Maplewood Heights House on 1/2 Acre Lot

Maplewood Heights in Renton

Maplewood Heights is a neighborhood in northeast Renton with good schools, attractive amenities, and a good location.  The neighborhood is centered on Maplewood Park and the Maplewood Heights Elementary, which was recently named a “School of Distinction”.  The Renton School District generally has seen improvement in test scores in 2011.

Recreational opportunities abound nearby with the Cedar River bike trail, the Renton Community Center with its gym and outdoor water park, the Eastside’s only ice skating rink, and the public swimming pool open year round at Hazen High School.

The neighborhood has a choice of two routes for a commute to downtown Seattle (405/I-90 or 900/I-5), which makes it possible to avoid the worst traffic.  The community is service by King County Metro bus line 111.

SEARCH HOMES FOR SALE IN MAPLEWOOD HEIGHTS RENTON

Renton Donogh Homes Resale

Donogh Homes Resale in Renton

This quality house by Donogh Homes sits on a half acre on the north Cedar river bluff.  Territorial view out the back includes Mount Rainier in the winter.

Key features:

• Big floor plan with 3,070 square feet
• High end finishing materials (marble, granite, nice cabinets, etc.)
• 3 car garage
• Sprawling master suite with sitting/reading/TV area, private view deck, walk-in closet, and attached bathroom.
• Four big bedrooms
• Extra wide staircase to upper level
• Updated kitchen with island and stainless appliances
• Two fireplaces in living and family rooms

COMPLETE DETAILS OF DONOGH HOMES RESALE IN RENTON

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14521 144th Place SE, Renton, WA 98059 (MLS # 310345)

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Owner financing available on this beautiful Cedar River north bluff home on a 1/2 acre. Quality construction and lovingly maintained. Updated kitchen with island and high-end cabinets. Marble and granite throughout home. Double-wide stairs lead to 4 big bedrooms and laundry on upper level. Sprawling master suite with sitting area, private view deck, walk-in closet, and 5pc bath. Generous front and back yards. Big sky view where the bluff drops away and Mt. Rainier in winter. Quiet neighborhood.

Property Type(s): Residential

Last Updated	1/15/2012	Tract	n/a
Year Built	1995	Community	Maplewood Heights
Garage Spaces	3.0	County	King
Total Parking	3	Walk Score ®	14

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Additional Details

Features

Location

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Listed with eXp Realty

(view all details for MLS #310345)

It occurs to me that there are some definite differences between the big box real estate companies that you always see in the media and the smaller firms that are in the market.  The big firms make you fit into their box and some make you qualify with them before they will even take you out to see houses.  Oh and you have to sign an agreement to only use them.  They are great in the neighborhoods that they operate in as they are promoted as “neighborhood experts” but what happens if you don’t exactly know where you want to live and want to see other areas.  Hmmm, could be a problem.  The other issue is just because your friend, relative, neighbor is an excellent realtor for the big box real estate company where you are, does that mean that the person on the other side of the country is equally as good.  There are no guarantees as to the competence of realtors in a big box real estate company.  So it is imperative that buyers get a hold of “Buyers Realtors” in the community that they are looking, to find someone that is willing to work for you before you move.

What are “Buyers Realtors”?  These are agents/brokers, states like to mix these terms so I’ll call them realtors, who work mainly with people looking to buy a home.  Most of the big box real estate buyers realtors are again neighborhood experts that know everything within their neighborhoods.  But, cross over into another neighborhood or city and most won’t know as much as someone that works in that area.  The smaller company buyers realtors will go wherever they need to and may not know as much minutia about an area but will know about or be able to direct you to the website that can give you the information.  Ever wonder about schools, gyms, parks, in different areas?  All of this information is available and a good buyers realtor will get it to you.  There have been an occasions when someone doesn’t know the different communities and aren’t really sure where to live but they work in downtown Seattle, for instance.  What happens then?  Think a neighbor expert will know where you want to live?  Well certainly…in their area.  What if it’s not convenient or you want to use mass transit and it is not where you want to be?

Here are some things that buyers should consider: First, who’s going to know more about a variety of areas in the general vicinity of where they work?; Secondly, how soon is the relocation planned for; Thirdly, who is able to give you insights into the different areas that you are interested in; and Finally, who wants to assist you.  Many of the websites out there are good for looking up properties and most will have a realtor attached to them, that will contact you.  Don’t be afraid of talking to someone about what you want.  It is one of the biggest purchases that you make in life so get someone that can help you find the home that you really want.  As I said earlier, find someone to work with before you move.  In this way, you will find out how much they know and what their ability is to look outside their office area.  Depending on the realtor, you may even be able to eliminate some areas without even being there yet with the information that you get from them.  If you like to get paper resources, some firms will send you “relocation packs”  which are filled with some information about the areas that you might want to consider.

