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Making Color Work for You
We all want our homes to provide comfort and ease. And something instinctual tells us that color — whether a can of paint, a bright new patterned rug, maybe that sun-drenched painting you saw at the last art opening you attended — can change our world for the better.
Picking the right colors for our homes is not magic. The process simply requires that we look at the physical qualities of our home’s architecture and apply color that will put the focus where we want it. Here’s how.
Create a positive entrance. Storage is key to organizing typically cluttered areas, like a front entrance or mudroom, but color is equally important. Use a light color for walls and trim for an entrance that is cramped. Small, awkward spaces expand when painted a cool white or blue, dropping walls back.
Pick wall colors that optimize sunlight. Natural light is what we all crave in varying amounts. Decide how the light coming from windows and doors aids your use of each room, and at what point during the day. A sunny kitchen first thing in the morning is perfect for a busy family that wants to get up and meet the day. Want to amplify light? Use white and shiny surfaces that reflect. Want to cut back on glare? Window treatments are an easy fix, but consider that you may want to keep the view and subdue the impact of the reflective planes. Gray is a color solution for a room with a glare.
Use color to play up or play down features. Sometimes the house that you call home is as uncoordinated as a growing teenager. Additions built when space was in demand can confuse the overall design. Proportions in one part of the house may be different than those in another, which can make certain features stand out when you wish they’d recede. Doorways that are too large make others look small.
The visual presence of architectural elements can be controlled by the value and intensity of their color. Want something to stand out and make an impression? Paint it the most saturated or contrasting color in the room.
If you want something to go away, paint it the same color as its surroundings. Is something too large and imposing for your space? Choose a color that is dark and gray. Charcoal will shrink and set what was once a foreground element into the shadows.
Let color create a visual path. Repetition is an important element in good design and helpful for finding our way through a space. Establish a feature or material in your home that you want to have noticed, then use its color repeatedly throughout the floor plan.
Rock and Roll Sock Hop!
With Spring in the air and the promise of warmer days, it's time to start going out and enjoying music and dancing those winter duldrums away!
Saturday, March 21st is the Sock Hop at Manor House, located in the vibrant Pleasant Beach Village. This event is for 21 and over with a Cash Bar. Live music will be performed by Soul Siren – The premier party band of the Pacific Northwest. So bust out those poodle skirts and saddle shoes and call 206-866-6499 for your tickets today – only $20 each.
Make your home offer irresistible
When you're competing with a lot of other buyers for a hot piece of property, your bid needs to stand out.
You have found a home you can afford, in a great neighborhood with good schools. It even has a fenced-in yard for your dog. What could go wrong?
Any number of things, ranging from a competing buyer's all-cash offer to an insufficient earnest money deposit from you. In markets with houses in short supply, sellers have the advantage over buyers, and bidding wars often erupt between buyers vying for the nicest properties. The purchase offer should persuade sellers that your buyers are a serious contender who will give them most of what they want, even as it protects the buyer’s interests.
1. Pay cash. Investors have been snapping up homes to flip or rent, and they usually come to the table with cash. Sellers love all-cash offers because they're less likely to fall through before the sale closes. In January, all-cash transactions accounted for 28% of existing home sales, according to the National Association of Realtors. Cities currently attracting strong investor interest include Atlanta, Detroit, Las Vegas and Phoenix, reports CoreLogic. If you need a mortgage, a low appraisal could cause your bank to back out of the deal, forcing the sellers to put the house back on the market.
2. Get preapproved. If you can't pay cash, you'll need to get a mortgage. Three or four months before you shop for a home, check your credit reports, says Michael Corbett, a consultant to real estate Web site Trulia and author of "Before You Buy!" That will give you time to dispute any errors and take short-term steps, such as paying off debts, that will improve your credit score. You can get your reports once a year free from the three major credit bureaus at www.annualcreditreport.com. Then get a bank's preapproval. It won't guarantee that you'll get a loan, but it will show sellers that a lender has verified your income and credit score and determined that you can afford payments on a mortgage for a certain amount.
3. Make your best offer on price. You may only have one shot to get it right, so make your best offer — what you're willing and able to pay. Base your offer on recent sale prices of comparable properties in the neighborhood so that it will pass muster when the property is appraised. If you hold back, thinking you'll sweeten the offer on the second try, you may lose the property to another buyer.
4. Up the ante. You can add an escalator clause, with which you agree to ratchet up your offer if there's a higher bid from another buyer. Keep in mind that if you agree to pay more than the market value determined by an appraisal, you're on the hook for the difference from your own funds.
5. Beef up your earnest money. This deposit signals how serious a buyer you are. Try doubling the amount that the seller requests or that is customary in the area. If you must renege on the offer for any reason allowed by the contract or state law, you'll get your money back.
6. Pay for extras yourself. These might include some of the closing costs, homeowners association dues that must be prepaid, a one-time contribution to a community-enhancement fund, or a home warranty.
