3805 186th St Ct E, Tacoma, WA 98446

4 Bedrooms+ Bonus Room, 2.5 Bathrooms 

1,920 square feet 

Offered for $380,000

MLS# 1574331

Built in 2017, this home is tucked away in a culdesac, surrounded by nature. The sellers bought this home brand new, and have kept it in great condition! Bright, clean, open concept living space, with a bonus room on the main level, in addition to the 4 rooms located upstairs. Master bedroom features a walk in closet, soaking tub, and separate shower. Large fully fenced yard. Close to shopping centers, restaurants, coffee, and grocery stores. Scenic, easy commute into the city. 

One of the first things I noticed when I walked into this home was how new it felt. The sellers bought this house brand-new and have kept it in pristine condition! Everything from the cleanliness, the paint on the walls, the flooring, and the appliances- this space still feels immaculate 3 years later. 

Since the sellers bought it new, they got to focus on fun projects like installing modern light fixtures (that they are leaving to the new buyers), and finding furniture that went perfectly with the space. This furniture looks like staging but it isn’t! Some of the furniture they bought, some they built themselves custom for the space. They would love to work out a deal with the new owners separate from the sale of the home, to leave any furniture that the new owners like!  

Right as you enter the home, there is a bonus room to the left, the stair case just past, and the living space and kitchen straight ahead.

The sellers currently use this bonus room as their tv room. I love that there is a separate room on the main floor from the living room and kitchen for people who want their tv room or offie separate from their living space! 

All of the bedrooms are located upstairs. The living room, kitchen, dining space, and half bath are located on the main floor.

The bathroom on the main level is located near the entrance of the home, before you enter the living room. 

This is the bathroom located on the main floor. I like the functional layout of this home- there is a bathroom accessible on the main floor, and two additional bathrooms upstairs. 

The open concept living space includes the living room, kitchen, and dining space. There is a ton of natural light let in from all of the large windows! 

There is a sliding door off of the dining space that leads into the backyard. If you have dogs it is easy to let them out into the fully fenced yard. 

The kitchen has ample storage, tile backsplash, and a double sink+dishwasher. The lighting in this home is warm and comfortable! 

All four bedrooms are located upstairs. 

There are four bedrooms on the second floor. There is one bathroom in the hall, and a full bathroom attached to the master bedroom.  

The master bedroom is gorgeous! The room is large, and has a walk-in closet and attached bathroom. The furniture was intentionally chosen to fit the space, just as it was on the main level. The sellers are hoping the new buyers will be interested in some of the furniture staying. 

Just like the room, the master bathroom is spacious… 

The master bathroom is spacious! It is tough to photograph, but there is a double vanity, large tub, and separate shower stall.

The other three bedrooms are located at the opposite end of the hall.

Here is the other bathroom upstairs. Full bathroom with a shower/tub combination.

This bedroom is currently used as a yoga room. I love how many windows this home has. All of the spaces feel so clean, light, and bright!

This bedroom is currently being used as an office. If you didn’t notice, many of the windows in this home look out onto trees. 

The fourth bedroom, currently used as a guest-room! 

The back yard is fully fenced. What I like about the yard is that there are a few different sections to it.

The sellers enjoyed gardening in the yard! 

For more questions about this listing, feel free to text Keryn at (253) 691-0688, or email me at Keryn@windermere.com. Check out the video tour, here! 

Hi Everyone!

As many of you know, I have paused my business since early March. Other than meeting people via Zoom and Facetime, I decided I needed to press pause on any home showings or listings. In this post I want to explain how I have processed this pandemic from the start to current day, then reveal my new buyer process. 

Pretty mask made by awesome sister! 

At the onset of all of this, I thought it was important to find out more information about the virus and process all of the changes that were flooding my inbox before trying to do any in-person work or help new clients. New COVID-specific addendums were rolling out daily. Lists of vendors that could and could not work were changing daily. Too much was in flux for me to feel I could give new buyers a sense of how to prepare and what to expect. With limited information on how the virus was spreading, I was not confident in my ability to keep myself and my clients safe. While people were taking in all of the new information, I had some heart-to-heart talks with clients who were starting to feel rushed out of fear. I don’t advocate for people to buy or sell out of fear. It is okay to take time to process, and I felt that I needed to practice what I preached and pause myself.

