The Cascade Team Blog - Agent Tips

The Cascade Team Presents: Title Terrors - A Haunted Sale

This is a true story of a rather haunted sale...The property was owned by a 79-year-old husband and his wife who was 71 years of age. Title was held in Joint Tenancy. The Husband was deceased. The escrow officer reviewed the supplementary affidavit and death certificate needed for this type of transaction involving joint tenancy survivorship. Everything was in order to close.  

Additionally, the son had power of attorney to sign on behalf of his mother.  

The escrow officer questioned the son as to the reason of the POA and was told his mother was competent and alive but was unable to come to closing.  

The escrow officer left the closing room to check on funding and the son followed her, making a request for the seller's proceeds to be wired…

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Sammamish named best small city to live in America

After topping the list just a year earlier as the "Richest" city in America (See: Sammamish Tops Census List of Richest Cities in America) Sammamish has now been named as the Best Small City to Live in America by Wallethub. 

SAMMAMISH, Wash. -- The Eastside suburb of Sammamish was named the Best Small City to Live in America by a new survey, though it was quite a bit of company from fellow Eastside neighbors near the top of the list.

Wallethub compared 1,200 cities across the nation with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 and scored them against 43 indicators ranging from housing costs to school system quality to restaurants per capita -- even how they are handling the COVID-19 outbreak.

Out of 1,200,…

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Selling Your Home Shouldn’t Be Spooky!

The only thing more scary than paying too high of a commission to sell your home… Is realizing that you don’t have too while getting even MORE service and support than most brokerages offer at a higher fee!

The Cascade Team Agents are Full Service. We are a real estate company like no other, because of the tools, service and savings we provide our clients with. We understand that in today’s fast paced environment, we need to provide a high level of service, utilize technology to keep our clients up to date at all times and provide added value to both buyers and sellers in the transaction. By leveraging these technological tools, it allows our agents to focus more of their time to servicing our clients, and also provide the most comprehensive…

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Bidding Wars And The Science of Buying in a Low Inventory Market

Understanding the Numbers When Buying in a Low Inventory Real Estate Market

As a homebuyer in today’s market, you’re no doubt at your wit’s end trying to find your dream home.

And when you find a home you love,  you’re competing with all cash offers and bidding wars driving the sales price above what it’s listed for, and many times, even above what the home is actually worth!

While there is nothing you can do to create more homes for sale, you can certainly arm yourself by understanding the trends and patterns in the areas you’re trying to buy in.

While it’s not quite rocket science, there is definitely a significant competitive advantage to those that understand the trends of a real estate market.

Sometimes, being competitive means not…

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Your Home Is Your Greatest Investment! Asking These Questions When Picking an Agent Could Mean Thousands!

Seattle area prices rising during pandemic

The Seattle Times was out with an article with the latest on the Seattle market and how pricing is still rising during the pandemic. I found this was particularly interesting:

Homes in the King, Pierce and Snohomish tri-county area saw average year-over-year price increases of 6.8% in May, according to the new release of the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index — the sixth consecutive month Seattle-area price growth has topped national averages.

This is not surprising. We are seeing good homes in popular locations selling fast, often with multiple offers. Inventory of homes for buyers to choose from is still tight. Buyers who are ready to make a move and want to learn how to beat the…

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Dateline Sammamish: Bridges, Schools and Roundabouts Oh-My!

Issaquah-Fall City Road Bridge Construction:

Crews are widening the road from two lanes to four lanes and are improving the intersections from signalized intersections to roundabouts,” Sammamish Senior Project engineer Sam Park said. “There are going to be three roundabouts, and we’re removing a sag in the roadway by building a bridge.”

It is that bridge work that is going to cause the closure of this route that connects the Sammamish Plateau to Highway 202 and I-90. The bridge is 400 feet long. Park said the plan is to close Issaquah-Fall City Road at the end of the month, though the closure date is still in flux. This closure will last eight months.

“Everyone is going to have to find their way around it,” Park said. “We’re going to have to…

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Summer 2020 Is A Seller's Market!

The health crisis slowed the market this spring, so buyers are jumping back into the market to make their moves this summer.

Despite the economic downturn and disruptions stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, Northwest MLS member-brokers reported impressive improvement from April to May on some key indicators. The volume of new listings, including single family homes and condominiums, rose 29.2% and pending sales jumped more than 44% systemwide. “The pent-up demand from homebuyers returning to the market continues to support a recovery from the weekly declines observed earlier this spring,” said Joel Kan, an MBA economist.

• Mortgage applications to purchase a home rose 5% for the week and were a stunning 18% higher than a year ago, according…

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Western Washington Housing Market “Alive” and “Kicking” Despite the Economic Disruptions Stemming From the Coronavirus Pandemic

Despite the economic downturn and disruptions stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, Northwest MLS member-brokers reported impressive improvement from April to May on some key indicators. The volume of new listings, including single family homes and condominiums, rose 29.2% and pending sales jumped more than 44% systemwide. “The pent-up demand from homebuyers returning to the market continues to support a recovery from the weekly declines observed earlier this spring,” said Joel Kan, an MBA economist.

• Mortgage applications to purchase a home rose 5% for the week and were a stunning 18% higher than a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
• As the coronavirus outbreak was surging six weeks ago, applications by homebuyers were…

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Covid-19 Real Estate Market Update And Predictions

It’s no secret that the real estate market has a long road of recovery ahead. As the day-to-day work of showing properties and building homes has slowed to a crawl, agents and others in the industry have started to look to the future and make predictions about the lingering effects the COVID-19 pandemic will have on the industry.

The current evidence supports more of checkmark-shaped recovery rather than a V- or U-shape — beginning with an immediate drop that lasts 3-4 weeks, followed by a gradual recovery.

Past analysis has shown that the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns will cause a significant dip in real estate activity. The latest U.S market data shines a light on what the dip and recovery will look like — a checkmark shape, with…

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There is no need to fear putting your home on the market

Real estate will boom once coronavirus threat is gone -- Go ahead, put your house on the market

By Rogers Healy FOX Business

The stigma that has been historically associated with a home's "days on market," as it relates to home sales is soon to be a thing of the past.

The real estate market is definitely not operating in a traditional manner during the coronavirus pandemic but real estate professionals have been working behind the scenes to ensure that the industry remains a safe haven amidst an upside-down world.

There are still an incredibly large amount of unknowns out there but we are doing our best to operate after the shocking developments that came in March.

For people who have been considering selling, it might not be necessary…

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