Gentleman! Start Your Engines! Season Opens 3/11 - 02/27/07 01:34 PM

I predict that Daylight Savings Time being moved to March 11, 2007 will have an impact on real estate sales in areas that are not currently sluggish, such as the Seattle Area where I am.
We have always known that "getting light later" expands the market to people look at property after work and not just on weekends or in the dark.  In my experience, "in the dark showings" less often result in a client ready to write an offer, than seeing the property in the daytime.
For the first time in history (I think) Daylight Savings time is EARLY, early … (5 comments)

Beware - New Construction Sites in Seattle Area - 02/17/07 11:11 PM
I wrote an article earlier today about a scammer. I can almost appreciate the creative talents of an obvious scammer like that. But when it comes to the real estate industry, I just want to puke.
I stopped into a new construction site yesterday to evaluate it for one of my clients. There are four people in the room. A guy sitting at the site plan talking to a young asian couple and a woman standing a bit on the side.
I see the guy giving the "hard sell" about two and only two "available" lots. I'm standing back and looking … (27 comments)

Competition? What's That? - 02/17/07 11:04 PM

I totally get, after 16 years, that I am an "Odd Duck" when it comes to this topic.  I truly have never gotten why agents seem to feel that Real Estate is an overly-competitive industry, relative to other fields of endeavor.
I rarely run into a competiton factor.  So I'd like to suggest to those who do, that maybe they are creating that scenario somehow, as in "What you resist, persists."  Maybe you invite the issue of competition into your discussion with consumers, more than I do.  I'm not sure why I don't run into competition as often as others seem … (24 comments)

The Wings Of Change from the Blog Swap - 02/17/07 10:49 PM
REDFIN and the "Wings of Change" by ARDELL DellaLoggia (originally posted on Redfin's Blog)
Welcome to the first Real Estate Industry Yankee Blog Swap! Today 34 of the most influential real estate bloggers are trading blogs for the day to offer a full spectrum of information on everything from current market conditions to the future of online real estate services. The full blog swap list is at the end of this post, be sure to join in the fun!
Visiting Redfin's blog today is the one and only queen of Seattle real estate bloggers ... Ardell DellaLoggia!
REDFIN and the "Wings … (0 comments)

How about an Active Rain Blog Swap-I'll take on Joe Zekas :) - 02/17/07 10:46 PM
I am posting this entry on RCG as part of the blog swap.  My next post will be the one I posted on Redfin's blog. 
(This Article is Posted By Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin)  The original Title was Memo from Nerd-Land to Realtors: Drop Dead (hence the "just kidding opening below)  The full string of blog swaps is below
            
Just kidding! But I did want to start by acknowledging that Redfin hasn't always been the darling of Rain City Guide, so we're especially grateful that you would allow us to post here as part of the Yankee Real Estate Blog … (0 comments)

Jacked up House - Remodel in Seattle - 02/17/07 10:32 PM
Given we don't really have any vacant land to speak of in Seattle, remodels are very common.  Rather than destroy the quaint look of a craftsman, sometimes the houses is "jacked up" and a level is added uner instead of over.

This house should have some view of Green Lake at this height.
If anyone in the Seattle area is interested in raising their home like this, I posted a photo of the contractor's sign over at Rain City Guide. 
 
… (7 comments)

Yes, No, Maybe Tour for Relocating Buyers - 02/16/07 03:52 AM
I invented this back when I was doing a lot of relocation work for Coldwell Banker on the East Coast.   It comes in very handy when you are touring a lot of homes the first day in a new area.
It's pretty simple.  You each have three little cards (kind of like Richard Simmons' Deal a Meal - yes, it was that long ago when I came up with this.) One card says YES, one says NO and the other says MAYBE.  You can only use ONE card in each house.  Husband and wive each have their own set. 
At each house … (29 comments)

Good Folk and Old Fashioned Values - 02/16/07 12:20 AM

"If" the beginning of every residential real estate transaction were the buyers and the sellers and their agents meeting and chatting, maybe having dinner together and a drink or two for an hour. Then everyone walks through the house together while the seller tells the buyer the story of their life in the house and the buyer and agents ask questions. Then the offer is written, and proceeds through the inspections to find things the seller just truly doesn't know about."
In the comments section I said to Tim of Legacy Escrow, "Tim, the sad thing is that it is … (7 comments)

Top Ten Obstacles to Selling a Home - 02/16/07 12:15 AM
In David Letterman style, let's list the top ten things that make a buyer say "let's get out of here!!", when I am showing a house. 
 