As far as protective equipment goes, I did not have a stockpile of any disinfectant sprays, wipes, etc. (as someone who usually uses natural cleaning products!) and did not own any masks. I did not feel I could work safely. At the onset of this, many of my clients hadn’t yet processed what was happening, and I was still processing as well… as many people can probably relate. I have never been a Realtor during a pandemic before – it has been a lot to take in!

Another reason I paused that I want to be transparent about is that I don’t think my industry is essential. It was my belief that unless you were already under contract for a home sale or purchase, we all should have paused for a month (even a couple of weeks!), while more information about the virus was released. If there was a true exception to be made due to hardship, I would have liked to see a process for applying for an exception.

As someone who knows folks working in hospitals and other truly essential environments, I was embarrassed and frustrated by our industries lack of pause, and our quickness to argue why we were just as urgently needed as other industries. In addition to that, I didn’t believe it was a fair and equitable housing market for agents or their clients. Many Realtors are in a high risk age range, making it much more risky for solo agents to conduct business than those with younger buyer agents working under them (a whole other issue I won’t go into in this post!). I  truly felt it wasn’t safe for people to go right back to in-person meetings.

While processing the onset of a deadly virus, the people who wanted to respect the stay at home orders and not go look at homes, arguably could have “missed out” on homes that some agents and clients saw as their “opportunity.” I am not naive – I understand that these things have happened before the pandemic, especially in our capitalist society. One person’s loss is another person’s gain or opportunity. However, it did not sit right with me to engage in that. I believe a pause should have been enforced as more information was gathered, released, and processed.

Since March, I have lost some business, but I have received an overwhelming amount of support and understanding from clients, vendors, colleagues, family, and friends. Thank you. At the end of the day, I feel at peace with my decision to pause, and feel more confident and prepared to enter back into the real estate game this month! To see my buyer process, click here! 

After pausing my business for two months,  I have come up with these guidelines for how I will do business with home buyers starting the month of May. I created this process using input from the CDC, the Governors orders on what we are allowed to do, and included my own set of personal protocols that will make me minimize the risk of infection for myself, and my clients. This is the way I will be conducting business with home buyers, starting May 2020! –

1. 1. The meet up! This is where we meet via Zoom or Facetime for 45 min-1 hr to go over the home buying process, current state of the market, discuss your goals, and make sure we are a good fit. 
   2. Set up your search online. After our meeting, if we decide we are a good fit, I will set up a home search with your criteria. I would recommend keeping an eye on how long your faves stay on, and how much they ultimately sell for (list price versus sales price). 
   3. Identify homes of interest: Once you have a few homes of interest, then you can do driving tours to identify which homes you are still interested in. How is the street/neighborhood to you? Do you like the lot? Once you’ve vetted homes of interest and narrowed it down, we can schedule a day and time to see it! Same day showings are not always possible, please keep this in mind when you reach out to me to pin down a tour day and time. Some sellers are electing not to allow any in-person showings until there is an accepted offer on their property. Some listings might require documentation from us prior to granting us an appointment, such as your approval letter from your lender or answers to health questions in writing prior to touring. I will be finding out the criteria when you message me a home of interest and letting you know what is needed on a case-by-case basis. 
   4. Offering on a Home: Once you decide which home you’d like to offer on, I will reach out to the agent and find out how many offers there are, what the seller is looking for, and see if there’s an offer review date. Based on this information, I will send you what I need to know to draft the offer, along with any recommendations I have. I will also email you similar properties that have sold nearby along with my offer price recommendations. 
   5. Earnest Money: Once we have an accepted offer, you will need to wire earnest money (or deliver a check) to the escrow company. You have 2 business days to get the money to escrow once our offer is accepted, otherwise you have defaulted on the contract. I recommend you contact your bank with escrow’s wiring instructions soon after receiving the good news that your offer was accepted!
   6. Home Inspection: I will schedule the inspection and meet the inspector for you. I have inspector referrals, or you can let me know of a licensed home inspector you would prefer to use. If you’d like to be there for the end of the inspection to go over the findings, I will let you know what time would be good to show up. Only two people are allowed in the home at any given time – this goes for the home inspection as well.
   7. Appraisal: The appraisal is the last big hurdle! The appraiser will go out to the property without us, and take pictures/measurements, and will submit a final report to your lender with the estimated value. The value can come in above what you offered, at where you offered, or below what you offered. Depending on your loan type, the appraiser might issue work orders – repairs that are required to be done for your loan to go through. If there are work orders and the seller agrees to complete them, you will have to pay an additional fee to have the appraiser back out to verify the work orders have been completed prior to close. Ask your lender what the fee is for that ahead of time if you’d like to know!
   8. Signing Day: Once we are through the appraisal then escrow will reach out to you to set up a signing appointment. Right now escrow offices are open by appointment only. Most escrow companies have notary options that can also come to you if that is more convenient!
   9. Closing Day: This is the day that the lender releases funds to escrow and you get the home recorded in your name! Unless we’ve negotiated different terms, you typically get a key to the home on closing day, after the deed is officially recorded in your name. This happens around 3-4 pm usually. The sellers have until 9 pm to vacate the property and give us a key, but normally they are out before that 9 pm deadline.

