Everett, WA

Part of being a great real estate broker is knowing about the hole in the wall places to bring clients that lets them know that you know the neighborhood. A great little place is Barney's Pastrami. It is located at:

Barney's Pastrami
5130 Evergreen Way # 103, Everett, WA 98203

Dave the owner will hook you up with the best sandwich in the northwest. Enjoy!

I went to my first real estate auction today in Snohomish County. It took place, right outside in the rain and cold weather just north of the courthouse. There were 3 auctioneers with a list of homes to auction off. The first guy had 3 properties, the second had none but was making public announcements and the third had 5-10. I only saw 2 properties that were actually bought by someone at the auction for $1 over the reserve amount.

When I returned back to the office I looked up the properties on the MLS. The 2 properties that were sold were average deals, nothing to write home about. A good agent who knows what they were doing would be able to accomplish the same thing for their buyer with a regular home on the MLS. From what I saw today, most of the properties that were auction off, were not a good value.

I ended up talking at length with one of the auctioneers during one of the many breaks and he was telling a number of horror stories on what can happen to someone who has never done this before. He's seen someone who failed to do their homework and ended up buying a condemned building. He has also seen someone buy a 2^nd for $40,000 only to find out the following week that the first was sold for the amount owed. This buyer managed to lose $40,000 in one week by not doing their homework, an expensive lesson to learn.

I'm not 100% sold on the idea of buying a property at auction. There are no guarantees on the condition, if its vacant and what is on title. I'm planning to continue with my research but as of now, I won't be jumping in and buying any property at auction.

Color makes all the difference when showing a home for sale. Color can draw a person into a space and create a warm, welcoming feeling. The color palate should be consistent throughout the house for good flow. As professional stagers, it is our goal to keep the focus on the home, not the "stuff" we have brought in to enhance the space.

In this example, warm paint colors highlight the white trim in the dining room and accent the media wall in the family room. The colors used to stage this home are warm yellow/gold, cream, black, cranberry and sage green. As you can see, these colors photograph wonderfully and the paint just adds the finishing touch of sophistication often lacking in new construction.

These paint colors were chosen for the builder by Diana Young of SISTERS Interior Redesign.

Staging and color by SISTERS Interior Redesign, Edmonds, WA, 425.776.7890, www.sistersredesign.com

Give all your listings the advantage of professional home staging!

Contact us today for a complimentary staging quote.

Those fighting to bring a University of Washington campus to Everett suffered a great setback yesterday. The Senate Ways and Means Committee failed to act by a Tuesday deadline on competing bills to bring the University to Lake Stevens, Marysville or Everett, killing them in the Senate this session.

"We are not going to jump into any kind of decision prematurely," said the powerful chairwoman, Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Renton. "This is a decision we take very seriously and we don't want to blow it."

While she said she can wait until 2009 to decide on a site and classes, the launch of a college is still possible this session.

"It just makes it tougher," said Rep. Mike Sells, D-Everett. "Nothing is impossible here."

Sells is focused on pushing through a bill to establish the college in Everett.

It appears there has been much discussion and many thousands of dollars spent on what location is best to house this university. The Legislature allotted $4 million last year to search out possible sites and begin designing an academic program for a new branch campus. This year, Gov. Chris Gregoire proposed spending $1.1 million on classes this year if a location is chosen.

Hopes were a location would have been decided this session and classes could start by September 2008 - that may be just a dream in the eyes of the beholder. Each municipality is fighting to have the campus built in their city.

Stay tuned for futher details. I'm one that hopes the Everett location wins. It just makes good sense. It would be located at our transportation hub, walking distance to the downtown core, easy freeway access, and is centrally located based on all the other locations. It would surely boost the downtown core renovation.

In my opinion, sometimes politics just gets in the way.