Little Free Libraries ----- "Take a Book.  Return a Book."    Have you been lucky enough to find one in your neighborhood?      LittleFreeLibrary.org is home for all things related to these doll house sized libraries from their beginnings to their blog. Their existence has spread rapidly and they even have a facebook page you can't help but "like"!   In Spokane Little Free Libraries are popping up everywhere. You can't miss these little gems packed with books and colorfully decorated so you can easily find them curbside on city streets. The images shown here are near Spokane's Cannon Hill Park on the southhill. I count 19 in Spokane and 3 in Spokane Valley.    And in case you are thinking they are only in the United States, the Little Free Libary Index  will show you their locations wor... 06/24/2014

Carbon monoxide, the silent killer.  Do you have a CO detector in your Spokane WA home? The chemical symbol  for carbon monoxide is CO. The chemical nickname is "silent killer" and it is odorless, colorless and tasteless. A CO detector is an alert system (similar but different from a smoke alarm) which warns you about the presence of carbon monoxide should it reach a dangerous level.    Don't confuse smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms -- they warn you of different dangers with audible alerts.  One isn't better than the other and they don't overlap in terms of performance.  Every home should have both. There are combination models, but you should be aware that CO gas travels low on the floor, and smoke alarms should be placed on the ceiling. In Washington state as of January 1, 2013... 06/20/2014

Video is the best tool for marketing your business. With more than 300 videos over the last few years, I know something about this. Even if you just want to promote a listing you have, or a facet of your business. You don’t have to have a great video set up. Most smart phones have great video. The iPhone has additional lenses you can add, like the Olloclip for wide angle. You can download intros and footage free at places like XStockVideo.com. Here are19 Websites To Download Free Stock Video  Intros & Footage. Even if you don’t get many views, it lends credibility to your expertise and business. Plus, if you are having trouble getting your product on page 1 of Google, this often works and even beats out the long-term competition. No wonder Google paid $1.65 billion for YouTube. For inst... 06/01/2014

Just sharing this online tidbit about how much there is to do, and how beautiful Lake Coeur d'Alene is: Travel Spotlight on Coeur d’Alene and Its 17 Best Attractions To follow my blog for Northwest Office Technologies and the Spokane/CdA area, visit my blog  Aurores Boréales by Gary Lirette 05/31/2014

Spokane Baby Boomers Savings Last Longer with a Reverse Mortgage Why? How? When you retire with a home mortgage you are committed to making monthly payments on your home loan.  Typically, a retiree's income is reduced when the transition from employed to retired occurs and unfortunately a mortgage payment is the largest single obligation in the budget. Too many folks are retiring with mortgage debt.  Just imagine what you could do with the money you will save when the monthly mortgage payment is reduced to just homeowner's taxes and insurance.*  What could you do with the extra cash?  Anything you want of course and there is a whole laundry list of ideas......travel, remodel the bathroom, etc.....but the best thing that can occur is making your savings and investments last longer. Finan... 05/30/2014

Spokane Lilac Parade Saturday, May 17th at 7:45 PM    For parade route information visit www.spokanelilacfestival.org    Downtown streets from Lincoln to Bernard and from Boone to 2nd will close around 4 pm on Parade Night. The Spokane tradition of "honoring our military, recognizing our youth, and showcasing our community" continues.  05/16/2014

Is Spokane, Washington a top place to retire?  More than 10,000 people per day are entering the baby boomer classification and thoughts of retirement and relocation begin to occupy more of their time.  They want to make decisions before health and money issues prevent them from making those choices.     According to one source, Grandparents.com, affordability is an important criteria and Ellen Breslau, editor-in-chief, announced in a recent press release, “We’ve found that when it comes to retirement, people want the whole package:  places that are beautiful, cultural, the living is easy and their nest egg won’t get tapped out.”  Six cities were selected as most affordable places to retire. They include Spokane.  There may be more “fun” places to retire than the six in the “affordable” ... 05/13/2014

