"Measure Twice, Cut Once"

When I took a wood shop course, my instructor emphasized "measure twice, cut once". It is also applicable in real estate practice except that it is best to check more than twice. Make sure you know what you are asking for and their consequences before signing away. If you don't understand, ask your real estate professional.

A good example is the inspection negotiation process. When negotiating wants and needs, it is always best to prioritize, have a couple of back up plans, choices, or options for when you don’t get what you initially asked for. But always check your contract over and over to make sure you are getting what you need, what you want, correct wordings, appropriate time line and deadlines, know your consequences especially when you choose to delegate your choice(s) to another, and know your options. You don’t need to be a lawyer to get it right, just think ahead like you would when playing a game and use plain English. Double check and recheck before signing off.

Where's the Bottom?

Have we reached the bottom of the housing market yet? It depends who you talk to. Some say it that it is already here, other say it will take place in 6months, 12 months, 20months, etc. I believe we haven't seen the worst of the recession yet. Large corporations like Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks, etc. are cutting back employment; many small and modest sized businesses are going out of business. The choices of these large and influential giants have a rippling effect on the State’s housing market.

Living at the base of the tech giant, Microsoft, and knowing the company has decided to open its flood gate of layoffs and financial cut back has caused me to wonder at how much influence their choice will have on our local housing market. Will there be more housing inventory? After all, not everyone working for Microsoft owns a house.

Addendum 22L

In a purchase and sale there is the main body of the purchasing and sale documents and then there are the addenda, the additions or supplements to the existing documents. As of January 19, 2009, a new requirement was set forth by King County (Board of Health Code Section 13.60.030) that all single family residential homes with on-site sewage systems (OSS) or sewer that art not connected to public or city sewers must have a licensed King County On-Site System Maintainer (OSM) to perform inspection on existing OSS prior to the transfer of title). This form is called the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) 22L King County Septic Addendum. In short, if you are a homeowner who want to sell your home and the property is on septic, you will need to have an OSM inspector evaluate your septic tank before you can have the property transferred to the new owner.

1. The Septic inspector must be OSM certified.
2. Have a record of a drawing of the septic or an "As-Built", this can be requested through King County public records. If none exist, the OSM inspector may be required to draw one up. Ask about cost & procedures, if they exist.
3. If the septic had a diagnostic done within the past six-months, or you are no longer on septic and are now connected to a public sewer, you can request a waiver.
4. Communicate with the septic pumper and OSM inspector if they are not of the same company, in case they may need to relay necessary information to each other.
5. Before pumping, call your OSM inspector. An OSM inspector may need a full septic tank to run a proper diagnostic and the pumper may need an empty tank to inspect the tank's internal condition.
6. Buyers are responsible for the "Operation and Maintenance Program Fee" set forth by King County.
7. Sellers are responsible for the "Operation and Maintenance Report" plus any "applicable" fee as set forth by King County.

(I'm still looking for those fee schedules. If I find them, I'll post them later on).

OSS Public Records Request
OSS Property Transfer
OSS Property Transfer Waiver
Licensed OSM Inspectors
Liquid Waster Pumper/Hauler

2009 Real Estate Trends

1. Going Green: Renew, Reuse & Recycle
2. Cooking from the Home
3. Security
4. Drop Spaces
5. Downsizing, smaller homes
6. Home Office
7. Designing for small spaces
8. Do-It-Yourself & Crafts
9. Expanded Outdoor Space
10. Accent Wall Colors

For more visit my web page at www.nwabode.com.


Home Product Trends!

· Centralized Vacuum Sealer - Ex
· Between-the-studs shelves - Ex
· Smart Landscaping – Blog
· Magnetic Therapy Hot Tub – Ex
· Water filtering systems, Ex
· Space saving Toilettes - Ex
· Mirror TVs – Ex
· Heated Drive Way - Ex
· Heated Patio – Ex
· Rubber Roofing – Ex
· Thermal Detector – Ex
· Terrazzo Countertops – Ex
· Light Housesitter - Ex
· Interlocking patio tiles over existing surfaces, Ex

Disclaimer: Links for the home product trends are examples and not to be inferred as indorsements.

Moments in Real Estate

I thought I would add snippets or moments in my real estate experiences to add some humor and personal touches in a career that is mostly business and seriousness, most of the time, for me. Writing articles about real estate can get too stuffy and too serious. So, these snippets will be more real and lighter, added throughout.

The Week We had The Pile of Snow

I've lived in Washington State for over twenty-five years and this 2008 winter had the most snowfall in years, well in recent history anyway. There was madness for snow shovels but a dearth in all the hardware sections of every store! What were they thinking? Who forgot to order the shovels? Didn’t they watch the weather report? Well, maybe we all decided none of the weather reporters knew how to read the weather correctly or at the least we didn’t take them too seriously because they were wrong most of the time.

I didn't think I needed a shovel, until three days into and eight inches of snow later, by then it was too late. (Note, to those who live where snow is common, three inches of snow here (Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland, Bothell, Sammamish, etc., also known as the Eastside versus Seattle) strikes fear into the masses and gleeful hurrahs from the school kids and anyone who dreads going to work. Imagine what it was like during eight plus inches of snow for a whopping week, a brick wall or in our case sledding down hills and valleys). However, I did have a flat head garden shovel which I used. I bought it for gardening because it was easy to handle and good looking. I know, silly. Hey, when I'm digging away I like to admire a beautiful tool, it's not a crime.

Shoveling the snow with it was like trying to run a 10K race at an inch worm's pace. Okay that was a stretch but it surely felt like it. It was SLOW work. In the same week, I was adamant about having open houses. Fortunately for me, a kind neighbor at the open house site had a garden shovel for my use. Guess what? It was the exact same model; imagine that, someone else thought it was cool too.

Instead of hosting the open houses inside I did the hosting of it outside by shoveling the snow off the driveway and talking to the neighbors, who by the way did come to my open house. We do what we can to peddle real estate even if it means shoveling the driveway for the neighborhood...can't say I would do it again or at least not with a garden shovel. It took forever!

Visit my website at www.nwabode.com for Tips and News.

The Uphill Climb to Living Green

Going green has been like driving uphill after a snow storm, slow, difficult, and a lot of sliding. Why?! (A heavy sigh with a lot of head shaking). It is because there is a lack of leadership, a lack of determination, a lack of unified support and interest (private as well as public), not enough incentives, poor education, short of skilled professionals, and cost. Fresh ideas initially come at a higher price; minimizing cost would be a matter of supply and demand. More supplies will eventually mean less cost.

Current new construction Green builds have been minimal (in many ways more than one), however, with the "credit crunch", increases in energy cost, more emphasis in minimizing output of pollutants and wastes, conserving natural resources and greater demand for better healthy living, going Green will be extremely appealing. There will be stronger leadership commitments (some profit driven), additional skilled professionals, more inventions, enhanced innovations, better education (and more of it), improved management, supportive government incentives, and greater conscientious effort in both public and private sectors will make Green living available and possible to everyone, including Mother Nature (Urban Land Institute Community Catalyst Report).