Blog - Windermere Real Estate

Living & Community

Property Tax Relief Programs in King County

Updated 2/2025 More than 26,000 low-income seniors and disabled people in King County who qualify for a tax exemption haven’t claimed it…are you or your family member one of them? If you are homeowner, make $84k or less per year, and are either age 61+, retired due to disability, or 57+ and the surviving spouse/domestic […]
Home Buyer Tips

What Is an Adjustable-Rate Mortgage (ARM)?

Securing the most advantageous financing for your situation is an integral part of the success formula of buying a home. After getting pre-approved but once you’ve found the home you’d like to pursue, one of your primary tasks is exploring different loan products to see which best fits your situation. This is the fork in […]
Living & Community

10 Tips for Sustainable Gardening

Sunny days are finally here, the flowers are in bloom, and the timing is perfect to give your garden some love. Having a healthy garden is one of the best ways to create a sustainable home and reduce your household’s carbon footprint. Below are some eco-friendly tips that will help to make your garden even […]

Living & Community Property Tax Relief Programs in King County Updated 2/2025 More than 26,000 low-income seniors and disabled people in King County who qualify for a tax exemption haven’t claimed it…are you or your family member one of them? If you are homeowner, make $84k or less per year, and are either age 61+, retired due to disability, or 57+ and the surviving spouse/domestic […]

Home Buyer Tips What Is an Adjustable-Rate Mortgage (ARM)? Securing the most advantageous financing for your situation is an integral part of the success formula of buying a home. After getting pre-approved but once you’ve found the home you’d like to pursue, one of your primary tasks is exploring different loan products to see which best fits your situation. This is the fork in […]

Living & Community 10 Tips for Sustainable Gardening Sunny days are finally here, the flowers are in bloom, and the timing is perfect to give your garden some love. Having a healthy garden is one of the best ways to create a sustainable home and reduce your household’s carbon footprint. Below are some eco-friendly tips that will help to make your garden even […]

Home Buyer Tips How to Avoid Overpaying for a Home in a Transitioning Market Look Carefully at the Home Itself Here are four home attributes beyond the number of bedrooms and baths that you should have your eye on… Home (building) quality: Very well-built homes are a rare find and typically worth every penny of their price. Don’t confuse them with so-so homes that just measure up to […]

Home Seller Tips Should You Remodel or Sell Your Home As Is? Homeowners who are preparing to sell are often faced with a dilemma about whether to remodel or sell their home in its current state. Each approach has its respective advantages and disadvantages. If you decide to remodel your home, it will likely sell for more; but the increased selling price will come at the cost […]

Living & Community Pro Lighting Tips to Brighten Your Home As we approach the darkest days of the year, a few tweaks in your interior lighting scheme can brighten your home (and your mood) from the inside out. Here are some great tips from Real Simple for a lighting scheme that is flattering and functional… Use a combo of overhead and up lighting for […]

Home Seller Tips Why Taking Care of Your Buyer is Good for You Too How you leave your home matters more than you think… In our extreme seller’s market, today’s home buyers are paying top dollar (or beyond) for their home purchase, and like many people paying a premium, they expect to get what they pay for. As a result, they have little tolerance for adverse surprises. This […]

Home Buyer Tips What is FIRPTA Certification? A complete overview on why you need to know about it… If you are purchasing property from a non-US individual or entity, you may be required to withhold taxes under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980 (“FIRPTA”), 26 U.S.C. 1445 (unless one of the exceptions in the Act applies). The […]

Home Buyer Tips Thinking About Buying a Second or Vacation Home? Here are a few tips to make sure it’s worthwhile… These days, having your own home away from home is a compelling concept. There are many clear benefits including being able to use your home how you wish, decorate to your taste, and include your furry friends in your time away. There are also challenges […]

Living & Community The Four Phases of Remodeling As with anything in life, a remodeling project can come with its ups and downs. Certain phases seem to go a mile a minute, while others feel like they’ve lasted a lifetime and a half, all while it looks as though nothing is being completed. Fear not—this is pretty typical. And, while every project is […]

Home Buyer Tips Should I Be a Homebuyer in this Market? Fourteen offers, all contingencies waived, earnest money deposit released to seller on offer acceptance. This is the norm rather than the exception in our current market. Sound crazy? It is! And we’ve been here before. Today’s buyers are likely paying considerably above market values to “win” the war and snag a house that they can […]

Home Seller Tips The Downside of Selling Your Home Off Market Who wouldn’t want the enticement of a full price offer on their home before it even comes to market? At first glance it seems like a compelling opportunity, but it comes at a steep price. With the shortage of homes today, friends and neighbors are all on the lookout for up-and-coming listings. They aren’t hard […]

Waterfront Waterfront Defined Terminology These local definitions will not only to help you know the lingo when it comes to waterfront speak, but to give you quick access tools to research waterfront to your heart’s content. Here is a quick resource to commonly used terms related to waterfront real property: Bluff Most beaches on Puget Sound are […]

Home Buyer Tips Due Diligence Pays Off Big Time When Buying a Condo When you buy a condo, you are also buying into its community. You get the benefit of its many amenities, along with the restrictions of its rules, and financial responsibility for its upkeep. Most condominiums offer community features such as pools, exercise rooms, media centers, and entertaining spaces that many people could not comfortably afford […]

Home Buyer Tips Assessing the Real Cost of a Fixer It can be very compelling to find a home in a neighborhood you like that is bargain priced. But how do you know if it will be a good investment? The only certainty in a fixer project is that there will be a substantial amount of uncertainty and risk. There can be significant rewards too, […]

Home Buyer Tips Should I Rent or Buy a Home? It’s important to remember that the purchase or rental of a home is a lifestyle choice as much as it is an investment. It is not just a commodity to negotiate, but also the place you’ll come home to each day and make your own. Yes, it is important to buy wisely and stay within […]

Home Seller Tips The Right Timing Can Bring You Thousands More When You Sell Ever notice how one home on your street sells well above asking price with a line of buyers out the door and an identical home comes on a month later and sits on the market for two weeks before finally selling at a reduced price? Every. Day. Counts. It’s not always about the house. It’s […]

Waterfront Evaluating Waterfront Property Values While supply and demand clearly play a role in establishing the value of a waterfront property, several unique elements overshadow the typical supply divided by demand equation. The first one is rarity. Examples of this include: point properties—waterfront at the tip of one of our few natural points—with more expansive water frontage and street privacy […]

Waterfront How to Determine the Value of Shared Waterfront The concept of shared waterfront incorporates many different waterfront-sharing situations. Establishing the value of the share isn’t as simple as dividing the overall value of the waterfront parcel by the number of shares…although that’s a good start. The term “shared waterfront” has been used to describe everything from a private parcel shared by two owners […]

Home Buyer Tips Flip or Flop? Is That Gorgeous Makeover All It’s Cracked Up to Be? It seems like the perfect combo of fantastic location and newly renovated home. But is it really? The concept of renovating a tired home for profit (flipping) is a business model that is often naturally averse to the future buyer’s interests. The lower the costs, the higher the profit. And, the lower the costs, the […]