Kirkland · Bothell · Seattle · The Eastside
Straight answers, sharp negotiation, and white-glove service for buyers, sellers, and investors across the Pacific Northwest.
How Mike helps
No generic playbook. Mike brings a hands-on plan to every purchase, sale, and investment—then stays close until the keys change hands.
Local market context, honest guidance, and a strong offer strategy—without pushing you beyond the life you want to live.
Talk about buying →From prep and repairs to polished marketing and skilled negotiation, every detail is handled to position your home at its best.
Plan your sale →Practical advice from an active investor who understands renovation, rental value, cash flow, and long-term opportunity.
Explore an investment →
Meet Mike
Michael Piccolo pairs deep home-industry experience with a builder’s eye, an investor’s perspective, and a relentless commitment to his clients. He has spent more than two decades around homes and successful businesses—and he knows how to solve the problems that stand between people and their goals.
Whether you’re moving up in Kirkland, preparing a property from across the world, or looking for your next investment, Mike brings straight talk, high energy, and the follow-through to get it done.
Recent wins
Fourth transaction together: from a 1,300-square-foot first home to a 2,600-square-foot Kirkland home.
Repairs, finishes, flooring, cleaning, inspection, staging, and sale—handled for a client living in London.
A design-forward renovation found its buyer quickly without chasing the market.
Client reviews
“Michael is the best! If you're looking to buy or sell your home – hire him… He made the entire process smooth and was always responsive, knowledgeable, and genuinely invested in helping us find the right home.”
“Our home sold in two weeks. But the best was the help he gave prior to the sale. He told us what needed to be fixed, and even helped us book and schedule folks. Was the extra push we needed…and made a night and day difference!”
“Everything went smoothly! I've went through a few home buying experience but this was the most fastest, easiest and stress-free that I've gone through so far especially with me being from out of state!”
“From the very start it became evident that Michael cared about us as people… Not only did we find a new home and a realtor for life, but we also found a new friend.”
“Michael managed the project from start to finish - in three weeks he turned the property from a nightmare to being listed and under contract! We couldn't have done it without you, Michael!”
“He came out, recommended changes, and provided experts for quick painting, hole repair, carpet stretching, window cleaning and staging… We sold for $160k over asking and closed in a few weeks.”
“Michael recently helped me secure a new residential property in a hectic market at a 10% discount to listing price when nearby homes were selling for well OVER asking price.”
“Mike helped us sell our Mill Creek home for more than we ever thought we could… I have (and will continue to) recommend Mike to family and friends who are planning to sell a home.”
“House hunting is never easy, but when you live over 2,000 miles away from where you plan to move to, it's even more difficult… we found our home in 7 days after we arrived in Seattle to house hunt!”
“As a fellow real estate broker, I chose Mike because he knows how to get a listing prepped to sell for top dollar, and the relationship skills to get through the toughest negotiations - buying or selling.”
“There were some complexities with our close, but Michael made things happen and got us our dream house. Would recommended a hundred times over again!”
“Michael is also VERY on point and knows what he's doing… He handled every random and off the wall questions we had for him and at the end of the day, he made us feel like he was doing this for US.”
The blog
A weekly look at the Seattle-area market: the numbers that matter, the local stories shaping housing, and what Mike has been up to—every Monday.
September's NWMLS numbers show active listings at their highest since 2014 with 4.4 months of supply, the 30-year fixed eased to 7.32%, and Washington voters decide Initiative 645 on November 3 — plus two buyer-focused posts and continued showings at Lake Roesiger.
Redfin puts Seattle at the top of two lists nobody brags about — the steepest pending-sales drop and the biggest price drop in the country — plus two hot inflation prints with mortgage rates that surprisingly held flat, and a busy open-house weekend at Lake Roesiger.
September's NWMLS numbers are clear: buyers finally have choices, and the monthly payment is still the problem — plus what Microsoft's frozen green-card pipeline could mean for the Eastside, and a two-pending week: Woodinville in five days, Gold Bar in two.
