David Edwards King County Real Estate

The Maple Hills neighborhood in Renton lives up to the grandeur its name implies, with sweeping views of Mount Rainier, close proximity to Lakes McDonald and Kathleen, numerous hiking and biking trails around the edge of the neighborhood and membership access to the Maple Hills Community Park and Pool.

Maple Hills is located between Renton, Maple Valley and Issaquah. I-405, I-90 and HWY 169 are all easy to get to, so it is a nice central location from which to get around.

The neighborhood consists of about 400 homes. Many residents choose Maple Hills because they have discovered that by moving a little farther south on the Eastside they could get a bigger and newer house for their money.

According to Estately.com, the 133 homes for sale in East Renton Highlands which is home to Maple Hills Estates have an average price of $551,467. The average home is 2,897 square feet, has 3.8 bedrooms, and 2.6 bathrooms. The typical home for sale in East Renton Highlands was built in 1992, which is a little newer than the typical home for sale in Washington.
Located in the center of the vibrant neighborhood, Maple Hills Elementary School's volunteers include parents, community members, retirees, middle and high school students some of whom are "alumni". Each year, in classrooms, the library, and throughout the school, 10,000 to 12,000 hours are donated to benefit the students.

The PTA supports the school in a wide variety of ways and with unending dedication and enthusiasm. The PTA has earned the 100% Membership award, the State PTA Standards of Excellence Award and the National Honor Unit Award.

The Maple Hills Park just north of Maple Hills Elementary School is a major asset to the neighborhood and a gathering place for many Maple Hills residents.

With a large play area, two tennis courts, basketball courts, horseshoe pits, barbeque pits, ample parking and a swimming pool, it is a popular destination. Summer at Maple Hills Park is full of activities such as movie nights, social feeds and the 4th of July Neighborhood Parade, 5K Run and Fireworks. The park also hosts sporting events for soccer, football and baseball leagues. The community pool offers swimming lessons and sponsors the Maple Hills Marlins, a competitive swim team.

The homeowners association, which meets monthly, can be found online at http://sites.google.com/site/maplehillsorgsite/. Association Dues are less than $300 per year.

To learn more about home homes for sale in Maple Hills, visit http://www.davidjedwards.com/34057.asp.

Best Regards,

David J Edwards
Real Estate Agent & REALTOR
The David J Edwards Team
Keller Williams Realty Southeast Sound
Phone: 425-890-8045
Fax: 425-902-1899
E-Mail: david@davidjedwards.com
Website: http://www.davidjedwards.com
Blogsite: http://www.davidjedwards..com/real-estate-blog.asp
Mobile Site: http://davidjedwards.mofuse.mobi
Community Reports: http://www.topmarketer.net/CSR/CSReport.aspx?CV4GU5KAYOEF
View This Week's Market Conditions Around Your Home: http://www.homeinsight.com/Widget/default.asp?BFBMVVHW4HZT

The David J Edwards Team specializes in Residential Real Estate for buyers and sellers.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, California: July 30th 2009 - Extra services provided by real estate companies such as inspections, appraisals and legal and moving company recommendations have become increasingly important to home buyers and sellers, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Home Buyer/Seller StudySM released today.

The study, now in its second year, measures customer satisfaction of home buyers and sellers with the largest national real estate companies. Overall satisfaction is determined by examining three factors for the home-buying experience: agent (47%); office (28%); and package of additional services (25%). Four factors are examined for the home-selling experience: agent (34%); marketing (34%); office (17%); and package of additional services
(15%).

For both buyers and sellers, the agent is still the most important driver of overall satisfaction. However, the importance of agents has declined substantially from 2008, while the importance of additional services has increased considerably-by 12 percentage points among buyers and 8 percentage points among sellers. In addition, actual usage of many of these services has decreased from 2008, likely due to cutbacks made by real estate companies in response to a depressed market.

