If you want to share some thoughts with me, feel free to drop me a line directly via the contact form, or if you feel the need for the whole world to see your thoughts, we can have a public conversation on Twitter.

I’m also working on updating my data, and will work on posting new updates here at least once a week. The market is still pretty crappy for homebuyers, but things are at least sort of changing a little bit in the last few weeks.

The post Cleaning House, Working on Updates appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

The post Seattle Bubble and The Tim are not dead, just in hibernation. appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

I have a limited number of free passes to an early screening of the upcoming movie “The Big Short,” and I’d like to invite some Seattle Bubble readers to join me. The movie doesn’t hit theaters until December 23, but this screening is at 4:00 PM next Monday, November 23rd in downtown Seattle.

If you’d like to join me, just leave a comment on this post. Be sure to use your real email address in the comment form so I can contact you with the details. Don’t worry, only I can see the email you enter, it is not public. If we get more comments than the number of tickets I have available, I’ll randomly select from among everyone who comments before noon on Saturday.

Here’s the synopsis of the movie:

When four outsiders saw what the big banks, media and government refused to, the global collapse of the economy, they had an idea: The Big Short. Their bold investment leads them into the dark underbelly of modern banking where they must question everyone and everything. Based on the true story and best-selling book by Michael Lewis (The Blind Side, Moneyball), and directed by Adam Mckay (ANCHORMAN, STEP BROTHERS) THE BIG SHORT stars Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt.

If you can’t make the screening, and you don’t want to wait for the movie, you can pick up the book right now: The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

Please only comment below if you are interested and able to attend the showing at 4PM on Monday.

The post Join Tim for a Free Early Screening of “The Big Short” appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

It’s been almost two years since we’ve done any sort of fundraising on here, and rather than just asking for donations this time around, I decided to put together a membership program with some perks for those who choose to support this site with a modest contribution.

Here’s how it works. Using the form at right (or the same form on the membership page), you can become a Seattle Bubble member for just $5 a month or $50 a year. For your membership, you’ll get a variety of benefits including spreadsheet access, members-only forums, and access to a private group video chat. For a full list of perks, head over to the membership page.

I’ve modeled this program after a similar program at Gimlet Media, a startup podcast network I admire that produces great shows.

Please consider becoming a member to support my ongoing efforts to provide the Seattle area with a quality, unbiased source for in-depth local news about real estate and the economy.

In addition to the membership program, here are a few other ways you can show your support.

• One-Time Contribution – Tips are always welcome. You can use the PayPal or your credit card to make a one-time contribution to Seattle Bubble here.
• Hire Tim to Speak at Your Event – Tim is available for speaking engagements, expert testimony, and other events.
• Advertise your business on Seattle Bubble – If you have a local business, advertising on Seattle Bubble is a great way to reach an engaged and active audience.

As always, thanks for your ongoing support and comments.

The post Support Seattle Bubble by Becoming a Member appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

With visits and comments here heating up as the market rises further and further into new bubble territory, I decided it was time to put in the work to bring our old forums back from the grave.

To get to the new forums just click the “Forum” link at the top of the page.

Although I have migrated everything over to an entirely new platform, all of the old 2007-2013 content is still there. If you created an account on the old forum you should still have an account on the new forum. If you don’t have an account, creating one is free and easy. All you have to do is verify your email address (your email will not be visible to other users).

With these new forums fully integrated into the site we’ll be able to host a much broader range of discussions between visitors. You also get often-requested features like an “ignore user” function as well as private user-to-user messaging.

This post will be closed to comments on the blog. If you have a comment about the forums, take ten seconds to register an account over there and leave your comment in the forums themselves. If you have trouble creating an account, drop me a line directly.

I will also be ending the weekly “open thread” since the forums are one giant 24/7 open thread.

Head over to the all-new Seattle Bubble Forums and join the conversation now.

The post (Re) Introducing the Seattle Bubble Forums appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

To make that content easier to find, I’ve added a page called Useful Reference Posts, where I’ve gathered all of the most useful content published on Seattle Bubble over the years. This new page has its own dedicated button on the top of the site: “Reference.”

