The Gardner Report

Windermere has it's own Real Estate Chief Economist and his name is Matthew Gardner. Each quarter he publishes a quarterly report and the second quarter report for 2016 has just been made available.

From this report he comments that we continue to see strong employment that's outpacing the national rate for job gains. There is confidence that this will continue throughout the year.

He then addresses a topic that we keep hearing about in the news. The continued number of home sales and the lack of inventory. We're still seeing more demand than inventory. This also includes nine counties in the state where the annual price growth exceeded 10%. Snohomish County is now also a market where it usually takes less than one month to sell a home.

If you would like to read the report in it's entirety, here is a link. The Gardner Report

Design Trends To Stay Away From

Every month there is a magazine that talks about a new design trend. Some of these are good and some are, lets say, have lost their appeal. Interior design trends follow fashion trends. The trick is to determine which ones will stay and be "classic" and which ones will go.

Some of the trends that are no longer popular are:

1. Carpeting in the master bathroom - hard to keep clean
2. Plantation shutters - just too dark
3. Curtains over closets - what are you hiding and what didn't you finish?
4. Word are - too personal and distracting to a buyer
5. Accent walls - a focal point that can limit a rooms use and colors
6. Wallpaper - hard to remove and change the look of a room
7. Faux - faux is just that, fake

What is your favorite design trend and do you think it will stand the test of time?

Selling A Home is an Emotional Journey!

Selling a home is an emotional journey!. First you're excited about the possibilities.  All of a sudden you're worried, will anyone want to buy our home? Did we price it right? And then on to feelings like "our house looks really good and I can't believe that a buyer only thinks it's worth that much!"

From there of course there is the elation at accepting an offer, signing closing documents and feeling sad that you're leaving all these memories.

And then there is the joy of moving into that new home!.  What a journey but one that I love to help my clients with every day. Cheers.

A Little Weekend DIY

A little weekend DIY project is something I think about often. I found an article on a blog recently that made me look at some home improvement projects differently. One idea was to take an old entertainment center and add a "refrigerator and stove"  door and make it into a childs dream kitchen.
Of course there are tried and true ideas like adding a flower bed or painting your front door. These kinds of projects can be done in a day. You can take old corks and glue them onto a picture frame to create a bulletin board. You can make a chalkboard using an old cupboard door or a piece of plywood and chalkboard paint. What kinds of projects are you thinking about this weekend?