Washington State Mortgages, Made Clear. Buying or Refinancing? Let's find the right loan together.
Homeownership & LifestyleHomeownership is more than a mortgage — it’s about community, lifestyle, and long-term planning.
This section includes personal insights, community involvement, and home-related topics that reflect the broader experience of owning and living in the great Pacific Northwest.
Buying a condo or townhome in Washington means you’re not just qualifying for a mortgage — you’re buying into an association’s finances too. This guide walks through what to check before you write an offer, how HOA dues factor into your qualifying ratios (now and later, if you refinance), and how reserve funding, litigation, and special assessments can affect your financing. [Read more…]
This post compares the ownership structures of townhomes and condos in Washington State — what you actually own, what you’re responsible for, and how that affects your monthly costs and financing.
“Townhome” and “condo” get used almost interchangeably by buyers, but they’re legal ownership structures, not architectural styles. A building can look like a townhome and still be legally structured as a condominium — and that distinction matters more for your wallet than the floor plan does. [Read more…]
Editor’s note: This post was inspired by a recent HousingWire interview with Cameron Carter, CEO of Rosarium Health, on why aging in place is shifting from a lifestyle preference to a financial necessity. You can read the full interview here.
For years, “aging in place” has been talked about as a lifestyle choice — the version where you simply prefer your own kitchen to a facility dining room. That framing is changing. In a recent HousingWire interview, Cameron Carter, founder of health-tech startup Rosarium Health, made the case that aging in place is increasingly driven by cost and capacity, not preference: skilled nursing and assisted living have gotten more expensive, and in some states the wait list to get into preferred institutional care runs two to three years. People aren’t just choosing to stay home — in many cases, they’re staying home because there’s nowhere else to go yet. [Read more…]
Twenty years ago, I married my best friend. I’m so lucky to have someone that I still absolutely enjoy spending time with…. even if it’s a long road trip along the coast on windy roads that caused me to use my invisible passenger-brakes. 😅 Life is an adventure that I absolutely love with this guy. I’m looking forward to many more years together. [Read more…]
In late January, my husband and I packed up our Ford Lightning and headed south on an impromptu road trip with two goals: travel as much of the coast as possible, and make it to Palm Desert in time to watch the Seahawks win the Super Bowl. (Mission accomplished on both counts.)
After sharing a few highlights in a recent client mailer, several of you asked for the full itinerary — so here it is. Whether you’re planning your own Pacific Coast drive or just enjoy a good road trip story, I hope this is helpful.
A note: we intentionally avoided I-5 as much as possible, opting for Highway 1 along the coast. It adds time but the scenery is incomparable. [Read more…]
