Longview Washington Business Directory Blog

Archive for July, 2008

Longview Washington Real Estate Agents have a tough time of it now with the economy and the housing market the way it is now. After interviewing a few Real Estate Agents in the Kelso and Longview Washington area, I thought it would be informative to give a quick synopsis as to the daily life in the job of Real Estate Agents trying to sell our homes or find our next dream house. From the outside it may look like all they do is sit at a desk and do paperwork or drive around showing homes. But with a inside look at the hours and endless searches Real Estate Agents put into their jobs, I can attest they earn their commission.

There is a lot of time spent behind the scenes that no one ever sees when you are a Real Estate Agent. When you list a home the prospective seller needs to know how much their home is worth. They do what is commonly known as comparisons. Agents look up the homes that have sold in the area which your home is in. Then the Agent does a comparison of homes that have the same statistics as yours taking into account the square footage, age of the home, the number of bedrooms, baths, special amenities such as pools or shops. When this is all calculated into the equation the Real Estate Agent comes up with a good idea what your home will bring on the market. With that in hand they will discuss with you what your asking price will be.

Once an Agent and you come up with the asking price the Real estate Agent will usually have a meeting with the Real Estate Broker to come up with a game plan as to how your house will be marketed. Some of the options that are available are Newspaper ads, magazine ads, and online advertising options. Most of the time it will have a Real Estate Agent only tour, to show the house to other Agents so they have a feel for the home and what it offers to their clients that may be looking for a home like yours. Then there is of course Open House Showings we all see. They are usually on the weekend as this is when people seem to have the time to go look for a home.

Once your home is listed and advertised by a Longview Real Estate Agent, offers may come in and you will be contacted. A Real Estate Agents job is to advise you if the offer is a good one or not. You as the seller of the home have the right to refuse the offer or counter offer. Your Agent will be doing all the paperwork involved with the negotiations. There will be conversations between both your Agent and the other Real Estate Agent involved in buying your home. Sometimes counter offers are refused and you will be starting from scratch. Keep in mind the Real Estate Agent and the Real Estate Broker are not getting paid any extra for this, it is just part of the job. Sometimes a home is on the market for a few months and is involved with many showings and negotiations before a home is sold.

When you are purchasing a home and using the services of a Real Estate Agent here in Longview Washington or elsewhere, their job is a little different as they will then be looking for a home for you. Once they find you a home you are interested in they perform a comparison of the homes that meet the same criteria as the home you are interested in to see what a realistic offer would be. The negotiations begin when a formal offer is submitted to the selling agent. As we discussed in the preceding paragraphs, your offer may be refused or a counter offer could come back through your Agent. When your offer is accepted the job is not over for them. Many times they are directly involved with getting you financing. They may be involved with getting repairs done to your satisfaction that may be part of the offer. They do all the paperwork to get your home in the titling process. They also make sure all the special terms of the contract are met prior to closing. Real Estate Agents also make sure all the mandated laws governing Real Estate Sales are met such as environmental issues, inspections, and that all the piles of paperwork are done, and done correctly.

Your licensed Longview Washington Real Estate Agent must have a state issued licence by which most Agents go to school for. They must also stay on top of the new laws that come down the pike. Washington has rules and laws that govern the practice of being a Real Estate Agent in this state. Most states have very similar rules and laws but there are differences and it is important that they stay on top of them.

On top of all that think of all the questions you may have pertaining to a home you may be looking at, school systems, public transportation, crime rate, shopping, neighborhood specific questions. You name it a good Real Estate Agent has to be a source of information to their clients.

A Real Estate Agent usually is self employed being associated with a Real Estate Broker who is responsible for all the transactions that go through their Agency. In Washington a Agent has to be in the industry for a period of time before they can become a Real Estate Broker. Real Estate Brokers in Longview Washington usually own the Agency they work out of.

