The Cascade Team Blog - Agent Tips

Two VERY Important ? To Ask before Switching or Joining a Brokerage

        See Our Results                Ask These Questions                 Our Marketing Program          Free Home Value Analysis

As you look at brokerages to call home and build your real estate career, there are two very important questions you should always ask yourself. The answers to these questions are critical to the success of your career as a real estate professional.

• Does your real estate brokerage help you sell homes?

• OR
• Does your brokerage sell “things”to the real estate agents?

At most brokerages there is a split with the brokerage, then desk fees, transaction coordinator fees and on top of that either franchise fees, technology fees, or some legal defense fund you have to pay for. Then with what’s left it’s…

2289 Views, 0 Comments

Crazy Flooring Options Much Cooler Than Hardwood

In the world of home design, walls usually get all the attention. But we’ve found some wildly inspiring flooring ideas that’ll leave you looking down instead of up or out. Prepare to be floored — pun very much intended.

The point is, that swath of space hanging out down low doesn’t have to be forgettable — it’s as ripe for a bit of creative DIYing or incredible artwork as the walls around it.

Just check out the broken-glass tiled floor or the dare-you-to-step-here hungry crocodile floor mural. 

Redecorating-ready dreamers, start your Pinterest boards!

We would love to hear what your favorite design is! Just leave us a message on the blog comment section and we'll…

4370 Views, 1 Comments

Are we cusp of a housing market slowdown even as prices in most areas are still rising?

Housing market slowdown expected, but prices in most areas are still rising

KIRKLAND, Washington (October 5, 2015) – Scarce inventory, new rules for mortgage closings and affordability concerns will likely slow home sales around Western Washington during the remaining months of 2015 and into early 2016, according to spokespersons from Northwest Multiple Listing Service. 

The latest statistics from the MLS show a double-digit drop in inventory, a double-digit jump in closed sales, and a near double-digit increase in prices from a year ago, prompting one industry leader to say the trends aren’t sustainable. "We simply can’t sustain double-digit increases in sales when inventory levels continue to drop every month," remarked OB Jacobi, president…

2628 Views, 0 Comments

10 Lighhearted Facts About TRID

• TRID spelled backwards is DIRT

• On October 3rd 1789 George Washington designated the date of the first Thanksgiving

• TRIDactyl [trahy-dak-til] adjective, Zoology 1.having three fingers or toes, as certain reptiles.

• Title reps love talking T.R.I.D. Totally Ridiculous Illusions of Drama (sorry, couldn't resist)

• 10/3/2015 = .000165425971

• The first CD was a recording from 1979 of Claudio Arrau performing Chopin waltzes 

• OJ was acquitted on October 3rd (1995)

• TRID Wheels make excellent Frisbees

• Chubby's Checker and Gwen Stefanie's birthday's are both on October 3rd

• October 3rd in Polish is pazdziernik trzecia 

This lighthearted reminder is to reassure you that…

3371 Views, 0 Comments

Top 5 Real Estate Myths Debunked

Even if you’ve never bought or sold a home before, we’re willing to bet that you’ve heard of some of these popular Real Estate myths. They may have come from relatives, friends or even the media but like many facts floating around on the internet, they just aren’t true. So, here are the top 5 Real Estate Myths that most home owners believe, and why they are just plain wrong.

1. Your Renovations Will Always Pay Off

While most renovations will add value to your home in long run, there are some upgrades that could have the opposite effect, and these will have you wishing you never invested the money when it comes time to sell.

When it comes to adding value to your home it’s always best to stick with upgrading the most permanent and…

5498 Views, 1 Comments

How Safe is Sammamish?

Sammamish's overall rate of crime is sufficiently low that analysis shows the city to be one of the safest in both Washington and the nation. Sammamish's crime rate is just 6 per 1,000 people, which means that a person's chance of becoming a victim in Sammamish is one in 174. It is for these reasons that Sammamish is ranked as one of the top 100 safest cities in the U.S.A.

Additionally, after analyzing all cities and towns in America with a similar population size to Sammamish, and we found that the crime rate in Sammamish is one of the lowest in the nation for its size. This means Sammamish is one of the safest places in America in which to live for its size, a very important finding.

The crime data that we used for this analysis are the seven…

4512 Views, 0 Comments

The Cascade Team Experience: If you build it, they will come.

Sept 2015 | By Cary Porter

People often ask me, “What’s your business strategy?” In a nutshell: If you build it, they will come. By “they,” I mean everyone—sellers, buyers, brokers, and agents. And by “it,” I mean an online experience that gives consumers exactly what they’re looking for.

Let me back up a bit. I’m the broker/ co-owner of The Cascade Team Real Estate. We’ve been fortunate to experience growth through one of the worst real estate markets in U.S. history, and on to now where most markets are in full rebound with shortages of inventory. We went from $20 million in sales in 2006 to over $900 million in 2015, and today we have nearly 300 brokers and salespeople…

3212 Views, 1 Comments

Now Hiring: Receptionist/Transaction Assistant – The Cascade Team Real Estate

The Cascade Team Real Estate is now hiring for a Receptionist/Transaction Assistant position.

Please contact Allison Connor at 425-313-4752 or e-mail Allison@thecascadeteam.com

The Cascade Team Agents are Full Service. We are a real estate company like no other, because of the tools, service and savings we provide our clients with. We understand that in today's fast paced environment, we need to provide a high level of service, utilize technology to keep our clients up to date at all times and provide added value to both buyers and sellers in the transaction. By leveraging these technological tools, it allows our agents to focus more of their time to servicing our clients, and also provide the most comprehensive marketing program available. In…

3041 Views, 0 Comments

Listing Details on Over-Drive with SpyDoor

 Our newly updated Property Details tabs powered by SpyDoor have more information than ever before. Now you can truly dig deep into any community or listing.

From education levels, median income, employment levels down to job type and more the SpyDoor platform provides deep detail to a “Hyper-Local” level.

Quickly see occupancy rates, household cost compared to State and national levels and even all nearby schools.

See sample links HERE:

Community Info                                                                                                              School Info

Every listing on www.TheCascadeTeam.com will also now feature a SpyDoor Valuation.  As with any valuation system from Zillow to Housevalues.com…

3148 Views, 0 Comments

Introducing SpyDoor: Your Home’s Value/ Your Neighbor’s Home Value/ Any Home Down the Street

 Introducing SpyDoor; The Cascade Team’s Automated Valuation Solution  

1. The only home valuation tool to go “Hyper”-Local with communities as small as 10 homes. 
2. Blending fully integrated MLS Sold, Active and Pending data with Tax records and County Assessed values.
3. Ability to manually adjust values such as: # of Beds, Baths, sq ft, etc
4. Full demographics down to the Hyper Local level 
5. Pull school boundaries with regular updates from State and county websites.
   

Your Home’s Value/ Your Neighbor’s Home Value/ Any Home Down the Street

The Cascade Team has deployed a class of an Automated Valuation Model (AVM) that has stood the test of time. It employs both a Hedonic modeling approach and Market Comp approach yielding…

3194 Views, 0 Comments