Stacy Looks at the Best July...EVER

Millennials, military families and relocating workers fueled the best July ever. J. Lennox Scott of John L. Scott succinctly summed it up: “The Puget Sound housing market is sizzling hot, with the best July on record.” The median sales prices...
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Bill Looks at Bubbles. Again

Quietly, almost secretly, real estate professionals are whispering about bubbles again. An article by Michael Munro suggests that Canada – – over fueled by Chinese investment, soaring finance markets and oil prices – – might be approaching a crash of...
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La’Cee Looks at Outdoor Living Spaces

John Burns identified outdoor spaces as a desirable feature in new homes. Duh! MainVue brought this concept to our market a few years ago, and now everyone is integrating it into their homes. Comfortable and useable outdoor spaces expand the...
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Paul Looks at Rental Homes

There are cranes everywhere, as one cleverly named apartment complex after another springs to life. But John Burns makes the interesting case that single-family rental homes (roughly 1 out of 9) are growing faster than apartments. There are currently 15.1...
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La’Cee Thanks Dave Mitchell

Nationally known speaker Dave Mitchell did double duty a few weeks back when he spoke to our TeamBuilder group in the morning and a New Home Council event in the afternoon. His mission, he says, is “to provide thought provoking...
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Bill Looks at the Ben Kinney Empire

So how high will local entrepreneur Ben Kinney soar? The Bellingham real estate agent now owns seven Keller Williams offices, a bunch of real estate and is currently completing the purchase of ActiveRain from Zillow. ActiveRain is a social networking...
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La’Cee Loves Modern Styling

Does anybody out there besides me read Dwell magazine? I love it. It unabashedly promotes contemporary ideas and homes. For example, at www.dwell.com today I looked at this neat walkway that unites a modern addition to an existing abode. Neat...
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Stacy Looks at the Next 15 Years

This great chart from John Burns Consulting leads them to predict that household formations will boom over the next 15 years. Burns says we will need in excess of 1.5 million homes per year to meet the growing demand for...
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La’Cee Looks at a Great Event This Thursday

Join the New Home Council and HomeStreet Bank this Thursday when Dave Mitchell will present a three clock-hour class at Efeste Winery from 2 – 5PM. The fun part? Dave matches your own personality to a specific wine that is...
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Bill Looks at Small Apartments

Of the 214,000 apartments delivered in 2014, 36% (96,000) were less than 1,000 square feet. In the West, 42% of new apartments were under 1,000 square feet. In Seattle, 700 or so Micro-Apartments, less than 200 square feet, have surfaced...
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Bill Welcomes Jill Thomas and T3

Jill Thomas has joined TeamBuilder by launching a new resale division named The Thomas Team, or T3. Jill comes to us with a remarkable background in the broadcast industry. Combined with the strong business model and the training Keller Williams...
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Bill Looks at Strip Malls in a Positive Light?

I hate it when well-presented opinions challenge my perceptions. An online article by Richard Reep, an architect with VOA Associates, Inc., spends a thousand words or so praising the virtues of sameness in American architecture! To quote: “Our current urbanized...
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Paul Looks at Quill Realty

Quill Realty recently announced they were withdrawing from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service in order to “offer broker services to sellers who want to avoid the cost of a cooperating broker.” How will Quill compete? By putting its listings on...
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Bill Looks at New CFPB Nonsense

How could a new Federal agency named the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have any chance of being a good thing? Not to mention the clunky initials – CFPB – they are trying to brand themselves with. Anyway, this new set...
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La’Cee Loves the Charity House at Sugarloaf

Developer Tom Barghausen and MainVue president Vanessa Normandin, along with their valued vendors, have partnered with KING-TV to donate 100% of all sales proceeds from the Charity House to Children’s Hospital Research Institute. The home is over 4,000 square feet...
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Paul Looks at Luma Opening

Luma on First Hill has released its initial pricing and will begin taking offers on the first of June. It appears the entire building has been released. They are looking at a 2016 completion. Good hunting to the sales team...
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