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Timing the Market can put Money in your Pocket

We often see and hear news reports about the housing market and its continuing price increases. However, there is much more to the story. While prices generally increase throughout the year, those increases fluctuate throughout the year and can be very nuanced from neighborhood to neighborhood, even within the same city.

In some cases, just one month can mean a difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars. So, if you plan on selling, it may not necessarily be worth trying to “Time” the market for the end of school, especially if closing in April instead of June means an extra $200,000 or more!

Take, for example, the neighborhood of Trossachs located in Sammamish. Trossachs has just under 1,700…

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Find Your Home's True Equity

A Professional Equity Assessment Report (PEAR) is a custom evaluation of your home’s cash value. We can determine your home’s approximate equity by assessing your current mortgage and estimated selling price and deducting fees such as commissions, excise tax, and other closing costs. This report is a powerful tool for helping you make confident decisions about selling your home.

The truth is that the final numbers are more than just the sales price and remaining mortgage balance. Other factors such as capital gains tax, broker commissions, HELOC loans, prepayment penalties, special assessments, and escrow and lender fees play a part in this final number.

We’ll help you clearly understand your bottom line. All you…

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Buckle up for a bumpy ride as 2025 looks to have multiple twists and turns ahead.

  •         The housing market will keep shifting in 2025.
  •         The average home value rose by 9% annually.
  •         Expectations are for approximately a 5% increase in prices for 2025.
  •         Homebuying activity should pick up after a long slump, despite choppiness in mortgage rates.
  •         Housing inventory to start the year is the highest since 2020.
  •         Fewer bidding wars with normalizing housing supply.
  •         Interest rates to bounce around the mid 6% range.

Believe it or not, the housing market is still normalizing after the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past few years, the housing market has been — to put it in as simple of terms…

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When you think of the Zestimate, for many, it gives a false anchor for what the value actually is.

The Zestimate is just one of a slew of automated valuation models that are increasingly used by banks, investors, and laypeople to estimate the value of homes. No other model, however, has wormed its way into our culture like the Zestimate. The model, like other consumer-facing AVMs, is prone to errors that render it more of an amusement than a serious pricing tool. But while the algo's price-guessing skills may be suspect, it's undeniably elite at one thing: luring people to Zillow-dot-com.

The Zestimate is both everywhere and an enigma. About 104 million homes, or 71% of the US housing stock, have a little dollar figure hovering above them on…

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As the holiday season comes to a close and the decorations are carefully packed away, many homeowners find themselves contemplating new beginnings. The start of a new year is a time for fresh starts and resolutions, making it an ideal moment to consider selling your home. Here’s why preparing your home for sale right after the holidays can be a strategic move.

1. A Fresh Start for Buyers and Sellers

The new year often brings a renewed sense of motivation and determination. Many potential buyers are eager to start fresh, and the idea of moving into a new home aligns perfectly with their resolutions. As a seller, this is an opportunity to tap into that mindset by presenting your home as a fresh, inviting option for those looking to make a change.

…

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If you sell your home for a profit, the IRS considers this a taxable capital gain. This rule applies to all home sales, including vacation or investment properties. However, if you sell your primary residence, you may be able to exclude $250,000 of gain for individuals and $500,000 for married couples from your taxes. As a result, in most cases, it’s unlikely that you will owe taxes on the sale of your home. Here’s how it works.

Home Sale Exclusion

For the most part, the rules around real estate and capital gains don’t change based on the nature of the underlying property. If you sell a house and make money, that profit is considered a taxable capital gain. 

However, there is a broad exclusion for the sale of your primary residence. When you…

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At The Cascade Team, we're only scary to those "Over-Priced" brokerages. The only thing scarier than paying too high of a commission to sell your home… Is realizing that you don’t have too while getting even MORE service and support than most brokerages offer at a higher fee!

Cary Porter is the Founder and Owner of The Cascade Team Real Estate. With over 20 years' experience in the market Cary has a true passion for the Real Estate Industry, bringing the latest technology to the forefront, and is a big believer in and supporter of community service. Cary works alongside his son, Keenan Porter, and together truly go the "extra" mile their clients!

At The Cascade Team we understand first and foremost that it isn't about "Us". It's all about "You"!…

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Horror stories are unfortunately all too common in some HOA communities. In most neighborhoods, homeowners' associations are pretty chill and get things done for the residents. But unfortunately, other HOAs sometimes spiral out of control, with members flexing their power to fine, harass, and even sue homeowners over tiny infractions.

Read on for the worst HOA tales they've come across while working in the field

The “Slip”

"I slipped in my driveway and fell and broke my femur near my hip and couldn't get up. I was laying in my driveway calling for help for about 30 minutes and I could hear people walking past but nobody stopped for quite a while. I eventually asked someone to call an ambulance and got taken care of. Spent a few days in the…

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The truth is the only thing scarier than paying too high of a commission to sell your home… Is realizing that you don’t have too while getting even MORE service and support than most brokerages offer at a higher fee!

Discover how new commission rules can save you big money! Buyer agent commissions are now fully negotiable, and you are no longer beholden to paying a set commission to a buyer’s agent of 2.5% to 3% just to have them work against you negotiating down your price.

Buyer agents will have a Buyer Brokerage Services Agreement with their client guaranteeing them a certain commission. That commission can be negotiated as part of the offer and paid for as part of the seller’s proceeds, the buyer can pay their agent directly, or a…

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Valuations on Zillow, Redfin, Chase are all over the map, sometimes varying 20% or more — how these tools both help and hinder buyers in an unpredictable housing market

Despite all the data points crunched and algorithms used, the three biggies in the world of home valuation — Zillow, Redfin, and mortgage giant Chase — demonstrate so much disparity that you might think you were comparing a suburban McMansion to its humble tool shed out back.

Why are CMAs better than online estimators?

CMAs are in-person assessments performed by a local real estate agent, while online estimators rely on an algorithm.

Both CMAs and online estimators use recent comparable sales (“comps”) to determine your home’s value. But a realtor can handpick comps that…

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