KIRKLAND, Washington (November 7, 2019) – “People are moving here, home prices will continue to increase, inventory shortages will occur. That’s our future,” remarked Dick Beeson, principal managing broker at RE/MAX Northwest in Gig Harbor, upon viewing the October statistics from Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
Active listings of homes and condos totaled 14,379, the lowest level since April. Compared to a year ago, last month’s selection declined more than 21% and was down 10% from September, according to the new report from Northwest MLS. The year-over-year and month-to-month volume of new listings also declined last month. On a positive note, MLS figures show system-wide gains in October’s pending sales (up nearly 5.6%), closed sales (up
Nearly 60% of consumers who claim to live in a haunted house say they didn’t know their house was haunted until after they moved in, reveals a new survey from realtor.com®.
What makes a house haunted? Strange noises and shadows are the spookiest occurrences reported by homeowners. Forty-eight percent of survey respondents said items inside the home shifted on their own, 47% said certain rooms felt haunted, 46% said they would feel touched, and 44% said their home had hot and cold spots, according to realtor.com®’s fourth annual Haunted Real Estate Report.
“Moving into a new home is a really exciting time, but finding out that your new abode has an unwanted guest can definitely put a damper on the celebration,” says Nate Johnson, chief
In a recent ad campaign, real estate startup Bungalo has announced that throughout the month of October, they will be checking their listed properties for paranormal activity.
The real estate company even hired actual paranormal investigators to visit their properties in order to find out if they have ghosts. The investigators include Jeremy Rettig of Genesis Paranormal Services, as well as Becky Vickers who has appeared on the television shows Ghost Adventures and Ghost Stories.
Josh Stolz, who is the creative director at Bungalo, stated, “This is our first real campaign that takes a step into a bit more of a creative territory,” adding, “We wanted to show both aspects: the regular inspection combined with the paranormal inspection.”
Over the years many of us have come across this with buyers, so in light of the new commission changes I have reached out to many of our agents from here and across the country and locally here is the Seattle market for their best objections to buyers when they say: “I only want to work with the listing agent.”
The overwhelming number of responses lead us to a lot of good material, including simple explanations of what listing agents do, giving advice, one-liners and the all-powerful “good luck.”
Here are our favorite responses. Try out the ones you like the next time you come up against this objection.
Use a one-liner
Sometimes, all you need is a sentence or two to get the job done. Short, sweet and to the point, here are some of the
Public Display of Agent Commissions Begins now on www.TheCascadeTeam.com
Read More: Conversations On Real Estate Commissions
In an attempt to get ahead of looming outside forces, broker-owned multiple listing service Northwest MLS is changing its rules to allow the public display of buyer broker commissions, starting October 1.
The rule changes will allow the NWMLS’s 30,000 agent and broker members to publish the amount of commission the seller is offering a buyer’s broker on the subscribers’ websites along with other listing details.
“Making this information readily available to consumers will allow for complete transparency with regard to buyers’ broker’s compensation and provide consumers with additional information at the outset of
It’s not Malibu, Beverly Hills, or The Hamptons, but Sammamish that tops the 2018 census list of the richest city in the United States. While many people look at the median income in Seattle topping $93,000 and feel staggered by that number it was Sammamish, which had a median household income last year of a whopping $183,000, that ranks No. 1 among all the 630 cities for which the Census Bureau produced 2018 income data. It also marks the first time that a Washington city has come out on top for household income.
And not to be left behind, three additional eastside cities: (Redmond, Kirkland and Bellevue) also top Seattle!
See the income chart provided by The Seattle Times below:
Cluttered houses are inconvenient and aesthetically unpleasant. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways you can get a neat, clean, organized house that looks great and puts everything within reach. Here are five easy tips to clear the clutter and win back some elbow room.
Don't attempt too much at once. There are too many other demands on your time and at some point you will give up or be forced to give up. It is better to clean a little clutter every day for weeks than attempt a huge, failed one-time blitz.
Lessen the flow of items into your house. Clutter comes about from too many possessions; get less, and you control clutter easily. One good rule is to throw out something old every time you obtain something new. If clutter is severe,
While it’s true that housing inventory (the number of homes on the market) is lower in the fall than in the spring and summer, it’s also true that buyers who are shopping in the fall are likely to be serious about buying. Fall buyers may be moving because of a job relocation or change in family situation, so they’re often eager to close a deal. And, the hotter your local real estate market, the less significant a role seasonality plays.
What months are in the fall?
To clarify the part of the year we’re talking about, fall includes dates between September 1 and November 30. In most of the country, this time of year is marked by cooler weather, shorter days, and falling leaves — think picking
Fact: Real estate brokers’ commission rates are not regulated in any state and are ALWAYS 100% negotiable.
When you decide to sell your house, if you are like most people, you will want to hire — or at least consider hiring — a real estate agent to handle the process.
Surprisingly, many people think that real estate brokerage commission rates are “set” in their area and they have to pay a specific percentage of the sales price to the agent in order to get their services. This is absolutely not the case. In fact, you can pay whatever you and the agent have agreed upon.
What is a “Fair” amount to pay for real estate commission?
Many people hear the word “discount” company instead of a “traditional” company but (actually, since commissions
After last week’s post we had several great comments. I’ll address one from “B” here, which really went to the heart of why this change is being made…. That being that the public in general really doesn’t understand who pay’s buyer’s agents’ commissions and how they affect the over-all purchase price of a home.
B Day wrote: Why would a salesman list or try and sell a house with no commission? If a person can sell it by their selves, I say let them but to not have a set commission across the board seems pretty self-defeating.
SEE: Conversations On Real Estate Commissions Part 1
Cary W Porter wrote: Thanks for the question…. It really gets to the heart of why the change was made and the surrounding confusion on real estate commissions.
