Gorgeous townhouse in highly desirable, West Seattle. Many upgrades and improvements including new carpeting, custom windows treatments, new paint & new doors. A beautifully renovated kitchen with eating bar, solid maple cabinets and granite counters. Walk-in closet in the beautiful master suite, two additional bedrooms and perfect den space upstairs. With a fenced and landscaped patio, 2-car garage with storage and a fabulous dog/community park right near by, this is sure to be your new home.

http://www.justlistedhousesinseattle.com/listing/mlsid/185/propertyid/390269/syndicated/1/cgltguid/C2FAC780-01EB-4D19-83CB-8CE081A4C481/?ts=crg

Click on photo to see more photos!

JR McGee

Seattle Realtor, Managing Broker

Alchemy Real Estate, KW 4 West, LLC

JR@AlchemyRealEstate.com

206-790-1019

(Seattle Residential Real Estate) – Every Home or House Currently Available

(Seattle Commercial Real Estate) – Seattle's most connected and informed commercial team

(Just Listed Houses In Seattle) – Get quick updates and be the first to know when your home is available

(Seattle’s Best Builders Unlisted Homes) - Gain access to the largest hidden home inventory in Seattle

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Representing Seattle’s Best Builders:  Gabe Rosenshine

Seattle’s Leading Commercial Team:  Jay Miller & James Betzer

Seattle's Buyer and Seller Specialists:  Seattle Real Estate Specialists

206-633-1500 - Residential Team 

206-605-3568 - Commercial Team

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Alchemy Residential Real Estate Group was created with the mission to provide the highest level of professional real estate services in Seattle real estate for home owners, house buyers, and real estate investors.  We fill the need for clients to have a personalized, professional, & sophisticated real estate service with integrity above and beyond industry standards.

We pride ourselves that we are a group of All-Star Seattle specialists serving first time homeowners and experienced buyers and sellers through representation in Contract Negotiations, Short Sales, Relocations, REO's, Foreclosures, and our specialty … off market or hidden inventory.

Alchemy Residential Real Estate started in new construction and revitalized urban residences.  Buyers are sure to find a match with one of our many listings.  Unique to our team is our Seattle’s Best Builder’s huge inventory of not yet made public homes.  Sellers benefit from our in depth market knowledge and listing marketing machine!  If you are buying or selling we have you covered.  If you are a distressed property owner, we can help you too.  Please visit www.nwshortsalesllc.com for more information.

We look forward to serving your real estate needs.  Justl contact us for a free consultation.

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Alchemy Commercial Group has extensive experience in marketing urban developments, including new construction, rehabs and conversions, single family homes, and rental communities. With our partners, we have successfully been involved in the marketing, sale and consultation of over $1 Billion in real estate holdings and divestitures.

Alchemy Commercial consists of a dedicated team of experts that strive to passionately provide business excellence in all that they do. Our clients expect our work to reach beyond the norm of traditional real estate professionals. The Alchemy approach to the business delivers a unique experience that creates raving fans who can count on the highest level of service coupled with originality, specialized skills and powerful results.

8 Reasons Our Market Matchmakers™ Approach Matters To You

1.  We successfully join a willing Seller with an able Buyer and diligently keep transactions on a path to close.

2.  We “match make” by bringing appropriate vendors, sub-contractors and needed professionals to the table at all stages of the transaction process.

3.  We are trusted advisors who conduct a strong vetting process of buyers and sellers up front.

4.  Prior to listing, we diligently work through the obstacles to closing and actively address, manage and take care of any impediments to closing.

5.  We accurately achieve closed sales within 98% of pricing recommendations.

6.  We have have institutional and private investor clients who demand a high level of service, strategy and representation.

7.  We have a narrow focus with deep experience and knowledge base.  Our involvement with Construction and Development assets in the residential and commercial marketplace of Puget Sound, make us responsible and strategic advisors.