September's numbers are in, and Seattle is a balanced market for the first time in years: 3,658 homes for sale (up 16% from last year), pending sales down 13%, a median sold price of $840,000, and roughly four months of supply. Mortgage rates spiked to 7.58% last week — the highest since November 2023 — so the monthly payment matters more than the sticker price right now.
Two dates worth knowing: new listings historically fall off a cliff after mid-October (sellers, the window is now), and Realtor.com just named October 18–24 Seattle's best week of the year to buy, when buyer competition drops further here than in any other big metro in the country.
On September 17, the Washington Supreme Court struck down Initiative 2066 — the measure voters passed in 2024 to protect natural gas access in homes — by a 6-3 vote, saying it violated the state constitution's single-subject rule by bundling gas access, building codes, utility rates, and clean-air provisions into one initiative.
Here's why a housing person should care. The same single-subject argument is now being aimed at Senate Bill 6346, the new 9.9% tax on income over $1 million — because that bill also bundled tax changes and relief programs together. The court hasn't said a word about the tax itself, and separately, voters get their own say on November 3 with Initiative 645, which would repeal the tax outright. There's a televised I-645 debate this Thursday, Oct 8, if you want to hear both sides.
My take: forget the politics for a second — uncertainty itself is a market force. Whether you can put a gas range or furnace in a remodel, and whether high earners start relocating over a tax that hasn't even collected a dollar yet, both shape housing decisions on the Eastside. Whatever your position, November 3 is a housing vote. Pay attention.
“Fess up! Is this a common thing? We have always had one! (Or two🤪)”
This one sparked 9 comments of neighbors swapping stories — my favorite kind of post. I share local real estate news like this every day over there, minus the sales pitch.
Follow along → @piccoloproperties#BetterCallMike
September's Northwest MLS numbers tell a consistent story: more homes to choose from, fewer buyers rushing, and prices easing rather than falling off a cliff.
Active listings across the NWMLS area reached 24,965 in September, up 24.5% from a year ago — the highest level since September 2014. At the current pace of sales, that works out to 4.4 months of inventory, the highest since February 2014. Pending sales fell 15.1% to 6,231, and closed sales fell 8.9% to 5,623, the lowest September closing total since 2014. The regional median price slipped 0.9% to $625,000. Condos felt it more: the median condo price fell 4.7% to $455,000, with pending sales down 22.7%.
Rates gave buyers a small break this week. Freddie Mac's October 22 survey put the 30-year fixed at 7.32%, down from 7.40% the week before — the first weekly decline since late August. The 15-year slipped to 6.68%. That is still 1.13 points above a year ago, when the 30-year averaged 6.19%.
The takeaway in plain numbers: on King County's $850,000 median with 20% down, principal and interest runs about $4,671 a month at 7.32%, versus about $4,708 at 7.40%. A $37-a-month improvement is real, but it does not change the market on its own. What changes it is the combination — more inventory, slower sales, and sellers who are willing to negotiate on price, credits, or a rate buydown.
If you have not returned your ballot yet, this is the one to read before you do. Washington voters decide November 3 on Initiative 645, which would repeal the state's new 9.9% tax on income above $1 million and ban state and local taxes on individual income. The tax has not taken effect yet — it is scheduled to start January 1, 2028, with the first payments due in April 2029 — so a yes vote would end it before anyone pays it, and a no vote would leave it in place.
Here is the practical timeline: ballots went out October 16, online and mail registration closed today, October 26, and in-person registration runs through 8 p.m. on November 3, when ballots are due. Supporters argue the tax opens the door to a broader state income tax down the road. Opponents warn that repealing it would cut funding for schools, health care, and other services — the state's fiscal estimate puts the revenue reduction at about $11.4 billion across fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
My take: a yes vote means no new income tax in Washington, and I am voting yes. This is not just a tax story — it is a housing story. Washington's lack of a state income tax is one of the reasons people move here and stay here, and it factors into what a home here is worth living in long-term. Once a tax like this is on the books, it rarely gets smaller. Whatever you decide, decide it on the ballot, not after it.
