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Jennifer Cotter was referred to me by a former client who happened to be one of her colleagues. She had been working with a discount brokerage and was trying to use her credit union to obtain her pre-approval.
She had found a house that she liked that was in her price range, but both her agent and the lender were unresponsive and in no hurry to help her make it happen.
I however moved quickly, connecting Jennifer with a trusted lender who was quickly able to get her pre-approved, so that we could make an offer on the home she wanted.
Unfortunately, due to her previous delay, she lost out due to another cash offer that came in before hers and was accepted.
So my next move was to set her up for a property search.
She was initially was looking for a single-family home, but found that most were either out of her price range, or in very poor condition, so I suggested she consider a condo instead.
Welcome to my Real Estate advice column, “Dear Don,” where I answer all your burning Real Estate questions. Send yours to me at donkoonce@windermere.com, and I’ll try to answer them in future columns.
When I was growing up, my family must have moved a dozen times. After the first few moves, we had it down to a science: timed out, scheduled, down to the last box. Despite our best efforts, plans would change, move-out and move-in days would shift, and the experience would stress the entire family out. Despite the stress, we always managed to settle in our new home and sell our old one before the start of school.
by Windermere Real Estate Chief Economist Matthew Gardner
ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
The Washington State economy continues to add jobs at an above-average rate, though the pace of growth is starting to slow as the business cycle matures. Over the past 12 months, the state added 96,600 new jobs, representing an annual growth rate of 2.9% — well above the national rate of 1.7%. Private sector employment gains continue to be quite strong, increasing at an annual rate of 3.6%. Public sector employment was down 0.3%. The strongest growth sectors were Real Estate Brokerage and Leasing (+11.4%), Employment Services (+10.3%), and Residential Construction (+10.2%). During fourth quarter, the state’s unemployment rate was 4.3%, down from 4.7% a year ago.
My latest economic forecast suggests that statewide job growth in 2019 will still be positive but is expected to slow. We should see an additional 83,480 new jobs, which would be a year-over-year increase of 2.4%.
