Matthew Miner

Hi Dan,

All agents have a fiduciary relationship with our clients, which do not allow us to put any other agenda ahead of theirs. I think you should interview a few realtors and choose the one you’re most comfortable with. Someone you could be friends with. I think that is a very important attribute for people to look for. If you’re comfortable around your realtor you will be able to speak candidly with them and have a full open and honest relationship with them. They will end up understanding you better and what it is you need to be happy. Second look for some one who can listen well and understand what they heard. There is a big difference between hearing and listening. And lastly when you’re interviewing your realtors you will be able to tell if they are cheesy sales people or if they work more as an advisor or consultant. You want them to come across humble, approachable, and honest. Come up with questions for them. See how they handle those questions. Do they jump to answer it without much thought or do they think about it, do they ask more questions before they give you an answer, etc. Let them now you are interviewing several agents and that you will not be making a decision today. Take a day and think about which agent you liked and felt the most comfortable with. Then Hire them. Can be time consuming but hopefully you will never have to do it again. - Sat Jul 5 2008, 16:19

It depends on what market you’re shopping in. For example homes over 1 million dollars are selling quite slowly and therefore many home owners are accepting much lower offers than they would have in 2006. On the other hand $300-$600K homes are selling quick and for full price as long as they are a good product, its all about area, quality, usability and price. As a buyer you have the opportunity to get a fantastic deal on great homes. And if you buy right, you can own a home that has real demand therefore you will see appreciation. There are pocket sized areas in Seattle that are still seeing high demand. You just need to know where to look. Look for walk-able communities. You may not get as much home as other area’s, but the movement lately has been people moving back to the urban core. I don’t see that trend ending any time soon. If you buy a home in a great walk-able community you will have the best chances of selling in the future. Homes in the suburbs are starting to look a lot like Ford Expeditions, large, unnecessary and wasteful. To wrap it up, some areas see declines while others see increases. Look into what’s popular and what’s happening with society to see where and what you should look for in a home. - Sat Jul 5 2008, 15:40

I think this is a question that can't be answered with out asking you a few more questions. There is a big difference between home prices in Seattle and Austin. So you might be shocked by how much homes cost here. From downtown Seattle a half hour commute gets you as far north as Northgate area, as far south as South Center and as far East as Bellevue. You will be able to afford more in North Gate or South Center. There are great Commuter busses from either area, but I would prefer the north over the south. (As a personal preference) I think it looks nicer on the North end. You can get addresses and type them into Walkscore.com to see what businesses are available to a particular house or area. You can use Zipskinny.com to find out demographic information for an area. And if you'd like me to ask you a few more questions just email me. I think if you’re trying to match someone to an area or neighborhood we need to know more about you than any of us do at this point. Is it better for you to buy now or later? Who knows? If you rent prices could end up increasing and you will be at a disadvantage or you could buy and find prices decline again. I think that Seattle has held up pretty dang good. We have a very low number of subprime loans and therefore the foreclosure rate has been far lower than really anywhere else. Washington’s economy is strong and we see 30,000 people a year moving to Seattle for the next 3 years at least. As long as you get exactly what you want and you'll be happy there for at least 5 years you'll make out just fine. Remember renting even if it is less than a mortgage is a waist of money always. But being renting while you explore Seattle is not a bad idea. - Sat Jul 5 2008, 15:19

The lease will transfer to the new owner along with any deposited money or held rent. Your lease does not change unless the new owner offers to let you out. The seller can sell you the property and then the lease would be held on both sides by you, therefore making the lease unenforceable. - Tue Jul 1 2008, 10:46

Under the statute, seller carryback loans are not entitled to seek a deficiency judgment against the borrower. However, there is an exception under California's stare decisis (case law) that does permit the seller to recover against the borrower under certain circumstances.

As for the purchase money loans - no deficiency if it is owner-occupied, residential one to four. What does that exclude? vacation homes, home-equity lines of credit (HELOC), investment properties where the borrower does not reside there, apartment buildings more than 4 units.

These loans are commonly referred to as "non-recourse" loans because lenders on these types of loan know their only recourse is the security (collateral). - Tue Jun 17 2008, 10:35