 This listing sold in less than a week.  This is powerful stuff!     Since day one in the business, I have been an actively involved with my office Ninja Sales group.  Last year I was formally installed as a Ninja agent and have a commencement certificate.  In a nut shell, Ninja is about being focused on Client needs rather than our own.  It's about providing more value above and beyond what we get in return.  It's about cooperating and helping others.  Self improvement is also a big component as well as building stronger friendships and relationships. At a recent Ninja meeting we began discussing ways to improve our listings and help property get sold.  One way is to improve the access of information.  When we are out showing houses, buyers often ask questions that we can not often rea... 04/24/2014

Reverse Mortgage Purchase in Spokane: A strategy for home buyers 62 or older to preserve assets.  You have probably heard that cash is kingso leaving pension, retirement funds, 401K's or other assets undisturbed avoids compromising your investments and derailing your financial goals. A plan worth considering, if and when you are ready to sell your current home, is a reverse mortgage on your next home.    With a HECM loan you don't have to dig into your nest egg for future mortgage payments.   All or part of the proceeds from the sale of a current home are used for the down payment on the next home.  The remaining proceeds, if any, are safely deposited in a credit union or bank. Or, the funds can be used to pay down the open-ended reverse mortgage while leaving open the ability to borrow... 04/22/2014

Quality Spokane South Hill homes, perfect for HECM purchasers age 62, are at Stone Crest PUD.   Folks considering a home purchase for the next phase of their lives should tour Stone Crest PUD. Although it is not marketed as a 55 and over development, my guess is that most current homeowners are empty nesters.  Baby Boomers who want “new” will find all the features like low maintenance and great open floor plans that are popular in today’s modern homes.    I frequently stroll by to see the progress at Stone Crest PUD.    New homes are springing up  --  the pace has picked up remarkably.  A couple of features that attract me, and probably other baby boomers, are the terrific location, the quality construction and the friendly feel of the development.  A feature of a PUD always includes an... 04/15/2014

BethAnn Long, Spokane Realtor Joins RE/MAX Inland Empire! On April 1st 2014 I joined the RE/MAX Inland Empire team! I am really looking forward to what RE/MAX has to offer my business and clients. "Up, Up and away in my beautiful Balloon!" Well some people love the balloon and some don't, but the whole world knows the RE/MAX logo. I have enjoyed working with home buyers and sellers in Spokane WA for nearly 10 years. I truly love what I do. The Spring 2014 Real Estate Market in Spokane WA is shaping up to be healthy and strong. Now is a great time to consider selling your Spokane home! And we know for sure, prices are still great as are interest rates, so it is a historically great time to buy a home in Spokane WA.     04/05/2014

Yesterday, I wrote about six-gun wielding baristas dishing out shots of espresso along with some good ol' western, frontier style justice... some hot coffee or some hot lead! As I was writing the post, it occurred to me that this is only the latest story in the bizarre Spokane coffee scene. It started several months ago with another local coffee stand in Spokane. They started getting a lot of press because certain groups in town were up in arms (no reference to the guns blazing out the drive thru window of Jitterz Java) over the baristas wearing nothing but bikinis. Once the bad press started heating up, the baristas upped the ante by changing their atire to lingerie instead og bikinis (well played ladies, that should quell the resistance). Imagine my surprise when the people protesting... 03/20/2014

Coffee loving residents of Spokane have been put on notice! If you want a cuppa java in the morning, you better wait patiently in line, place your order when when the barista tells you to, and then move along peacefully after leaving a large tip. If you follow these simple instructions there should be no reason for the barista to have to bust a cap in yo ass! Jitterz Java, in north Spokane, has been plagued with robberies lately. It's gotten so bad that the owner now has the baristas carrying sidearms while at work. I don't know if I have a problem with this or not really, I am a firm believer and staunch supporter of the second amendment but at the same time I am a fan of common sense. If you are going to carry a loaded firearm, you better be proficient in using it. How much time are t... 03/19/2014

