Recent & Featured Posts
Downtown Bellevue Walking Tours Planned to Help Improve the Pedestrian ExperiencePosted on December 2, 2011- Light rail to Bellevue clears final hurdlesPosted on November 30, 2011
Northwest Multiple Listing Service Chooses Authentisign™ for Electronic SignaturesPosted on June 29, 2011
Bellevue Bridge Damaged During Construction over I-405Posted on April 3, 2011- Bellevue/Eastside Real Estate Mortgage Rate Watch 3/9/2011Posted on March 9, 2011
Washington State Transportation Commission Announces Proposed SR 520 Toll RatesPosted on December 8, 2010- Construction Woes Force Bellevue To Shave $16 Million From General FundPosted on December 7, 2010
Zillow.com Adds WindermerePosted on September 30, 2009- Home foreclosure filings up more than 100 percent in Seattle areaPosted on August 13, 2009
Local Headlines- King County home prices drop again February 6, 2012
- $16 house? Dallas area man evicted after squatting February 6, 2012
- Low home supply isn't helping prices February 6, 2012
- Calif. and NY considering foreclosure-abuse deal February 6, 2012
- Rising rebuild costs force homeowners to boost insurance February 4, 2012
- Phoenix housing market starting to recover February 4, 2012
- To your health: Learning more about building materials' content February 4, 2012
- Debt aversion behind remodeling and cocooning by homeowners February 4, 2012
- realannual05_chart February 4, 2012
- Snapshot of 2011 housing market: More activity, lower prices February 4, 2012
- Local mortgage rates February 3, 2012
- Rate on 30-year mortgage falls to record 3.87 pct. February 3, 2012
- Is our best-kept secret in northwest Seattle? February 1, 2012
- No room for mistakes: Design perfectionists at home February 1, 2012
- Obama seeks to broaden reach of housing assistance February 1, 2012
01Oct2008
Income Levels v. Home Prices
Economists often pay close attention to the ratio between how much local incomes have been rising and how much local real estate prices have been climbing. If real estate prices rise faster and farther than do local incomes, then it is a sure sign that local real estate is moving into a range in which it’s either difficult to afford or simply unaffordable.
Continue ReadingLeave a Comment23Sep2008
The Affordability Index
This is a rather strange indicator of how affordable the homes are in a given area—strange primarily because it makes assumptions that may or may not be true. Generally, the index notes the amount of income needed to purchase an area’s median-priced home in a transaction with a 20% down payment and an institutional mortgage loan for the balance of the purchase price.
Continue ReadingLeave a Comment15Sep2008
When To Buy in a Buyer’s Market
In a buyers’ market, sales are obviously slower than in a sellers’ market. What constitutes a buyers’ market, after all? An abundance or over-abundance of homes on the market for sale.
Continue ReadingLeave a Comment05Sep2008
Your Equity in a Second Home
One of the things we are reminded when the real estate market surprises us with a serious slowdown is that it is very good to have a reasonable amount of equity in a home, especially if we’re never certain when we may want or need to sell it.
Continue ReadingLeave a Comment13Aug2008
Are You at Home?
Increasingly, we’ve realized that there is something magical about looking at a house that you may want to buy and make your own. When a home looks right, when it strikes you from the first moment you enter the door, your mind almost inevitably begins to imagine how your belongings, your furniture—indeed, your life—would look in this house.
Continue ReadingView Comments (1)29Jul2008
When To Buy
Financial advisors in our newspapers and magazines love to write about this subject, suggesting that we buy when sellers are willing to negotiate, when interest rates are low, when others are buying, etc., etc.
Continue ReadingView Comments (1)21Jul2008
Why Wait to Buy?
“Bottom-fishing”: a scary term often used when real estate prices have eased and seem on the verge of easing further. We don’t advise it.
Continue ReadingLeave a Comment15Jul2008
Why Pay a Commission?
It has generally been true that many people wonder, especially when home prices have skyrocketed, why they should pay a commission to a real estate professional or work with a mortgage professional when there are cheaper ways to buy, sell or finance a home.
Continue ReadingView Comments (1)07Jul2008
How Long Will Your Home Last?
We don’t tend to think of houses aging to the point of being uninhabitable, but it can happen if homes are not maintained with care. The same is even truer of the appliances in our homes, without proper care they can become unusable.
Continue ReadingView Comments (1)30Jun2008
Client Relationships
There is an obvious and tremendous benefit from having a great working relationship with a real estate (and also a mortgage) professional long before you actually have to call on these people to help with the purchase and/or sale of a home.
Continue ReadingView Comments (2)