Good hunting!

Please let me know if I can assist you.

Seattle Condo

Fannie Mae HomePath Financing

The Fannie Mae HomePath program is an attraction solution for financing condos and townhouses.  Many people are familiar with HomePath’s attractive features for all types of properties: down payments as low as 3% of the purchase price, seller contributions up to 3.5% of the purchase price, no mortgage insurance required.  However, there is an added benefit for condos in that Fannie Mae waives the appraisal and guarantees financing without regard to the status of the condominium homeowner’s association (HOA).  Condos are increasingly difficult to finance as new rules from the FHA have cut off financing eligibility for the great majority of condominium associations.  As reported in the Washington Post (“FHA rules for condo purchases are causing major headaches for buyers and sellers“), less than 10% of condo HOAs whose FHA eligibility had expired have been recertified.

Accordingly, buyers of condominiums who aren’t paying all cash should either inquire about the FHA eligibility of a condo complex before making an offer or positively seek out only Fannie Mae owned condos to take advantage of these attractive financing features.

A client of mine recently got a HomePath loan approved at 4.5% interest for 30 years.  Fannie Mae contributed 3.5% towards his closing costs.  I believe he put down 7% in order to bring the loan amount down a bit to a level he could qualify at.

Seattle townhouse

Click here for a list of Fannie Mae owned condos.

Rehab Project

3 Rules of Real Estate Investing

Three rules of investing from the wise old heads of the Washington REIA:

1. If you aren’t embarrassed to make your offer, you are offering too much.

2. If they take your first offer, you offered too much.

3. If you need a calculator to figure out a deal, it is no deal.

More of interest for investors at WashingtonPowerSearch.com.

Eastside Deal of the Week

Each week I’m picking out the Deal of the Week out of my Eastside Value Buyer’s List.  I’m looking for a house that is already discounted to fair market value at the list price and is in good repair.  I visit the house, take 60+ photos, and record a video of my impressions.  Read on about my property analysis and bidding strategy:

Eastside Deal of the Week

Eastside Deal of the Week

It’s well and good to learn from a lecture. But rarely is a lecture life-changing.

Washington is called the evergreen state. We love our trees, the great outdoors and our planet. We are a hardy people. And we have two universities (colleges) that are in the top 10 for sustainable practices and learning.

The University of Washington is ranked number 1 in the country. Every building completed since 2006 has earned LEED Gold. All appliances bought are Energy Star rated. And the hydro-powered campus runs 3 farms, an extensive recycling program, and the conservation-research hotbed Pack Forest. The university is located on a fresh water lake in Seattle that had problems with algae bloom from residential sewage run-off.  The city of Seattle, like many cities with overburdened treatment centers, encouraged the University to reduce water use on campus. As an incentive, the city offered a rebate of $120 per water fixture that the university replace with new water saving equipment. So they retrofitted their plumbing to save water, conserve energy and be “green.”

Forty percent of UW’s food budget is spent on local items, according to the green report card. They use mostly cage free eggs and natural milk. The school composts their food waste, which keeps it out of the landfills. The Bothell campus uses goats to control weeds on their grounds.

All campus community members participating in the U-PASS program receive unlimited public transit passes and discounts on carpool permits and the car-sharing program. Student government runs a nonprofit bike repair shop, and 88 percent of students and 62 percent of employees commute via environmentally preferable means.

The Evergreen State College is ranked number 9 nationally. This non-traditional college breaks the mold in so many ways. Our middle son attended this college to obtain his Bachelor of Science degree and he received graduate level education with exceptional professors.

The Evergreen State College, in Olympia, Washington, aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2020. Though it’s campus is currently one-third coal powered, students pay a self-imposed fee of $1 each academic quarter to buy renewable energy credits to offset the college’s electricity consumption.

Evergreen’s Organic Farm is located on a 5 acre section of campus. The plot includes the farmhouse, Demeter’s Gardens, Community Gardens, the Biodiesel facility, the compost facility, the workroom, tool shed, greenhouses and the 38,000 square foot production area of the Organic Farm.  The Organic Farm crew works all year round to plan, plant, maintain and harvest the various crops grown.  The Compost Facility is used to turn farm waste into compost for fertilizing the production area of the farm.  During the growing season the Organic Farm’s produce is sold at the Organic Farm Stand on Red Square at Evergreen, at The Organic Farm during business hours and through our Community Supported Agriculture Program.  Excess produce and plant starts are donated to the Thurston County Food Bank.

