first time buyers

buying a home, condominium speciaist, condominiums, first time buyers, real estate, rentals, Robin Myers/Condo Specialist

Rent vs. Buy – What Best Fits Your Current Lifestyle? Copy

There are definite advantages to owning a home, as a vehicle for building wealth and the security of owning a safe place to call home. Matthew Gardner, Windermere Real Estate’s Chief Economist, speaks to the advantages of owning a home in this short video. While most of us can agree with all the points in […]
buying a home, condominiums, economy, first time buyers, home property values, interest rates, real estate, selling a home, working from home

2021 Housing and Economic Update

Every year Matthew Gardner, Windermere’s Chief Economic, provides his forecast for the coming year. As always, he includes a variety of topics that relate to the national economy, housing trends, mortgage interest rates and home price appreciation. This year he also addresses the impact the 2020 pandemic had on the economy and housing and what […]
buying a home, economy, ELECTION, first time buyers, real estate, Robin Myers, selling a home, Windermere Real Estate

Post Election Housing Thoughts

How could a Biden administration impact real estate? Matthew Gardner, Windermere Real Estate’s Chief Economist, shares his thoughts.
buying a home, condominium speciaist, condominiums, first time buyers, real estate, Robin Myers, Windermere

New Construction, Existing Home Sales, Condos & Vacation/Resort Homes

Tight supply and increasing land/material/labor continue to contribute to rising home prices. Matthew Gardner, Chief Economist for Windermere Real Estate, shares his thoughts on builder confidence nationwide, evidenced by a dramatic increase in sales of new construction homes and permit applications. That continued buyer demand along with increasing construction costs are driving prices up. Sales […]

buying a home Rent vs. Buy – What Best Fits Your Current Lifestyle? Copy There are definite advantages to owning a home, as a vehicle for building wealth and the security of owning a safe place to call home. Matthew Gardner, Windermere Real Estate’s Chief Economist, speaks to the advantages of owning a home in this short video. While most of us can agree with all the points in […]

buying a home 2021 Housing and Economic Update Every year Matthew Gardner, Windermere’s Chief Economic, provides his forecast for the coming year. As always, he includes a variety of topics that relate to the national economy, housing trends, mortgage interest rates and home price appreciation. This year he also addresses the impact the 2020 pandemic had on the economy and housing and what […]

buying a home Post Election Housing Thoughts How could a Biden administration impact real estate? Matthew Gardner, Windermere Real Estate’s Chief Economist, shares his thoughts.

buying a home New Construction, Existing Home Sales, Condos & Vacation/Resort Homes Tight supply and increasing land/material/labor continue to contribute to rising home prices. Matthew Gardner, Chief Economist for Windermere Real Estate, shares his thoughts on builder confidence nationwide, evidenced by a dramatic increase in sales of new construction homes and permit applications. That continued buyer demand along with increasing construction costs are driving prices up. Sales […]

buying a home February NWMLS Real Estate Market Snapshot February statistics are in. Home prices, compared to February 2019, are up 9%. There’s less than a six week supply of available homes which is down 33% over the same time last year. Mortgage interest rates are historically low. Now is the time to maximize your home buying power. Open house traffic has been amazing. […]

Bellevue Affordable Housing in Bellevue? You might be surprised to find there are many affordable housing options close to downtown Bellevue. Apartments in the city are expensive and it’s likely the rent will increase each time the lease renews. The average monthly rent for a 2 bedroom apartment in downtown Bellevue is $3,250 or more per month (plus utilities). That’s […]

condominiums Open House Etiquette With real estate market activity picking up there will be more open houses to visit in the coming weeks. Are there rules of etiquette when visiting an open house? Common sense and courtesy should prevail, but it can be surprising what visitors think is acceptable when walking through someone else’s home. So what is OK, […]

Bellevue Eastside Condo Sales Activity As was true across the Puget Sound region, the inventory of available houses and condos for sale on the Eastside dropped dramatically in November. the median sales price was $900,000, up 2% over last year 20% of those homes sold above list price 45% of the homes sold in 15 days or less the Eastside […]

condo financing NEW FHA GUIDELINES OPEN OPPORTUNITIES FOR HOME BUYERS Condominiums are an important part of the housing market, especially for first time buyers. Often buyers have the income and credit score needed to purchase a home but lack a substantial down payment which can make entering the housing market prohibitive. In an effort to promote affordable homeownership for credit worthy buyers, the […]

condo financing NEW FHA LOAN GUIDELINES FOR CONDOMINIUMS BENEFIT BUYERS Condominiums are an important part of the housing market for first time buyers. Too often buyers have the income and credit score needed to purchase a home but lack an adequate down payment which can make entering the housing market prohibitive. In an effort to promote affordable and sustainable homeownership, especially among credit-worthy first […]

condominiums Home Search – What’s more important? Location or dream home updates? Seafair, vacations, weddings, sunny weather, back-to-school shopping – the month of August is filled with distractions that cause buyers to take a break from their summer home search. Local condominium and house inventory is up (though there’s hardly a glut of available inventory), making this a great time to take advantage of having more […]

condo financing Don’t Ignore Condo Resale Disclosure Documents In this fast paced, competitive real estate market, it’s common, in an effort to “win”, for buyers to waive contract conditions such as inspection, financing, appraisal, neighborhood review, etc. Buying a condominium is different than buying a house. With condominiums perhaps the most important contract condition in place to protect a buyer is the […]

Bellevue 2017 Local Real Estate Market Data The info-graphic above provides a quick look at 2017 King County real estate market statistics. nearly 3% more homes (condos and houses) sold in 2017 vs. 2016 the median sales price was up nearly 15% county-wide at the end of 2017 there was less than a one month supply of available homes a 4 – […]

Bellevue Buying a Home with Less than 20% Down It’s a common misconception that a minimum 20% down payment is required to purchase a home. Buyers, saving to put 20% down on a home purchase, could be missing the opportunity to buy a home, and instead are watching prices continue to escalate. There are excellent loan programs available with 5% or 10% down (even […]