Real Estate Market Update Updated August 3, 2022 We felt a shift maybe eight weeks ago, due to much higher interest rates. I was looking at the Tacoma single-family home sales for July and comparing them with May, interested to know how the numbers compare to our actual experience and what we think is happening since the shift... Read More »
Some Tacoma buyers recently found a house they loved and got it under contract subject to inspection. The inspector said it was a creampuff (a 100 year old creampuff) but he later emailed a list of scary-sounding findings in his report. The foundation showed signs of settling, the roof was nearing the end of its useful life, etc. There were... Read More »
ADUs On May 1 the City of Tacoma began allowing detached accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on residential properties. These are also known as in-law apartments and granny flats. The purpose is to address housing choice and affordability. Should you build one? The short answer is that it depends on your intended use. Portland Already Allows ADUs An agent friend in... Read More »
Online Home Valuations There is temptation to think the future has arrived; that we are in a new and glorious age where computers can think for us; a world in which an algorithm can pinpoint your one true soulmate out of a crowd of singles. But there is much computers simply cannot do, such as account for hyperbole and fabrication... Read More »
The Future has the Best Realtors Here’s Why The Days Of Pushy Real Estate Agents Are Numbered Stereotypical pushy real estate agents give the profession a bad name. Agents often get portrayed in fiction as slick, schlocky or manipulative. Buyers and sellers are leery about running into this type of character at open houses or when calling prospective agents... Read More »
Spying on Buyers We have occasionally plotted out offers with our buyers while still inside the home. Seated comfortably at the seller’s kitchen table, those conversations likely included sensitive information like how much our client was willing to pay. It was fine – the sellers were not listening. And speaking of sellers not listening, buyers sometimes critique a seller’s... Read More »
Why should you be negotiating toward win-win? I was recently quoted in an article on negotiating entitled Top 15 Real Estate Negotiation Strategies from the Pros. I enjoyed seeing the ideas from other contributors. For starters, I think it is important that the term “win-win” jumps out a lot from this set of ideas. Why is that a big deal?... Read More »
Show Me The Money! Cash offers… Some people just don’t understand what makes cash attractive to home sellers. Consider these stories. A man recently made a verbal cash offer on one of our Tacoma home listings. He didn’t merely want to close the sale with cash; this guy wanted to bring the seller a suitcase full of money in person... Read More »
Is Home Staging a Good Bet? It is impossible to quantify the payoff of staging. Each experiment tests only one course of action, because either the house was staged or it wasn’t. We are left to gut feel. Did this staged house sell for more than it otherwise might have? 94% of agents polled by the National Association... Read More »
by Tom Hume An open house visitor once approached David to warn that another guest upstairs was looking through a jewelry box. David ran up to the bedroom to confront the man who quickly closed his hand to conceal something. David asked the man what he was doing. “N… Nothing,” the man stammered. “Do you have something in your hand?”... Read More »
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