Specifically, I live in Wallingford, which is located by the Woodland Park Zoo and Green Lake Park.  We are about two miles from the University of Washington and there are very good bus lines that get you to downtown Seattle.  Some homes in Wallingford have views of Lake Union and downtown Seattle and some have mountain views. The homes are predominately "Craftsman" style in this area.  Wallingford is a very desirable place to live--many families live here and they enjoy very good schools and parks. 

Seattle is a very "outdoor lovers" place.  We have the Burke Gilman trail which is great for bicycling and walking.  We have lakes and the Puget Sound for folks that enjoy water sports.  And, the mountains are not far away if you choose to go skiing in the wintertime.  You will see folks walking their dogs in all the neighborhoods-- we have dog parks here where dogs and their owners are able to exercise and socialize.

Seattle is noted for "coffee" and you can find coffee shops and expresso stands everywhere.  We also have all kinds of restaurants, and shops—many in the local neighborhoods.  The Seattle area is a fine place for culture, lectures, classes, hobbies and meeting people.  We are a diverse group here and very tolerant of others.

Come and see us--Seattle truly is a beautiful place.

Please visit my site for information and support.  Seattle/Bellevue Washington Real Estate Property Listings. 

Have you ever thought about how dirty purses can be?  I have had the thought cross my mind but this information really drives it home.  Since my grandson recently came home from the hospital after getting "a bad bug," I am getting very germ conscious.  I received this from a niece of mine--hope it doesn't gross you out.  I bring this up so that when you go to someone else's home you do not put your purse on their table or kitchen counter.

Have you ever noticed gals who sit their purses on public restroom
floors - that go directly to their dining tables? Happens a lot!
It's not always the 'restaurant food' that causes stomach distress.
Sometimes "what you don't know 'will' hurt you"! Read on...Mom got
so upset when a guest came in the door and plopped their purses down on
the counter where she was cooking or setting up the buffet.
She always said that purses are really dirty, because of Where they have
been. Smart Momma!!!

It's something just about every woman carries with them.
While we may know what's inside our purses, do you have any idea
what's on the outside?

Shauna Lake put purses to the test - for bacteria - with surprising
results. You may think twice about where you put your purse.
Women carry purses everywhere; from the office to public restrooms
to the floor of the car. Most women won't be caught without their purses,
but did you ever stop to think about where your purse goes during the day?

"I drive a school bus, so my purse has been on the floor of the bus
a lot," says one woman. "On the floor of my car, probably in
restrooms." "I put my purse in grocery shopping carts, on the floor
of bathroom stalls while changing a diaper," says another woman and
of course in my home which should be clean."

We decided to find out if purses harbor a lot of bacteria. We
learned how to test them at Nelson Laboratories in Salt Lake,
then we set out to test the average woman's purse.

Most women told us they didn't stop to think about what was on the
bottom of their purse. Most said they usually set their purses on
top of kitchen tables and counters where food is prepared.
Most of the ladies we talked to told us they wouldn't be surprised if
their purses were at least a little bit dirty.

It turns out purses are so surprisingly dirty, even the
microbiologist who tested them was shocked.
Microbiologist Amy Karren of Nelson Labs says nearly all of the purses
tested were not only high in bacteria, but high in harmful kinds of bacteria.

Pseudomonas can cause eye infections, staphylococcus aurous can
cause serious skin infections, and salmonella and e-coli found on the
purses could make people very sick. In one sampling, four of five
purses tested positive for salmonella, and that's not the worst of
it. "There is fecal contamination on the purses," says Amy.

Leather or vinyl purses tended to be cleaner than cloth purses, and
lifestyle seemed to play a role. People with kids tended to have
dirtier purses than those without, with one exception. The purse of
one single woman who frequented nightclubs had one of the worst
contaminations of all. "Some type of feces, or even possibly vomit
or something like that,"

So the moral of this story - your purse won't kill you, but it does
has the potential to make you very sick if you keep it on places
where you eat. Use hooks to hang your purse at home and in
restrooms, and don't put it on your desk, a restaurant table,
or on your kitchen countertop.