I’ll be updating the page with new content as it’s written, and I’ll most likely be adding old content that I’ve forgotten in this first pass. If you have any favorite reference posts that I’ve forgotten, drop a line in the comments below. I’m also not in love with the name, so if you can think of something better than “Useful Reference Posts,” I’ll be more than happy to change it.

The post How to Find Seattle Bubble’s Best Material appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Find us on the Best of Western WashingtonSeattle Bubble

It’s that time of the year again. If you follow other local news sites and personalities, you may have seen some of them campaigning for votes in KING5’s annual Best of Western Washington, an online contest in which the public votes on “the best” local businesses, personalities, and websites.

Last year I submitted Seattle Bubble to this event, even though they don’t really have a category that’s an exact match. The closest category is “Best Neighborhood Blog.” If you’ve got a minute, I’d appreciate a vote or two.

Click the yellow button above to head over to their site and vote for Seattle Bubble. Thanks!

The post Vote For Us in KING5’s “Best of Western Washington” appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

You can Follow/Like/Circle/Flick us below.

If you’re still using RSS (as I am), you can also subscribe to our RSS feed, as well. Or if email is more your style, you can sign up for our daily email update and get Seattle Bubble delivered to your inbox.

Basically there’s no excuse not to stay up to date on everything that is posted here.

The post The Many Ways to Connect with Seattle Bubble appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

18 June, 1953~10 October, 2013

David, a loving husband, father, uncle and brother, passed from this world peacefully last Thursday, October 10th, after a valiant battle against colon cancer.

David was born in the Maxwell AFB Hospital, Montgomery, AL, on June 18, 1953, to Marion Jean Slizeski Losh and John Harvey Losh, DMD, as his father was serving his country during the Korean War.

Dave grew up in the Blue Ridge Community of Seattle, attending Christ the King and Blanchet High Schools. Although he attended some college classes, Dave was drawn to the Real Estate and Property Maintenance business from a very early age as he joined his elder brother in a house painting enterprise while still in high school. Dave eventually became a successful licensed Real Estate Broker and the co-founder of Seattle House Cleaning Company, in North Seattle. – See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?n=david-allen-losh&pid=167636904&fhid=23423#sthash.X3pnO3M5.dpuf

David had left over 7,700 comments on Seattle Bubble between 2006 and 2013, making him easily one of the top five most prolific commenters in this site’s eight year history.

Another longtime commenter here, Ira Sacharoff, put it well:

I met David in person at a couple of Seattle Bubble meetups, and was glad to meet him in person. Some people are completely different online and in person, and David was one of them. Online, he didn’t always make sense. But in person he was coherent, friendly, and funny. I always enjoyed reading his stuff here. I didn’t always agree with what he wrote, but I think he added greatly to the entertainment value of Seattle Bubble, and I’ll miss him.

RIP David.

The post RIP: Longtime Seattle Bubble Commenter David Losh appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

PayPal

$25 Tip: $25.00$10 Tip: $10.00$50 Tip: $50.00$100 Tip: $100.00$250 Tip: $250.00$500 Tip: $500.00$1,000 Tip: $1,000.00

Direct Financial Contribution

Tips are always welcome. You can use the PayPal form at right or use your credit card on our fancy new tips page here.

Hire Tim to Speak at Your Event

Tim is available for speaking engagements, expert testimony, and other events. To learn more and contact me about coming to speak at your event, visit the new speaking page.

Advertise your business on Seattle Bubble

If you have a local business, advertising on Seattle Bubble is a great way to reach an engaged and active audience. If you’re interested in advertising, contact me here.

As always, thank you for your ongoing support. The last eight years have been great thanks to you.

The post Enjoy Seattle Bubble? Here’s How You Can Support Us appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Find us on the Best of Western WashingtonSeattle Bubble

If you follow other local news sources, you may be aware that KING5 runs an annual online event called the Best of Western Washington, in which the public can vote on “the best” local businesses, personalities, and websites.

I finally decided to submit Seattle Bubble to this event, even though they don’t really have a category that’s an exact match. The closest category is “best neighborhood blog,” in which we obviously have no hope of winning against the local powerhouse that is West Seattle Blog, but if you’ve got a minute, I still would appreciate a vote or two.

Click the yellow button above to head over to their site and vote for Seattle Bubble. Thanks!

