There’s no doubt that the gloomy, dark, wet weather has returned to Seattle. While everyone around Seattle retreats into the warm confines of their living rooms and local coffee shops, I’d like to offer a bit of contrarian advice for the house-shoppers out there. Seize the winter. Winter is hands down the best time to…
Category: Features
Reader Question: No Debt & An Impending Raise – Time to Jump In?
Here’s a question I received from a reader over the weekend: I have $50k in the bank, no debt, make 50k per year and am confident in a position that will pay 75k per year starting 06/10. Let’s assume that if the position doesn’t happen, I will take a second job to make up the…
Rent vs. Buy Comparisons: Have the excesses been removed?
Let’s try another rent vs. buy exercise to see if “all the excesses have already been removed” as some have claimed. Rather than delve into depth on a specific randomly-selected Seattle-area neighborhood, let’s instead look at what a specific type of house might cost you in multiple Seattle-area neighborhoods to rent vs. how much it…
The Mythical Teeming Hordes of “Pent-Up Buyers”
We’ve been hearing a lot of speculation recently that goes something along these lines: There is basically this enormous teeming horde of potential home buyers out there lurking on the sidelines for no good reason. All we need to do is come up with the right concoction of incentives to get these pent-up buyers off…
What’s Behind Rising FHA Defaults?
Note from The Tim: Jillayne Schlicke has been a valued member of the Seattle Bubble community for quite some time, and I’m happy to welcome her as a guest poster. Jillayne has many years experience in the lending industry and offers some great insights. She currently provides continuing education for real estate professionals through her…