Was Here...

Not everyone is a big fan of Yanni and his music (which one critic described as "Fabio meets Tesh"). But you've got to be a little curious about the home of such a, um, celebrity. For a time he lived a bit north of us, in North Tacoma overlooking Puget Sound. This home is now on the market, providing a glimpse of how the upper crust live.

For those who can't afford the $2.25 million asking price (or can successfully portray someone with such means), the virtual tour reveals the reality of the rich and famous: breathtaking views, the ballroom where he recorded, an interior atrium and pool, no fewer than six fireplaces. Oh, and the right to call your home a "villa." View the complete listing.

Lacey Housing Boom

Based on MLS data and city officials, Lacey may see as many as 1,400 new homes started by the end of 2006, the Olympian is reporting. The number would dwarf last year's total of 836 Lacey housing starts. The growth is attributed largely to economic refugees from the greater Seattle area who are willing to trade off a longer commute for significantly lower home prices. It will be interesting to see if this trend holds up as gas prices rise and the South Puget Sound is still without a direct transit connection to Seattle.

Today, 70,000 people live within the city limits and the city's unincorporated growth area. That's expected to rise to 125,000 by 2025, according to Olympia Master Builders Executive Officer Tom Krugman. That's a 78% increase. With the newly announced state focus on the health of nearby Puget Sound, the impacts of this dramatic growth will be keenly watched.

View real estate listings in Lacey, WA

Just Act at Home...

It's not breaking news that an industry has sprung up around making homes for sale look more appealing by decorating them with appliances, furniture, and artwork. This practice, known as "staging," is becoming widespread. And it's perfectly understandable: an empty house depends on the viewer's imagination to complete the picture and make it appealing, while a furnished house can instantly draw one into the home's charm.

We have our doubts, however, about a new trend that seems to be spreading. Not content with the charm provided by a well-appointed home, some home sellers are now hiring actors to play the part of a presumably happy and well-adjusted family.

This new realty-TV-meets-real-estate ploy has popped up in Dallas as well as in Oxnard and Santa Clarita, California. Behind all of this seems to be a huge construction company called Centrex Homes. They've garnered a fair amount of press and blog attention, all the way up to the New York Times.

One might presume that Centrex wouldn't push this if it didn't work. But do you really want someone's fake teenage daughter offering you cookies as you inspect the quality of the kitchen cabinets? Is evaluating a bedroom somehow enhanced through the presence of an X-box obsessed fake son?

One clue that this isn't a real family? [The woman actor] is wearing a stick-on nametag that says "mom," [the man actor] is wearing one that says "dad," and the couple is better-looking than anyone you know.

Of course, such a model family would be just that: model. Not only better-looking than you, but better behaved. No tormenting the cat. No chemistry-set accidents. Everyone smiles, picks up their clothes, and is polite to strangers. Welcome to Stepford.

It remains to be seen if this could give some aspiring actor the break she's been looking for Still, the PR firm that spawned this oddball idea has gone so far as to give the "performance" a name: Homelife.

Just bear in mind that it's nothing like the life in your home.

Rezoning Impacts in Thurston County

Growth and rezoning continue as big issues in South Puget Sound. An article in today's Olympian details the tension between property owners feeling the pinch of restrictions and the county's proposed rezoning plan needed to comply with a ruling by the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board last year.

Thurston County's proposed rural plan amendments would create three new zoning districts:

1. Rural Protection, with a density of one dwelling unit per 10 acres. This is for areas that must be protected for public health and safety and to maintain the rural character.
2. Rural, with a density of one unit per 20 acres. This is for agriculture, forestry and low-density residential uses.
3. Urban Reserve, with a density of one unit per 20 acres. This is for rural lands adjacent to existing urban growth areas that are being kept on hold until future development occurs.

Interested in getting your two cents in? The Thurston County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Thursday Aug. 3 on the proposed rural zoning plan. The hearing, preceded by an open house that starts at 5:45 p.m., will be at the Norman Worthington Conference Center at Saint Martin's University, 5300 Pacific Ave. S.E., in Lacey.

To see copies of the plan go to www.co.thurston.wa.us/permitting/GMA/rural-rezoning.htm