The $35,000 mistake - Why you should review your title report.

You hire a broker to represent you in the sale of your house, and eventually you get an offer you can live with. The buyers are ready, willing and able to close the deal. Sounds great, right?

Well, not if your driveway encroaches on the neighbor's property and you can't deliver clear marketable title to your buyer. A Mississippi court recently ruled that the seller owed more than $35,000 to their listing broker because the seller was unable to perform even though the broker bought them a ready, willing and able buyer.

This is an example of why we recommend eliminating surprises by ordering your preliminary title report upfront.

Puget Sound Real Estate Sales - Mixed results so far in 2009

The good news for home sellers is there were more sales in January than there were in December, and inventory is down a little from a year ago. The sales results are not surprising, as there are always more sales in January than December. The bad news for the month is there were fewer reported pending sales this year than in any January of this decade, for King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties.

Analysis of results is published monthly by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service and continually linked in the Real Estate News section of the MLS4owners.com website. If you need information about market activity in your neighborhood, let us know and we would be glad to help.