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3227 Evergreen Pt Rd – Medina, WA – Auction this week.
Let me know if I can help. 206-713-3244 or email me.
Archives for November 2011
How to Prep Your Fireplace for the Cold Season
November 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Photo: Catherine Yeulet/istock
Things to Know Before You Spark Up the Logs
With natural gas and propane prices continuing to rise, you’ll likely be looking to the old fireplace this winter to help cut your home-heating bills. But before you spark up the logs, take heed that fireplaces and chimneys are involved in 42 percent of all home-heating fires. So first make sure yours is up to snuff by following these seven safety tips.
Read the rest here.
Photo: The Everett Collection
How Much Has the Recession Impacted Credit Scores?
November 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
What you’re looking at is a visualization of the changes in FICO scores for the 200 million U.S. consumers with FICO scores over 3 unique periods of time: 2008 to 2009, 2009 to 2010 and 2010 to 2011. The following are some things to consider as you’re reviewing these figures:
2008-2009 Timeframe:
48.1 million consumers saw their FICO scores drop at least 21 points, representing over 24% of the “scoreable” U.S. population. Scores dropping this much is likely because of negative information appearing on a credit report or the consumer taking on new credit card debt (or a combination of both).During the same time period 45.3 million consumers saw their FICO scores increase by at least 21 points.The increase in scores can be attributed to a reduction in credit card debt and negative information aging off of credit reports. 64 million consumers saw their FICO scores remain in a 20 point window, drifting plus or minus 10 points.This is healthy score movement and is a result of consistent credit management practices.
2009-2010 Timeframe:
The damage to consumer’s FICO scores isn’t as dramatic during this time period (vs.2008-2009), as 40.1 million consumers experience a FICO score drop of at least 21 points. 49.8 million have improved their scores by at least 21 points, which indicates more consumers were paying down credit card balances and avoiding negative credit information. 68.8 million see their scores remain within a 20 point window.
2010-2011 Timeframe:
The damage to consumer’s FICO scores continues to soften from the previous timeframe, with 38.4 million seeing their FICO scores drop by at least 21 points.Interestingly, all three timeframes saw score improvements outpace score decreases, suggesting that more consumers were able to defend their scores from the financial crisis than might be expected.The significant score decreases (those of 51 points or more) are likely caused by a variety of factors including the increase in negative mortgage related credit reporting (foreclosures, settlements, forfeitures of deed, and loan modifications) and the persistence of unemployment and underemployment, which likely resulted in fewer people being able to make payments on their liabilities including student loans, adjusting mortgages, and increasingly higher credit card payments. Further, the filling of income gaps with credit cards likely played a significant role in all score decrease scenarios.
Banks severely limit how REO agents phrase MLS listing descriptions – outrageous
November 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Truth in advertising is dead. Thanks, banks.
Someone, somewhere, has decided that truth in advertising no longer matters. Many corporate clients, meaning banks, have started dictating what can, and cannot be said in the MLS. It isn’t about getting the property sold, but “selling” the property. This has made working the REO niche a tad complex at times.
Ultimately, a client is going to require certain things; a minimum amount of earnest money, a proof of funds letter, or a pre-approval. Yet, they are not allowing us to put this information out there for buyers and their agents. Please go back and re-read the first two sentences of this paragraph. Some REO clients are skittish about potentially disenfranchising buyers, or so it has been said, by specifying what types of financing, if any, a home will qualify for, or minimum amounts of EM they, themselves want. Many of the banks, servicers, and asset management companies are now saying what they want during negotiations.
Banks forcing agents to fail
As if listing REOs were a drug experiment going on in a secret lab for Big Pharma, we now have “control words” that will kick back a marketing description. There isn’t exactly a master list of no-no which can’t be used, but it’s basically any ick-tastic phrases in regards to a house. You know, like if house has mold, damaged or missing mechanicals, missing siding, or perhaps is one of those super special REOs that can only truly be fixed with a Blue Tip and about 5 gallons of Kerosene (sarcasm, kind of) and can only be purchased with cash or a rehab loan. We are more, and more frequently not permitted to mention these things in the MLS by many of our clients. Oh, and no photos showing how crappy the condition of a house may be, either.
Since there are about a billion factors that go into the price of an REO listing; it’s not solely up to the discretion of the agent, being able to paint an accurate picture of what is for sale is imperative. A house may have an awesome kitchen, but it makes no difference if the ceiling has fallen down around it due to a burst pipe, and we aren’t able to say a word about it in the MLS. When the reins get pulled, and we are hampered by what can be said, the true, provable things, about a home, we are not doing our jobs effectively.
Yeah, we sell houses. But is it really selling when we are not relaying information to buyers, and other agents that they should probably have? Or is it selling? That cute little spin which often puts Realtors just above or below snakes on the Ten Lists of Most Hated Things.
The Science of Earworms, or Why You Can’t Get that Damn Song Out of Your Head
November 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
They go by many names: Brain worms, sticky music (thanks Oliver Sacks), cognitive itch, stuck song syndrome. But the most common (if also the most repugnant) is earworms, a literal translation from Ohrwurm, a term used to describe the phenomenon (and perhaps bring to mind an immediate association with corn earworms). If you’re an academic, you might refer to it as Involuntary Musical Imagery, which, of course, gets condensed to INMI.
What are we talking about? Again, back to the academics, specifically, C. Phillip Beaman and Tim I. Williams from the University of Reading, who in a 2010 paper, explain it like this: “Simply, an earworm is the experience of an inability to dislodge a song and prevent it from repeating itself in one’s head.”
Oh, thaaat.