NUMBER TEN: DEAD BUGS LYING AROUND!  That being said, I have to admit that not only have I sold properties with dead bugs lying around, I have bought them myself.  Often people will exterminate a home after moving furniture out and then put in new light carpet and put it on the market vacant.  After exterminating a home, dead bugs can appear for weeks afterward, and with no one living in the house, you find … (3 comments)

Using the Internet to Buy a New Home - 02/16/07 12:12 AM
I have recently been enlightened on how grossly inadequate many of the home viewing sites are and how misleading they can be.
Maybe I should have known this before, but frankly, those sites rarely come into play in my everyday life. I use the mls and clients use me. I truly haven't considered until recently how people use the internet in the home buying process and why they do that.
Now that I am viewing the world through your eyes a bit, with the help of my most recent clients, I would like to "give back" by making a few suggestions … (4 comments)

As Good As it Gets - 02/16/07 12:08 AM
DRAGNET STYLE

Just the FACTS, M'am
Monday 10:05 P.M. - email - Hi Ardell, my name is "Jack". I just moved here from X and am on a mission to find a house before June when my wife and children join me. I thought I could do this using the internet but I'm finding this more and more difficult as houses I like seem to disappear almost as soon as they hit the market. I just read some of your articles including the one titled Using the internet to buy your new home and you made me realize that I … (3 comments)

Never say "Deal, Customer, Listing Agent or Selling Agent" - 02/11/07 12:44 PM
Perhaps it is Pollyanna of me to hope to turn an entire industry into consumer mode as the primary focus.  But I honestly think it would be fairly simple.
I think of it this way.  What would I think of a Doctor who recommended an Ultra Sound because he makes money off those whether I need one or not?  What would I think of a Lawyer who let me got through the expense of a proceeding, knowing from the get go he would just earn money hourly and I didn't have a chance in hell of succeeding?
If this is a … (19 comments)

Just Truly Care About the Consumers, and Not the Agents So Much - 02/11/07 06:17 AM
Every agent should stop going into the office and start working from home.  Just you and your clients.  Connect with them and not the agents.  Once you are one of them and not one of each other, you will begin to embrace the client the way you are trying to connect, here and elsewhere, with one another.
Don't let someone buy a house unless it really is the best they can get for their money.  Not just the best they can get today, given what is for sale.  If you are not ruling out most of what is for sale, and … (60 comments)

Should you sell before you go out looking for a new home? - 02/05/07 10:19 PM

Instead of thinking about it as "selling a house" and "buying a house", you should be stating as your goal "getting from here to there".
A first time buyer who is currently renting, simply needs to coordinate their notice by the 10th of the month to insure a smooth transition. 
But those who currently own and are moving to a new house, require a completely different strategy.  Before you go out to look at homes to buy, you should get your home completely ready to sell.  Using the same real estate professional to sell your home and to buy your new home, particularly if … (3 comments)

Why do I need money if I am buying "Zero Down"? - 02/05/07 10:13 PM
ZERO DOWN means NO DOWNPAYMENT. 
That means you can finance 100% of the Purchase Price, BUT there are other costs involved in the purchase of a house, besides the purchase price.  You can "stack your costs" into the transaction by including the requirement that the seller pay X$ toward closing costs in your Purchase and Sale contract on the second page of the finance contingency.  However this may later limit your ability to receive other credits from your agent or the seller, as the lender will have limits to the total amount of credits applied at closing.  Usually 3% of the purchase price. 
Consequently if … (3 comments)

