Normally I like to post photos on my photo blog but this one was just too fun for anyone to miss. I snapped it this Summer while my husband and I were having lunch in Pioneer Square. The easel sits outside a floral shop. Whether you’re a transplant to the area or a native, you’ve got to appreciate the truth when you see it! I know I’m guilty of all of them!
It was with great pleasure that I opened this year’s letter from Crescendo Business Services informing me that I had once again been selected at one of 5 Star “Best in Satisfaction” Real Estate agents for 2009. This will be my fourth year running that I have been nominated and selected by their committee. According to Crescendo, only 7% of Real Estate professionals in any metro market are selected. The process involves surveys sent to home buyers, sellers and industry professionals; escrow, Title companies and mortgage professionals which is how agents are nominated, then once licensing credentials are verified the names are presented to their “blue ribbon panel” of industry experts. The full list of agents selected will be published in the December 2009 edition of Seattle Magazine. It’s always nice to have your efforts recognized and rewarded….so Thank you!
Waiting is hard! I’m not a patient person. When I want something, I usually want it now. So I am especially sympathetic to clients during the closing process who are waiting for “the big day”. The day of closing when their purchase or sale is final and they can settle in, or get their money and move on with their lives. Unfortunately, closing dates are a bit like a pregnancy due date…subject to change. Sometimes we’re lucky and we can close early. Most times we hit the date without any problems. But more and more lately it seems as if closing dates have become even more indeterminate than ever before. Today we are dealing with stricter underwriting guidelines. New HVCC rules are causing appraisals to come in low or triggering field reviews (which have panned out to be a big waste of time and money in my experience). And over-worked loan processors and escrow closers are burning the candle at both ends, trying to do more with less people. I have very patient clients right now who have been waiting to move into their home for more than a week. At first it looked as if we could close early.
The Tough Cool Down Copyright 2009 Colleen Fischesser. All rights reserved, no part may be reprinted or used without prior written permission. I’m Colleen Fischesser, the Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Select Real Estate. I live and work here in Maple Valley and am having a blast sharing information and photos about my home town.
It might appear to be just a rose. But it is also an oasis of color in an overgrown yard, and a sign of life in an otherwise lifeless house. I was previewing this house for a client a few days ago. It is bank owned…overgrown and vacant. Signs of every day life were found within; the abandoned weights in the garage-used by someone with the hope of getting stronger, fitter or slimmer, a tanning bed left behind-where someone relaxed and revelled in being able to sport a year ’round summer tan….a built in desk where homework or project might have been completed. These foreclosed properties were once someone’s home. It’s easy to talk about stats and “deals” and opportunities when talking about Bank owned properties. That is until you’re showing one, or viewing one and are confronted with the personal property of someone who had resided beneath it’s roof. And then you remember-one person’s “deal” is another person’s disappointment. I hope the new owner will appreciate the resiliency of this rose bush, recall the spirit with which it had likely been planted……. and give it a good home.
“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.” ~Erma Bombeck See Additional pictures on the new Maple Valley Photo Blog Be safe and have fun!
I love my birthday. I think I may actually be the most obnoxious birthday person I know. It’s a flaw. I accept it and am unwilling to ”work on it”. So I actually had to think twice about scheduling an appointment with first time home buyers on my birthday (which by the way is June 14 if you’d like to send cards or flowers next year). But they were nice and needed help so I said what the heck….. We met in my office as I do with all new clients and talked about the home buying process; pre-approval, areas they were interested in, and what their ultimate goals were….a typical first meeting. Little did any of us know it would take a full year for them to complete their purchase…..and through absolutely no fault of their own. In September, while waiting for an answer on a short sale offer, the buyer’s financing was pulled when HUD removed seller-assisted downpayment programs. In January, having saved the remainder of their down-payment, we began looking again, made an offer, again on a short sale, and five months later were still waiting on an answer . Then a HUD owned property became available. We were the successful bidder, but evidently HUD doesn’t
I’m fortunate to have a very short commute to the office every day. I think it’s somewhere around 3 miles each way. But in that short 10 minute time frame I seem to see the darnedest things! Last year, after popping in the Maple Valley Market, I came outside to see this ….definitely one of the highlights of last summer.! I live in “rural” Maple Valley, at least that’s what we call it; technically, it’s unincorporated King County but still I have a Maple Valley address and my kids attended Tahoma Schools. Each day I get to drive by the Links at Olson Mansion and occasionally will spot a bald eagle perched by the U-Fish pond….lazily looking for an easy meal. (Bald eagles are HUGE by the way, but obviously very light as they barely bend the thin branches of the Leyland cypress trees) But a few days ago, on my way home, I noticed up ahead that something seemed to blow up from the road onto a telephone line. I was a ways away but it appeared to by a garbage bag, or something dark, caught on the line and swaying in the breeze. The closer I got, the
