The Supreme Court’s Gay Marriage Decision Is a Housing Game Changer

Last week was definitely one for the record books for milestones in American history.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision on Friday not only opens the doors to legal same-sex marriage throughout the 50 states—it will also help increase homeownership among LGBT couples as more couples will be able to qualify for mortgages together now with a "married" status which gives mortgage lenders added security.
Read more about how this landmark decision may be opening doors for same sex couples from Realtor.com's news article.

Curious how this may help you? I work with the best lenders in the business that would be delighted to answer questions and offer advice. Please don't hesitate to get in touch to see how my team can help.

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Seattle's getting a new skyscraper!

According to the Seattle Times it looks like the Design Board has just approved plans for the new 58-story Rainier Square Tower at 1301 5th Ave. in downtown Seattle. This $600 million dollar project would be Seattle's second highest skyscraper at 850 feet and will offer luxury apartments that are the highest in the city.
Onward and upward Seattle!

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Seattle No. 1 for techies looking to flee California

The Seattle Times published today that Seattle is the number one spot for Silicon Valley refugees looking to flee the brutal housing market of the Bay Area.
This is nothing new, as we real estate agents have been witnessing this trend for quite some time now.
According to this article, the median home price in the San Francisco / San Jose market is over $1M, about 86% more than in Seattle. But the average software developer in Silicon Valley only makes about 12% more income than in Seattle. This is a big part of the reason why I don't think prices in our Seattle housing market are going to be coming down anytime soon! With our fantastic climate, jobs/economy, geographic limitations, traffic and recent growth, I'm afraid the rapidly rising home prices in close-in Seattle are here to stay for a while.

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In Seattle, the rent is too damn high

From Grist, June 3, 2015 written by Katie Herzog

"Seattle is booming. The out-of-the-way Northwest city that used to be thought of — when it was thought of at all — primarily as the home of grunge music and drizzle is now among the fastest growing major cities in America. The population is skyrocketing, the unemployment rate is low, and gleaming, luxury apartments are going up seemingly overnight (a recent count showed 75 cranes rising over downtown). From the outside, life is good in this once-sleepy town, especially compared to cities still recovering from the Great Recession. But reality is more complicated, and nowhere is this more apparent than in Seattle’s housing market."
Read more on Grist.

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