Real Estate Field Notes

3244 Long Lake Dr SE, Olympia, WA 98503 - Zillow

3244 Long Lake Dr SE, Olympia, WA 98503 - Zillow

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A Party with No Guests??

My open house today wasl just like having a party with no guests:  inviting people via the newspaper and with signs & balloons to come and see this vacant home and Not a Soul came by for 2 1/2 hours.  The house was so full of silence, it sliced through the air.  I was chilly because I sat on the stairs where I could see the door.  I don't like to be surprised by people coming in without my seeing them first (safety you know!)  And this home has no way to do that without going upstairs to the front bedroom or sitting on the stairway where there is a nice side window by the front porch. 

 

It wasn't such a bad day either.  It was gray, cloudy and it rained intermittently.  But the sun came out too.  No excuses folks.  This is a decent house in a great area with a large fenced backyard and nice sunny garden space.  So where were you?

It could be that Halloween festivities were to blame.  Parents and kids could have been gathering at the mall all decked out in scary garb getting free candy.  Well, I had free candy too.  And it was even Snickers which are always a favorite I think.  They weren't the big bar like we used to get as kids. Back in the "good old days" they didn't even make the junior bars.  We just had to gorge on the big ones and lots of them.  In those days we also got a carmel apple from one house and money from a doctor who lived up the street.  It was a fun time and I don't remember my parents escorting us either.  It was safe as can be in our "kid friendly" hill top neighborhood in the West Hills of Bend Or.  Yes, we always felt safe.  I guess my sister did get a bit beat up by a couple making out up at the water tower in the woods once.  But that was an odd occurrence.

Back to the open house.  I took my usual new magazines, but not enough this time.  I usually have way to much reading material between new magazines and books I check out at the library.  But today I was short and tomorrow I well may be also.  Yikes.... I will have to take my novel or some fabric to cut out, perhaps!

Stop on by when you see that open house sign.  There could be a lonely real estate agent who needs someone to visit with for a bit.  You might like each other, learn something, or just do a good deed for the day!

Weak (Week) End: keeping track of your life

Is it the end of your week?  Are you feeling kind of weak at the end of your week?  How would you evaluate your accomplishments for this past week?

Life passes way too quickly to not be paying attention.  Looking back helps us move forward hopefully without reliving past mistakes.  Oh, if it were only so.  It seems that the same pitfalls trip me up again and again.  I am very hard on myself although it is hard to know what I am comparing my own self with?  Is it the person in the next cubicle, the office down the hall, or heaven forbid, my husband?

I believe in journal-ling.  Believing does not equal doing.  I like to write and I like to write about what I am thinking and feeling and what the day is like including the weather.  I am sure my kids will enjoy reading all these sexy and horrifying thoughts I have had after I am on to eternal life..  Yes, it could be tantalizing reading.  Or not. 

But I seriously would love to sit down with a stack of my grandmother's journals and peruse her life on a daily basis.  My husband's mom has written a poem book.  It encompasses her thoughts and feelings during her marriage to my husband's father who is deceased.  It has been therapeutic for her.  And writing does make us feel better.  It is like talking to someone freely.  You listen to yourself and learn. 

Try it.  Start with the day, the date, the weather, your schedule, how you felt, plans, ideas, what you wish you were doing.....  Great stuff!

Facebook Frenzy

Are you somebody's friend on Facebook?  Do you go there several times a day to take a peak at what is going on? So you've never heard of it?  Well, don't feel bad.  Or maybe you should feel bad because just about EVERYBODY does Facebook & You Tube, & Twitter & Linkd In.  It is an absolutey Huge Fad, dahling.

Why wouldn't you be on Facebook?

1.  You don't have a computer and don't ever plan to get one.  In that case, you aren't reading this.

2.  You think it is absolutely stupid & don't give a rip what anyone is doing "right now".

3.  You have better things to do; just don't have the time for all that social networking.  In other words, you are toooo important for such trivia.

4.  You haven't a clue how to get on Facebook because you are computer illiterate.

5.  You have no friends and so why bother.

Okay, so I am on Facebook.  I have to be because it is about the only way I hear what my kids are doing.  They don't call much anymore.  They only text & Facebook.  It's the "sign of the times".

It is also a great tool for work.  I have taken a couple of "webinars" and also a seminar on the subject.

If you don't know how or why to use Facebook, no worries. There is always the phone.

 

Rainy Days Arrive & Routines Change

The grey skies of fall leading to winter have returned to the Olympia area!  It was bound to happen even though the sunshine of the extended summer was easy to live with.  It is just drizzly; no full blown-pouring rain yet.

How do you adapt to the change of seasons?  Is it depressing beyond words?  Is it mildly annoying or do you welcome the stay-inside feeling that comes with cooler-wetter weather?  Living in the Pacific NW means definite seasonal differences, but typically they aren't too dramatic.  El Nino is with us according to forecasters.  It is not supposed to be quite as wet or quite as cold.  We will see.

Schedules change when winter comes.  Instead of our normal get home, change clothes, put on the gardening gloves the routine  changes to come home,  put on some warm sweat type clothes, check the wood-stove, and think about dinner.  The days get shorter, the meals get heavier and hopefully we don't!

First Time Homebuyers FREE Education Class Coming Soon

Join Nona Woodard and I on Saturday, October 17th for another fast-paced WSHFC seminar that qualifies participants for some awesome home loans!  Certificates are received by all participants completing the 5 hour class!  For more info go to http://www.wshfc.org/buyers/Brochure.pdf

Registration:  8:45 a.m.

