Inland Northwest's Real Estate Adventure

So You are Moving….. Now What? You have decided to move and it is not fun for a lot of people. Here are a few things to think about to help remove some of the stress of the whole process.   Now, let’s get you and your family ready to leave. Here are a few things I have learned over my military career:  1.    Moving is the perfect time to declutter. If you are anything like me you have collected a few things. Take this opportunity to go thru stuff and decide if it is something you really need any more. A rule of thumb I have learned from my wife is if you haven’t used it in 6 six months or even knew you still had it then it may be time to part ways with it. Donate it, have a yard sale and use the money towards something fun on the trip or throw it out. 2.    If you are having movers pack your belongings up and move them to your destination, make sure you have about 1-2 weeks of work/school clothes. You never know if there will be a delay in ...

It was 24 June, 1994 the summer before my senior year of high school, when I started my career in the Washington National Guard as a M1 Tank Crewmember with C Co 1/303 rd Armor in Port Orchard, WA.   I went active duty 7 May, 1996 as an aircraft electrician; retired 30 September, 2016 and, as they say, the rest is history. Like most who serve on active duty I have been all over the world; parts I hope to see again and others I wish I could forget. I landed in Spokane for a job in July 2016 while on terminal leave. Since being here I have discovered so many things to do in Spokane.    Like basketball; We have Spokane Hoopfest, the largest 3on3 outdoor tournament anywhere.You into college basketball? We have Gonzaga University’s Men and Women’s basketball.Into baseball? We have the Spokane Indians a minor league affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Want to catch a Pro Sports game? Take a quick 1 hour flight or 6 hour drive to Seattle and see both the Seattle Seaha...

Shared from Keeping Current Matters Is The Recent Dip In Interest Rates Here To Stay? Interest rates for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage climbed consistently throughout 2018 until the middle of November. After that point, rates returned to levels that we saw in August to close out the year at 4.55%, according to  Freddie Mac’s  Primary Mortgage Market Survey . After the first week of 2019, rates have continued their downward trend. As  Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist  Sam Khater notes, this is great news for homebuyers. He states, “Mortgage rates declined to start the new year with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dipping to 4.51 percent. Low mortgage rates combined with decelerating home price growth should get prospective homebuyers excited to buy.” In some areas of the country, the combination of rising interest rates and rising home prices had made some first-time buyers push pause on their home searches. But with more inventory coming to mark...

The Best Time To List Your House? TODAY! You may have heard that the housing market is softening. There is no doubt that buyer traffic has decreased. There are fewer purchasers in the market than there were last month and at this time last year. What you may not have heard, however, is that there is still a severe shortage of listing inventory in many regions of the country. In a  recent interview  discussing the housing market,  First American’s Chief Economist  Mark Fleming put it simply: “The biggest challenge is really the availability of supply.” When we look at available inventory numbers released by the  National Association of Realtors  (NAR), we see that the actual number of homes for sale has decreased in each of the last five months. What does this mean to you as a seller? The best time to sell is when there is less competition. That guarantees you a better price and fewer hassles in the transaction. Bottom Line ...

Buying A Vacation Property? Now Is A Good Time! Every year around this time, many homeowners begin the process of preparing their homes in case of extreme winter weather. Some others skip winter all together by escaping to their vacation homes in a warmer climate. For those homeowners staying at their first residence,  AccuWeather  warns: “The late-week cold shot should fade next week, but this is a warning shot for winter’s return late in the month and early February.” Given this, it’s time to go and stock up on winter weather supplies! However, if you’re tired of shoveling snow and dealing with the cold weather, maybe it’s time to consider obtaining a vacation home! According to the  Investment & Vacation Home Buyers 2018 Report  by  NAR : “ 72% of vacation property owners and 71% of investment property owners believe now is a good time to buy .” It’s time to take advantage of the equity in your home. As the latest  Equity Report...

Why you shouldn’t “wait until spring” to buy a home! It will save you $$ and headache! Based on prices, mortgage rates and rising rents, there may have never been a better time to purchase a home than right now. Here are some reasons why you should consider buying now instead of when the Spring market hits. Price Increases  – The costs of building are continually going up. Especially if you are going to buy new construction this year, NOW is a way better time to do so before the builders raise their prices for the spring Market. If you are a first time buyer, you will probably pay more both in price and interest rate if you wait until the spring Mortgage Rates  – It is likely that you have heard about interest rates in the past year. The talk has been that they are going to keep rising little by little and most economists believe that when the spring market rolls around and our economy is still prosperous the interest rates are going to make significant increase ov...

Selling Your Home? Make Sure The Price Is Right! If you’ve ever watched  “The Price is Right,”  you know that the only way to win is to be the one to correctly guess the price of the item you want without going over! That means your guess must be just slightly under the retail price. In today’s shifting real estate market, where more inventory is coming to market and home values are projected to appreciate at lower rates, homeowners will not be able to price their homes as aggressively as they were able to just last year. They will have to employ the same strategy:  be the closest without going over! As we have explained  before , pricing your home at or slightly below market value actually increases the number of buyers who will see your home in their search! Over the last six months, more inventory has come to market while the months’ supply of inventory available has dropped. This means that the demand for homes to buy is still very strong througho...