Zillow - Useful, harmful, greatful? - 03/31/08 07:23 PM
For a few years now I have used, marketed listings on and received updates from Zillow.  I wonder what the overall feeling from professionals are on Zillows relevance.  I wonder the John Q's overall opinion of this site for getting real market data.  I know this is a loaded question, being that AR is in indirect competition for viewers of the site. 
Do any you currently participate in the discussion groups?  Do you use the marketing tools for your listings? What do you tell your buyers and sellers about the accuracy of the site?
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How many homes can you preview in one week? - 03/29/08 06:16 PM
I am on a kick to preview as many homes in the area as possible in one week.  What do you think is a reasonable number of homes you can/should preview in one week.  There are 75 Home listings in the Issaquah Highlands.  I want to see each one.  How long do you think it will take me?????
 
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Prospecting while your previewing????? Thoughts on this practice. - 03/27/08 07:06 PM
With the current home market you may find that you have more time on your hands.  Unless you have other thoughts as I understand our job description it includes in this order our duties.  Prospect, Preview, List & Sell.  What do you think of the following reasons/tactics for previewing our inventory. 
 Preview to know the inventory. The person with the most market knowledge wins.  Remember when meeting with a buyer or seller to be fluent in the available inventory is to be the expertWhen assisting sellers it is difficult to price property properly without adequate market knowledge.When assisting buyers remember enthusiasm sells.  … (5 comments)

Where does Seattle stand? - 03/26/08 07:02 PM
In a recent Seattle Post-Intelligencer article, Reporter Aubrey Cohen quotes  NAR Economist as saying thatSeattle is undervalued...in comparison to other West Coast Cities. 
A friend of mine pointed out that with the King County Median house price being $435,000 how can that be affordable.  I started to look a little deeper; I wanted to know if the Median Income would allow for these homes to be considered affordable.  Here is what I found out.
The median income for a household in the county was $53,157, and the median income for a family was $66,035. Males had a median income of $45,802 … (0 comments)

Feb Market Report for the Pine Lake Area, Sammamish, WA - 03/22/08 11:49 AM
Here are the Febuary 2008 numbers for the Pine Lake Area of Sammamish, WA.  It looks as though there we only 4 sales out of 43 homes currently listed. That's a 10 months worth of inventory.  That should however diminish in the coming seasonal months. 
The average price per square foot of the homes sold in the area was 226 The low was 211 and the high was 237.  The average days on market was 83 with a low of 11 and a high of 180 days.There are 2 additional properties that are "pending."  Meaning they are in contract and scheduled to close, jut they didn't … (0 comments)

Sammamish Waterfront Home - NEW HOME $1,250,000 - 03/19/08 08:27 PM
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Sammamish, WA: Pine Lake Neighborhood. - 03/19/08 06:28 PM
What a great neighborhood,  you will love it.  Located on the southwest corner of Sammamish, you will have easy access on and off the "Plateau."  From this neighborhood you can find homes that range from the mid 400's up to 1.5mil+  You can head north to Redmond off Thompson hill Road or south to I-90.  This is SW Sammamish residents best kept secret...now the cat's out of the bag. 
Pine Lake and Pine Lake Park are at the center of this Family Friendly neighborhood.  You can swim in the summer and fish in the spring.  Winter....ice skating....maybe..???(I have never seen it … (0 comments)

Home Buyers.... Is it time? - 03/19/08 05:05 PM
I had to give a speech yesterday in my Toastmasters Club.  I was a project with the specific objectives to persuade with power.  The objective required you to try to persuade others to adopt your point of view, and to back up that point of view with stats.  I normally reserve my Toastmasters for talking on a range of subjects, but I couldn't resist.  We are working hard to persuade buyers that it's a great time to buy that I made this the topic of my speech.  You see I really do believe it's a great time to buy.  A home....that … (1 comments)