Tag: kirkland

How Interest Rates Affect Buying Power

October 24, 2018

Whether you are thinking about buying or selling a home, interest rate trends are an important factor to consider. Mortgage interest rates have been rising and experts, including Windermere Chief Economist Matthew Gardner, predict that they will continue to increase in 2019.

Interest Rates and Buying Power

The chart below shows the impact rising interest rates would have if you planned to purchase a $675,000 home while keeping your principal and interest payments at $3,500 a month.

Every time interest rates increase by a quarter of a percent, your buying power decreases by about 3 percent.

What this means for buyers:

With prices moderating and interest rates slated to rise again, now is a good time to buy. If you’re betting on prices falling, you need to consider the strong possibility that an increase in interest rates would offset any potential price savings.

What this means for sellers:

Listing your home now means you will attract a larger buyer pool before interest rates rise.

Whether you’re thinking of buying or selling our brokers can provide you market data that will help you make the best decision for your circumstances. 

Economists Predict: Recession Coming

July 24, 2018

Recession Coming

The local economy is booming, and nationally we are experiencing the second-longest bull market in history. That’s great news, but it can’t last forever. The economy runs in cycles and we’re long overdue for our overheated market to cool down a bit. According to a survey of top economists by Zillow, almost half of experts said they expect the next recession to begin some time in 2020.

Experts Say Recession Could Hit by Early 2020

Recession Prediction Chart

A Recession Means a Slow-Down, Not a Crisis

A recession means the economy has slowed down. It does not mean we are experiencing another housing crisis. The housing crash of 2008 caused the last recession. However, that crash was primarily due to faulty lending practices that encouraged people to purchase homes they could not afford. Current lending practices make that unlikely to occur today.

Housing Won’t Be the Problem 

According to economists, monetary and trade policy are the most likely triggers for the next recession, not housing.

“If a recession is to occur, it is unlikely to be caused by housing-related activity, and therefore the housing sector should be one of the leading sources to come out of the recession.”  – Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American

The last recession that was caused by the housing crash was an anomaly. During the previous five recessions home values actually appreciated. If the US experiences a recession you can expect a slow-down of home price increases, not a housing crisis.

Whether you’re thinking about buying or selling, it’s important to have the most current information about the market. Our skilled Windermere Brokers can provide you with statistics and economic forecasts, as well as answers to any questions you may have.

Community Service Day 2018

June 19, 2018

On Friday, June 8th our Windermere offices closed their doors for our annual Community Service Day. Since 1984, Windermere has dedicated a day to giving back to the community and assisting with neighborhood improvement initiatives.

We’re proud to share these projects completed by our East, Inc. offices:

Jubilee Reach

The Bellevue and Bellevue West offices teamed up to lend a hand at Jubilee REACH. This local organization supports the social and emotional needs of children and their families through mentoring, tutoring, and after-school clubs and sports programs within Bellevue public schools. Our Windermere team helped with a variety of maintenance tasks including painting doors and benches, landscaping, replacing lights, washing windows, repainting the basketball court, pressure washing walkways and play sets, and more. We are proud of our offices’ hard work at this site, and we are grateful to Jubilee REACH for their important contributions to our community and for letting us be a part of their mission!

See more photos of the day here.

Kids Without Borders

Windermere Redmond CSD 2018

Our Redmond office assisted Bellevue-based Kids Without Borders, an organization founded by Son Michael Pham, who used his experience as a refugee from Vietnam as a catalyst to serve children in our local and international communities with the vision of “all kids, one world.” Agents and staff spent the day with Son Michael Pham at the KWB storage units where they sorted and packed clothing for distribution to families in need. This was a great opportunity for us to return some of the generosity this organization has put into our global community!

See more photos of the day here.

Heritage Park

Windermere Yarrow Bay CSD 2018

Yarrow Bay agents and staff rolled up their sleeves, slipped on their gardening gloves, and grabbed shears and rakes to landscape and remove invasive plants at Heritage Park near downtown Kirkland. The park offered an incredible view of the Seattle skyline across Lake Washington as they worked – a reminder of how lucky we are to be able to enjoy the serenity of nature while still being close to the bustling city. We were happy to do our part to beautify and help preserve part of what makes our community so special!

See more photos of the day here.

Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic

Windermere Bellevue South CSD 2018

Our Bellevue South office gave back by partnering with Seattle Children’s Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, which strives to promote quality pediatric care, family advocacy, health collaboration, mentoring, and education in a culturally relevant context. Our agents and staff helped with landscaping and mulching the clinic grounds, facilitating the book drive, and working on art projects with kids at the clinic. As an added bonus, they had the chance to listen to talks by a pediatrician and Lenny Wilkens, former NBA player and coach and current children’s healthcare advocate. We are thankful to OBCC for welcoming and inspiring us on Community Service Day and every day!

See more photos of the day here.

Cougar Mountain Zoo

Windermere Issaquah CSD 2018

Our Issaquah office headed to the Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah to help with their mission to increase the understanding and appreciation of the Earth’s wildlife and the role of humanity in nature through education, conservation, propagation, and exhibition – and enjoy the company of some of its animal inhabitants. A few of their projects included clearing brush, painting benches, and habitat maintenance/wall building. This was one of the Issaquah office’s favorite Community Service Day projects, and we loved seeing them experience the zoo in a whole new way that reminded us of all of the work that goes into maintaining these neighborhood treasures!

See more photos of the day here.

Community Service Day has always been a treasured tradition and an important part of our culture here at Windermere. We greatly appreciate everything our agents invest in our communities to make them even better. Thank you all for continuing to make this a place we are proud to call HOME.

Windermere Helps Hopelink

June 4, 2015

hopelinkWindermere Kirkland Northeast will be teaming up with Hopelink at a local food bank. Hopelink is a community action agency that has served homeless and low-income families, children, seniors and people with disabilities since 1971. The agency has five multi-purpose service centers, and five housing sites throughout north and east King County. The service centers are equipped with food banks, and a staff of specialists offering various support programs, such as family development, adult education, employment training, home heating assistance and more.

IMG_0769-2The staff and brokers from Windermere Kirkland Northeast will be working at a local Hopelink food bank on Friday. Some of the brokers will be out collecting donations for the food bank. Everyone else will be very busy at the facility sorting all the food that came in from the National Letter Carriers food drive a few weeks ago. Remember the blue bag on your mailbox?

Want to find out more about Hopelink? Visit their website and see how you can connect with them online!

Windermere Helps Attain Housing in Kirkland

June 3, 2015

Attain-Housing-Logo-KITHOn Friday, Windermere Kirkland Yarrow Bay will be partnering with Attain Housing at a Kirkland location for Community Service Day 2015. Their mission is to bring the community together and partner with homeless families by providing affordable housing and empowering them with practical case management and hope. Attain Housing helps homeless and at-risk families with children in King County to become stable and self-sufficient. First, they stabilize families in 32 Attain Housing apartments and in units owned by others. Then, the organization assists the families with services, including case management, which helps them make lasting life changes, leading to permanent housing.

YarrowBayWindermere Kirkland Yarrow Bay will be spending their Friday at Attain Housing’s Salisbury Court homes to help clean up and prepare the homes for summer. They’ll be organizing some storage units, pressure washing driveways and decks, and helping prep the garden boxes with donated vegetable plants. Weeding, spreading bark, trimming trees and other landscaping projects will also be going on throughout the day. They’ve even secured a donated dishwasher and will be installing that in one unit!

Want to learn more about Attain Housing? Visit their website and follow their new Facebook page!