Buying Guidelines to Follow: 

1. We will all wear masks at any in-person meetings. If you do not currently have a mask, I can let you borrow a clean cloth one during our meeting. I can provide resources on where to purchase a mask if you still need one! 
2. All homes require appointments now, even vacant ones.
3. Only 2 people total are allowed in the house at any given time. This means me and one buyer in the home at a time. 
4. We will maintain 6 feet of distance during showings. 
5. If you are sick, or live with someone who has been sick recently, we are asked not to tour homes in-person. I can do virtual showings for you by using the app Marco Polo or a live tour via Facetime! 

Relocation Clients: 

I can drive by homes of interest, give you my thoughts on the street, and send you a video of the area. 

1. Once you have honed in on a home that passes the street showing, I can provide Facetime or Marco Polo video tours of the inside of the home. 
2. I can set up the home inspection appointment and meet the inspector for you. The inspector can go over his findings with us virtually! We can do this via Facetime or Marco Polo. If you are unavailable during the time of the home inspection, the inspector can answer any questions you have after you have reviewed the report and pictures. I can still record his summary at the end of the inspection via Marco Polo for you to view later if you’d like.
3. Sellers agents typically designate a preferred escrow company. However, we will want to make sure there is a location near you to make the process of signing your documents and dropping your earnest money easier. Wiring your earnest money through your bank is an option! 

Things to consider: 

1. Are moving companies deemed essential where you live? 
2. Are you comfortable buying sight unseen?
3. Are you comfortable moving into the home after you’ve purchased it? Even if restrictions delay your move by months? 
4. Buying and selling was stressful before the pandemic. Understand we could come up against unique problems, and there could be delays. Stay as open minded and flexible as possible to reduce stress.
5. Lenders rates have been volatile. Understand your rate may vary from when you first received a quote from your lender to when you offer on a home. 

It finally happened. Recently I supported a client’s decision to pre-inspect a home before offering on it. Up until now, I had always advised clients against it. My conversations were centered around the fact that some Seattle agents were pushing pre-inspection culture on the Tacoma buying scene, and I didn’t want to play a part in that. However, an all-cash client recently missed out on three different properties even after offering substantially over list, in major part because others had pre-inspected and waived it with their offers. We had a conversation and ultimately realized that this is the current reality of our market to win a home.

I have been helping buyers in Tacoma for four years, and so much has changed in the buying culture since I started. The conversations I had while prepping buyers in 2015 are vastly different in 2020’s market. I used to tell buyers if they didn’t have their closing costs covered, not to worry. Finding a home where a seller was motivated enough to pay part or all of their closing costs shouldn’t be an issue. You would have time to have a home inspection once we got under contract, and even negotiate credits and repairs.

