House hunting is fraught with frustration and challenges. Keep these quotes in mind to keep you sane.

Wildly competitive open houses, sky-high prices, and ever-escalating offers: there is a terrible lot to contend with when finding a new place to live.

But there’s also no other process that deserves your time and attention, like discovering a new place to call your own. Here are seven quotes that will help keep you sane during the emotional marathon that is the home search.

 “Home is the nicest word there is.” — Laura Ingalls Wilder Looking for a new home is a lot of work, but it’s important to remember that, ultimately, this needs to be a place that makes you happy.

“It is not the beauty of a building you should look at; it’s the…

912 Views, 0 Comments

For a certain number of months last year, lumber had skyrocketed. Primarily from lack of supply resulting in a huge shortage in lumber, evan home projects impacted. While people worked from home at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, people found themselves doing home projects more. This resulted in an even larger impact on lumber supply and prices. Insider mentions just how much lumber was in 2021:

 

In 2021, lumber prices soared as much as 142% to a record high of $1,733 per thousand board feet due to strong demand for the essential building material and supply chain disruptions related to the pandemic, wild fires, and flooding in Canadian timberlands. Lumber prices eventually cooled off considerably, falling as much as 75% to just $452…

900 Views, 0 Comments

 

As a homebuyer in today’s market, you’re no doubt at your wit’s end trying to find your dream home. And when you find a home you love,  you’re competing with all-cash offers and bidding wars, driving the sales price above what it’s listed for, and many times, even above what the home is actually worth! While there is nothing you can do to create more homes for sale, you can certainly arm yourself by understanding the trends and patterns in the areas you’re trying to buy in. While it’s not quite rocket science, there is definitely a significant competitive advantage to those who understand the real estate market trends. Sometimes, being competitive means not looking in the most competitive price ranges in the most competitive markets.

 

695 Views, 0 Comments

 

“That’s just not normal. That’s not a balanced market,” “It really is a crisis of housing inventory in our area,”

Those are just some of the adjectives being thrown about concerning the local Western Washington housing market.

Just two weeks ago we predicted that January would be a competitive month as buyers rush to find a home before mortgage rates climb—and that's exactly what we're seeing.

A quick search on Redfin shows many examples. This Kirkland home sold for $500,000 over asking. This house in Bellevue, listed at $1.5 million, sold for $2.4 million— about $900,000 over asking price.

By Deedee Sun, KIRO 7 News

 

SEATTLE — A wild housing market is forcing many Seattle-area home buyers to pay $300,000 to $500,000 over…

665 Views, 0 Comments

 

Buyers Pour into the Housing Market Amidst Rising Mortgage Rates 

 Just two weeks ago, we predicted that January would be a competitive month as buyers rush to find a home before mortgage rates climb—and that's exactly what we're seeing.

Prices surged last week 16% over 2021, kicking off what could be the most competitive month in housing history.

Projections are homes listed by March, and closing in April will see the maximum number of bidding wars and escalating prices.

According to NWMLS, despite historically low inventory levels, home sales in the Central Puget Sound region increased to levels not seen since 2006, with Pierce and Kitsap counties seeing the most sales ever. Mortgage rates were historically low, and the ongoing…

603 Views, 0 Comments

 

Attention: City of Monroe Residents

There will be a North Hill Area Design Workshop on Wednesday Jan 26th 2022

 

Facebook has a great Web Page called City of Monroe, Wa. There you find recent and past updates on what is happening in Monroe. For example, they recently posted about the North Hill Area Design Workshop. The City of Monroe is welcoming all residents to participate in the design workshop for the North Hill Area Neighborhood Park. The location is at the southwest corner of 134th St SE and 191st Ave SE.

 

Just last year, the City of Monroe had purchased five acres of land to develop a park to serve the surrounding neighborhoods. "This collaborative, online event will include an overview of the existing site conditions and help…

606 Views, 0 Comments

  • Year-over-year inventory, pending sales, and closed sales all fell by double digits. Only prices rose – up 17.4% overall!
  •          We will experience strong demand and very active home sales in 2022
  •          Available inventory “Drastically low.”
  •          Smart buyers are making their best offers using pre-inspections, family support, bridge loans, leveraging 401(k) accounts, and other resources

KIRKLAND, Washington (January 6, 2022) – Severe shortages of inventory, record-low temperatures and snow restrained December housing activity around Washington state beyond expected seasonal slowdowns, according to a new report from Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Summary statistics from the MLS show the volume of new listings added…

479 Views, 0 Comments

With very little inventory in the market right now, why bother thinking about what the seller would need to do to make sure they are attracting buyers. 

 

Wrong!!

 

With Spring just around the corner, more homes will be coming on the market, and you want your house to stand out. The very first thing a buyer sees is the overall CURB APPEAL. "These two words that matter more than any others when you're listing a home," says Apartment Therapy.

 

It's very important to make sure that a buyer walks up and into your house and instantly gets a great impression. A buyer's first impression sets a huge tone for the buyer's overall experience. 

 

In a blog that I wrote last June, I expressed the importance of Curb Appeal (How beneficial…

759 Views, 0 Comments

 

When we think about buying a home, we often consider style, size and of course, location, etc. But what about the loan that you receive for your new home? How important is a mortgage rate? Money best explains just how important a mortgage rate is when buying a home. They explain that the rate on your mortgage can make a huge difference in how much home you can afford and what the size of your monthly payments will be during the life of the loan.

Money gives a great example to help consumers understand the price differences: 

If you bought a $250,000 home and made a 20% down payment — $50,000 — you would end up with a starting loan balance of $200,000. On a $200,000 home loan with a fixed rate for 30 years:

  • At 3% interest rate…

951 Views, 0 Comments