Leslie's Blog

 Please visit my site for information and support.  Seattle, Wallingford, Bellevue, Kent, Redmond and Kirkland Residential Real Estate Properety Listings.

A woman called me yesterday about a house she saw advertised through Reply.Com.   She couldn't find the property so she called me for help.  She sent me the link so I could see what she was looking at (nice picture, selling price, bed/bath, and address).  I tried finding the home through Northwest Multiple Listing Service and it wasn't there.   I called Reply.com and their employee said the home may not actually be listed.  One of the services they provide is to contact a home owner and tell them "they have someone that would like to buy their home."  After I spoke with company employee, I went on Zillow to find the home--there is not a home at that address.  I called the client (yup, now she is my client) and asked if she would like me to set up a property search for her.  She told me where they want to be located and all of her search criteria.  I asked when they would be coming to the area to look at properties and she said “when I find them something interesting.”  She mentioned that they have already sold them home.

My mother has received post cards in the mail saying "someone wants to buy your home."  She has never responded.

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

I am going to rent my home out and need to come up with a lease agreement and would like to add things that are important.  Someone suggested to add to the lease "if changes are made to the home--it has to be returned back to the they way it was when they initially rented."  I do have a horror story--one time one of the renter's brought his horse over to eat the grass in the back yard.

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

I just received this message through Active Rain--the guy saw me as a "Featured Agent.":

Good Luck!

I am not computer savvy and when someone gives me a tip that makes working on the computer easier, I listen.  One of my Montana cousins just sent me this tip:

This is for everyone  whose eyesight isn't what it used to be.  I
just found out about it, and thought I would pass the information on. It's
very useful when trying to read small e-mail print (especially in the  early
hours).
If you hold down the Ctrl key on your key board and turn the small wheel in
the middle of your mouse, the print size will change - it will either get
larger or smaller - depending on which way you turn the wheel.

Pass this on to other friends who may find it very useful....I'm glad I was
told.

Now, this worked on the email she sent me because I tested it--and it worked on this note when I copied it into Word to spell check it--I do not know why it will not work in this blog.  I hope someone else finds this helpful--I do not want to be giving everyone "old news."

I spent thousands on buying leads.  The next was on tapes that I haven't looked at. 

This website is good to give your clients so they can compare different school district's WASL test scores.  Many of my clients say that "top schools is their most important consideration for where they want to live."  http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/

This second website gives much broader information on each school district in the State, i.e. schools, community, jobs etc.  http://www.k12.wa.us/maps/sdmainmap.aspx

We all have heard we need to create balance in our lives and not to drop everything for our clients.  I disagree.  I had clients come into town from Arizona back in June.  They had told me before they came to Seattle that they wanted to "find a place in town," so that is where I pulled the listings from.  I couldn't find anything that interested them.  A friend of theirs that was viewing the properties with us spotted a listing on the east side of Lake Washington (Kirkland) that my clients finally were willing to go see.  In order to show it, I had to cancel a hair appointment (the first time I ever have done that).  They both loved the house as soon as they walked in.  I called the listing agent and she said that if we really wanted the house  we needed to get an offer in immediately because they were in the process of reviewing offers--they also said they didn't want any escalation clauses and to give them our best offer.

We were very fortunate, my clients got the home.  The property would not have waited until the next morning.  Now when clients come in from out-of-town I do not schedule anything else on the days I will be showing them properties.    It has worked out many times that a client will take much more time viewing properties then they expected.   Some of my best times have been taking clients out to Whidbey Island or Kitsap County so they can see how beautiful it is here and what is available.  We "do lunch" and have an enjoyable day.  I know many of you are too busy for this kind of service but I love my job and wouldn't do it any other way.

Hi All,

 I have a timeshare and since work keeps me so busy I have many points I need to use.  I have called several of my clients that closed recently and told them that I would give them a two or three day weekend at one of my timeshare resorts of their choice.   I then sent them the website so that they could view the sites at their leasure, decide where they would be interested and get back to me to schedule a date.

Everyone, so far, has really been happy to hear of my offer.

Good Morning All,

I moved in with my Mom three years ago.  She doesn't like being alone at night and I wanted a better area to "farm" and my toy Manchester terrier (I now have two) needed company during the day.  Anyway, Mom was a "stay at home" Mom.  I encouraged her to join the near-by senior center and she kept telling me she was too busy and didn't need any new friends. 