The post Seattle Bubble on KING 5 “Best of Western Washington” appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

To read all the details and leave comments on the news, click the link below:

Announcing Seattle Bubble: The Brokerage

The post A Big Announcement From Seattle Bubble appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Regular posting should resume tomorrow!

The post Sick Day appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

In case you aren’t aware, this site is run by one individual (yours truly, Tim Ellis) in my spare time. I pay for the domain and the hosting, and dedicate an average of an hour or two a day to bringing you fresh, relevant content about the Seattle-area real estate market.

It’s become quite popular recently for content creators like myself to run a Kickstarter campaign to get reader support. However, since I don’t have any t-shirts or signed prints to give you, just daily insights and analysis on the Seattle-area housing market, I’ve decided to just stick to a simple digital tip jar. If you enjoy this site and/or have found it to be useful, please consider dropping me a little monetary token of your appreciation via the Google Wallet or PayPal buttons below.

Google Wallet

$25.00 – Tip$10.00 – Tip$50.00 – Tip$100.00 – Tip$250.00 – Tip$500.00 – Tip$1,000.00 – Tip

PayPal

$25 Tip: $25.00$10 Tip: $10.00$50 Tip: $50.00$100 Tip: $100.00$250 Tip: $250.00$500 Tip: $500.00$1,000 Tip: $1,000.00

Thank you in advance for your generosity, and thank you for your participation in this site, which helps to make it by far the largest and most active local real estate news resource in the Seattle area!

The post Enjoy Seattle Bubble? Support this Site! appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

The post Happy Independence Day appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

What does this mean for you, the reader?

• Better/faster coverage of relevant stories from the Seattle Times
• More readers, commenters contributing to the conversation here
• Possible future collaborations with Seattle Times & other partners

Note that there is no money changing hands here, nor any sort of ownership change. Seattle Bubble is still a wholly independent operation, written, edited, published, and overseen by yours truly. The News Partner Network is just a way for the Seattle Times and local independent news sites and blogs to mutually benefit from the different resources provided by each.

Here’s the official announcement over at the Seattle Times: Seattle Times announces more local news partners

The post Seattle Bubble Partners with The Seattle Times appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

In case you aren’t aware, this site is run by one individual (yours truly, Tim Ellis) in my spare time. I pay for the domain and the hosting, and dedicate an average of an hour or two a day to bringing you fresh, relevant content about the Seattle-area real estate market.

If you enjoy this site and/or have found it to be useful, please consider dropping me a little monetary token of your appreciation. I have provided convenient Google Checkout (my preferred method) and PayPal buttons below for this purpose.

Google Checkout

$10.00 – Tip$25.00 – Tip$50.00 – Tip$100.00 – Tip$250.00 – Tip$500.00 – Tip$1,000.00 – Tip

PayPal

$10 Tip: $10.00$25 Tip: $25.00$50 Tip: $50.00$100 Tip: $100.00$250 Tip: $250.00$500 Tip: $500.00$1,000 Tip: $1,000.00

Thank you in advance for your generosity, and thanks for participating in this site and helping to make it by far the largest and most active local real estate news resource in the Seattle area!

The post Enjoy Seattle Bubble? Support this Site! appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

You can download a free single-page summary of this quarter’s report, or head over to the free archive to check out last year’s Q2 report in full.

Here’s the latest look at the affordability and heat indices for the four counties closest to Seattle:

Both affordability and the heat index ticked up for the inner counties in the second quarter, as seasonal increases in home prices were offset by another plunge in interest rates.

I’ve been publishing Sound Housing Quarterly for three years now, and while it has certainly been satisfying, it is a lot of work to do in addition to the content that I create daily here on Seattle Bubble. Lately the number of subscribers to Sound Housing Quarterly has been dwindling, so it seems like a good time to ask for your help.

If you could take a little time to download the latest issue in the Free Archive, have a look through it, and give me some specific feedback and constructive criticism here in the comments (or by email, if you prefer), I would really appreciate it. Here are some of the questions I’m trying to answer:

• Is the existing content compelling?
• What additional content do you feel is missing?
• Are there other topics that should be covered?
• What content could/should be dropped?
• Would you subscribe to it at any price?
  • If so, what price?
• Who would be likely to subscribe?
  • How would you make them aware of it?

