Carbon River Homes

BUILDER'S NOTEBOOK

What’s Up/What’s New

Are you tired of real estate yet? Of course not. It ranks right up there with gossip. No one seems ever seems bored, and most of us believe it’s imperative that we keep up!

So what’s the latest on new home construction? It’s still a buyer’s market. Most builders have reduced prices in response to buyers’ expectations. They proactively took the hit buyers were writing into their deals anyway. Of course, that doesn’t stop buyers from asking for something more. A refrigerator. A fence. Another $4000 in closing costs. Because even if something’s on sale, it doesn’t mean there’s not a better price to be had! But the gap between list price and sales price definitely is closing.

Also notable is the fact that while some builders are still going bankrupt, there are others who are searching for lots. They’re looking for bargains and they’re probably not paying what the current owner paid. But it looks like the wheels of new construction are starting to turn again.

It’s a good thing. Population forecasts for the Puget Sound region show strong growth between the years 2010 and 2020. King County is expected to add approximately 180,000 people; Pierce County 84,235 people; Kitsap County 34,192 people; and Thurston County 55,617 people. If you include Snohomish County, we’re expecting just under a half a million newcomers. That’s a lot of people, people!

And they need places to live. We love that. But we’re also aware that some of you cringe at the thought of more traffic, longer lines at the grocery store, and the fact that the movie you wanted to rent at Blockbuster won’t be there. It’s an age-old problem. You live someplace nice, and dang it! Other people want to live there, too! We’re pretty sure those ancient Romans got their togas in a twist when the line at the water well kept getting longer and longer.

We at Carbon River Homes can’t do much about population growth. But we can do this: we can build nice houses that you’re happy to live next to. We can mix up the styles and colors and floorplans so your community feels anything but cookie cutter. We’ll try to space the houses for privacy and views, as well.

And we’ll instruct our Realtors to only sell to really nice people. You know. Folks like you.