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By: Melissa Dittmann Tracey

Find out what designers say, and consumer surveys show are becoming tiresome trends in the home.

Every year, there are new and evolving home design fads that should “scare” you to death. Last year, there were moss-covered accent walls (gasp!), acrylic furniture (shriek!) and Tuscan-style kitchens (yelp!). This year, it’s the “cloffice”—a pandemic-era closet-turned-office—and many others. With Halloween around the corner, Styled Staged & Sold presents its annual countdown of the top 10 home trends of 2022 that are haunting our nightmares.

10. The classic farmhouse look

Many designers have called for the modern farmhouse trend to be put…

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Led by Sammamish at No. 12, five towns in the Seattle metro area ranked among the top 100 Best Small Cities in America, according to a recent analysis by WalletHub.

WalletHub compared more than 1,300 cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 across five metrics, including affordability, economic health, education and health, quality of life and safety. The cities were also compared across 43 livability indicators, including housing costs, quality of school systems and number of restaurants per capita. 

Sammamish was No. 12 overall among the 1,300 cities measured, finishing 30th for safety, 75th for education and health, 89th for economic health and 183rd for affordability. 

Redmond was No. 21 on the list, boosted by its ranking of…

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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!

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…

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As real estate and real estate-related companies continue to cut their workforces, it's become clear that it's no mirage -- the housing market is indeed cooling. Another sign? The real estate giant Redfin has experienced a nearly 92% drop in stock value since last year.

While homes are still more expensive today than they were before COVID-19 changed the world, demand is slowing, and prices are dropping. Redfin recently released data showing which markets are cooling at the fastest rate. What was a seller's market is quickly flipping to a buyer's market in these areas of the country:

Rank

Metro Area

Median Sale Price

1

Seattle, Washington

$774,950

2

Las Vegas,…

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You may be aware of a new rule change from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service regarding “Offering” a Buyer’s Agent Compensation (We no longer use the term Commission). While it’s a confusing topic for both consumers and real estate agents alike, The Cascade Team has put together some Questions and Answers on the topic.

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

“Fair” is whatever you and the agent decide is fair, and just as you are not under any obligation to pay more than you want, the agent is not under any obligation to do business with you if they are not going to earn what they expect.

The Cascade Team will charge a total of 2% compensation to sell your home if the buyer comes unrepresented.

This includes full…

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Ben Luthi

The real estate market has two opposing sides: buyers, who want to keep their costs low, and sellers, who want to maximize their profits. Depending on the inventory of available housing, one of those sides might have bigger advantages — and greater bargaining power — than the other. Understanding the difference between a buyer’s market and a seller’s market can be tied back to one of the fundamental laws of economics: supply and demand.

What is a buyer’s market?

When there is a surplus of homes and low demand for them, you’re in a buyer’s market. Prices tend to go down in these conditions, because there’s less competition. Additionally, homes are likely to stay on the market for longer, putting pressure on sellers to…

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After a tumultuous summer for real estate, autumn is nearly here. As of mid-September, the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average is hovering just north of 6 percent, and skyrocketing home prices are finally starting to drop, and in some area literally tumble.

Here are our prediction on which directions the housing market will head in as the leaves start to change.

The Housing Market Is About to Be Hammered

That’s a tough opening statement and it’s meant to get your attention. Here is how the pros back that up.

The market seems to be cooling dramatically, and Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence for ATTOM Data Solutions, says the signs are undeniable. Case in point: July marked the seventh consecutive month…

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The 30-year fixed-mortgage rate topped 6% for the first time since 2008 in the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ended Sept. 9. 

Mortgage applications declined 1.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week, the MBA said, citing its Market Composite Index, while the association’s Refinance Index slid 4% week over week and 83% year over year. 

“Higher mortgage rates have pushed refinance activity down more than 80% from last year and have contributed to more homebuyers staying on the sidelines,” MBA associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting Joel Kan said in a press release. “Government loans, which tend to be favored by first-time buyers, bucked this trend and increased…

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Covering housing news and more. Our informative and locally based real estate news blog will feature the latest housing statistics for Sammamish and Issaquah as well as information on the housing market shift, mortgage rates and local information that affect your home, commute and the area you live in. 

We’ll dive deep into the stats and strive hard to provide detailed analysis that is helpfully while also being easy to understand.

If you ever have a question or suggestion we’re here. Just reach out to us and let us know and we’ll be happy to answer!

CONTACT HERE

The Cascade Team Real Estate

 

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Check out some of our most current stories…

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  •          Pending sales drop nearly 22% from a year-ago
  •          Closings were down about 24% from a year ago
  •          Economist Gardner expects prices will soften.
  •          trend toward a more balanced market.
  • Mortgage rates are at their highest level since the Great Recession, according to data released by Freddie Mac Thursday, as housing affordability continues to slump.
  • The 30-year fixed mortgage rate is now 5.89%, according to Freddie Mac, up from 5.66% last week and 2.88% at this time last year.
  • Mortgage rates are now at their highest since November 2008, when Freddie Mac reported a 6.04% 30-year rate.
  • Mortgage rates have climbed as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to tame inflation.

Surprising Fact

 The…

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