Buying Presale in Seattle

While we are hearing about the doom and gloom happening in the US right now, many are missing the fact that the Pacific Northwest areas of the US are remaining relatively stable.  Areas like Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington are not experiencing the huge market downturn seen in other areas of the US.  Washington and Oregon maintained a more rational market upturn when other areas were booming.  Therefore, they experienced less exposure to sub-prime mortgages.  Washington reportedly has one of the lowest mortgage default rates in the US. Given the strength of the Canadian dollar and the fact that even in these markets there has been some slowing, it might be an opportune time to by in the US.  I have been contacted by phone and email by developers in Portland and the Southwestern US looking to lure Canadian investors to their projects.

A recent article in Western Investor indicated that Washington developers are changing the way they do business and it makes it more attractive to Canadian investors.  This includes allowing assignments of contracts and allowing more investors.  In addition, in Washington when you buy a presale condo it is not a firm contract, it is more like a reservation.  This means that you can walk away from your reservation if the market goes sideways. You give up your non-refundable deposit, but sometimes this can be as low as 5%. This is different from BC where an investor actually creates a firm contract on a presale unit and deposits are at least 10% and sometimes as high as 20%.