As effective as government is at addressing most issues, it only makes sense that once the real estate market finally starts to slow down, that’s when they decide it’s a good time to try to do something about unaffordable housing. Gov. Chris Gregoire and top legislative leaders on Tuesday authorized a study of ways to…
Category: News
News, current events, etc.
Even Inman Acknowledges Seattle Slowdown
You know the signs of a slowdown in Seattle must be reaching critical mass when even Inman News is unable to ignore it. (Article becomes subscription-only after today.) Home sales in western Washington fell for the fifth straight month in July, as year-over-year prices continued their impressive double-digit growth, according to the latest report from…
Emotionally Attached
You want to know why the cost of homes has shot up so much in the last few years? I contend that it’s not primarily the result of economic forces, but psychological ones. It’s because of the seemingly unending supply of people with this kind of mindset: We haven’t actually lived in any of these…
Title Insurance: Kickbacks, Competition & Prices
Forward: “I have a keen interest of Ethics in Business, particularly real estate. A good portion of my comments, questions and posts are with this in mind. And, frequently, our office comes across ethical issues that we encounter or observe from clients, loan officers and Realtors that we work with everyday.” – Tim Kane (Blog…
Rents Climbing In 2006
It would appear that rents in the Seattle area really are going up, though still at nowhere near the same rate of alleged home appreciation. Snohomish County’s apartment market is feeling the squeeze, with the second-quarter vacancy rate dropping from 5.6 percent in the first quarter to 4.6 percent, according to apartment research firm Cain…