Northstone Real Estate Inc.

Determining The Right Price To Offer

Brian Leavitt, Designated Broker — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:18:59 +0000

There are a number of things to consider in determining the right amount to offer on your new home. First of all let’s assume that you’ve done your homework and have been looking at homes and getting educated to the market. One of the biggest benefits of getting educated is you will have the ability [...]

Top 10 Ways For Buyers to Find Homes In A Seller’s Market

Brian Leavitt, Designated Broker — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:52:41 +0000

Last week I shared about our shift into a seller’s market. One of the things that has driven this shift is the surprisingly low inventory for this time of year. An obvious problem this creates for buyers is the difficulty in finding homes to choose from. As the market action index below shows, we have moved [...]

Top 10 Things You Can Do To Get Your Offer Accepted

Brian Leavitt, Designated Broker — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 21:18:22 +0000

Yesterday I wrote about our market moving into a seller’s market. The market data indicates that we are in a seller’s market but the activity on my listings tells an even more compelling story.

This photo is me preparing to meet with the seller and present the 12 offers I received last Sunday on my [...]

Market shift is underway

Brian Leavitt, Designated Broker — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 19:53:21 +0000

With inventory low and buyer interest high I am seeing a surprising increase in the number of showings and offers on my listings. Last Friday I listed a beautiful home in Lake Ridge in Klahanie and was stunned to see buyers literally lined up to the street.

This is [...]

Home Searches Up 253%

Brian Leavitt, Designated Broker — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 01:45:56 +0000

The Association of Realtors reports online home searches are up 253% in the last four years. More buyers are turning to internet resources than ever before which are bringing about interesting changes in the overall process of buying a home. It was not very long ago [...]

Seattle ninth-best U.S. market for home sellers and Sammamish friendliest city

Brian Leavitt, Designated Broker — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:07:38 +0000

Zillow reports that home sellers in only eight other U.S. cities have more leverage than Seattle home sellers while Forbes says Sammamish is the friendliest city in the United States. Perhaps Seattle sellers should consider buying in Sammamish. I can help them with that!

Seattle ninth-best U.S. market for home sellers: Report – Puget [...]

Great News for Distressed Home Owners

Brian Leavitt, Designated Broker — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:42:09 +0000

I just heard from Ed McFerran at MBS Law that the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 has been extended by Congress. What this means is that if Congress had not extended the relief act homeowners would have to start paying income tax on the portion of their mortgage that is forgiven in a [...]

Landlording can be risky business

Brian Leavitt, Designated Broker — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 14:56:56 +0000

Great article on the importance of tenant screening on income properties. In my experience the single most important aspect of being a landlord is effectively screening tenants to make the right choice. One of the tools I utilize is a credit decision matrix. If you would like a copy of the matrix please contact me, [...]

Stunned Home Buyers Find the Bidding Wars Are Back – WSJ.com

Brian Leavitt, Designated Broker — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:17:44 +0000

In the last two weeks I have had three listings with multiple offers. It still seems to be a buyers market and that is waht the data indicates. Prices have not increased but it looks a lot like a shift is beggining. It looks like a lot of new inventory is going to be arriving [...]

Monthly Home Sales Report for the Eastside

Dan Edwards — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:17:05 +0000

March 2012 Homes Sales Report for King County & Cities of Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Issaquah and Sammamish. March of 2012 King County closed sales were up 10.5% from March 2011 (2082 vs 1885) . The Eastside showed some very strong numbers as well with closed sales. Closed sales were up 14.8% (715 vs 623) The [...]