8.  We provide “soup to nuts” services in the process of asset valuation through disposition.

We communicate the information you need before you know you need it!  How do we do this?  We know this market and the variables that drive deals.  For us, this is what it really means to be an “Market Matchmakers” who get deals done.

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Alchemy Real Estate has a rich history in the Seattle Real Estate market:  We are experts in the following neighborhoods:  Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, Magnolia, Ballard, West Seattle, Beacon Hill, Central Seattle, SODO, South Lake Union, Wallingford, Fremont, Phinney Ridge, Green Lake, Laurelhurst, Windermere, Sand Point, View Ridge, Northeast Seattle, Wedgewood, Matthews Beach, Meadowbrook, Maple Leaf, Victory Heights, North Seattle, Lake City, Pinehurst, Cedar Heights, Olympic Hills, Shoreline, Richmond Highlands, Broadview, Bitter Lake, Haller Lake, Northgate, Northwest Seattle, Crown Hill, Greenwood, Crown Hill, North Beach, Blue Ridge, Sunset Hill, Old Ballard, West Woodland, Lawton Park, Briarcliff, Southeast Magnolia, North Queen Anne, West Queen Anne, East Queen Anne, Lower Queen Anne, Belltown, Lake Union, Downtown Seattle, Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square, Yessler Terrace, First Hill, Seattle Central Business District, Broadway, Montlake, Madison Park, Hyde Park, Washington Park, Denny Blaine, Madrona, Leschi, Atlantic, Squire Park, Alki, Admiral, Lake Union, International District, Industrial District, etc…

Dollars and ‘sense’ from Seattle property Manager Who would pass up a deal like that- $5 back in exchange for $1 given!

Who would pass up a deal like that- $5 back in exchange for $1 given! They say if something is too good to be true, it isn’t. But if you own rental property, I can show you exactly how this is very true indeed.

It’s not a trick or some kind of lending scam. All you need to do are these three things.

Be proactive and consistent about small, inexpensive refreshes to your property. Things like having the appliances serviced regularly, deep cleaning blinds when they need it, replace stove elements and pans when they start to show wear, replace light and outlet covers every few years, and any look for any other details that may be small but improve the “threshold appeal” (kind of like “curb appeal” on the outside) of the units or home.

• Be diligent about budgeting and doing bigger refreshes every 4 to 5 years. Things like replacing old or dated faucets, showerheads, towel racks, light fixtures and blinds; have the interior repainted, replace the carpets or have a light refinish done on wood floors, and have walkways, driveways, porches and patio’s pressure washed. Yes, these items cost a bit more than the first list, but stick with me- remember, I’m promising you a 5-1 return on these expenses.
• Finally, budget and don’t procrastinate major maintenance items every 6-10 years; things like replacing appliances, having the exterior repainted, and repairing then re-staining or repainting decks. These are big ticket items- again, I promise I’ll show you how big a payback you’ll see from them.

If there is a trick to this, it’s that rental properties do take more wear and tear than your personal residence, just my merit of having people move in, live in them, and move out of them more often. Of course, tenant-caused damages are paid from security deposits, but these don’t cover ‘normal wear and tear’, which a rental will have more of. If you are attentive to addressing this and keeping the property and fixtures looking fresh, you will have fewer vacancies, lower tenant turnover, and higher rents. And these are attributes that pay off with much higher cash flows that not only pay for the proactive maintenance costs, but can literally return $5.00 to you for every $1.00 you spend on the items I outlined above.

I know- show me the money is what you’re thinking. Fair enough- let’s take a typical rental home through 10 years of service- but with two different owner strategies. We’ll use a home that’s 10 years old, in good condition and that has an average property valuation of $250,000, in an average rental market and a starting rent of $995.00 per month, just to keep the comparison easy.

Owner 1, let’s call her Jane Diligent, takes my advice and plans to budget money for a proactive schedule of minor, moderate and major maintenance items. Owner 2, Joe Defer, just wants to take the income as cash and promises to deal with any maintenance needs as they arise.

