15 Reasons Why People Move

Did you know that on average homeowners in America sell and move every 5 to 7 years? Then there is your grandparents who have lived in the same home for 40 years and couldn't even imagine up and moving. For those of you who don't understand the thought process behind selling your home here is an accumulated list of the main reasons why people move.

1. Your home is too small. Especially first time home buyers often outgrow their homes quickly and feel the need to upgrade. Expanding your family is the main reason people sell. 
2. You need to upgrade. People often look to the greener side. After being in their home for a while they decide it is time for something better and then transition into a more expensive home.
3. Mistake. Initially when on a budget you compromise on things you think you can do without. After years of having no backyard, not all of the sudden you want to get a dog, your ideal set up no longer works for you. Owners will then look for something that will fill their needs and leave their current home behind.
4. Job Transfer. Jobs can be unpredictable and upon getting a transfer, you are expected to up and leave your lovely home. 
5. Relationships. Getting married or moving in together will result in one selling their home. On the other side, breaking up poses 3 reasons to move. 1.) one needs to buy the other out and not have cash available. 2.) home may not be affordable on one income. 3.) home holds bad memories and they need a fresh start.
6. New Neighborhood. Depending on the area the neighborhood may have changed for a couple of reasons. Either there is a new crowd of people or there is new construction of roads or homes nearby. 
7. No Kids. When all the kids are grown and gone some owners feel that their home is too large for just them. The older you get the harder to clean every nook and cranny in the home therefore they downsize. 
8. Closer to Family. Some people want to be closer to their relatives, perhaps the kids want to see G-ma and G-pa more. 
9. Away from Family. On the other hand, some families are too close to their relatives and want to branch out on their own. Dysfunctional and fractured families have been known to blossom by separation.
10. Retirement. 55+ communities are on the rise in today's market. These planned communities have all the amenities that an older individual would enjoy.
11. Health. Knee problems may make it difficult for one to climb up and down flights of stairs. Moving into a one story home might be more practical in the long run. 
12. Maintenance. Some people don't want to fix that leak in the roof, or buy a new furnace. It is easier for them just to buy a newer, more updated home. Since lifespan of most home systems is only 15 years, it makes sense to get out before everything goes south.
13. Home Improvement. Some enjoy doing the projects to fix up a home. However, once the work is done they become restless because their job is done.
14. Cash in Equity. Some people can't stand the fact that although their home is worth a lot, none of that money is in their pocket. They just want to make the money NOW.
15. Lifestyle Change. Last but certainly not least, most people want to travel and not worry about home upkeep. When they hit a certain age they just want to be able to come and go as they please and home ownership causes problems for them.

Why Do an Inspection?

More than 40% of previously owned homes on the market will have at least 1 serious defect. It is to be expected that the home will not be perfect however with the high prices today you want to make sure you know what it will take to fix the problem.
Below is a compiled list from more than one million home inspections that are the most serious home defects:

1. Cracked Heater Exchange
2. Failing Air-Conditioning Compressor
3. Environmental Hazards (Radon, Water Contamination, Asbestos, Lead Paint, Underground Storage Tanks)
4. Moisture in the Basement
5. Defective Roofing and Flashings
6. Insect Infestation-termites or carpenter ants
7. Mixed Plumbing
8. Aluminum Wiring
9. Horizontal Foundation Cracks
10. Major House Settlement
11. Undersized Electrical System
12. Chimney Settling or Separation

According to Kuhn, an inspector, most of these problems can in fact be repaired. However, depending on the problem it can be very costly. For example, a new air conditioning compressor could cost up to $1,200.00. A web basement could up to $5,000. 

 

If these repairs are needed there are several ways to still buy the home. 

• Sellers can leave money in escrow to cover cost of repairs.
• Lender can withhold part of the loan amount in savings until the work has been done.
• Sellers may give a credit to buyer for the work.

A home inspection usually costs between $250 and $400. Spending the time and money to get a proper investor will save you a lot of headache and money in the long run. It is important to know what you are getting yourself into when purchasing a new home before it is too late. 

Information brought to you by: realtor.com

Happy Memorial Day

Wishing you a Happy Memorial Day weekend.



Celebrating his 107th Veterans Day is Texas's oldest veteran Richard Arvine Overton. Richard says that he will spend his day at his Texas home, he built himself upon returning World War II, with a cigar in one hand and a cup of whiskey-stiffened coffee nearby. Overton was born on May 11, 1906 and says that he still has the strength to stand up and do anything. His mind is good so he will do what he wants. Overton passes the time by smoking up to 12 cigars a day and aspirin with a little soda water.
Overton believes he is the oldest vereran in the country, not just Texas. He wishes that he could spend his day reliving war stories with fellow veterans; but he has outlived most if not all of them.

