Tag: Real Estate

What’s New With Me

Carl Setzer

Back in June Eagle Country Construction let me go (with 6 weeks of notice!). So, after digging around the internet, I’ve accepted a new position with Matt Steel, a Bellevue-based broker with EXP realty, with a decade or two of real estate experience.  I’ll manage their digital marketing. This excites me greatly. I did this for C&K real estate team a few years ago. I loved this part of my job, though I”m a bit rusty. My interest in digital marketing goes many years back and it aligns with my interests in web design, writing and social media.

Also, I’ll be managing this team’s transactions, which is another thing I’ve done (both for C&K, and also with Eagle Country construction). I’m excited to be continuing in the real estate and housing sector. I discovered how much I know and understand, and how much I bring to the table. As I’ll be renewing/rebooting my real estate license, I’ll dive deeper into this sector. I’m not entirely sure what I will do with this part of my career, but there are so many options, so many good ways to earn a living. I’m not sure which path is the right one. But as I’ve been listening to Gary Vee the past few days (updating my digital marketing knowledge), I see a need to experiment, take some risks, try some ideas out and see where they lead. I won’t get anywhere I want to go by seeking the easiest path, the easy way forward.

I’m excited to get back into the fray. And very excited to add the official title of “digital marketer” to my resume. And I’m really pumped to put all I’ve learned, and am learning, to work. Time to hit it hard!

Hmmm…to become a real estate mogul…or not

Carl Setzer
A house made of dollar bills

I held a real estate license for over 7 years. However, last December I let it lapse. Over all the years I held my license I closed no transactions…as an agent. For that time I worked on a team that sold bank and government owned homes. That was my focus. So I didn’t work with clients…exactly. I worked with asset managers, on behalf of the institution that owned the house in our portfolio. I needed my license, but I never needed to go out and generate leads and such that’s part of being a real estate agent. Buy I know about the local market, how to price a home, how to market it, and I know the contract process better than most agents. So, though I haven’t a single transaction officially tied though, I’ve closed hundreds.

Now, I’m trying to figure out what to do next. I’m nearing the end of my grace period with the state of Washington. As of right now, I just need to take a few hours of online course work and then pay the renewal fee. After December, I’ll need to retake my real estate course work from scratch to renew.  A significant up-tick in cost and time. And, I’m not sure the pay-off. I don’t want to invest either cost without a plan for some kind of return.

So, currently, I manage the construction process from getting a contract signed around to having permits in hand. I believe that my understanding of the construction process coupled with my understanding of bank and government owner homes gives me a unique skill set in the real estate world. New construction, custom homes as well as real estate flipping and investing are things I understand well.

Not sure I want to become a mogul. But I think I could make a positive impact on the world. Do I need my real estate license to make that impact? Is it enough to make the investment worthwhile? Would I make back the investment in money, time and energy? I’m just not sure. What do you think? I’d love to hear your insights and recommendations.

 

Some thoughts on Seattle’s growth  

Carl Setzer

Lately I’ve been considering growth. Seattle’s been growing in a huge number of ways: jobs, cost of living, rents, population. This growth changes things: traffic, greater economic fragility, more economic stress on nearly everyone. I

I read an article yesterday saying that San Francisco’s poverty line income was a bit above $114k. Seattle is getting close. 

With this growth and pressure on finances, I see this region’s density increasing. I expect the single family home will slowly vanish as land costs continue to climb. Eventually, multi-family will be the only way to earn enough return on land investment for builders. 

I expect well see lots of Seattle neighborhoods becoming predominantly multi-family, actually a region of apartments condos stretching from the center out to the burbs. 

I do wonder if there’s an equilibrium. Will we get to a point where things will stabilize? 

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. 

Check out this video I made of one of my team’s new homes

Carl Setzer

As this project is one of the first I’ve seen from concept to build, it’s of particular importance to me. Since I needed to be onsite, I thought it would be fun to share it with you.

Check it the video below.

Yeah, I realize I shot all the clips in portrait. Ugh!

Anyway, this house is for sale. Have your agent put an offer on this one! Tell them it’s MLS# 1233212 (in the NWMLS). Don’t have I agent? I can fix that for you.

We’re looking forward to turning this new house into someone’s new home. That’s the best part of this job.

Some thoughts on the Top Pot donuts getting built in Edmonds

Carl Setzer

This shop, just across the street from the ferry lanes. It’ll be a nice addition down there.

I like the stairs, and the upper loft they’re building.

Some good work was getting done today. Hope it means we’ll be done soon.

I’m not certain what the root issue has been for the delay. I expect it’s a permitting issue. Hopefully they can get this resolved quickly/finally. Vacant stores are a financial drain.

