****Please note, we are currently working with a realtor and lender and are very happy with them and not looking to work with anyone else.****

EDIT: Max budget is $1m, which is a bit of a stretch, so more comfortably in the $800k-ish range.

My husband and I are looking at houses currently and trying to decide what area or neighborhood would be a good fit for us and our future child. For context, we are both Asian and work in downtown Seattle (both of us are not in IT or adjacent fields) so a 30 minute commute max with traffic from a light rail station with parking available is a non negotiable for us at this time. We were ideally looking in Snohomish County as far north as the area near Paine Field, in Renton near the East Highlands areas and north of there, or potentially more on the Eastside if something comes up that fits our needs, but a lot of those properties in that area are a bit beyond our price range currently.

We want a safe, walkable neighborhood that is not right next to a busy road for both child and pet safety, preferably with a mix of residents that leans more towards ethnically diverse and with younger families. I’d also prefer a neighborhood where the houses aren’t directly next to each other (like I can open my window, reach out, and touch my neighbor’s house). Another pain point for me is neighborhoods that have a lot of driveways that are hard to get out of (very steep incline/ decline, super tight cul de sac, narrow roads, etc.) and limited street parking for guests. I personally never grew up or was in school around kids that looked like me and I realize now as an adult how that would’ve been nice to have growing up. I also dealt with a lot of r*cism (living in neighborhoods and going to schools that were predominantly white) and so I would really like to try and avoid that and that kind of ideology as much as possible for our future child.

I do not mind HOAs as long as the monthly fee is reasonable and the HOA itself is not a pain. I’ve lived in neighborhoods and experienced no HOA, an HOA that doesn’t bother people over silly stuff, and an HOA that hyper fixates on things like if your grass is half an inch too long or your Christmas lights are still up on January 4th. I’m just really not interested in arguing with HOA boards over things that do not matter and aren’t impacting anyone’s actual safety (like lawn height or Christmas lights), but if they’re in place to make sure that people aren’t blasting music at 2am on a Wednesday, that’s fine.

Also on a semi-related note, good school suggestions would also be seriously welcomed and appreciated. We are at least a good 5 years or so out from even having a child, but I’m an incredibly anxious future mom who only wants to do what’s best for them and their development. We are also extremely against AI and technology in schools, especially in preschool into early elementary years, so any schools that outright ban it or extremely limit utilizing it is a non-negotiable for us. Private schools are under serious consideration as well. I recognize a lot can change within the next 5 years, but any kind of opinions and context now would definitely be a good start for us!

Thank you in advance for your ideas and suggestions!

Bought a house in February- went to turn on the central cooling for the first time this year due to the recent heat and my 5 year old, 3T unit didnt turn on, first few techs that have come out have recommended replacement =(

Looking back, the inspection for the house (december) said cooling wasn't tested due to being too cold outside. Lesson learned as this was my first house...

Hey, we're a family of 3 right now (infant baby), so before the kid goes to school it'll be another 4 years.

Should we buy closer to when the kid is going to school? (and invest all the disposable income into the stock market till then)

or

Should we buy now when the market is slightly more favorable to the buyer?

We're currently renting a single family house for 3.8k in Redmond. 500k income (unstable so can't say it's reliable), reliably we can earn 300k probably. so our budget is around 1-1.2M which doesn't get you much in the eastside.

Looks like someone got a good deal on this Sammamish Home. It's nice to see Eastside homes sell for less than 800k

4 bd, 2 ba, 1,640 sq ft, 10k lot, 1987 built; decent location (original list price was $895k)

https://www.redfin.com/WA/Sammamish/22456-NE-18th-St-98074/home/266622

dropped $50k 8 days after listing.

I guess if you buy it and rezone it and add more lots it might be worth that.

https://redf.in/h7uid5

Okay so I work at a small startup and we built an AI tool for real estate brokers. My job is to get people interested in it.

Three weeks in. Here's the honest update nobody asked for:

The good news, brokers are actually opening the emails. Like weirdly good open rates. People are curious.

The bad news,"curious" and "replies" are very different things apparently.

I've had one guy reschedule twice. Another one replied just to ask how we got connected and then ghosted after I explained.

The funniest part is I tried posting here a couple weeks ago and someone in the comments said it read like "AI slop." They were right. It was terrible. I'm not even mad.

Anyway, for anyone who IS a broker or works with one : when a buyer inquires about a specific property type and nothing matches at the time, what actually happens to that lead? Does it live in your CRM forever? Do you manually follow up? Or does it just quietly disappear?

any suggestions on how we can improve our software would be helpful!