So, here we go. Again, same property- but from the perspective of two different strategies that we can compare. (I’m purposely leaving financing and mortgage out of the picture, since these can vary widely on a number of factors, and I don’t want to muddy the picture with all of these contingencies. What I’ll show here will overlay debt servicing directly, so the net results stand on their own anyway).

Our house under Jane’s ownership

Year 1-2: Janes property manager starts out with a great tenant who renews the lease after 1 year at a small increase, in line with the local rental market, and during which she spends about $160.00 in minor touchups before it was re-listed. Things are going pretty well overall.

Year 3-5: Because it shows so well, it rents again in just 10 days to an excellent tenant, who renews twice at a total of 5% increases, which is slightly above market. During these 3 years, Jane approved another $225 in minor maintenance, $550 to re-stain the deck, and $3205.00 for a big set of updates at after the tenant moves. It was still in good shape, but was starting to look dated , so she had kitchen and bath updates done (new faucets/fixtures) as well as new carpet and paint throughout.

Year 6-7: All the work at the end of year 5 took 2 weeks, but the house looked brand new, and when her property manager listed it, there were a lot of people interested and it rented in just 7 days at a higher rent of $1100. The local market had been cooling off, so the tenant renewed once but at the same rent. In this time, Jane approved another $425 in proactive maintenance, but the washer broke so she also approved a new washer and dryer, costing $850.00.

Year 8-10: Before re-leasing it, Jane did another $160 in minor refreshes, and approved $1800 for exterior re-painting. Her property manager leased to another great tenant, who renewed twice at a total of 3% increases, which kept her rents slightly above market rates.

At the close of year 10, Jane is planning another major refresh- it’s been 5 years since it’s had new carpets and paint and some of the light fixtures and faucets are looking dull, so she’s budgeting about $3600 to remedy all this before it’s rented again. She also has an appraisal done, which shows the house still in good condition and a value of $263,000.

Here are Janes financial results for the 10 years:

Now, rewind-our house under Joe’s ownership.

Year 1-2: Joe’s property manager starts out with a great tenant who renews the lease after 1 year at a small increase, in line with the local rental market. He doesn’t have any maintenance issues, and is feeling so good about things that when the tenant moves out, he doesn’t see a need to spend any money on turnover items, and has the manager rent it as is.

Years 3-5: Because the house doesn’t show as well as the first year, it takes longer and longer to rent- 14 days in year 3 and 5, 25 days in year 4. Joe has only done maintenance that’s absolutely required- costing about $180 in all, so the house has also started to show a lot of wear and doesn’t seem well cared for- so his property manager can’t get market rate rents for it, and tenants aren’t renewing so it’s turning over every year.

Years 6-7: The market had been pretty hot in the last few years, and Joes property manager does land a great tenant at a modest rent increase. Deferred maintenance finally catches up, though, and Joe has to replace the refrigerator and oven, both of which broke down, costing Joe $850 apiece. The tenant, seeing how long Joe lets things go, renews but for the same rent. When the tenant moves out after two years, Joe finally concedes to new carpet and blinds, costing $1250. But, even though it takes 10 days to do the turnover, the house rents relatively quickly in just another 10 days.

Years 8-10: Even with the small refresh, the house is still renting below market- it hasn’t been painted inside or out in 8 years and all of the original fixtures and appliances (except refrigerator and stove) are aging and breaking down. More deferred maintenance issues crop up and Joe has to pay $1435 to fix a broken shower faucet, bathtub drain and light fixtures. Also, the old dryer hose had a crack and was venting moist air behind the dryer- another $250.00 to repair the wall and replace the hose. At the end of year 9, Joe gives in and approves $2160 in refreshes for interior paint, some new fixtures in the kitchen and bath, a new dryer and re-painting for the deck. The house shows better and rents in 10 days, but still below going rents for the market. At the close of year 10, Joe knows he’s going to have to paint the exterior and do some additional required maintenance, but he’s frustrated that he’s not getting higher rents and his tenants all seem to move out after just a year. He also has an appraisal done, which shows the house is in fair condition and a value of $252,000.

