Kay Rigley, - Windermere R.E./Northwest, Cell: 206.200.5347

MARCH 5 - Moving Soon? Tell the IRS
Complete instructions, including downloadable forms, on how to notify the IRS of your recent move. Also explains what to do if you filed and then moved before you received your refund. Learn More

MARCH 3 - A cute article about Ireland
GoWealthy.com has a fun overview of music in Ireland. Read the article.

FEBRUARY 26 - Weekly home loan update
This is an easy-to-understand overview of current home loan rates that Rodney Coulumbe (one of my favorite mortgage people) sends to realtors. Read the article.

FEBRUARY 1 - The outlook for 2008
January started out more slowly than usual - buyers are a little nervous. But home's are selling. Once the dust settles on all the turmoil within the mortgage industry, we'll return to business as usual, at least in Seattle.

JANUARY 4 - The Tucson real estate market
I took the holiday season off this year and went to Arizona for some sunshine. If you think the Seattle real estate market is bad, you should see Tucson. It's as a flat as a pancake. I bought a little starter home there 2 1/2 years ago as an investment. The renter's begged me to sell it to them, so we agreed on a fair price. I did make a profit, but I'm glad to be out of that market.

OCTOBER 27 - Overpricing your home
A real estate appraiser researched the results of overpricing your home and how to get the best price. Turns out his results are the same ones I've been seeing with my clients for years. Read the article.

OCTOBER 3 - No housing woes in Washington
A great article from the New York Times about why Puget Sound isn't experiencing the downturn that the rest of the country is. Read the article.

SEPTEMBER 8 - Worried about subprime mortgages?
Dan Walsh from Countrywide wrote this nice little note for my blog: A number of my clients have contacted me recently with questions about the Mortgage Industry and Countrywide home loans. With all the media coverage, most people want to know, "How does this affect my mortgage?" For the most part the answer is, not at all. The entire mortgage industry is facing the fall out from defaulting Subprime Loans. More importantly are the effect that this has on the people who invest in mortgage-backed Securities. Many of you have ARM loans. It's important that you understand that not all ARM loans are problematic. The Subprime ARMs that you hear most often about have very short adjustment terms, 1 month to 2 years, and may have prepayment penalties that exceed the fixed rate period. For example; your rate changes every 6 months but if you refinance your loan in the first two years you have to pay a $20,000.00 prepayment penalty. Rates are still low, and with the continued appreciation in our area, all of you have loan options that will meet your needs.

SEPTEMBER 5 - An Irish wedding
Just had a phone call with some fantastic news - my nephew's getting married! He's the first one in the next generation to get married, and I've already bought my ticket to Ireland. My nephew, Stephen, is marrying Rita who is from the Cork area so they are tying the knot at Balintotis Church in County Cork. It seems like just a few years ago I was changing his diapers and bouncing him on my knee! I can't believe he's all grown up - soon to be a married man. The reception is at Barnabrow House which is a lovely guest house built in 1639. I started Dr. Oz's diet plan last week so I look stunning for the wedding...I'd better not look too good and upstage the bride!

AUGUST 17 - August doldrums
If you're a buyer, now is the time to look for a house. Historically, August is the slowest month in real estate, because people are busy finishing up their summer plans before Labor Day. This year is no different. Houses that would normally be snapped up are sitting, and sellers who want to move before the school starts are getting nervous...

JULY 17 - Slow down for 'in city' market
The past couple of weeks have definitely shown a bit of a slow down in the 'in city' market. A few of the cute homes I looked at recently in Ballard in the $400-$500K price range were receiving only one offer or no offer at all after 6-7 days on the market. Is it a sign of the times or are buyers just out there enjoying summer and the sunshine? Maybe a bit of both. This time of year tends to be slower (lots of people on vacation) but it usually picks up again after the kids go back to school.

JULY 6- Buyers edge out sellers
The Seattle Times has a great article discussing Seattle's mini-markets and how different factors affect each. Overall, in the Puget Sound, buyers have the upper hand in bargaining for sales. However, when broken into areas, my focus - north of Seattle - sellers are still calling the shots. But Seattle still holds the title of strongest real estate market in the nation. Sounds fabulous to me. Read the article.

JUNE 24 - News from Ireland
My brother Andy still runs the family farm that I grew up on in Co. Wexford and does a great job. His main income comes from growing strawberries. He and his wife Anne are in the midst of the strawberry picking season at the moment. Speaking to him on the phone today brought back many childhood memories of long days in the strawberry fields. May was a bit of a weird month for them, a harsh frost towards the end of the month destroyed a lot of plants so the fruit this year is not as plentiful. I can still taste those ripe red strawberries, hear the sounds of the fun and laughter from what now feels like another lifetime and 5,000 miles away.

