With all the economic gloom and doom news I thought I might try to offer a little information concerning your home investment. Many of you have already bought a home from me and are probably wondering if it is holding its value. In general, I think you’ll be fine if you bought your home over one to two years ago. Some will have no value loss even you purchased within that time frame.  A lot depends on location.  Fortunately, Seattle in general has not been affected nearly as much as most of the rest of the country, and some Seattle areas are seemingly unaffected. 

The best thing to protect your home investment is to maintain your home’s structural and cosmetic integrity.  If it’s in your budget, it can be a great idea to make practical reovations, such as adding livable square footage or other improvements that hold their value.  It is also very important in a “down market” and uncertain economic future to keep the actual equity in your home, which means resisting the urge to use your home equity to take out a second mortgage, home equity line of credit, or otherwise convert your equity to cash.

Although there are various websites out there right now that purport to give the market value of your home, the only way to get a true sense of your home’s worth is by doing a real Comparative Market Analysis (CMA).  I am happy to do a CMA on your home even if you aren’t planning on selling right now. It is free and would probably give you great peace of mind. The process consists of me meeting with you and touring the home again. I will then go back through the solds in your area over the last 6 months and compare them with your home. This data is put into a report which I will go over with you at an additional meeting, or I can email the information if that works better for you.