Team Reba Real Estate

Ok, so the first one is something I find very cool.  It is of a wine cellar space in an older home.  I’m a big fan of the slightly curved wood being used for storage of the cases of wine and I also like the little plank sticking out of each space that allows for an upright bottle of whichever vintage is being stored.  Granted, you might feel more limited in mixing bottles in each section, but cellars are always changing over inventory.

The next shot is one that convinces me, yet again, that I love Scott Chytil of Chytil Photography as my “go to” guy for listing photos.  He would NEVER let this happen!!!!

Hello Mr./Ms. Photographer!  I think we can see where you may be standing for this shot.  This would never get approved by me and we’d be having a little edit job completed before using it in a series of photos for our listings.  If you were the seller, would you be pleased with this photo?  I don’t think so.

We’ve been getting some good news from many of our past clients in the last several weeks and I must say that it’s really nice after reading so much of how the media slams our industry and the gloom and doom news that abounds. 

One of the stories I love is about a client who moved to Costa Rica a couple of years ago.  We originally met this clients as she prepared to sell a long time family owned property that sat in L3 zoned land in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle.  Because of the size, location, and level aspects of the site she was able to get much for the single family home than she might normally get in residential zoning. 

Since moving to Costa Rica, she has been sending me updates about her adventures and now the house she is having built.  Just this week I received several photos of which I am thrilled to view and share here.  It’s also intriguing to me to see how construction is handled in a country other than the USA. Check out some of these shots….

Joan and her builder, Richard, walking by Nispero lumber.

Temporary power set up

House view to the north

View east to the garden

Congrats, Joan, on making your dreams come true!  It’s a ton of work, I’m certain, but it’s great to see you putting together what you planned and watching it come together.

Team Reba presents a new listing of a classic 1950’s style home in the Seward Park neighborhood of Seattle.  It’s modern neighbor was featured in this past week’s Pacific Northwest Magazine in the Seattle Times which was built on land formerly a part of this dwelling’s land parcel.

Our listing has many sought after, yet hard to find, features such as: Two (2) Master bedrooms, Universal Design features, 2 kitchens (actually what could be 2 full living quarters and was previously used in this fashion), expansive views of Lake Washington in a serene setting, large lot, and environmentally conscious features such as broad overhangs for passive cooling, ceramic tile roof, and large windows for wonderful natural lighting.  In addition to these features you’ll find numerous outdoor sitting areas, ample parking space besides a 2-car garage, and an elevator between the 2 floors.

See some of photos of this wonderful property below or check out all the photos at our slideshow:

Front of home with circular driveway which supplies excellent additional parking for guests. Here you can see the tile roof which is original to the structure.  Roof products of this kind typically require a substantial structure to support their weight - this is a very solid home!

This view from the northeast corner of the home shows the layout of the walk-out daylight basement - the slope of the site allows for a very open and bright lower living area along with providing fantastic views of Lake Washington and Seward Park from both levels of the home.  It also represents the true size of the home with its 4410 square feet of space.

Gleaming oak hardwoods flow throughout the main level spaces including the dining area, sunken living room, office, family room, kitchen, hall and the 3/4 bath. Deck and patio areas off each level allow for many entertaining opportunities.

Wood cabinetry, stainless appliances including double wall Viking ovens, 2 Miele dishwashers (for the serious entertainer) and tile countertop with a new cooktop in the main level kitchen. The large stainless refrigerator is just out of view to the left of the photo. Space is available for an eat-in kitchen and there are bountiful cabinets and pantry spaces. Note the glass case ahead for displaying favorite art pieces. Upper halogen lighting casts a beautiful glow on glass artworks.

The family room adjacent to the kitchen area enjoys the same magical views as the rest of the living areas and provides secondary access to the deck. This is also the area for entry to the 2-car garage. An alternate staircase passes between the garage and the lower level of the home to provide covered parking for each living space, if necessary.

To see the two master bedrooms, 2nd kitchen and other spaces of the home, please visit the slideshow which will have additional details about the house and its amenities.

Proudly offered at $1,410,000

Serious inquiries by pre-approved or qualified buyers only.  NWMLS# 28131238.

We recently went on market with a beautiful Murray Franklyn resale home out in the Snoqualmie Ridge area. It’s a lovely home with a sophisticated color palette.  The home has 4 bedrooms (all with closet organizers), a gorgeous 5 piece master bath and walk in closet, 2.75 baths and a wonderful built in buffet in the dining room.

You’ll have plenty of room to spread out in this gorgeous home with numerous upgrades (listed below). With an office, media room and a fantastic great room you’ll have plenty of good times with friends & family. Get to know the members of your community by joining the local country club with a social or full golf membership. Rest easy in the large tub of the master bath - there are a total of 2.75 baths here. Great patio and yard for summer fun.

