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Now is the time to buy
February 8, 2023 /Good time to buy or sell? We developed a tool called TooMuchEquity.com to help you determine the best time to sell, so let’s talk about buying. Should you and yours be buying real estate right now? Absolutely. While overall inventory is up, we actually put fewer new listings on the market in 2022 compared to 2021, so while the real estate market has changed, it isn’t due to a huge surplus of inventory. Instead, a jump in interest rates and a huge appreciation spike at the end of the 1st quarter of 2022 made affordability a huge issue that pushed many buyers out of the market. Since then, prices have been settling not like a rock, but like a parachute down to the levels from the year previous. Meaning that across most of the PNW, prices in December of 2022 were about the same as prices in 2021. Rates have fallen a percentage point below their peak, rental rates continue to rise, and the market has normalized for the moment. This is the best time in the past 12 months for a buyer to make a purchase. The moment may not last long. We can never say how long it…Read more
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A First Time Homebuyer Experience
April 12, 2021 /In February our executive assistant, Emma Dunn, closed on her first home. Check out her experience as a first time homebuyer. I am not buying a home When I was being hired by Jesse last July, he told me that I would purchase a home within one year of being on the Pickett Street team. I think I looked at him with a lot of skepticism, so to be polite I said, “Okay, sure, we will see what happens” when I probably meant to say “Nope!” Starting a new job seemed like enough to focus on for the next year anyways. At the time, I was living in a beautiful apartment in downtown Bothell with one of my girlfriends. I was within walking distance from great restaurants and the Burke Trail, I was close to my family and friends and was therefore totally content paying rent. Why would I want to change that? Besides, the home buying process never really made sense to me, let alone the mortgage process. I always looked at having a mortgage as a burden and in all honesty, I thought the only way I was ever going to buy a house was with cash. I…Read more
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Who should be selling right now?
February 26, 2021 /Who should be selling right now? Owner and lead listing agent Jesse D. Moore shares his thoughts on the current market. Accidental Investors Many homeowners that bought around 2005-2007 became accidental investors when their primary homes lost equity during the housing recession. Many bought their next home at a steep discount and at incredible rates, and ended up having to hang onto their property as a rental because of the circumstances. Many of these investors have gained huge equity on these properties, especially after tenants had helped pay down the principal. This is a great opportunity to liquidate these single-family rentals and roll them into larger, more income-producing multi-family properties. People moving out of the area There are many hot markets around the country, but not all are at the fever-pitch we find ourselves in. Most of the sellers that we’re helping are making a move out of the area, and we’ve successfully helped them strategize a more stress-less transition by getting them additional time after closing to make their relocation easier. If you’ve ever thought about moving somewhere outside of the PNW, or if work no longer requires you to live near an office, there has not been a…Read more
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Tips on How to Prepare Your Home for Winter
December 14, 2020 /Here are a few tips on how to prepare your home for the winter! Seal & Ventilate: Insulate walls and attics, and caulk and weather-strip doors and windows. If you have a fireplace, keep the flue closed when you're not using it. Make sure your furniture isn't blocking your home's heating vents. During cold spells, keep cabinet doors open to allow warm air to circulate around pipes, particularly those in the kitchen and bathrooms. Happy Roof, Dry House: Clean out the gutters. It is also a good idea to add extensions to the downspout outlet to keep water away from the foundation of your home and make sure your yard drainage is working. Repair roof leaks and remove tree branches that could get weighed down with ice or snow and fall on your house - or your neighbors (avoid liability for the latter). Protect Your Pipes: Wrap water pipes in your basement or crawl spaces with insulation sleeves to slow heat transfer. Consider an insulated blanket for your hot water heater. Drain your irrigation system if you have one, and shut off outdoor water valves if possible. Don’t forget to disconnect and roll up your hoses. Avoid Ice Dams:…Read more
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Emma’s Thanksgiving Tips
