1staging-smallI’ve added some really nice ‘Before and After’ shots to the Home Staging Photo Gallery page, and also (this is embarrassing) fixed the slideshow so that photos of my friend Butch Vision flipping upside down in his kayak in the middle of the Grand Canyon didn’t arbitrarily pop up during the show.

(Whoops. :) )

Although, as one of my clients pointed out, those were nicely symbolic of the Seattle housing market.

I also updated my ‘About’ page – the stuff I had on there before seemed really stilted, now it’s much more the way I would normally talk to a client.  Funny the things we put ourselves through when we try to get across to people online.

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Seattle Area Community Events – June 2009

by IreneDorang on June 17, 2009

Tastin’ n’ Racin’

June 6 to June 7, Lake Sammamish State Park, Issaquah

Spend a weekend at the beach looking at restored hydroplanes and runabouts. Enjoy food, live music, arts and crafts, as well as a Family Fun area.

20606 SE 56th Street, Issaquah

Maple Valley Days

June 12 to June 14, Lake Wilderness Park, Maple Valley

Have a fun-filled day shopping from 75 food and art vendors, riding carnival rides, and watching the parade.

224th Avenue SE, Maple Valley

Sorticulture, Everett’s Garden Arts Festival

June 12 to June 14, American Legion Memorial Park, Everett

This art festival unites art and garden for creative outdoor living. Artists create blown glass, water features, birdhouses, pottery and more for the garden.

145 Alverson Boulevard, Everett

Hawaiian Canoe Races

June 13, Thorton A. Sullivan Park, Everett

Find your inner Aloha! Enjoy a day of watching outrigger canoe racing and listening to Hawaiian music.

11 a.m. to 4 p.m. | 11405 Silver Lake Road, Everett

Washington Brewers Festival 2009

June 19 to June 21, Saint Edward State Park, Kenmore

Pick from nearly 200 beers on tap while enjoying live music, a craft fair and a Brewer’s Keg Toss Contest.  There is also a Kids Playground.

14445 Juanita Drive NE, Kenmore | (425) 823-2992

Edmonds Art Festival

June 19 to June 21, Frances Anderson Center, Edmonds

One of the Pacific Northwest’s oldest and largest arts festivals, with nearly 240 featured artists along with children’s activities, musicians and a wine bar.

700 Main Street, Edmonds | (425) 771-6412

Fremont Fair

June 20 to June 21, Downtown Fremont, Seattle

Seattle’s Best Annual Street Event is the eclectic Fremont fair. Proceeds support local anti-poverty programs.

1501 North 45th Street, Seattle | (206) 649-6706

Auburn Kids Day

June 19, Game Farm Park, Auburn

This is a great event for kids, with Inflatable rides, arts and crafts, face painting, miniature golf and much more.

11 a.m. to 4 p.m. | 3030 R Street SE, Auburn | (253) 931-3043

Live Arts Festival

June 27 to June 28, Park at Bothell Landing, Bothell

Excellent art, good food, live entertainment and free bike racks make this a fine summer event.

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 9919 NE 180th Street, Bothell | (206) 310-9465

Shoreline Arts Festival

June 27 to June 28, Shoreline Community Center, Seattle

Two stages of music and dance as well as hands-on art activities, dance lessons and a marketplace.

18560 1st Avenue NE, Seattle | (206) 417-4645

Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Marathon and Half Marathon

June 27, Seattle

Kicking off the annual Seafair summer celebration, the races feature 70 live bands and 40 cheer squads along their route from Tukwila to Qwest Field.

Starts at 7 a.m. | (206) 461-5800

911 Safety Saturday

June 27, Imagine Children’s Museum, Everett

Are you prepared for an emergency? This fun day of emergency preparedness includes bicycle safety, child safety kits, first aid and CPR demonstrations, and fire prevention.

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | 1502 Wall Street, Everett | (425) 258-1006

Midsommarfest

June 28, Saint Edward State Park, Kenmore

A traditional Swedish celebration of the summer solstice, with the raising of a garlanded Midsommar pole and hundreds of costumed musicians and dancers.

11 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 14445 Juanita Dr. NE, Kenmore | (425) 823-2992

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New Features Added to TeamIrene.com

by IreneDorang on June 7, 2009

I’ve finally updated this website with my most recent listings, and an improved resource list.  Please check out the ‘See  Photos’ sections of my home listings and tell me what you think!  I spend a lot of time preparing homes before they go on market, and these days I always hire Seattle home photographer Tucker English to take the photos when the home is ready.  I think you’ll notice that these turn out far better than typical listing photos.

I’ve also made the Resources section easier to search through, and I’ve added ten of my own favorite links that I use quite often.

Next up:  Videos explaining some important techniques I used to transform my clients’ homes before they went on market.

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Rolling Out New Features to the TeamIrene Site

by IreneDorang on June 5, 2009

I’m just about to incorporate some new features to the TeamIrene blog that I think you’ll like, including an expanded resources section and videos showing some of the pre-listing home staging I’ve done for homes I’ve sold.

These are scheduled to be up and running on Saturday – I’ll post again as soon as I make the changes.

