The Cascade Team Blog - Cary Porter

Mortgage Rates Above 5% for First Time in Nearly a Year

    More signs that NOW is the time to buy! By JANNA HERRON, AP Real Estate Writer Janna Herron, Ap Real Estate Writer – 19 mins ago

NEW YORK – The average rate on the 30-year mortgage topped 5 percent this week for the first time since April. Higher rates could further hamper the struggling housing market ahead of the spring's prime home-buying season

Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate rose to 5.05 percent from 4.81 percent last week. It hit a 40-year low of 4.17 percent in November. The average rate on the 15-year home loan, a popular refinance option, increased to 4.29 percent from 4.08 percent. It reached 3.57 percent in November, the lowest level on records starting in 1991.

Rates are following the yields on the…

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Home Ownership Offers Plenty of Tax Benefits

While renting offers zero tax breaks, buying a home offers several tax benefits that can make homeownership more affordable. Real estate professionals need to be careful in providing detailed tax advice to clients to avoid lawsuits, but you can ensure clients have the information they need to understand the all of the tax benefits of home ownership.

The following is a few of the tax benefits to home ownership, according to Stephen Fishman, an author and lawyer who specializes in small business, tax and intellectual property law.

▪ Home mortgage interest deduction: Home owners can take an itemized deduction on interest paid on a mortgage or mortgages of up to $1 million for a principal residence and/or second home. This deduction could potentially reduce…

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Motivated Buyers Returning To The Seattle Real Estate Market

KIRKLAND, Wash. (Feb. 3, 2011) – Dramatic increases in open house activity and shrinking inventory are fueling optimism among members of the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Commenting on the just-released MLS report on January’s housing activity, one director stated, "There is a strong belief in the industry that the worst is behind us and we can look forward with confidence."

Darin Stenvers, managing broker at John L. Scott in Bellingham, who made that comment, also noted consumers are gaining confidence and buyers may be seeing what they believe is the bottoming of the market. "I’m very optimistic about the housing market for 2011 and the buyers and sellers should be as well," he exclaimed.

Year-over-year pending sales were down…

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Welcome to The Cascade Team Shane Coulter & Anne Welch

Shane and Anne live in the Trossachs neighborhood, and will be focusing on The Sammamish Plateau and Issaquah.

(206) 915-7653   (sold)

shaneandanne@thecascadeteam.com

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Reverse Offers/ The Sellers New Option

At the beginning of the housing crisis, sellers turned to gimmicky tricks like YouTube love letters about their homes and burying St. Christopher's figurines upside down in the front yard to try to move their homes off the market. These days, though, many sellers are getting smarter and more strategic, turning the transaction on its head to get buyers off the fence with a phenomenon called the reverse offer.

Usually, the buyer makes an offer for a certain price and on certain terms. A reverse offer goes in the opposite direction: from seller to buyer. In some cases, a seller whose home has been on the market for ages with lots of viewers, but no offers, may enlist their agent to go back and approach several or even all of the buyers who have come to…

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Do you know Doug Young of The Cascade Team?

Before listing your home with The Cascade Team we thought you should get to know one of the owners; Doug Young, a little better. At first you may think that Doug is a little quiet, but as you will learn, there is a reason he doesn’t need to say much.

 It’s a tough Real Estate market out there. Along with an aggressive marketing program and great agents, you need to know that your Brokerage has an edge. To that end, we’d like to introduce you to one of the co-owners of The Cascade Team: Doug Young.

 THE TOP TEN DOUG YOUNG FACTS:

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6 Reasons You Should Google Your Address

It seems almost negligent these days to go meet with a prospective employer, set your kid up on a sleep-over or even add an old friend on Facebook without first running the company's name, your kid's pal's parents or your old college chum through Google -- just to see. But it's nowhere near as common (yet) to Google or otherwise do an internet search for your home's address.

There are at least six compelling reasons it makes sense to do so, though -- especially if it's an address you're thinking of renting, buying or selling. Smart homeowners would do well to search for their addresses, too, and here's why:

#1. To See If Megan's Law Registrants Live Nearby
Safety first, folks. Megan's law requires law-enforcement authorities to make information available…

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Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, the foreclosure rate increased nearly 23%

Foreclosures Jump in Unexpected Cities
The foreclosure crisis is now spreading to cities that were once relatively unscathed from the crisis. Seattle, Houston, and Chicago have joined the list of other cities in the United States plagued by a growing number of foreclosures and home owners unable to make their mortgage payments.

Foreclosure activity increased in 149 of the country’s 206 largest metro areas last year, reported RealtyTrac Inc., a foreclosure listing firm.

In the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metro area, the foreclosure rate jumped 26 percent from 2009 — the largest increase in foreclosures among the top 20 metro areas, according to RealtyTrac.

In Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, the foreclosure rate increased nearly 23 percent — ranking second in…

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What do you think of The Cascade Team's NEW website?

 Thanks for being a friend, clients and neighbor. We have spent the last 4 months completely revamping The Cascade Team website and would really like to know what you think.

If you have the time to visit:

Is the site easy to look at and understand?

Is the site user friendly?

Can you easily find all of the information you are looking for?

How does the search function work for you? Do you get the details you want, and are they returned in a fashion you like?

Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.

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Finding New Homes for Pets in Foreclosure

In the housing downturn, many home owners have not only had to leave their homes behind, but also their pets. In foreclosed properties, more pets are being found locked in basements, garages, or in backyards.

A new program, No Paws Left Behind, recently announced its 1,000th foreclosure animal rescue. The program rescues abandoned animals — everything from dogs and cats to llamas and pot-bellied pigs — and places them in “no kill” shelters until foster care can be arranged.

"Sadly, the current housing crisis has severely affected countless home owners creating a trickle down negative effect on helpless animals," says Cheryl Lang, the founder of The No Paws Left Behind program and also CEO of Integrated Mortgage Solutions, a provider of REO property…

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