Team Reba Real Estate

Greenwood Aurora Involved Neighbors have more plans in the works

Filed under: Transit, Phinney Ridge, transportation, Greenwood, Aurora, Seattle, Greenlake, local events, household tips, safety issues, neighborhood info, Uncategorized — Reba Haas @ 7:09 pm

A Community Engaged
Join your neighbors. Envision the future of Aurora
URBAN DESIGN MEETINGS
WHERE & WHEN:
Greenwood Senior Center at
525 North 85th Street
from 6:30 – 8:30 pm
• Monday, 11/10 6:30 – 8:30 pm
What’s here now? What’s your
vision?
• Monday, 12/08 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Presentation and feedback of
preliminary vision and urban
design ideas.
• Monday, 01/26 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Presentation of refined vision
final urban design plan.

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Team Reba expands its real estate investment offerings…

Filed under: King County, Seattle, single family home, Snohomish County, Pierce County, foreclosure, short sale, seller advice, listing agent, investment property, household tips, For Buyers, For Sellers, agent advice, financial matters, Uncategorized — Reba Haas @ 7:30 pm

You’ll see in the post below a program that we at Team Reba have signed on to be part of whereby we are part of the investment group purchasing properties in a 14 state area that are in either foreclosure or short sale position, or both. With the laws in Washington State having changed to deter anyone, including law abiding investors, from working with sellers of homes in foreclosure with equity, the doors to many investment opportunities closed. A minor group of individuals were scamming homeowners and lying about how they would help them, knowing full well their intent was to skim equity from the owner and leave them high and dry.

I personally feel very confident in this program for several reasons: 1) my broker is standing behind it from the standpoint of recognizing it as a viable vehicle for investment as well as providing a reasonable offering to homeowner’s in financial distress, 2) with that, our broker had the company attorney review documents used in the program, and 3) it provides an offering to our investment clientele that they might otherwise not be able to tap into. But, above all this - the final result is that it helps homeowners who are in a tight financial spot and who cannot get out of it on their own.

The close rate of the company is high (75-80%) in an area of real estate contracts that is frequently hit or miss if people uneducated or unprepared for the process are handling it. Having worked with short sales in the past (successfully, I’ll add), I can appreciate the process and systems in place that make this program work so well.

If you’re an agent that needs help with a short sale, or you’d like to refer a client to be reviewed to see if they might be a good candidate for the program, please contact us at Team Reba directly - or check out the website and feel free to submit a lead with us noted as your contact locally. We’ll be sure to get in contact with you right away.

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Great program to learn about short sale opportunities for investors

Filed under: Seattle, single family home, seller advice, buyer advice, King County, vacation property, foreclosure, short sale, 2nd home, real estate marketing, listing agent, investment property, household tips, local events, For Buyers, For Sellers, financing/lending, agent advice, financial matters, Uncategorized — Reba Haas @ 7:18 pm

How much money are you making in
Foreclosures and Short Sales?

We’re making millions, you should be too!
Come find out how.
A “Lunch ‘n’ Learn” is coming to your local market.

Why should you choose us as your information source?

$34 Million in Escrow last month

Successfully closed over a deal a day over the past 2 months

200+ Auctions Postponed and counting…

“Lunch ‘n’ Learn”

How we’re making MILLIONS with Short Sales and Foreclosures

*Learn our proven techniques on working short sales*

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30th - 11:00 AM

Lake Union Crew
11 East Allison Street, Inspiration - Dockside
Seattle, WA 98102

RSVP FOR THIS EVENT!

Lunch will be provided

THE REAL ESTATE MARKET HAS CHANGED AND SHORT SALES ARE HERE TO STAY. IF YOU’RE NOT PREPARED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CURRENT MARKET BY KNOWING HOW TO WORK SHORT SALES, YOU’LL MISS OUT ON THE GREATEST REAL ESTATE MARKET IN HISTORY

	I find their expertise, knowledge and professionalism second to none, and as a result I have closed over 20 deals using the information. Live Free Investment Group is truly a pioneer and captain in this industry!
	Suzy C., Denver, CO

Learn a proven short sale system from a company that has $30-$40 million in escrow every month
Learn how to market to other agents to help them with their short sale leads

	I had been searching for homes for my client for a while, when I found a great home in a desired community in North Phoenix. Live Free Investment Group was able to negotiate with the bank in an extremely fast and professional manner. The transaction took place in less than sixty days which is considerably shorter than most short sale scenarios.
	Rob C. Keller Williams, Phoenix, AZ

Hear the Truths about the short sale process. You will find yourself closing many transactions using our strategies and techniques.

Identify the right banks to work with
Understanding criteria of what files will and won’t get done

	After not knowing what I was going to do with my short sale leads, I contacted a Rep at Live Free Investment Group. I found a way to still keep my listings and learned the tools to help me negotiate with the banks. I’ve had a chance to close multiple deals because of the system and information. I love short sales and I love Live Free Investment Group.
	Jerry B., Denver, CO

This event will explain how you can utilize our strategies to work your own short sales. We assist homeowners every day, giving them the desired result they want, relief of the fear of foreclosure and peace of mind that their transaction was completed.

Isn’t time you learn how to do the same?

	I recently found myself in a troublesome real estate situation and was really unsure about what to do or where to go for help. I called a lot of similar companies, but never got the feeling they could get the job done. After speaking with them, I felt completely confident that my situation could be resolved. I received regular updates and felt that everyone genuinely cared about getting a positive result out of my situation. With the way the housing market is right now, it’s nice to have a company that can deliver such superior results.
	Ebony D., Phoenix, AZ

SEATING IS LIMITED!