November 23, 2020 /Thanksgiving in the Dunn household looks like this: My mother is the head chef, I am the sous chef. That is how it has always been and the two of us have Thanksgiving down to an art. If we are hosting, my mother plans and preps the ingredients for every dish out in advance (something I strongly recommend), orders the right sized turkey for the amount of people coming, and knows exactly when each dish should be assembled and cooked. When it is time to get cooking, I show up with my knives and do whatever my mother deems necessary. While I am the head chef in my own home, I personally love taking the back seat on this holiday because it gives me an opportunity to continue to learn from my mother. Well, imagine my surprise last year when my mother came down with the flu 4 days before Thanksgiving and I was then expected to execute Thanksgiving dinner for 16 people. Having never cooked a meal this intricate by myself, I was certainly overwhelmed! However, having been thrown into the thick of it last year as the new head chef, I learned a considerable amount that has prepared…Read more
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Jesse’s Thoughts On Our Post-Covid Real Estate Market
October 20, 2020 /If you had told me at the end of March that neither the virus or the stay-at-home orders would have a negative affect on the real estate market, I wouldn’t have believed you. Our team saw about $2.5million in sales disappear in less than a week after the stay-at-home order was issued, with no possibility of any of it returning. We ended up having to lay off all of our employees, if only temporarily, and was only able to hire them back when our PPP loan came through. Like many of our peers that are self-employed or in the service industry, I was preparing for the worst. What happened instead We started calling our clients, not asking if they were thinking of buying and selling, just to check on people and make sure that they were doing ok and if there was anything we could do to help. People were glad to hear from us, glad to talk about their concerns, and eager for any updates we might have for them in the future. After the initial pause in the first few weeks of the quarantine, things started moving, and soon we were as busy as ever. Eventually this fervent…Read more
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Birds In Shoes
October 15, 2020 /Receiving a handwritten card in the mail almost seems like a way of the past. With social media, smartphones, and even a Zoom happy hour, getting in touch with loved ones has never been easier. It’s great to be instantly connected with your community and have everything accessible at the click of a button. Don’t get us wrong, these advances in communication make our job in real estate that much easier, but there is still something special about receiving a card in the mail. During quarantine, we put a pause on our typical real estate focused conversations with our clients. Instead of calling to ask if they were ready to list their home, we simply wanted to know if they were okay and if there was anything the Pickett Street team could do to help. While it was great to instantly connect with our community, we wanted to do something more. So we decided to send out handwritten cards. However, we weren’t going to send just any card, we were going to send cards with birds wearing shoes. A few years back, Jesse met Jim Sorensen at a conference on Fierce Conversations, a book that holds a special place in…Read more
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Operation: Tungsten Light and Three Other Uplifting Resources
April 20, 2020 /How is everyone feeling? This week, I read that after World War II, researcher Anna Freud discovered the children left behind in London during the war to endure the bombings with their families actually suffered less trauma than the children who were sent away to the country. Freud concluded that “the physical injury is often not the harshest part of trauma; it’s the breakdown of relationships during and after.” If you’re in need of an uplifting boost of connection and community during the COVID-19 quarantine, Pickett Street’s Margaret Smith has you covered. Margaret recently started Operation: Tungsten Light with her friends and colleagues Ande Dunn and Sarah Troske. According to Margaret, she started the group because she “realized very quickly that fear and anxiety were creeping in” for her loved ones. Read more about Margaret’s Tungsten Light, as well as other positive online resources for this tough time. Additionally, if you are feeling anxious about real estate and would like to know more about buying or selling your home right now, get in touch with Pickett Street at (425) 502-5397 or info@pickettstreet.com. Operation: Tungsten Light Tungsten Light’s purpose is to spread light, love and positivity. Margaret, Sarah, and Ande also…Read more
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“I Turned the Horses Out Again Tonight”
