Contemporary well-maintained home on large lot just minutes from freeway access and downtown in the growing Maple Leaf neighborhood. This spacious layout offers lots of lifestyle choices with 3+ bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, bonus room and 2 car garage. Lots of natural light, decks and views of the mountains make this home unique and welcoming throughout the year.

Offered for $550,000

1540 NE 97th St Seattle 98115

To schedules a showing or for more information contact us by email or call Erin at 206.605.6006

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It seems to reason that when you see a house that is somewhat on the edge of being overpriced, is in a less then preferable location and doesn’t have a great floor-plan, that it should sit on the market for awhile. Well, that is what I would assume, however you never know what is going to happen when you put a house on the market. Take for instance the two new construction houses down the street from where I live. They were thrown up in the past few months, are literally 1/2 block from an extremely busy intersection and transitional neighborhood. They are built as separate houses although they look and feel just like a townhouse as they are tall and narrow on a single lot between the two of them. When the for sale sign went up in front of them, I thought to myself well those will take a long time to sell. Especially after seeing the $499K listed price. But much to my surprise, after only a week of being on the market one of them has already sold. So, this 1 week sale completely defies the current market conditions for our neighborhood. Average days on market are over a month with many house sitting longer then that.

What is the key to this little house selling so quickly? Two things. Price & Staging. This one, unlike it’s neighbor was staged with furniture and art creating a very comfy, cozy feeling when you walk in the door. The price, just below $500K allowed for a lot more of the market to discover it (anyone searching for under $500K) verses if it was listed at $515K, then only those searching for homes over $500K would have seen it. Also, I think just a little bit of luck and timing. The right buyer walked through that door at the right moment and that’s something that you just can’t anticipate nor put statistics on.

JUST SOLD IN BELLTOWN

1 Bedroom Loft

$359,950

View Floorplan

Industrial meets chic in this open 1 bedroom floorplan on the 5th floor at the new greenbuilt Mosler Lofts. Huge windows, 10′ ceilings, european kitchen with high-end stainless steel appliances, Kahrs hardwood flooring, fully tiled bathrooms, exposed concrete ceilings, forced air head and air conditioning and all in a building full of amenities with secure parking and storage.

People, thats why.

Every time I hear that real estate is “easy” and with all the information available on the internet agents are going to fade into the sunset, it makes me wonder what reality people are living in and if they think that other people are also living in that reality.

My question is, how can you predict that you are going to have an easy sale and if you don’t, how are you going to handle it? The biggest issue with regards to an “easy sale” is whether or not you are dealing with people. In order to buy and sell houses, you need people. People who own them and people who want them. Even without an agent involved in real estate you are always going to be dealing with people and people are emotional about their primal needs such as shelter. Real estate is an emotional decision because more often it’s a home at stake, not just a house. The issue of the nature of people in general and their emotional, stoical, melodramatic, confrontational and unpredictable personalities add a component to a real estate transaction that you just don’t have when you purchase a pair of jeans online or a boat or a car. In most transactions there is need for an advocate, a buffer, a councilor, an expert and a negotiator and a good real estate agent fills those needs.

In any given transaction you have at least 2 people on opposing sides, whether or not they have an agent. Each person is going to bring with them their own “issues” and their own goals for selling/buying that is not just about price and how soon do they want to move. In my experience representing numerous clients, every one was completely different and the way they handled the stress of moving and managing a huge financial decision was just as different. Some were great, some fell apart and some couldn’t make a decision to save their lives. [Read more →]