Blog - Windermere Real Estate

Spring Cleaning Checklist for a Cleaner, Healthier Home

Northwest Contemporary Architecture: A Guide to Pacific Northwest Style

Buying Posts

How Long do Appliances and Household Fixtures Last? Nothing in life lasts forever – and the same can be said for your home. From the roof to the furnace, every component of your home has a life span, so it’s a good idea to know approximately how many years of service you can expect from them. This information can help when buying or selling your home, budgeting for improvements, and deciding between repairing or replacing when problems arise.

Small Town Revival: Why Everyone’s Moving Back to Main Street After decades of city living being the goal, a fresh trend is emerging. More and more people—especially young adults—are reimagining what “home” looks like, and that picture is starting to look a lot like small-town life. From coast to coast, smaller communities are seeing new life as individuals and families seek more space, deeper connections, […]

The Top Questions Every Buyer Should Ask Their Real Estate Agent Buying a home is a major milestone, and it comes with a lot of decisions, details, and moving parts. While online searches and market headlines can offer helpful context, there’s no substitute for having a knowledgeable real estate professional by your side. The right agent does more than show homes. They help you understand the […]

What is a Buyer-Agency Agreement and Why Does it Matter? In today’s evolving real estate landscape, one of the biggest changes buyers will encounter is the relatively new requirement to sign a Buyer Agency Agreement. While this added step may sound formal, it’s actually designed to make the home-buying process more transparent, secure, and ultimately more beneficial for everyone involved. What is a Buyer-Agency Agreement? […]

Selling Posts

What to Fix Before Selling Your Home Preparing your home for the market can feel stressful, especially when you start noticing every small imperfection. The good news is that not every issue needs to be addressed before listing. A few thoughtful updates can go a long way toward helping your home show well, attract buyers, and maximize your sale price. In this […]

The Power of a 30-Second First Impression: Why Reels Are the New Curb Appeal In real estate, we all know how important first impressions are. For decades, curb appeal has been the gold standard for catching a buyer’s attention—but today, those first impressions are happening online, often in under 30 seconds. As more buyers scroll listings on their phones or stumble across homes on social media, video has become […]

Refinance or Sell? Making the Right Move for Your Home Homeownership isn’t a one-size-fits-all, and neither are the financial decisions that come with it. At some point, many homeowners reach a familiar fork in the road: Should I refinance my mortgage, or is it time to sell? The right answer depends on a mix of factors, including your financial health, today’s interest rate environment, your […]

Does Home Staging Really Work? What Sellers Should Know For more than 20 years, the benefits of home staging have been well documented. Countless studies have shown that staging helps homes sell more quickly, and often for a higher price. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, 30 percent of agents reported that staging led to a 1 to 10 percent increase in the […]

Living Posts

Spring Cleaning Checklist for a Cleaner, Healthier Home When it comes to wellness, your health and the health of your home go hand in hand. Here are some tips to guide you through your spring cleaning this year.

The Housing Market Works Best in the Open. Washington Just Proved It. When Washington State Governor Bob Ferguson signed Senate Bill 6091 into law today, banning the marketing of residential properties to exclusive groups of buyers or brokers, he sent a clear message: transparency matters. This bill didn’t emerge from political theory or academic debate. It arose from a real tension in the real estate industry: whether openness […]

Top Home Design Trends to Know in 2026 Design trends have always reflected more than style. They reflect how people want to live. And as we move into 2026, home design continues to shift away from one-size-fits-all aesthetics and toward spaces that feel intentional, expressive, and more personal. After several years shaped by minimalism, fast trends, and highly curated interiors, homeowners are now […]

Bedding Basics: How to Fold a Fitted Sheet (and Other Handy Tips) There’s something about slipping into a freshly made bed that just feels right. Crisp sheets, fluffed pillows, and a neatly folded duvet can turn even the simplest bedroom into a relaxing retreat. But before you get to the cozy part, it helps to know a few behind-the-scenes tricks, starting with how to properly fold a […]

Recent Posts

Local Look Western Washington Housing Update 5/7/26 Hi. I’m Jeff Tucker, principal economist at Windermere Real Estate, and this is a Local Look at the April 2026 data from the Northwest MLS. We are now in the heart of the spring selling season, and it is shaping up to be a little quieter than last year’s spring. Across the Northwest MLS, there […]

Spring Cleaning Checklist for a Cleaner, Healthier Home When it comes to wellness, your health and the health of your home go hand in hand. Here are some tips to guide you through your spring cleaning this year.

Northwest Contemporary Architecture: A Guide to Pacific Northwest Style In the Pacific Northwest, architecture is as much about the environment as it is about the home itself. With long stretches of gray skies, evergreen landscapes, and a strong connection to the outdoors, homes in the region are designed to feel both grounded and expansive. Northwest Contemporary architecture, sometimes called Pacific Northwest style or Northwest […]

2026 First Quarter Regional Real Estate Report This is a recurring series of blog posts taking a closer look at the U.S. economy and several major regional markets in Windermere’s nine-state footprint. Updates will be released on a quarterly basis. Economic Overview At the end of February, the spring housing market appeared poised for a rebound. Mortgage rates dipped below 6% for […]

More Posts

2026 First Quarter Regional Real Estate Report This is a recurring series of blog posts taking a closer look at the U.S. economy and several major regional markets in Windermere’s nine-state footprint. Updates will be released on a quarterly basis. Economic Overview At the end of February, the spring housing market appeared poised for a rebound. Mortgage rates dipped below 6% for […]

Numbers to Know 2/18/26: The Latest Economic & Housing Update This is the latest in a series of videos with Windermere Principal Economist Jeff Tucker, where he delivers the key economic numbers to follow to keep you well-informed about what’s going on in the real estate market. I’ll start with some bad news and some good news from the latest jobs report. The first number […]

Top Home Design Trends to Know in 2026 Design trends have always reflected more than style. They reflect how people want to live. And as we move into 2026, home design continues to shift away from one-size-fits-all aesthetics and toward spaces that feel intentional, expressive, and more personal. After several years shaped by minimalism, fast trends, and highly curated interiors, homeowners are now […]

Local Look Western Washington Housing Update 2/4/26 Hi. I’m Jeff Tucker, principal economist at Windermere Real Estate, and this is a Local Look at the January 2026 data from the Northwest MLS. So far in 2026, the housing market is still in the grips of a winter slowdown. Across the Northwest MLS, there were 7% fewer closed home sales than in January […]