Home Buying Should I Jump In or Wait? Is this a good time to be a Buyer? YES, we feel it is. Why do we say that? Because inventory is twice as high as it was a year ago and there are fewer buyers at this time of year. You have a much better chance of negotiating a good price and potentially better […]
Marketing your home Is This April? If you check the calendar, it says January 10th, but it sure doesn’t feel like it! For a gardener like me, this is like being offered a German Chocolate Cake when you’re on a KETO diet! It took all my self-control to keep from running out there and planting seeds. Many years in the Pacific […]
Island Living Sunday Musings…. If trees could talk, what would they say? I often wonder that when I’m out on my walk and see them looking at me. Do they enjoy watching us live our lives in their midst? Do they fear our interference? Are they pleased to sacrifice themselves so we can build homes that we love?   […]
Island Living ISLAND CARS Island Cars-The ultimate in Re-purposing and Recycling When visiting the islands, it’s easy to differentiate between the locals and the vacationers by their cars. Locals have an “island car” and part-timers have those pretty SUVs that are clean and don’t have a scratch on them. An island car is a vehicle that someone probably bought […]
Island Living I Love the Water Taxis When I started real estate in 1988, we only had small planes to provide us with transportation between the islands. San Juan Airlines was very busy and provided great service! In the early 1990’s, we got the Can Do….a small 6 passenger boat operating out of Anacortes once or twice a day, weather dependent. Now, […]
Island Living Coastal Grandma  I’ve just found out I’m a “coastal grandma”!  Who knew such a thing exists? My kids announced to me last weekend, that I was doing it… Yep, it seems that the style icons have come up with a new label and decorative style called the “Coastal Grandma Style.” I find it hilarious to think that […]
Horse Properties Horse Heaven As I sit here and look over my pastures to my three horses happily grazing, I’m thinking that this place is “horse heaven”! The islands have such amazing locations for horses and humans alike! Beautiful vistas, gentle rolling terrain, quiet tree-lined roads and photo opportunities everywhere you look…. When I moved from Portland, OR to […]
Home Buying Double the Service I am so excited to announce that my daughter, Morgan, is joining me in my real estate business! Early on, I was impressed by how much Morgan seemed to enjoy real estate. Regularly monitoring the market to question me about new listings and bringing special properties to my attention, she was a real estate “shopaholic” […]
Don't Miss Our Next Post
Subscribe Now
Island Living Getting Ready for Spring I don’t know about you but all I need is a few days of sun this time of year to get my “gardening juices” start to flow… I’ve decided to share a little bit about what I’ll be doing in my garden to get ready for Spring so…. here are this week’s goals: Starting some […]
Island Living Modular/Prefab Construction for Island Properties   One of the things that seems most daunting to buyers of unimproved properties in the islands is trying to envision the actual building process. How long will it take? Who does that kind of work in the islands? Is it going to cost me a lot? What is the permit process? Where do I […]
Island Living New Teacher for Decatur Island School Our little island school does an incredible job educating the children who are fortunate to live here. In the 30 plus years that I’ve been here, we’ve had four wonderful teachers, who’ve each brought their own brand of wisdom, special skill set and energy to our school, in addition to teaching the 3 Rs. Karen […]
Uncategorized San Juan County Real Estate Market Last April I wrote a blog giving my prediction for what might happen post-Covid. Little did I (or anyone else) know that we would still be dealing with the pandemic nine months later. In no way could I have predicted the incredible changes to the real estate market this virus has caused. To give you […]
Island Living A Beautiful Day Visiting the Wildflowers on Decatur Island May has brought some spectacular weather and Mother’s Day was the perfect day to go kayaking down to the Kimball Preserve at the tip of Decatur Island. We’d been told that the wildflowers were in full bloom so we went down to see them ourselves….and they did not disappoint! I’m not a skilled kayaker so I […]
Island Living COVID-19 Impact on Real Estate in the islands How will COVID-19 impact our island real estate market? I get asked this question almost every day…. My gut is telling me that when this unique emergency situation passes, our real estate market is going to normalize and may very possibly improve. As people are stuck in the city under quarantine, I imagine some of […]
Home Buying How Can I Finance Vacant Land?   I remember the first piece of vacant land that I bought. It was 30 years ago and the price was $21,000 (a lot in those days) and we asked the seller to finance it for us with a Deed of Trust. Back then, interest rates were hovering around 15% and I think we got […]
Home Buying Market Trends in Anacortes If you’re shopping for property in Anacortes, it’s really helpful to know whether you’re dealing with a “Buyers Market” or a “Sellers Market”.  The way this is determined is by looking at the number of sales during a specific period, relative to the number of listings and seeing how many months of inventory there is […]
Home Buying Buying Your First Home – Step 2 Getting a Loan When it comes to getting a loan, there are a number of loan programs available, so you need a really good mortgage broker to help you find the best one for you. Often first-time home buyers go on the internet and find what looks like the best interest rate and plan to get their loan […]
Home Buying Buying Your First Home – Step 1 Making the Offer Recently my daughter entered into a purchase agreement for her first home, and I was reminded of how confusing buying your first home can be. We were texting or on the phone almost daily as she struggled to navigate the process. Even with an agent she liked and trusted, she was totally overwhelmed. If you […]
Marketing your home First Impressions – Tip for Marketing Your Home #2 I know you’ve heard it said many times….”Curb Appeal”. What does this really mean and how can you improve it when it comes to preparing your home for sale? The first thing I’d recommend you do is to get in your car and drive around your neighborhood and look at other  homes. How do they […]
Marketing your home I don’t stink!….Tips for Marketing Your Home #1 You’ve decided to sell your home and plan to put it on the market in the spring….what can you do between now and then to increase its marketability? In today’s busy market, sellers might be tempted to relax when it comes to preparing their home for buyers. I often have to remind them that its like […]