I've spent hours in classes, conducting online research, and asking questions to the Department of Ecology to make this well and water basin post as informative and easy to read as possible. So let's begin.

Not to dive into much back story; the gist is, the Hirst Decision changed the way county building departments decide to approve or deny building permits that use wells as a primary water source. As property owners and potential buyers, if needing to know what watershed serves an address it can be challenging.

This post will aim to answer the following question and deliver information on how to research watersheds and water basins.

• How do I find a watershed for a particular property?

Let's start with the basics.

There are 5 watersheds in Snohomish County and they are the Lower Skagit-Samish WRIA 3, Upper Skagit-Samish WRIA 4, Stillaguamish WRIA 5, Snohomish WRIA 7, and Cedar-Sammamish WRIA 8.  Yet, it is very unlikely that a property will need to research the Cedar-Sammamish WRIA 8 since the SW area of Snohomish County relies on city water - view watershed map.

How much money do I need to buy a home? is a question that is regularly asked from homebuyers, especially from first time homebuyers. It's a normal occurrence as costs tend change over time. In this article, we'll dive into a typical homebuyer's costs for purchasing a home.

In a previous article Buying a Home Zero Down Doesn't Mean Free it was discussed that zero down loans are often confused with zero cost to buyers for purchasing. Equating zero down to needing no funds to purchase isn't readily discussed within the industry and in real estate blogs. So let's break it down as those items are very different.

Besides downpayment, whether its a zero down loan or not, there are other costs incurred when buying a home.

Home Purchasing Costs Include:

• Earnest Money
• Home Inspection
• Appraisal
• Closing Costs

What is Earnest Money? Earnest money is funds put up with an accepted purchase and sale contract, usually a personal check, money order, certified check, or wire. Those funds are held in a trust account at the closing company, typically the escrow firm, until closing. Upon closing, those funds are applied towards closing costs or refunded in the event a purchase and sale contract terminates. There are other scenarios but for sake of argument we'll not venture down that path.

As times change and new technology disrupts the real estate industry, the process of selling a home has become more complex and what once was customary isn't so much.

Whether you're a first time seller or just haven't sold a home in a few years, there is always something new and in the 10 Things to Know when Selling a Home, we'll cover many of these items and how homeowners should prepare themselves and their home.

What are quick home search links and how are they used to find homes? For a bit of background, our website is designed to show case properties in the area we serve.

The Home page, www.BarnettAssociates.net, is about Snohomish County as a whole and additional pages have been created for each of the County's cities and town.

If you're looking in Bothell, Mill Creek, Snohomish, Stanwood, and/or other cities/towns then just place the desired city's name at the end of the domain. Here you'll find the City Page.

Example: www.BarnettAssociates.net/Marysville

For this email, we'll keep looking at Marysville and see what Quick Links are available and how they make property searching simple.

Interested in learning how to find the best real estate deals when housing is scarce? Then continue on.

Housing inventory continues to decline in Snohomish County and if trends stay consistent then competition from other buyers might be twice as fierce this spring/summer.

So, how are buyers going to find the best real estate deals?

Is it a good time to sell a home in Snohomish County? Yes. It is a great time to sell properties in Snohomish County and that is not just a advertising ploy. Year over year, Snohomish County continues to experience extremely low inventory levels during the winter months and into early spring.

Being that we're well into 2018, lets visit residential inventory levels, over the last four years, to see when the ideal time to list a property is in its given city.

*Statistics are pulled from the Northwest MLS and look at just Residential properties.

Housing Inventory for Snohomish County

As of December 2017 there were 8,389 active properties listed for sale. Nearly half of January 2013's inventory of 16,419 properties and the least amount of properties for sale in the last 4 years.

Back in October 2017, we obtained access to our Lake Stevens rental after a 12-year occupying tenant vacated.

The home has gone through a major transformation from then. Briefly, the home has seen flooring removal, kitchen removal, some drywall removal/replacement, dump runs, drywall fixing, texture, PVA, and paint primer. Hit play and watch the progress with the latest video being the first up.

There are still more to come so please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for more videos, comment with any questions, or share your thoughts with us. Enjoy and happy investing.

5 bedrooms homes are challenging to come by and we've just listed a move-in ready Eagle Heights home this week. The below videos are a drone video paired with still images and a 360 video that takes you from room-to-room. Remember to pan the screen or rotate to see the entire view.

Property Page: http://www.barnettassociates.net/property/1158795/

More about Eagle Heights

Eagle Heights is a DB Johnson & Cornerstone Homes neighborhood built in 2004 (Phase I) and 2012 (Phase II) located on the northside of 172nd and near SR 9. The neighborhood is well kept, maintained, and pleasing to drive into and live in due to spacious sidewalks and multiple parks and picnic areas.

Drone Video

On June 17th & 18th, the Museum of Flight invited us to their 2017 Drone-stravaganza to share knowledge and our business's use of drones within the real estate industry. It was a great honor to be invited by a respected local organization, meet and talk with all the wonderful folks who stopped by our table to ask questions, check out the Phantom and GoPro, watch our videos and to the enter the GoPro Giveaway.

If there are still remaining questions, please feel free to email Toby.

Here are our pictures taken from the event which turned out not to be many.