How much is enough to have in "Reserves" - 02/05/07 10:07 PM
I often get this question when someone is buying a condo.  Why is $900,000 in reserves insufficient at one complex, and $100,000 more than enough at another complex?
Simply looking at the dollar amount in the Reserve Fund doesn't tell you anything, unless you know how much is supposed to be there. Say you have three complexes that are identical.  Each has a replacement cost for the roof of $300,000.  Each has a composite roof with a 20 year shingle. 
The first complex is 19 years old, so it should have almost $300,000 in reserves just for the roof alone.  The next complex … (0 comments)

The Day I Socked the Dentist in the Eye - 02/05/07 02:12 PM

Whether you are a Dentist or a Lawyer or a Real Estate Agent,
IF IT IS YOUR VERY FIRST TIME AT DOING THIS THING YOU DO,
that is a piece of info that the customer/client is entitled to know before they hire you.
So I'm in the hospital having my second child who happened to be 9 lbs, 9 oz.  As I like to say "like passing two five pound bags of sugar simultaneously". 
While in the hospital I broke a tooth.  So I'm in a lot of pain from both ends of the spectrum.  I go straight from … (4 comments)

Meeting Alternative Models Half Way - 02/05/07 12:46 AM
Take a really close look at that Gorilla protecting the baby in his hand. 
The Gorilla could be NAR, with the baby representative of every Realtor in the Country.  The Gorilla could be the MLS system, with the baby representative of each and every one of its members.  The Gorilla could be a MEGA Broker, with the baby representative of the agents who work there.
But when is the baby representative of the Average Joe Consumer?  Where is the consumer "group" working as hard for the consumer, as each of those mentioned above, works hard for the real estate practitioner? 
Theoretically it is each … (74 comments)

Funniest Sale I Ever Had - 02/04/07 10:18 PM
Talking about "covering for another agent" reminded me of my funniest ever sale of a house.  I was getting my first ever leg waxing when the phone rang and an agent asked me to show a house to one of his buyer clients.  He was "down the shore" (Jersey) with his family.  I said no problem.
I rushed to the house to meet his clients straight from my first ever leg waxing appointment.  Apparently I rushed the leg waxing lady so much that she didn't get all of the wax off of my legs.
Jim's buyer clients wanted to write an offer, … (1 comments)

Big Fat Picture of My Grand Daughter - 02/04/07 10:15 PM

My children are sick today.
I'm posting this huge awesome picture of my grand daughter for me.  It helps me feel better.
Tonight I'm wishing my daughters were back at this age.
When a band aid cured a boo boo.
A kiss and make it better was all I needed.
Sometimes a trip to the ice cream parlour after a trip to the doctor for a needle.
Once when my daughter was much older, around 16, she needed a needle and she still looked up and said, do we get an ice cream cone now.
YES!!  Of course!!
But as they get older and have bigger aches and pains and hurts, … (1 comments)

My 100 year old Seller Client - 02/04/07 10:11 PM
There's a first time for everything, as they say, and this was my first ever experience with a 100 year old client.  Even back in my Trust and Estate days when many of my clients were deceased, and the living ones were pretty old, I never had a 100 year old client before now.
The house was also so old, no one knew how old it was!  It was built before 1900 when King County started keeping records.  Title Company figured it was built some time between 1888 and 1900, so we know this owner was not the original owner, he … (0 comments)

Buyer fires agent for not committing Lender Fraud - 02/04/07 10:08 PM

Has Lender Fraud become the standard?
Very sad, but very true story. I received an email from a Rain City Guide reader yesterday. The reader happens to be a local agent who was fired, because of her efforts to both accommodate her Buyer Client, without committing Lender Fraud.
The buyer fired her for not wholeheartedly complying with their WANTS, and for even considering for a moment, the Lender fraud implications of their WANTS.
Reason given..ALL OF OUR FRIENDS HAVE AGENTS AND LENDERS DOING THIS, AND WE FEEL YOUR SERVICES ARE THEREFORE COMPARATIVELY INADEQUATE. YOU DIDN'T FIGHT HARD TO GET US … (2 comments)

