Lol I grew up in Maltby. I remember when they struggled to give homes away in Duvall. Not so much the last 15 years or so.

My father in law is building houses in Seattle for an investment group,they're buying houses for 3-400,000 tearing them down building new houses on the lots and selling them for 1.2 million. Houses aren't even listed until finished and then sold the 1st day on the market for more than asking price. Those investors are speculating 2-3 years before a change.....whatever that change will be is the big question. I'm hoping it goes at least 2 more years,I have a house on 4 lots in south Seattle I'll be ready to let go. Bought it for $220,000 and its appraises at 378,000 right now,hoping for it to get up to $500,000 when I sell it.

I'll expand on my previous post - I went to a meeting a few weeks ago...a few guys (and gals) in the room have hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate investments on the West Cost. As one junior investor was explaining how quickly they would get money into and out of a deal, he quipped:



Everyone in the room nodded.

Just saw some new town homes near me starting in the $900's. Ridiculous...


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Not only the $500 K exemption ($250 each spouse), you can increase the cost basis of the house by keeping track of all improvements. Change from Carpet to Wood flooring, Roofing, Painting, New Furnace, AC, etc, all go into the cost basis and the Capital Gain is merely Selling Price minus "Cost Basis". Don't throw those receipts away.


I wouldn't worry much about Capital Gains tax. If you have to pay it it means you made a shit-ton of money on your home. A lot better than a "Capital Loss" like many are faced with.

I've been in my current house and in that time my property taxes have only gone up 35%. On the other side of the equation, my home has appreciated over 100% in value. Increases in the last couple years have been 12% - 15% each year.


As California drives more people out of their State, those who leave sell their houses for a pile of cash, come here and pay cash (often in bidding wars) for houses in nice communities, thus driving up prices.

Face it, there is only a finite amount of land that's suitable for urban development. As more and more people compete for homes prices will go up, up, up.

The alternative is to live in an apartment building close to work, paying a couple grand or more per month in a 50 story building. Our highway system is another factor that drives housing values up within a 30 mile radius of Seattle. Not many people want to spend an extra 50% of their work time sitting in traffic each day. Anywhere within 90 minutes of Downtown Seattle (in rush hour traffic) will be golden. Seattle was recently at the top of a list showing the number of construction cranes in use. This means more and more high-rise business space. More people, more cars, more traffic, more demand for housing, More money for those who bought their property decades ago and haven't used their home as an ATM machine, refinancing every time the value rises another $20-$30K.

FWIW, I've read predictions of economic downturn/collapse for decades. Way back in the 70's so called economists were predicting the collapse of our economy. They sold books and once their predicted dates passed, the books ended up at Goodwill.

I had a friend back east that ran into that issue. He drilled a well before he built his house, directly under the house. Told nobody, got no permit, just punched the hole down a couple hundred feet. He then put in a large water tank and bought a few "token" tanker loads of water to keep people from wondering where he got his water. He figured that someday the well would be discovered but he also figured that by that time he'd be dead and gone. In other words, no longer his problem.


Usually one can take water without obtaining rights if only used for "domestic" purposes. Drinking, bathing, laundry, but no livestock or agricultural uses.

The old farm house with 3 acres I grew up in just sold for 1.2 million. We have another farm that is worth about 2 million. My grandfather paid around $4000 for the land. Prices are getting crazy. Good for the pocket if you are selling but bad because the rural areas are transforming into city's.

Agreed, we are paying extra on the home loan principal, watching the value go up as the loan goes down. As soon as practical we are headed for one of those yellow spots just east of WY.

I moved here in 2013, been watching the taxes, the population, the idiocy, and the liberalism explode. No thanks, I am moving to a state that isn't run by a snake and represented nationally by a POS like Ed Murray. Rainbow crosswalks...for crying out loud.

The older I get the less I worry about places like Seattle and **MOD EDIT: CoC Hate Free Zone** like Murray.

I figure I can always "Cash Out", buy a motor home, and become an "Escapee". being a resident of NO State.

When my Mother was about my age now she took off to Arizona for the winters. Had a piece of ground that cost her $240 per month to park her motorhome on. Enjoyed the outdoors for 6 months of the year (while we were all freezing our asses off) and then she and her new husband took off to visit other places during the summer. Politics had no effect on them whatever. Only worries were the price of fuel for the motorhome.

We should take that to the bank!!