On Instagram this week, I posted two buyer-focused cards: on Wednesday, the case that it is actually a good time to be a buyer — more choices, sellers helping with closing costs again, and room to sleep on a decision — and on Thursday, the myth that you need 20% down, when buyers are getting in with far less. At Lake Roesiger, private showings continued and I followed up with a broker whose clients toured the house. Both of my pendings kept moving toward their November closings, with Gold Bar cleared to close this week. See the Lake Roesiger listing →
Featured post: my October 21 post on why it is actually a good time to be a buyer — 9 likes, the most of any post this week. See it here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DexbmR8iQPV/
I post local market numbers, neighborhood breakdowns, and plain-language takes on stories like the ones above every week over there — information first, no sales pitch.
Follow along → @piccoloproperties
#BetterCallMike
Redfin's weekly update, out Thursday and covering the four weeks ending October 11, put Seattle at the top of two lists nobody brags about. Pending sales here fell 26% from a year ago — the steepest drop of any of the 50 largest metros. Our median sale price fell 6.3% year over year, also the biggest drop in the country. Pending sales fell in every metro Redfin tracks, the first time that has happened in three years.
Sellers are adjusting. Nationally, the median asking price fell 0.3% from a year ago — the first asking-price decline since March — and 22% of sellers with active listings cut their price, the highest share in Redfin's records. A separate Redfin report last week estimated 62.6% more sellers than buyers nationally in September, the widest gap in its records going back to 2013.
Read it plainly: this is not every neighborhood falling at the same rate, and well-priced homes still sell — one of mine did, fast, just last week. But buyers have choices and leverage they have not had in years, and sellers who price for the market we are actually in are the ones getting sold.
Last week I told you the September inflation reports would likely decide whether rates ease or climb. Here is what actually happened.
Wednesday's Consumer Price Index rose 0.6% for the month and 3.7% from a year ago, up from 3.4% in August. Core inflation, leaving out food and energy, rose 0.3% for the month and 2.6% for the year — so it was not only energy. Gasoline jumped 9.1% in the month and accounted for more than half the headline increase.
Thursday's Producer Price Index was hotter still: up 1.3% for the month, the largest increase since March 2022, and 6.3% from a year ago. Core producer prices rose 0.7% for the month. Pressure broadened beyond energy into goods and services.
And then the surprise: Freddie Mac's Thursday survey put the 30-year fixed at 7.40% — flat from the week before. The seven-week run-up paused. The 15-year ticked down slightly to 6.71%. For a buyer at King County's $850,000 median with 20% down, that is about $4,708 a month in principal and interest — unchanged from last week.
My take: two hot inflation prints would normally push rates higher, and they may still — the Federal Reserve meets October 27–28, and this was the last full inflation read before that decision. For now, though, the payment math did not get worse. That is exactly why I keep coming back to the same practical point: in this market, a seller-paid rate buydown or a closing-cost credit, negotiated while buyers have leverage, can move a monthly payment more than a small price cut — and more reliably than waiting for the perfect rate headline.
A busy week at Lake Roesiger: I hosted Saturday's open house at 1311 SW Lake Roesiger Rd in Snohomish myself, and private showings carried the rest of the weekend — Friday, Sunday, and another one today. See the Lake Roesiger listing →
Also this week: my Bellevue neighborhoods carousel went live Thursday, I posted a market-update reel Friday, and my two pendings — Woodinville (closing November 6) and Gold Bar (closing November 12) — are moving toward their closing dates. And the Blog section of this site got a new button to subscribe to The Real Eastside, my weekly Eastside market newsletter.