Below are a few photos for your perusal.  You can find them all in a slideshow at this link.

The current homeowners had such nice taste in furniture we didn’t have to do too much for staging other than the usual decluttering and some color infusion.  The house is only a few years old so it is in excellent condition and there are some nice upgrades like granite counters and accents, carpet, full house speaker wiring for multi-room music enjoyment, and much more.  A list of upgrades is noted below:

Featured Upgrades

Premium Carpet, Tile Upgrades in all bathrooms, Granite countertops, and Tub Surround in Master Bathroom, Tile Countertop in additional Bathrooms, Tiled Fireplace in Family Room, Granite Countertops in the Kitchen, InstaHot Hot water in Kitchen, Pendant Lighting in Kitchen, Additional ceiling lights in Living Room, Granite Countertop Buffet with Wine Storage and Mirror in Dining Room, Rough In for ceiling Fans in All Bedrooms, Ceiling Fan in Family Room, Blower on FirePlace in Family Room, All Crown Molding, Sound System with indoor and outdoor speakers, Sprinkler System, Gas Line for BBQ, Rough in for Central Air, Closet Systems in 3 bedrooms, Upgraded closet racks in all bedrooms.

Because I write in several online forums I have to avoid duplicating the exact material from one blog to another.  For those of you that have been getting into the online forums of communication you recognize that search engine optimization only occurs when you have original content and if you cut and paste your posts from online forum to additional sites you’ll end up getting yourself blacklisted by the bots and spiders that troll the web.

So, to keep myself from getting my, what I like to think are useful articles, blacklisted, I’m putting a link to one that I just wrote for my “other site” where I write regularly - Rain City Guide.  In the post I list 9+ questions that consumers can use to help in interviewing a listing agent.  These questions are applicable for any real estate market no matter where you are so please feel free to use them in your own market outside of the Seattle and Washington State area!

Not everyone knows that I’m a big gardening fan but there are times when I’m walking around a client’s home that I can tell they’re surprised by the number of plants that I can identify by sight as we walk around and I’m giving them my staging advice for the exterior of their home.  Yes, staging includes that all important “curb appeal” which will often mean taking a hard look at the aesthetic of the exterior of a home and the surrounding gardens (or lack thereof).

At my last home, the one I just finished closing on the sale of last week, I had done extensive exterior work using a contractor to build a wrap around deck, patio, raised beds, etc.  Not only was this nice for my own personal use, but it was great in the eventual resale of the home because of all the extras that it provided.  In the bedding areas I put in mostly perennials but some of the spaces were also used for organic gardening for our own vegetable food supplies in the spring through fall.  Most of the plant choices were made to be low maintenance as well as drought-tolerant and we had rain barrels installed to catch water runoff from the deck for use in the garden to limit seasonal summer water use.  With food prices and gas prices being what they are today, it is nice to have an onsite garden which helps limit the number of trips to the store for fresh produce and keep our household expenses down.

To keep up on various gardening ideas I frequently read the NWLife section of the Seattle Times, specifically, the gardening section. In the July 2nd edition there was an article on the “native plant of the month” named Sisyrinchium, aka Blue-eyed grass.  I’m looking for ideas for my new home where we have an area that ends up with an occasional water run-off area caused by the topography of the lot and neighborhood.  My thoughts in attempting to limit actual run-off and to help in slowing down the water and helping it to percolate more slowly into the ground is to put in a mini-marsh like garden where water can collect and there will be plants that help the process and that can survive and thrive in that environment.

The blue-eyed grass seems to be one of many that can fit into my little scheme.  Granted, I realize I’m taking on a multi-year process of putting this in place and my first goal is to stake out the spot in our new lot that will become our new vegetable garden, but collecting ideas is part of the fun of gardening.

The best tidbit of info that I gleaned from this article though was the website put together by the Washington Native Plant Society where you can find more information on native plants, including the places where you can buy them.  Growing native plants is a smart move because you’ll have fewer high-maintenance plants to deal with because native plants typically have already figured out how to defend themselves against pests and they usually require less watering than more fussy plants that have been transplanted to our environment.

So, over this holiday weekend, if you’re out gardening - have fun, be safe and “go native!”

I’m a member of Active Rain, a national online networking site for agents, and there are all kinds of blogs that talk about staging.  One in particular highlighted not so much the usual work of staging but rather the ability to identify the difference between a historical look and a dated look.  It’s a good topic because I think there are times that a property owner thinks it’s just fine to leave a house in the condition it’s in because it was the original look of the home and it is appropriate for its decade or period in which it was built.  I personally don’t agree.

Here is a great book (via the link) called Interior Desecrations that is a hilarious look back at some of the painful designs of the past.

If you recognize any of your home fixtures or furnishings you might want to consider an update!