Of course, if you like what I’m doing here on Seattle Bubble, purchasing a subscription to Sound Housing Quarterly is a great way to help support my work here. However, even if you don’t want to subscribe, you can help me out by giving me a little bit of your time to help make it a more attractive product that others will want to subscribe to.

Thanks in advance.

The post Help Me Improve Sound Housing Quarterly appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

If you don’t have the time or motivation to visit the site every day, that’s okay. There are other ways for you to get your daily Seattle Bubble fix. You’ve got the RSS feed for blog posts as well as an RSS feed of just the comments.

If you prefer your inbox to an RSS reader, try the daily email updates on for size.

On the other end of the spectrum, you can get instant updates with every blog post as well as all the random local real estate news I find elsewhere online if you follow Seattle Bubble on Twitter.

My favorite overlooked feature is the Seattle Bubble Flickr group, which anyone can join and contribute to. Photos added to the pool appear on the sidebar of the Seattle Bubble front page. The photo at right is one I added to demonstrate one reason for my hatred of split entry homes.

Lastly, don’t forget about the forums. I sometimes get a bit behind on approving new members, so if you sign up and haven’t gotten approved, just drop me an email.

I’m always interested in cool new features, so if you’ve got any ideas for additional stuff, let me know!

(P.S. – I still have a Facebook page for Seattle Bubble, but haven’t really done anything with it. I also have been playing with Google+ for my personal use and have had a few people say I should put Seattle Bubble on there somehow. If you know how that might work or have ideas that would be cool with Google+, drop me a line and I’ll see what I can do.)

The post Don’t forget the other ways to connect to Seattle Bubble! appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

For now though. I’ve got to shut down my Wi-Fi hotspot and get on a plane.  See you tomorrow.

The post Missing Post: Tim In L.A. Edition appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

This month’s report sports 49 pages packed with unique housing market insights you won’t find anywhere else. Far from being a rehash of the material posted here on the blog, Sound Housing Quarterly is a unique collection of charts, tables, data, analysis, and predictions that I compile every quarter specifically for this project. Here are a couple of highlights from the first quarter issue.

The Real Estate Heat Index (a proprietary index I created that uses supply, demand, and home prices to calculate the general “heat” of the housing market) dipped a bit in Q1 in all eight of the Puget Sound Counties I track. Here’s a look at King, Snohomish, Pierce, and Kitsap:

Meanwhile, affordability rose everywhere but Kitsap and Island, thanks to the continued decline in median home prices, as well as still-ridiculously-low mortgage interest rates:

The full version of Sound Housing Quarterly includes detailed data and analysis for King, Snohomish, Pierce, Kitsap, Thurston, Island, Skagit, and Whatcom counties.

Head over to HousingQuarterly.com to subscribe to Sound Housing Quarterly. You can also download a free single-page summary of this quarter’s report, or drop by the free archive to check out the 2008 Q3 through 2010 Q1 reports in full at no charge.

The post Hungry for More Data? Try Sound Housing Quarterly appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

This month’s report sports 51 pages packed with unique housing market insights you won’t find anywhere else. Far from being a rehash of the material posted on the blog, Sound Housing Quarterly is a unique collection of charts, tables, data, analysis, and predictions that I compile every quarter just for this project. Here are a couple of highlights from the fourth quarter issue.

The Real Estate Heat Index (a proprietary index I created that uses supply, demand, and home prices to calculate the general “heat” of the housing market) inched up slightly in Q4 in all eight of the Puget Sound Counties I track. Here’s a look at King, Snohomish, Pierce, and Kitsap:

Meanwhile, affordability rose slightly everywhere but Kitsap and Island, thanks to slight drops in median home prices, but mostly thanks to a continued decrease in mortgage interest rates:

The full version of Sound Housing Quarterly includes detailed data and analysis for King, Snohomish, Pierce, Kitsap, Thurston, Island, Skagit, and Whatcom counties.

Head over to HousingQuarterly.com to subscribe to Sound Housing Quarterly. You can also download a free single-page summary of this quarter’s report, or drop by the free archive to check out the 2008 Q3 through 2009 Q4 reports in full at no charge.

The post Sound Housing Quarterly: Exclusive, Unique Insights appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

This month’s report is 48 pages long, and took me the better part of a week to put together, despite having most of the source data already at my fingertips. Here are a couple of highlights from the third quarter issue.

