I’ve noticed an interesting trend when looking at weekly home price stats lately. Let’s see if you can spot it in these screenshots from Redfin’s region pages for Seattle, King County, Snohomish County, and Pierce County. Spotted the pattern yet? Here’s a not-so-subtle clue: Nearly every single region I have been looking at has shown…
REO Buyers: Beware of Multiple Offer Sudden Death
If you’ve been out there trying to buy a home lately anywhere outside of central Seattle, Kirkland, Bellevue, and Redmond, chances are pretty high that you’ve encountered more than a few bank-owned (REO) homes in your search. Many of the best deals out there today can be found in REOs, especially if the buyer is…
How Are High Condo HOA Fees Justified?
I received the following question about HOA fees and typical maintenance costs from a reader via email: Why are so many condo HOA fees are so high? Alternatively: are the maintenance costs of a small single-family home (SFH) much higher than most people assume, or is the monthly fee of a well-run HOA a great…
T-Mobile Sale to AT&T: Another Hit to Local Real Estate?
As you have no doubt read or heard by now, news broke yesterday that T-Mobile’s German parent company Deutsche Telecom will sell T-Mobile USA to AT&T for $39B. While I’m certainly not enthused about what this will mean for my cell phone bill and customer service, my bigger concern is all the well-paid jobs in…
Poll: Trying to buy a short sale today is mostly…
This poll was active 03.20.2011 through 03.26.2011.