This is just a quick overview of the Life of a Real Estate Agent in Longview Washington and does not represent itself to be all inclusive! Any Agents who may have something to add feel free to add a comment as it is encouraged. There are several Posts related to Real Estate in this Longview Washington Business Blog

 Some other  Real Estate Blogs for Information is  http://longviewbiz.com/blog/2008/07/coldwell-banker-real-estate-agent/  http://longviewbiz.com/blog/2008/07/our-government-to-help-out-the-real-estate-situation/

Longview and Kelso Washington Real Estate owners, along with the rest of the country will finally be receiving some help from the U.S. Government. President Bush just signed into law a measure to help out the 400,000 Homeowners who are facing Foreclosure in the near future. This legislation would also help out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Spokesman Tony Fratto said it was signed at 7:00 am this morning.

The law is aimed at stopping foreclosures and the sharp decline in Real Estate values and hopes to bolster sales and construction of new homes. The law in essence would provide federal insurance to refinanced 30 year mortgages. The measure is also designed to instill confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who are the two largest mortgage lenders in the country.

The recession in the Real estate market and the industry in general is the worst since the depression. Coupling this with the current fuel crisis, that has no indications of improving has put this country in a terrible condition economically.

More info on this subject can be seen in Bloomberg.com http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=am2yQYThqmxQ&refer=us

Kelso and Longview Washington Real Estate Agents are realizing a small upswing in the current Real Estate market. Currently we in Cowlitz County are still seeing a better market than our neighboring larger cities of Portland and Vancouver. Liesel Filkowski, a local Real Estate Agent who is associated with Coldwell Banker here in Longview Washington, feels the market will continue to stay steady until after the elections when the economy is expected to strengthen.

Liesel and her husband have been in the Real Estate industry for years as they have been developing properties and own several rentals in the Kelso/Longview Washington area. If you should talk to her you will quickly find she has a terrific knowledge base in all areas of Real Estate as she knows first hand the current Mortgage Options that are available to her clients. She is also very savvy to the particular needs of customers that are looking for investment properties as her and her husband have been in that market for many years.

When Liesel was asked why she chose Coldwell Banker to be associated with first of all she told me that Coldwell Banker is not only the largest Real Estate Company in the Kelso/Longview Washington area, but nationally as well. She stated that one of the main reasons she chose to be associated with them was the fact that even though it is a very large company that are the top producer in Real Estate sales nationally as well as in our local market, the company has a genuine desire to help you realize your own personal goals. Coldwell Banker provides terrific tools for Real Estate Agents to use in assessing property values. Coldwell Banker also is one of two companies in this area that has Virtual Tours in their website to show prospective clients your home or commercial property. Liesel states that she is very happy with the professional and personal support she receives from her Agency. Liesel can be reached at 360 773 8219, and her website is www.filkowskil.cbflaskerud.com if you may need her services or advice. Liesel also advertises in this Business Directory and you may locate her info at LongviewBiz.

Longview Washington Business Directory is nearing completion. The formal name and URL is www.LongviewBiz.com. We are into this project nearly three months now and are nearing a rough draft! Look and feel needs alot of work still as does some of the SEO. Mainly we have been getting content into the website. We finally have a completed Business Category list compiled. Although more can be added to this Business Directory it reflects the Longview/Kelso Washington areas main areas of Business Commerce. We have added a great deal of listings in all the main categories.

When coming up with the concept of a Business Directory for the Longview Washington area, it was clear it had to be a straight forward Business Directory and not a community online newspaper. First of all it is hard to market a newspaper online and still serve your advertisers with value. A well done Business Directory should be just that. It should be easy for consumers to retrieve information quickly and easily. Advertising should not be randomly put into a website so readers “might” get to see it. This means if someone is looking for a Pizza Restaurant, it should be quite apparent where it may be found. In LongviewBiz, it is laid out much like a phone book in that there are categories, and Advertisers are found in their respective place in the Directory. Clean and simple.

Another concept at LongviewBiz is that this Business Directory should be a local, community website where at all possible. Meaning, most of the advertisers in the Longview Washington Business Directory should be from the Cowlitz County area. Most Directories accept and seek out anyone to advertise in their website where ever they may be. There will be no national advertising in our site, period. This website is for the residents of the Longview area and it should reflect that. Also, we believe in promoting and helping our local economy. If we as residents of Cowlitz County drive less, and spend more in our own local, it will benefit all. If local businesses do well they can afford to hire more help. And it goes round and round.