"In a tight market, every aspect of service offered will be scrutinized very closely," said Jim Howland, senior director of the real estate and construction practice at J.D. Power and Associates. "For this reason, it is critical for real estate companies to promote the value that they bring to buyers and sellers, not only in any additional services they offer, but also in their agents and operations."

In the home-buyer segment, Keller Williams ranks highest for a second consecutive year, with a score of 806 on a 1,000-point scale. Keller Williams also performs particularly well in the agent factor. Following in the rankings are Coldwell Banker (801) and RE/MAX (798). Coldwell Banker performs particularly well in the office factor. Among home sellers, Coldwell Banker ranks highest with a score of 815 and performs particularly well in all four factors. Keller Williams follows Coldwell Banker in the segment ranking with a score of 801.

The study finds that the proportion of first-time home buyers has increased considerably-to 56 percent in 2009 from 44 percent in 2008. Many of these first-time buyers may be attracted by improved home affordability and the perception of a strong buyer's market. This presents both challenges and opportunities for real estate companies.

"The presence of more first-time buyers is encouraging, as it indicates that the real estate market is returning to more normal activity, with fewer speculators," said Howland. "However, real estate companies and agents must carefully manage first-time buyer expectations. Although these buyers may believe otherwise, they must still overcome the traditional barriers to purchasing a home, such as being able to fund down payments, closing costs and monthly payments. Solid advice and service from agents may assuage these first-time buyers' concerns and build customer loyalty."

Additional noteworthy study findings include the following:
? Home sellers report that, on average, 3.2 open houses were conducted for their property in 2009, compared with 4.5 in 2008.

? Approximately 64 percent of home sellers used a Web site listing to market their home in 2009, up from
61 percent in 2008.

The 2009 Home Buyer/Seller Study includes more than 3,100 evaluations from 2,801 respondents who bought or sold a home between April 2008 and June 2009. The study was fielded between April and June 2009.

For more information, read an article or view home buyer ratings and home seller ratings at JDPower.com. Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, Web intelligence and customer satisfaction. The company's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on home building and home improvement, car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies. J.D. Power and Associates Media Relations Contacts: John Tews; Troy, Mich.; (248) 312-4119; media.relations@jdpa.com Syvetril Perryman; Westlake Village, Calif.; (805) 418-8103; media.relations@jdpa.com.

David J Edwards
Real Estate Agent & REALTOR
The David J Edwards Team
Keller Williams Realty Southeast Sound
Phone: 425-890-8045
Fax: 425-902-1899
E-Mail: david@davidjedwards.com
Website: http://www.davidjedwards.com
Blogsite: http://www.davidjedwards.com/real-estate-blog.asp
Mobile Site: http://davidjedwards.mofuse.mobi
Community Reports: http://www.topmarketer.net/CSR/CSReport.aspx?CV4GU5KAYOEF
View This Week's Market Conditions Around Your Home: http://www.homeinsight.com/Widget/default.asp?BFBMVVHW4HZT

The David J Edwards Team specializes in Residential Real Estate for buyers and sellers.

Some surprisingly good news on the housing market hit the wires this week. Pending Home Sales rose in June for the fifth straight month, fueled by low home loan rates and bargain home prices.

Bonds and home loan rates definitely showed some serious energy and persistence this week, despite some serious headwinds, including additional supply flooding the market from this week's big Treasury auctions.

The Treasury unloaded an enormous supply of paper onto the markets last week and anytime there is more supply than demand, it means prices will naturally decline. And when prices decline, home loan rates go up. The heavy supply hitting the market caused some wild volatility for rates midweek, but overall home loan rates managed to find some improvement by the end of the week.

It won't be long before another enormous supply of Treasuries comes on the market. In just two weeks, we'll be looking at a fresh round of auctions. It used to be that the dates of economic news would be circled on the calendar as the ones to watch for greater movement in Bond prices but right now, the supply issue has become so important that it now may be the most dominant current factor in Bond pricing and home loan rates.