The Real Estate Heat Index (a proprietary index I created that uses supply, demand, and home prices to calculate the general “heat” of the housing market) dropped back down in Q3 in all eight of the Puget Sound Counties I track. Here’s a look at King, Snohomish, Pierce, and Kitsap:

Meanwhile, affordability rose slightly everywhere but Kitsap and Island, thanks to slight drops in median home prices, but mostly thanks to a continued decrease in mortgage interest rates:

The full version of Sound Housing Quarterly includes detailed data and analysis for King, Snohomish, Pierce, Kitsap, Thurston, Island, Skagit, and Whatcom counties.

Head over to HousingQuarterly.com to subscribe to Sound Housing Quarterly. You can also download a free single-page summary of this quarter’s report, or drop by the free archive to check out the 2008 Q3 through 2009 Q3 reports in full at no charge.

The post Puget Sound Housing Market Entered Deep Freeze in Q3 appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Here are a couple of highlights from the second quarter issue.

The Real Estate Heat Index (a proprietary index I created that uses supply, demand, and home prices to calculate the general “heat” of the housing market) bumped up in Q2 in all eight of the Puget Sound Counties I track. Here’s a look at King, Snohomish, Pierce, and Kitsap:

Meanwhile, affordability reversed course, falling in all eight counties, thanks to slight increases in median home prices.

The full version of Sound Housing Quarterly includes detailed data and analysis for King, Snohomish, Pierce, Kitsap, Thurston, Island, Skagit, and Whatcom counties.

Head over to HousingQuarterly.com to subscribe to Sound Housing Quarterly. You can also download a free single-page summary of this quarter’s report, or drop by the free archive to check out the 2008 Q3 through 2009 Q2 reports in full at no charge.

The post Housing Market Heated Up in Q2, Affordability Fell appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

First up, there’s the RSS feed for blog posts. Also, although only a few people know about it (before now), you can subscribe to an RSS feed of just the comments.

Maybe you’re not into this crazy cutting-edge RSS stuff, but you still don’t want to come to the website every day? No problem, just sign up for our daily email updates.

If you’d like to receive little local real estate news tidbits throughout the week, as well as notifications when new content is posted to the blog, follow Seattle Bubble on Twitter.

If you’re handy with a camera, or just like looking at random local real estate pics, join our Flickr group and contribute to our group pool (which is where I got the photo at left from).

Lastly, don’t forget about the forums. Open threads are great and all, but sometimes you might want have a conversation on a more specific topic without all the noise. The forums are the place for that.

If all these added features aren’t good enough for you, and there is still something more that you find yourself longing for, let me know. I’m not making any promises, but I’m always interested in hearing cool new ideas. Thanks!

(P.S. – I also created a Facebook page for Seattle Bubble a while back that a handful of people have found, but since I’m not a Facebook junkie I honestly don’t really know what the point is of having a Facebook page for a website. If that’s something you have any input on, I’d be glad to hear it.)

The post Get Connected to Seattle Bubble Extras appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

No, I didn’t break down and become a real estate agent (but don’t think I haven’t thought about that in the past). Last Thursday, yours truly started a brand new position as Product Manager: Statistics, Trends, and Expansion at Redfin.

[Update: As of January 2012, my new job title is Real Estate Analyst.]

It’s a perfect fit for me, and I’m really excited to be doing things that I love with a company that I have really respected ever since they first came on the scene six years ago.

So what does this mean for Seattle Bubble? Not much, really. I will still continue to update this site as usual, posting all the same data, analysis, and wry commentary you’ve come to expect.

Since I’m strictly forbidden from using any “insider information” for anything other than directly work-related tasks, the content here won’t be affected at all. It is also important to note that just like before, the opinions and commentary expressed here are 100% my own. Nothing I say here is endorsed (or even necessarily condoned) by Redfin, nor will I be providing Redfin with any promotional consideration beyond what they have already had in the past just for providing awesome tools and services.

Probably the biggest change you might notice on these pages going forward is that posts are likely to be more consistently scheduled, with new content here most mornings by 9:00 AM. Since I’m back on someone else’s payroll full time, I’ll be forced to maintain more discipline about my posting schedule here.

