Response to Jan 21 Email

It came to our attention that a resident of North Bend, Mr. David Spring, distributed an email recently – in which he accuses the school district of lies and deceit. His email contained a number of points, which attempt to provide “evidence” for his views. Unfortunately, most of these points are either false or misleading.  Here are some responses:

  1. Mr. Spring believes that Mount Si High School needs an immediate $100 million remodel – to essentially raise up the entire school to avoid destruction during a “MEGA flood at Mount Si High School due to the to impact of Global Warming on the Upper Snoqualmie Valley” (from “Assessing the Risk of a Mega Flood at Mount Si High School” by David Spring, Jan 5, 2011). Mr. Spring…

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During 2010, members of NWMLS:
  • Reported more than 52,000 closed sales, valued at more than $17.6 billion.
  • Reported an area-wide median price of $262,000 for single-family homes and condos that sold last year, down about 4.7 percent from 2008.
  • Added 116,699 new listings of SFH and condos to inventory,.
  • Represented more than 39,000 home sellers, on average, each month.
  • Reported 987 sales of single family homes and 83 sales of condominiums priced at $1 million or more. 433 condos sold for $500,000 or more (p.29).
  • The MLS area covering Bellevue/West of 405 (map area 520) had the highest number of million dollar-plus sales with 147, followed by Central Seattle (area 390) with 124.
    For high-end condos ($500,000-plus), Belltown/Downtown…

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Welcome to The Cascade Team Scott Wallingford.

Scott has a strong background in the banking industry and in Sales/Customer service. He will be working with Matt Jensen out on The Issaquah Highlands office. Scott has a lot of energy and is excited to get things going.

Laura Flodin will be Scott's Transaction Coordinator with The Cascade Team.

Contact info: scottw@thecascadeteam.com 425-395-6330

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Banks repossessed more than 1 million homes in 2010 and this year is expected to get even worse, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure tracking resource. About 5 million borrowers are at least two months behind on their mortgage payments, which industry analysts say will likely lead to lenders taking back even more homes this year as borrowers continue to struggle with job losses and dropping home values.

"2011 is going to be the peak," says Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac Inc.

One in 45 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing last year, a record high and a 1.67 percent increase from 2009.

Some states are harder hit than others. In Nevada alone, one in every 11 households received a foreclosure filing last year. The…

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Rents have surged as home prices have dropped, which have prompted some to ponder whether homeownership is really worth it. Moody’s Analytics data has suggested that it makes more financial sense to rent than buy in many U.S. cities, but Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi now says that is about to change.

"By mid 2011 and certainly by end of 2011, buying will be superior to renting in most parts of the country," Zandi says.

Home prices are expected to fall further, making more homes affordable, whereas rent prices are expected to continue to rise this year.

The following are a few of the top cities where it makes more sense to buy than rent, according to Moody data. (Experts often recommend buying when the price-rent ratio is below 15 and rent when…

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Home owners can trim their monthly mortgage payments by “recasting” or “re-amortizing” their loan, without having to refinance and face hefty closing cost fees, experts say.

When recasting, the borrower pays off a lump sum of the loan’s principal and then resets monthly payments at the loan’s original interest rate and terms.

Here’s one scenario: $230,449 is left on a 30-year fixed rate loan for a $300,000 mortgage taken out at 7.93 percent in 1995. The borrower pays $20,000 toward the principal and asks the lender to reamortize their payments over the remaining 15 years of the loan. The monthly payment then drops by $52, from $2,187 to $2,135 per month. ($100,000 toward the lump sum would save $730 a month.)

Since borrowers are not asking for a new…

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*Prices drop a modest 3% Year over Year
*Sales Volume increases by 3%
*Average Day on Market come down by 21 Days.

In comparing 2010 Residential Sales at Snoqualmie Ridge to 2009 overall prices were fairly flat with volume and average days on market showing slight signs of improvement.

In 2009 Snoqualmie Ridge saw 179 Single Family Home Sales. In 2010 that number increased to 185. The Average Single Family Home at Snoqualmie Ridge sold for $493,569 in 2010. That is down for an average of $509,794 in 2009. (A drop of $16,370 for the average home or just over 3%)

In 2009 the average home was: 2,823 sq ft, took 142 Days on Market to sell, had an average starting list price of $559,424 and a final SALES price of $509,795

In 2010 the average home was: 2,876 sq ft,…

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