Rain City Guide

I just got a call from my daughter that I need a booster seat to pick them up at the airport tomorrow night.  They are flying in for Thanksgiving.  In previous years she was smaller and the baby carrier doubled as a car seat.  But she just turned 4 years old and apparently needs a [...]

This is a “real estate is local” post, as it refers to an option generally afforded to buyers in our local standard inspection clause (Form 35 item 1) b. on page 1).  Here in the Seattle Area, a buyer usually has the right to do “additional inspections”, IF the original Home Inspector recommends in writing that there be an additional inspection by [...]

Seattle Sunset in November

Just turned around in my office to this fabulous view.  Thought I’d share it with you on this beautiful Saturday.

Back in a late October post, I said “Once prices roll back to January 2005 levels, we will be “at bottom” here in the Seattle Area…”.  There was some discussion in the comments disputing my “prediction”.  We split the difference at mid 2004, though studying the numbers today, I’m still fairly convinced that my January 2005 prediction [...]

Step three in the “Should I Buy a House Now” series is somewhat of a sidetrack.  In Step 1 people learned the difference in calculating your current gross income, especially if any part of your income is not guaranteed “salary”.  In Step 2 you were sent off on a long project of accounting for your [...]

This chart reminds me of the crash in real estate prices in the late sixties when REIT (real estate investment trust) stock prices dropped to pretty much worthless.  I was still in high school, but the Courts got involved in the loss of value in trust portfolios, so I was looking at those in 1974 [...]

Many people are asking, “What do you think will happen if I buy now and hold for five years?” 
You may be surprised to see that this “bubble” is not nearly as big as the 3 five year periods from 1973 to 1988.  1973 to 1978 is the highest appreciation period. The lowest appreciation period is the five years that [...]

How does a seller price a short sale listing?  
An email from Trulia pointing to a post titled Short Sale Saga, reminded me to write a post on the topic of how a buyer’s offer can be “used” to determine the list price of a short sale property.  Back in December of 2007 when I wrote [...]

This is post #2 in the First Hundred Days series designed to answer the question “Should I Buy a House Now?”.  We often go to professionals to help us make decisions, but whether or not you should buy a house now, isn’t one of them.
By the time you walk into a real estate office or [...]

Q: Should I buy a house now?
A: NO!
Q: Why?
A: Because you should never buy a house when you are not sure that is what you want to do, and you should never let someone else make that decision for you.  Don’t EVER give anyone that much power over your life.
As part of our exuberant expectation [...]