So, there’s my big news. Feel free to post any questions in the comments.

The post Some Noteworthy Personal News… appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Here are a couple of highlights from the first quarter issue.

The Real Estate Heat Index (a proprietary index I created that uses supply, demand, and home prices to calculate the general “heat” of the housing market) dropped in Q1 in all eight of the Puget Sound Counties I track. Here’s a look at King, Snohomish, Pierce, and Kitsap:

Meanwhile, affordability increased again in all eight counties, thanks to the continued decline in median home prices and still-absurdly-low interest rates.

The full version of Sound Housing Quarterly includes detailed data and analysis for King, Snohomish, Pierce, Kitsap, Thurston, Island, Skagit, and Whatcom counties.

Head over to HousingQuarterly.com to subscribe to Sound Housing Quarterly. You can also download a free single-page summary of this quarter’s report, or drop by the free archive to check out the 2008 Q3 through 2009 Q1 reports in full at no charge.

The post Real Estate Heat Index Fell Across Puget Sound in Q1 appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

With this latest release we have made a few notable changes. First and probably most interesting to the readers here is a new lower price. Now you can subscribe for a full year for just $60, or purchase a single issue for $20. Second, beginning with this issue we are now also covering Whatcom County. The real estate statistics covered in Sound Housing Quarterly now include 65% of Washington State by population.

Here are a couple of highlights from the fourth quarter issue.

The Real Estate Heat Index (a proprietary index I created that uses supply, demand, and home prices to calculate the general “heat” of the housing market) rose in six of the eight Puget Sound Counties I track in the fourth quarter, declined in Thurston and was flat in Skagit. Here’s a look at King, Snohomish, Pierce, and Kitsap:

Meanwhile, affordability actually increased in all eight counties, thanks to median home prices continuing to decline from Q3. That said, after updating the affordability index with the OFM’s October 2009 income estimates, the recent trend line for affordability was adjusted lower. As a result, the latest reading still came in below pre-bubble levels in all eight counties.

The full version of Sound Housing Quarterly includes detailed data and analysis for King, Snohomish, Pierce, Kitsap, Thurston, Island, Skagit, and Whatcom counties.

Head over to HousingQuarterly.com to subscribe to Sound Housing Quarterly. You can also download a free single-page summary of this quarter’s report, or head over to the free archive to check out last year’s Q3 and Q4 reports in full at no charge.

The post Affordability Rose Despite Market Heat-Up in Q4 appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Types of things you could add include funky homes for sale (but don’t steal MLS listing photos), empty or stalled developments, lockbox benches, for sale sign forests, etc. Use your imagination and have fun.

I have added a widget to the sidebar on the front page just under the charts that will display the latest photos from the group pool, so that everyone can join in the fun right from the blog.

Here’s a photo I added to the group that was emailed to me by a reader.

Enjoy!

The post Seattle Bubble Flickr Group appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

The Real Estate Heat Index (a proprietary index I created that uses supply, demand, and home prices to calculate the general “heat” of the housing market) rose in all seven Puget Sound Counties in the third quarter, but still remains below pre-bubble levels.

Meanwhile, affordability dropped in every county but Snohomish, despite interest rates in the 5s.

The full version of Sound Housing Quarterly includes detailed data and analysis for King, Snohomish, Pierce, Kitsap, Thurston, Island, and Skagit counties.

Head over to HousingQuarterly.com to subscribe to Sound Housing Quarterly. You can also download a free single-page summary of this quarter’s report, or head over to the free archive to check out last year’s Q3 report in full.

The post Affordability Declined in Q3 as Housing Market Heated Up appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

As of last Wednesday, the latest edition of Sound Housing Quarterly has been published. As the name implies, Sound Housing Quarterly is journal of the Puget Sound residential real estate market, published four times a year.

Benefits of Sound Housing Quarterly:

• Broad geographic coverage (7 Puget Sound counties).
• Provides a concise picture of overall market conditions.
• Cleaner, more printable charts.
• All the recent data compiled in a single package.

If that sounds like something you or someone you know would benefit from, head over to the website at HousingQuarterly.com to download a free preview of the current issue and to learn more about what Sound Housing Quarterly is and how to subscribe or purchase a single issue.

