Burien, WA Real Estate - Lisa Bosques, Assoc. Broker/Mktg Specialist

I do hope I'm not the last person on the planet to learn of this latest scam. It appears that some lowlife, scumbag, bottom-feeding so-and-so is using vacant listings in order to attract potential renters, receive their deposits and default on their end of the deal.

I just listed this house on Saturday the 12th of January. My clients moved out the same day. This past weekend, a woman sees an ad in Craigslist under the "Apts/Homes For Rent" section offering my listing for rent at the bargain price of $700.00. The poster, whose name is - get this - Clementine Paradise(pictured at left), is supposedly on a missionary stint with her family in West Africa. She just needs some kind soul to watch over her property while she's away, and the rental amount is actually irrelevant as long as she can find someone she trusts to watch over the house, which is furnished.

The woman who alerted me to this situation had sent a reply to the post on Craigslist, and had received an e-mail back suggesting that she go to the house to take a look at the exterior, since there was no one available to let her in the house. Upon arriving at the house, the real estate sign was the first tip-off that something was amiss. The woman walked around the back of the house and peered into a window; at this point she could plainly see that there were no furnishings, so she got my number off of the sign and gave me a call to see what was going on.

I informed her that this was indeed not a rental. Luckily, she hadn't gotten any further than checking out the house. Unfortunately, no one can find the original post since it has since been deleted, so there's no telling how many people responded to the ad, how many unsuspecting victims sent in cashiers checks for $700, and how many will be awaiting a DHL envelope with a fake house key, if they get any envelope at all.

Craigslist and Yahoo are investigating(Yahoo because that's where her e-mail account is), and I've informed the MLS. I'm considering filing a police report. It's really sad that there are people out there like this who are preying on people at a very stressful time in their lives. I hope Clemmie gets what's coming to her.

Last week I received an e-mail from Marc Grossman alerting me that I have been MeMe'd! Yes, I am now 'It', as the rest of you may know by reading Marc's Post, "MeMe Times Three For YouYou". I've been so busy with things that I've been away from Active Rain for a while. Now I'm back, and I'm trying to think of 5 things that people don't know about me.

#1: I love reading mostly non-fiction books. Anything related to Real Estate, politics, self-help or discovery, business, motivation, travel, biographies, cookbooks and foreign language books. Which reminds me that...

#2: Way back when, I dreamed of being a linguist. My goal was to get a Masters and then a PhD in Linguistics. But then I thought to myself, "Whatever will I do with such a degree? And do I want to be in school for an entire decade?" Don't know and NO. If I had the time and the means, I would spend a year in several different countries, long enough to at least learn how to communicate a little in each language that I want to speak. I used to be fluent in Spanish but now I am rusty. I can understand Japanese but my speaking ability is not too developed. I've always had trouble with output; indeed, it is the last and most difficult step to learning a foreign language, especially when you're worried about making mistakes!

#3: The thing I daydream about the most, either when I'm driving, or when I'm in a boring class or meeting is...being a ROCK STAR! It's so sad because I can't sing or play an instrument, so it's something I have virtually no hope of achieving. During my life I have set and reached all of my goals, and I can't help but think that if I would have made this a priority beforehand, that I would have been successful at this too...oh, well - I'm happy with the way my life turned out regardless!

#4. During my teenage years and twenties, I studied Martial Arts(Okinawan Karate). While I was never much of a fighter and didn't really enjoy competing in sparring, I did quite well in Kata, which are forms, done as if fighting an invisible attacker. During my time in Japan I finally earned my black belt. And then - I quit! You know, love, marriage, career and a kid came along, and I stopped making time for karate; plus, up until recently I haven't been able to find a good school. Fortunately, my son is enrolled in an excellent school(West Seattle Karate Academy) run by a most talented and patient sensei who also happens to be a published author of many important Martial Arts books. So now my 6 year-old son is teaching me all of the forms I'm ashamed to say I have forgotten.

#5. I have an inexplicable phobia of SAND. Yep, that's right - I absolutely can't stand the beach! I'm okay with beaches here because they tend to be quite rocky, and there's plenty of driftwood to walk on to avoid sand. When I was a kid living in California, my mom would take me to the beach and stay for HOURS. I despised it, and as a result I took to hanging out in the parking lot. I would take my sack lunch and go up to the nice, relatively clean parking lot and sit where my mother could see me. Later, I would dread taking my son to a certain playground(the closest one to our shop) because the play equipment was surrounded by SAND. The thought of my little baby covered in sand really got my gag reflexes going, and you can bet I was the only parent telling my kid over and over not to touch the sand!

