Recent News

For decades, Washington State real estate brokerage firms have operated under agreement to share all real property listings with the public and the rest of the brokerage community. They have traditionally done this through the multiple listing service. These same properties will typically also show up on popular websites like Redfin, Zillow, and Trulia, where… Read More

The process of buying and selling a home can involve a myriad of potential issues, just one of which was addressed in Ryan Foltz’s excellent article here about the dangers of waiving an inspection contingency. Even so, to be competitive in an aggressive market, buyers will often waive not only inspection contingencies, but financing contingencies, title contingencies,… Read More

A defendant served with a lawsuit may face a multitude of different risks and consequences depending on the nature of the litigation. One issue, however, often not considered by those facing suit is the immediate impact a lawsuit can have on their property ownership. Indeed, depending on the circumstances, the mere filing of a lawsuit… Read More

If you have purchased real property with another person or persons, apart from your spouse, you have most likely purchased that real property as a “tenant-in-common” with your co-owners. Tenancy in common constitutes one of the most, well, common forms of collective property ownership in Washington State. Although the concept of purchasing a home or… Read More

In 2018, Washington State passed RCW 64.90, known as the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (WUCIOA), which took effect on July 1st of that same year. WUCOIA applies to all common interest communities, with a few exceptions, created after July 1, 2018. WUCOIA also gives the option to older community associations to opt into its… Read More

An easement gives a legal right to use another person’s real property for a specific purpose. Fundamentally, an easement for ingress and egress serves the purpose of permitting another property owner the right to enter and leave a property that does not belong to that property owner. In other words, with an easement for ingress… Read More

In 2023, Washington State underwent significant changes in housing legislation in 2023. Some of the major changes pertaining to multiplexes and accessory dwelling units, in particular, have been discussed previously in blog posts here, here, and here. The relevant laws went into effect on July 23, 2023, and the law requires Cities to adopt compliant zoning laws within… Read More

When selling a home, the selling party will typically pay a 5-6% commission to the listing agent, who then pays a negotiated portion of that commission (often, but not always, half) to the buyer’s agent. Technically, the commissions are negotiable, but the National Association of Realtors (NAR), a powerful trade association boasting over 1.5 million… Read More

Easements present one of the most common encumbrances affecting title to real property. An easement allows a property owner to use someone else’s land for a specific purpose, such as ingress and egress, parking, utilities, and even temporary construction. My colleague, Andrew M. McKenzie, wrote an excellent blog post here regarding methods for determining whether… Read More