Sellers often ask: Should I do a pre-inspection on my home before I put it on the market? 
Like many questions, the answer is “it depends.” There are two schools of thought and in the end, it is up to the seller, but we do have a recommendation.
A pre-inspection is done by a professional inspector, hired by the seller and in theory, that inspector will look at and find everything the buyer’s inspector will look for and comment on.   The seller would then fix everything that the inspector points out and a copy of the report would be left for the buyer so that they can see what the seller has fixed, showing that the seller is conscientious about maintaining the home. That’s the idea, but the reality is sometimes very different.
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Zillow and their automated evaluations, Zestimates, were big news on Tuesday, February 8, 2011, after the front page article in the Seattle Times that said that one-third of the homes in the Seattle area were valued less than the mortgage amount.  

The news media covered the story all day and into the night. One big problem, the statement was WRONG!  A correction (one-third of the homes with mortgages are valued less than the mortgage amount) was published the next day in the very small correction area, but no news channels covered the correction and we don’t believe that the correction is still accurate. Read the rest of this entry »

Artful Open House February 5th & 6th 1-4 pm

Dave’s work is very special and we are anxious to have you meet him and see his work.  Special thanks to Cheryl Hubbell of Cobalt Mortgage and Robin Daly of Daly’s Paint who will also be there to share their expertise and we have special gifts to all that attend.
You may know that the idea behind the Artful Open House is to turn a vacant home into an art gallery where everyone can enjoy the art, share it with friends and see this beautiful and unique home on Mercer Island.  We have special gifts for everyone that stops by and we will have refreshments too!  We’ll be easy to find, just follow our open house signs with a topper that say “Art Show Today.”
Looking forward to sharing the fun with you!

1) You want a better neighborhood, schools, or commute. We all know neighborhoods that people want to get into because they have an ideal location or they have the best school system.

2) The floor plan of your home just doesn’t work anymore. Maybe you need a one level home and you are in a two story or maybe you’re an empty nester now and want to go from 3,000 sq ft home tosomething around 2,000 sf. In that case, a simple remodel won’t due.

3) You can’t live with disruption. If you are a person or a family that cannot live with a remodel project running your life for a few months, then don’t remodel. A good designer, architect and remodeling contractor will become your new best friends and they will be in your life for the duration of the project. You will share breakfast, lunch and dinner with folks and there will be lots of inconveniences along the way. Change is disruptive, and there is no way around it.

4) Your remodeled home would stand out like a sore thumb. If you have your heart set on a specific style of home and it doesn’t exist in your neighborhood, sell and buy the home you want. A contemporary with lots of glass surrounded by two story colonials, would be a big mistake. Even if you could get it done, you would have a hard time selling and your neighbors won’t be happy either.

5) You would be over-improving for the neighborhood. If the level of your neighborhood is granite tile and laminate hardwood floors and you want a marble entry with Brazilian cherry and imported granite slab, sell and buy a new home. Over improving your current home is not a good decision in the long run.

While selling isn’t easy or without significant costs in time and money, you need to sell if you any of these 5 reasons apply to you