Spokane, WA Real Estate: About Current Market Conditions

offered by Jeannette Karis RE/MAX of Spokane "The Real Estate Broker with the English accent!"

More cash buyers, some with family financing found that cash can get the offer. Multiple offers are rare but with exceptional properties it can happen. Flipped homes. need carefulinspection, new flooring and cablinets can cover up other issues with electrical and in the crawl space so a home inspection is even more important with these homes. Sellers are now considering contributing to Buyers closing costs Properties that are not in fabulous condition are attracting rehab buyers and investor buyers. There were contract changes in 2023 and more coming in Jan 2024 so working with a broker who is up to speed will be essential to a smooth transaction. Buyers will have an advantage if their lender will put their file through underwriting prior to making an offer + have funds to pay their own closing costs. I find it is better to renegotiate closing costs after an inspection rather than upfront unless there are major concerns re value. So ask thebroker you are considering how many listings and how many buyers contracts they have had in 2023, it can make a difference on their availability among other issues. Very few sellers are in a short sale position and are unable to pay off their lender when the home sells. Fewer bank owned properties are coming on the market. Some listings are advertised as having an assumable loan but this can mean $100,000+ to be brought to closing as there are not many lenders who will do a 2nd loan for a Buyer in that situation

The housing stock in the Spokane area includes properties built in 1890 right through to the present day. The great majority of these have basements although they may range from the rock basement or root cellar to the full, finished, daylight walk-out basement and everything in between. Construction is mainly wood frame and the large majority of resale homes are sided with wood or vinyl. Brick and stone are used more for accents due to costs, although a number of homes in the 50's were built entirely of brick. Homes built since the 2000 have new technology products, Green homes, Low Energy homes and Smart homes.

With hydro electric power, utility bills may be lower than those in other states. However even with the recent increases in the price of gas, electric and oil, gas is still a popular choice for a heat source in homes but not usual as a cooking source or for the use of gas dryers in a resale home. Some new construction is all electric. Central air conditioning is available in a great many homes. Central vacuum is more common in the upper end properties.

In this area the sf figure most commonly quoted is the tax assessed sf, the sf of the foundation less the garage. So to figure out the total living space this figure may be multiplied by 1.5, 2 or 3 depending on the style of the home and whether or not additional levels have finished living space.The total sf figure now available is not necessarily all finished. Price per sf is not a number commonly used in the Spokane market outside of new construction as we have such a diverse mix of construction styles and age of homes. There may or may not be a basements or dissimilar quality finishes so the number you come up with is fairly meaningless unless you are only comparing a single style of home in the same development. Many websites generate this number but it can be frustrating for buyers. The best explanation I can come up with is to compare it to an average temperature for the US at any given moment, it is a number but what does it mean?