Blog Posts

Comparison of a quitclaim deed and a warranty deed and when each is typically used

Do You Need a Lawyer to Add a Name to a Property Deed?

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A piece of paper that costs maybe forty dollars to file can hand away half of a $400,000 house. That’s the odd math of a property deed. One signature, one notary stamp and one trip to the county office, and a home’s ownership changes for good. A deed is the single most powerful document most … Continued
Comparison of an active termite infestation and past termite damage, including signs, lender treatment and disclosure

Can You Sell a House with Termites in It

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A termite colony eats wood around the clock, and it does the job quietly. Termites work from the inside out, where nobody notices until a baseboard crumbles under a thumb or a floor joist gives a little as you cross the hall. That’s the part that rattles sellers. By the time you find out, the … Continued
Most Affordable Places to Live in Washington

Affordable Washington Towns Where Home Prices Stay Low

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Drive four hours east of Seattle on I-90, and the price of a three-bedroom house drops by more than half. Same state, same statutes, very different numbers. I’ve bought houses from Grays Harbor to the Palouse, and the gap between our priciest and cheapest counties still surprises me every spring. Redfin put the Washington median … Continued
Can Medical Debt Take Your House in Washington

Can Medical Debt Cost You Your Home in Washington State

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About half of Washingtonians qualify for free or discounted hospital care under state law. The Attorney General’s Office puts that group at roughly 4 million people. Most of them pay the bill anyway, and in my years buying houses from sellers buried in medical debt, it’s almost always because nobody handed them the form. So … Continued
How to Sell Your House While Living in It

How to Sell Your House While Still Living There

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Six pairs of shoes by the front door. A dog crate in the dining room, a half-built Lego city on the coffee table, and a buyer’s agent knocking at ten on a Saturday morning. That’s a normal Saturday for a lot of Washington families with a sign in the yard, and it works fine. At … Continued
Can You Sell a Home With Asbestos In Washington

Can You Sell a House With Asbestos in Washington

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Asbestos still isn’t banned in this country. Washington’s Department of Ecology says so plainly on its own guidance page and adds that materials made and used today may still contain it. So here’s the short version. Your house isn’t unsellable. Homes across this state change hands every week, with asbestos siding, duct wrap, popcorn ceilings, … Continued
Optimal time to stay in a home before selling in Seattle

How Long Should You Live in a House Before Selling It

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Five years. Almost everyone has heard that number, and it didn’t come from a law or a lender. It came from a rough guess about how long appreciation needs to outrun closing costs. The guess isn’t terrible. It falls apart the moment life stops cooperating, because job transfers, divorces, twins, and lender letters don’t wait … Continued
How to Find the Right Realtor in Another State in Seattle

How to Find a Realtor in Another State

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You’re selling a house in a state you don’t live in anymore. Maybe you inherited it. Maybe a job moved you last spring, and the old place sits there collecting mail. Either way, you have to find a realtor in another state, licensed where the property sits, and size that person up without ever shaking … Continued
Selling house for cash to trusted cash buyers in Washington

Washington Earnest Money Rules Every Homebuyer Should Understand

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Buyers typically hand over thousands of dollars in earnest money before they fully understand what protects it, and Washington’s rules often differ sharply from what buyers assume they say. What Is Earnest Money and Why Does It Exist in Washington Picture a seller who’s already emotionally checked out of a house they’ve lived in for … Continued
Home Staging Cost Washington

How Much Does Home Staging Cost In Washington State

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Spend a Saturday morning at an open house in Kirkland or Everett. You’ll notice something. The homes that feel warm and livable, the ones where you can picture your own life happening there, are rarely accidents. Someone made deliberate choices about every piece of furniture, every throw pillow, every lamp casting soft light over the … Continued
Process of selling house in Facebook Marketplace

How To Sell Your House On Facebook Marketplace

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A message came in last spring that changed how I think about this whole thing. A family in Tacoma had gotten a job transfer and had exactly five weeks before they needed to be out. They’d already tried posting their three-bedroom on Facebook Marketplace over a weekend, photographed it well, priced it fairly, and still spent most … Continued
Buyer Backing Out After Inspection in Washington

Can A Buyer Back Out After A Home Inspection In Washington

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Picture this: you’re 2 weeks into a purchase agreement on a craftsman in Maple Valley, the inspector pulls up a ladder to check the roof, and an hour later, you’re staring at a report that includes the words “active water damage” and “mold present.” Do you have to keep going, or can you back out … Continued
Selling a House with a Waterlogged Crawl Space Washington

Selling A House With Water In The Crawl Space In Washington

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Standing water under a house doesn’t announce itself with a bill or a warning. It just sits there, quietly rotting floor joists, feeding mold colonies, and turning what should be a straightforward sale into something that keeps sellers awake at 2 a.m. If you’ve got water in your crawl space and you’re trying to sell … Continued
How Long Does It Take to Sell A House Washington

How Long Does It Take To Sell A House In Washington State

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A seller called me last spring, completely exhausted. She’d been watching neighbors in Kirkland put up signs and pull them down in a week, and she’d been sitting on her own listing for nearly two months. Same zip code, same general price range. What went wrong? Pricing strategy, mostly, but also timing, and a few … Continued
Sell A Fire-Damaged Home Washington

How To Sell A Fire-Damaged House In Washington

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Your house just survived a fire. You’re staring at smoke-stained walls and water damage from the sprinkler system, wondering what comes next. The insurance adjuster’s already been out. The restoration estimates are piling up. And you’re asking yourself the same question homeowners across Washington ask every week: “Can I actually sell my fire-damaged house in … Continued