ARDELL's Seattle Area Real Estate Blog

A special warning to real estate agents and consumers that lead is not only in "lead based paint".  Many old claw footed tubs are made of lead, and if the seal is broken the lead can bleed into the water. This is SO very important as there is a recent case of a home NOT built before 1978 that ha...

Go outside and take a look at your mailbox.  I was taking a walk through the neighborhood yesterday and it seemed the further away the mailbox is from someone's house, the less they care for it. Individual mailboxes are often replaced by banks of mailboxes grouped together.  Yes, this does make ...

I've always liked boxwoods, and while walking home this afternoon in my town of Kirkland WA, I saw this very boxlike boxwood.  I just love the idea of being able to form shaped hedges.  I think I've liked the idea since I visited Versailles.  What magnificent shaped gardens they have. I have a "...

  This is the "house" a couple of houses down and across the street from me in Kirkland, Washington.  If you look closely, you will see a cave opening shaped whole in those bushes.  Everyone once in a while a beat up red car comes in and out of there. I once heard someone joking that it was Kirk...

This question is one we all answer for ourselves from time to time.  The reason I am writing this post today is because the market has changed.  In a hot market, which office doesn't matter all that much to your clients.  But in a weaker market, which office could impact your clients more and mor...

Regardless of political bent, one cannot help but feel the Liberty our Country enjoys at great cost, exemplified in this Presidential Election. If a TV show tried to line up the diaz with the diversity we see in this election in high places, the critics would condemn it as not plausible.  I am pr...

You all have a decision to make today.  Those of you who work in a Fiduciary Capacity have an obligation to consider most issues from a selfless standpoint, first and foremost. In that regard, there is only one right answer.  What is best for your clients?  We are human.  Our first thoughts may l...

Two young ladies of Active Rain who are both near and dear to me, posted the cookie thief poem recently and back to back. The real Title to this post should be "When Two Rights Make a Wrong". As Jesus often did, I will convey my message in parable fashion. When I was a young mother, I had a few p...

Here in the Seattle Area, inventory is not increasing. The number of new listings coming on market is slowing down. People who normally wait until almost Thanksgiving to pull off market, are coming off early and staying in their homes or renting them out. Sales are continuing at about the same re...

Getting to the end of escrow is getting tougher and tougher.  I have a closing today that seems to teeter back and forth up to the very end. I keep thinking about the phrase: IT AIN'T OVER TILL THE FAT LADY SINGS! Maybe that's because I'm originally from Philly and the saying seems to refer to Ka...