The school has an extensive composting project as well as a comprehensive recycling program.

According to The Evergreen State Paper Policy, it  is committed to using environmentally benign products and technologies whenever possible.

Ride Share and alternative forms of transportation are part of Evergreen’s sustainability. Student fees pay for and allow all students at Evergreen to ride the bus in and around Olympia and Thurston County an unlimited number of times each quarter by showing their student ID. By registering in a database of Evergreen commuters, the ride share program allows students, faculty and staff to match their schedules with people who live close by and facilitates contact to set up new carpools.

Ban the Bottle is a campus-wide initiative to raise awareness in The Evergreen State College community about the negative impacts of plastic bottles on social, environmental and economical health as well as alternative, safer options for drinking water. The long-term goal of this initiative is to discontinue the purchase of plastic bottled water on campus and provide re-useable water canteens and to install bottle fill stations across campus.  Evergreen has switched all of their disposable ware to compostable products. They have also eliminated trays, saving countless gallons of water. The school supports local farmers and producers, using organic whenever possible.

Students can opt to live in the sustainability house,  made up of a community of students committed to a living an environmentally conscious, socially just, and sustainable lifestyle. Residents of the Sustainability House complete 5 hours of sustainability-related service each month to the campus and house community.

The lessons students learn from these sustainable practices will be carried throughout their lives and potentially impact the world.

Seattle Area Real Estate

Eastside Value Buyer’s List

Today I launched a weekly series of MLS searches to discover the best prospects on the Eastside for investors and handy owner occupiers to buy houses at a discount.  This is an amalgamated list of bank owned homes that already appear to be fairly priced, estate sales, out of state owners, listings with data entry errors, houses sitting unsold for an excessively long time – a whole variety of searches I use to find situations with distressed owners.

Learn more here:

Eastside Value Buyer's List

I love Fall. The cooler weather feels so refreshing and everything is so green here in the Pacific Northwest. But it means that the wet, cold winter is not far behind. There is much to do around our homes and gardens to prepare for Winter, and this year is suppose to be colder and wetter than normal.

Here are some tips for this month to get ready:

In The Garden:

• Clean up and winterize
• Prune fruit trees
• Divide and add new perennials and prune back existing ones
• Plant ground covers, shrubs and trees
• Choose and plant crocus, daffodil, and tulip bulbs
• Transplant from now through March
• Rake leaves. If the leaves are clean and free of disease like powdery mildew, they can be used as mulch around plants like roses and tender perennials.

Fruits and Veggies:

• Compost garden wastes as you tidy for Winter
• Sow a green manure crop such as crimson clover, vetch, or field peas, in empty spaces. When plowed under next Spring, it will suppress weeds and add nitrogen and organic matter to the soil.

For The Lawn:

• Thatch, aerate and install sod.
• If your lawn was planted with very little organic matter, top-dress with a light layer of compost.
• Turn off irrigation system.

Around The House:

• Winterize fountains and water features.
•  Bring in the indoor plants that have summered outside. Groom and check for unwanted pests. Stop fertilizing for the coming winter months.
• Sharpen shovels and tools. It’s a great planting month!
• Start decorating for Halloween. Boo! Carve those pumpkins.
• Warm up your home with cozy throws, glowing candles, and other autumn decor.
• Mix up a pot of your favorite chili or soup and invite friends or family over for an impromptu dinner.
• Keep an extra Soggy Dog towel on the back step to wipe those wet paws.

Click here for additional gardening tips from Washington State University Cooperative Extension publication “The Gardener”.

Seattle Area Real Estate

Bellevue View Home

In the hills of South Bellevue nearby to where I live, I recently found this Bellevue view home with many attractive features:

• A great view of trees and greenery with the mountains in the distance.
• An oversized master suite with with room for an office or TV/entertainment area besides the bedroom furniture.
• Beautiful, many-tiered decks for entertaining in the back yard.

And much else besides: new kitchen appliances, upgraded windows, etc.  Overall the house is in very fine condition.  It is currently set up for 3 bedrooms with office and workshop space, but could be converted to 5.

Learn more about this Bellevue View Home (see full photo album with 122 images).

Low Maintenance Back Yard in Bellevue