By far the best explanation I’ve heard of the Housing Mortage/Credit Crisis is — improbably — a podcast from the motherlode of story-telling on NPR, This American Life. This podcast is a bit different from their usual slice-o-life stories in that they try to explain something extremely complex and abstract — but in personal stories. […]

Scary real estate marketing tactics get plenty of attention in an election year.

I had written before about the Home Price Comparison Index compiled by Coldwell Banker Real Estate that allows one to approximate how much your home might cost in different areas around the U.S.
For instance, here in Seattle, $800K-900K might buy you a 100-year old house in a nice in-city neighborhood with 1800 […]

Being a Tiki fan, Aloha-aficionado and keeper of the flame at Seattle Tiki, I was excited to see Trader Vic Bergeron’s first home on the market. The listing notes that 965 Mendocino Avenue has been a landmark and focal point of North Berkeley since it was built in 1925. Trader Vic Bergeron and his […]

I think all of us have a story like this.
The House That Got Away by Sarah Jio and Gabi Campanario

Since Redfin has announced that they were including unlisted bank-owned property on their website, it’s raised a lot of questions about foreclosures, short sales and distressed property in Washington State.
The Distressed Property Law was passed during the 2008 Legislative session and signed into law by the Governor on March 30 for the purpose of […]

Our local news/entertainment magazine had a heartwarming story about Zillow and their “Make Me Move” feature. Some guy was able to sell his house for significantly more than it was worth. Capitol Hill Triangle seems to think it was poor form not to disclose that the seller was an ex-Zillow employee. And […]

Evening Magazine video
Because of UnusualLife.com, I get frequent inquiries from television producers and magazine editors about unusual homes, and 3 of the houses I’ve written about were featured this week on Evening Magazine.

This castle house is located in Winthrop, WA in the Methow Valley.
The custom home is designed to look like […]

In February of 2008, the Oregon Legislature passed SB1080, a bill that prevents illegal immigrants from obtaining an Oregon driver’s license. This bill was passed to prevent driver’s license fraud, as well as to comply with the first steps necessary for homeland security regulations.
Basically this bill requires that prior to issuing, renewing or replacing a […]

While reading Real Estate Webmasters forums, I came across a fellow named Ron Park from Tuscon who was enamoured with the Redfin site, so he hired a tech company in India to try to re-create Redfin’s mapping technology and cababilities. He wanted a Redfin clone for the Tuscon real estate market, and it’s […]