It’s the witching month once again, and as Halloween approaches, now’s the time to tell tales of ghosts, goblins, and ghouls. But some scary stories aren’t fake — and real estate professionals have some of the creepiest real-life anecdotes.

Anything can happen when you’re out in the field, and we’ve heard horrifying tales of vacant properties where “someone’s home,” ghostly figures in listing photos, and ghastly encounters during home tours.

  • I had a first-time home buyer with a limited budget, and we found a small Cape Cod that was completely redone from top to bottom and being offered at an incredible price. This home showed like brand-new: new drywall, doors, windows, roof, carpeting, kitchen, and baths. My clients were so excited as…

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2022 Study: More Than Half of Buyers Would Purchase a Haunted Home in a Competitive Market October 10, 2022 by Jaime Dunaway-Seale

As Americans spend less time at home in 2022, fewer people believe they’ve lived in a haunted house. Among those who have not shared a house with ghosts, however, two-thirds (67%) believe it’s possible for a home to be haunted.

Read on to discover how Americans’ beliefs in the supernatural have changed and how that affects their home-buying preferences in a still-competitive market.

REAL HAUNTED HOUSE STATISTICS

  •          About one-fourth of Americans (24%) believe they’ve lived in a real haunted house, down from the 44% who said the same in 2021, when they spent more time at home during the…

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Weekly Review
Newsletter - 10/24/2022

Week of October 17, 2022 in Review

Home sales and construction slowed in September while recession signals are flashing from the manufacturing sector. Don’t miss these stories:

  • What Housing Supply and Demand Dynamics Mean for Prices
  • Construction of Single-Family Homes Continues to Decline
  • Builder Confidence Falls for Tenth Straight Month
  • Jobless Claims Remain Volatile
  • More Economic Slowdown Signals

What Housing Supply and Demand Dynamics Mean for Prices

Existing Home Sales fell 1.5% from August to September to a 4.71 million unit annualized pace, per the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Sales were also down 23.8% when compared to September of last year. This is a critical…

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Led by Sammamish at No. 12, five towns in the Seattle metro area ranked among the top 100 Best Small Cities in America, according to a recent analysis by WalletHub.

WalletHub compared more than 1,300 cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 across five metrics, including affordability, economic health, education and health, quality of life and safety. The cities were also compared across 43 livability indicators, including housing costs, quality of school systems and number of restaurants per capita. 

Sammamish was No. 12 overall among the 1,300 cities measured, finishing 30th for safety, 75th for education and health, 89th for economic health and 183rd for affordability. 

Redmond was No. 21 on the list, boosted by its ranking…

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Weekly Review
Newsletter - 10/17/2022

Week of October 10, 2022 in Review

Inflation was hotter than anticipated in September while initial unemployment claims are trending higher. Here are the key details:

  • Consumer Inflation Remains Hot But Is Hope Ahead?
  • Producer Inflation Also Higher Than Expectations
  • Fed Minutes Convey Hawkish Tone
  • Initial Jobless Claims Rise for Second Consecutive Week

Consumer Inflation Remains Hot But Is Hope Ahead?

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation on the consumer level, showed that inflation increased by 0.4% in September, double the amount economists expected. On an annual basis, inflation declined from 8.3% to 8.2%, though this was also above estimates.

The real story here…

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By: Melissa Dittmann Tracey

Find out what designers say, and consumer surveys show are becoming tiresome trends in the home.

 

Every year, there are new and evolving home design fads that should “scare” you to death. Last year, there were moss-covered accent walls (gasp!), acrylic furniture (shriek!) and Tuscan-style kitchens (yelp!). This year, it’s the “cloffice”—a pandemic-era closet-turned-office—and many others. With Halloween around the corner, Styled Staged & Sold presents its annual countdown of the top 10 home trends of 2022 that are haunting our nightmares.

10. The classic farmhouse look

Many designers have called for the modern farmhouse trend to be put out to…

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The only thing scarier than paying too high of a commission to sell your home… Is realizing that you don’t have too while getting even MORE service and support than most brokerages offer at a higher fee!

The Cascade Team Agents are Full Service. We are a real estate company like no other, because of the tools, service and savings we provide our clients with. We understand that in today’s fast paced environment, we need to provide a high level of service, utilize technology to keep our clients up to date at all times and provide added value to both buyers and sellers in the transaction. By leveraging these technological tools, it allows our agents to focus more of their time to servicing our clients, and also provide the most comprehensive…

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Weekly Review
Newsletter - 10/11/2022

Week of October 3, 2022 in Review

There were some mixed messages from the labor sector while annual home price appreciation is slowing but still significant. Here are last week’s key stories:

  • The Real Scoop on September’s Job Gains
  • Private Payrolls Showed Job Growth Picked Up in September
  • Labor Market Starting to Show Signs of Pressure
  • Annual Home Price Appreciation Slowing But Still Significant
  • OPEC+ Announced Deep Cut in Oil Production

The Real Scoop on September’s Job Gains

 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that there were 263,000 jobs created in September. This was just above expectations of 250,000 new jobs, but it was the smallest monthly gain in the last…

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I personally would say “Hell No” to this rate. Up or down a fraction of a percentage please before I locked this one in!

The rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 6.66% this week, down from 6.70% one week ago, mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac reported on Thursday. Last year at this time, the typical rate was 2.99%.

The interest rate on the most popular home loan in America has fallen for the first time in seven weeks, ending a streak that pushed borrowing costs to their highest point since 2007.

Yet even with the decline, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is still more than double what it was last year.

 

Unfortunately for borrowers, this week’s dip was just a small step back after a headlong sprint forward.

Despite a…

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Looking for something a little “Extra” in your next home? Perhaps bats in the belfries, a strange thumping sounds in the walls, on voices from the basement? Well then you’re in luck… Just in time for Halloween The Cascade Team Real Estate presents our Haunted House Hunting Checklist!  

While some unexpected ghosts may come with a house, most of the surveyed consumers agree on one thing: They prefer to live in a home that is ghost-free. They’re much more willing to live next to a haunted house, though. Nearly 43% of respondents were willing to live next to a house they believed is haunted.

Thirty-seven percent of respondents say they had a feeling the home they wanted to buy was haunted, but they decided to move in anyway, the survey showed.…

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