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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 400 open houses across the county this weekend By Mike Benbow Herald Writer If you're thinking of buying a house, you couldn't have picked a better time. Snohomish County brokers are doing their best to make things easier for you this weekend in what can only be described as the mother of all open houses. "It is without a doubt going to be the biggest open house weekend ever in Snohomish County," said Nathan Gorton, director of the Snohomish County Camano Board of Realtors. He expects at least 400 homes to be open for viewing this Saturday and Sunday. He said 30 brokers will be opening up some or all of their homes for sale this weekend. "There will be numerous open houses in every community in Snohomish County," he said. "Take a drive, the weather is supposed to be great." Local real estate agents are holding the open house because they want to do something positive for what has been a pretty dismal selling season. Gorton said now is a good time to buy a home because: Growing inventory is providing a lot of choices. In June, inventory was up about 16 percent in comparison with a year ago, with 7,173 homes for sale. Competition among sellers has created a buyer's market and better home deals. The median price for a home in June was $329,450, compared with $355,000 a year ago. That's a price drop of about 7.2 percent. More loans from the Federal Housing Administration have filled a void of mortgage money that had been provided by the subprime loan market. "The FHA loans are stable, good loans," Gorton said. "They're safe loans." Gorton noted that the loan market was tough after many companies went out of business and others were waiting to see what would happen. Things have settled down now, he said. A recent study notes that 15 percent of homebuyers find the house they end up buying through a yard sign, Gorton said. Even if the open house doesn't result in large numbers of immediate sales, agents are hoping it will start the process. "A lot of potential buyers will get an opportunity to inform themselves," Gorton said. "Then they might start looking."

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