Greg Abbott

Housing inventory in Seattle, the Eastside and King County (and the Puget Sound area in general) has fallen in most areas for the past 6-7 consecutive months, beginning in the middle of last summer. We always have the seasonal dips after inventories usually peak in the fall, but this current trend has a different feel. Especially since new Pending sales have continued to be relatively strong and have outpaced new listings hitting the market in many areas the past few months.

King County, in general, is a prime example of this shrinking housing inventory. Last January Trendgraphix showed there were 7,694 homes listed. This January 2012, there were 5,532 listings. That’s a drop of -28% year-to-year in available homes on the market. With typically more homes coming on the market in the spring, this will still be an interesting trend to watch since new Pending sales activity is very high right now. We’ll see how the rest of February plays out, but from what I’m seeing in the market the February Sales numbers should be a way over January’s numbers.

I’ll report back on this in a few weeks…

Note: To see similar graphs on other counties and specific cities, from the menu select Market Stats and pick your area.

What should a seller ask a real estate agent, when considering hiring them to help sell their home?

Here are my top 10 questions a seller should ask before hiring an agent to represent their home sale:

1) How many years experience do they have in the business?
2) What geographical area or house type (price range…) do they specialize in?
3) How many homes did they sell in their area in the past year? How many did they list?
4) What is their average market time to get a home under contract?
5) What fix-ups or repairs would they recommend…and do they suggest using a professional stager?
6) What does the agent see as the main selling features of the seller’s home, and how would they market/promote them?
7) What demographic/buyer profile do they see marketing to, and do they have any specific ways that they could accomplish this?
8 What is the rest of their marketing plan? Flyers, brochures, online marketing syndication and websites, postcards/mailers…? Ask to see samples of their previous work or marketing campaigns.
9) What do they think the home will sell for? Ask for comparable sales (and how they compare to their property, plus or minus, because no two homes are the same).
10) What is the agent’s method and frequency of communication and feedback during the marketing? During the escrow through closing?

Of course answers to many of these questions will lead to yet other questions, but you will have a good feel for the agent and his/her approach and customer service after going through this list.