JUNE 10 - Inspections, the sky is falling
Last week, I had an inspection for a lovely 1970s house in Redmond just off the lake. As the client put it, the inspector made it sound like the house was going to collapse inside a week. I told her dont worry, it was in good condition. No matter what the condition of the house, a good inspection report is always scary. Its the inspectors job to nitpick every possible thing that might be wrong or could go wrong. No home is clean as a whistle even a brand new one. Its up to you and your agent to read through each detail and decide what you can and cant live with. Maybe you knew the house needed a new roof, but youve got allergies and cant handle even the tiniest bit of mold. Of the ten insignificant items listed, maybe you only care about one or two being fixed. Knowing it now gives you the ability to make a better decision on whether the home will suit you.

MAY 19 - Open houses, to do or not to do
I just got back from a fantastic real estate conference in Fort Collins, CO. One of the presenting real estate agents was an ex-cop, and he adamantly refuses to hold open houses for his clients. In his opinion, its a foolish safety risk to let strangers wander through your home cataloguing its contents. Although its true that very few homes actually sell as a result of an open house, it does get the ball rolling. I havent decided. I think Ill give my clients the option and let it be their call.

MAY 10 - Saving for home maintenance
I was touching base with an old friend last week, and she brought up a statistic I hadnt heard: You should have 10% of your homes purchase price in savings, because thats what its going to cost you to take care of the home. Throwing in my two cents, I think that number is a bit inflated and depends on what type of home you buy. If the homes fifty years old (like hers was), and none of the major systems like the furnace, roof and drainage have been maintained, then 10% might be right. A newer home doesnt have those needs. Im going to ask around and see if any of my peers have an opinion on the amount you should have in savings. Ill keep you posted.

APRIL 12 - Buying a home, what you can and cant fix
After an exhausting month touring houses, one of my clients decided to renew his apartment lease and postpone buying a house. I felt like I went above and beyond in searching for something that fit his desires: a venerable Seattle neighborhood, awesome view, and great room concept inside. We kept running into the same problemin older neighborhoods, homes were still built along formal lines formal dining vs. intimate breakfast room, formal living vs. intimate family room. Homes that had been remodeled to have great rooms were out of his price range. Its a bit too late now, but I think I should have been more persuasive with him about recognizing the things you can and cant fix. I showed him one lovely home that fit everything, except the rooms were too small. Knock down a few walls, and he could have had his dream home. Its important to be aware of what you can and cant fix. Location and views dont change internal aspects of the home can. If the location is perfect and the home is almost perfect, jump on it.

FEB 21 - Staging craziness
I have now had one client break into tears, one client open the brandy at 10am and a third ask the stager to leave halfway through the job. Its a tough situation. I can often sell their home in one week (instead of two) for an extra $30k (6% of $500k a typical return for staging), and I always give my client a heads up about things that will happen and ask them to let me know what they dont feel comfortable with us touching. But their emotions always get a wee bit crazy.

Consciously, they understand that their collection of antique teddy bears might cause a potential buyer to label the home as too feminine, but when we start to put away the one passed down from their grandmother, the emotions start. Its also difficult, because what makes a house feel like a cozy home is very different from what helps a house sell. Watching a stranger rearrange your furniture can feel invasive, no matter how much extra profit youre envisioning in your pocket. I think the solution is to have a longer chat about the emotional effects of staging before it happens.

FEB 19 - Shop local for mortgage companies
Ive been going round and round on the phone with a mortgage broker for two days trying to keep a sale from going sideways. My listing for sale is a couple blocks off Aurora (highway 99) within steps to Greenlake. The loan guy is based in Oregon, and according to his estimate, the buyers are paying way more than the homes value, and he refuses to give them a mortgage for that amount. He is getting his estimate of the homes value by running a search for similar homes in a nearby radius, which picks up some of the undesirable areas on Aurora and devalues the neighborhood. Any local mortgage broker would know not to include Aurora area sales in a Greenlake area home estimate.

The buyer found the broker by searching for the lowest rates online, and now theyre probably going to lose their dream home because of it. I dont mind looking online for services the internet is an incredible resource. But for a mortgage broker, always ask how they get their estimate. Find someone whos local and knows the area, or has local contacts that can do a drive-by of the home so the broker gets an accurate estimate.

JAN 15 - Staging works
I started experimenting with staging homes in early 2006. Statistically, staging increases a homes sale price by 6-8% and cuts its time on market by almost half. Now that Im up and running with staging, I have to say that it works. I listed a home that in many ways would be a hard sell: master in the basement, a strange layout, and city buses idling outside the front door. But after my stager went through, the place looked fabulous! We had a solid offer in less than two weeks. Ive now listed at least a dozen homes with staging and even if it doesnt get the full 6-8%, it definitely cuts the time on market.

JAN 1 - Real estate market review 2006/2007
The Seattle real estate market was a lot less crazy this year. I still had as much business to handle but things werent quite as chaotic as the past 7 years. Houses still sold quickly as long as they were priced correctly. The rampant overbidding and multiple offer situations have subsided a wee bit. I think over the next few years were going to see less appreciation (5-7%). Theres doom and gloom on the east coast with prices dropping and leveling off, but all the economic gurus say that were fine over here in the Northwest. Im still seeing healthy appreciations but not to the extent of the past 7 years. We cant complain; weve had a good run.