More Macaulay LID info

This link has a report on real estate agents who were interviewed, by team Macaulay. Much of it is hand-written, and very difficult to read. If you are interested, scroll to the last few pages, which has typed-up notes of several real estate agents.

Here are some excerpts of the March/April 2010 interviews:
Realtor I:
p. 89
“She would like us to tell Ken Lanfear that there should be a press release  regarding the road assessment amount. People want to know how much it is going to be and what the payment arrangements will be . . .
“She also said it’s much more significant with vacant lots than with homes. Says vacant land prices are similar to what they were 10 years ago. They used to consistently sell more vacant lots than houses but it’s been the other way around for the last two years. She thinks that when the assessments come out, there will be a flood of vacant lots on the market (as there were because of the sewer assessment).
“Usually sells 600 (plus-or-minus) lots per year in Ocean Shores, with about 1,000 on the market. She thinks prices are leveling off from the ‘real lows.’ . . . Marketing time can be a year or more.

Realtor II:

p. 90
“His sales volume was down 18 percent in 2009 compared to 2008.
Marketing time was probably 5% longer in 2009.
. . . In 2007 and 2008, when the first roads fixed were the ones down by the jetty, the project was a huge help in marketing and sales — but only for a while. Now, it’s not an issue since knowledgeable buyers assess the infrastructure whenever considering an investment and expect adequate roads. . . .  says that the coming assessment “hasn’t broken any deals” but that the new roads “aren’t helping” with closing sales or reducing marketing time.

Realtor III:

p. 91

“many sellers are very motivated to sell because of the impending assessment. Also said she has had to explain the LID to lots and lots of sellers who never got a preliminary assessment notice and ‘have never heard of an LID.’ . . . She tells owners who don’t know about it that the preliminary assessment figures were $2,200 to $3,900 but that they should ‘expect up to $6,000′ because she ‘never believes anything the city says.’ Said she hasn’t dealt with anyone who has mentioned that perhaps it would help them sell and says she’s not seen any evidence that it’s helped anyone with a sale.”