Here are Joe’s financial results for the 10 years:

Here’s where I show you the money

So how do the two owner strategies compare? Let’s take a look.

By avoiding maintenance costs as long as possible and ignoring non-required replacement expenses, Joe made a net income of $110,089 over the 10 years. But the house took a beating, didn’t show or appraise well, and he spent a lot of anxious days waiting for it to rent after frequent turnovers, and usually below what other houses like his in the market fetched. In the end, the property value was only a slight increase from where he started, even though the market in general had risen. So he missed out on some equity.

Jane spent more on proactive and schedule maintenance- a full $3,260 more than Joe. That doesn’t mean she made less, though. The house always showed well and was well cared for- so the house rented faster (a total of 50 fewer days sitting vacant- nearly two full additional months that she collected rents), tenants stayed longer (4 tenants over 10 years, vs. 7 turnovers for Joe), and the house consistently earned rents slightly above market rates.

Those are great outcomes, and here’s the payday: for her $3650, she got back $4658 more than Joe in net income, and $10,000 more in property value after 10 years than Joe did. So that’s a total of $14658 in return for her maintenance expenditures- or- you guessed it- $5 for every $1 she spent.

How did she do it? She didn’t work harder at it, she just did 3 things consistently:

• She was proactive and consistent about small, inexpensive refreshes to the house, so it always looked new and well cared for.
• She was diligent about budgeting and doing proactive maintenance every 4 to 5 years. And,
• She didn’t procrastinate major maintenance items.

That’s all it took, and that’s all you have to do to get a $5 bill back for every $1 you spend to keep your rental property well maintained and competitive in the local market.

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RD House is a Seattle property management company that specializes in property management for residential homes and small apartment buildings in the Seattle metro area, with fees starting at 5%. We work smarter to be a team you can trust to manage all the aspects of your real estate property management the right way, and our mission is simply to provide better results with residential, multifamily, commercial and association property management. We call it Simply better Property Management.

RD House Real Estate Property Management

6322 Fauntleroy Way SW, Seattle, WA 98136 | (206) 728-6063 | www.rd-house.com

If you've been looking for the perfect abode in great West Seattle, an early viewing is advised to see the beauty and calmness around this upgraded 4 bedroom home for sale. This upgraded 4 bedroom home for sale in Riverview, West Seattle is in excellent condition and it is located in a quiet residential neighborhood, which offers the perfect environment for anyone.

Built in 2005, this upgraded 4 bedroom home for sale has been extensively improved by the present owners since then. The upgraded 4 bedroom home for sale is a single family house and has a size of 3,040 square feet. The huge lot measures approximately 6,621 square feet.

This upgraded 4 bedroom home for sale in Riverview, West Seattle has vaulted ceilings and hardwood flooring throughout its main downstairs rooms, which have a light and airy feel. The new paintwork of this upgraded 4 bedroom home for sale is a crisp white with walls in contemporary neutral shades. Other wonderful features that abound in this luxuriously appointed and upgraded 4 bedroom home for sale include air conditioning throughout to cope with summer heat and a gas fire in the living room for cozy winter evenings.

There is a huge master bedroom with walk-in closet in this upgraded 4 bedroom home for sale, and all the bedrooms have wool carpeting. There are 2.5 bathrooms and gorgeous modern fixtures throughout. Further features of this upgraded 4 bedroom home for sale include a wet bar and a jetted tub, too.

One of the main features of this upgraded 4 bedroom home for sale in Riverview, West Seattle is the gourmet kitchen. This room has a large island unit, two sinks, and stainless steel appliances. The lovely kitchen of this upgraded 4 bedroom home for sale also has full slab granite countertops and a gas cooktop for maximum energy efficiency. Even the formal dining room is great for dinner parties!

