Realtor News

SCCAR has been working to ensure continuity in our operations. However, the safety and well-being of members and our staff is our top priority. With that in mind, we are closing the SCCAR office and store through April 10th. We are also canceling or rescheduling all classes, meetings, committees, and events between now through April 10th. We will revisit this situation at that time and make any adjustments as warranted. SCCAR staff will be available by email. The SCCAR voicemail will be checked as often as possible, with your calls being returned in the order they were received. For a more immediate response, please email staff:

Eighty-four percent of Americans believe purchasing a home is a good financial decision. Yet six in ten said they are concerned about affordability and the rising cost of buying a home or renting in their area. Nationally, forty-four percent of respondents categorized the lack of available affordable housing as a very big or big problem.

“Real Estate Agent” is a catchall phrase used, in casual conversation, to describe the three types of professionals who buy and sell real estate: agents, brokers, and Realtors®. No, they’re not really the same. Yes, you should care about what makes them different. Here’s a breakdown:

Mountlake Terrace Mayor Kyoko Matsumoto Wright, a broker in the Coldwell Banker Bain of Lynnwood office, has received the Snohomish County Camano Association of Realtors (SCCAR) Community Service award for 2019. The award, presented on Dec. 11, celebrates outstanding contributions of an individual to his or her local community, as well as being an active participant in the SCCAR. During the award presentation, Matsumoto Wright was recognized as a “tireless advocate for not only her hometown, but also for Snohomish County.” The award noted her five years of service on the Mountlake Terrace Planning Commission, her 11 years on the city council and her current role as mayor.

Oh, let’s just admit it, shall we? Browsing for homes online is fun and exciting! However, it is important to take everything with a grain of salt. Browser beware, though: those listings may be seductive, but they might not be giving you the complete picture.

Should you sell your home this holiday season? The holidays are closing in, and so has the time of year when home sellers wonder whether they should keep their properties on the market or take them off. Or if owners haven’t listed their home yet, they may be asking themselves if they should wait until spring or brave the winter real estate market? ​ Trying to sell your home during the holidays can be daunting to many homeowners. The season can be extremely busy for families, and the idea of taking on the additional stress of selling a house could be a turnoff to some people. ​ “Many people consider the holiday season the worst time to sell your home; it’s the time of year when homeowners are hosting family members, putting up favorite decorations and planning vacations,” said Glenda Krull, President of the Snohomish County Camano Association of Realtors®. “However, listing a home during the holidays can be extremely advantageous to homeowners, and it doesn’t have to ruin any holiday cheer.”

Do not send sensitive information via email. “Do not send banking information, your social security number or anything else that could be used to comprise your identity over email,” Krull stated. “If you absolutely must send personal or sensitive information via email, only use encrypted email.” ​

Marysville Windermere office begins food drive, brings Blitz to M-PHS Earlier in the month, on Oct. 9, the local Windermere also began contributing to the community in another way: by beginning their annual food drive. “We do it in association with our Realtor, which is SCAAR, the Snohomish County and Camano Island Association of Realtors,” said Aimee Patton, a realtor at the office. “This is our pet project, it is the thing that we usually spend the most time on doing,” she said. The Windermere office is usually one of the biggest donators to the food bank. “We are usually the first or second donator to the Marysville Community Food Bank each year,” said Patton.

It is an "off" election year (meaning there are no federal races), but a lot is happening at the county and city levels. Did you know typically just 1 in 5 voters participate in off-year local elections? This means your vote at the local level can have an even bigger impact! If you do participate (and help your friends, family, & clients get to the polls, too), your elected officials will likely be more responsive to your needs and interests because you’re a voter. And if they aren’t, the next election is a great way to fix that problem. Are you, your family, friends, and clients registered to vote? General Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th. Online and mail registrations must be received 8 days before Election Day - October 28th. Register to vote in person during business hours and any time before 8:00 PM on Election Day, or register online.

The National Association of Realtors® surveyed over 3,000 Realtor® members about how safe they feel while on the job, their personal safety experiences, and the safety procedures they follow. The report found nearly a third of Realtors® experienced a situation which made them fear for their personal safety, or the safety of their personal information, and 43 percent of Realtors® choose to carry self-defense weapons.

The practice of meeting strangers at their homes is not the smartest way to operate. But it’s been a part of the real estate industry for a long time, and it’s not going to change overnight. So for agents who will still do it, your office may have a certain protocol around safety, but this list can be your Agent Safety Protocol, or ASP, to administer in the field. It’s based on measures developed by people who have experience working in law enforcement. Before the Appointment When you’re on the phone setting up an appointment to meet a prospect at a home, tell the prospect that you’ll be arriving with a partner. Whether it’s true or not, this statement plants the seed that there will be more than one person present—and that’s not good news for a criminal.

