I was flipping through the channels this weekend and stumbled on the Clint Eastwood classic spaghetti western, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Life imitates art and it occurred to me that most situations feature an element of good, bad, and downright ugly. I have a number of "First Party Insurance" claims sitting on my desk (e.g. an Association pursuing its own carrier for discovered property damage). Many of these involve the "discovery rule." Having dealt with this rule on a number of occasions, I've discovered the good, the bad, and the ugly of this rule. read more

In last week's post, we discussed the data and hard numbers supporting the influx of apartment buildings over condominium projects in the Puget Sound region. We concluded simple economics-maximizing profit-was the reason the large number of cranes in Seattle and Bellevue are constructing apartment buildings and not condominiums. But that's not what the building industry wants you to think. read more

Interest rates have never been better. As a result, many owners have jumped at the chance to refinance their homes or condos at seriously low rates. Yet, individual owners are not the only ones who can benefit from these low rates. Community association loan rates are probably lower than you think. Some of our associations have seen rates in the 4% range, and they may be going even lower if recent economic trends continue. read more

At the end of the month, our Portland office will be moving to a new location. Like any move there is always an element of joy and a modicum of pain. We are overjoyed with the new location and the new space. As many of you can relate, moving comes with a fair amount of work. Offices can accumulate as much junk as any homeowner can and weeding through can be a painful task. In my effort to help clean up the office, I found a package of ramen noodles that expired in 2012. That is two full years before I even started working at Barker Martin! (I apologize to any former employee who was saving those for a special occasion). read more