Feb 15
So how accurate is the Zestimate? Shoppers, sellers and buyers routinely quote Zestimates to real-estate agents — and to one another — as gauges of market value. Sometimes, if either the buyer or the seller won’t budge off Zillow’s estimated value, a home sale will die. So, if they’re off the mark, how far off? Zillow …
Feb 08
From the Seattle Times, 2/5/2015 Expect to see housing prices to go up “We’re a fast-growing area with not enough houses and condominiums on the market,” said Alon Bassok, a researcher at the University of Washington’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies. “We can expect to see housing prices go up.” King County Residential Last month’s …
Jan 13
Over the course of last year, many people debated purchasing a home, but ultimately did not. Let’s look at whether the decision to wait to buy made sense financially. What happened in 2014? The 30 year fixed rate on January 2, 2014 was 4.53% as reported by Freddie Mac. Looking at the chart below, the monthly mortgage …
Jan 08
FHA Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) to drop President Obama will be formally announcing that he will direct the Federal Housing Administration to reduce annual mortgage insurance premiums by 50 basis points, from 1.35% to 0.85%. Zillow’s Allison Paoli ran the numbers on what this could mean for first-time buyers, saying: “On a $175,000 home loan with less than 5% …
Jan 07
From the stalwarts to the tech magnets and comeback kids, the new year is likely to see several types of markets. Redfin recently highlighted six “housing market personas” that they believe will be driving the continued recovery in 2015. Here’s an overview of the personas and the pros and cons of each: Stalwarts: “Strong economies, …
Dec 16
The New York Times recently published an editorial entitled, “Homeownership and Wealth Creation.” The housing market has made a strong recovery, not only in sales and prices, but also in the confidence of consumers and experts as an investment. The article explains: “Homeownership long has been central to Americans’ ability to amass wealth; even with …
Nov 14
Forget the toasters and champagne flutes: More engaged couples are doing a different type of wedding registry that allows them to collect cash for a down payment on a home. It’s been reported that about 15 percent of registries are to raise down-payment funds for a home and another 15 percent are for home-improvement funds …
Sep 23
Good News for Home Buyers The growing signs of a slowdown in the housing market might be good news for home buyers. Slowing home prices—after the double-digit increases last year—mixed with still-low interest rates are making homes more affordable. Also, the supply of homes for sale today represents 5.8 months of demand, the most since …
Aug 21
The interest rate you pay on your home mortgage has a direct impact on your monthly payment. The higher the rate the greater the payment will be. That is why it is important to look at where rates are headed when deciding to buy now or wait until next year. According to a recent article in Kiplinger, 30 …
Jul 29
If you’ve been following the real estate market in the Seattle metro, you know it’s more competitive than it has been in maybe a decade. Available inventory continues to fall, with less than two months’ inventory now hitting a one year streak (balanced markets have 5-6 months’ inventory). Sellers continue to get higher prices for …
"Keller
Williams Ranks Highest in Customer Satisfaction for Home Buyers and Sellers Nationwide."
J.D. Powers & Associates 2012
Home Buyer/Seller Satisfaction Study
