The home is bright and sunny with much of the charm of the original 1927 house intact. It once housed a pre-school, which has now been converted to additional living quarters that can be entered through the basement or t hrough French doors on the west side of the home.

Did I say basement?  Yes, another rare find on Bainbridge. The house has a full basement which is mostly unfinished. Great for storage, rollerskating (am I dating myself here?) and with the potential to be finished.

The raised garden beds await someone’s green thumb to plant your own mini-farm right in Wing Point. Not to worry, however, the house is not included in the restrictive covenants of the Wing Point neighborhoood.

For more information and a photo gallery click here.

 Homebuyer Tax Credits

An AP article giving details regarding the first-time and repeat-buyer tax credits summarizes the details of the credit program that is coming to an end. For first-time homebuyers, credits go back to 2008 but eligibility, amount of the credit and terms under which it is given vary. For details, click here.

Mortgage Help and Credit Scores

Kenneth Harney, a syndicated real estate columnist, wrote an excellent article summarizing the impact on consumer credit scores of getting help when mortgage debt becomes overwhelming. His piece discusses loan modifications, principal, write-downs, short sales, bankruptcies and foreclosures and what the impact is on credit scores. An interesting side note is that he also writes about how credit scores are affected when different debts are paid: credit cards, auto loans, home loans. 

If someone is in the position of making decisions between paying the mortgage and paying credit card bills or other unsecured debt, it is likely time to seek some help. Credit counseling may be available free or for a low cost. HUD-approved credit counselors can be found via a web site I discovered. There is a way to search by factors such as location, type of assistance needed. and language.

Click here for more details.

This photo says it all. A property like this one doesn;t come along very often.

Located on McDonald Road in Eagledale, hence the title of this page.

The 2.3 acre property includes a farmhouse-style home, deached garage with shop, finished second story with deck, and half bath; incredible chicken coop; boat shed; hot tub;  seasonal pons, and much more.

For full details and a photo gallery click here.

I still recall spending a small fortune for a digital SLR camera. I researched it to death, finally deciding on a great Canon and purchasing an additional wide angle lens. For one listing, I must have taken hundreds of photgraphs to get the 15 I could use in the MLS. The camera was great, but the operator (your very own bainbridgeagent) is no artist. I’m still proud of the long-exposure night photo I took to capture something different (perhaps I AM an artist), but the best shot I probably got was this:

Not bad, I think, and the house sold for full price. It was a different time, though (2005) and the ante has been upped since then. 

For my business model, professional photographs have become standard. Here is a shot of a property with interesting interior spaces that were difficult to capture but a professional did an amazing job:

Sometimes I will hire a specific photographer who I think has the right eye for the particular house I am working on. Below is an example.

A recent article in The Seattle Times has a good synopsis of the importance of good photography in the consumer real estate market.

There are several web sites devoted to bad real estate photos. No surprise there, with plenty of fodder on the web. Most people in the market to make a purchase (and plenty of real estate junkies) spend a good amount of time on the web looking at real estate. A decent set of photographs is the difference between moving someone off their couch surfing on their laptop to the inside of a house to see it close up and personal.

If you want a good laugh but are also prepared to be grossed out, click on some of the links below for some amusing examples of bad real estate photography. What kind of first impression are these agents trying to make? Are they marketing to people with low self-esteem? 

http://www.uglyhousephotos.com/

http://veryvintagevegas.com/2008/01/01/vote-for-your-favorite-worst-mls-photo-of-the-day/

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1254518/bad-real-estate-photography-part-ii-

Challenge to readers of this blog: find a bad MLS photo and post the link. Let’s be nice and set one rule: no photos from within the local market area - I don’t like hurting people’s feelings (or getting sued for slander.) Sites like Zillow, Realtor.com and Trulia are great sources for looking nationwide for the perfect bad photo. Happy hunting. 

Year     # Closings

2007        48

2008        18

2009        24

2010        30

I see a positive trend. This is good news for our real estate market. I hope the trend will sustain itself and we will see a healthy real estate market throguh 2010. 

How green can you get at home? Something that recently caught my eye is a toilet/sink combo made by Caroma that is the epitome of environmentally friendly in the bathroom. Forget the old “if it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down” mantra, if you want to be green in the bathroom then one of these babies is a must. It has a high-efficiency dual flush system (one flush for yellow, a different flush for brown) and an integrated sink. The wash water from the sink empties into the toilet tank to prep for the next flush. Ta-da!

Imagine the space you can save, let alone the water. I wish this was available when I was trying to figure out a remodel of a teensy-weensy bathroom (3′ x 4′, at most!) in my last house. We ended up with a Toto high efficiency flush toilet and a small and beautiful wall-hung sink.

Do I sound like a nut?  I kind of am, when it comes to stuff like this. I once gave clients who bought a house from me and were planning a bathroom remodel a Toto dual-flush toilet as a housewarming gift. They came home at the end of their work day to find it on their front porch. We had done several property transactions together, so I knew the toilet would go over well.

I wonder if this blog post will scare some people away…? If you require a gift basket at the closing of your real estate transaction, I’m not the agent for you.

From light bulbs to heat pumps, it pays to be energy efficient. Say you are buying a home that has in-wall electric blower type heaters. Installing a forced air system with efficient heat pump will save you money on your energy bills over time, as well as quailify you for a tax credit and rebate from the local power company under certain circumstances. Below are links to Puget Sound Energy’s “Rebates and Promotions” page and to the “Tax Incentives Assistance Project” web site for energy tax incentives.

PSE Rebates and Promotions

Energy Tax Incentives