courtesy of KCM
Archives for July 2013
Amazon Adding 7,000 New Jobs
July 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment
The online retailer Amazon is expanding its labor force around the nation by adding 5,000 new jobs in its U.S. distribution warehouses. The company also plans to hire 2,000 customer service employees in several locations, including Kennewick, Wash., reports The Seattle Times.
Amazon believes that its efforts to continue developing a system of distribution centers and expanding the grocery service, AmazonFresh, will pay off in the long run. Tom Szuktak, chief financial officer, said to reporters last week, “We are investing for the large opportunity we have in front of us.”
According to Curt Woodward at Xconomy.com, Amazon could be on its way to employing a substantial number of workers in the Seattle area, to the tune of about 20,000, getting closer to the University of Washington’s 25,000-member labor force. Seattle developer Matt Griffin credits Amazon with “bringing in a lot more intellectual capital to the Northwest.” Microsoft also employs a huge labor force in the region, but these employees are spread throughout the Bellevue-Redmond-Seattle areas. In contrast, Amazon’s dense concentration of workers in downtown Seattle affects the city’s urban planning and housing for sure.
Survey: Buyers Will Pay More for Good Schools
July 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment
More than 44 percent of home buyers who plan to buy a home within the next two years said they would be willing to go over their budget by up to 10 percent in order to buy in their preferred school boundaries, according to a new survey by realtor.com®.
Three out of five home buyers surveyed said that school boundaries greatly impact their home purchasing decision. Nearly 9 percent of buyers indicated that they’d be willing to pay 11 to 20 percent above their budget to get a home in a desirable school district, the survey found. About 17 percent of buyers said they want to live within a mile of a school so their children can walk there.
Some home buyers said they’d even be willing to trade certain home amenities for good schools: About 62 percent said they’d give up a pool or spa, 50 percent would give up accessibility to shopping, and nearly 44 percent would pass on a bonus room.
“Our survey demonstrates the large impact school boundaries have on those looking to purchase a home,” says Barbara O’Connor, chief marketing officer at Move Inc.
The survey comes after realtor.com® launched a new mobile school search tool in April, allowing buyers to search for listings in specific school and district boundaries.
Source: realtor.com®
Marketers Missing the Mark?
July 29, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Interesting video about the state of marketing from Adobe Systems.
From their YouTube: The State of Online Advertising polled consumers and marketers in seven countries across the United States, Asia-Pacific and Europe. We hope this research helps fuel some great discussions among marketers who want to make it better.
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2013 Home Features Survey
July 29, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Strange Looking Structures Perched on Hillside Like Living Creatures
July 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment
It’s hard to argue with Moon Hoon’s assertion that architecture is alive when his own structures, one equipped with bull’s horns and another seeming to bear googly eyes, look ready to charge down the hillside. ‘Rock It Suda’ is a series of pension houses created as a fun, no-holds-barred country getaway for a member of an amateur rock band and his friends. Each little vacation home has its own creative theme.
The client, a bass guitarist in the band Rock It Suda, wanted a pension that would double as a playground. In Korea, a pension is a place in the suburbs where city dwellers can get away to relax, cook out and enjoy the scenery. While many other pensions are built to resemble European cottages and chalets, Moon Hoon’s series is cartoonishly colorful, and wholly unexpected.
The themes of the houses include Spain, Barbie, Stealth+Ferrari, and caves. Located on the edge of a dry river bed with views of a mountain range, the pensions have a fun and playful feel that’s bound to be a considerable variation from the occupants’ full-time residences back in the city. Nets and hammocks offer childlike places to hang out.
Some of the structures have tail-like appendages made of netting that move and sway in the wind, enhancing the sense that they’re living creatures. Hoon’s injection of fantasy and surreality into architecture encourages us to look at buildings in a different light, connecting with them emotionally and letting go of arbitrary rules about how adults should act – at least, temporarily.
Read more: http://dornob.com/surreal-structures-perched-like-living-creatures-on-korean-hillside/#ixzz2ZmopyJbN
Discover Seattle: The Emerald City
July 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment
With its natural beauty and laid-back vibe, Seattle offers a quality of life rarely matched by other cities. While its riches have morphed from timber and gold to aircraft and technology, its pioneering spirit lives on.
Is It Time To Buy? If Interest Rates Matter To You, It Is
July 25, 2013 By Leave a Comment
The question on so many home buyer’s minds is, “is it time to buy?” In some circumstances it is. For those requiring a mortgage, the rates available today would indicate it’s time.
Those rates impact buying power. Here’s a simple chart demonstrating what interest rates increasing does to buying power.
As a seller, this is why it is important to price at market value. The longer you stay on market, the buyer pool of your home may shrink due to these rates.
Creating Good Social Content
July 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Having trouble keeping track of all the advice out there about creating great social content?
Check out this cheat sheet that summarizes many of the main points we see again and again from Edge Media.
Via Edge Media