New Listing: 472 Klahhane Road, Sequim - $399,950

PENDING SALE... PENDING SALE... PENDING SALE...

Looking for real estate in Sequim? Thinking about moving to Sequim?

Here's a great new listing, located at 472 Klahhane Road, Sequim, WA.

It's 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, built in 2007, almost 1900 sq feet, on 1.06 acres, and is situated at the end of a private street. This custom home has all the luxury amenities and features you want in a single level home, including:

• Hardwood, travertine, limestone & marble floors
• Cherry cabinets, granite slab counters, stainless steel appliances
• Radiant heated limestone floors in master bath with whirlpool tub
• Wood-wrapped windows and trim, vaulted ceilings and skylights
• Stamped concrete driveway and patios in front and rear yards
• Landscaping with underground sprinklers, and lots more!

Contact me for details, or if you'd like to tour this house. It's a good one!

Marti Winkler
Windermere SunLand - Sequim
360-477-8277

N.E.E.D. Conference at Common Sense Nutritional Therapy on Friday 3/19 & Sat 3/20

Sherry Fry, Owner and Nutritional Therapy Practitioner at Common Sense Nutritional Therapy here in Sequim is hosting a N.E.E.D. Conference this Friday evening from 6-9pm and Saturday from 10am-4pm.

N.E.E.D. is Nutrition Education and Encouragement by Design and is a 2 day class of instruction and hands-on learning.

And this week's class will be filmed, so here's your chance to be in the movies! Ha ha!

Contact Sherry for more info at 360-683-2756.

Selling your house in Sequim? Make sure you use a NWMLS office.

Greetings potential Sequim sellers...

Before you list your house for sale in Sequim with a local broker, make sure you know what's really going on in the real estate market.

What am I talking about? The fact that there are currently 2 MLS systems running in Sequim: OLS - Olympic Listing Service, which only reaches agents in Clallam County, and NWMLS - Northwest MLS, which reaches all of the agents in the western portion of the state, and provides a much larger coverage area for your listing.

Why is this important? There are a few local real estate offices that are 'OLS only' subscribers, which means that your listing will only be seen by local agents in Sequim and Port Angeles. These 'OLS only' office members are afraid of having an 'out of the area' agent sell your property, so rather than get your listing in front of several thousand selling agents, they prefer to limit access to only around 140 local Sequim agents. Does that make sense to you? Do you care which agent sells your house, or do you just want it SOLD?

I thought so... YOU JUST WANT YOUR HOUSE SOLD!

Beware, as these 'OLS only' agents will tell you that an 'out of the area' agent lacks local knowledge to sell your home, but guess what? That's what the listing agent's job is - to provide accurate information to any potential selling agent and/or buyer. So make sure they are doing the job you are paying them for!

Also, 'OLS only' agents are missing a large portion of 'NWMLS only' listings, so for you buyers out there, you are missing out on potentially finding your perfect place, by working with an 'OLS only' agent or office.

Does it make sense to have 2 MLS systems running in Sequim? Absolutely not, in my opinion, and I've stated this to 'the powers that be' that's it's actually hurting property values in Clallam County by not having all of the MLS data in 1 database, but they don't want to hear it.

Why? Because that's how it's always been, and they are afraid of change, afraid that they will lose business to the agents in Seattle. Really?

Is that reasonable? The Internet has already changed the way people do business, and over 90% of people start their search for real estate online. So the typical buyer uses sites like realtor.com or trulia.com, as these sites are designed for the public.

But guess what?

REAL ESTATE AGENTS DON'T USE THOSE SITES. THEY SEARCH THE MLS!

Also, recent buyer statistics show that what ACTUALLY sells your home comes down to just 3 things: other MLS agents, a 'For Sale' sign and the Internet.

Having used both OLS and NWMLS systems for the past several years, here's my take on it:

1) NWMLS IS A MUCH BETTER MLS SYSTEM! Any MLS service is basically just a data provider, and NWMLS is much easier to use, is formatted much better, has much better reporting capabilities, including statistics, has much better search capabilities, and is now linked directly to Clallam County online records. And you can have up to 15 photos on NWMLS vs 9 on OLS... Again, a better MLS.

2) NWMLS has approximately 23,200 agent members vs approximately 140 Sequim agent members in OLS. Do you want to limit yourself and miss out on having thousands of agents available to potentially sell your house?

Doesn't it make more sense to list with a company that is part of NWMLS, and has the ability to reach thousands of selling agents and buyers instead?

I work for Windermere SunLand in Sequim, WA, which subscribes to both OLS and NWMLS, and I'd be happy to show you the benefits of working with an office that is a member of both. 

I'm hoping that the MLS situation here in Sequim changes in the near future, and that there will be only 1 MLS system operating in Clallam County, and that it's NWMLS, which is, in my opinion, in the absolute best interests of our clients and the citzens of Clallam County.

Take care,

Marti Winkler
Windermere SunLand
360-477-8277

Sequim real estate market update

I'm back working at the Windermere Sunland real estate office in Sequim. Initially, when I left the office in December, 2009, I thought I was going to focus more on my appraisal business, but I couldn't stay away! Crazy, I know.

Anyway, you can reach me at the Windermere office at 360-683-6880 or by email: marti@martiwinkler.com for any real estate info or if you want to buy or sell real estate in Sequim. I'd be happy to help you out.

I also have a link to my website in the 'Cool Links' section on the right, and you can search listings yourself.

After running the stats, it looks like prices may be stabilizing (let's hope!) in Sequim, and it kinda feels like we're near the bottom. Sales volume for 2009 was about the same as 2008 levels, however, prices were down about 9-10% overall... not so bad, but not so great either.

With prices so low, it's a great time to buy real estate in Sequim. The tough part is getting a loan, for those of you that aren't rolling in cash (ha ha!), but there are loans available. I can get you in touch with a couple of good local lenders that will get the job done for you.

And I'm in the process of launching a new website: http://www.move2sequim.com/, but it's not up yet, just parked for now. I will keep you posted.

Have fun!

Pigs on patrol in Sequim

These pigs were seen at the corner of Kitchen-Dick Road and Hwy 101. They are the cutest! When I stopped to see them, they all ran to the edge of the fence, probably looking for a handout. Sorry pigs!