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In September 2007 my mother came out from Pennsylvania for a visit and I surprised her with an electric boat ride for just the two of us around Lake Union.  Since then I’ve been amazed by how many people have never heard about The Electric Boat Company, where you can rent these boats by the hour and take off even if you have no boating experience.

img_0018-w450-h500

The boats seat up to 10 people, and have clear plastic windows that you can unzip on warm days to open up and feel the breeze.  On cool days you can zip up the windows and turn on the heater to stay warm, so it’s really an activity you could do at any time of year.

The owners were really friendly, and all in all it was a fun and very different way to see parts of Seattle, with excellent views of Gasworks Parks and Fishermen’s Terminal.

The Electric Boat Company is located at 2046 Westlake Ave North in Seattle, just a bit north of China Harbor restaurant.  Rentals are currently $89 per hour with a 2 hour minimum. Their number is 206.223.7476.


View Larger Map

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nyt-interactivegraphicThe New York times has a really interesting interactive graphic today about unemployment  trends and how they relate to the end of past recessions.

Unemployment rose to 8.9% in April 2009, but this was actually better than expected and has some economists wondering if the slowing pace of new job losses means we’re seeing the beginning signs of recovery.

They point out that April’s hiring was boosted by the government hiring of census takers, and that private hiring actually decreased a bit.

Click here to read the article, and definitely click here to see the interactive graphic, it’s worth a look.

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I wanted to put in a plug for Jeff Fravel, owner of The Clean Doctor, for window, roof and gutter cleaning.  I used him a couple of times and he always does a good job and leaves the premises very clean. 

Jeff does roof cleaning using a blower, not the hard pressure washing that can decrease the life of your composition roof, and he also does roof moss control and pressure washing of walkways and driveways.  It’s very useful to have one person who does all of those things, instead of having to hire two or more different contractors.  Jeff is also licensed, bonded and insured.

Here’s his contact info:

Jeff Fravel
The Clean Doctor
thecleandoctor@gmail.com
(206) 227-1542

Please note: I recommend the best people and resources I know, but I don’t assume any liability, so please use your best judgment.  I would love to hear feedback (good or bad) about your experiences with any resource that I recommend.

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How to Change a Toilet Flapper

by IreneDorang on May 7, 2009

I had to go online to find out how to change a toilet flapper today and found this really helpful article, complete with diagram, so I’m posting a link to it here.  Mostly I just love the fact that there’s a website called ToiletFlapper.org. :)

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SacramentoCountyHomeSalesGraphYesterday the New York Times ran an article that talked about how we may be seeing signs of a housing recovery in Sacramento County,which was hit hard and early by the housing crisis.

Sales are up 45% from a year ago, and other areas such as Las Vegas and parts of Florida are also showing significant increases.

Notably, prices have not increased, but are showing signs of stabilizing.  According to an analyst quoted in the article, “…this is how things might look six months before prices bottom out.”

The article points out that sales tend to recover before prices, and that sales nationwide were down 7% year-to-year in March.

What’s happening locally?

First-time home buyers are driving the market in the Seattle area right now (as well as in CA, as noted in the article).  With the surge in activity that I’ve seen personally and hear about from other agents, I expect April and May to show very strong numbers compared to earlier in the year.

Last year we had some odd perks in the spring and then a dismally slow summer.  This year the activity seems more consistent, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we again saw some slowdown during the summer months.  However, there are so many extreme factors in play right now (extremely low interest rates, the first-time home buyer credit, projections of upcoming job cuts, and the Microsoft layoffs of yesterday) that it’s hard to predict anything with a high degree of certainty.  Not trying to hedge, but I have no desire to pull a Jim Cramer….

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U.S. Economic News Round-Up

by IreneDorang on May 4, 2009

There’s been some interesting news on the economic front recently:

The Good:

Today the stock market recouped its losses for 2009 and actually turned positive for the year, apparently primarily due to early reports that stress tests of major banks may offer more detail and less bad news than originally expected.

This sent the S.&P.500 up 3.4% today, or .44% for the year.  The Nasdaq rose 2.5% today, and is up 11.8% for the year.

Going by what I read and what I see locally, I expect April to be a big month for homes going off market, and May should be a strong one for closings.  Every real estate agent I talk to is far busier than they were six weeks ago, as am I.

The Middling:

I spoke to an agent yesterday who said that Warren Buffet had been on TV a day or so before and said we were at the bottom of the housing market.  When I actually checked the article it turns out he thinks that we’re moving through housing inventory faster than we’re producing it, and that therefore we are on our way to prices leveling off (but not there yet).

He points out that about 1.3 million households are created each year in the U.S., and new housing starts had been running at 2 million a year.  Now there are about 500,000 new housing starts per year, so we should be absorbing excess inventory at the rate of 700,000 to 800,000 units per year.

The Not so Hot

The New York Times ran an article today about how there are growing concerns about the U.S. public debt, which is projected to rise from 41% of Gross Domestic Product in 2008 to 54% in 2011.

The concern is that government borrowing my edge out private investment and cause interest rates to rise, and also that the interest obligations may become unsustainable.  In addition, China (which has lent huge sums to the U.S.) is beginning to show concern about the U.S.’s financial health.  I’m tempted to mention that since they started the whole bird flu thing they should maybe give us a break in the health department, but something tells me that wouldn’t go too far.

Bottom Line

As I mentioned before, I don’t necessarily think we’re at the bottom of the market, and neither do the buyers I’m working with – but with these interest rates and huge price drops it’s an incredibly friendly buying environment for people looking for a home they mean to stay in for a while.

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