The Cascade Team Blog - Agent Tips

What Is Your Home Really Worth?

Did you know that Zillow can be up to 15-20% inaccurate in this market?

Whether you are looking for the value of your existing home or for the new home you are looking for purchase, The Cascade Team Market Snapshot will provide you with actual active and sold MLS home information so you'll have "real" housing market data at your fingertips. If you are interested in purchasing in a specific area, this information will show you the active homes in the market, price trends and close values on homes that have sold, allowing you to do a comparative analysis of real estate and homes for sale in that area.  Stay up to date and have information your neighbors don't have!

We looked at the data on thousands of offers agents for The…

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What is a “Fair” amount to pay for real estate commission?

Fact: Real estate brokers’ commission rates are not regulated in any state and are ALWAYS 100% negotiable.

When you decide to sell your house, if you are like most people, you will want to hire — or at least consider hiring — a real estate agent to handle the process.

Surprisingly, many people think that real estate brokerage commission rates are “set” in their area and they have to pay a specific percentage of the sales price to the agent in order to get their services. This is absolutely not the case.  In fact, you can pay whatever you and the agent have agreed upon.

What is a “Fair” amount to pay for real estate commission?

Many people hear the word “discount” company instead of a “traditional” company but (actually, since commissions…

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King County Homeowners Hit With Up To 21 Percent Increase In Property Tax Bill

If you're one of those homeowners who winces a little bit when the property tax bill comes in the mail -- get ready. Preliminary numbers point to a double-digit percentage increase in property taxes when the bill arrives later this month. In addition prices in King County are expected to climb by over 10% again for 2018.

King County will be higher than last year’s by an average of nearly 17 percent, Assessor John Wilson says.  And the bump will cost the owner of a median-valued county home about $700, according to Wilson, who says the state’s new school-funding plan is the main reason.

He says the plan created in response to the state Supreme Court’s landmark McCleary decision will be responsible for about two-thirds of King County’s hike.

…

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Issaquah Highlands Housing Market Update 2018

Did you see our latest mailer? Find the answers you're looking for below!

2017 was a record year for The Issaquah Highlands. Some sections of the housing market increased by nearly 30% with the over-all price for a home increasing just under 18% for the year. Take a look at an in-depth review of The Issaquah Highlands market from the number 1 listing brokerage in the Issaquah Highlands and see where the housing market has grown, the highest priced SOLD home, the home that went the MOST over asking price, and also get an idea of what to expect in 2018.

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Important Wire Fraud Alert for Home Buyers and Sellers and Their Agents

Attention Real Estate Brokers: Buyers and Sellers are targets for wire fraud and many have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars because they simply relied on the wire instructions received via email.

A hacker may break into a real estate licensee’s email account to obtain information about upcoming real estate transactions. After monitoring the account to determine the likely timing of a close, the hacker may send an email to the buyer, posing either as the escrow agent or as the licensee. The fraudulent email may contain new wiring instructions or routing information, and request that the Buyer send funds accordingly.

With scammers increasingly targeting real estate transactions, the National Association of REALTORS® is teaming up with the…

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Why 2018 Is The Right Time To Buy A Home (But You Need To Hurry!)

Trying to decide when to plunge into the real estate market can be quite intimidating—especially when prices are high, choices are limited, and history urges restraint.

Locally we’ve seen two or three years of what could be considered unprecedented levels of price appreciation, as well as an inventory shortage that resulted in a record-low number of homes for sale across Western Washington.

See: 2018 Real Estate Market Trends - Seattle Area Prices Continue Upward March

If there’s one thing most early forecasters agree on, it’s that home prices will continue to rise. Where they differ however, is how much they will rise.

The median price of a home across the Seattle metro area has now soared 80 percent since bottoming out five years ago,…

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REAL ESTATE’S NEW MARKET REALITY

Today was the 1st day of classes for the "New Market Reality" course. Thank you to everyone who could attend and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone signed up for tomorrow as well!

Not that long ago, real estate agents were in the business of providing information. In fact, you can probably remember a time when all real estate professionals did—the only value we thought we had—was giving information.

What’s for sale, what’s on the market, what’s the pricing of similar homes, etc.

Back then, to protect our value, we locked away this information in a fortress called the MLS. If any person outside of the real estate business tried to reach into our fortress and grab a slice of that data, we were trained, like guardians outside the gates, to…

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Spokane: Managing Broker & Agent Positions: $200k+: Are You Ready To Elevate Your Career?

The Cascade Team Real Estate is  looking for a dynamic Managing Brokers and Broker/Agents for Spokane.

We have closed over 300 Spokane area transactions in the past 2 years and are looking for an aggressive leader to help build and manage the Team and take it to the next level of success!

As a Managing Broker you are provided with industry leading tools, training and support to help recruit new agents and prepare them for maximum success. The Cascade Team provides FULL marketing support which you can view HERE along with proprietary back-office lead management and lead generation systems are second to none, and we do more to help promote and sell homes than any other brokerage out there. You need a Managing Brokers License, and good…

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It’s All About Inventory: “Exceptionally Low” Inventory Results In Steep Price Hikes Around Greater Seattle Region.

KIRKLAND, Washington (January 5, 2018) – The year 2017 may be in the books and for many members
of Northwest Multiple Listing Service it was a memorable one with December’s activity being no
exception. Brokers reported historic lows for inventory and year-over-year price gains in most areas.

1. Historic lows for inventory
2. Inventory down 19 percent
3. Lowest level of homes for sale in a decade
4. King County prices up nearly 16%
5. System wide prices up 11.4%

“I’ve never seen inventory this low in Kitsap County in 27 years,” remarked Northwest MLS director
Frank Wilson, branch managing broker at John L. Scott Real Estate in Poulsbo. That county’s number of
active listings last month plunged nearly 40 percent from year-ago levels.

At month…

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Do You Have The Courage and Fearlessness to Elevate Your Business in 2018?

Establishing purpose, fearlessness, and determination.

When you look at businesses across the real estate industry, you see the ones that succeed all share a common trait: they have purpose. The idea of establishing purpose is absolutely critical to any entrepreneur’s journey if they plan to grow their business. Without knowing what you want and why you want it, you can’t formulate the goals you need to achieve in order to succeed.

Courage is refined, renewed and revealed in ordinary everyday living. Courage is never the preserve of the heroes or the powerful. The choice to choose courage for daily living is life-altering. How about choosing the word “courage” as your daily word for 2018?

Now is the time to start setting the “Table” for your…

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