Bellevue, WA

An Easy Move in Bellevue Washington. After your last move did you wonder if an easy move is possible in Bellevue, Washington? Perhaps you wondered if an easy move was even possible in our reality.

If your last move was typical, you took days off work to get everything packed up while your boss called you every hour with another question. On move day you had to skip the coffee because one of your helpful friends had already packed up all the coffee filters. And at the end of move day when you were too tired to unpack even one more box, you realized that you hadn’t yet located your electric toothbrush or any sheets. On the first night in your new home you slept on the naked mattress with furry teeth.

Is an easy move possible in Bellevue, Washington? Ask Mr. Brown of Bellevue. He hired Moving Forward and experienced the easiest move possible in Bellevue. Actually, the move happened in Bellevue, while Mr. Brown was enjoying a pineapple daiquiri in Hawaii!

Moving Forward spent one day with him understanding exactly what he wanted to have moved, when and where. Then he hopped on a plane for the winter. We packed up the things he wanted moved, put them in storage, and arranged the sale and donation of the extras. When he called us a couple of months later to say his new condo was finished, we brought things out of storage and set up his whole new home for him.

Before his plane even touched down at Sea-Tac airport, his coffee filters were ready for service in the kitchen. His electric toothbrush was charging in the bathroom. His beds were made and his towels were out. Now that was an easy move in Bellevue, Washington!

Call us to find out how to have your own easy move in Bellevue, Washington, or the greater Seattle area.

Hi all: I hope your Wednesday is treating you well!

I wanted to give all of you some tips about how to correctly shop for a mortgage. I think most of us want a painless process as we're so busy these days. The danger is choosing the first or the lowest or best sounding deal out there.

Case in point: I had a client of mine recently who got a 30 year fixed rate of 4.75%. He's putting 20% down and his credit is excellent. He was wondering if a better rate could be had because he had heard the advertisements for rates of closer to 4.5%. Here is what I said. Yes, lower rates could probably be had but it may either involve paying points or coming up with a higher down payment (say 40% instead of 20% which may lower the rate another notch) for example. My client's wife's response was she figured it had to be something. We all know this to be the case. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. With all of this in mind, here are some quick tips for successfully shopping for a mortgage.

1) Take the time to talk to more than one loan officer. Do it face-to-face if you can. I still hear the horror stories about loan officers overpromising and underdelivering daily. This can be avoided by meeting with them in person in many instances.

2) Your loan officer should offer you options on your mortgage, etc. Yes, most people would like a 30 year fixed mortage or something equivalent. But ask yourself this question. How long do you intend to stay in your home? I recently have done quite a few loans that are ARM's (Adjustable Rate Mortgages) that are fixed for the first 5 or even 7 years and then adjust after that. If you don't plan on living in your home forever, ARM's can be an alternative. Also, I've seen borrowers who are very good and disciplined with their money choose ARM's. It gives you options as ARM rates are at least 1% lower than fixed rates in most cases.

3) We all get our money from the same place. If you're offered a no fee loan expect to pay more for that feature. We are all in business to make money. The bottom line is because of the Dodd-Frank law implemented in April of this year, your closing costs went way down.

4) Listen to the loan officer you choose. I know most of you do. If you're asked to provide more information, please get us what we need. These days, loan files can get kind of thick. Underwriting is tougher than ever and we need to document everything. Loans are being done every day but they're being done by loan officers who are knowledgeable.

5) Try not to take choosing a loan officer lightly. A good one can make the difference between you getting your loan closed and not. In fact, if you're buying a place nothing happens if the loan officer can't get the loan closed.

6) Resist the urge to jump at the first and best offer. Most of the advertising we hear is already dated and is based on the perfect loan. Choose someone instead who you can trust. Kudos are given if you choose someone local who was either referred to you or has a great reputation.

In sum, I wish you well as you shop for your mortgage. One great thing about our country is we have the ability to choose. But we all need to choose wisely. Otherwise, it could be a trip to hell and back! Thanks for reading. If you need further information please

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Hello: I read a Facebook post by the brother of a man who is in ICU at a local hospital here. It inspired me to Pay it Forward by visiting him.

I don't know the person well who I will be visiting. But we come from the same small town and we all attended the same high school. Although he probably won't be able to respond (he's in a coma) I think it's important that we all consider being there for others. In fact, I think that's why we were put on this earth.

So I'm off. Perhaps if everyone were to pay a visit or say a prayer, he might recover. As it is, it's unclear if he'll make it. If you live in the greater Seattle area, I encourage you to go visit Doug Wollen at Harborview Hospital. Doug has led an amazing life so far and it may be far from over! Thanks for reading!

Recently, Moving Forward had a client, Pam (not her real name), who needed help unpacking in Bellevue, Washington. Well, actually, she needed help unpacking in Bellevue and had also needed help in Illinois on two earlier moves.

Fortunately, this time she asked for help to get organized before she paid to move all that stuff again. This is more common than you might think. We are all so busy that we unpack the most important stuff and plan to unpack the rest when we have more time. "But when is that?!"

This tendency costs money. It costs money to move all that stuff. It also costs money in terms of the lost real estate in your home.

Pam and her late husband had bought a 3-bedroom home, but filled one of those bedrooms with unpacked boxes. As might be expected they never got around to it. Since they couldn’t use the room, it was like giving away a whole room to a roommate who never paid rent!

Five years after her husband had passed on, Pam hired us to help her reclaim her home from clutter. After we got the living room and the kitchen functioning comfortably, we took on that spare bedroom and we did some serious unpacking in Bellevue, Washington.

At first, it was sad for her because many of the things had belonged to her late husband. Later, unpacking became a treasure hunt as we found artwork and photo albums she had thought were long gone. And lastly, it turned hilarious, when we found ugly uniforms from a high school job, an ancient six-pack of beer, and, yes, even a bag of extremely stale marijuana from 1968. (Amateur archeologists that we were, we dated it from the sheet of newspaper it was wrapped in.)

Once Pam marshalled the emotional courage to face unpacking all of that stuff, she realized that she didn’t need, or even want, most of the things she had been storing.

That adventure of unpacking in Bellevue, Washington, eventually turned into an out of state move. Pam felt so unburdened after organizing the things she wanted to keep, she was able to take a fresh look at the years she had left in her life. She decided to move back to her favorite town in Illinois.

She saved lots of money on that move because she only took the things she really wanted. So, unpacking in Bellevue, Washington, allowed Pam to make a tiny move back home with big savings.

Two Bellevue waterfront homes on opposite ends of the city sold during June. The first sale was a small, Frank Lloyed Wright-inspired bungalow on West Lake Sammamish, with an expansive 85 foot swath of waterfront. The property had a slightly quirky parking/entry area, which accounted for its sale price of $1.265 million, much lower than usual for W Lk Samm homes.

The second home was in SW Bellevue, on the Lake Washington shoreline. The waterfront home was only on the market for two days, with a sale price of $1.27 million. The cozy lot has 57 feet of lake frontage and a sizable dock. This was, again, an aggressively-priced home for Bellevue waterfront, leading to its quick sale.

Sold Bellevue Waterfront Homes, June 2011

448 W Lake Sammamish Pkwy, Bellevue WA - 2 beds, 1.5 baths, 1610 Sq Ft - $1,265,000

5011 Lakehurst Lane SE, Bellevue WA - 2 beds, 2.5 baths, 2440 Sq Ft - $1,270,000