You just landed a fancy new job at a big name company. They have put together a generous relocation package to move you and your family across the country, and you are excited that they are picking up the tab. They even offered to help you with the costs of selling your home and buying [...]
Archive | June, 2009
Watch out for furlough days at your county recorder’s office
You cannot buy a home in the State of Washington if the county recorder’s office is closed, since your deed needs to be recorded there to make the transaction official. Rhonda Porter reminded me of this in her blog today. If you are looking to close a real estate transaction in King, Snohomish or Pierce [...]
Home Seller Hall of Shame – Entry 4
Very interesting day for today’s hall of shame entry, with photos from multiple properties. The first entry is a “surprise” half bath. What appears to be a normal bedroom closet, opens to find a toilet and sink! It was so small that an adult would not necessarily fit! The second entry comes to us [...]
findwell statistics for May 2009
It is time to update our blog readers with our statistics for the month of May 2009. Sales activity is way up, though it seems concentrated in certain segments of the housing market right now. Sales Activity Strengthens Improving on an already strong April, findwell agents were super busy with home tours and placing offers. [...]
How my life is different as a real estate agent for findwell
I recently sat down and interviewed Michael Wilson, the first agent we hired at findwell, to get his impressions after his first year with us. Michael has been a rock star agent for us, negotiating great deals for his clients and going the extra mile to make sure that his clients are 100% satisfied with [...]
Beware the Unscrupulous Loan Modification Offer
I received a peculiar piece of junk mail today. At first glance it appeared to be legitimate. It appeared to come from the Loss Mitigation Department at National City Bank. At one point, I had a mortgage with National City Bank, so I was intrigued enough to open it. When I opened it, it [...]
First-time Home Buyers Can Apply $8,000 Tax Credit Towards FHA Closing Costs
FHA announced a new program on Friday to help first-time homebuyers use their tax credit to pay for closing costs. The IRS is offering a tax credit of 10% of the purchase price of the home, up to a maximum of $8,000 to help spur home sales in a struggling real estate market. The policy [...]
Home Seller Hall of Shame – Entry 3
Today’s hall of shame entry is a case of a poorly planned basement apartment. This home is a great looking Craftsman bungalow in a highly desirable neighborhood. For some reason, when they added the basement apartment, they decided to put the bathtub INSIDE the bedroom. In the picture, you’ll notice the bed on the left [...]
Northwest MLS releases real estate statistics for May 2009
Today the Northwest MLS released their Western Washington real estate statistics for May 2009. Overall, May showed signs of an improving real estate market, though it remains to be seen if these improvements can be sustained over the coming months. The data indicated a number of positive trends. Inventory of homes on the market decreased [...]