David J Edwards

Real Estate Agent & REALTOR
The David J Edwards Team
Keller Williams Realty Southeast Sound
Phone: 425-890-8045
Fax: 425-902-1899
E-Mail: david@davidjedwards.com
Website: http://www.davidjedwards.com
Blogsite: http://www.davidjedwards.com/real-estate-blog.asp
Mobile Site: http://davidjedwards.mofuse.mobi
Community Reports: http://www.topmarketer.net/CSR/CSReport.aspx?CV4GU5KAYOEF
View This Week's Market Conditions Around Your Home: http://www.homeinsight.com/Widget/default.asp?BFBMVVHW4HZT

The David J Edwards Team specializes in Residential Real Estate for buyers and sellers.

The housing industry received some good news last week, as Existing Home Sales came in better than anticipated, and marking the third straight month that Existing Home Sales have increased. And perhaps even better, the supply of unsold homes on the market dropped from the prior reading of 9.8 months down to 9.4 months - which is the best level seen in over a year. With home loan rates still at low levels and homes priced to sell - this is a great time for potential homebuyers to stop thinking, and go ahead and take some action.

Despite that bright spot of news, last week's Consumer Sentiment report - which measures consumers' attitudes and expectations concerning both present and future economic conditions - showed that consumers still think the economy has a ways to go, as the report did come in a bit weaker than anticipated. According to the report last week, Consumer Sentiment came in at 66 for the month of July, down from June's reading of 70.8.

And one of the major reasons for the decline in Consumer Sentiment was ongoing concern over unemployment - and last week, Initial Jobless Claims reportedly rose by 554,000. While this number was high, it was essentially in-line with expectations of 557,000.

The big news that many headlines featured was the number of Continuing Claims, which fell from 6.31 million the prior week to 6.22 million. And although this drop was reported as positive news, we need to remember that a large number of people are still unable to find jobs, but are no longer being counted in Continuing Claims because their unemployment benefits have expired. The bottom line is that it will be hard for the economy to really turn higher with momentum until the labor market starts to turn around.

David J Edwards
Real Estate Agent & REALTOR
The David J Edwards Team
Keller Williams Realty Southeast Sound
Phone: 425-890-8045
Fax: 425-902-1899
E-Mail: david@davidjedwards.com
Website: http://www.davidjedwards.com
Blogsite: http://www.davidjedwards.com/real-estate-blog.asp
Mobile Site: http://davidjedwards.mofuse.mobi
Community Reports: http://www.topmarketer.net/CSR/CSReport.aspx?CV4GU5KAYOEF
View This Week's Market Conditions Around Your Home: http://www.homeinsight.com/Widget/default.asp?BFBMVVHW4HZT

The David J Edwards Team specializes in Residential Real Estate for buyers and sellers.

Second quarter earning season continued last week, including some highlights from the financial sector. Several companies reported strong earnings, including Tech Bellwether Intel; JP Morgan Chase, who reported a 36% jump in profits for the second quarter; and Goldman Sachs, reporting blowout earnings. Although, some of the positive headlines helped Stocks, at the expense of Bonds and therefore home loan rates, overall the week's earnings reports indicated the economic climate is still difficult.

Weak economic news normally causes money to flow out of Stocks and into Bonds, helping Bonds and home loan rates improve, while strong economic news normally has the opposite result.

David J Edwards

Real Estate Agent & REALTOR
The David J Edwards Team
Keller Williams Realty Southeast Sound
Phone: 425-890-8045
Fax: 425-902-1899
E-Mail: david@davidjedwards.com
Website: http://www.davidjedwards.com
Blogsite: http://www.davidjedwards.com/real-estate-blog.asp
Mobile Site: http://davidjedwards.mofuse.mobi
Community Reports: http://www.topmarketer.net/CSR/CSReport.aspx?CV4GU5KAYOEF
View This Week's Market Conditions Around Your Home: http://www.homeinsight.com/Widget/default.asp?BFBMVVHW4HZT

The David J Edwards Team specializes in Residential Real Estate for buyers and sellers.