Here’s a brief preview of the type of charts that are included in Sound Housing Quarterly:

If you are involved in the Puget Sound housing market as a home buyer, a home seller, a real estate agent, or a real estate investor—Sound Housing Quarterly is written with you in mind.

This 42-page publication provides an overview of a variety of factors affecting the Puget Sound housing market, as well as a detailed look at county-by-county conditions, and a forecast for where the market is headed in the coming months.

Please take a few minutes to check out Sound Housing Quarterly and consider subscribing. Thanks!

The post Support Seattle Bubble by Subscribing to Sound Housing Quarterly appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Hopefully things should be fully operational again by the end of Saturday with minimal disruption, but be aware that it may take some time for your internet provider’s DNS servers to update to the new site host.

Update: If you’re reading this update, then you are viewing the site on its new host. Everything should be up and running. Let me know if you experience any difficulties. Thanks!

The post Announcement: Site Migration This Weekend appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Benefits of Sound Housing Quarterly:

• Broad geographic coverage (7 Puget Sound counties).
• Provides a concise picture of overall market conditions.
• Cleaner, more printable charts.
• All the recent data compiled in a single package.

If that sounds like something you or someone you know would benefit from, head over to the website at HousingQuarterly.com to download a free preview of the current issue and to learn more about what Sound Housing Quarterly is and how to subscribe or purchase a single issue.

Here’s a brief preview of the type of charts that are included in Sound Housing Quarterly:

If you are involved in the Puget Sound housing market in any way, as a home buyer, a home seller, a real estate agent, or a real estate investor—Sound Housing Quarterly is written with you in mind.

This 40-page publication provides an overview of a variety of factors affecting the Puget Sound housing market, as well as a detailed look at county-by-county conditions, and a forecast for where the market is headed in the coming months.

I enjoy providing Seattle Bubble free of charge as a service to the community, but I recognize that the format here can sometimes be intimidating, making it difficult to get a good handle on the overall market picture without reading along every day. That’s why I created Sound Housing Quarterly. Please take a few minutes to check it out, and consider subscribing. Thanks!

The post Now Available: Sound Housing Quarterly 2009 Q1 appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Sound Housing Quarterly is a subscription-based journal of the Puget Sound residential real estate market. If you or someone you know would benefit from a view on the housing market that provides accessibility, broad geographic coverage, and all the latest information condensed into a single package, head over to the website at HousingQuarterly.com to download a free preview of the current issue and to learn more about what Sound Housing Quarterly is and how to subscribe.

If you are involved in the Puget Sound housing market in any way, as a home buyer, a home seller, a real estate agent, or a real estate investor—Sound Housing Quarterly is written with you in mind.

This 40-page publication provides an overview of the variety of factors affecting the Puget Sound housing market, as well as a detailed look at county-by-county conditions, and a look at where the market is headed in the coming months.

The post Q4 Issue of Sound Housing Quarterly Available Now appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Sound Housing Quarterly is a subscription-based journal of the Puget Sound residential real estate market. It was created for people who like the kind of analysis and insight offered on Seattle Bubble, but crave…

• …greater accessibility.
• …coverage of counties other than King.
• …less cluttered charts.
• …all the latest information in a single package.

Sound Housing Quarterly was created for anyone involved in the Puget Sound housing market in any way—as a home buyer, a home seller, or a real estate agent.

If this describes you, head over to the website at HousingQuarterly.com to download a free preview of the first edition and to learn more about what Sound Housing Quarterly is and how to subscribe.

If you have donated $25 or more to Seattle Bubble in the past few months and would like a complimentary copy, please contact me via email.

Feel free to leave feedback on this post about the journal or the project in general.

The post Announcing Sound Housing Quarterly, a Puget Sound Housing Journal appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Go to The Naked Loon. Right now.

The greater* Puget Sound region now has a new source for… um… news, yeah that’s it, “news.”

It’s The Naked Loon, and it’s the latest project to come out of the Thatch Mound Labs.

Here’s what some of our beta testers had to say about The Naked Loon:

“Almost Live” meets “The Onion.”
– Chuck

The Naked Loon is better than a kick in the pants! Oh wait, no… no, it’s not.
– Pete

The Naked Loon is the worst website in the world. I beg of you, don’t waste your time!
– J.R.

