The true cost of buying a home can be a lot more than the agreed-upon sale price. Along with your monthly mortgage payment, you will likely find yourself shelling out for other upfront and ongoing expenses. Closing costs, homeowners association fees, property taxes, utility bills and imminent home repairs can add hundreds — if not thousands — to your expenditures.

Avoid unpleasant financial surprises by familiarizing yourself with some of the more common expenses associated with buying or building a new home. Budgeting for added monthly expenses — and setting some aside for emergencies — will help ensure your new dream home is also an affordable one.

  1. Closing costs: Add in an estimated 2% to 5% of home price.
  2. Homeowners insurance: Add…

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Welcome To The Cascade Team Marcus Jenkins!

Marcus Jenkins

  • Office: 509-228-3088
  • Cell:  719-323-3636
  • Fax: 509-228-3088
  • marcusj@thecascadeteam.com

We are happy to welcome Marcus Jenkins to The Cascade Team!  He will be working out of our Spokane Office with Managing Broker, James Faucett. 

Marcus Jenkins epitomizes hard work, high energy, and integrity – all traits he refined while serving in the U.S. Army for six years. After service to our great nation, Marcus and his family recently returned to Spokane, where he was raised, and where Marcus is utilizing these skills and others to help buyers and sellers have the best experience possible in the Spokane real estate market. In his spare time, Marcus likes to spend time with…

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Just 0.4 percent of all homes in the Seattle region were on the market at any given time last year — a lower rate than in any U.S. metro area except the San Francisco Bay Area, according to a new report from realtor.com.

In other words, just one of every 263 houses and condos in the Seattle area was for sale. That’s more than three times worse than the national average, creating a market heavily tilted against buyers.

Seattle homebuyers have known for a while how competitive the market is; 41 people recently made offers on a toxic West Seattle house that was too dangerous to enter and ultimately sold, as a likely teardown, for $427,000.

But the new data shows just how much fiercer the competition is here compared with other hot markets around…

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 SNOQUALMIE RIDGE HEADLINES

2017 looks to be one of the biggest years for home sales on record! Whether you are selling, thinking of selling, or happy to be in your home for the foreseeable future it’s always important to know what’s going on in your local housing market. Below are answers to some of the most often asked questions as well as some that may not be asked but are definitely of interest to people who live in an area that is diverse with builders of all different types of homes from entry level to high end custom. Let us know how we can help you have a better understanding of your home and your neighborhood or a home you are interested in Snoqualmie Ridge.
 

1. What was the average sales price for a home at Snoqualmie Ridge in 2016?

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Welcome To The Cascade Team Elise Raphael-Haase!

Elise Raphael-Haase

  • Office: 800-509-6905 ext. 1164
  • Cell: 253-548-5065
  • Fax: 425-996-9520
  • elise@thecascadeteam.com

We are happy to welcome Elise Raphael-Haase to The Cascade Team Real Estate! She will be working out of our Tacoma Office with Brokerage Manager, Roger Stensland.

Previously I worked as the COO/Nurse Executive for a local Tacoma Hospital. Prior to that, I worked as an Operating Room Nurse and Director of Nursing. The Leadership qualities obtained through my nursing experience drew me to the field of real estate.  More specifically, I was drawn to The Cascade Team for the excellent support and access to resources that benefit both myself and clients.

Elisa will be…

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For home buyers hoping to snag a deal, they may want to make a move now. Home prices in January usually decrease compared to the spring and summer buying season.

There’s plenty of research to back that up too. NerdWallet recently crunched two years of realtor.com® data that reflected the 50 largest U.S. metros. Researchers found that January and February were the top months for those looking to get a bargain. In those months, home sales prices were 8.45 percent lower on average than in June through August.

However, this year may be a little different. Buyer demand has remained high throughout the fall, and home prices did not take their usual dip this January, says Jonathan Smoke, realtor.com®’s chief economist. Still, he maintains right now is…

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Welcome To The Cascade Team Polly Breshears!

Polly Breshears

  • Office: 1-800-509-6905 ext. 1162
  • Cell:  425-941-6430
  • Fax:  425-996-9520
  • polly@thecascadeteam.com

We are happy to welcome Polly Breshears to The Cascade Team Real Estate!  She will be working out of our North Bend Office with Linda McFarlane, Brokerage Manager.

I have been involved in real estate for over 30 years, both investing and helping others with their home purchases and sales as a real estate broker. I have lived in North Bend for 22 years, raised 3 boys here and have established myself in the community through volunteer work revolving around education (Curriculum Review Committee for 2 years) and youth baseball (President of Snoqualmie Valley Little League…

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We hope that most of you walked away with lots of new information and some helpful tips and strategies to use in both your professional and personal life.

But, what's the next step? Come check out Cary's course next week: "Eat That Frog" Business Plan Implementation Class. We handed out business plan booklets to all this week's attendees and now we want to help you use the content in that book, take it to the next level, and put it into action! 

RSVP early to guarantee yourself a spot, there is only one day available for this class with a limit of 30 reservations- don't miss out!

When: Wednesday, January 25th from 10am - 1pm (and yes, that time is correct :P )

Where: The Cascade Team Headquarter Office

RSVP HERE!!!

Here are links…

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The Cascade Team Real Estate would like to take a moment to say that it is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to the Issaquah Press and family of papers. Over the years we have done a lot of advertising with The Issaquah Press Group from our Open House Treasure Hunt, Mobile App, and more.  The Issaquah Press, Sammamish Review, SnoValley Star and Newcastle have also been a wonderful partner in helping promote community events such as Project Crayon Drive, YMCA Halloween Events in Sammamish and Snoqualmie, and also the Free Horse Drawn Carriage Rides and Santa photos in Issaquah, Snoqualmie and Sammamish.

More than that, they have also been great community members promoting stories that matter and relate directly to the communities they feature.…

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What Is My Seattle, Phoenix or San Diego Home Worth?

Inventory shortages persist, but Northwest MLS brokers notch record-setting sales totaling $40.3 billion during 2016 

Among other highlights in its annual compilation of statistics, Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported: ď‚·

  • About 45 percent of last year’s single family home sales had three bedrooms, while the vast majority of condos (nearly 76 percent) had two bedrooms or fewer.
  • The median price for a 3-bedroom home that sold in 2016 was $311,000, about 9.8 percent higher than the previous year’s figure of $283,250. A comparison by county shows the median price for a 3-bedroom home ranges from $120,000 in Ferry County to $485,000 in King County.  ď‚·
  • Of the condo sales, about six of every 10 (61.7 percent) were located in King…

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