Let's all DISINTERMEDIATE ourselves! Yeah! That's the Ticket! - 02/03/07 10:49 PM

DIS-IN-TER-ME-DI-ATE:
"TO ATTEMPT TO DO AWAY WITH INTERMEDIARY ENTITITES BETWEEN TWO PRIMARY MARKET FORCES; TO ELIMINATE THE "MIDDLEMAN".
"IF" ALL THAT YOU ARE IS "AN INTERMEDIARY ENTITY" - THEN GET OUT OF THE BUSINESS!
"IF" ALL THAT YOU ARE IS "A MIDDLEMAN" - THEN GET OUT OF THE BUSINESS!
"IF" YOU ARE AN ORDER TAKER - GET OUT OF THE BUSINESS!
"IF" YOU ARE A PAPER COUNTER - GET OUT OF THE BUSINESS!
"IF" YOU ARE SAYING "OF COURSE REAL ESTATE ALWAYS GOES UP AND YOU NEVER CAN LOSE MONEY WHEN YOU SELL YOUR HOUSE" - GET OUT OF THE BUSINESS!
… (135 comments)

How to CHOOSE a Client - For Ines - 02/03/07 04:56 PM

I have only one criteria when choosing a client. That criteria is very difficult to describe, because the best term to describe my favorite clients, I only know in the Greek language. I dated a Greek guy for six years, from the time I was 16 until I was 22. Whenever he introduced me to his Greek friends and relatives, they would lightly and quickly thump their fist on their chest and say
"kalu ka thYA" (emphasis on the YA). Generally, they were saying, "She has a good heart."
When I meet a potential new client, I am actually interviewing … (5 comments)

SORRY! WRONG ANSWER!! - 02/03/07 12:54 PM
 BLEEPIN WRONG ANSWERS I HEAR EVERY DAY IN THIS BUSINESS.
 
1) BUYER'S AGENT ASKS:  "Is there a pump system attached to the drain at the bottom of that steep driveway pointed down at the house?"
Seller's Agent Responds: "You have to watch for leaves getting caught in the drain."
 BLEEP!!  WRONG ANSWER!!
NOW WE ARE AT THE HOME INSPECTION AND THERE IS WATER IN THE HOUSE!
FOR WATER TO GET IN THE HOUSE, THE GARAGE FIRST HAS TO BE FILLED WITH WATER UP TO THREE OR FOUR INCHES TO THEN INTRUDE INTO THE HOME!!
 
BUYER'S AGENT ASKS: WHAT IS THE SELLER'S … (7 comments)

WHO is sitting in YOUR office and WHY?!?!?! - 02/03/07 12:14 PM

RIDDLE ME THIS, BATMAN! 
IF AN AGENT CAN WAKE UP IN THE MORNING, AND GET THE MLS ON HIS HOME COMPUTER...
WHY DOES AN AGENT NEED A DESK AT THE OFFICE?
 
IF AN AGENT CAN BE AVAILABLE ALL THE TIME WITH A LAPTOP AND A CELL PHONE:
WHY DOES HE NEED A PHONE AT THE OFFICE?
 
IF WE CAN REDUCE THE OVERHEAD IN THIS BUSINESS BY HAVING LESS INFRASTRUCTURE, AND IN TURN PASS THAT SAVINGS ON TO THE CONSUMER...WHY DO WE HAVE OFFICES OF 50 DESKS THAT ARE FREAKIN' EMPTY!!!! 
WHO IS COMING TO YOUR OFFICE AND … (5 comments)

 
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ARDELL DellaLoggia

Kirkland, WA

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Sound Realty

Address: Kirkland, WA, 98033

Office Phone: (206) 910-1000

Cell Phone: (206) 910-1000

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