The City of Shoreline has this great meeting once a month.  Representatives from each neighborhood (a volunteer position) get together to discuss what's happening in their neighborhoods.  At each meeting there is a presenter from a particular department of the city government that discusses some of the current projects going on in the city.

At the March meeting, representatives of a Shoreline City Council citizens' advisory committee reported on their year-long study of a housing strategy for the City of Shoreline.  The committee focused on three areas for their study:  affordability, housing choice, and neighborhood character.  The result of the study is documented in the Comprehensive Housing Strategy Report.  Some of the highlights of the report:

Factors relating to why the City of Shoreline needs a housing strategy:

• Household demographics are changing and we must ask if the housing stock matches
• Fifty percent (50%) of the housing market is currently made up of seniors, single parents, single adults, and starters
• Homebuyers are looking for smaller, more affordable homes closer to amenities

The Shoreline City Council Citizen's Advisory Committee hopes that the housing strategy will address:

• Preservation of currently affordable housing through direct actions
• Incentives for developers to produce a broader choice of housing types
• Greater respect and recognition for neighborhood character
• Less incremental redevelopment that fractures the character of existing Shoreline neighborhood
• Well conceived physical transitions between different scales of housing
• More equitable distribution of new density across Shoreline neighborhoods
• Creating a link between Shoreline neighborhood changes and neighborhood needs and character so that change becomes an asset instead of being perceived exclusively as an "impact"

After the presentation, there was a question and answer period.  The Shoreline Council of Neighborhoods representatives were encouraged to help facilitate a successful outcome.

How to Prepare for the Open House

•·         Advertise your open house. Ideally you should advertise both the weekend before and the weekend of the open house. Check with the local paper to see when their ad closing deadlines are.

•·         Create a property summary sheet. This sheet gives prospective buyers an overview of your home. Include dimensions for each room, copies of a property survey, summaries of utility costs and property taxes, and a list of when capital items such as roofs and furnace were added.

•·         Develop a sign-in form for prospects' addresses. You'll ideally want both phone numbers and e-mail addresses to follow up with prospective buyers.

•·         Put up signs. One or two days before the open house, place directional signs at major intersections within three to four blocks of your house. Be sure you check on anti-sign regulations in your area.

•·         Get your house ready. Remove clutter, clean your house, wash your windows, add flowers, turn on lights, open draperies and blinds, remove valuables and breakables, confine pets, turn on soft music, and set up a table for your property fact sheet near the entrance.

•·         Develop a follow-up sheet. Getting feedback on your home from prospects who attended your open house will give you a better understanding of how to make your home more appealing to buyers.

Reprinted from REALTOR® magazine (REALTOR.org/realtormag) with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.

Forms You'll Need to Sell Your Home

1. Property disclosure form. This form requires you to reveal all known defects to your property. Check with your state government to see if there is a special form required in your state.

2. Purchasers access to premises agreement. This agreement sets conditions for permitting the buyer to enter your home for activities such as measuring for draperies before you move.

3. Sales contract. The agreement between you and the seller on terms and conditions of sale. Again, check with your state real estate department to see if there is a required form.

4. Sales contract contingency clauses. In addition to the contract, you may need to add one or more attachments to the contract to address special contingencies - such as the buyer's need to sell a home before purchasing yours.

5. Pre- and post-occupancy agreements. Unless you're planning on moving out and the buyer moving in on the day of closing, you'll need an agreement on the terms and costs of occupancy once the sale closes.

6. Lead-based paint disclosure pamphlet. If your home was built before 1978, you must provide the pamphlet to all sellers. You must also have buyers sign a statement indicating they received the pamphlet.

Reprinted from REALTOR® magazine (REALTOR.org/realtormag) with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.  Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.

Open House Safety Tips

An open house can be a great sales tool, but it also exposes you to numerous unfamiliar people for the first time. Stay safe by practicing these guidelines.

• Call the local police department and ask them to have a squad care drive by during your open-house hours.
• Check your cell phone's strength and signal prior to the open house. Have emergency numbers programmed on speed dial. Carry an extra, fully charged cell phone battery.
• Determine several "escape" routes that you can use in case of an emergency. Make sure all deadbolt locks are unlocked to facilitate a faster escape.
• Turn on the lights and open the curtains. These are not only sound safety procedures, but also great marketing tactics.
• Make sure that if you were to escape by the back door, you could escape from the backyard. Frequently, high fences surround yards that contain swimming pools or hot tubs.
• When prospective buyers begin to arrive, jot down their car descriptions, license numbers and physical descriptions.
• When showing the house, always walk behind the prospect. Direct them; don't lead them. Say, for example, "The kitchen is on your left," and gesture for them to go ahead of you.
• Notify a friend or a relative that you will be calling in every hour on the hour. And if you don't call, they are to notify the police immediately.
• Inform a neighbor that you will be showing the house and ask if he or she would keep an eye and ear open for anything out of the ordinary.

Two doors down the street from my home is the exact same home for sale.  It is a small bungalow with hardwood floors, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, and 660 sf.  The owners are asking a range of $320-$325K.  The yard is large.  The backyard is completely fenced.  The detached garage is at the back of the home accessible through the alley.

Richmond Beach is a lovely community overlooking Puget Sound.  It is a neighborhood within the City of Shoreline.  Because many homes in Richmond Beach have views of Puget Sound or are situated on or near the water, their prices usually run higher.  There are currently 25 homes for sale (active) in the Richmond Beach community.  The homes range in price from $393,900 to $1,395,000.  The average price of a home in Richmond Beach is $762,492.  The median price is $699,800.  Most homes in Richmond Beach were built in the 1950's to 70's.  There are 9 homes on the market in Richmond Beach that were built since 2000, most of them built this year.

The number of bedrooms range from 3 to 8.  There are eleven 3-bedroom homes and eight 4-bedroom homes currently for sale in Richmond Beach.  The number of bathrooms range from 1.5 to 5.  There are eight 2.5 bath homes, four 4 bath homes.  Home in Richmond Beach run large with the average number of square feet at 2820.  The smallest home is 1400 sf and the largest is 4860 sf.

This information was gathered from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.  Conclusions are my own.