FREE Smart-Home Checklist

The growing number of smart-home devices in houses has begged the question of security. These devices can be particularly vulnerable to hackers who may want to break in to home owners' private networks.

In response, the Online Trust Alliance recently created a "smart-home checklist," which provides consumers with information to increase the security and privacy of their home. For example, homes that use smart apps and devices to monitor security, temperature, and lighting are collecting personal information about the home owner.

"Although we enjoy the benefits of a connected lifestyle, we must not lose sight of the risks a smart home may pose to our privacy and physical safety," says Craig Spiezle, president and executive director of the Online…

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Real Estate Market Update Nov 2015: Real Estate Brokers Expect Only a Modest Holiday Slowdown

• Prices up 7.3% YOY
• Pending Transactions up 7.8%
• Closed Sales up over 7%
• Only 1.29 Months of Inventory for King County
• 2015 is Busiest October in 10 Years
  

Real estate brokers expect only a modest holiday slowdown, saying strong economy, low inventory make this year "different"

KIRKLAND, Washington (November 5, 2015) – With holidays approaching, real estate brokers usually expect a slowdown as buyers and sellers shift their attention elsewhere. "This year is different," say some industry leaders.

"Today we have one of the best markets we’ve ever seen for sellers," observed Ken Anderson, managing broker and owner at Coldwell Banker Evergreen in Olympia. "Buyers are still surging to the market and…

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Top 5 Home Features That Buyers Are Searching For This Fall

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

Whether you’re getting prepared to buy a new home or just curious about upcoming trends in housing, there are a bevy of features gaining momentum on the real estate market. From top to bottom and room to room, here are five popular features that homebuyers will be sure to notice this fall.

Bigger Is Not Necessarily Better

There was a time when a bigger home meant a better home, but with the cost of maintenance and heating, bigger homes are experiencing a decline in popularity. Instead of sizeable mansions that look the part, buyers are becoming more interested in houses that are more economical to maintain and…

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Halloween Fun Facts From The Cascade Team

• "Halloween" is short for "Hallows' Eve"  which was the evening before All Hallows' Day celebrated on November 1.
• Ireland is typically believed to be the birthplace of Halloween.
• The word "witch" comes from the Old English wicce, meaning "wise woman." In fact, wiccan were highly respected people at one time. According to popular belief, witches held one of their two main meetings on Halloween night.   
• According to Irish legend, Jack O'Lanterns are named after a stingy man named Jack who, because he tricked the devil several times, was forbidden entrance into both heaven and hell.  He was condemned to wander the Earth, waving his lantern to lead people away from their paths.
• According to tradition, if a person wears his or her clothes…

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Terror At Trossachs - Halloween Night in Sammamish (2015)

Please join the Terror At Trossachs team this Saturday for some fun on Halloween Night, October 31st from 6:00 until 8:30.

The Haunted Graveyard “Terror At Trossachs” will feature several good scares, live actors in costume and animatronic characters full of mischif…. With FULL size candy bars as a reward at the end for those brave enough to make it to the front door!

There is no charge for the event and it’s open to all ages (Though there are some pretty intense scares so little ones should be ready).

Canned goods are gladly accepted if you would like to donate. All donations will go to NW Harvest. While we celebrate being scared on this night, there is nothing more scary than being hungry and your donations are greatly appreciated. Several…

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Top 10 Cities Where You’re Most Likely to Find a Haunted House

Who believes in ghosts, anyway? But then again, there you are: alone, in the dim, waning hours of night, listening to that odd, undefinable rustling, whimpering noise right outside your bedroom window, and—wait a minute! Is that noise coming from inside the house?

IT’S INSIDE THE HOUSE! 

OK, well let’s just say that anyone can have their doubts.

And there are some places that just lend themselves naturally to ghost sightings and big-time scares. The sites of major, high body-count battlegrounds, for example. Or cities festooned with large, ancient cemeteries, or perhaps those with an abandoned mental asylum or two. So who you gonna call to separate the vaguely creepy from the downright haunted? The Cascade Team, that’s who!

Our fearless…

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Sammamish Ranked The 39th Best Suburb in America by Business Insider

39. Sammamish, Washington

Population: 47,766

Great Schools score: 8 

With an official motto of "Building Community Together," the city of Sammamish in King County, Washington, is as friendly as it gets. The unemployment rate is a low 5%, the median household income is $143,919, and, according to Forbes, the city's crime rate is approximately 90% lower than the national average.   

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Spooky Real Estate Stories

www.TerrorAtTrossachs.com

We asked Real Estate Brokers and Agents from around the country for there best "Spooky Real Estate Experiences", but we didn’t want such great stories to disappear like ghosts in the night. So, in preparation for Halloween, we thought you might like to read through some of these narratives. Here are a few that sent tingles down our spines (lightly edited for style, grammar, and length).

I had a home on the market that was built in the late 1700s. The seller was putting his mom’s former home on the market, and it was vacant. Every Monday morning, I noticed a drip line running from the countertop across the fireplace to a doorway in the kitchen. I cleaned it up about three times. Finally, I called someone in to take a…

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What Price Would You Consider Selling Your Home For?

Just Name Your Home's Selling Price

What would you consider selling your home for? 

Sign up to receive an alert if a buyer is interested.  We have many buyers out there looking and with a lack of inventory, we may just have a buyer for your home.  All it takes is 30 seconds to fill out the form below. To learn more about what we offer our home seller clients, CLICK HERE.

Results speak for themselves! See our Results HERE! 

Get A FREE Real Time Home Value Report From The Cascade Team! Just Click HERE

Home prices in…

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How to Zombie-Proof Your Home (Because You Never Know)

By Michael Y. Park

Yep, the zombies are back. And while we’re talking about the TV shamblers of “The Walking Dead” midseason premiere this Sunday, and not actual voodoo undead, it’s natural to make hypothetical plans for fortifying your home—just in case the human dead rise from their graves and wander the earth, feasting on the flesh of the living. Totally normal.

OK, it’s not all that normal, but it’s fun. But of course your spouse is freaking out when he or she sees you drawing up blueprints for a moat surrounding your house. And he or she has a good point: How much would zombie fortifications cost? And what would they do for the value of your home?

Well, let’s take a look. We’ll consider the most critical zombie-proofing…

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