Robert Lani

We are delighted to share with you that we have just affiliated our real estate careers with the fastest growing, most innovative national real estate company in the United States! Keller Williams Realty Greater Seattle is now my "home." This company has over 72,000 agents in 600 offices in 49 states and provinces! An average of 1,000 agents are joining Keller Williams Realty every month across the nation. As a result, we have a strong referral system. Keller Williams Realty is changing the face of real estate because of its strong agent-oriented business model!

We chose to work with Keller Williams Realty because it is simply the best business and financial decision for our clients. Keller Williams Realty offers training and consulting to its agents with the goal of teaching their agents how to run their real estate career as a business. This means you receive better service, experience and expertise from agents who are business people who consult with their clients to ensure that their clients get what they want and want what they get!

Because owners of Keller Williams Realty share their profits monthly with their agents who help attract other successful agents to the company, all the agents at Keller Williams Realty really do care that your real estate goals are attained.

If you know of someone who is thinking of buying or selling now or in the future, we would be very appreciative of any business you send our way. Please generously share this email with your friends, neighbors, coworkers and relatives.

Sincerely,
Robert Lani
rlani@kw.com
206 919 1755

Laura Spangenberg
lauras@kw.com
206 225 8700

Have you found yourself looking for an apartment and not knowing where to go? For the past week, I have spent some time shopping apartment buildings in Seattle for a friend looking for a place. I thought I would share some observations.

Let's start with Leva On Market in Ballard. Leva is a brand new apartment building located in the heart of Ballard. You can walk to restaurants, shops, bus stops, clubs, etc.

Leva offers two buildings to choose from and each is unique. The north building is more industrial with exposed concrete while the second building is more contemporary and less industrial. They offer studios, one bedrooms, two bedrooms, and live/work lofts. Leva has an awesome rooftop deck for the residents to barbeque, lay out or hang out with friends around the built-in fireplace. They even offer a dog area for the four-legged friends to meet others. Leva also offers a courtyard for residents to hang out that is located between the buildings.

The Leva offers controlled-access buildings with parking. Parking is extra per month. The building also offers a 24-hour fitness center and bicycle and individual storage units. One drawback that my friend noticed is the windows...they are big and bright, but they only open a few inches and there's no air conditioning.

Leva
1545 NW Market St.
Seattle, WA 98107
206-297-9665

www.levaonmarket.com

Check back soon for more interesting insights to Seattle apartments.

The Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) reported that pending sales were up significantly in April-rising 21 percent over March and 11 percent over April 2008. Further the NWMLS reported that inventory is shrinking and prices are starting to level out. The NWMLS was encouraged to report that there have been multiple-offer sales but also cautions that much of the activity seems to be in the more affordable housing, while the more expensive real estate is not seeing that kind of activity. In the smaller Puget Sound area including Seattle, pending sales rose to the highest level since August 2007.

In recent weeks, while hosting open houses, I have often been asked the question, "Do I buy or do I remodel?" It seems to be the dilemma for sellers who are on the fence. During my last open house, I had a couple come in whose family just grew from one child to two. They love their home and the location. They are not sure if they should add an addition to their current house or buy a new home.

I have talked to them about the pros and cons of doing both. I have talked to several sellers on what their return would be if they remodeled the kitchen, bathroom, finished off bedroom, and etc. My last seller even went as far as finding several contractors to talk to about remodeling their home.

There are many things to consider and each situation is unique. One thing to always consider is not overdoing it and making your house the most expensive in the neighborhood. You also want to consider the footprint of your house and whether the current house and/or yard is large enough to handle an addition. If you are considering adding a bedroom in the basement, are the ceilings high enough to make it livable? Can you live through several weeks or months through the mess of a renovation? While you may not get top dollar in today's market for your house, you may find a larger home more affordable in today's market.

Have you seen more buyers/sellers stuck on the fence between selling and remodeling?

http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=16705416

Last night, I hosted another event to raise awareness and money for the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). The event was held at Norm's in Fremont, which allows you bring your dog with you. It was a great night of networking with friends and meeting new people while our dogs were sniffing each other and enjoying some dog biscuits. We were able raise some money for PAWS from donations and from a raffle. The raffle was for a free pet portrait donated from Boojazz. Every month, I host an event through Biznik to help raise money for PAWS. If you are interested in finding out about these events, please contact me at robertlani@johnlscott.com. If you are interested in finding out about what you can do for PAWS

go to: http://www.paws.org/help/donate/wishlist.php