April 20, 2020 /“I turned the horses out again tonight." By Jesse D. Moore This was the first and last line my father wrote in an article for New York Times Magazine, entitled “Bad Days at ‘Big Dry’” (Aug 14, 1988). He started and ended the article with the same line, a literary device that illustrated the redundancy of the days we lived in during the drought of 1988. Growing up on a cattle ranch in Montana, we would corral the horses in the morning after their feeding. If we didn’t have use for them, we would turn them out. Turning the horses out then was emblematic of not having enough work. That drought never seemed to end, though we woke with a daily hope that things would change for the better. 12 years ago my ex-wife was pregnant with our second child. I was finishing my third year in real estate, having better than average success in a new business. Our goal was to have my business support our family, so that when David was born, Kami could be a stay-at-home mother to our two kids. I was 30 years old and the real estate market was in a steady slide downward.…Read more
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Keep Calm and Carry On: 5 Ways to Stay Connected
March 20, 2020 /Keep Calm and Carry On: 5 Ways to Stay Connected How is everyone doing? With recent COVID-19-related changes to businesses, schools, and—well—basically most other aspects of daily life, it’s been an intense few weeks. One thing I’ve been keeping in mind is that, regardless of whether or not I’m worried about my own health, social distancing is important right now. This practice keeps the most vulnerable members of my community, such as immunocompromised folks or seniors, safe. As UC San Francisco epidemiologist Jeff Martin says, “Social distancing now is one of the greatest calls for altruism.” So, how to manage these strange, unprecedented times? First, if you’re worried about buying or selling a home right now, I promise you will feel better after chatting with the Pickett Street team’s resourceful, creative, and whip-smart real estate experts ((425) 502-5397 or info@pickettstreet.com). Let these professionals do the tough work for you. Next, you might keep in mind that we are all in this together. One thing that’s been helping me when I feel anxious about the uncertainty is that so many people feel the same anxiety right now. I’m not alone, and neither are you. Finally, check out this list of ideas…Read more
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Bring On Spring: Seattle’s Most Beloved Parks
March 6, 2020 /Bring On Spring: Seattle’s Most Beloved Parks Even though Seattle area weather continues to be rainy and chilly, we at Pickett Street have decided we will simply will warmer spring temperatures into existence by writing about the outdoors. As such, this week we’re celebrating Seattle’s best, most popular parks. After all, rainy weather has never stopped Washingtonians from enjoying a good walk or bike ride. As the Scandinavian saying goes, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothes.” If reading our guide to these wonderful spots piques your interest in buying or selling real estate around Seattle, reach out to us at (425) 502-5397 or info@pickettstreet.com. Discovery Park, Magnolia Seattle’s largest green space at 534 acres, Discovery offers nearly 12 miles of walking trails, which include two miles of beaches and sand dunes, meadows, dramatic sea cliffs, forest, and streams. This park also houses West Point Lighthouse. Visitors note the stunning views and peaceful atmosphere as their favorite aspects of this Seattle landmark. Carkeek Park, Broadview Carkeek is home to 220 acres of wetlands, beaches, creeks, and forest. Visitors can check out Piper's Orchard, explore the beach, or hike the trails, including Piper’s Creek Trail. As one reviewer…Read more
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Want to Outsmart Seattle’s 2020 Housing Market? Work With a Creative Agent!
March 2, 2020 /Want to Outsmart Seattle’s 2020 Housing Market? Work With a Creative Agent After a year or two of Seattle’s real estate market slowing, it seems that things are picking up again for the coming spring. It’s once again a sellers’ market, as housing inventory decreases but demand remains high in the Seattle area. According to the National Association of Realtors, Americans signing contracts to buy homes increased to 5.2% in January. In order to approach the spring frenzy with a cool head, here’s what you need to know. First, and most importantly, reach out to Pickett Street ( (425) 502-5397 or info@pickettstreet.com) to find an agent who is an expert on the current market and how to best navigate it. Next, take a look at these updates below to educate and prepare yourself. Mortgages decreased. According to Freddie Mac, this past Thursday the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped from 3.49% to 3.45%. This is far below the 4.35% rate from February 2019. Average rates for 15-year fixed mortgages also dropped from 2.99% last week to 2.95%. These lower mortgage rates have contributed to the currently high demand for homes, as buyers want to get in while the mortgage rate is cheap. …Read more