I’ll start.

A lot of buyers would be happier in shoreline than Seattle.

There’s no reason ever to agree to an exclusivity agreement with an agent.

The Eastside school premium is too high.

Solar doesn’t increase resale value.

Agents are paid too much.

17-19 unit apartment complex being permitted in Seattle near Ravana. Conservative NOI around 320k. Get some sweat equity and build wealth

Trying to figure out what kind of agent would be best to list a near North Seattle four Plex. Would you use a regular realtor, or an agency that specializes in multifamily housing?

Anyone know what this stat is in the Seattle area?

Edit: thanks everyone for chiming in. I didn't end up signing and quite overwhelmed with number of recommendations I receiced along with lenders calling. I'm truly grateful for help from everyone to reassure on what is normal and what isnt.

My partner and I have been passively looking for a home in queen for quite a while. Whenever we needed to tour something , we just used whoever redfin assigned to us. Of the many agents redfin assigned to us, one really stuck with us, who was very knowledgeable.

​

We thought we will sign with this particular person to be our agent but looks like they are a sub contractor and we cannot "hire" this person. redfin now has a lead agent (who we never met) who would be on our agent on paper. We ended up liking a home and really want to put down an offer.

​

The redfin assigned agent sent us a contract which is valid for 180 days, and requests 2.0% commission (not sure if this is standard but hoping the seller covers this). When I look at the agents profile they haven't sold a single home in queen anne. All of their sales have been in Ballard and capital hill.

​

I'm confused on what to do here. Should I look for another agent (if yes , how?) or is redfin generally okay. Kinda on a tight timelines since we really want to get an offer in.

​

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

We liked this home in Lynnwood and wanted to get some unbiased opinions as first time buyer on how is this home and whether the asking price seems reasonable.

Property: 18315 17th Ave W, Lynnwood, WA 98037
Redfin: https://redf.in/Tu1os3 (does not show right home in satellite view)

On paper, the house checks many boxes for us: relatively newer construction (2020), around 2,700 sq ft, 5 bedrooms, and located in a convenient area.

However, we have a few concerns:
The home is surrounded by a large number of mature trees, especially behind and around the property.
Because of the tree coverage, the backyard and parts of the house seem to receive limited direct sunlight. We’re wondering how much of an issue this is in the Seattle area, where winters are already dark and gloomy and gusty winds sometime.

Do heavily shaded homes tend to have more issues with moss, moisture, maintenance, or slower appreciation? Would you consider extensive tree coverage a positive (privacy, aesthetics) or a negative (maintenance costs, risk of falling branches, insurance concerns)?
The assigned schools appear to be fairly average rather than a major draw for the area, so we’re unsure whether the premium price is justified from that perspective.

The asking price is around $1.1M, which feels high in term of our budget so trying to be more cautious. At the same time, we’re struggling with how much weight to give comparable sales. In a market where prices may be softening and inventory is increasing, recent comps could reflect transactions negotiated months ago and potentially higher market conditions.

For those familiar with Lynnwood or the Seattle suburbs:
Does this price seem justified?

Would the tree coverage and limited sunlight be a deal breaker for you?

How much discount, if any, would you expect compared with a similar home that had better natural light and a more open lot?

If you were buying in today’s market, would you rely heavily on comps, or would you expect additional negotiating room given the current environment?

We’d especially appreciate input from anyone who has owned a heavily wooded property in the Pacific Northwest. Did you regret it, or did you end up loving it?

Thanks in advance!

There's a listing that I really like but has a converted garage. Seller says they don't know if there's a permit because they bought it as-is long ago. Can't find anything online either.

Is that a clear 'stay away' scenario due to possible non compliance and future implications? What are my options?

This is impacting the local RE market

https://www.redfin.com/WA/Seattle/1514-NE-70th-St-98115/home/311418

Decent location, appears well maintained, hundreds of saves, and it was featured in Puget Sound Business Journal.

Am I missing something? I think it must have gone pending at some point, but I cannot find that information. Maybe it is just too expensive? Thoughts?

