Are you waiting for the Seattle Real Estate market to “cool off?” Some buyers who were hoping to buy a million-dollar home in Bothell just texted my assistant and said they were pulling out of the market for a year to see if things would “cool off.”
Saving money for a down payment to buy a house in Seattle, WA is a big deal. It's expensive to live here, and getting more so by the day. Whether you're saving 5%, 10%, or 20% down, this is not something that is going to happen overnight by digging spare change out of the couch.
Well, we now have COVID in the rear-view mirror - for the most part at least. I am so glad It has been a hard time on many families, seniors, children, and businesses. With any big shift in the marketplace, it makes one wonder what is next for the world. Will the end of COVID affect the Seattle, WA real estate market?
If you have been wondering the best way to choose a realtor to help you buy or sell a home, you might ask yourself: Does your real estate agent really matter? Or are they all kind of the same? As with any service-based business, much of what realtors do seems similar when observed from the outside. However, real estate agents differ, not only in personality but in skills. How can your real estate agent differentiate themselves?
Buying or selling real estate is a big undertaking involving a complex process with many moving parts. So whether you’re a buyer or seller, you need to be informed and understand as much about it as you can. The problem, though, is that what you find online is often incomplete at best and just flat wrong at worst. So it’s a good idea to go old school and read the best books on the topic before taking that big step. Here, then, are our picks for the top-5 real estate books to help buyers and sellers in Shoreline, WA.
Does your real estate agent really matter or are they all kind of the same? Well, obviously as a real estate agent myself, I have a pretty strong opinion about that, but for me to think it is one thing you have to believe is for it to matter and I'm going to share with you one of the reasons that can make a difference. Yes, I would say in several transactions that have come together, both with me representing the buyer and with me representing the seller, I have seen instances where who the agent is matters. For example, a few months ago I was selling a house that was an estate sale, and we had a lot of interest that was in Bothell so there was a huge, huge number of us, in the wonderful Bothell property, a huge number of people interested in this thing.
In this market, it's been super-fun to watch your home equity grow. Almost like watching a stock ticker change every minute, it seems like a monthly check-in on your home's value almost always yields some good news. I definitely recommend that everyone keeps an eye on their home value, their mortgage balance (the difference between those is called your EQUITY) and this will help you determine the direction of your net worth and how fast your wealth is growing.
Whenever I meet with new real estate clients - whether they are buyers or sellers - one of the first things I like to present to them is our Northwest MLS (NWMLS) real estate contracts. These documents are the "standard" attorney-reviewed contracts used by licensed agents in the Puget Sound area for many types of real estate transactions: buying a house, condo or multi-family home, leasing, or even buying or selling a business.
Buying a home will likely be the largest financial transaction of your life, so, naturally, you want to get the best deal possible. But in today’s market – with low inventory and rising prices – that’s often easier said than done, especially for first-time buyers. Still, there are some tips and tactics that can help you find the best deals. So read on to discover how to find the best deals on Shoreline, WA homes for sale.
You made an offer on that new home, and the seller accepted it. It’s an exciting time. But hold on a minute. There are several more steps in the purchase process before you get to the closing table and sign the dotted lines. One of the major remaining steps is the inspection. And, typically, the inspection will discover problems with the home, both major and minor, that call for repairs. Then, as a buyer, you’ll have to negotiate these repairs with the seller and/or her agent. So let’s see what Seattle, WA homebuyers need to know about negotiating repair costs.