Experts say you should think of your purse the same way you would a
pair of shoes. "If you think about putting a pair of shoes onto your
countertops, that's the same thing you're doing when you put your
purse on the countertops" - your purse has gone where every
individual before you has spat, coughed, urinated, emptied bowels,
etc! Do you really want to bring that home with you?

The microbiologists at Nelson also said cleaning a purse will help.
Wash cloth purses and use leather cleaner to clean the bottom of
leather purses.

THIS IS WORTH SHARING!!!

Please visit my site for information and support.  Seattle/Bellevue Washington Real Estate Property Listings.

<!--startindex-->HONOLULU -- An earthquake measuring 6.3 shook the Hawaiian Islands on Sunday morning, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.It happened at 7:07 a.m. off the Waikoloa coast on the Big Island, according to scientists at the PTWC.Kona appears to have taken the brunt of the quake. Kona Community Hospital reported structural damage and multiple landslides were reported on the Hamakua Highway, officials said.The quake knocked out power to all of Oahu. Residents reported feeling the shaking for more than a minute in some places. Residents in Niu Valley said the quake made items fall off shelves."It was an unusually large magnitude and in an unusual location," one scientist said.A scientist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said he believed this was the largest earthquake in Hawaii since 1983.

I am not doing this one for points--I know it is illegal. 

Please visit my site for information and support.  Seattle/Bellevue Washington Real Estate Property Listings. 

If you have been reading my blogs or noticing my logo, you probably have guessed I am very fond of dogs.  Occasionally agents will bring their dog to work.  Lately, you will see an eight week old Chiuaua puppy running (maybe more like galloping) up and down the halls and into the offices.  She is so happy to see everyone and obviously knows she is too cute to ignore.  People cannot resist picking her up which delights her.  One other agent has the same kind of dog that she would bring in and he was equally entertaining.

You probably have heard that hospitals and nursing homes will have dogs brought in to make the patients and residents feel better.  It does the very same thing in our office.  It tickles me every time I even think about them.  

When I worked at a different real estate office, there were dogs brought into the office there also.  One older dog would stay in his dog bed the whole time, the bed was up on a table and the dog would just watch everything when he wasn't sleeping.

Please visit my site for information and support.  Seattle/Bellevue Washington Real Estate Property Listings.

Bangladesh's "Banker to Poor" wins Nobel Peace Prize

The Seattle Times has published this story today and I have given you only a few paragraphs of the story, it is very well worth reading.  I always enjoy reading about people that do something with their lives that contribute to society--Mr. Yunus has certainly achieved that.  For just small loans to these people he is changing so much.  It makes me wonder what we can do in our country to help the poor.

CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh — Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh's "Banker to the Poor" who provides loans to help millions of people fight poverty by starting businesses, has won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Yunus, who shared the $1.4 million prize Friday with the Grameen Bank that he founded 30 years ago, pioneered the concept of "microcredit." It allows very poor people, who don't qualify for traditional loans, to get loans of as little as a few dollars without collateral. The banks' shareholders are the impoverished people it supports.

Yunus received his doctorate in economics in 1969 from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He became an assistant professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University later that year before returning to Bangladesh, where he joined the economics faculty at Chittagong University.

You will notice that I didn't put my logo on this blog today--it just seemed irreverent to do so.

 Please visit my site for information and support.  Seattle/Bellevue Washington Real Estate Property Listings.