Starts:    9:00 a.m.

Ends:   2:00 p.m.

Bring a sack lunch and plan to have a good time while learning a ton about home ownership!

Call me at 360-402-4859 or Nona at 362-236-9970 to register for our Class.
Here they all are sitting around the table in our comfortable conference room at Greene Realty Group.  We have a great time learning all the WSHFC curriculum!
 

New Listing in Popular Olympia Neighborhood

Yes!  We love new listings.  Us real estate professionals that is.  And that is what I am: a real estate professional.  Not a real estate agent.  Maybe a real estate professional agent?  So much for semantics.  I really just want to sell the darn house for the lovely owner. That is my goal: list and sell with happy clients all around.  One leaving and one moving in with all in a great mood looking toward a better future because of this decision.

In this case, the decision was made because of health issues only.  The owner has lived in this house since 1974 and only is selling because the floor plan and the property itself won't work for her physical condition.  She has moved in with her daugther and I am working with her daughter to sell the family home of many years.

7937 Ellison Loop NW:  $264,950.00
 

You can see the many steps with the challenges they can be.  Stairs can also be a great opportunity for a daily work-out without leaving your home. 

Isn't this just so cozy?  You have a wood fireplace, lots of windows and it just makes you feel like sitting down and reading a book?

There is a great view of the sound from the garden window in the kitchen and from the deck out the sliding doors!

 

Kitchen is a handy galley style with newer appliances and laminate flooring.  Notice the great pantry to the left also. 

Both baths have been updated.  Upstairs there is ceramic tile floors, built ins, fresh paint and trim!

Home has circular drive for extra parking.  Trees can be trimmed up for more water view.

Ready to Sell at the "drop of the hat"!

It could happen to you or me.  A life change comes about in the blink of an eye.  You lose your job.  Your husband gets ill or passes away.  You are injured.  Your kids need you.  Whatever the reason; you may need to sell your home before you planned.

To avoid the panic an emergency situation can precipitate savvy homeowners should be prepared to sell at any time.  I don't mean totally ready to sell; I do mean that maintenance should not be deferred indefinitely.

To make your life easier:

• Paint a room a season
• Clean out the closets to minimize accumulation
• Caulk the bathroom(s)
• Caulk gaps in trim
• Keep trim looking good or add some new moldings
• Do a window survey looking for broken seals and replace as needed
• Update light fixtures
• Evaluate your homes energy loss
• Pump the septic if you have one every 3-4 years depending on use
• Spruce up the landscaping, prune the shrubbery and edge the yard
• Mend the fence

Or better yet, make a list or find one at www.realsimple.com and check off tasks as they are completed!  It makes you feel great and your home look even better!

Enjoy your home but be ready for the unexpected.  Need some help deciding what's most important to do first?  Give me a call; I can help.

My House Keeper

What's something you would splurge on this year to improve your future?
Presented by Intel, Sponsors of Tomorrow.

For some people a house keeper would not be a splurge.  For me it definitely is.  I was going to start cleaning my kitchen floor this morning.  It is hardwood, I have been baking and it is in need of a good scrub and shine.  I started the dishwasher, I took out the trash, I clipped some flower heads off, made the bed, got myself ready for work and decided to call PJ.  She cleaned our house about three weeks ago and I was debating if I could afford to have her back.

I am proud, happy and excited to say: she is coming back to clean tomorrow.  I really am not an efficient house cleaner.  I do things on the fly.  Like this morning: while I was brushing my teeth, putting on make-up I cleaned one of the master bath sinks.  I also forgot to put on my earrings.

To give me time to do real estate, to get in some sewing time, to work in the yard & garden, to bake: I am SPLURGING ON A HOUSE KEEPER!

Do you Have Real Spare Time?

What do you do in your Spare Time?  How do you define your Spare Time? 

Here are a few definitions of "spare time":

1. time period when you are not required to work
2. free time or leisure time
3. time available for ease and relaxation; "his job left him little leisure"

An interesting thing to ponder: Does your job Give you spare time?  Does your schedule Give yo Spare Time?  Where does it come from and how do we use it?  Intersting issue to ponder I think.

For me, I am always longing for that illusive Spare Time.  I think of it as My Time to do whatever I please.  It is not supposed to be time to clean the house, do the laundry, pay the bills, or communicate with my clients.  I should use it to do absolutely whatever it is that makes me happy.  I should put aside all thought of work, of home obligations and of any stress related issue.  But the question is: can we actually do it?

What are my major distractors: 

• the cell phone with texts & calls & voice mail messages
• my own thoughts and concerns about other things I should be doing
• my affinity towards "multi-tasking"
• other stuff that really does need doing

I guess my goal would be to divide my time up more evenly and be more efficient at scheduling in spare time.  It just seems like an oxymoron to schedule spare time.  Therein lies my problem, perhaps.  I resist the old term schedule.  I have all sorts of technology to help with using an efficient calendar.  I am smart, I am resourceful, I am a WOMAN for pete's sake.  I can do anything, right? No, I think I can do it all, but I end up not doing it all very well. 

How do you view your spare time?  Do you have spare time?  Tell me how I can use your experience to make my spare time more lovely, more spare, more leisurely, PLEASE.

P.S. When you google Spare Time there are tons of websites called Spare Time.  If you start looking them up, well there goes some more spare time.  There are clubs, companies, bowling alleys, game sites, etc etc. 

Here I go on a Saturday afternoon to do a Four Hour Open House at Riverwood, a new subdivision in Tumwater WA.  Forget the spare time for me on this Saturday!