Home purchasers seeking to stand out in competitive housing markets should consider a mortgage professional based in the area.

Don’t discount the benefits of shopping local—even for a mortgage professional.

In tight housing markets where bidding wars are common, buyers who need financing can strengthen their offers by working with a locally based mortgage broker or loan officer, real-estate agents and lenders say. “Getting a local person helps you over certain humps—it just really does,” said Laura Hodgson, a real-estate agent with The Cascade Team , who works in The Greater Seattle Area, and keeps a list of trusted mortgage pros on her website HERE.

Agents want to work with buyers whose lenders know the local market and have a record of…

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 Help us Brighten a Child's Life!

Drop Off Locations Are

April 28th
• Sammamish QFC -- 2902 228th Ave SE, Sammamish, WA 98075 – 10am to 2pm
• Klahanie QFC -- 4570 Klahanie Dr SE, Issaquah, WA 98029 – 10am to 3pm 
• Bothell QFC -- 18921 Bothell Way NE, Bothell, WA 98011 – 11am to 1pm 
• North Bend QFC -- 460 E North Bend Way, North Bend, WA 98045 – 12pm to 4pm 
• Newcastle QFC -- 6940 Coal Creek Pkwy SE, Newcastle, WA 98059 – 12pm to 4pm 
• Bellevue QFC -- 10116 NE 8th St, Bellevue, WA 98004 – 10am to 2pm
• Mill Creek QFC -- 10116 NE 8th St, Bellevue, WA 98004 – 10am to 2pm
• Snoqualmie Ridge Safeway -- 34828 SE Douglas St, Snoqualmie, WA 98065 10am to 1pm
• Issaquah Highlands Wells Fargo Bank -- 1527 Highlands Dr NE, Issaquah, WA 98029 10am to…

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A basic beginner's explanation for our soaring home prices in King County: There are a lot more people searching for homes, and far fewer homes available for them to buy.

There just aren’t enough homes for sale.

The number of homes on the market is at a low point for records that date back to 2000, despite the big increase in population over that span.

King County had only about 2,000 homes (single-family and condo) for sale last month. During the average month of March over the last two decades, the region had more than 7,800 homes for sale — nearly four times as many.

You may think homeowners would want to cash out: The average homeowner across the metro area who sells today has owned the home for about 10 years and makes a 64…

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Great class today at The Cascade Team main office in Issaquah. Over 30 Brokers today took the Core Curriculum class which was instructed by Larry Christensen, and which was fully paid for by The Cascade Team in order to ensure that our Brokers are always on the forefront of the ever-changing world or real estate. 

Phil Mazzaferro from Absolute Mortgage thank you for kicking off the morning with some of the biggest donuts "Janet" has ever seen and also for sharing some news on several exciting new loan programs offered by Absolute!

 

MLO-45204

Senior Mortgage Advisor
Absolute Mortgage
phil@absoluteloans.com | www.eastsideabsolute.com
Cell: (206)947.9020 | Fax: (425) 313-9858

COURSE CONTENT

Topic Area I Legislative Update
Objective 1…

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For the 13th year, The Cascade Team is once again hosting Project Crayon Drive this April! For the young who find themselves at Seattle Children’s Hospital, sometimes the simple things like a coloring book and a few crayons can be as soothing as the trained staff and smiling doctors. Yet, something as simple as crayons often goes overlooked. Each year, Children’s Hospital goes through over 240,000 crayons, but each child only gets a couple to use.

And that’s where The Cascade Team — in partnership with the Children’s Hospital Guild Association and several area merchants — comes in. Throughout the month of April, agents from The Cascade Team will be walking neighborhoods and spreading the word about Project Crayon Drive.

Last year, we collected…

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In Seattle — home appreciation exceeded the median household income over the past year.

  • Home values in Seattle have been appreciating more than 3.5 times faster per working hour than the cities’ minimum wage workers earn.
  • In Seattle, the typical homeowner is gaining $54.24 of equity in their home every hour they’re at the office. The city’s hourly minimum wage is $15.00.
  • The typical U.S. homeowner is gaining $7.09 of equity in their home every working hour, $0.16 less than federal minimum wage.

The rapid pace of home value appreciation over the past year may present homeowners in Seattle with an interesting dilemma: Why work a 9-5 slog, when you can sit back and collect substantial hourly home equity “earnings” instead?…

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