6 Common Ways to Hold Title in Snohomish County

Purchasing real estate, or real property, in Washington requires the purchaser to disclose which way they will be holding title. Taking title, in a real estate, is more commonly understood by how a person, or persons, owns real property. To much jargon? Easily enough. Holding title is how much ownership a person(s) has/have in a particular property and here are 6 commons ways folks can hold title in Snohomish County.

Snohomish County Real Estate Statistics for Nov. 2013

While many real estate brokers are enjoying the holidays; we are here bringing you the latest real estate statistics. Terrifically exciting no; useful and informative yes. Over the last year, and back into 2012, real estate prices have recovered from a slump only to boom while inventory has gone from excessive to a real shortage. What do we make of all the rapid changes? Hard to keep up with or "is what it is"? Here are housing values, days on market, months of available inventory and supply, and a 90 day snap shot.

Increasing Snohomish County House Values

The average closed sales price comparing November 2013 to 2012 shows gains of 9.3% and November's 2013 and 2012 Y-T-D comparison increased 11.7%. The median closed sales prices are 12.6 for the month-to-month comparison and 13.0% for the Y-T-D comparison.

Snohomish County Real Estate Statistics for Oct. 2013

Change is something to expect and at the beginning of the 2013's 4th quarter more is on the horizon. Average days on market increased, housing inventory decreased, the number of sold homes decreased, and the hottest price segment was $300,000 - $400,000.

Questions I've been discussing with sellers who are thinking about selling are:

• Will housing continue to gain market time?
• Will home values remain steady, decrease or increase after the first of the year?
• Will housing inventory increase or decrease?

Road Maintenance Agreements

A road maintenance agreement is usually a good thing to have in place if you share a common access with one or more properties. Sometimes the only access to some properties is on a private easement road from a public right of way; this means that the responsibility of the road maintenance falls on the people who have the right to use the road.

Nosy Neighbors: 5 Ways They Can Kill Your Sell

Nosy neighbors, the neighbor that has to much time on their hands, has fun spreading false information, is a bit off kilter and pokes their nose where it doesn’t belong, or is the neighborhood safety patrol exercising false authority. Whatever their deal may be, a nosy neighbor is always troublesome for the homeowner trying to sell and their real estate broker.

Zillow's Economic Forecast for Snohomish County

Wednesday Mickie and I attended Zillow's Economic Forecast for Snohomish County held at the Lynnwood's Lowe's Theater. The Economic Forecast was hosted my friends at First American Title and the folks from Wells Fargo and the focus was a few fold:

1. Explain how Zillow Zestimates are generated.
2. Look at the national housing trends.
3. Drill down forecasts for the Snohomish County housing market.

Instead of diving into the abyss of Zestimates and how housing markets are local and not national; however, I will breeze onto Snohomish County's Economic Forecast.

Considering a Home Renovation? Window Treatments are a Great Place to Start!

Often overlooked when first thinking of home renovation, window blinds are an integral part of many home makeovers. Far from just being just another ‘thing’ in the window, blinds offer unique solutions to many household problems that other window hangings simply can’t. Here are some blind recommendations for green renovations, child proof homes, light sleeping families and design savvy DIYers.

What is a WDO (Wood Destroying Organism)?

Homeowners and potential home buyers should concern themselves with WDOs but what is a WDO? A WDO is short for “wood destroying organism”. These are organism that feed on or live in wood and what better source than a Snohomish County stick-built home. Remember the Orkin commercial? Mmmmmmm, is that oak?

The Legend of Big Foot in Snohomish County

One of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century has been the legend of Bigfoot and Snohomish County, as well as the Pacific Northwest, is no stranger to this mythical creature. While many local reports claim to have seen Bigfoot most are just written off as crack heads staying up for days seeing shadow people. If you have been a resident of Snohomish County for some time then you may have heard stories and/or have first hand accounts. There were even bumper stickers floating around saying “I saw Bigfoot in Smokey Point”. Not sure if those are even available anymore.

Snohomish County Housing Statistics for July 2013

Snohomish County housing statistics for July 2013 are published and here are the take aways.

Months of Available Housing Inventory

The standout statistic is housing inventory is on the rise. Now is that because more folks are listing their homes for sale? Probably. Personally, Mickie and I took more listings since March. This is all in light of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA reporting REO inventory decreasing – CalculatedRiskBlog.com.