Long-time readers may recall Deejayoh’s inaugural Seattle Bubble article from June 2007: Why Inventory Matters. In it, he postulated that the Seattle-area Case-Shiller Home Price Index could be relatively accurately predicted fourteen months in advance by looking at year-over-year house inventory on the MLS. Let’s extend Deejayoh’s analysis fourteen months into the future to see…
Category: Features
Bottom-Calling Week on Seattle Bubble
There’s been a lot of talk lately about whether or not the Seattle-area real estate market is “at bottom.” Before I go any further, I should point out that as a practical matter, I think that it doesn’t really matter where the absolute bottom is. As I have always said: If you find a home…
Finding a deal as a well-positioned homebuyer?
Time to consider another hypothetical housing market scenario, this time from a buyer’s side. Meet Sam and Tiffany. This late 20’s couple has been renting for the first five years of their married life. They have always had a nice reasonable rent that has allowed them quite a bit of discretionary income between their two…
How-To: Challenge Your Property Taxes
It’s been tough to post here and at Rain City Guide because of work and family obligations, but here is some helpful information about petitioning to reduce your property taxes: In escrow, now is the time we start seeing some (not all) 2009 property tax assessments show up in title reports when working on transactions. …
Sell at a loss, or refinance and wait it out?
Charts and graphs are all well and good, but once in a while it’s good to look at some of the more personal effects of the housing bubble. Today let’s take a look at a possible scenario that some hopeful home sellers today might be facing. Next Friday, we’ll turn our attention to home buyers….