Experienced buyers and sellers know that an appraisal has the power to make or break a real estate transaction. In this short video, mortgage lending expert Carese Busby shares why high-quality appraisers are critical to successful outcomes and how that should influence your lender selection.
This month, we’re thrilled to introduce you to Stacy Becker — Owner and Principal Designer at White Label Interiors. At the age of 5, Stacy was sketching floor plans in her grade school notebook — a hobby that would eventually turn her passion into a career. Continue reading…
They are some of Seattle’s most unique and recognizable homes, and there’s only 500 of them. Last month, team member Enrico Pozzo—an expert in all things floating homes—led a tour of Lake Union and the homes that top its waters. Skippered by Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty (RSIR) CEO Dean Jones, our team was joined by nearly 40 of our RSIR colleagues and a few guest brokers from our affiliates in New York and California.
Throughout the years, we have befriended many quality real estate brokers around the country and other parts of the world. In our effort to always provide the best possible service to our clients, we have built professional relationships and friendships with the best of these brokers and touch base on a regular basis to discuss how our individual regions are changing while learning about new services and technologies they’ve implemented. This year, we will share a collection of articles co-written with some of these amazing professionals.
The SeattlebyDesign Team has come across a wonderful charity that supports local neighbors going through challenging times. Tia Baker, the Director of the Seattle chapter, describes the Humble Design mission as:
Data from the fourth quarter of 2018 is in and Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty has analyzed the numbers. Take a look at the latest housing market trends in Seattle for single-family homes and condominiums.
If you have been following the local news you are probably aware that our torrid hot real estate market is shifting. What should we make of this? Is this 2008 to 2012 all over again? The good news is no.Historically, our real estate market fluctuates with 5-to-7-year up-cycles and then takes a 6-to-12-month breather where prices may drop 5-to-10-percent before heading back up for another 5-to-7-year-up-cycle. This shift can happen quickly and that is exactly what happened this time. Back in December, clients were asking me how long the crazy market would last and my response was that I saw no indication of an end, yet a few short months later, it happened. This is a macro-trend and it is important to know that each neighborhood has its own micro-trend dynamics and degree of change.
Seattle’s rent is currently growing faster than any other city in the U.S., this according to the Seattle Times as June 2015 vs. June 2016 rent comparisons revealed a staggering 9.7% increase. What’s more, “rents are soaring so fast that June’s 1.1 percent monthly price gain in the Seattle area beat out the growth that Chicago and Washington, D.C., have seen in an entire year.”
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In the Seattle region, total units sold are a bit down from this time last year (32 in 2015 vs 20 in 2016) but the markets in these areas tend to be comprised of a few large sales rather than a greater quantity of more middle-priced options. With a glut of construction in Seattle Proper to meet the demand of the near-constant stream of people relocating from out-of-city or out-of-state, the area has developed a strong rental market, perhaps with the result of fewer home sales. Waterfront sales in this area tend to be either large, multi-million dollar estates or lower-priced condos with little in-between.
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A Zillow report released on July 22 shows Seattle rents rising faster than in any other U.S. city, increasing 9.7% from June 2015 to June 2016. Average monthly costs have risen nearly $500 over the last four years and have now exceeded the $2,000 mark for the first time in Seattle’s history. Although there has been nearly constant construction adding thousands of new units, the rental market continues to grow undeterred. In 2011, Seattle’s rent was about $300 more than the U.S. average; now, in 2016, it has more than doubled to $620 above the U.S. average.
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