Outside of this upgraded 4 bedroom home for sale in Riverview, West Seattle, you'll find a large yard with a lawn, patio, and barbeque for those summer evenings while entertaining friends. There is also an attached two-car garage to this upgraded 4 bedroom home for sale.

You may never want to leave this meticulously maintained and upgraded 4 bedroom home for sale in Riverview, West Seattle. Well-situated in a quiet and peaceful residential street, you will not find any other residence like this one. There are several good schools nearby and the area around this upgraded 4 bedroom home is said to be ideal for anyone!

Our spring community project this year is to sponsor a West Seattle Little League team! Many of us played on little league teams when we were kids, and know the huge value they provide in teaching skills, teamwork and camaraderie. Also, as an active sport, it's a great outlet for kids in the spring and summer. 

https://www.facebook.com/westseattlelittleleague

Seattle Property Manager is Focusing on Water Conservation through Sub-metering

Water sub-metering has been proven to decrease water consumption by as much as 8,000 gallons per unit per year according to the USEPA

In a three year study by the “National Multiple Family Submetering and Allocation Billing Program”, the potential savings in the apartment sector from requiring Tenants to pay for their water consumption separately from their rent, found that

 Direct Billing billing tenants for their water usage  directly reduce annual water consumption by an average of 15 percent.

Water and sewer rates and other utility rates are rising as much as 10% or more per year on average. Some areas of the country have seen water rates double in the last year. A water sub-metering project will protect the property owner from the rising water and sewer utility costs.

The property owner can increase their Net Operating Income NOI- immediately

Realizing that water and sewer costs can be avoided

 Water Conservation is everyone reasonability

Most people aren't aware of how many gallons of water the average household uses each week.

  A typical household uses around 14 hundred cubic feet (HCF) of water a month (more in the summer, less in the winter.)

One HCF of water is equal to 748 gallons, so a typical householdThe average size of a household was 2.5 persons with almost all housing units, 97%, having 1 or fewer occupants per room.

 Uses about  10,472  gallons a month.

How much is 10,472 gallons

The 22-foot by 52-inch Ultra Frame Pool has the capacity to hold 10,472 gallons of water

West Seattle Block Watch Captains has had enough with Mail Theft!

Last Night West Seattle block watch captains gather together at the West Seattle Southwest Precinct to take a bite out of mail theft crime more than 40 people filled the room to listen to the US Postal inspectors talk as well as of the Southwest precinct officer on tip to prevent mail theft and fraud.

If you live in the West Seattle Area

Everyone is welcome, even if you aren’t a Block Watch Captain! RSVP is appreciated, but not necessary to attend. You can email us at wsblockwatchnet@gmail.com or phone us at

 206-424-0040.

Mail theft/fraud at West Seattle Crime Watch I want to pass this on to My Property Management blog readers because this can happen anywhere.

If you believe you’re a victim of fraud related to the U.S. Mail, including mailed sweepstakes, lotteries, on-line auctions, work-at-home scams or chain letters, report your concern to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service as mail fraud.

All information is voluntary, but the more you provide, the more likely it is that we can help you. We may share your information with other agencies if it comes under their jurisdiction. See the Privacy Act Statement for more details. This site uses secure methods to transfer data.

The Postal Inspection Service will contact you only if more information is needed. We gather data on mail-related crime to determine whether a violation has occurred. While we can’t guarantee we can recover lost money or items, your information can help alert Postal Inspectors to problem areas and possibly prevent others from being victimized. Inspectors base their investigations on the number, substance and pattern of complaints. We ask you to keep all original documents related to your complaint.

If you would prefer to mail in your report, click here to print a Mail Theft Complaint. If this is an urgent matter, contact your nearest law enforcement agency.

Report problems with mail delivery or service to the U.S. Postal Service.

www.RD-house.com

Property management that just works better.