I have a new listing on Lake Washington. The home is in Kenmore and features 62 feet of no-bank waterfront, moorage for 3-4 boats and it has 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. All primary rooms face the lake! Rather than me writing about it, check out the video I made on the house!
Kirkland, WA is a suburb of Seattle on the eastside of Lake Washington. An affluent community, Kirkland, with its art gallery and boutique store downtown fronting Lake Washington, has some of the highest priced real estate in Washington. A few miles up from downtown is Totem Lake, a community of Kirkland. With many condominiums, apartments, established neighborhoods as well as some newer construction commuinities, Totem Lake is a great place to live. With easy access to the interstate, Totem Lake provides area residents an easy commute to major area employers on the Eastside as well as a do able commute to Seattle or Everett. Totem Lake has good area schools. The Totem Lake area is also known for its medical services. One of the biggest hospitals on the Eastside, namely Evergreen Hospital, is located here and surrounding the hospital are numerous private practices by specialists.
I just wanted to share a bit of happy news. Late last year I sold a wonderful house to clients in the 55+ community of Trilogy in Redmond, WA. I just heard that they, like all the residents I've ever spoken to in that community, love their home and the whole lifestyle that Trilogy offers. Trilogy is a very active community. One of the on-site sales agents likes to say that the "R" word doesn't ever enter their vocabulary and he is right...Trilogy is not a "retirement" community. Instead it is a community for active adults who love the outdoors (miles of trails, a golf course, tennis courts) love to be active in clubs (over 60 of them exist at Trilogy including a travel club) love to take great courses (offered at the club house by UW) and love to remain active (fantastic health club in the community with spa and massage services!) So glad my clients have found such a wonderful place to enjoy living!
Incorporated as a city in 1913, Duvall has about 5000 residents and is located about a 20 minute drive from Redmond, WA. It is a wonderful community with a mix of affordable new construction family homes, established neighborhoods, homes on acreage and a few farms scattered in between. Downtown Duvall is a delight with antique stores, coffee shops, restaurants and more. A bit south of the historic downtown several new hip shopping plazas offer area residents the convenience of city life while enjoying the ambience and tranquility of country living.
From sidewalk art as pictured above, to a very friendly and walkable downtown as pictured below, Duvall offers plenty to do for residents and visitors alike.
So you've just lost a whole lot of money, yet again, on the stock market. The market will probably eventually recover, as it has done countless times in the past. What to do if you are afraid to invest in the stock market right now? Buy a house! If your credit is good and you have the money for a down payment, this is a most ideal time to buy a house. Mortgage rates are very low and there are hundreds of wonderful homes on the market...besides which, invest in a house and you can live in it, whereas stock is just paper.
For those of you that are moving to the Seattle area, specifically the "eastside" areas of Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Issaquah, Sammamish & Woodinville, who wish to send your child/children to private schools, here is a list of the private schools that are available plus a link to most of their websites.
The list will include Elementary & Junior High Schools & Highschools (PK-12)
Someone told me about a group discussion that recently took place at lunch. Someone in the group was thinking of selling their home and wanted to know if anyone knew a good realtor. One person in the group started challenging the whole idea of using a realtor, saying that realtors do not earn their commission. This person went on to say that unless you are new to an area and need to learn about the different communities, schools, etc., you could just as easily find a new home yourself online. This person added that realtors don't work hard when selling a home and that they are not worth their "5%" commission. Besides the fact that this person obviously does not realize that the commission is split between the listing and selling office (plus between the broker and agent,) it made me wonder what the general perception of realtors is and how best to respond.
Thinking of how hard I work for my clients, I wondered what I would have said to this person had I had the opportunity to participate in the discussion. Yes, it is possible to see homes online, but how, without the professional experience, would you know if a house is competitively priced, what other homes in the neighborhood sold for, and how to negotiate the best price? There are so many little details that go into buying and selling a home! And contrary to this person's ideas, listing a home is not an easy task; the right listing price has to be analyzed, marketing has to be co-ordinated, staging has to be done (and yes, I have even help paint rooms in my clients homes as well as provide assistance with the general clean up of a property before it is on the market!) photos have to be taken and I even produce videos on my listings. And let's not forget about setting up title and escrow and making sure that everything is fine on title and that the buyer has the funds to close! How would you respond to someone like this person? Why should someone hire a realtor?
In 2003 I made the decision to become a Realtor and hung my first license with a "big name" company in the Puget Sound area in 2004. My first broker was a kind man who was trying to build up his business. Most of the agents were brand-new and the few seasoned veterans were either too busy or too impatient to give advice to a "newby."
After 18 months I left for a more challenging opportunity at another "big name" company. The training at this brokerage was incredible and I built up experience listing and selling everything from condo's to commercial properties. Yet, something was not quite right; I felt that as long as I brought in clients and money I was welcome, but if I had one or two slow months, I no longer was a part of the team! After two personal losses within a tight span of time, I did some serious soul searching and came to the conclusion that I was not happy!
JOINING BRIO
A few years earlier, I met Myrl Venter, who had made the very wise decision of joining Brio. Myrl is a dynamic, highly intelligent and extremely hard working, person and I recalled her contagious enthusiasm for Brio. I called Myrl and we met not long after at the Brio and Active Rain office in Bellevue. Upon entering the office, I was immediately struck by the fact that this was not a run-of-the-mill old style real estate company. It was young, driven and cutting edge & the lead capture computers made me feel that I was back home in a TV studio. I made the decision right there to leave my other brokerage & became a Realtor with Brio in May 2007.
ARDELL
A few months after I joined Brio, Pat Flynn, the broker, left and was replaced by Ardell DellaLoggia. For a few days, I queried the wisdom of my decision of joining Brio, but then I met Ardell! For those of you who have not met Ardell, she is a powerhouse of a person; very approachable and with a vast array of knowledge! From the minute that she became a part of Brio, the company took on a new, and better, direction! Everything was changed; from walls to paint to businss cards and more importantly, Ardell addressed how each and every agent does his/her business.
Ardell is the best broker that I have ever worked for. She has helped me out tremendously in the few months that she has been a part of Brio. I have never had a broker actually sit down and go over a CMA (prior to presenting it to clients) with me. I have never received such excellent advice nor have I had a broker that helped me with staging a listing!
If any of you have taken a staging course, you might remember that you were assigned to a team and that the team worked together to re-arrange the furniture and add embellishments to the house. Once you've "graduated" from the staging course, it is quite a daunting prospect to be faced with staging an entire house on your own! Recently, I had a new listing to stage and Ardell came with me, looked over the entire house and then took me shopping for items that the house needed! She spent an entire day tirelessly helping me stage the house with the items we had purchased. And, when I learned that St. Joseph reputedly can help sell a listing, Ardell took me to a Catholic store in Seattle to purchase the correct St. Joseph statues for my listings! (Yes, she is also an encyclopedia of saints!) Ardell has a passion for real estate, and more so, people. She knows just what to say & do in any situation! I have learned so much from Ardell already and hope that I can strive to be a bit like her! I am looking forward to the new direction that Brio, under Ardell, is heading for 2008 and look forward to having my business grow!
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
;)
;)
