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Local Septic System Laws

July 29th, 2010 • By: Jo Soss • Blog

We all work in areas where there are different laws governing lots of different aspects to a home purchase and sale. In the Puget Sound area we have several homes that are on septic systems. In Kitsap County there are over 60,000 on-site sewage systems. For years and years these systems were pumped or not pumped, inspected or not inspected all depending on the real estate agents involved in the transaction and the documents they used.

Then along came the State of Washington and State Health rules (Chapter 246-272A WAC) requiring the local health jurisdiction to ensure that all owners of onsite sewage systems have their system inspected and evaluated on a regular basis, and prescribe an inspection at the time of property transfer as one of the
options to attain these inspections.

I totally agree that something had to be done with the septic inspection process. The days of permit, install and done are over. There must be some checks and procedures to protect all.

In Washington each county takes on the responsibility of tracking a process.

In Kitsap County where I work the process is fairly easy. The Northwest Multiple Listing Service has procedures spelled out in document form that take the guess work out of what we need to do in order to comply with the state law.

We have a general septic addendum that outlines what type of OSS (on-site sewage system) the property is serviced by, that the seller represents that, to the best of their knowledge, the OSS is in working order and doesn’t violate any regulations or have any material defects.

This document supersedes any provisions in the purchase and sale agreement except for the provisions of a county specific septic addendum.

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Bremerton WA Real Estate | June Homes Sold 2010

July 15th, 2010 • By: Jo Soss • Blog

During the month of June there were 88 homes that sold in Bremerton. [zip codes: 98310, 98311, 98312, 98314, 98337]. These Bremerton homes actually had a transfer of home ownership. Contracts complete and Lender funds available the home buyer and seller signed all of their documents as escrow prepared the closing packages. Once all the I’s were dotted and the T’s crossed there where deeds recorded at the Kitsap County courthouse that transferred the property into the new home owner’s name!

If you want to learn more about how we transfer property in Washington State a really great site to visit is the Escrow Association of Washington site. There you can find definitions and explanations of the home buying process for Bremerton Washington.

Let’s look at those 88 Bremerton homes -

Average List Price

$217,283 [May- $199,895 -April- $197,429 - March -$202,739 - February -$220,258 - January -$203,640 December -$224,396]
$128

Average Sold Price

$209,182 [May-$195,044 - April -$192,860 - March -$198,231 - February -$213,465 - January -$201,166 - December -$218,171]
$123

The average sq ft of these 88 Bremerton homes was 1701 sq ft. These homes spent an average of 108 days on the market (DOM).

The list to sale ratio for these homes was 96.27 percent. What that meas is that buyers offered 96.24% of what the seller requested.

What do these numbers mean? Is it a good time to buy? Is it a good time to sell. It all depends on your individual situation. I would rather buy in a buyers market and I would rather sell in a buyers market if I have to buy another home with the proceeds. I am a fan of the NORMAL market – everyone can feel more comfortable and real estate transactions are not as stressful.

If you would like to find out the value of your home please feel free to contact me via phone or email. I would be more than happy to supply you with a FREE Market Analysis.

If you would like to purchase a home in the Kitsap County Real Estate Area please give me a call or contact me via email. We can discuss your future plans and I can set you up on an email campaign to receive the hot new listings quicker than YOU can find them.

“Statistics not compiled or published by NWMLS.” Equal Opportunity Housing All information deemed reliable, but not guaranteed”

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Does a Closing date on a contract mean anything?

July 13th, 2010 • By: Jo Soss • Blog

Does a closing date on a contract mean anything? Do you take it seriously? What does it mean to all of the parties involved? What does it mean to the buyer, the seller, the lender or even escrow? When I write a contract I have usually been in contact with lenders and escrow personnel asking what their work load is at the present time.

From the very beginning of my career deadlines have been very important to me. I have always made sure my clients know what “time is of the essense” meant and that it wasn’t just a “saying”. I would educate them on what our “computation of time” pargargph in our purchase and sale agreement meant and wanted them to take it as serious as I did.

I see this as one of the most important function of a licensed real estate agent. There are deals that have been lost because agents didn’t abide by the contractual dates stated on acceptance.

What has always bothered me with this part of the home buying process is there are those involved that don’t take the contract dates seriously.

In 2003 I went to work for First American Title/Escrow in Yucca Valley, California. Having come from a real estate agent background I knew a lot about the contract. When I started to question why we were not trying to meet the deadline for closing per the contract I was told that date was “an estimate” – I thought to myself – “AN ESTIMATE!” That isn’t an escrow call or a lender call! I soon found out that we would just advise an agent to process an addendum to extend the contract.

Sure, it wasn’t totally an escrow issue. Escrow being the final destination in most transactions is rarely given the time to complete their tasks. The issue would arise based on lender requirements (in a non-cash transaction). If the lender couldn’t get their documents to escrow on time, escrow couldn’t preform within contract. So many times the lender has a total different idea on what date they need to meet. Many times lenders have told my buyers what their definition of closing is and usually it is not what the legal meaning of the word really is for the State of Washington. Of course that is a topic for a whole other blog post.

Lately, I have seen the parties to a transaction act so flipant when it comes to the contract closing date. In my last 5 transactions with 3 different lenders it has been the lender that just couldn’t preform. All of these lenders have pre-approved the buyer prior to a contract being written. All of these lenders had met the buyers in person.

On a couple of occasions the lender has laid blame on the buyer. The buyer didn’t get all their paperwork to them in time, the buyer did not sign this or sign that, the buyer didn’t send in bank statements, or their W2′s. These kind of excuses just tick me off! If you are a lender and you have not received these items in the first 5 days after meeting with my client – CALL ME – I will help you! I have been known to get the documents from a buyer and drive them to a lender. Don’t blame my buyers. Some of them are new to the process and really don’t understand unless we help them!

Now, don’t get me wrong there are lots of people in the business that do play by the rules. I just don’t understand why everyone doesn’t.

I see the extension of most contracts as an excuse – excuse that someone didn’t do their job. The only time an extension should be acceptable is when something happens that is out of everyones control at the time a contract is written. We may not know there are several title issues until we are several days in.

I just get irritated when I have to write an addendum to extend a closing date when I have done my job, my clients have done theirs, the other buyer/seller has done theirs as well as their agent. I am tired of others not preforming knowing that if the seller wants to sell and the buyer wants to buy they will all sign an extension (or will they). Why take the chance?

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