With the completion of the Categories now in the website here is a list:

Accounting and Taxes, Attorneys, Auto Dealers, Automotive Service, Banks and Credit Unions, Boat, Cell Phones and Providers, Churches, Clothing, Computers and Software, Construction, Copiers-Faxes-Printers, Dentistry, Education and Research, Employment, Flowers-Florists-Growers, Furnaces and Air Conditioning,  Hardware Stores, Home and Garden, Hotels and Motels, Insurance, Jewelry, Landscape, Locks and Locksmiths, Opticians, Pest Control, Pet Supplies, Physicians, Pizza, Plumbing, Real Estate, Recreational Vehicles, Restaurants, Roofing, Sporting Goods, Storage, Tanning Salons, Taverns and Lounges, Three Rivers Mall, Towing, Transportation, Travel Agency’s and Agents and Well Drilling.

As you can see it is very detailed and quite easy to navigate. We are quite sure we have obtained our goal of designing and implementing for the Longview Washington area a comprehensive and user friendly Business Directory. Here are some previous Posts in this Blog pertaining to the progress of the Business Directory.

http://longviewbiz.com/blog/category/longviewbiz/

http://longviewbiz.com/blog/2008/06/longview-washington-business-directory/

Well its no secret some of our Banks are going under due to the poor lending practices of a few years ago. In the shadow of our failing economy, home values crashing, fuel prices rising, and our groceries going through the roof, what is next? I dare not ask.

Our Federal Regulators seized IndyMac, the once booming Pasadena California Mortgage Lender on July 11th. With 32 billion dollars in assets, the loan defaults finally caught up with them. Falling home prices and a steep rise in mortgage defaults have federal agencies preparing for a increase in banks failing. Should we be trying to find out if our banks are ready to go under? No, it is almost impossible to get that info prior to a failure. We should instead make sure our Banks are insured by the FDIC, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. If your Bankis insured your deposits are insured up to $100,000.00. When making deposits into your Bank, keep the balance below $95,000.00 to account for the interest that accrues. According to the FDIC, it takes only a few days to receive your check if you need to file a claim with them due to a bank failing. We here in Longview Washington need not worry about our Banks, as most of the lending companies that are in trouble are in California and the southern part of the US. www.LongviewBiz.com

With the Real Estate Market in the Longview/Kelso Washington area being in the slump it is in now, I thought mabee marketing your Home or Commercial Property by way of a auction might be a viable avenue to move a piece of Real Estate. With a little research on the Internet I came up with this information that I found interesting.

In many cases, Real Estate Auctions can be a good way of selling a piece of property when the other conventional ways have failed. One of the greatest benefits of selling your property at auction is it speeds up the process. Additionally if you are a buyer it has the potential of putting you in your dream home quicker.

There are benefits for both the Buyer and the Seller of property. The seller realizes a quick sale. He or she can very well realize a fair market value for the real estate through competitive bidding! The purchaser can benefit by having more time to research the property prior to purchasing. With Real Estate, like all auctions, there is a sale date and perspective buyers have a great deal more time to analyze the Home or Commercial property prior to making a offer. You could even enlist a Real Estate Appraiser to establish fair market value.

Here are some tips for anyone wishing to attend a Real Estate Auction. As a buyer it is always prudent to prepare ones self prior to attending a auction. Do your analysis of the Home or Commercial Property, get a feel for what it is worth, and more importantly, what it is worth to you! Do the comparisons, all this information is available to you through either a Real Estate Agent or through local government. Don’t be afraid to enlist a Real Estate Broker or Agency in the purchase of any property. Although purchasing or selling any property through a Real Estate Auction Service is at this time unconventional, most Agency’s will be willing to work with a prospective buyer in establishing value and market on a piece of property, and possibly become involved in the transaction. www.LongviewBiz.com

I was reading a article in the Longview Daily Newspaper yesterday and it gave me reason to think about what kind of vehicles we will driving in a few years. With fuel prices rising and no end in sight, how long will it be worth it to drive a gas guzzler no matter how “cool” it may be.

I am fifty years old and have had my share of hot rods in the past. From the horsepower machines, to sleek BMW’s as my income rose into that income bracket. I purchased a new Jeep Commander eight months ago , I wanted a big V-8. Had I known the future as far as gas prices go, the Jeep would of gotten a quick glance. I probably would of gotten a Toyota SUV. Now I wish I had. I filled it up the other day from empty and it was near eighty bucks!