RSVP FOR THIS EVENT!

Please see our website for other upcoming events and properties.
www.LiveFreeInvestmentGroup.com

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zHome gets you zero energy and carbon neutral at home…

Filed under: King County, transportation, Transit, environmental issues, townhome, built green, Issaquah, design, remodeling, LEED, green home products, buyer advice, household tips, relocation, local events, products, zoning, For Buyers, non-profit highlight, neighborhood info, land use, Uncategorized — Reba Haas @ 1:46 pm

zHome is a new townhome development in Issaquah, WA, up in the density focused Issaquah Highlands area, that touts a neutral carbon footprint. Having broken ground just recently (Sept 29, 2008) near the transit station/park & ride, there is much anticipation from area residents, builders, homebuyers and real estate agents to see how it is executed. It is expected that many possible buyers will be interested in the concept of a green and earth friendly building method.

I’ve been writing about green building and organic gardening for some time, so I am thrilled to see yet another builder (Howland Homes) grabbing hold of and exploring the ways that we can all be easier on the planet. The population of humans isn’t going to diminish any time soon and Washington builders (via code requirements) are ahead of a lot of others across the USA in implementing innovative technologies to create more energy efficient and healthy homes. The City of Issaquah and King County both were involved in the project as is Puget Sound Energy. Other entities involved are Washington State University Energy Program and Port Blakely Communities.

Take a look at the zHome site and then take an opportunity to go see these homes as they are being built. One unit will be reserved when the site is finished for use as an educational center so that homeowners can see the types of materials used and to gain ideas on how they can incorporate “green living” into their current home environment.

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It’s a Miracle!!!! No, it’s Miracle Method…

Filed under: buyer advice, real estate marketing, seller advice, King County, design, remodeling, listing agent, agent advice, household tips, products, investment property, staging, For Sellers, For Buyers, Uncategorized — Reba Haas @ 10:38 am

A couple of clients of mine have been introduced to this company that does glazing/refinishing of tile and bathtubs. I became aware of this type of product when I bought my first house back in 1996 or so. A different company was used at the time, but the process is basically the same. Old, dated tile or ceramic coated products could be glazed over with a neutral color to help update a home’s kitchen or bath. In my own case, our remodel including covering a pink tub and a bunch of pink tile in a bathroom, we had it all glazed white. A BIG improvement!

Here is an example of a client’s home where I recommended the glazing when the client’s budget didn’t accommodate stepping up to a stone countertop as part of our upper tier Concierge Services for staging:

Before - dated tile and dark grout made for a dreary and dark kitchen.

After - freshly glazed tile lightens things up and gives focus to the new cooktop and reflects the updated under cabinet lighting.

I really liked the final look of the Miracle Method product. It’s not the same as new tile and it requires slightly different maintenance but if you’re looking to get a better looking surface for selling, or if you moved in to a place and don’t have a big budget to remodel with - it’s worth checking out. My contact at Miracle Method is Tyler Murphy; he and his brother own their own franchise and cover much of King County. He can be reached at 425-591-8652 or by email at tmurphy@miraclemethod.com.

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Will the last one out of Seattle, please turn out the lights (bill)?

Filed under: title & escrow, seller advice, financial matters, For Sellers, household tips, Uncategorized — admin @ 9:02 am

Ok, this was a take off of the 1970’s infamous billboard but I’m not using this as a way to discuss today’s slowed housing market. No, it’s actually a reminder to sellers within Seattle to not forget that when you have escrow companies closing out your lienable utilities you still need to make a phone call to the city to ask for any refund that may be owed to you.

Escrow firms will usually do a holdback of funds at closing (if it’s in your contract) to pay off lienable (municipality owned) utilities and if there is an overage they will refund the difference, but if you’ve already paid a bill and there is crossover, you may have more funds owed to you. Now, if you are staying in the same city it may just transfer to your new account, but if you’ve moved out of the city to a new one then you may need to call to get your refund - like I did.

I like to think of these refunds as a bonus dinner out. My recent refund was over $200 so it was worth the call. Don’t leave your funds floating out there!

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Continuously rediscovering Renton…

Filed under: Renton, King County, pets, shopping, restaurants, neighborhood info, products, relocation, For Buyers, Uncategorized — Reba Haas @ 12:09 am

I’ve been meaning to get to these posts for some time after starting out last year with the initial news of moving back to Renton. Being here a year now has opened up my eyes to a lot of the changes that are occurring in this town and to some of the fun discoveries that we can come across when we take ourselves out of our everyday routine.

Today, we needed to run some errands including going to The Landing to pick up a new toaster at Target. While parked there, we planned to take our dogs on a walk over to Gene Coulon park. Having not been there for the first whole year we’ve been back in the area, we were surprised to learn that it is not dog friendly and you cannot walk your dogs in the park. So, undaunted for a walk, we went around a route that we’d not been on before and it gave us the opportunity to find what had been a source of interest for us. Coffee. Specifically, it was a roaster of coffee called Distant Lands Coffee Roaster.

Michael and I had noticed for months that as we would drive south from Bellevue to Renton that we could smell coffee roasting (obviously, in big batches) but we could never find the source. Well, today we found it.

October 30, 2008

Greenwood Aurora Involved Neighbors have more plans in the works

October 28, 2008

Team Reba expands its real estate investment offerings…

Great program to learn about short sale opportunities for investors

October 21, 2008

zHome gets you zero energy and carbon neutral at home…

It’s a Miracle!!!! No, it’s Miracle Method…

October 14, 2008

Will the last one out of Seattle, please turn out the lights (bill)?

October 7, 2008

Continuously rediscovering Renton…