Author: S-Crow

Today, the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it reached yet another settlement with a large national lender and two large builders for violating the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act (RESPA). One of RESPA’s functions is to protect consumers by prohibiting kickbacks in real estate that artificially increase the premiums…

Rich Toscano, author and founder of Piggington’s Almanac for the Landed Poor, was interviewed by the LA Times in today’s piece. He is quoted on page 2 of the article. “We’ve built an entire economy on selling each other homes.” – Rich Toscano Please read the rules before posting a comment. Seattle Bubble Tip Jar

Snohomish Co. Residential sales only (only houses, no condo’s, no land)Source: NWMLS 2005:April 1283 (Median $283,250) May 1165 (Median $287,000) June 1473 (Median $295,000) 2006:April 1134 (Median $331,254) May 1133 (Median $339,950) June 1347 (Median $350,000) The rise in median prices are remarkable YOY & MOM and that’s with less sales and rising inventory in…

(May 2006 – that’s me removing old patio to prepare for above grade deck.) It’s Summer. Lot of projects are underway for many homeowners. For those considering homeownership, perhaps one of the strategies for buying a home is to consider a fixer. Sweat equity is one way to produce equity the old fashioned way. It…

First, I’d like to thank Tim Ellis for inviting me to discuss housing and escrow topics on this blog as a guest. Being that many readers of this blog want to demystify home ownership and aspire to become homeowners in a meaningful way, my hope is that our collective experience (wife and I) will be…