"I know I had someone from my platoon until recently, but he passed so now I don't have anyone that I know." he said. "So I feel lonesome by myself sometimes. I would love to ask some of the questions, but nobody is here. Everybody's passed."

10 Summer Moving Tips

As the summer weather is approaching the moving season has officially started. Believe it or not summer is the top season for sales in real estate. Moving in the summer can impose some complications as well so below is 10 summer moving tips that will make your transition go smoothly.



1. Hire a Mover or Move Alone
      This poses as the most difficult questions soon-to-be-moving households face. The answer is different for each family and therefore there is no right or wrong answer. You need to consider your household size, budget, and the amount of time you would like to take to move. I suggest getting 3 written quotes from licensed moving companies and your options within each so if you choose to hire someone you are getting the best deal. If you go online you can use a packing calculator to make it easier to estimate the amount of boxes and packing materials.
2.Unpack before you Pack
      Before you pack up all of your belongings in random boxes that will be shipped to your new home, decide what you want where. Take pictures, or sit down and play what piece of furniture you want to go in what room at your new place. From there you can label your boxes with each room name and put items in accordingly. Once you get to your new house you can unpack each box in the room where the items go and it will make the process way more organized.
3. Pack Strategically
      If you have more than a month to move, start EARLY! You should complete your address change and schedule utilities ahead of time that way you have one less thing to do come moving day. Start going through that "junk drawer" of items that have no home and consolidate. Whether you start with an entire room or just a single drawer, little by little you can weed out what you want to bring to your new home and what you don't.
4. Moving is Not for Children
      I highly recommend having family or friend watch your children for the day. Moving is time consuming and having to entertain a child (any age) while under high stress is not good for either of you. If you have no daycare option then set up a "safe zone" filled with toys or activities that way both of you can be happy.
5. Poor Buddy
      Sometimes we forget that moving isn't just stressful for us but for our pets as well. Moving into a new environment while there are many visitors at once is going to stress out your family dog "Buddy" as well. Consider checking your pet into day care or having a friend watch them for the day that way they can relax and you have one less worry.
6. Small Parts
      Keep track of your small pieces! Odds are all the furniture you have is not going to fit in the moving truck in one piece. Therefore you will have screws and little pieces all over the place. Instead of taping them to the furniture have a separate little baggy that is clearly labeled for all of your furniture. On moving day use a box filled with all the baggies that way nothing gets lost and it makes its way to your new home together.
7. Take Pictures
      Before moving in take pictures of the electronic hook-ups. Organizing your furniture is a big part of making a house your home. If you have a plan in your head of where you are going to put your TV and come moving day you find our there is no outlet to make that work, you are going to be stressed. If you plan accordingly beforehand that will eliminate all confusions and you will be able to have a set floor plan. Also, you will have a lot of loose wires and cords. Take pictures of each cord as it comes out of the electronic device and label it to stay organized.
8. Cleaning Products
      Detergents, pesticides and paint are heavy and unwieldy to pack. Dispose of as many as you can before you move in an eco-friendly way. Call your cities waste disposal department for guidance on proper disposal. For items that you must take, pack them in a small box inside of a larger box for protection against leaks. Do not over stuff these boxes!
9. Full Value Insurance
      If you are using a professional mover, it may cause a couple of extra dollars but I highly recommend getting full value insurance protection. This means that any lost or damaged articles will be replaced at current market value regardless of how old the piece is. It is important to note that this would not cover at full price more expensive items like a flat screen TV.
10. Know Your Rights
      When using a professional mover, research your rights. Know what to do if they fail to live up to their promises or if they threaten to hold your belongings hostage. FMCSA requires interstate movers to offer arbitration to help settle disputed claims.





Information brought to you by: Realtor.com

   

Ten Seattle Neighborhoods

We have just skidded past the greatest economic recession in a generation. For the first time since 2007 we can truthfully say with absolute confidence that the market is back. Join us in this tour of the most popular neighborhoods in the metropolitan area and see why they are getting even better.

Ballard

Population: 10,589

Walkability Score: 94

Sign its value is on the rise
A tiny, 650-square-foot, 1944 Craftsman at 2621 Northwest 57th Street recently spent only five days on the market, and, after a bidding war, sold for $20,000 more than the asking price of $215,000.

New in the neighborhood In late March, food-truck evangelist turned brick-and-mortar devotee Joshua Henderson announced plans to open a second Skillet Diner location this summer at 2034 Northwest 56th Street.

Formerly known as The raw end of a deal after, as legend has it, one Captain William Rankin Ballard lost a coin toss to a business partner in the 1880s and ended up with 160 acres of “undesirable” land, which today we recognize by his last name.

If you only have one hour Ballard Locks (3015 54th St NW, seattle.gov/tour/locks.htm), where sockeye as big as eight pounds and 30 inches long jump up 21 steps to return to their native spawning grounds, and some 60,000 boats a year squeeze through to return to their native recreational grounds of Lake Union and Lake Washington.

