This Sunday's Open House

This Sunday from 1-4, I will be holding open a beautifully maintained, mid-century view home on the quiet end of California Avenue, down near Fauntleroy. This is a one-story home with a finished basement, 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, listed by my colleagues Steve Henke and Jeralee Knittel for $645,000. For more details, scroll down to my "list of helpful link" and click on either the link for open houses or the link for finding homes listing in the MLS. The MLS # for this listing is 28169493.

EVERYONE WHO VISITS ME AT MY OPEN HOUSE WILL RECEIVE A "THANK YOU" GIFT consisting of a variety of valuable coupons and special offers related to home ownership. For example, $50 off carpet cleaning services by Preferred Carpet Care; a free color consultation (valued at $250) and 10% off interior and exterior painting services by Aurea Painters; $50 off a home inspection by Home Inspections of Puget Sound; and many more! The total value of all the coupons combined is over $1000! These are coupons and offers that I have negotiated with local vendors and are AVAILABLE ONLY TO MY CLIENTS. I will be offering these gift packs at all my Open Houses for the foreseeable future, but I reserve the right to discontinue without notice, so don't delay!

Current loan rates

Here is the weekly recap on loan and interest rate activity, from Troy Chambers of Arboretum Mortgage:

Looking Good!
Rates are down and buyers confidence is up! After a tough week in the market the rates leveled out for us, and there are many wonderful loan programs available. It is a good time to be looking for a home as prices are settling, rates are looking good, and more and more people are feeling that now is the time to sell.

As always, if you know of anyone who is in need of anything mortgage related, please let me know, as I am working all weekend. My mobile number is 425-418-5103.

Click here to see a table of current interest rates.

Troy Chambers
Arboretum Mortgage
Phone: 206-720-6628
Fax: 206-860-9340
troy@arboretummortgage.com

Open House Gift Packs

Yes, today, Friday from 2PM until dusk, I will be holding open a terrific new-construction view townhome in the trendy Beacon Hill area. Actually, this new complex has 8 units, each with a different floor plan, and you are welcome to tour all 8, even though only one is officially on the market. This first unit to come on the market has 2 bedrooms and 2.25 baths, 1204 sq. ft. of living space, and shares a roof-top deck with neighboring units. MLS# 28173603. Listed by my Prudential colleague, Ken Arkills, for $439,000. To see more details, scroll down to my list of helpful links and click on the link to view available homes listed in the MLS.

EVERYONE WHO VISITS ME AT MY OPEN HOUSE WILL RECEIVE A "THANK YOU" GIFT consisting of a variety of valuable coupons and special offers related to home ownership. For example, $50 off carpet cleaning services by Preferred Carpet Care; a free color consultation (valued at $250) and 10% off interior and exterior painting services by Aurea Painters; $50 off a home inspection by Home Inspections of Puget Sound; and many more! The total value of all the coupons combined is over $1000! These are coupons and offers that I have negotiated with local vendors and are AVAILABLE ONLY TO MY CLIENTS. I will be offering these gift packs at all my Open Houses for the foreseeable future, but I reserve the right to discontinue without notice, so don't delay!

Earth 911

The following is reprinted from the December online edition of Northwest Reporter, published by Seattle-King County Association of Realtors:

Earth911, a public-private sector partnership founded in 1991, brings together hundreds of government, industry and nonprofit partners with businesses to promote resource reduction, reuse and recycling. Besides information on paper recycling (see paragraphs below), Earth911 provides tips for better stewardship of other everyday products, including metal, hazardous waste, plastic, glass, electronics, automotive, household, gardening, and construction.

Together with 1-800-CLEANUP, Earth911 has listings for more than 400,000 services and provides access to data for more than 74,000 locations for recycling, household hazardous waster disposal, reuse and more.

Earth911 is a division of the cause media company Global Alerts, which is based in Scottsdale, Ariz. (http://www.earth911.com/)

Earth 911 provides the following facts you may not know about recycling paper:

In 2007, more than half (56 percent) of paper used in the U.S. was recovered for recycling. By 2012, the paper industry hopes to raise that figure to 60 percent.

