MARYSVILLE — Looking at housing trends across the country can strike fear into the hearts of would-be homebuyers in our area.
In many areas, the market is in turmoil and the price drops have made buyers leery of stepping into the market now.
But with the unemployment rate for August at 3.7 percent in Snohomish County, steady work on Boeing’s Dreamliner project, and holiday jobs just around the corner, the county’s home market is more resilient than others in the United States.
But that doesn’t mean this area hasn’t seen the effects of the mortgage meltdown. If nothing else, the county has switched to a buyer’s market. And prices are an important factor.
With that in mind, many builders are trying to keep prices low to entice buyers.
That’s what Dan Birk of Eretz Capital is trying to do at Jennings Park Town Homes in Marysville.
Birk, 31, recently bought the apartment complex to convert into condominiums.
“We are purposely keeping the units under $200,000 to make the units affordable to first-time homebuyers and families,” Birk said.
This complex has 23 units, mostly town home-style. Most of the condos have 21/2 baths; others have 11/2. They range from 949 square feet to 1,082 square feet.
Birk wanted to keep the price of the condos down because of the credit crunch that weighs heavily on homeowners and those looking to buy. For his part, it means a quicker sale.
Birk said he and his team have worked on fences and roofs, installed granite-slab kitchen countertops, changed vinyl and carpet floors on the first floor to Pergo, and laid new carpeting upstairs.
One of the five units now available has new stainless steel kitchen appliances. It is priced at $179,900. There will be other units that will be priced more attractively for people who just want the basics.
“It’s high-quality but affordable housing,” said real estate agent Dorae Lande. “There’s not much of that here.”
New townhomes in the area without granite countertops and other upgrades are selling for more than $220,000, she said.
Lande, 25, is a Marysville native who knows the local market and likes the idea that Jennings Park Town Homes is an existing community. With kids helping to plant trees and existing tenants trying to stay, Lande said the area is well established.
“There is a feeling of community,” she said.
When this kind of conversion happens, tenants don’t always stay. Some can’t afford to buy a home and others don’t want to. Still others don’t know that buying is an option for them.
“A lot of times people don’t understand that they have buying power,” said Brent Bourdeau of Elliott Bay Mortgage in Bellevue.
Tenants at Jennings Park Town Homes have been presented with a 60-day notice to either accept or decline to stay, with an additional 30 days to move. Birk has vowed to work with those who have longer leases.
Bourdeau is helping families at the complex in an effort to keep existing tenants in Jennings Park Town Homes. His company is offering existing tenants conventional loans designed for condos and condo conversions.
“The pricing is more than fair,” Bourdeau said. “It’s a great opportunity for people to get onboard and participate in homeownership.”
As with any other loans, credit challenges for some people have always been a problem when it comes to mortgages.
“That’s the way it’s been historically,” Bourdeau said.
The Jennings Park Town Homes project could take a couple of years to complete. Birk’s target is to work on two or three units every six weeks or so.
It was the right time in the right place for Birk to buy this complex, after hearing about the opportunity from a friend. He knows how it is to be on the down side of the economy, having moved to Seattle from New York and being one of the 10,000 people who were laid off from Washington Mutual. This project gives him a venue to help those who want to buy an affordable home in a confusing market. “You can’t lose hope,” Birk said. “It’s the American dream to own a home.”
Christina Harper is a Snohomish County freelance writer. She can be reached at harper@heraldnet.com
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