Author Archive

Based on recent changes in Washington law, you might be if you own real estate and either work on it yourself or hire others to work on it. Without great fanfare, the Washington legislature recently made subtle, yet significant, changes to Washington’s Contractor Registration laws (RCW 18.27 et seq.). Generally, the Contractor Registration laws... »

“In a market flooded with unsold listings, she says, a 3 percent co-op split “is always going to attract more attention than 2 percent. We call ‘getting eliminated at the office.” Full story here  Just another example of why the argument that fiduciary duties and buyer agency cannot co-exist based on the current method of compensation…and... »

There has been much discussion on RCG and other blogs regarding property blogs and seller’s right to privacy from bloggers who post “sometimes accurate/sometimes not” opinions about a listed home. As was recently shown by NWMLS’ fine against Redfin, an MLS may have legitimate rule authority to prevent a member from engaging... »

Recently, I wrote about new case law in Washington that was making it more difficult for buyers of real property to make post-closing claims against the seller for property condition related matters. The Washington legislature has just amended the state’s residential property condition disclosure law to put additional burdens on sellers and will... »

I have not posted in quite some time as I have been consumed with a move to a new firm.  As of three weeks ago, I am now Of Counsel to the law firm of Bullivant Houser Bailey.    In that period, a very significant case was decided that will greatly impact buyer/seller/broker relationships.  On March 1, 2007, the... »

In a comment to a post on Financing Contingencies, Reba baited Craig and I to write a post on the uncommon relationships between real estate agent and attorney.   She said, “Maybe it’s worth another blog post to discuss why some agents seem to feel that they are diametrically opposed to attorneys when it comes to... »

Last week, I did a presentation to the leadership group of a large local Realtor Association and MLS entitled “The Future of the Realtor Association and MLS”.  While sitting at the airport waiting for my flight, I read Inman’s blog post regarding the relevance of Realtors.  As I contemplated the responses and my recent... »