Libel. The Naked Loon is nothing but vicious, vicious libel. They will be hearing from my lawyers.
– Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels

Okay, I may have made one of those up.

But seriously, I’m pretty pleased with what I’ve created in The Naked Loon, and I think you’re really going to enjoy it. It’s a website you can tell your friends about without starting an argument about equity and home prices and all that rot.

For those of you with dirty, dirty minds, I would like to clarify something. Despite the promise alluded to in the site’s name, everything on The Naked Loon is 100% work-safe, and appropriate for general audiences. However, if you are behind a soulless corporate firewall that blocks sites just for having cool words like “naked” in the URL, we have a solution just for you: The [CENSORED] Loon. It’s the same site, just de-naked-ified.

Everybody loves parody, right? Except for humorless jerks. But really, who cares what they think? So anyway, go check out The Naked Loon. Your life may depend on it!

*(As in, greater than anywhere else.)

P.S. (This is not an April Fool’s joke. The Naked Loon is real, and it is awesome.)

The post Presenting The Naked Loon: Your New Favorite Website appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

• Where does The Tim find the time to do all this?
• Why are you adding advertising now, after two years of being ad-free?
• Also, why do I have this strange urge to spend all my evenings watching “Short Circuit”?

Well, I don’t think I can really help you with that last one (let’s try to stay on-topic), but hopefully this post will sufficiently address the first two.

Here’s the short version:
As of January 28th, Tim Ellis is self-employed, and Seattle Bubble is one part of the plan to make enough money to pay the bills.

Here’s the long version:
I’ve had a growing list of projects mulling about in my head, and although I enjoy electrical engineering and had nothing against my employer, I have always had a strong desire to be self-employed. Given my present financial situation of zero debt, low living expenses (including no rent, as my wife and I are caretakers on an unused property), no kids (yet), and enough liquid savings to last over two years with zero income, it is hard to imagine a better time in my life to chase this particular dream. So, upon returning from our big giant road trip, I put in the two week notice at work, and as of January 28th, I am now an employee of Me, Myself, and I, Inc.

Although Seattle Bubble is not the entirety of my plan to generate an income, it is an important element. What this means is that you’ll be seeing some advertising, but you’ll also be seeing more frequent updates, additional content, and a quicker responses to your questions and concerns. I intend to do my best to keep Seattle Bubble interesting and relevant, even as the housing market finally comes down from its recent ridiculous highs. In addition to the advertising, I’m considering a few other ways of making some money off of Seattle Bubble, including sales of stickers and/or t-shirts, some sort of premium content (over and above what is already being offered—nothing currently free would become for-pay), and of course there’s always the big DONATE link at the top.

But that’s not all…
Now you may be asking: “So, if Seattle Bubble isn’t the whole plan, how do you intend to make enough money to get by in Seattle?”

That’s a great question. To answer that, I’d like to direct you to my brand new blog: Thatch Mound. Thatch Mound is the “parent company” that I have created to serve as an umbrella over all of the projects I’ll be working on. In the blog I’ll be giving a first-hand account of my experiences as I build the business from the ground up. I hope you’ll find it interesting enough to visit regularly and see how things unfold.

So that’s what’s going on, that’s the big secret. As for the ads on Seattle Bubble, I realize that they’re probably poorly targeted, and they may be a bit annoying (though I’ve tried to avoid making them invasive), but hopefully they don’t detract from the quality content that we work hard to bring you here. If they really bother you a lot, I recommend using Firefox with the Adblock Plus add-on. Ta-da, ads gone.

I appreciate any financial support you care to send via the donate option, and for those of you that have already generously donated, thank you. I’ll set you up with some free t-shirts or subscription content when those things are added in the near future.

Now go visit Thatch Mound, and tell all your entrepreneurial-minded friends about it, too.

The post Time for an Announcement (or: What’s with the ads?) appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

If anyone would like discounted ($2 off Adult admission) Seattle Home Show coupons for weekday admission, please e-mail me with your contact information and I’ll get them in the mail to you. Show is from Feb 16-24. Weekday show hours: Monday 10am -8:30pm and Tues.-Friday from 11am -8:30pm.

Bonus: you all can get a t- shirt from Ray at the show. (teasing Ray, just teasing.)

The post Home Show discount coupons appeared first on Seattle Bubble.