Blog - Windermere Real Estate

Living & Community

Pro Lighting Tips to Brighten Your Home

As we approach the darkest days of the year, a few tweaks in your interior lighting scheme can brighten your home (and your mood) from the inside out. Here are some great tips from Real Simple for a lighting scheme that is flattering and functional… Use a combo of overhead and up lighting for […]
Home Seller Tips

Why Taking Care of Your Buyer is Good for You Too

How you leave your home matters more than you think… In our extreme seller’s market, today’s home buyers are paying top dollar (or beyond) for their home purchase, and like many people paying a premium, they expect to get what they pay for. As a result, they have little tolerance for adverse surprises. This […]
Home Buyer Tips

What is FIRPTA Certification?

A complete overview on why you need to know about it… If you are purchasing property from a non-US individual or entity, you may be required to withhold taxes under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980 (“FIRPTA”), 26 U.S.C. 1445 (unless one of the exceptions in the Act applies). The […]

Living & Community Pro Lighting Tips to Brighten Your Home As we approach the darkest days of the year, a few tweaks in your interior lighting scheme can brighten your home (and your mood) from the inside out. Here are some great tips from Real Simple for a lighting scheme that is flattering and functional… Use a combo of overhead and up lighting for […]

Home Seller Tips Why Taking Care of Your Buyer is Good for You Too How you leave your home matters more than you think… In our extreme seller’s market, today’s home buyers are paying top dollar (or beyond) for their home purchase, and like many people paying a premium, they expect to get what they pay for. As a result, they have little tolerance for adverse surprises. This […]

Home Buyer Tips What is FIRPTA Certification? A complete overview on why you need to know about it… If you are purchasing property from a non-US individual or entity, you may be required to withhold taxes under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980 (“FIRPTA”), 26 U.S.C. 1445 (unless one of the exceptions in the Act applies). The […]

Home Buyer Tips Thinking About Buying a Second or Vacation Home? Here are a few tips to make sure it’s worthwhile… These days, having your own home away from home is a compelling concept. There are many clear benefits including being able to use your home how you wish, decorate to your taste, and include your furry friends in your time away. There are also challenges […]

Living & Community The Four Phases of Remodeling As with anything in life, a remodeling project can come with its ups and downs. Certain phases seem to go a mile a minute, while others feel like they’ve lasted a lifetime and a half, all while it looks as though nothing is being completed. Fear not—this is pretty typical. And, while every project is […]

Home Buyer Tips Should I Be a Homebuyer in this Market? Fourteen offers, all contingencies waived, earnest money deposit released to seller on offer acceptance. This is the norm rather than the exception in our current market. Sound crazy? It is! And we’ve been here before. Today’s buyers are likely paying considerably above market values to “win” the war and snag a house that they can […]

Home Seller Tips The Downside of Selling Your Home Off Market Who wouldn’t want the enticement of a full price offer on their home before it even comes to market? At first glance it seems like a compelling opportunity, but it comes at a steep price. With the shortage of homes today, friends and neighbors are all on the lookout for up-and-coming listings. They aren’t hard […]

Waterfront Waterfront Defined Terminology These local definitions will not only to help you know the lingo when it comes to waterfront speak, but to give you quick access tools to research waterfront to your heart’s content. Here is a quick resource to commonly used terms related to waterfront real property: Bluff Most beaches on Puget Sound are […]

Home Buyer Tips Due Diligence Pays Off Big Time When Buying a Condo When you buy a condo, you are also buying into its community. You get the benefit of its many amenities, along with the restrictions of its rules, and financial responsibility for its upkeep. Most condominiums offer community features such as pools, exercise rooms, media centers, and entertaining spaces that many people could not comfortably afford […]

Home Buyer Tips Assessing the Real Cost of a Fixer It can be very compelling to find a home in a neighborhood you like that is bargain priced. But how do you know if it will be a good investment? The only certainty in a fixer project is that there will be a substantial amount of uncertainty and risk. There can be significant rewards too, […]

Home Buyer Tips Should I Rent or Buy a Home? It’s important to remember that the purchase or rental of a home is a lifestyle choice as much as it is an investment. It is not just a commodity to negotiate, but also the place you’ll come home to each day and make your own. Yes, it is important to buy wisely and stay within […]

Home Seller Tips The Right Timing Can Bring You Thousands More When You Sell Ever notice how one home on your street sells well above asking price with a line of buyers out the door and an identical home comes on a month later and sits on the market for two weeks before finally selling at a reduced price? Every. Day. Counts. It’s not always about the house. It’s […]

Waterfront Evaluating Waterfront Property Values While supply and demand clearly play a role in establishing the value of a waterfront property, several unique elements overshadow the typical supply divided by demand equation. The first one is rarity. Examples of this include: point properties—waterfront at the tip of one of our few natural points—with more expansive water frontage and street privacy […]

Waterfront How to Determine the Value of Shared Waterfront The concept of shared waterfront incorporates many different waterfront-sharing situations. Establishing the value of the share isn’t as simple as dividing the overall value of the waterfront parcel by the number of shares…although that’s a good start. The term “shared waterfront” has been used to describe everything from a private parcel shared by two owners […]

Home Buyer Tips Flip or Flop? Is That Gorgeous Makeover All It’s Cracked Up to Be? It seems like the perfect combo of fantastic location and newly renovated home. But is it really? The concept of renovating a tired home for profit (flipping) is a business model that is often naturally averse to the future buyer’s interests. The lower the costs, the higher the profit. And, the lower the costs, the […]

Home Buyer Tips Key Buyer Protections You May Need for Your Home Purchase When purchasing a home, there are a number of protections—called contingency clauses—that you can write into your contract to allow you to back out of the sale for specific reasons. For instance, if your inspection reveals major problems with the home that the seller can’t or won’t fix, your loan financing falls through, you find […]

Living & Community Planning for the Life Expectancy of Your Home Nothing in life lasts forever – and the same can be said for your home. From the roof to the furnace, every component of your home has a lifespan, so it’s a good idea to know approximately how many years of service you can expect from them. This information can help when buying or selling […]

Home Buyer Tips What’s YOUR Golden Age for NW Homes? The Northwest has experienced many changes in residential construction though the eras of home building. While not universal, here are a few typical housing rules of thumb we have seen in the Seattle region… Styles, floor plans and typical home attributes: 1900-1920’s Craftsman, Arts & Crafts, and Tudor homes dominated this era. They often […]

Home Buyer Tips How to Spot Big Issues Before You Pay for a Home Inspection Before you plop down $500-$800 for a home inspection, it really helps to identify obvious issues up front and determine if A) you are willing to buy the home despite them or B) the seller appears reasonable about addressing them. If neither of the above are yes, but you might want to keep looking rather […]

Waterfront Lakeside Resources That Will Float Your Boat Shorelines are heavily regulated in King County and, love it or hate it, the tight guidelines help keep our Puget Sound lakes in good order. King County’s Lake Stewardship Program has produced several fact sheets on lakeside regulations. If you’re wondering what you can plant and still be in good graces with the powers that […]