Home prices are still rising in Western Washington, contrary to trends in many parts of the U.S., home prices in Western Washington continue to rise, even in the wake of growing inventory and fewer sales. The latest report from Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which tracks activity in 17 counties, shows prices rose 15.5 percent for July's sales compared to the same month a year ago. That ...

As a Realtor, I tend to take on the role of many sub-specialists from financial advisor to tax specialist to marriage counselor to psychotherapist.  I get ot know my clients during a stressful part of their lives, whether buying, selling or both.  My job is to be a stellar handholder, a counselor to help alleviate their fears and to be a solution-provider so that they can accomplish their goa ...

Design has taken a trend towards downsizing.  Time Magazine's Aug 21 edition contains a two page article detailing some of the recent tiny homes, including an 84 sq ft home parked down in Olympia, Washington.  Also profiled are Alchemy Architects of St. Paul, MN, whose designer Geoffrey Warner creates "weeHouses" that start at $69,500 for a 364 sq ft studio with bamboo flooring, built-in cabi ...

Just recently the City of Seattle announced plans to allow the building of secondary dwellings on certain properties in the southeast Seattle area.  This would allow for additional family members and others to reside right on the lots of existing in-city homes.  Seattle construction will take another upswing!  Here's a gorgeous plan for an accessory dwelling available at Archway Press: www.ar ...

When preparing a home for sale, many Sellers’ invest hours and dollars in sprucing it up.  Repairing things, repainting and adding touches that they think will increase the homes value in the eyes of prospective buyers.  However, all of this work will be for naught should they come on the market without the right price.  If they haven’t consulted the expertise of their agent, or are tryin ...

I often hear from first time homebuyers and seasoned buyers from other markets in the US alike comment about how they never realized it would be so difficult to just to get their offer accepted, let alone find the right house to make the offer on.  Seattle is still going strong with multiple offer situations.  A recent couple who lost out in bidding wars for two Magnolia condos described the ...

The market is still very active in the lower price ranges (under $450K).  Homes above $450K are generally still receiving plenty of activity, although it really depends on their condition and location.  Around the country there is continued news of the real estate market slowing down or returning to normal.  In Seattle, though, things are still very active and should remain that way.  One maj ...

Why flip open the yellow pages (online or otherwise) and look up a stranger when Mary Schile's got a list of plenty of tried and true folks for your needs?  Landscapers, Plumbers, Housecleaners, etc....just drop me a line: mary@schile.com.

You've been searching without an agent on a publicly searchable site and now you think you've found THE ONE!  The price is AMAZING!  At this price, why hasn't EVERYONE bought a house?  Right.  Welcome to the bait.  Now you're going to call and find out from the very nice, helpful agent that, "That house was snapped up by buyers.  But I can show you one of my listings!"  That's right folks.  W ...

Each day there's that Most Clicked On Seattle Home; the one that hops on the market with just the right price to get eveyone interested.  I prefer to call them The Prom Queen.  (Mob Scene is another, less preferable, term you may have come across)  This Gunslingin' Pie Lady can tell you, the attention a well-priced home can garner is well worth the effort of all the research needed to discover ...