Capitol Hill

Population: 31,621

Walkability Score: 91

Formerly known as For most of the early 1900s, nearly all the city’s car dealers and other automobile-related businesses were crowded around the intersections of Pike, Pine, and Broadway, earning the area the alias Auto Row.

Sign its value is on the rise A three-bedroom town home at 1521 18th Avenue sold for $495,000 in just six days.

Median condo price $271,500

New in the neighborhood Speckled and Drake (1355 E Olive Way), a narrow, mezzanine-enhanced beer and cocktail lounge, opened last winter.

If you have only one hour You’ll barely scratch the surface of Seattle’s vital urban neighborhood.

Madrona

Population: 5,196

Walkability Score: 75

Sign its value is on the rise A three-story, turn-of-the-century home at 626 36th Avenue overlooking Lake Washington sold for $1 million after just 12 days on the market.

Formerly known as The Black Panthers local headquarters in the late 1960s; the group practiced drills at Madrona Playfield at East Spring Street and 34th Avenue.

If you only have an hour Walk the gauntlet of boutique shops on 34th, notably Hitchcock (1406 34th Ave,hitchcockmadrona.com) and Glassybaby (3406 E Union St, glassybaby.com), and just try—in vain—to get through without opening your wallet.

New in the neighborhood Restaurant Bea (1423 34th Ave, restaurantbea.com), which traffics in Northwest comfort food, opened last year.

Pioneer Square

Population: 2,276

Walkability Score: 86

New in the neighborhood Bar Sajor (323 Occidental Ave S, barsajor.com), Matt Dillon’s new lunch and dinner spot, opened in February. 

Sign its value is on the rise About 80 tech firms, most of them startups, have moved into Pioneer Square.

If you only have an hour Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park commemorates the 1897 Gold Rush (319 Second Ave S, nps.gov/klse)

South Lake Union

Population: 1,150

Walkability Score: 97

New in the neighborhood Shanik (500 Terry Ave N, shanikrestaurant.com), run by the wife of the eponymous owner of Vij’s in Vancouver, opened in December 2012 (reviewed here).

Formerly known as Site of settler David Denny’s logging venture, Western Mill Co., in the late 1800s

If you only have an hour Museum of History and Industry (860 Terry Ave N, mohai.org), reopened in the Naval Reserve Armory overlooking Lake Union, features collections previously not on display and interactive exhibits.

Queen Anne

Population: 35,448

Walkability Score: 81

Sign its value is on the rise A two-story Dutch Colonial Queen Anne hill topper at 2146 Fourth Ave West sold within four days, luring six bidders who drove the price from $675,000 up to $727,000.

Formerly known as Early transparent settlers called the open space at the bottom of the hill—where Seattle Center sits today—Potlatch Meadows because, according to historylink.org, they erroneously believed Native Americans threw ceremonial parties there.

If you only have one hour Chihuly Garden and Glass (305 Harrison St, Seattle Center,chihulygardenandglass.com), a temple of molten glass frozen in time and Technicolor clamshells created by arguably the most famous living artist in the Northwest

New in the neighborhood Tin Lizzie Lounge (600 Queen Anne Ave N; marqueen.com), inside the MarQueen Hotel, is a block from SIFF Cinema Uptown, making it the perfect perch from which to debate plot after the movie.

Kirkland

Population: 87,105

Walkability Score: 59

Its value is on the rise Home values are expected to go up 8.2 percent within the next 12 months.

If you only have an hour Explore the wetland trails of Juanita Beach Park (9703 NE Juanita Dr,kirklandwa.gov/depart/parks).

New in the neighborhood Volterra (121 Kirkland Ave, volterrarestaurant.com), Ballard’s Italian mainstay, opened a second location on the Eastside in September 2012.

Formerly known as The brainchild of one Peter Kirk, who in the 1880s thought a town on the shore of Lake Washington was the perfect complement to his new iron mill

West Seattle

Population: 79,178

Walkabillity Score: 65

New in the neighborhood Marination Ma Kai (1660 Harbor Ave SW, marinationmobile.com/ma-kai), the second fixed location for the Korean and Hawaiian food truck, opened in October 2012.

Formerly known as The first encampment of European-American settlers in the area, who landed at Alki in 1851

If you only have an hour Tour Alki Beach by bike via Wheel Fun Rentals (2530 Alki Ave SW,wheelfunrentals.com).

Beacon Hill

Population: 35,298

Walkability Score: 62

New in the neighborhood Tippe and Drague Alehouse (3315 Beacon Ave S, tippeanddrague.com), which pulls 16 locally crafted beers, opened in summer 2012.

Sign its value is on the rise A two-bedroom home at 1546 19th Avenue South sold within one day for $10,000 above the $219,000 asking price.

