This & That - A Real Estate Blog by Steve Swanson

This weekend, June 27th & 28th, thousands of homes for sale across the state of Washington are going to be open for viewing as part of the State Wide Open House Weekend being organized by Realtors throughout the state. The Seattle area Real Estate market is starting to see increased sales, especially in the lower priced homes.  Attractive ...

This weekend, June 27th & 28th, thousands of homes for sale across the state of Washington are going to be open for viewing as part of the State Wide Open House Weekend being organized by Realtors throughout the state. As the Seattle area Real Estate market seems to be heating up, especially with the lowered prices, attractive ...

I hate misleading advertising.  I really do.  And I don’t think I’m alone in that.  I’m also not that keen on hypocrisy.  And trying to figure out mixed messages has never been my idea of fun. Lately, in driving around and previewing homes with clients, we see these riders that say “$8,000 Tax Credit Available”, or ...

I hate misleading advertising.  I really do.  And I don't think I'm alone in that.  I'm also not that keen on hypocrisy.  And trying to figure out mixed messages has never been my idea of fun. Lately, in driving around and previewing homes with clients, we see these riders that say "$8,000 Tax Credit ...

Previous posts have detailed the Washington State Legislature’s efforts to get the Fed’s $8,000 first time home buyer credit available for use as a home buyer’s down payment at closing. Washington’s Governor Gregoire has signed the legislation that allows the Washington State Housing Finance Commission to make the funds ...

Previous posts covered the Washington State Legislature's efforts to get the Fed's $8,000 first time homebuyer credit available to the buyer for use as a downpayment at closing. The Governor has signed the legislation that allows the Washington State Housing Finance Commission to make the funds available, however the program's ...

Like a ten year old on a road trip, people are wondering if real estate prices have hit the bottom… are we there yet?  It goes beyond the usual “how’s the real estate market?”  More than ever, it’s:  Is this a good time to buy?  How do you buy a foreclosure?  Is it hard to get a ...

In a news release published today by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, pending sales reported by members showed an overall increase of 11.4% from a year ago and up 21.3% from March.  Though these statistics are averages of the 19 counties that make up the NWMLS market area, there are areas where the surge in [...]

Included in the budget passed by the Washington State Legislature is a $25 million dollar fund to implement a Tax Credit Advance Loan Program for First Time Home Buyers.  (The definition of a First Time Home Buyer is basically if you have not owned a home in the past Three years.) Introduced by Washington State Treasurer James [...]

Hot off the Press is news from the Washington State Legislature provided to me by Georgette Ballard, Sr Loan Officer with PrimeLending.  This budget provision would help First Time Home Buyers with their down payment thus helping home sellers getting their house sold.  If signed by Governor Gregoire, this would be the first program of it’s ...