Now, I am seeing pre-inspections left and right. More local agents are supporting these, and putting in the agent remarks that they are encouraged. It is starting to become routine rather than the exception.

Personally, I hate pre-inspections. Buying a home is tough enough, and expensive enough without having to shell out $400-$700 to inspect a home before offering on it. Not having your offer accepted once you’ve shelled out that amount of money stings, as well.

The silver linings for buyers on pre-inspects:

1. You have more confidence in offering what you need to win a home in this market. The condition of a home is always a bit of a mystery, unless a seller provides a recent home inspection ahead of time.
2. Buyers willing to pre-inspect look more committed to a home than buyers who have not.

The cons for a seller of having buyers pre-inspect:

1. You have many home inspectors going through the house, opening access points, potentially making messes.
2. Inspections make other buyers’ showings less comfortable. It isn’t as laid back when you’re showing a home while there is a group of other people interested at the home with their inspector. Private showings allow buyers to feel comfortable poking around and allows them to have a stress-free showing. Buyers may feel rushed or like they don’t have as much of a chance if someone else is inspecting the home, so they might try and go for a different property.

Personally, I feel if sellers want to encourage buyers to waive their inspections, they should pay to have the home inspected by one licensed and bonded home inspector and attach that report to the listing for prospective buyers to review. It’s tough, though, because not all inspectors are equal, and unless I know and trust the inspector who conducted the inspection, I might not feel confident about its content.

Not every home requires a pre-inspection, but in certain neighborhoods and price points, they are necessary to win a home, right now. I help my clients identify which homes will likely have other offers that waived their inspection and help them make the best decision for them. For more about negotiating, check out my blog post all about buyer negotiation periods here.

What type of negotiator are you? Are you the type of person that just wants to offer what you think is fair for everyone, and move through the transaction as smoothly and efficiently as possible? Do you like to push the boundaries of what might be viewed as fair and reasonable, or is that stressful for you? Below I am going to outline different tactics, and terms that I consider when I help my buyers place an offer on a home. 

These are some questions that I run through when I am helping my clients decide on the offer price-

“Should I offer list price, or over list? If over, how much?”

I tell my clients that this is a case by case scenario. Offering list price or below on a brand new listing in a competitive market is not typically a great idea– depending on what price they listed at compared to sold homes nearby. There are times after we do the research, that we conclude that they came on a little too strong (high). If this is the case, we can chat more about how to strategically offer less.

There may be times where we submit an original offer, and have a back up offer in mind just in case we get updated that another offer or multiple offers have come in. This is a good option if there is no offer review date (date set by the sellers to review any potential offers). 

“What if I end up overpaying?…”

Sometimes when there are multiple offers, you might worry that if you win, you may have offered more than the home is worth.

Here are some things to consider- 

When we determine the offer amount, I search for similar homes nearby, and see what they were listed for/sold for and pass this information onto you. This is what an appraiser will do when they go to the home to determine its value. We might offer more than what we think it will appraise for so that we can win it in a multiple offer situation…

Going from that, there are different types of value. How much buyers are willing to pay for the home, and how much a home is worth to an appraiser. Think of the values as emotional/buyer perception of value, which includes the cuteness factor, curb appeal, and overall vibe of the home.  Then there is the scientific/equational value; size, bed/bath count, how it compares to homes with similar stats nearby. Sometimes you need to get under contract with the emotional value, and re-negotiate if the appraised value comes in lower. 

How many days has the house been on the market? Is it a new listing? If it is a new listing, does it have an offer review date set by the seller(s)? 

If it has an offer review date, this means that the agent plans to go through and present offers on a particular day in the future of the house coming on the market. For example, a home gets listed on a Thursday, with the seller and their agent planning to review any offers that come in the following Monday. This sets expectations for interested buyers, and allows the house to get full exposure- siting on market over the weekend and getting as many agents and qualified buyers through as possible before accepting any offer(s). If there is an offer review date, I will reach out to the listing agent to confirm that they intend to stick to that date. I will also look at how is it priced compared to recently sold homes nearby, and competing similar homes that are on the market.

