MEET THERESE

Most of the waterfront homeowners in the County went through the process of determining if flood insurance is a necessity for their property when they purchased or refinanced. As you may be aware, most of our waterfront properties are designated as being in the flood plain as determined by the current Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) maps. What you may not realize is that a high percentage of the homes and other structures, when further analysis is done, may not ac

The definition of “market value” is rather boring sounding when you take into consideration that you are addressing one of the highest value assets that a property owner may have or the most expensive item that a buyer may purchase in their lifetime. Emotions run high when it comes to the selling and buying of real estate. If we all could just buy low and sell high, life would be so much more rewarding. Definition: Market Value is the price a property is most likely to comm

IRS SECTION 1031 - TAX DEFERRED EXCHANGE Another popular avenue for funding a real estate investment is utilizing a 1031 tax deferred exchange. During the last recession when appreciation was non-existent there were no gains for buyers and sellers to defer but in the current market, the use of the 1031 has made a strong return. As a 1031 exchange is a handy tool for deferring income tax on the sale of real estate, I thought you might desire more details about the program. A

If you are a buyer or seller, I bet you thought just getting under contract was stressful for all parties but in reality, the home inspection and/or feasibility response and associated negotiations are often the more stressful event.  Allowing a buyer to have a home inspection and hopefully a concurrent feasibility study is a very necessary part of the transaction. Seller’s Disclosure form 17 As required by statue, the seller must provide a disclosure about the property.  Thi

#sanjuanrealestateupdate #MerriAnnSimonson #ColdwellBankerSanJuanIslandsInc #PropertyBuyersinSanJuanCounty #SanJuanIslandLifestyleVideos #SanJuanRealestateforsale

There will be a major change in real estate excise tax taking effect January 1, 2020 for the State of Washington. I have provided a link below to the Senate Bill which created this change to a graduated tax rate. The Excise Tax adjustment will affect what the seller pays. In January 2019 the tax went up for the buyers in our County with the addition of the Affordable Housing Tax (Buyer pays 99% of the .5% tax). This new tax revision will equate to a decrease in the Excis

This Lifestyle video is a spoof on my favorite professional; San Juan Real Estate. I thought you might enjoy it. #sanjuanrealestate #RealEsateMarketupdateforSanJuanIslandWA #ColdwellBankerSanJuanIslandsInc #PropertyBuyersinSanJuanCounty #SanJuanIslandLifestyle

Go through your belongings early on If you have already decided to downsize, the first thing you will need to do is to go through your belongings and decide what pieces you will keep and what you can get rid of.  Keep in mind that you do not necessarily have to throw away the items you will not be taking with you to your new home – depending on the age and wear of the item in question, you may be able to sell it through an online site like eBay or OfferUp, or donate it to Goo

All of us Island property owners received our tax assessment notices from the County recently. As real estate agents we have been fielding many questions about the statements and new assessments. As you may recall, the State has mandated that our Assessor’s office convert to an annual assessment update cycle versus the cyclical system we were on for years. The current values are for a one year period only and will be adjusted the next year. The current process is mu

The third quarter results for San Juan Island and the County were consistent with the first and second quarter results.   Per the NWMLS, the dollar volume year-to-date on San Juan Island was $99,156,746 with a total of 181 transactions.  This reflects a 12.5% decrease in the dollar volume and a 21.5% decrease in the number of transactions.  For San Juan County, the total dollar volume was $218,491,175 with a total of 392 transactions.  The County had a slight gain of 1/2% in

This San Juan Island lifestyle video is about fishing, what really happens behind the scenes on a boat while salmon fishing. #fridayharborrealestate #MerriAnnSimonson #ColdwellBankerSanJuanIslandsInc #PropertyBuyersinSanJuanCounty #SanJuanIslandLifestyleVideos

I have reviewed the County’s new Vacation Rental Permit requirements and I found them most reasonable, I think they did a good job. As a REALTOR, working in the field, I only noted two areas that may be difficult for some property owners to adapt to. Management plan on file at the County and with neighbors within 300 feet. The management plan must contain contact information of owners and a local representative if the owner lives off island.  This person shall respond to emer

The second quarter results which complete the first half of the year for San Juan Island were similar to the first quarter.  Per the NWMLS, the dollar volume on San Juan Island was $56,399,689 with a total of 108 transactions.  The numbers reflects a 18% decrease in transaction number and a 22% decrease in dollar volume as compared to the same period in 2017.  For San Juan County, the total dollar volume was $143,972,044 with a total of 245 transactions.  The County’s gain wa

This San Juan island lifestyle video shares with you the Friday Harbor Fourth of July parade. #fridayharborrealestate #MerriAnnSimonson #ColdwellBankerSanJuanIslandsInc #PropertyBuyersinSanJuanCounty #SanJuanIslandLifestyleVideos #SanJuanIslandLifestyle

This video shares our great lifestyle of crabbing, shrimping and fishing. #shrimpinginthesanjuans #CrabbingintheSanJuans #fridayharborrealestate #MerriAnnSimonson #FishingintheSanJuans #ColdwellBankerSanJuanIslandsInc #PropertyBuyersinSanJuanCounty #SanJuanIslandLifestyleVideos #SanJuanIslandLifestyle

The first quarter results for San Juan Island were a puzzle to me and required extra analysis.  San Juan Island’s dollar volume for the quarter reflected a decrease of 28% as compared to the same quarter in 2017.  In 2017 the dollar volume was a 31% increase over 2016 which was a 20% decrease from 2015.  Similar to a roller coaster for San Juan. The County’s first quarter dollar volume reflected an increase of 3.3% in 2018 as compared to 2017.  The transaction numbers for San

This video offers tips on fishing, dancing, and drinking champagne.  Due to “boat talk” content it is not rated PG. #MerriAnnSimonson #ColdwellBankerSanJuanIslandsInc #PropertyBuyersinSanJuanCounty #SanJuanIslandLifestyleVideos #VacationRentalHomes #SanJuanIslandLifestyle

In reviewing the year-end results for 2017, the sales dollar volume for the real estate market in San Juan County per the Northwest Multiple Listing Service was $299,943,083 which reflects an increase in volume of 19.5% over 2016 when the volume was $251,020,953.  The percentage of growth this year was very similar to the increase we enjoyed for the last several years; very stable controlled growth is much more sustainable.  The County closed an average of 49.3 transactions p

Holiday month includes chardonnay shopping, too many parties to count and a polar bear plunge with friends and family.  Thank goodness it is January!!! #fridayharborrealestate #MerriAnnSimonson #ColdwellBankerSanJuanIslandsInc #PropertyBuyersinSanJuanCounty #SanJuanIslandLifestyleVideos #SanJuanIslandLifestyle

As you may or may not be aware, the County Council has recently adopted updates to the Shoreline Master Program (SMP), with the new regulations effective on October 30, 2017.  Although the new regulations apply to all shoreline development, the focus of this article will be on regulations related to residential development in the County. I recently had the pleasure of processing a waterfront transaction where my clients had numerous questions about what they could change on t