Viewed another way, the percentage of recycled paper averaged 360 pounds for every person in the country. If the 2012 goal is achieved, Earth911 – the nation’s official environmental information network -- estimates 60 million tons of paper will be recovered. (One million tons is enough to fill more than 14,000 railroad cars.)

Every ton of recycled paper can save:
17 trees
380 gallons of oil
more than 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space
4,000 kilowatts of energy
7,000 gallons of water

These savings represent a 64 percent energy saving, a 58 percent water saving, and 60 fewer pounds of air pollution.

Research indicates paper makes up the largest portion of the municipal waste stream and is also one of the most recovered materials.

Earth911 cites numerous direct and indirect benefits of recycling. These include conserving resources, preventing emissions of many greenhouse gases and water pollutants, saving energy, supplying valuable raw materials to industry, creating jobs, stimulating the growth of greener technologies and reducing the need for new landfills and incinerators.

Friday Open House!

Yes, TOMORROW, Friday from 2PM until dusk, I will be holding open a terrific new-construction view townhome in the trendy Beacon Hill area. Actually, this new complex has 8 units, each with a different floor plan, and you are welcome to tour all 8, even though only one is officially on the market. This first unit to come on the market has 2 bedrooms and 2.25 baths, 1204 sq. ft. of living space, and shares a roof-top deck with neighboring units. MLS# 28173603. Listed by my Prudential colleague, Ken Arkills, for $439,000. To see more details, scroll down to my list of helpful links and click on the link to view available homes listed in the MLS.

EVERYONE WHO VISITS ME AT MY OPEN HOUSE WILL RECEIVE A "THANK YOU" GIFT consisting of a variety of valuable coupons and special offers related to home ownership. For example, $50 off carpet cleaning services by Preferred Carpet Care; a free color consultation (valued at $250) and 10% off interior and exterior painting services by Aurea Painters; $50 off a home inspection by Home Inspections of Puget Sound; and many more! The total value of all the coupons combined is over $1000! These are coupons and offers that I have negotiated with local vendors and are AVAILABLE ONLY TO MY CLIENTS. I will be offering these gift packs at all my Open Houses for the foreseeable future, but I reserve the right to discontinue without notice, so don't delay!

Workshop for Landlords

The following is reprinted from the online edition of NWREporter December 2008, published by Seattle-King County Association of Realtors. I have never attended an event sponsored by TRENDS; my intention is not to endorse this event, merely to provide information which may be of value to my readers.


TRENDS is the premier annual education conference and trade show for Northwest rental housing ownership, management and maintenance. TRENDS provides the largest one-day rental housing management/ownership conference and trade show on the West Coast and is recognized as a national award-winning event.

For twenty-four years TRENDS has offered quality education programs and an excellent trade show and typically attracts 1,800 attendees.

This year, on December 11th from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, TRENDS attendees can benefit from an offering of over 40 education workshops and a trade show featuring 211 exhibitors.

For registration or more information, please visit www.trendsnw.com. Admission includes lunch, a chance to win $1,500, morning coffee, and, attendees may receive 3 Washington State Real Estate clock hours for an additional $20 over the early registration fee of $60.

A sampling of the 40 workshops offered at TRENDS ‘08 include:
Due Diligence' in evaluating a building for purchase
Risk Management for Property Managers and Owners
Strategies Using Landlord/Tenant Laws to enforce Lease obligations
Rental Marketing and Promotion on a Shoestring
Proper Use of Green Solutions- Energy Conservation and Apartments
Fair Housing and Maintenance
Beyond credit scores- establishing criteria for tenancy
Legislative Update
Legally navigating through: Domestic Violence; Drugs, Gang activity
Responding to Fair Housing complaints
Landlord-Tenant Act/Part I clock hours available
Evictions/Part II clock hours available
Evictions/Part III clock hours available
Avoidable mistakes Rental Property Owners Make
Successful marketing techniques for leasing
There is more to Maintenance than Nuts and Bolts
Balancing the Management in Mixed Use Buildings
Renovating your units and meeting economic balance

TRENDS is brought to you by: The Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM); Washington Apartment Association (WAA) and Rental Housing Association of Puget Sound (RHA). Produced by Diamond Productions (425) 869-1444.

