Seattle Suburbs Real Estate

My most recent sale in Lynnwood WA was a cute house with lots of wonderful upgrades.  It had been remodeled extensively, but we still had a few things come up during inspection.   There are a lot of things that the buyers may not have necessarily asked for from the seller, but I wanted to on their behalf and luckily they were open to my ideas.

1. Smoke Detectors were not working.  The seller had already certified on the Snohomish county only NWMLS addendum 22Z that the smoke detectors were operational so it was a no brainer to just ask them to do what they had already promised to do.  It wouldn't have cost them very much and again it wasn't asking them to do anything more than what they were legally required to do in Snohomish County anyway.  The key issue for me was the safety of my clients once in to the house.

2.  Roof getting older - because there still seemed to be life in the roof and with the state of appraisals today we went ahead and asked them to make necessary repairs and provide us with a five year roof cert from a licensed and bonded roofing professional. 

3.  The window had a big crack in it.  The appraiser is going to most likely call this and besides who wants a broken window?  The sellers had decided to just disclose it on the Form 17, but we went a head and asked for it to be fixed.

4.  Lastly, I almost always ask the sellers to have the furnace serviced and to make any necessary repairs/replacements to ensure that there is a working and properly functioning furnace in the home at close.  This means that if they call over a professional to service the furnace and there is a cracked heat exchanger, the wording is just enough so that the seller needs to repair it prior to close.  The furnace servicer can not service the furnace if it is not working properly.  Very important and I have gotten a lot of new furnaces this way for buyers when the furnace is broken or on its last leg.

We asked for other small things, but these were the biggies in my mind - Buying your first home can be extremely scary, but there are tons of things we can do as agents to make it easier and help you avoid pitfalls.  Even the most highly remodeled home can have issues.  Lynnwood Wa homes are a great place to start for a nice combination of amenities and economy! 

Lynnwood Wa real estate has been moving lately - here is a great link about the Lynnwood real estate market in 2009:

Seattle Suburbs: Lynnwood update

Price range could be a definite factor as seen in these numbers - the tax credit is also a great incentive to draw out first time home buyers.

Here is a great place to browse if you want to check out any of the Lynnwood listings available:

Lynnwood real estate

Need info on schools, housing, more on Lynnwood?  realestate@cooperjacobs.com

The Seattle suburb of Lynnwood, Washington is turning 50 years old and kicking off a year-long celebration with 50 events!  It all starts this week on April 25th!

Here is what is planned so far for April according to the city:

Upcoming Events:
Date	Event	Location
April 25, 2009 1:00 - 3:00p.m.	50th Birthday Celebration Kick-Off	Terraces Food Court, Alderwood
April 26, 2009 1:00 - 2:00p.m.	Lynnwood Library 30th Anniversary Library Tea	Lynnwood Library

Lynnwood, Wa is a great close in Seattle suburb nestled right in the perfect commuting junction of both I-5 for North and South travel & also I-405 to go to the Eastside.  The Transit Centers in Lynnwood are newly remodeled and renovated and there are plans for the rail system to come into Lynnwood. 

 In addition, The Interurban Trail connects King County to Everett through Lynnwood!  Lynnwood High School is about to open up a brand new facility and the restaurants and shopping are fabulous!

Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services:  Are you interested in Lynnwood real estate?  Looking at Lynnwood homes?  realestate@cooperjacobs.com

First Time Buyer Perks:

  It is hard enough to buy a house without having to think about coming up with the closing costs, too!!!  Closing costs are a factor of buying a house, but why not get the seller to pay them for you????

In addition, don't forget about the government credit from the IRS!!!!  Here is how to get your $8000 tax credit for 2009.

Lynnwood real estate is a great place to start if you want to check out good properties that are in affordable price range.  Other Seattle suburbs to look at:

Mountlake Terrace Real estate

Brier real estate

Lake Forest Park real estate

Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services, Serving Seattle & Seattle suburbs realestate@cooperjacobs.com

Holy Cow! 

 I had no idea that the newer Holiday LED Lights were so great!!!!

They use a fraction of the energy of regular strings of lights and according to the info I found can last between 100,000 and 200,000 hours. 

 But this is the really cool part:

  You can use up to 20 strings together on one circuit!!!!!!  I am constantly shorting out strings of lights because I piggy back too many together so this is good news!

Other benefits?

Cool to the touch and the whole string stays lit even when a bulb is out so no more guessing at that! 

Where to buy?

Bartell's!!!!  I love Bartell Drug Stores!  The recycle CFL bulbs for free starting this month and they sell these for $10-$15 for a string of 70 lights. 

Go green for the holidays!!!!!

From the Snohomish PUD website:

"Because CFLs contain trace amounts of mercury, all burned-out CFLs should be recycled and removed from the normal waste stream. Mercury is a health hazard and a new Washington state rule prohibits mercury-containing items from being disposed of with household garbage. Burned-out CFLs can now be recycled in two ways: at a Snohomish County Solid Waste facility or any Home Depot retail store. "

Places to recycle your compact flourescent bulbs:

Starting Sept 22nd, 2008 ALL 11 Snohomish County Bartell Drug Stores will accept them! 

Home Depot - take them to the returns counter for recycling

Snohomish County Solid Waste Facility on McDougall in Everett - (up to 12 tubes or bulbs for free)

Go Green and use these wonderful bulbs, but be responsible when they burn out - we don't want them to make the environment worse!

Need more information?  realestate@cooperjacobs.com Snohomish County Realtor, Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services is a green real estate company and also a member of Built Green.

Brier real estate: 

Brier WA is a wonderful Seattle suburb just North of Lake Forest Park and Lake Washington.  Brier prides itself on larger open spaces and as a result the lots are bigger than you might find in other close in Seattle suburbs. 

Houses in Brier usually start in the low $300,000 range and go up over the million dollar mark based mostly on square footage and land.  There are mountain views in Brier as well.

Are you interested in Brier real estate?

realestate@cooperjacobs.com

Slow Down...

Watch out for the little ones out there!  Brier kids are back in school - Brier is served by both the Northshore School District and the Edmonds School District depending on which side of Brier WA you live in.  Need more info?  Feel free to request a detailed school report as well as a detail housing report at realestate@cooperjacobs.com

Are you interested in Brier real estate?

Point Edwards is really coming along!  This planned community in Edmonds Wa was once the site of giant oil tanks, but what a great improvement this is!  Point Edwards is in the Southwestern corner of Edmonds WA just touching Woodway.  This neighborhood offers sweeping views of the Puget Sound and Olympic Mountains plus a nice salty sea breeze year round. 

Are you interested in Edmonds real estate?  realestate@cooperjacobs.com