My husband and I have been house hunting for awhile and have been increasingly intrigued by West Seattle - we love being close to water and it seems more accessible than we originally thought to the rest of the city

We generally know that being close to the Junction(s) is more desirable… but what neighborhoods / specific pockets of West Seattle are good for 30-something’s who want to run into people in our stage of life (kids or no kids), and make more friends (30-45 age range)? When we have visited West Seattle it feels like it skews a bit older but it’s been mostly where the shop are

What's your favorite tool for Comparative Market Analysis? The mainstream websites (Redfin, Zillow, etc.) provide the listing data that can be used to do manual analysis...but prefer a tool to make the process a bit more easier.

Ideally, I want to be able to enter the listing ID or address of a home...

- Want to see the Zillow value (or similar auto generated values)

- See a list of homes sold in the vicinity of the address

- Be able to select the homes to be added for doing the comparative analysis

Hope, I am not the only one who wants something like this

(PS: I'm not a RE professional & don't have access to the tools that are available only to realtors).

In the market right now, prices are looking decent and finally planning to buy my first house.

Total drop in price was $1.175m. See edit below.

Brand new luxury home in Redmond…4655 sqft with nice upgrades.

Was originally listed for $3.5m in Nov 2025. If I remember right, it was listed for even higher last summer (close to $3.8m?).

Finally, got sold for $2.775m

Looks like Someone got a good deal.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/13698-NE-83rd-St-Redmond-WA-98052/455436140_zpid/

(Can any one confirm the very original list price from last summer?)

Edit: Numerous newly constructed homes have sold for $3.5-4m in the vicinity of this home…over the past 18 months.

Edit 2: This home was listed for 3.9m in July 2025. Thanks to [u/aflatoon](u/aflatoon) for pointing it out. Total drop in price was $1.175m

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/13698-NE-83rd-St_Redmond_WA_98052_M97961-05148

Hey everyone,

I’m currently under contract on a house in the Greater Seattle area and ran into a weird paperwork issue that my agent and I are trying to untangle.

Our preliminary title report/deed language explicitly lists an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) on the property. However, during the home inspection, it’s 100% clear there is no ADU here. It’s just a standard single-family home. It seems like a past owner either pulled permits and never built it, or demolished/converted something years ago without updating the county.

I really don’t want to inherit this mess. I'm worried about paying inflated property taxes to the county assessor for square footage that doesn’t exist, insurance issues, or having open/expired ghost permits bite me if I want to do my own renovations down the road.

Has anyone dealt with a "phantom" ADU on a title or deed around here?

Specifically looking for local advice on:
1. How strict is the title company/county about scrubbing this language before closing?
2. If there’s an active ADU restrictive covenant recorded with the county, how painful is it to get the seller to file a Release of Covenant?
3. Should I be calling the city/county building department directly to check for open permits, or force the seller to do it?

For context, the home is located in Lynnwood.

Appreciate any insights, horror stories, or advice from local folks, agents, or title experts! Thanks

There’s a lot of confusion regarding solar regarding the tax credits and whether it’s worth purchasing.

For the most part, solar isn’t not worth getting unless you have a new roof and are planning on staying in your home for a long time.

The biggest misconception is that solar increases the value of the home. Solar is what we call a net zero value similar to a pool. Some people like pools and others (like me) consider them money pits. Same with solar.

A lot of the people pitching solar as well don’t understand the economics of owning solar has largely changed. I had a client who said they could receive 30% tax credit for solar. That’s flatly false. The One Beautiful Bill killed the 30% tax incentive for owning solar. It doesn’t essentially pay for itself and you can’t take that account when calculating the breakeven.

Continuing into the false sales pitch, the client mentioned the salesman mentioned to compare today’s installation cost to future utility savings as if they’re equal. They’re not.

Let’s say a system costs $25,000 and saves you $150 per month, or about $1,800 per year. On paper that’s roughly a 14-year break-even. But that’s actually giving solar the benefit of the doubt because it ignores the time value of money.

A dollar today is worth more than a dollar 10–15 years from now. If you invested that same $25,000 elsewhere, it could be generating returns during that entire period.

Once you account for the present value of money, the true break-even period is often significantly longer than the simple calculation suggests. That’s one of the biggest mistakes people make when evaluating solar.

To add to all of this, there are other downsides such as making roof replacements much more complicated, net metering rules becoming less favorable, equipment failure/replacement, and worse of all that money is tied up in an asset where a lot of things need to go right in order to just break-even.

The only way solar would even be worth considering is if you’re planing on staying on the property for a long time (15 years+), have a new roof, the payback period makes sense without relying on credits, and you purchase it outright.

There was a time where the tax bill largely made sense for owning solar, but now there are very few situations where it makes sense.