Tech gadgets & your carbon footprint

The following is reprinted from the December online edition of "Northwest Reporter" published by Seattle-King County Association of Realtors:

The amount of energy consumed by gadgets is rising rapidly at a time when consumption by refrigerators, air-conditioning units and other household appliances is dropping.

In 2001, the U.S. Department of Energy reported the average U.S. household used about 778 kilowatt-hours per year, with about 7 percent of total electricity use attributed to powering tech gadgets. That rose from 663 kilowatt hours per year in 1997, up from about 6 percent of total home electricity use. Some analysts predict in-home tech gadgets will consume 18 percent of a household’s energy use by 2015.

Many consumers are willing to pay higher utility bills as a tradeoff for the benefits the newer gadgets offer, but environmental advocates emphasize it isn't just a matter of higher energy bills. Rising demand means increased generation of greenhouse gases.

Part of the increase reflects the proliferation of devices, notably from cell phones, multiple PCs at home, DVRs, MP3 players and wireless routers. Bigger and faster gadgets are replacing older counterparts, and these often consume more power. Much of the energy is consumed when the devices aren’t even being used. For example, a cell phone's power plug that remains plugged in even when disconnected from the device still suck down electricity.

Horowitz says consumers can take steps to curb their energy use. Shutting off devices when they are not in use, adjusting settings so they consumer less power and choosing gadgets with the government’s "Energy Star" rating are among tips he offers. He estimates consumers can lower their power bills by 5 percent just by doing things like turning off their gadgets when they’re not using them.

Electricity usage meters can reveal how much energy is consumed by particular devices when they are in use, on standby or simply plugged in. One such device, the P3 International Kill A Watt, retails for under $20.

SmartMoney.com, in a report published earlier this year, offered four tips for reducing gadgets’ energy consumption:

1. Invest in newer model power strips. Power strips can save time and money, allowing you to shut off multiple devices with the flick of a switch. "Smart" strips can know to power off peripherals when one component is shut down, such as a TV as part of an entertainment center or computer as part of a home office.

2. Consider smart-home upgrades. Special outlets, switches and sensors can communicate wireless with home computers or smart phones. Using home management software, consumers can access and control any connected device. A do-it-yourself starter kit starts at around $50.

3. Reconfigure gadget settings. Chose products with standby modes or other energy-saving settings. Free software from Edison PC Power Management enables you to select different energy-efficiency settings for work time and non-work time.

4. Buy energy-efficient models. Compare a model’s energy consumption. Look for Energy Star labels. (An Energy Star-certified external power adaptor for MP3 players, digital cameras or laptops tend to use 30 percent less energy than conventional models.)

More tips are available from the Consumer Electronics Association, an industry trade group that advocates voluntary, rather than government-imposed efficiency standards. Consumers can search for energy-efficient tech products and use an energy calculator to determine what it costs to power various electronics by visiting http://www.mygreenelectronics.org./

Latest Market Tracker Report available

The October Market Tracker report -- the most recent available, as statistics are always from the previous month -- are now available here and on my Prudential website. This report is in the form of 4 separate graphs which track sales statistics for homes in a particular zip code. I have posted reports for zip codes 98106, 98116, 98126, 98135 and 98146; others are available for the asking.

Contact me to have the Market Tracker e-mailed to you on (or about) the 9th of each month, or just pull it up on the Home page of my main website, www.AliceKuder.pnwRealty.com

Click on the zip code to download a PDF file copy of the report.
98106, 98116, 98126, 98136, 98146