I see the kids driving around in the jacked up four wheel drives in town and knowing they are only getting ten miles to the gallon best, I wonder how long that will last. I imagine the resale values have got to be falling like rocks. Who wants a hot rod when it serves no practical purpose. But it looks “cool” How much is “cool” worth at four fifty a gallon for fuel.

The Department of Labor is now reporting a net loss of 62,000 jobs in the month of June nationally. May brought in similar losses in jobs. The unemployment rate is still at 5.5%. Experts forcast  the unemployment rate would be 5.4% There are currently 390,000 unemployment insurance claims that are active, nearing the 400,000 mark that signifies a recession.

The loss of jobs in the monthly report from the Department of Labor is concentrated in the Manufacturing and Construction sectors of business. Those two areas of business have been badly hit by the current economic situation. But those two sectors are not the only areas that are seeing a decline. Job losses by Retailers are at 7,500 and professional services cut 51,000 jobs. Believe it or not even the government cut 29,000 jobs! According to Lakshman Achuthan, the managing director of the Economic Cycle Research Institute, These numbers are proof of the fact we as Americans are in a recession.

I am starting to rethink this being a Republican! I am wondering if Mr. Bush is leading this country in the wrong direction. I do believe that this Iraq war is crazy. Viet Nam all over again with no perceivable gain. I have to wonder what good all that money would do if it were spent on us as citizens, and this country rather than attempting to be the worlds police. Here is a few excellent links about statistics on the Iraq War. They make great reading.                                                                                        http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702846.html 

http://usliberals.about.com/od/homelandsecurit1/a/IraqNumbers.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20071226/bush/

Now where does that leave us here in the Longview Washington area, I don’t Know. I do know since the mills and factories have shut down or cut back it has been significantly harder for people to get a job. And the jobs that are available are not the secure jobs we once had, or the pay is not what it once was. To acquire a job a lot of people commute to Portland or Vancouver to work. With fuel prices the way they are that is not such a lucrative proposition it once was. I think I will put in a green house! Maybe a few chickens! Something to hedge this situation. Maybe start to ride my bike again.

Kelso Washington was little more than Timber, and a few Creeks and Rivers until 1847 when a Pioneer named Pete Crawford decided to homestead the area. Today Kelso is the second largest city in Cowlitz County. It is also the County seat.

Kelso is the home to 12,000 residents. It is a perfect blend of amenities of the Three Rivers Mall and other businesses in that area. Kelso and our neighboring city, Longview Washington also has 17 parks and recreational areasin its boarders. The city of Kelso sits at the confluence of the Columbia, Coweeman, and Cowlitz rivers. It is also minutes from terrific fishing and hunting. It is also known as the smelt capitol of the world.

The cost of fuel in the US as it is in the Longview area is a major topic now. But I think it is not being fully explained to the public. The media is covering the cost of gasoline at the pump to the average consumer, but neglecting how the cost of Diesel is effecting our every day life and the rise in cost of everything.

Diesel has climbed over a dollar in the last twelve months. Truck drivers, and Trains consume deisel and in a nutshell it is costing a great deal more to shop products and goods than it did a year ago. Ironicly, the cost of shiping products does not go up at the same rate as the cost of fuel. There is no end in sight to the rise of fuel costs, and unfortunatly also to the rise in Groceries, Clothes, Building Supplies, everything we consume. Its no secret that everything that ends up at the store gets there by way of Trucks.

What is a real shame is that another area of important news is that there are alot of Owner Operator, family Trucking Companys going out of business due to the rise in fuel costs. This is the backbone of our economy and the government seems to feel it is not a issue, as do the media. I feel something needs to be done here as this is a serious issue that is of national interest.

The cost of flying is going out of site also as is the count of Airlines going out of business. The news is that the Airlines are going to start charging for extra baggage. Everyone whines about it but they need to do something to cover the additional costs of fuel.

I wonder where we as Americans will be economically this time next year. Could it be worse? Who knows but I feel if something does not happen quickly we are not going to be able to live the lifestyle we do now. Not to mention what it will cost businesses to operate.