Here’s a site referral for homeowners who want to be in-the-know about local, state & federal actions that can affect their homes and communities. Whether you want to engage politically or just be aware of what’s going on around your neck of the woods, http://www.houselogic.com has something of value for you.
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Here’s another resource for you to keep your finger on the pulse of the real estate market. Check out the Real Estate Today radio show with Gil Gross – http://www.retradio.com There’s a Portland-based paint company that I wanted to share. A vibrant paint company with a fun name — YOLO Colorhouse. Named for the two women founders, Virginia Young and Janie Lowe, this company creates zero VOC paints in a color palette of evocative hues that’ll whisk your senses to places where blood pressure runs low, waters are shades of turquoise, and silky breezes cool sun-kissed skin. I saw this paint in a West Seattle home and it looked so beautiful I had to ask “What is this?” Their yummy Color of Hope Palette offers hue categories titled Imagine, Aspire, Thrive, Dream, Create and Nourish. This color palette was designed to help create positive and comfortable living spaces that “energize the human spirit.” Each hue in the Color of Hope palette represents a message of hope. How sweet to contemplate your home and be surrounded by lovely messages of hope. Virginia and Janie offer a rich inside color palette of Earth-inspired names such as Air, Grain, Leaf, Water, Stone, Clay and Petal. The palette is organized to reflect how color is naturally seen in the landscape. The seven color families of the outside color palate are more quietly inspiring with hues of Cloud, Prairie, Forest, Ocean, Desert and Canyon. Aside from offering zero VOC paints, YOLO Colorhouse is conscious about the size of their commercial footprint. See what responsible actions they’re taking regarding packaging, displays, manufacturing, plus other ways they’re being mindful of the effect their business has on the atmosphere, the planet, and its inhabitants. You’ll not only enjoy the colors surrounding you, you’ll also have justification to feel a little bit righteous about supporting a company that’s taken a stand to support our future. What is the carbon footprint of paint? I was surprised! You may be too. YOLO Colorhouse paints are widely available in our area. Click on the Retail tab and find the location nearest to you. In this short piece, Richard Wiseman talks about his study of Luck including traits of lucky and unlucky people and techniques that can improve one’s good fortune. Does any of this resonate with you? This little Toshiba Escargot has got to be the hippest coolest sleekest vacuum cleaner on the planet and I SOOOOO want to use it. So far, this adorable machine’s only available in Japan for the equivalent of about $130. Toshiba, I’d love for you to send me one so I can review it for our U.S. market. environment + design + symbiosis
Innovative zoning | Pioneering design The Cottage Housing Development (CHD) zoning code preserves housing diversity, affordability, character, and discourages sprawl. It allows for up to double the density of detached homes in all single-family zones (with some provisions).
The flow from public to private spaces are well thought out to create harmony between mingling and privacy. When homes are wrapped around a commons, visibility can alert neighbors to shady activity.
Danielson Grove: This award-winning pocket neighborhood is located in Kirkland on North Rose Hill and offers six different architectural plans/footprints. A mix of 16 3-bedroom homes and 1 and 2-bedroom cottages are arranged around shared garden courtyards and community clubhouse. The homes are tailored for a simple yet rich lifestyle in a setting where neighbors can know one another. The houses are BuiltGreen | EnergyStar certified and subscribe to the “Natural Yard Care” program. HOA fees pay for common-area expenses.
Small homes can feel large with enough natural light and storage. Danielson Grove homes feature high ceilings, open floor plans, built-ins, expansive windows, huge closets, open kitchen, spacious bedrooms/bathrooms, deep sills, nooks, spacious/ functional porches, ample storage, and walk-in closets.
When looking at small homes, walk through without looking at the square footage and ask yourself “Is this home livable and functional?” It’s a different question from “What’s the square footage?” Well-engineered homes are exceptionally functional. Size isn’t everything ya know, it’s how ya rock what ya got.
This home in Danielson Grove sold for $515K in November.
It’s whimsical custom concrete art for your unique purpose. Creative patterns, textures, and designs featuring your address, family name, or business logo. They make thoughtful closing gifts for homebuyers. Ask Kelle about their special birth stones and remembrance stones. Visit Landsview Interior Design.
The Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) establishes standards for solicitation, selection, compensation, conflicts of interest and appraiser independence. It’s effective May 1, 2009 for any mortgage that will be sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) mortgages are not covered in the agreement).
With HVCC mortgage brokers lost the right to order appraisals for conventional loans going to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Realtors and mortgage brokers are prohibited from selecting appraisers. Lenders are may use in-house staff appraisers to conduct appraisals; however, the loan production staff is prohibited from selecting, retaining, recommending, or influencing the selection of an appraiser and conducting any substantive conversation with an appraiser or appraisal management company (AMC) regarding the appraisal assignment.
What this means: The most experienced appraisers are leaving the industry because AMCs have dramatically cut their wages, in some areas by as much as one-third. The best are also leaving because industry integrity has deteriorated. With this scenario you can imagine whose left doing appraisals and why this ineptitude is creating national concern.
What to do? Write in the P&S Agreement that the property must be appraised by an appraiser with an office from the same city or county? Remove the key box to subvert surreptitious appraisals? Ask your lender about using AMCs. Ask which local and experienced appraisers they hire on a regular basis and if they pay prevailing fees or discounted fees.
Short sales, no sales, bank-owned sales – we need the best appraisers more than ever. Assigning inexperienced and underpaid appraisers to unfamiliar markets is a harmful byproduct of this code. HVCC was well-intended but short sighted and didn’t take into consideration how the industry worked or would be impacted.
(edited excerpt by Paul Hart)
You can click this link to help reverse HVCC.
When asked “What’s most rewarding about Interior Design?” my answer is “Being surrounded by beauty can transform a person.“
Recently I helped a friend relocate her mom from a hospice facility to an adult family home. Her mom made a profound, unexpected recovery in the beauty-filled surroundings of the hospice center and my friend wanted to create a similar environment at the adult family home. Her mom’s previous residence was larger but gloomy, so we brainstormed a bright, cheerful Nantucket seaside theme and found new coordinating furniture on craigslist. There was no time to paint so coordinating fabrics were chosen for pretty window and wall treatments which my friend sewed. These simple accessories tied together the colors of the walls, carpeting, and furniture and helped the room feel finished. Often there are restrictions regarding how far you can go with redesign in these types of situations. Working with existing resources of wall color and floor covering, the tools of my trade were boiled down to the essences of color, texture, pattern and placement. Guided by a small budget to make a Fresh, Calming, and Pretty environment, we succeeded in creating a lovely 12′ x 12′ living space. Friends and family visit more often and stay longer because this new environment feels good. Her mom is still adjusting to all the changes. A new address, a smaller room, new people, a teetering awareness and denial of declining health and mobility, loss of control, and she’s afraid. Being in a pretty environment supports her mental health. There’s a Navajo blessing “May you walk in beauty.” Beauty is both a path you travel and what surrounds you on the path. Beauty can transform a room, and a heart. And aren’t both “interior” design? This experience led my friend and I to talk about providing this interior design and selective color integration service to other seniors and their families. Kelle Boyd, BFAID, ASP
Landsview Interior Design
(206) 938-4796
http://www.landsview.net |
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“Pocket neighborhoods” — a lifestyle concept familiar to local talent 
This is cool, one-of-a-kind, functional art that’s sought after by Seattle homeowners and a growing number of businesses.