What I see is a Seattle area real estate market is turning around. What my clients see is the latest Case Shiller report and now they are worried. The "latest" is two months old. Many believe that there is a huge supply of bank owned homes ready to depress the Seattle real estate market again. Not true in Washington State, where deeds of trust are used for the purchase of real property. Read the rest of this entry »

Two of the least understood but most significant aspects of a real estate transaction are signing and closing. Often, buyers and sellers think they are one and the same. Simply put, signing comes first and is necessary for closing to occur. But what happens between the signing and the closing? Read the rest of this entry »

When I began this series of three cheers for Seattle I knew that the first cheer would be for "scenery" and the second for "smarts," two aspects of Seattle that are firmly established. I planned the third cheer to be about silver linings, a much less sure thing, given the vagaries of the political and economic landscape. I'm happy to report that the clouds that made Seattle area real estate values go down the drain now have silver linings. Read the rest of this entry »

The Seattle condo market on both sides of Lake Washington has been taking a beating. Now there appears to be a silver lining on the horizon. What is stabilizing prices is a low inventory. Ultimately, that low inventory will lead to price increases. Some of my colleagues are reporting occasional multiple offer scenarios on desirable properties. Mind you, I'm cheering for both sides here: on one hand I want lower prices for my buyers and make real estate around Seattle ever more affordable, on the other hand, I want my selling clients to get a fair price for their properties. Read the rest of this entry »

National statistics notwithstanding, there are neighborhoods where homes retain their value. This is especially true for homes that are only slightly less desirable than the very best in the same upscale neighborhood. That's true, for example, for Kirkland homes west of Market Street and, across Lake Washington, it applies to Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. Read the rest of this entry »