The Cascade Team Blog - Real Estate News

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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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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Halfway throught ist Class of the week

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2010 Housing Statistical Review and Highlights for WA State

• 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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1 Million Homes Foreclosed in 2010. 2011 to be even worse.

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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Bank Of America Settles For $3 billion

Bank of America (BOA) said that it paid nearly $1.3 billion to Freddie Mac and more than $1.3 billion to Fannie Mae on Dec. 31 to resolve a faulty mortgage loan dispute involving Countrywide Financial Corp.  The $2.6 billion worth of payments to Freddie and Fannie, combined with potential losses on future repurchases from government-sponsored enterprises, adds up to $3 billion in expenses, according to BOA. Bank of America also expects to take an additional $2 billion charge to fourth-quarter results from the decline in the mortgage business, bringing the total impact to the company to $5 billion.

 "Our goals remain the same: put these issues behind us; focus on serving customers and clients; and continue to help distressed homeowners facing difficult…

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'Secret' Way to Lower Mortgage Payments

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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Snoqualmie Ridge 2010 Real Estate Review

*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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New Location for The Cascade Team RE Main Office

We are happy to announce a new location for the Main office of The Cascade Team Real Estate. We have secured the western side office in St George Square in Gillman Village in Issaquah.

We will be opening our doors in the new location on January 1st, 2011. The address is: 355 NW Gilman Blvd., Suite 101, Issaquah, WA 98027

In celebration of the new location we are hosting a public Open House on Friday January the 7th from 4:00 until 7:00. Please feel free to stop in and say “Hello”. We will have appetizers, champagne on hand and also gifts for the public and for agents who stop in.

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