Archives for April 2014

THE POLE HOUSE Holiday House in Fairhaven

the-pole-house-f2-architectureThe Pole House by F2 Architecture is one of Australias most iconic homes, and is available for rent! The spectacular beach front house is suspended 40 meters above Fairhaven Beach and offers unparalleled panoramic views of the beautiful coastline. The house was recently renovated and now features floor-to-ceiling retracting glass walls giving guests a sense of walking on air. The amazing property is currently available for rent, more details here.

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5 Steps to Make Your Home Move-In Ready

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When it comes to selling your home and boosting curb appeal to the widest range of buyers, consider everything from front curb to your back fence. When you begin to think of putting your home up for sale – think like a buyer.

Thinking like a buyer will help you make your home move-in ready for the right buyer (or in some cases, the backlog of buyers with multiple offers). The less they think they have to change, the faster you’ll get to an offer, and ultimately, a sold property.

De-clutter

Closets get cluttered. Extra furniture get crammed into corners. Bookshelves overflow with a variety of nicks and nacks. It is important that the potential buyers see your actual home and not the stuff in your home by clearing out the extras. Every closet in your home should show off the entirely of the storage space. Every room of your home should scream “possibilities” instead of “I can’t fit one more thing in here.” An option might be to rent a portable storage unit. Box up extras, and they’ll be ready to be delivered to your next home.

Clean out the garage

The future owners of your home want to know that their cars can fit into the garage. While it might seem harsh (and everyone you know uses the garage for storage), no one wants to see the garage filled to the brim with bike parts, boxes, and haphazard clutter. Remember that portable storage unit?

Neutralize your colors

It’s hard for potential buyers to see themselves in a home that has you written all over it. This goes for brightly painted walls, wall murals, and wallpaper trim. Since your home is soon to not be your home anymore, consider taking any brightly or bold-colored walls or those areas with specialty wallpaper or mural trim back to neutral. A simple beige satin wall paint with a semi-gloss white or off-white pain trim can do wonders for giving potential buyers the “blank canvas” feeling. You want future owners to be dreaming of picking out paint — not how to get rid of not-right-for-them color decisions.

Restore grout, tile, and natural stone

Have your bathrooms and kitchen counters lost their luster? You might want to look into having them refreshed (and it’s much less expensive than having them redone). For just a little effort, you can kick up the shine on your tiling and counters and get that long-neglected grout back to clean. That “exploding pizza” incident in your kitchen and that red hair dye on your white bathroom grout could be history in an afternoon.

Shine up those hardwood floors

Get those floors gleaming. Wash all surfaces with a simple mild, soapy water first. Next, use a hardwood floor polish to bring the beauty back — and all for under $40-$50 for the average sized home. Be sure to use the cleaners recommended by each product to prevent buildup and to keep the shine going through your whole listing. There’s nothing that can kill a deal like your perfect buyer thinking that they have to refinish a few thousand square feet of hardwood. Help them see hope, not hardwood-related dollar signs. A trip to your local home improvement store can yield some recommendations for your specific types of floors and the desired sheen you want to achieve.

Homeownership Cost in the Top 25 US Cities [INFOGRAPHIC]

Homeownership costsCourtesy of the great folks at KCM.

 

10 Unexpected Uses For Tile In Your Home

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Subway Tile Explained

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Why Now Is The Time To Buy A New Home

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Spruce Up For Spring: Your Spring Cleaning Strategy

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American Resurfacing: Housing Market Above Water

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Seattle Real Estate Market Review

Screen Shot 2014-04-22 at 1.39.41 PMJanuary home prices in Seattle down 0.8 percent:

Home prices in the Seattle metro area dipped for the fourth month in a row in January, in line with a nationwide decrease, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city index released Tuesday. The average price of existing single-family homes in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties dropped 0.8 percent from the previous month, after a 0.5 dip in December. By comparison, the 20-city index dropped 0.1 percent in January, as it did the previous two months.

Source: The Seattle Times, March 25, 2014

Home price rising more slowly, but for-sale signs remain scarce:

The median price of single-family homes in King County rose in March to $414,950, an increase of 6 percent from a year ago, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service said Thursday. Prices surged in Snohomish and Pierce counties: The median price rose 9 percent to $314,975 in Snohomish, and 13 percent to $230,000 in Pierce. A continuing tight inventory of homes for sale kept pressure on prices. “Everyone’s waiting for the spring bounce in listings,” said Seattle economist Matthew Gardner.

Source: The Seattle Times, April 3, 2014

Rising rents, rising towers push out tenants of modest means:

When a developer demolishes the century-old Williamsburg Court Apartments in downtown Seattle this year, 49 households will have to find new homes. They include a high-school math teacher, hotel concierge, classical trumpeter, restaurant manager, theater coordinator, a writer and two executive chefs. Across the street at the high-rise apartment tower Aspira, a one-bedroom unit starts at just under $2,000 — more than twice what many residents pay at the three-story Williamsburg Court.

Source: The Seattle Times, April 5, 2014

Severe inventory shortage sends Seattle-area housing prices higher:

Homeowners, if you’re thinking about selling, real estate agents have a message for you: Get off the dime already. A report from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service on Thursday said housing prices in the metro Puget Sound area rose in March compared with a year ago. The main reason is an inventory shortage. The listing service said that in King County, there’s only a 1.8-month supply of houses and condos for sale. Industry analysts say a four- to six-month supply is needed for a balanced market.

Source: Puget Sound Business Journal, April 3, 2014

2 Puget Sound-area neighborhoods on ‘green’ homes list:

Two Puget Sound communities have been named to a list of the top 10 U.S. neighborhoods that have the largest number of “green” homes. Downtown Bellevue was fourth on the list, with 36 percent of its residential home listings having green features, and Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood was No. 8 on the list, with 30 percent of its residential listings having green features.

Source: Puget Sound Business Journal, April 17, 2014