Through The Day Then Into The Night

Carl Setzer

A pretty standard day any more. Worked all day, mostly drafting a site plan, but some other work, too. The most amusing was driving to one of our new listings. The property has been framed, but is still under construction. As it’s listed, we wanted to hang a keybox on the property, so other agents can show. We’ll, got the keybox, inserted keys, drove it out to Snohomish from Marysville, and then noticed there are no doors on the property yet. Nothing to hang the keybox to. Sigh… Anyway, I also followed up with a few folks, sent a gob of emails. After dropping off some drawings, etc, at a client’s house, I zipped home.

Now, in a couple of minutes, I’m heading off to a board meeting for the Snohomish County Youth Chorus. As my son sings in it, and the director is a long-time friend of mine, I’m quite committed to the org. It’s a fun group, the parents enjoy each other’s company, and the kids have fun. Oh, they sing and stuff!

Anyway, off on to the next appointment!

Housing market concerns for greater Seattle 

Carl Setzer

I’ve read several articles the past few days that give me pause. The rise of housing prices is the center. And the fact they’re outpacing wage growth deeply concerns me. 

There’s a significant population who’s losing their ability to afford basic subsistence in this region I love. Many friends of mine, who’ve lived here their whole lives, and some for generations, who are getting priced out. 

I know the many see very few basic entitlements: life, liberty, and perpetual servitude. 

In seriousness, I wonder what we can do. Market forces are hard to resist. We’ve tried things like rent control and minimum wage increases, to varying degrees of success. Our ability to game the system are limited. We tend to end up with unintended consequences countering our efforts. 

I firmly believe there are solutions out there which will provide stability for the less highly compensated, without spiking home price inflation somewhere else. 

I work to not be a cynical free market catalyst. Tis often a challenge. I shall grab a hold of hope and embrace optimism. 

Some Recommended Regional Real Estate Reading

Carl Setzer

Here are few articles that feature important information about the greater Seattle area:

Now it’s Safeway, or Everything Changes 

Carl Setzer2 Comments

A few weeks ago, one of my local grocery stores rebranded.  After Safeway and Albertsons merged a few years back, the writing was on the proverbial wall. The Safeway branded store across the street was shuttered. A few months back, I noticed the start of a remodel. While talking with friends there, I was told the store would become a Safeway soon. That’s now done. 

A few days ago I noticed I felt somewhat sad looking at the sign. Well, the store has been an Albertsons as long as I can remember. Went there with my mom, watched the changes of the area, yet it was there. No longer, though. 

Lynnwood, this little suburb north of Seattle, hasn’t been as radically transforming as Seattle or the Eastside. Well, until recently. Stalwarts of my childhood have closed, buildings getting torn down, land redeveloped, vacant lots becoming neighborhoods. Housing prices sprinting upwards. 

Change. Pretty rapid change, too. 

Communities consist of these institutions, and their interactions with our citizens. The uniqueness of Lynnwood morphs, so what will become of the charms we value? I value?. 

Defining their value, though, is hard. I see the value to government, and our local business community. I’m a real estate agent and currently work in construction. I get that. Yet I worry that the influx of national chains and steep housing price inflation erode that which makes this community unique. Lynnwood has always been about commerce. But it’s also had a place for very one-of-a-kind businesses. Those are the ones vanishing. 

So many long-time residents I know feel concerned. Those things that build attachment vanish. What holds us here? At what place do we surrender to inflation and move to someplace more affordable? I guess that’s the question at the end of all this. 

I don’t know, my friends. Just don’t know. 

Addicted To Debt?

Carl Setzer

Came across this article recently:

Americans Feast on Debt

Of particular concern:

  • Debt is reaching new highs: “total household debt achieved a new peak in the first quarter of 2017, rising by $149 billion to $12.73 trillion-$50 billion above the previous peak reached in the third quarter of 2008”

Now, I’ve also read some pieces about the effectiveness of various policies in convincing people to incur more debt. I am left to wonder, as I was back about a decade ago, at what point does all this collapse? There comes a point where servicing debt load consumes all available income. Or, in the case of a sudden economic shift, drops below and things fail.

America currently only is able to see as far as the next quarterly earnings report, if that far. Our lack of vision and inability to see citizens as people instead of just consumers to exploit, helps drive this phenomena further.

At some point, we need to step away from a consumer-driven economy. It is not sustainable, and is only going to cause long-term pain and, for many, calamity. We’ll need to learn, as people, as individuals, to value things other than purchases. Don’t use shopping to alleviate boredom, or loneliness, or…. We need to balance spending with saving, find value in something other than things, than accumulated stuff.

Let’s not wait for policies to incentivize savings. Nor for marketing campaigns. Here’s the time to innovate, for ourselves and for our families. Perhaps, by making long-term thinking cool, we can truly change the world.