Traffic Goes Too Fast Past My House!

Seattle is unique in that it has well over 1,000 neighborhood traffic circles spread throughout the city.  They’re effective at reducing accidents at intersections.  They also reduce speeds at the intersection and multiple traffic circles can reduce speeds along the entire street corridor.  Seattle Department of Transportation receives many requests for traffic circles, although there [...]

How Long Should I Keep This Junk?

I’m SUCH a purger of unnecessary stuff at home, and it’s pretty exciting to recycle or shred a ton of old paperwork – check out these recommendations on how long to keep important documents: -Tax Returns: 7 years This includes, but is not limited to, W-2 and 1099 forms, mortgage interest statements, property tax records, [...]

Don’t Skip This Vital Inspection

Everyone knows that buyers should have a professional property inspection before purchasing a home, and over the last several years, real estate professionals have been recommending sewer inspections to their clients.  Side sewer repairs or replacement can be expensive – averaging $5,000 to $15,000 – and can often come as a surprise to property owners [...]

Some Thoughts on Ceiling Height

Most of us spend a lot of time indoors – and that ceiling somewhere above our heads has a lot of influence on us psychologically. We’re more creative in spaces with higher ceilings. All else being equal, people are more innovative in places with 10 foot ceilings than they are when the ceiling hovers 8 [...]

A Super Cool Local Business

Second Use, a great local company in South Seattle, has had building materials for reuse in the Puget Sound region since 1994. Their mission is to reclaim old buildings, divert reusable building materials from the landfill, preserve components of our local architectural heritage, provide affordable building materials to the public, and offer living wage jobs [...]

Don’t Hide Anymore, Sellers!

Today’s post will be short and sweet – we real estate practitioners need to use all available platforms to get the word out.  It seems the newspapers are starting to let the public know that the buyers have been coming out in droves lately, and the problem is a HUGE lack of inventory.  Sellers, please, [...]

Declutter Your Financial Life

Misplaced bills, late payments and forgotten invoices can cause plunging credit scores, penalties and unnecessary stress. Protect your money—and prevent a headache—by ringing in the New Year with a resolution to organize your finances. File as you go. It’s tempting to stack mail and other documents in an “I’ll get to it later” pile – [...]

Don’t Forget the Garage When Selling Your Home

They’re for more than parking cars, stacking boxes, and holding trash bins. The garage can help sell your home if you stage it right. Most homeowners might think of staging their kitchens and bedrooms, but the garage is a feature that is playing an increasingly important role.  Here are some organizing tips to help you [...]