Feb. 21-March 2nd 2014 is the Inlander Restaurant Week in Spokane WA! Who doesn't love a great deal on dinner out? Attention foodies! This is your week to splurge and find new places to dine out, old places to frequent and as Winter in Spokane comes to a welcome close, enjoy friends and family for a memorable meal! Some fantastic deals on 3 course dinners and more! Chose from several location, and match your budget to an 18$ or 28$ meal while trying someplace new this year!  Here is the link with the deatails: http://www.restaurantweekspokane.com/     BON APPATIT! Let me know what your tried and how you liked it! :) BethAnn in Spokane 02/22/2014

The second week of February was pretty uneventful for the Five Mile neighborhood of north Spokane. The only home, at this point, recorded as sold is a new construction home which has not been built yet. There were 4 homes listed, 3 of which are new listing and one of which had previously been listed and then spent a couple of weeks off market before coming back on with a new listing agent. If you would like to read the rest of the article, you can find it here real-estate-spokane.com 02/17/2014

This article was written and originally published on:Real-Estate-Spokane.com $2.3 Million dollars worth of homes sold in the Five Mile Prairie area of North Spokane in January of 2014. Individual home prices ranged from $175,000 on the low end up to $320,000 on the high end. 10 homes were included in January's sales and all were relatively new houses, the oldest of which was built in 2000. In fact, six of them were brand new having been built in 2013 and 2014, which is very good news for our local Spokane homebuilders... read the rest of the article   02/16/2014

I hope all of my fellow ActiveRainers had a wonderful of a Valentine's Day as Laura and I did. I just thought I would share our wonderful evening with everybody, and would love to hear how you celebrated the night! Since Laura is British, you know we had to start off with some booze. We went to a cool little martini bar in downtown Spokane called Bistango Martini Lounge. After cocktails we went to see Jack Ryan at the River Park Square movie theater about a block away from the bar. The movie was great. I am a huge Tom Clancy fan and Jack Ryan is my all-time favorite character. I highly recommend this movie, action packed from start to finish and you just never take your eyes off the screen. After the movie, we went to dinner. Spencer's for Steaks and Chops has some of the very best stea... 02/15/2014

Once in a while, the fairly insignificant little city I live in, Spokane Washington, manages to hurl itself into the headlines and secure a high ranking spot in the WTF Hall Of Fame. Thanks to a couple of morons, I mean local business owners who just opened a daiquiri bar, Spokane is making a run for the WTF World Championship, battling it out with Sochi. It seems as though it seemed like a good idea to these two idiots to name one of their drink Date Grape Koolaid. Well the backlash has been huge, hitting the New York Daily News, national news broadcasts and getting the attention of bloggers all around the world. There is even a Boycott Spokane Downtown Daiquiri Factory page on Facebook, which I invite you all to like, just to help make the point. The owners have been asked to change t... 02/05/2014

This past Fall, Spokane's Centennial Trail opened up another portion of paved "trail only" through the new Kendall Yards development in the up and coming West Central neighborhood.  Even with the Winter snow, it is clear and open for people to use the trail for a nice afternoon walk, a morning jog, or just a moment to gaze out at the gorgeous views of Downtown and the Spokane River. Kendall Yards is located just North of the Spokane River and Downtown Spokane.  This stretch of the trail connects to Riverfront Park and Downtown to the East, and West, North West to Riverside State Park and Northwest Spokane.  The development features beautiful new condos of various sizes and styles, as well as new homes and a variety of shops and restaurants.      02/04/2014

The first of three new restaurants to open in the exciting new spot for great eats, otherwise known as Kendall Yards in Downtown Spokane, The Yards Bruncheon will feature both breakfast and lunch every day.  I took these photos in mid January, and it's expected to open in early February. It will be the first of two to open by Adam Hegsted of the Couerd'Alene Casino.  I met Adam recently at Roast House Coffee during the banquet at Roast House.  Adam and his crew were there with a bunch of wonderful treats, and if that was any indication of the delicious delights soon to be available by these folks at Kendall Yards, then I'm a customer already!  I should have guessed, but just found out that Roast House will be the coffee served at Adam's restaurants. Veraci Pizza, coming soon featuring P... 02/04/2014