In a recent post, I talked about the work we were putting into a client’s condo unit on Mercer Island.  The place hadn’t been painted in a while and it was a dull white finish with no real focus on the architectural elements of the unit.  Well, we’ve got it ready and are going on market next week.  Here are some photos from our recent shoot and the link to the slideshow of all the photos.

Before:

After:

The painting was done in roughly 1.5 weeks with 3 color choices being picked.  The plum color was to create depth and highlight the structure’s ceiling height and windows as well as to provide visual interest by the kitchen area.  Cabinets were painted a glossy white, as was the wood shelf installed by the former tenant, the pantry door, and the cabinets and some trim in the bathroom and the fireplace mantel.  Walls and other doors were painted the creamy color to provide continuity throughout. 

So, besides painting, what else was done here?  A LOT!  We advised our client on the updates of lighting fixtures (2 new brushed nickel w/ white covers) , outlet covers (white), lever style door handles (brushed nickel), baseboards, and new cabinet handles.  Once this was all done, we had our Concierge Services come in starting with professional cleaners to clean all surfaces, bathroom, kitchen and appliances. Then we also had window washers come in for an inside and out sparkle.  Then Crew Inc, carpet cleaners, came in to make sure the carpet was in its best condition (our client covered this one).  After it was all prepped we came in with 3 trucks and a Jeep’s worth of staging equipment to give it that last boost of visual punch.  The photo shoot was, as usual, with Scott from Chytil Photo.

So, bottom line?  This work will certainly help our client’s unit stand out now versus the lackluster look we would have had if he hadn’t put forth the effort to get it prepped.  We expect good things to come of it for our seller very soon.

The other day I was doing a listing presentation for a new client; she’s got an adorable 1 bedroom condo unit in Magnolia with an outstanding unobstructed view toward Phinney and the Cascade Mountain Range.  That alone will get a few people to like the unit, the layout being another as well as some really nice upgrades she’s done to the flooring, the bathroom and kitchen over the past several years.  But, what we’ve got to consider prior to going on market is if the color scheme in her home will translate to more or less dollars when she sells.

There are many colors that are what I like to describe as “very personal” and some of those are in this condo.  What is on my list of “very personal” colors?

purple, pink, some shades of green, peach, bright yellows, some blues, reds, and orange.

In this unit we have hot pink, orange, teal, and a darker red-orange all dressed up with Morrocan and Asian-influenced style furnishings.  Overall, the effect reminds me of high end Thai restaurants I’ve been in before so, personally, with the bamboo floors and other kitchen and lighting upgrades I like it.  However, when selling real estate we have to think about what will be appealing to a wide variety of buyer tastes.  Obviously, you can’t meet everyone’s personal style but we can be aware of what most buyers are looking for.  The best thing here though is that it is “only paint” and not the fixtures or cabinets or other elements of the property that are the problem.

Sometimes you’ll go into a home and see very personal color choices in things such as tile.  While green and blue glass tile is popular right now I am also waiting for the time 20 years from now when that will be looked upon the same way blue and pink bathtubs are now.  These were all the rage back in the 1960’s and 1970’s but younger buyers today can’t stand them and see them as outdated, much like orange shag carpet or macrame curtains - oh yea, all of these are in the house I just bought in October of 2007.  I’ll have to post some photos.

Anyhow, for this Magnolia condo client I think we’ll very likely stick with her color scheme because I think it works and it will show well in online photos. There’s nothing more boring than plain white or cream walls.  

Yet another condo we’re helping a client get prepped for sale in Mercer Island is getting a new color scheme put in after being a stale white for many, many years.  The colors that were chosen are kind of a creamy, butter type of color (not yellow) and a shade of plum.  Normally I’d never go with plum (see list of personal colors above) but in this case it fits.  The berber carpet color has a purplish tint to it which is hard to match anyway but rather than try and downplay it we’ll be enhancing it with the plum walls.  The majority of the unit will be the cream color but 2 accent walls are being put in to highlight the architectural elements of this condo that were not enhanced by an all white scheme.  With somewhere around 14′ ceilings it’s worth it to show off the clerestory windows above the sliding glass door/window to the deck and to help create more of the outdoors coming in - plus providing a better depth perception between unit buildings and the outside landscaping.  A gorgeous blooming magnolia tree just off the deck was also part of the inspiration for the color scheme. 

The cabinets in the kitchen and bath will also be freshened up with a glossy white paint to help them stand out against the tall plum wall in the kitchen and to make them much easier to clean for the next owner.  A previous owner had painted them with a flat paint - a big no-no when painting in kitchens and baths because they show dirt/grease easily and they don’t clean up as well.

I’ll provide updates as we move along with this client’s prep work and show how it turns out when we list in roughly a week.  For now, here are a couple of “before” photos for the MI condo.