I was just going to leave a comment on Scott Gormley's Blog "Sale-of-mortgage-leads," but because he was getting so many comments back, I thought it was something that everyone needed to hear.  I called the Legal Assistance Hotline and asked if it was legal for a lender to sell leads to a Realtor.  Since this is RESPA, it looks like it applies to all of us.  This is the major part of the email I received back:

The Legal Assistance Hotline is part of W.A.R.'s Education and Member 
Services Departments.  It is intended to help keep its members 
abreast of legal developments and concerns involving real estate 
brokerage and sales.  It is also designed to supplement the 
educational and written materials available to the real estate 
brokerage professional with answers to specific questions on related 
legal issues.  The responses made by Annette T. Fitzsimmons, P.S. are 
for your information only and are not to be relied on by or passed on 
to clients and customers.

We hope that the attached response satisfies your inquiry.  Our 
response is based only on the facts recited in your question.  In any 
particular transaction, a complete review and understanding of the 
facts is necessary and it may be advisable that you review this 
matter in greater depth with your legal counsel.  The information 
contained in this letter is general in nature and is intended for 
your educational use only. Annette T. Fitzsimmons, P.S. is not acting 
as your attorney, but is merely providing you with a source of legal 
information.

Very Truly Yours,

Annie T. Fitzsimmons
cc:	Washington Association of Realtors
	Principal Broker

********************************* QUESTION ********************************

Is it lawful for a lender to receive any compensation for giving a referral to a
real estate agent?

********************************** ANSWER *********************************

No.  It is a violation of RESPA for agent or lender to give or receive referral
fees or any form of compensation in exchange for referring a buyer or seller to
the other.

I just received an email and the following is a portion of it:

How Do the Candidates Stand on Real Estate Issues?

Brought to you by the Seattle Association of REALTORS, the General Election REALTOR Voting Guide shows you the results of candidate interviews - candidate ratings and endorsements - based on real estate issues crucial to your business and profitability.

The REALTOR Voting Guide should be arriving by mail in the next couple of weeks. You can also view it online at www.nwrealtor.com or by clicking here.

Visit www.vote.wa.gov for more information regarding voter registration.

I believe we should get as much information about candidates as possible, but I also believe we should think about the candidate's whole picture--not just blindly vote for them because they are "Realtor Friendly."   Each candidate needs to be looked at carefully--it may turn out the person recommended would be your choice but we need to know all of the reasons why.

I am a member of the Kent (Washington) Chamber of Commerce (which is obviously geared toward business).  And also try to pay attention to Seattle business and government issues.  I find that there are times that "what is best for business (and government) is not best for the public." 

It is kind of like being some Republican and some Democrat--both have positive and negative beliefs, ideas, traits and histories.   It takes work to see what the candidates stand for (hopefully we can get the information we need to do it wisely).  

Please vote..

 Please visit my site for information and support.  Seattle/Bellevue Washington Real Estate Property Listings.

Because Realtors are (hopefully) very busy, it is good to look at time-management tips--it seems there are always new ideas coming up.  I was reading REALTOR® Magazine-Online and found a tip that would be especially helpful for me.  "Capture Ideas on a Voice Recorder," this suggestion was by Nicola Barr, Prudential New Jersey Properties, Basking Ridge, N.J.:  

"When I'm out on appointments I carry a small voice recorder. As I get calls on my cell phone while driving, or when I think of things I need to do, I simply record a quick message, which I transfer to my schedule later when I get home. This is quicker, tidier, and much safer in the car than it would be to jot down notes on a pad of paper or sticky notes."

I have been one of those people (she mentions) with all of those "sticky notes."  Have you ever lost track of any leads that way?  Me too!

The article is a good one, the suggestions are from readers--check it out.

 Please visit my site for information and support.  Seattle/Bellevue Washington Real Estate Property Listings. 

I received a call this evening from an agent in my office asking if I could help with a "high-end" client that will be coming to town on this coming weekend.  This agent has been working with the client and there are some listings that she wants to see.  The agent has to be out of town and wanted to know if I can handle this for him.  I said I would be available and agreed to take care of his client.  He asked me how much commission I wanted for this and he said the broker said I should get 50%.  I told him I thought 50% was excessive.  Do any of you have an opinion on this--I want to be fair.