NEW! Download and share the just released 2019 Member Safety Report. This report details how REALTORS® feel about their safety and what steps they are already taking to protect themselves. The National Association of REALTORS® and this organization have worked hard to keep REALTOR® Safety foremost in everyone’s minds. But what about your clients? They, too, face some dangers in allowing strangers into their homes or visiting other people’s properties. Share this valuable advice with everyone, and you’ll help them learn to protect themselves against crime:

The National Association of Realtors® GSE Reform Press Release Statement: “The National Association of Realtors® thanks President Trump and his administration for initiating thoughtful, genuine effort toward housing finance reform. We look forward to reviewing the proposal in more detail and are optimistic that, at a minimum, the administration’s efforts will shed light on the remaining mile markers on the path to reform." “NAR continues working with the White House and Congress as we move closer to securing palatable, pragmatic improvements to our housing finance system, and we maintain our belief that NAR’s blueprint for GSE reform represents the best path forward for this system and our economy. Our proposed utility model, as any successful reforms must, highlights competition, protects taxpayers and remedies the failures of the pre-crisis system while ensuring equal access for responsible, mortgage ready Americans in every market, safeguarding the role the GSEs were intended to play in our housing market.”

10 Tips for Holding a Safe Open House Open houses can be a great sales tool—but hosting one also exposes you to numerous unfamiliar people for the first time. Take these steps to stay safe: 1. If possible, always try to have at least one other person working with you at the open house. 2. Check your cell phone’s strength and signal prior to the open house. Have emergency numbers programmed on speed dial. 3. Upon entering a house for the first time, check all rooms and determine several “escape” routes. Make sure all deadbolt locks are unlocked to facilitate a faster escape.

In honor of September being REALTOR® Safety Month, we wanted to share these safety tips with our members. All tips are taken from the National Association of REALTORS'® Safety Resource Kit. Please visit www.nar.realtor/Safety for more information on the important topic of REALTOR® safety.

You’ve worked with a Realtor® to scour the listings, toured what feels like a million houses and finally found it: the house you want to call home. The next step is to make your purchase offer, and if you are like most people, the prospect can be quite intimidating. In a seller’s market, there can be even more pressure on the buyer to submit an impressive bid. So how can you make sure that the offer you submit is the one that is accepted? ​ “In a seller’s market, home prices are a bit higher and inventory is lower,” said Glenda Krull, President of the Snohomish County Camano Association of Realtors®. “This means you are more likely competing with multiple bidders. In a competitive market like this, sellers need every advantage they can get, and working with a Realtor® to make the best purchase offer is a smart move.” And, believe it or not, the bid with the highest price is not always the one that wins.

The start of the busy buying season means a growing number of Americans are on the hunt to purchase a home, but many could have trouble finding a home to buy. A new survey by the National Association of Realtors® reveals for the first time that difficulties finding the right property have surpassed challenges obtaining financing as the most cited reason clients are not purchasing homes. ​ This finding speaks to the tightened inventory conditions seen in many areas of the country. There simply aren’t enough homes available to purchase — predominantly at the low end of the market, where first-time buyers are most likely to shop. ​ “There’s more demand than inventory, which has pushed up home prices to levels above what many first-time buyers are comfortable spending,” said Glenda Krull, President of the Snohomish County Camano Association of Realtors®. “People spend countless hours going through the process of obtaining a loan and locating their perfect home only to find themselves competing in a bidding war.”

From city hall to the U.S. Capitol, REALTORS® are actively involved in a wide range of issues related to the health and well-being of the communities where they work and live. Through their membership in the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), they are a powerful voice in support of the dream of homeownership and work to build strong communities and a vibrant business environment that benefits everyone. REALTORS® are committed to protecting the dream of homeownership, so we are celebrating the month of June as National Homeownership Month!

Federal Legislative Update May 13th through May 17th, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) hosted their annual REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C. A small group of representatives from Snohomish County-Camano Association of REALTORS® (SCCAR) traveled to D.C. to meet with our federal legislators and talk to them about our legislative priorities. Authority for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was set to expire on May 31st, 2019, but NAR was able to get a temporary extension until June 14th, while they continue to work towards a permanent extension. We urged our legislators to pursue infrastructure policies which reflect our areas needs. We continued to advocate for a level playing field for both highway and public transit funding, to enhance property values and create desirable communities. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act included many changes which affect homeownership and the real estate industry. As we close the first tax season under the new rules, REALTORS® are working to protect or support the following policies: extending expired Mortgage Debt Cancellation Tax Relief; fixing the marriage penalty on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap; and indexing to inflation the $750,000 cap on mortgage interest deduction, and capital gains exclusion on the sale of a principal residence. Fair housing is integral to our ability to buy, purchase, lease, and occupy real estate in America, having protected our nation's essential right to property for more than half a century. Earlier this spring, NAR was pleased to support H.R. 5, the Equality Act, which adds fair housing protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. State Legislative Update The 2019 session adjourned for the year on Sunday, April 28th. Washington REALTORS® was able to work with both parties to protect the real estate industry and also proactively address our state’s affordable housing crisis. We ended a successful 2019 session by (1) protecting our members, (2) protecting real estate transactions, (3) providing opportunities to increase both commercial and residential real estate transactions, and (4) protecting our clients.

For people with good jobs and strong credit, today’s real estate market is an attractive one. However, some buyers, especially first-time buyers, are struggling to enter the market and don’t always find the home buying process easy. ​ According to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), the share of sales to first-time home buyers inched backward to 34 percent (35 percent in 2016), which is the fourth lowest share since 1981. In the 36-year history of NAR's survey, the long-term average of first-time buyer transactions is 39 percent.