Do You need to sell your House before You can buy your next Home?

selling a home in washington stateMany homeowners in our area may be sitting on quite a bit of home equity that they could use to purchase their next home. When it’s not a “buyer’s market”, you may have lower odds of a seller wanting to accept an offer if it’s based on needing to sell and close on an existing home. In order to have your offer accepted, it’s helpful to put forward an attractive offer that will make it easier for the seller to select your offer over others.

Here are some programs that can help! [Read more…]

What is the difference between a Bridge Loan and a Cash Buyer Program

Bridge loans allow people who want to buy their next home to access a portion of their home equity to use as down payment and/or closing cost. They have been around for quite a while and has been a great tool to help accommodate home purchases.  [Read more…]

Why It Makes Sense to Buy Before Mortgage Rates Move Lower

When Does It Make Sense to BuySeattle area Real Estate Broker, Kim Mulligan, posted this on Facebook a couple of days ago regarding a recent listing:

“For those of you that were clamoring to be my neighbor, I have bad news. A pricing war ensued and an offer was chosen last night. Ends up we had well over 80 parties tour the home in two days, several offers came forth, and a lucky buyer will get to share a fenceline with me. Why do I mention this? Many people think that there isn’t a market right now because of interest rates. Yes, buyers are careful and shy. The truth is some people have to move in any market. Sellers don’t need to be afraid to list their homes. Yes, buyers are choosey, but priced and presented well, and with the right lender where you can change your interest rate when it drops down again, your home could sell within 3 days as well![Read more…]

Home Equity Loans and Second Mortgages

You can use a home equity loan (aka HELOC) or fixed-rate second mortgage to access home equity without doing a cash-out refinance of your first mortgage. This may be really desirable considering the appreciation of homes and recent low mortgage rate environment.

Here are some of the features: [Read more…]

The Beauty of a Bridge Loan

bridge loans washington stateUPDATE: Please visit our Bridge Loan Guide for updated information.

I recently helped a couple successfully close on their new home in Seattle before having to close on their former home in Everett. By using a bridge loan to access equity on the Everett home, they were able to make a winning offer on the Seattle home without it having to be “subject to the sale” of their former home. This help to make their offer far more attractive in a very competitive real estate market. [Read more…]