 Please visit my site for information and support.  Seattle, Washington Real Estate Property Listings.

I live in earthquake country (not like California) but we have had some pretty good ones.  When I was working at Boeing about 10 years ago we had one and I couldn't remember if I was suppose to be in a door jam or under my desk.  I ran under the door jam and didn't see the workers in the next office in their door jam, so I looked in and saw they were under their desks--so I quickly ran to get under mine.

Today, I read in the NWReporter, a very good article that talks about  "some actions to take to preserve yourself and some reasons why."   The article also has many links on earthquake preparedness and response.

This may be "something of value" that you could give your clients.

Please visit my site for information and support.  Seattle, Washington Real Estate Property Listings. 

I recently bought a new printer.  It is a HP Officejet 7310 All-in-One.  I am so happy with it!  It scans, prints, copies (and they look very nice) and faxes.  One of the things I really like about it is that when it prints something, the pages come out in the right order--what a time saver.  Just had to share.  Do any of you have any other pieces equipment to rave about.  Other than my Garmin GPS (my best friend) this is it.

Please visit my site for information and support.  Seattle, Washington Real Estate Property Listings.

I haven't been blogging for all that long on A/R but I am already tired of all of the fruit names we have to copy for security.  Is it possible to make a change--how about different kinds of animals?  I like toy Manchester terriers (of course).  I also like parrots and finches (used to breed them, had 300 finches at one time).  Anyway--just a suggestion.  After that we could have different kinds of foods ie. tofu, pork and beans etc.

Please visit my site for information and support.  Seattle, Washington Real Estate Property Listings.

As I have mentioned on previous blogs, finance is a hobby of mine.  Last night I was in bed reading the October issue of Money magazine and came across an article by Walter Updegrave titled "An Income Plan That's Built To Last."  He talks about how people's savings will have to support them for "20, 25 or even 30 or more years" and gives an option of getting an immediate annuity so that you can have a guaranteed monthly income for the rest of your life.  He suggests having a combination of investments you can draw down from and the annuity.  

Updegrave says, "Aside from the peace of mind that comes from knowing you won't outlive your assets, an annuity has another plus--namely, payments are larger than you could pay yourself from your investments even if you earned the same rate of return.  Insurers sell annuities to thousands of people, some of whom will die earlier than others. Annuity payments reflect the fact that insurers are effectively transferring money from people who die early to those who live beyond life expectancy.  So the longer you live, the better a deal an annuity is."

I was showing properties today to one of my Associates, Anthony Nguyen, an insurance broker and I brought up this topic.  He said that annuities can be a good product but "be sure to get one that the remainder goes to your heirs. 

I hope this isn't a grim topic for you Rainers--it is just something to consider in your retirement planning.

Please visit my site for information and support.  Seattle, Washington Real Estate Property Listings.

I am welcoming a new member to Active Rain.  His name is Mike Pollack (Mighty Mouse Computing).  He is a Computing Consultant in Tucson, Arizona.  

I met him through a referral and he has become a good friend.  While he was here in Seattle on vacation last week, I called him because my computer was giving me fits.  He came over to see if he could fix my problem and we ended up computer shopping because mine was outdated. He spent a lot of time with me--he hooked up the new computer, got the new three-in-one printer (it scans, prints and faxes) working with my laptop and the desk top; transferred all my clients out of Top Producer and into Outlook and gave me many helpful computing tips to make life easier. 

Sometimes, he goes on-line and takes over my computer while I am on the phone to him explaining my problem--this is very handy when someone doesn't live by any computer support.  He has many real estate agents as clients and can speak their language. Check him out and see all of the services he provides.

Please visit my site for information and support.  Seattle, Washington Real Estate Property Listings. 

Now that I have spent so much time this morning blogging, I have to rush to my appointment at the Puget Sound Blood Center to give platelets.  They use platelets for cancer patients--it helps coagulate the blood.  I have a very high platelet count and am usually a "double bagger."  Technology is better now than it use to be and they can take and return out of the same arm instead of having to lay there and not even able to scratch my nose.

