How to Play the Mortgage Game if  You’re Self-Employed

A look at the extra hurdles facing self-employed borrowers

By SUSAN JOHNSTON

January 15, 2013

Mortgage lenders have tightened requirements across the board in the wake of the housing crisis, but now—even as the workforce increasingly moves away from traditional 9-to-5 employment—self-employed borrowers have a tougher time securing a mortgage. It's an issue felt by many, as the Small Business Administration reported that the number of Americans who were self-employed approached 9.9 million in the second quarter of 2012.

Sally Herigstad, a freelance writer in Enumclaw, Wash., encountered problems last year when applying for a mortgage. Before offering to place a 26-percent down payment on a

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Looking for open house information.  Here are all the open houses currently scheduled for Seattle and the Eastside.  If you are looking for an area that is not currently displayed on this map, use our advanced home search and select open house and the city for your search criteria.  If you have any questions, please contact us.

Open House and Broker’s Opens: The Cascade Team provides all our MLS listed properties open houses and broker’s opens, and

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After the holidays, buyers tend to start getting more aggressive with their house hunting. Search activity usually peaks around March or April in most states, according to a new study of home searches from 2007 to 2012 conducted by Trulia. 

In September, searches slow down. By December buyer searches ebb to their lowest point of the year. 

“Home-search activity swings with the seasons in every state,” says Jed Kolko, chief economist of Trulia. “Buyers and sellers can use

Here's an interesting article by The Tim on Seattlebubble.com. These chart the market recovery. And instead of the winter/holiday seasonal dropoff that normally happens, we actually had a lift in the Seattle area. Low inventory levels definitely contributed to that, but it still is a very positive indicator of a market recovery.

By The Tim on January 30, 2013 | Leave a response

Let’s check out the three price tiers for the Seattle area, as measured by Case-Shiller. Remember, Case-Shiller’s “Seattle” data is based on single-family home repeat sales in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties.

Note that the tiers are determined by sale volume. In other words, 1/3 of all sales fall into each tier. For more details on the tier methodologies, hit the full

Verrado home sales continue to be a little on the slow, however inventory levels have climbed a little over the last couple weeks with 74 active Verrado homes for sale (including those under contract but accepting back up offers), with 4 short sales and now 3 bank owned homes.  There are currently 23 pending homes in Verrado, with 8 being new home construction.  Overall, new construction home activity remains brisk, as activity from the Verrado Open House weekend appeared very strong.

In addition, there have been 45 Verrado homes sold over the last 90 days, with an average closed price of $267,375; which was 99% of the asking price and 72 cummulative days on market.   Of this 23 were Verrado real estate resales and 22 were new construction homes.

Here's a good article from Seattlebubble.com:

By The Tim on January 28, 2013 | 1 Comment

Let’s have a look at the Seattle area’s employment situation.

First up, year-over-year job growth, broken down into a few relevant sectors:

Construction is posting gangbuster gains—up 11.5% year-over-year—as homebuilders attempt to capitalize on the inventory crunch. Finance / Real Estate is posting the smallest gains at just 0.8% year-over-year growth.

Here’s a look at the overall Seattle area unemployment rate compared to the national rate:

Unemployment fell again in Seattle and Washington State from November to December, as it more or less flat-lined nationally. As a result, Washington State’s unemployment rate fell below the national rate for

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Office Phone: 858.429.751

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Audrey is a full service realtor that specializes in the San Diego area where she grow up and lives. Audrey is familiar with both the new home construction and the residential resale markets. She has the knowledge, resources, and expertise to market your home effectively, and to help you choose the right neighborhood, the right schools and the right builder for you and your family.

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