Is it time once again to consider renewing your residential lease? Often that leaves tenants asking if they should stay another year. Is there room to negotiate a better deal or should tenants save time, energy and effort and move to a new place? 

Previously, we’ve looked at commercial lease negotiations best practices, but we at Holmquist + Gardiner often receive requests for guidance with residential property lease negotiations as well.

Spring is here. The cherry blossoms are blooming. It’s nearly time to roll out the grill for its summer stint on the patio. Hopefully any extended time spent outside enjoying your property includes a friendly wave from your neighbor. For residential property owners dealing with the turmoil of a contentious boundary line dispute, a wave is more likely an apoplectic stare, or worse. 

When it comes to landlord – tenant relationships, nothing should be left to translation or interpretation. The dealings between both parties should be mutually beneficial, respectful, and above all else, clear. With that in mind, the attorneys at Holmquist & Gardiner work with landlords (and tenants) to make sure their interests are provided for and protected.

Seattle and the state of Washington continue to be in a constant state of expansion. New commercial buildings are springing up left and right; in fact, Seattle tops the nation as the city with the most tower cranes for the third straight year in a row. With new developments come new commercial spaces, and if you’re in the market for office, retail or industrial rental space in the Emerald City, lease negotiations are going to be in your near future.

Are you in the process of developing real estate in Seattle? Are you from out-of-state? It is likely that your lender will require a loan opinion letter. Loan opinion letters are provided by legal counsel for borrowers and provide a number of opinions including the assurance that loan documents will be binding under the law of the jurisdiction, the borrower and guarantor entities have the necessary signing authority, and that such entities have been properly formed.

With the increase in housing prices in the Seattle area, homeowners are finding that their annual property tax bill is increasing by a much larger percentage than in the past.  For example, property taxes on a median-valued home in King County has increased 42.6% in the last four years! This is a huge increase, no matter your financial situation. You might be wondering what you can do to contest your property tax assessment? Indeed, you do have options.