7. Make contingencies palatable. Most sellers prefer offers with no contingencies, but you probably can't afford to forgo the protection that contingencies provide if you want to cancel the contract. Offset a financing contingency with preapproval and a strong earnest money deposit. If you have enough cash, temper an appraisal contingency by assuring sellers that if the appraisal comes in lower than the purchase price, you'll pay the difference or split it with them (up to a certain amount). Include a home-inspection contingency, but tell sellers that you will cover the cost of any repairs. If the price tag on those repairs gets out of hand, you can back out of the deal.
8. Write a love letter to the sellers. Re/Max agent Gayle Henderson, of Scottsdale, Ariz., says this will help you connect with the sellers, especially if you haven't met them. She suggests such points as: "We're relocating from…" "We see ourselves living in your neighborhood or chose your schools because …" "We especially love …" and "We appreciate your accommodating our visits."
9. Give the gift of time. Express your willingness to work with the sellers' timetable to go to closing. If the sellers want to remain in the home for a while after closing, offer them a "lease back" or "rent back," which means that you will be their temporary landlord. This is a legal arrangement, and you'll need to work out the details with your agents and be sure that the sellers keep their homeowners insurance during their stay. If you are bidding on a short sale, make clear to the sellers that you are patient and can wait for the bank's decision.
Download a PDF of this blog post here: JACKIE98110_Make_your_home_offer_irresistible
Bainbridge Island Real Estate Sales in Review
RESIDENTIAL HOME SALES IN REVIEW
YEAR Avg. Sale Price Total # of Sales Avg. Days on Market
2003 $481,758 454 101
2004 $551,462 468 92
2005 $670,004 442 91
2006 $752,154 349 87
2007 $820,607 317 97
2008 $749,970 187 108
2009 $662,668 212 139
2010 $639,169 255 102
2011 $581,855 257 113
2012 $636,705 384 101
2013 $599,116 414 75
2014 $706,275 401 65
CONDOMINIUM SALES IN REVIEW
YEAR Avg. Sale Price Total # of Sales Avg. Days on Market
2003 $304,874 73 165
2004 $302,123 157 185
2005 $381,143 74 55
2006 $359,040 150 89
2007 $459,756 129 218
2008 $458,383 42 107
2009 $366,369 53 176
2010 $326,174 53 214
2011 $289,338 67 212
2012 $296,702 80 147
2013 $328,139 93 117
2014 $384,416 100 60
LAND SALES IN REVIEW
YEAR Avg. Sale Price Total # of Sales Avg. Days on Market
2003 $211,651 106 233
2004 $187,045 104 254
2005 $292,644 87 216
2006 $460,802 53 183
2007 $378,295 30 164
2008 $421,728 15 124
2009 $433,500 11 291
2010 $172,625 24 175
2011 $233,405 20 182
2012 $216,672 32 159
2013 $197,453 52 315
2014 $249,267 43 209
So you’ve begun thinking about selling your house and you figure: Let’s wait until spring or early summer before listing. The yard will look its best and potential buyers will be out in force. Recent research studies show home listing prices, sales price and time-on-market data from January 2010 through October 2014, concluded that if you want to sell for more than your asking price, listing in December through March gives you a better chance on average than if you list June through November. If your goal is to sell relatively quickly, February is historically the best month to list, with an average of 66 percent of homes listed then selling within 90 days, according to national averages, including cold weather cities like Boston and Chicago.
Researchers are quick to note that the advantages of listing in winter compared with other seasons are not huge. But the fact that winter produces at least competitive or better results by some measures should encourage potential sellers to get into the game sooner rather than later. Bottom line: Real estate does not hibernate. Other factors to consider: Only 63 Homes, 8 Condominiums and 53 land parcels currently For Sale on Bainbridge Island. Less Inventory = Less Competition for Sellers who list prior to spring. This is surprisingly an advantageous time to list, shop and buy Real Estate. Buyers shopping at this time of year are Serious Buyers. More Corporate Transfers at this time of year. Buyers have more time to surf the web for homes.
What are your real estate goals for 2015?
Call me for a Current Market Analysis and I will provide you with an honest, fact-based report of the financial value of your home.
Fay Bainbridge State Park
Welcome sign at the entrance of the park
Fay Bainbridge Park is a 17-acre marine camping park with 1,420 feet of saltwater shoreline on the northeast corner of Bainbridge Island. The park offers sweeping views of Puget Sound, the Cascade Mountains and features sandy beaches. On clear days, Mount Rainier and Mount Baker are visible from a sandy beach.
Besides the amazing beachcombing, Fay Bainbridge also has sheltered Picnic areas with water and electricity, a large playground and camping!
While it is free to access the park, there are nominal fees for camping and use of the large shelter areas. There are plenty of open picnic tables all over the park that are free to use – first come first served!
Sandy beach for the best beachcombing!
For more information on this lovely treasure, go to the Bainbridge Island Parks Department website:
http://www.biparks.org/parksandfacilities/pkfaybainbridge.html