If there is no offer review date and you want to entice the sellers to accept your offer right away, there is the option of offering a little over with other competitive terms, and having the offer expire that night with a note saying that your offer with those specific terms is only valid until that evening at a specific time. I help my buyers consider all of these options for each home of interest, and help them determine what is most savvy for that particular listing, while also keeping their comfort zone and specific goals in mind.

“If the home has been sitting for a while and I feel it’s overpriced, how do we know how much to offer?” 

If a home has been sitting, I will search what similar homes nearby have sold for in the last 60-90 days. I will also reach out to the listing agent to find out how motivated the seller is. 

“Should I include an escalation addendum, or an appraisal gap addendum in my offer?” 

If we determine that there will be competition, and that there is an offer review date, we could include an escalation addendum in our offer. This is a good way to be competitive without offering the absolute max amount we predict it could go for, straight out the gate. It protects the buyer from stretching themselves unnecessarily. Some agents might come back later and say that they are not allowing escalations, and will call for “highest and best” offers before review. Most of the time escalations are allowed. *note that if there isn’t an offer review date, and no mention of other offers, you don’t want to include an escalation addendum- that may entice them to hold out for another offer to trip your escalation clause* For more information about these two addendums, check out my blog post, here. 

“What happens if I make a strong offer and the inspection doesn’t go well?”

If you make a strong offer and after we inspect the home we realize there are a lot of repairs needed, most of the time you are in a better position to get more items taken care of by the sellers. If you had a much lower than list offer, or you got all of your closing costs covered, the seller might try and re-negotiate those terms depending on the expense and amount of repairs you ask for. 

“Should I have an expiration date on my offer?”

The default is typically the next day at 9pm. However, if there is an offer review date and the listing agent says that they plan to stick to said date, It is professional to extend the expiration date to the review date. *If there is no review date, and you’re making a competitive offer for a home that has a lot of interest right away, it could be savvy to make your offer with its current terms, expire that same evening, or early the next day.

“Is there anything else I can do to get the seller(s) to accept my offer over someone else’s?”

See my blog post about crafting a winning offer, here!

In the real estate industry you tend to hear the same slogans repeated and thrown out as truths. There is one I keep hearing recently that really bugs me, and that is that if you are not buying real estate and don’t own property, you are less than, or just plain stupid. I see posts all- of-the time about how people are literally “throwing money away” if they have decided to rent versus buying a home. There are many reasons why this is untrue, but let me throw out a few!

1. You pay money and in return receive shelter. It is not wasting money to rent, and you are definitely not throwing your money away. 
2. Sometimes it is not the right time for someone to buy a home. Maybe you can’t afford the home you would need to be able to make it worth the initial investment long term. Maybe you are unsure of how long you will stay in a certain location and want to stay flexible. 
3. Just because you can buy right now doesn’t mean it is the best time for you to buy. Perhaps you are risk averse and want to have some emergency repair savings first. Maybe you just are not ready! You might not need any money down with some loan programs, but what happens when the water heater goes out? Or you discover a major repair is needed that the inspector wasn’t able to catch during the time of the home inspection? 
4. Your rent is just too good to pass up or not take advantage of. Yes, you’re missing out on some appreciation, but you have amazingly lower than the market rate rent, and are using the additional funds to pay down debts, contribute towards your retirement account, or enjoying experiences you’ll cherish forever. 
5. Sometimes, it is just easier to rent. Owning property takes a certain amount of time, money, or resources. Financially savvy home ownership means upkeep and money invested routinely. If you decide to move, enter into a new financial situation, or another life altering set of circumstances, selling for top dollar will take a certain measure of work. If you decide to rent it out, that will take time, or money on your end.

I don’t think anyone should feel guilted or pressured into homeownership. Decide when the time is right for you, and tune out the rest! For more reasons you might decide not to purchase a home right now, click here. 

Keryn Giguere | Realtor®

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Board of Directors, Tacoma Rainbow Center

(253) 691-0688 

My Reviews: http://www.realsatisfied.com/Keryn-Giguere

My YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBxHNs0g18_7yHWH0H8LNbw

My Blog: https://www.windermerepc.com/agents/blog/keryngiguere