In the last five years, earworms have become the subject of peer-reviewed scientific studies. In 2006, Steven Brown of Simon Fraser University even studied his own earworms and observed in the Journal of Consciousness Studies that they could be used as a basis for understanding how conscious experience can be split into multiple parallel streams. In 2008, moreover, Finnish researchers published a study that used the Internet to survey age, gender, personality and musical and linguistic competence of 12,420 countrymen who experienced the endless loops in their heads.
A recent entry into this growing literature is: “How do earworms start?” The paper, published online in Psychology of Music on September 27 by researchers from the University of London, characterizes the vast range of things that impel Involuntary Musical Imagery.
The study was an exercise in crowd sourcing. BBC radio station 6 Music runs a morning breakfast show in which listeners describe their earworms. Taking 2,424 reports during several months in both 2009 and 2010, the researchers analyzed 333 of them. The study also included an analysis of 271 of the 1308 responses to online questionnaires from BBC sites as well as radio networks in the U.S. and Australia. The results are not entirely surprising, but they do demonstrate that almost any thought or sensory perception can hit the “on” switch. Hearing The Village People’s “YMCA” can get the mental tape rolling. Other head music may be induced by a memory from summer camp, the stresses of work or simply the boredom of office meetings.
As a contribution from the science of everyday life, earworms could conceivably provide a window onto what 19th century German memory research pioneer Hermann Ebbinghaus called involuntary memory retrieval. Perhaps. Even if earworm “entomology”comes to naught, though, some of the answers to earworm surveys are still a hoot. Here’s a couple of examples from the Psychology of Music paper that was referenced by a BPS Research Digest blog post, which inspired me to write this one. (Also don’t forget the Internet earworm community.)
—”My bloody earworm is that George Harrison song you played yesterday. Woke at 4:30 this morning with it going round me head. PLEASE DON’T EVER PLAY IT AGAIN!!!”
—“I get it [“Portsmouth”] every time I travel along the same road in Blackpool, seldom anywhere else. When it happens it takes 24 hours to disappear.”
We solicited readers’ nominations for the most annoying earworms yesterday via Facebook. We winnowed the list and now are presenting this poll to ask readers to vote for the worst, most tiresome earworm plaguing us, thanks to supermarket music, radio and TV jingles, waiting room speakers and so on. Vote now to see the outcome.
Image: MarsBars/iStockphoto
What to do With Your Broken Appliance: Repair or Replace?
November 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
If you’ve ever owned a house, you’ve surely learned how costly it is to replace appliances. The good news, if you have a broken appliance, is that you can probably repair the appliance yourself rather than having to go out and buy a completely new one.
Research has been done on the appliances that break the most frequently and what the most common problems are. From this research we found that washers, dishwashers, and ovens are the most likely appliances to break.
Based on which parts were needed most frequently, we were able to determine what the specific problems associated with each machine were and how easy they are to fix. To make this information easier to digest, we built an interactive, HTML 5 infographic:
We created this diagnostic infographic to troubleshoot some of the common problems that affect household appliances. Clicking on the pulsing dots shows each common issue and the parts required to correct the problem. Many people replace an entire appliance, which is neither cost-effective nor environmentally responsible. We displayed the average cost of replacing the appliance as well as the cost of the parts required to fix the problem (and a scale of the difficulty of the repair). 
Source: PartSelect Appliance Parts
How much can you save by turning off the A/C?
November 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Let’s assume you could save $220 per year just by turning off your A/C. But if you live in a particularly hot and humid climate, is it worth it?
©iStockphoto.com/Tomas Skopal
Ever-rising energy costs and a growing awareness of environmental issues have inspired many of us to strive for "greener" living. From trading in our SUVs to replacing our incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents, we as consumers are taking important steps to reduce both our fuel bills and our carbon footprints.
Of course, whether your primary motives are financial or ecological, some luxuries and modern conveniences are harder to relinquish than others. Changing a bulb is fairly painless, and driving to work in a compact car offers a tangible reward every time you fill up its much smaller tank at the gas pump. But if you live anyplace where summer temperatures exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) for more than a day or two, you’d probably sooner give up the clothes on your back than turn off your air conditioning.
On some level, we all understand that running the A/C has an impact on our electric bills. How many parents have yelled "Close the door! The air conditioning is on!" before the kids are even halfway outside? But just how much do we spend to cool our homes?
Air conditioning costs vary greatly depending on the age and efficiency of the HVAC system and the size and location of the home, but a 2005 report by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration found that air conditioning accounted for 16 percent of all household electricity consumption in the United States [source: Energy Information Administration]. And if you live in a particularly hot climate, A/C can account for 60 to 70 percent of your electric bill in the summer months [source: Austin Energy].
So what’s a sweaty, frugal-minded and environmentally conscious citizen to do? Before you decide that your A/C is off-limits, remember that it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing proposition. Read on to find out how much you can save by turning off the A/C — or even setting the thermostat a few degrees higher.
Read the rest at HowStuffWorks.com
Lest We Forget – A Moment of Remembrance
November 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
“Nos bras meurtris vous tendent le flambeau, à vous toujours de le porter bien haut.”
“To you from failing hands we throw the torch; be yours to hold it high.”
These words are the motto of the Montreal Canadiens – it is from the poem “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae, written in 1915, the year before the Canadiens won their first Stanley Cup championship.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
~John McCrae, 1915
Amazingly, Ringtones Are A $2 Billion Business
November 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Here’s a breakdown of online music sales from Gartner, by way of Peter Kafka at All Things D. The most insane thing about this chart? How important ringtones are.
"To sum up: More than 10 years after Napster, one of the key pillars of the music business is ringtones, a business that peaked around 2005, when some of you would have recognized the image at the top right of this post.
If you’re reading this, you probably haven’t paid for a ringtone since 2007, and you probably don’t know anyone who does. But there it is, generating two-point-one-billion dollars."