Featured post: my October 13 post on the Washington Supreme Court's natural gas decision and this November's ballot — 10 likes and 3 comments, the most engagement of any post this week. See it here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DecHVwfjok8/
I post local market numbers, neighborhood breakdowns, and plain-language takes on stories like the ones above every week over there — information first, no sales pitch.
Follow along → @piccoloproperties
#BetterCallMike
September's NWMLS numbers are clear: buyers finally have choices, and the monthly payment is still the problem. There were 24,965 active listings — up 24.5% from a year ago, the most for September since 2014. Supply reached 4.44 months, a level not seen since February 2014. King County listings rose 31.1%; Snohomish County jumped 44.2%.
Prices barely budged. The regional median slipped 0.9% to $625,000, King County's median was flat at $850,000, and Snohomish County's was $720,000. Pending sales fell 15.1%, the sharpest drop of the year. Condos softened most: King County condos had about seven months of supply, and the median condo price there fell 6% to $496,000.
Rates explain much of that caution. Freddie Mac put the 30-year fixed at 7.40% for the week ending October 8 — up from 7.28%, the seventh straight weekly increase, and the highest since November 2023. The 15-year averaged 6.73%.
My takeaway: this is a negotiating market, not a crashing one. Buyers can ask for credits and seller-paid rate buydowns — and right now, a buydown can move a monthly payment more than a small price cut. This week's inflation reports, CPI on Wednesday and PPI on Thursday, will likely decide whether rates ease or climb again.
On Thursday, October 8, the U.S. Department of Labor suspended eight companies from the PERM program: Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini. PERM — permanent labor certification — is usually the first step an employer takes to sponsor a worker for an employment-based green card. The department said it will not accept new applications or process pending ones for these companies, citing active federal investigations. No end date was announced.
One point of precision matters: no one's H-1B visa was cancelled. What is frozen is the path from a temporary work visa to permanent residency, including cases already in line.
The two sides disagree on the facts behind it. Administration officials pointed to about 6,000 Microsoft layoffs last year alongside roughly 6,300 H-1B approvals. Microsoft responded that about 80% of its H-1B filings last fiscal year were extensions or status changes for people already working there, and new hires were about 1% of its U.S. workforce.
Why I am watching it: Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, with roughly 53,000 Puget Sound employees. The Eastside has one of the largest skilled-visa workforces in the country, and tech workers are a major share of buyers there. People unsure whether they can stay permanently tend to pause the biggest purchase of their lives.
I am not predicting a crash, or even a dip. Nobody knows how long this lasts, how many local workers actually have a PERM case pending, or whether employers shift more hiring to U.S. workers, which could offset any softening. What I will watch over the next few weeks is Eastside showing traffic and pending sales. If this touches housing, it will show up there first.
It was a two-pending week.
My Woodinville listing at 17921 151st Way NE went pending in just five days at $860,000, and this Sunday the buyers' inspection was settled ahead of the October 13 deadline. Next step is appraisal, with closing set for November 6.
Gold Bar was faster still. My listing at 41220 Ajer Dr went live Thursday morning at $425,000, an offer arrived within eight hours, and it was pending in two days at $438,000, over asking, with inspection waived. Saturday's open house was cancelled because there was nothing left to show. Closing is November 12, for sellers who are also friends. See the Gold Bar listing →
My Lake Roesiger listing at 1311 SW Lake Roesiger Rd in Snohomish also went live Thursday, at $1,199,000 — 4 bed, 2.75 bath, 2,938 sq ft, with 50 feet of lakefront and a private dock. We held open houses Saturday and Sunday, plus a private showing Sunday evening. See the Lake Roesiger listing →
Featured post: the Lake Roesiger Just Listed tour reel from Thursday, October 8 — 26 likes and 5 comments, the most engagement of any post this week. Watch it here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeP2R1OzIlz/
That tour — dock to lower-level suite — is the best way to feel the lake place short of standing on the dock. I post local market news and neighborhood breakdowns every week over there, minus the sales pitch.
Follow along → @piccoloproperties
#BetterCallMike
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