Top Wines in the state.

Leonetti's 2004 reserve wins for best wine. I have heard great things about this winery, but it's expensive and not easy to get.

Their research produced results that, as some traditional agents put it, are pretty obvious.

The advice not to move when listing, though, is sound. In the past, the market was good so people could buy a home, move into it, list their old home and expect that to sell within 2 months. Presently, it may take 4+ months to sell, so carrying 2 mortgages creates financial pressure to drop prices on the old place.

Quoted: Seattle brokerage Redfin on Friday released the first seven conclusions from an ongoing dissection of past real estate sales.

Quoted: We know it's possible, even if we haven't read "The Four-Hour Work Week" yet. Sounds reasonable on paper. Why is it so hard, in real life, to get all the dream job ducks to line up in a row?

Quoted: Almost 65 percent of respondents cited investment property as an investment option they are considering for their retirement savings, while close to 60 percent selected rental properties. Foreclosures and preforeclosures rounded out the top three with more than 36 percent of respondents considering these investments

Cool article about how to get Free Stuff

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Books? paperbackswap.com

Huge rental increases are crazy and very, very difficult for tenants to keep pace with. Incremental increases are much easier to handle and help landlords retain loyal, good renters.

Why would a landlord raise rents so much?
1) The landlord may not like the tenant but doesn't want to discriminate or risk a threat of a discrimination lawsuit, so they jack up rents and hope the tenant will leave
2) The market changes and the landlord can command a much higher rent - possibly after long periods without a rent hike
3) There is a transfer of ownership and the new landlord brings the rent up to market rates (this is common with properties where the old landlord kept the rent very low in exchange for renter loyalty)
4) A landlord is just plain greedy

The article gives an example of a rooming house tenant that had his rent jacked up to $775 from $375/month. Without knowing where the property is, I can't say if $775 is excessive, but $375 is definitely the rate from several years ago.

Quoted: OK, if 100 percent isn't too much, I'm back to try again. How about a thousand-dollar-a-month increase?

Inventory has gone up a little, but core markets are still well below the historical averageof 5.4 months of inventory. Prices continue to rise.

Since the area has already entered the summer market, the housing market should see the largest relative increase in prices for the year during the upcoming season.

Quoted: Seattle home sales shot up in May by the largest year-to-year percentage in more than two years, according to data released Tuesday.

Wow, we're not even in the top tier! It's not as bad here as people think.

Quoted: Do you think Seattle is the rainiest city in the United States? Well, think again.

Quoted: Yahoo! Real Estate - America's Most Overpriced Real Estate Markets. Find Real Estate including homes for sale, new houses, rentals, foreclosure properties as well as mortgage calculators and rates on Yahoo! Real Estate.