redmond: Your House Is Crumbling Around You!
- 04/23/11 03:20 PM
That catchy title is better than saying you should think about deferred maintenance, but that's really the topic - the topic of maintaining your own home, and what it might cost you if you don't. It's a serious topic, but I'll try not to preach :-) We all know about condominium homeowners dues that have to be paid every month. We often don't think about the fact that their primary purpose is to pay for the ongoing maintenance of the property - depositing money regularly into a building maintenance fund. Typically those dues amount to about 1.5 % / year of … (2 comments)
redmond: The Sweet Spot
- 01/28/11 08:53 AM
People sometimes ask me what I think is 'the sweet spot' in today's Greater Seattle - Bellevue real estate market. In response I have usually mentioned some areas and criteria that might fit the question, but hadn't really thought it through. So here's a little better cut at it. I think a 'sweet spot' home might be defined by three parameters: First, a nice-looking consistent neighborhood that will hold its value and be a pleasant place to live over a span of years, Second, one with homes built with modern floor plans - commonly post-1985 with large kitchens and full master … (1 comments)
redmond: History, Housing Trends and Ideas for the Home Buyer Relocating to Greater Seattle
- 09/30/10 01:28 PM
Cities have history, and housing has trends, and if you want a particular type of home, you will do better looking in the areas where they built a lot of them. So this post is for the relocation buyer planning on moving into the Greater Seattle area - a story of how the Seattle housing market developed, and how that affects the kind of home you might find in a particular area. From a housing stock point of view, there is little left of whatever homes were built in Seattle from its founding in 1851 to about 1900 other than some … (1 comments)
redmond: The New Greater Seattle Home Search System
- 09/29/10 04:05 PM
We have been working for some time on a new homes-for-sale search system that would be better than almost anything else out there - very easy to use and helpful for both relocation buyers and local people thinking about a move - or just watching their neighborhood. So here it is: Greater Seattle Home Search. Starting off with a fun little article on the evolution of housing in the Greater Seattle and Eastside areas - walking through the years looking at what styles they were building and where they were building them - and the implications for potential buyers thinking about different areas and what kind of house … (0 comments)
redmond: My Mortgage is Underwater. Now What Do I Do?
- 04/16/10 06:07 AM
This new real estate ‘technical’ term underwater is getting quite a bit of press lately, and unfortunately it applies to a lot of us. What it means is “my house is no longer worth as much as I owe on it.” It means your equity is gone, and it also means that you can’t easily sell the house and pay off the loan if you want to move. Truly an unpleasant situation. Just for some rough numbers on the scale of the problem: there are about 110 million households in the U.S. Of that, about 70 million are in owned homes, … (2 comments)
redmond: What's Going On With The Seattle / Bellevue Condominium Market?
- 11/22/09 12:54 PM
The graphs below are the result of a study I did on the condominium market in the greater Seattle / Bellevue urban area, including all of Seattle and the Eastside from Renton Highlands to Bothell and out to Sammamish. There is good news for both Buyers and Sellers in here, but not in the same places. The good news for Buyers is that if you are interested in the urban lifestyle and one of the chic new high-rise condos, you should be able to cut a pretty good deal over the coming year. This is clearly a Buyers Market situation, and … (1 comments)
A blog about homes, real estate and other interesting things to see and do around Greater Seattle, Bellevue and the Eastside - designed to help people who are thinking about buying, selling or relocating in the Greater Seattle/Bellevue area by providing timely and accurate real estate market information, neighborhood, commute and schools information, and tips on interesting and worthwhile things to see and do.
That catchy title is better than saying you should think about deferred maintenance, but that's really the topic - the topic of maintaining your own home, and what it might cost you if you don't. It's a serious topic, but I'll try not to preach :-)
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