I would occasionally get her to go with me to the senior center's spaghetti dinners and pancake breakfasts.  You need to know that Mom is CHEAP (she says thrifty), any way, she would say she could eat at home for a lot less.  After much prodding, she finally joined the Wallingford (Seattle) Community Senior Center--and she likes it.  She now volunteers as a waitress to serve at those dinners and breakfasts (and has now recruited me to help her).  She has attended meetings, picnics and various activities and comes home and tells me all about it.

The Wallingford Community Senior Center has many classes available i.e. T'ai Chi, Conversational Spanish, Cuban Dance, Introduction to Computer Basics, Introduction to Microsoft Word, Beginning Internet etc.  Some of their day trips listed in this months newsletter are Puyallup Fair and The Beach Boys Show, Leavenworth Autumn Leaf Festival, Flying Horseshoe Ranch & Salmon La Sac (Cost: $60 for bus and meal).  The senior center also has regularly scheduled games like Cribbage, Scrabble, Mah Jongg, Bridge, Pinochle, and Bingo. 

These are just some of the activities available at our senior center.  If you have a senior relative, neighbor or friend that isn't getting out much--take them to a few activities to see if you can get them interested.  It will bring stimulation, interest and some times real excitement to their days.

If you live near Wallingford, their phone number is (206) 461-7825.

Good Evening All,

 I just received a response back from a client giving me her property search requirements.    One of the things she said was "I'm looking for something in the downtown Seattle area, preferably a LEED construction condo in the $400k to $450k price range."  I didn't know what LEED construction was--but I do now.  I found an article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Friday, April 22, 2005) by Debera Carlton Harrell. 

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) has a program of standards (degrees of certifications) for rating buildings on their levels of "green construction."

 The thinking is that going green will be reflected in cheaper utility and maintenance bills.

The article states "Green buildings also are supposed to be healthier inside -- using non-toxic paints and glues and relying more on natural light and ventilation. Proponents cite research indicating that the cleaner air boosts children's test scores and reduces the number of employee sick days."

Now my task is to get a list of downtown Seattle condos that have the LEED certification.

I just spent an hour coming up with a GOOD blog--it was funny, creative and well thought out.  Well, I called one of my associates to help me add a picture to this wonderful blog (it is actually the banner on my website) and he suggested I call my website administrator to help me with the address problem.   Since (if you cannot already tell) I am not computer friendly, I was having trouble explaining to the administrator what I was trying to do (those administrators sure can be patient).  While multi-tasking (I was trying to find the button to safe it as a draft)--it disappeared.  IT DISAPPEARED.  I hit the (well used) "back" button and got that infamous page that says "no going back."  WHAA!!!

I cannot recreate it because all of those creative juices must have oozed out.  The moral of my story is that I need to create my blog in "word," save it and then insert it into the blog (and ask someone else to insert the picture while I watch).

I work with many relocation folks (as a real estate agent) and they typically ask where I live.  When I say "Wallingford," they ask "Where is that?"  Wallingford is a sought-after area in North Seattle close to the Woodland Park Zoo and Greenlake.   The location has good access to I-5 and it is easy to take a bus to Ballard, downtown Seattle or to the University of Washington.  We have many good restaurants including several ethnic ones.   

The style of home is typically Craftsman (which originally was a home that was bought out of the Sears Catalog).   People are remodeling their homes throughout the area.  There are also many condos now being built in Wallingford.    The area is made up of folks that have lived in their homes for over 50 years, newcomers, singles and families.

One of my favorite things about Wallingford is the John Stanford International School.  From Kindergarten through sixth grade half of the student's day is spent speaking only Japanese or Spanish (the language is selected by a drawing).   The children graduate from the school being bi-lingual.  You can find more information on the school by going to the following website:  http://www.jsisweb.com/

We also have a very active Senior Citizen Center (located at the Wallingford Center) which offers classes, activities, field trips, and monthly pancake breakfasts and spaghetti dinners.

Come and visit Wallingford.  You can walk, skate or bike around Greenlake (make sure you stay in the designated lane) or rent a paddle boat.   And then stop to eat at one of our many restaurants.  We also have two movie theatres (Guild 45th).