Now, on to choose MY victims. Please tell us all 5 things about yourself...

1. Karen Monsour!

2. Jo Soss!

3. Thavisak "Lucky" Symphanthong!

The rules: put a link back here in the comment section to your MeMe; tag your post "meme;" & post it to the group: "MeMe". Lucky Lang is keeping track of everyone who's been MeMe'd; apparently there's a "3 Strikes You're Out!" rule. You can see a fairly complete list here in Lucky's, Meme Tutorial and Alphabetical Index of all Memes on Active Rain!

When I was a kid I used to live close to, but not actually in the Arroyos. I even used to ride my bike down that hill for some inexplicable reason, only to have to walk it all the way back up. But had I not done that, perhaps I wouldn't have discovered what fabulous views of Mt. Rainier can be had up here.

This was taken near sunset just the other day. When you're walking that area, it's so beautiful to see the mountain's presence behind the evergreens and the Sound.

When Mount St. Helens had its second large eruption in July 1980, I ran down 39th S.W., stood in the street and looked across the water. There, way off in the distance, you could actually see the plumes of ash rising from the mountain. (I was out of state during the first eruption.)

My second favorite Mount Rainier viewing spot? The McLendon's Mural in White Center, of course!

On Sunday morning I was having a serious craving for pan dulce, or Mexican sweet bread. So I went to a place in White Center that I hadn't been to in a while, Castillos Bakery on 16th Ave S.W. just past the Albertson's.

My favorite is the empanada, a sweet bread filled with either pineapple, apple or custard cream. They offer a huge assortment of all different types and colors of sweet bread, and at only 3 for $1.00 it's an amazing deal.

As I was choosing my sweet bread, I noticed that the store was getting more and more crowded. I turned around and noticed stacks of huge rings of sweet bread; they reminded me of a Danish Kringle, which is shaped like the crown of Denmark. Inside the package were two tablets of Mexican table chocolate, and two little plastic dolls, a baby and a king.

Then I saw a poster advertising the pastry ring; it's called Rosca De Reyes, and it's traditionally eaten on the 6th of January, which is 12 days after Christmas. That made sense because virtually everyone in the store had one in their hands as they waited in line to pay.

A little background on Rosca De Reyes: . In celebration of Epiphany, which is the climax of the Christmas season and the 12 days of Christmas, a King's Cake is baked and shared among family and friends. The plastic baby doll symbolizes baby Jesus; hiding it inside the cake symbolizes the need to find a secure place where Jesus could be born.

Each person slices the Rosca; the knife is symbolic of the danger that baby Jesus faces at the hands of King Herod. Guests carefully inspect their slice; whoever ends up with the baby figurine must host Candle Mass, or Candelaria, on February 2nd, and also must buy a new dress for the baby Jesus in the Nativity scene.

I hope I've explained this tradition with accuracy; this is my first experience with it and I found it very interesting. Anyway, if you ever have a chance, stop by this bakery and enjoy some pan dulce, and don't forget the chocolate!

For those of you out there who are currently trying to sell your home, you may have noticed that it's taking a bit more time for homes to sell as compared to last year.

December statistics for communities within the zip code of 98146 including Arbor Heights, Roxbury Heights, Shorewood & North Shorewood, Hazel Valley, North Burien, White Center and Top Hat are as follows:

There are currently 144 active single family homes(132) and condos (12) in 98146. Since December 1st there are 8 homes and one condo showing 'Pending' status, which means that these contracts are currently in escrow. Also, since December 1st there have been 16 homes sold and 2 condos sold within this same zip code.

Therefore, by looking at December numbers we can see that there is about 8 months worth of inventory here. This means that if we were to stop taking listings today, it would take 5 1/2 months to sell every house in 98146 at current activity levels. Wow. Last year, average market time was 85 days, and that average is long, due in part to one luxury property that is still on the market today.

But my intent here today is not to beat a dead horse. I would simply like to stress that getting an offer, any offer, in this tightening market is gold. It is a starting point, a wonderful bit of good fortune that should be acknowledged gracefully, and contemplated very carefully. Do your best to negotiate as much to your advantage as possible. But please keep in mind the numbers above; they are telling you that this is a buyer's market right now, and you may have to be a little more flexible than perhaps the sellers of your home had to be when you bought it.

Most of you probably know that Realtors believe that, "The first offer is the best offer you are going to get". More often than not, it is the truth in my experience. So give it all you've got, and walk away a winner!