If you only have an hour Jefferson Park (3801 Beacon Ave S, Seattle.gov/parks) is a 45-acre playground that includes a skate park, a golf course, and eye shots of the frosty Olympic Mountains. 

Yard Care

With Mothers Day on Sunday and the sun bright and shining, why not spend the day outside weeding your garden.




Below is a non-toxic weed killing recipe that will bring you shocking results. It is even good to use if there is pets and children roaming in the yard.
Ingredients:
1/2 gallon of vinegar
1/4 cup table salt
1/2 tsp Dawn liquid dish soap

Mix the above ingredients in a spray bottle and spray the weeds thoroughly.


Here is another quick tip that will repel spiders from entering your home!





Mix:
1 cup of vinegar
1 cup of water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of liquid soap

Add ingredients to a spray bottle and apply to the perimeter of your home. Pay special attention to entry points like windows and doors.

Interesting Facts

Here are some fun facts from real estate to lawns that you never would have guessed to be true.

1. Your new home filled with porcelain.

     In Germany and Poland, it is tradition that when a couple gets married, guests break a lot of porcelain. They go to the brides home the night before the wedding and break as much as they can so the couple will have to clean it up together. It is called " Polterabend and is meant to symbolize the struggles the new couple will face as they build a home together. 

2. Dead bodies to heat homes?

     The Swedes and Danes have come up with a cheaper solution to heat their homes. The Crematoriums their heat up to 2,000 degrees, which is a lot of energy that goes to waste. Someone had the bright idea to then pump that heat into local energy companies where it is disbursed and used to warm homes in the area. 

3.Google and Goats

     In Mountain View California at the Google headquarters instead of using a lawn mower to keep up their lawn, they rent goats. The goats then maintain the length of the grass to make it presentable.

4. Toilets in Taiwan

     A restaurant chain based in Taiwan called Modern Toilet, has a bathroom theme. Customers sit on toilets, sip soups from sinks, and wipe their mouths from toilet paper. The toilets aren't in working form however, you will have something to talk about before the food comes. 

5. Housewarming Party

     Housewarming parties used to be literally a housewarming. Guests would bring firewood as gifts and they would lite all of the fireplaces in the home. This was used to warm the home, but also to fight off the evil spirits so that the new homeowners will start fresh with no bad energy.

6. Trading a Role for a Home?

     Kyle MacDonald made his first trade in July of 2005, a red paperclip, for a fish shaped pen. Less than a year later he traded a film role for a two-story farmhouse in Saskatchewan. Who would have guessed?

7. A Red Front Door

     In Scotland, when the homeowners finally pay off their mortgage they paint their front door bright red. A red door is also a sign of inviting positive energy into your home.

8. You Can Buy a Missile Silo

     The most popular use of an old silo is to turn it into a home. It may not be pretty on the outside but a little creativity never hurt!

   

9.  Clean Doorknobs    

     Brass doorknobs have what is called as the oligodynamic effect. The ions in the metal have a toxic effect on fungi and other virus's, eliminating the germs within eight hours.

10. Slide or Stairs?

     I bet you wish you grew up here. This New York penthouse includes an 18 foot slide that poses as a centerpiece for the home. While there is a staircase you can choose what route you want to take down to the bottom floor of the home. 

11. A Garden to Kill

     In England, "The Poison Garden", is a garden dedicated entirely to plants that can kill you and it was inspired for children. The founders thought process behind it was, "I wondered why so many gardens around the world focused on the healing power of plants rather than their ability to kill.. I feel that most children I knew would be more interested in hearing how a plant killed, how long it would take you to die if you ate it, and how gruesome and painful the death might be. " Would you let your child go visit this garden?

12. Birds

     Birds have been thought to symbolize imminent death for the home's occupants. If a bird flies into your home, it is thought that death is soon to follow. 

13. Earthquake Proof Home

     In company founded in Japan has developed a residential earth-quake proofing system that raises a house off it's foundation as far as 3 cm using just air pressure. When an earthquake hits, compressors activate forcing air under the home. The house will levitate until the earthquake ends.

14. TINGO

     The people in Easter Island have a word "TINGO" which literally means "to take objects one desires from the house of a friend by gradually borrowing all of them until there's nothing left." Would you want to live there? 

Information brought to you by AOL

     

Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

The sun is finally out! Take advantage of the new season and start your weekend off with some fruit salsa and cinnamon chips. Very easy to make and great for a snack or appetizer.




Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ready In: 45 minutes

You will need the following ingredients:

• 2 kiwis, peeled and diced
• 2 golden delicious apples, peeled, cored and diced
• 8 ounces raspberries
• 1 pound strawberries
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor
• 10 inch flour tortillas
• butter flavored cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

1. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, golden delicious apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes. 
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray.
4. Bake in the preheated oven to 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture. 

Enjoy!

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