Many articles, papers, and opinion pieces have been written about the detrimental effects that foreclosures can have on a neighborhood. For example, foreclosures in your neighborhood allegedly lower home values, increase crime, and make refinancing harder for homeowners who live nearby. While these studies and stories may be technically accurate, their focus is too narrow…
Tag: commentary
Dear Marketers: I Don’t Care About Your Press Release
Fair warning, this post doesn’t have anything to do with Seattle real estate, it’s just a random rant tangentially related to the work I do on this site. Dear marketers, Congratulations. You’ve located a popular, well-read site with frequently updated content and an engaged user base. Unfortunately, while you have demonstrated a basic proficiency in…
The Sex Offender Bogeyman
One of the primary goals of many home shoppers is finding a neighborhood that is safe. That makes sense. No one wants to live in constant fear of having their valuables stolen—or worse, being assaulted. However, there is one specific “safety” criteria that makes little sense to weigh heavily in one’s home search: Registered Sex…
There is no such thing as “a great time to buy.”
With home prices off a third or more around Seattle from their hyper-inflated housing bubble levels, interest rates still hovering in the sub-five-percent range, and numerous economic fundamentals indicating a market more balanced than it has been in nearly a decade, has the perennial claim of home salesmen come true? Is now, finally, “a great…
You Can’t Keep a Good Huckster Down
Someone forwarded me an interesting email yesterday. The spammy message apparently being sent to various mortgage brokers claims that “We’ll pay you for the clients you can’t do loans for.” Here’s some of the email copy (emphasis theirs): We coach people who are underwater in their homes. We don’t do loans, we don’t sell real…