Cowlitz News and Real Estate

A Visit To The Annual Cowlitz County Unique Tin Car Show and Swap Meet 2008

  

What a unique experience! I had not attended the car show in few years and was surprised of how much has change and grown. According to organizers this show attracts over 3,000 spectators each year and listening to the announcers over the microphone the attendance on Saturday was a record breaker.  This yearly event has marked the end of Cowlitz County Summer fun events for the last of 34 years.

 

 The event opened the doors at 8:00 a.m. to hundreds of classic and custom-built cars, trucks and some motorcycles, swap meet, vendors and early eager spectators. Then was followed by exciting events throughout the day like some line dance performance, some contests with up to $300 prices, award and parade of winners presentation and ended with the 9:00 p.m. Longview Downtown controlled Cruise, were according to The Daily News there were over 600 permits issued to participate in this event.

 

So, if you miss it this year, you are invited to experience how amazing it is to see some of the incredible beefed-up engines, flashy chrome and paint jobs on some of these hot rods and in the way contribute to a good cause, according to event organizers part of the profits are donated to local charities throughout Cowlitz County.

 

Cowlitz County real estate agent, Venancio Gonzalez a GRI, E-PRO Realtor®, with Windermere Real Estate Allen & Associates, 360 751 4001.

Longview Washington, Highlands Neighborhood Home This Highlands area home is big one level in great condition in a newer subdivision at an affordable price. This wonderful 4 bedroom, 2 full baths home offers 1425 SF of living space, living room, dining room, master bedroom with a full bath and walk-in closet, fully fenced back yard, big covered patio and a double car garage.

Contact Cowlitz County real estate agent, Venancio Gonzalez a GRI, E-PRO Realtor®, with Windermere Real Estate Allen & Associates, 360 751 4001 to list your home or purchase a home in Longview, Kelso, Woodland, Kalama, Castle Rock, Toutle, Silver Lake or Cathlamet.

The challenge of pricing and selling a home in today's Cowlitz County real estate market

Today's Cowlitz County real estate market is the weakest I ever experience since I started in the business over five years ago. For the last four years the market was great, homes were selling as fast as they came on the market, sometimes getting multiple offers, everyone was happy. In the last year or so the market slowly started turning now we have a huge listing inventory a home time on the market has increase drastically and there are still many sellers who don't want to faced reality and are asking thing like; why this price? (The house across the street sold for xxx amount of dollars last year), why isn't my home selling? Or why do I have to reduce the price? I don't want to give my home away!

Long gone are the days when sellers use to set the price and homes sold with no problem. Sellers should always be educated on local market conditions but in today's real estate market the need for sellers to know where their home fits on the market equation is even greater. It not about just having a market analysis and agree on the price. The whole picture needs to be look at besides of a market analysis many other key elements have to be taking into consideration; market trends, market absorption rates, percentage of recently homes sold, homes you going to be competing with and seller's level of motivation.

Placing a listing into the Multiple Listing Services in not enough in today's challenging market it takes more than that to successfully sell a home. It takes the ability to correctly price a home, knowledge and understanding of the local market and follow through on the appropriate marketing strategies. It's extremely important for sellers to have the correct information to be able to make the best educated decision possible.

For more information on how to correctly price your home or for a through market analysis of your home, feel free contact Cowlitz County real estate agent Venancio Gonzalez at gonzalezq@windermere.com or  at 360 751 4001. You can also visit my website to see my marketing strategies to see what I do to sell your home or one of my post for some seller tips.

Cowlitz County foreclosure homes and other bank own properties

 This is an update on the Cowlitz County foreclosure homes and other bank own properties including some multi-family units and manufacture homes. Even though these homes are selling fast, the numbers of Cowlitz County foreclosure properties on the market have increased from 36 to 48 since my last update back on February 2008, here is a link to that article.

 There are currently 45 foreclosure home on the market, 32 of them are active (available for sale) the other 16 are already under contract (pending or pending inspection), one active multi-family unit (4-plex) and one manufacture home. As the foreclosure homes inventory increases so as the opportunities for all those looking to build some quick equity. To see all available foreclosure home and other properties in Cowlitz County visit our Cowlitz County Foreclosure page.

 Contact Cowlitz County real estate agent, Venancio Gonzalez a GRI, E-PRO Realtor®, with Windermere Real Estate Allen & Associates, 360 751 4001 with any questions or to view any Cowlitz County foreclosure listings or to list your home or purchase a home in Longview, Kelso, Woodland, Kalama, Castle Rock, Toutle, Silver Lake or Cathlamet.

Cowlitz County real estate market numbers for July 2008.

This report will give you an insight of how the Cowlitz County real estate market is doing and may be helpful to those considering selling, buying or relocating to the Cowlitz County area. It will show you the numbers of current available homes for sale, homes under contract, and homes sold in the month of July 2008. It will also give an inside look at average and medium prices, average days on the market and what price range is more competitive and what price range is moving (selling) faster. To see the reports for the previous months of June and May.

Cowlitz County real estate numbers for Single Family Residential homes - July 2008                              

Cowlitz County homes - Active July 2008

Number - 818

Medium Price - $240,000

Average Price - $288,347

Average Days on Market - 130 

Cowlitz County Homes - Under Contract (Pending) July 2008

Number - 93

Medium Price - $195,000

Average Price - $211,775

Average Days on Market - 117

Cowlitz County Homes - Sold July 2008

Number - 60

Medium Price - $199,425

Average Price - $214,930

Average Day on Market - 111

Most Competitive Price Range - $200,000 thru $249,999

Actives Listings - 151

Most Active Price Range - $250,000 thru $299,999

Actives - 121

Pending - 14

Sold - 12

Contact Cowlitz County real estate agent, Venancio Gonzalez a GRI, E-PRO Realtor®, with Windermere Real Estate Allen & Associates, 360 751 4001, to list your home or purchase a home in Longview, Kelso, Woodland, Kalama, Castle Rock, Toutle, Silver Lake or Cathlamet.