I do this because I feel the need to give back.  When I was born I needed a blood transfusion (because my mother was RH- and blood was beating up mine.   Things are much better now that pregnant mothers can have a shot that keeps their blood from fighting with the babies.  This is a very simplistic explanation but it gets the point across.

Many people that can give blood and platelets do not--give it a thought--it is the "gift of life."

I am also on the registry to be a bone marrow donor if they ever find a match that needs me.  You might consider that also.

I received this information from one of my Montana Cousins this morning--I do not know where she got it.  It is very helpful information to avoid getting or passing on a virus.

Check this out for some great lessons on e-mail, viruses, etc.................

Words To Live By.

This is an excellent message that ABSOLUTELY applies to ALL of us who send e-mails.
Please read the short letter below, even if you're sure you already follow proper procedures.

Do you really know how to forward e-mails? 50% of us do; 50% DO NOT.

Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it? Every
time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the
people who got the message before you, namely their e-mail addresses and
names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses
builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to
get a virus, and his or her computer can send that virus to every E-mail
address that has come across his computer. Or, someone can take all of
those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes
that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit.
That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel! How do you stop
it? Well, there are several easy steps:

(1) When you forward an e-mail, DELETE all of the other addresses
that appear in the body of the message (at the top). That's right,
DELETE them. Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut
them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second. You
MUST click the "Forward" button first and then you will have full
editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message. If
you don't click on "Forward" first, you won't be able to edit the
message at all.

(2) Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person, do NOT use
the To: or Cc: fields for adding e-mail addresses. Always use the
BCC:(blind carbon copy) field for listing the e-mail addresses. This
is the way the people you send to will only see their own e-mail
address. If you don't see your BCC: option click on where it says
To: and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose
BCC: and that's it, it's that easy. When you send to BCC: your
message will automatically say "Undisclosed Recipients in the "TO:"
field of the people who receive it.

(3) Remove any "FW :" in the subject line. You can re-name the
subject if you wish or even fix spelling.

(4) ALWAYS hit your Forward button _from the actual e-mail you are
reading_. Ever get those e-mails that you have to open 10 pages to
read the one page with the information on it? By Forwarding from the
actual page you wish someone to view, you stop them from having to
open many e-mails just to see what you sent.

(5) Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It states a
position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to
10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded
on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses. A
FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to
a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email
addresses contained therein. If you want to support the petition, send
it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position
may carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry list of names
and email address on a petition. (Actually, if you think about it,
who's supposed to send the petition in to whatever cause it supports?
And don't believe the ones that say that the email is being traced, it
just ain't so!)
 
Some of the other emails I hate include:
 
1. The one that says something like, "Send this email to 10
people and you'll see something great run across your screen." Or
sometimes they'll just tease you by saying 'something really cute will
happen.' IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!!!!! (Trust me, I'm still seeing
some of the same emails that I waited on 10 years ago!)
 
2. I don't let the bad luck ones scare me either, they get trashed.
(This could be why I haven't won the lottery......)
 
3. Before you forward an 'Amber Alert', or a 'Virus Alert', or
some of the other emails floating around nowadays, check them out before
you forward them. Most of them are junk mail that's been circling the
net for YEARS! Check them out by going to www.snopes.com.
Just about everything you receive in an email that
is in question can be checked out a Snopes.

Just go to It's really easy to find out if it's real or not. If it's not, please
don't pass it on.

So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses.

Visit my site for information and support.  Seattle, Wallingford, Bellevue, Kirkland, Kent and Redmond Residential Real Estate Property Listings.

One of my cousins sent me this today, I hope this isn't against the rules.  This is very thought provoking and is internet related.  I like Ben Stein and enjoy hearing his financial advice.  

 Please visit my site for information and support.  Seattle, Wallingford, Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland Residential Real Estate Property Liastings.