Seattle, WA

is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located in the U.S. State of Washington between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, nearly 108 miles (174 km) south of the United States-Canadian border in King County, of which it is the county seat. Population 783,661. Vancouver RealEstate Listings

Seattle Real Estate Market Data:

Total Housing Units: 148,093 - Average Home Price: $314,733

Seattle RealEstate Notables

Windermere Real Estate, a real estate company founded and based in the Windermere neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, was founded by John W. Jacobi in 1972, when he purchased an eight-agent office. Still privately held, it is now the largest real estate company in the Pacific Northwest, with over 400 offices and 8,000 agents.

Another major Seattle Real Estate Broker is John L. Scott Real Estate.

Windermere Real Estate

expanded outside Seattle in 1984 with an office on Bainbridge Island, and ten years later opened offices in British Columbia and Idaho. As of 2004, Windermere Real Estate does business in Washington, Oregon, California, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Arizona. All Windermere offices are locally owned and operated.

Redfin.com is the real estate industry's first online Seattle Real Estate Brokerage Company.

By combining maps, listings, tax records and analytics, Redfin has become Seattle's most popular real estate brokerage site. Customers who use Redfin.com to buy or sell properties earn a refund of most of the commission traditionally due their broker, and get full support in paperwork, negotiations and closing. Real Estate Investment | Refinance Facts

Redfin opened in 2004 as an online real estate listings site for Seattle, and now has 35 employees, including 12 agents in Washington State and California. Its first innovation was to layer maps with historical prices for each area as well as information on property taxes and which homes had a view, for example.

In February, it introduced a Web site that automates the bidding process and the commission rebates. The sale of a $500,000 house, for example, typically yields a 3 percent commission of $15,000 for the buyers agent. A Redfin customer would get $10,000 back