Heaven knows my husband would LOVE this sign hanging in front of our house.....yes even the paycheck part!  Unfortunately for him, it hangs beneath the shingle in front of another house in Maple Valley, and likely won't grace our abode for many years to come, if ever! In the words of "A person can stand almost anything except a succession of ordinary days." -Johann Wolfegan Von Goethe As a real estate broker helping buyer and sellers throughout King and North Pierce Counties, I'm fortunate to love what I do every day. For me, especially over the last 5 years, there are no "ordinary" days.   10/25/2012

Take a good look at this craftsman 3 bedroom home for sale in Renton, Washington! Designed and constructed with only the kind of care and charm that could be found back in the 1920s, it projects a timeless image of the iconic family home, along with a nod to vintage cool. The classic façade of the 3 bedroom home for sale presents an almost storybook charm, with its enormous redwood fence, enticing redwood entry and well-trimmed green hedgerows all along the sidewalk. A roomy front yard and abundant, mature trees plus other landscaping wrap around this family-friendly 3 bedroom home for sale in Renton, Washington. It has a big front porch, fully covered, that simply dares you and yours to spend an afternoon there relaxing in your very own, very private garden space. Painted white, with ... 10/24/2012

Here’s the productive, amazingly affordable rental property you’ve been looking for! This lovely 3 bedroom home for sale in Petrovitsky, Renton, WA is situated on a lot that offers a whopping 30,000+ square feet (nearly 70 acres) on which to build your dreams. It has sufficient room for eleven townhomes and is situated in an R-14 zone, perfect for a small business or strictly a rental income investment. The 3 bedroom home for sale, as it currently stands, already has several charming buildings on the lavish grounds and is situated on a busy street near two shopping centers, giving it lots of potential for the savvy buyer. Tons of shops, restaurants, and services dot the neighborhood around this 3 bedroom home for sale, and Petrovitsky Road is one of the main thoroughfares in the Cascad... 10/24/2012

The Cedar River starts high in the Cascade Mountains near Yakima Pass. It’s pristine snow pack waters are stored in Chester Morris Lake above Landsburg and continues down the western slopes to Maple Valley then heads northwest several miles through downtown Renton into the southern end of Lake Washington. About 45 miles altogether. It’s been Seattle’s (and Renton’s) primary water supply since 1901. The watershed is a beautiful high mountain 91,400 acres of protected land owned by the City of Seattle. There’s a lot of fascinating history about this little river and the changes put upon her by our pioneers. Today I celebrate its wonder. I love to (and don’t often enough) go for walks through town and catch the trail to the Lake. When I was a kid, before the park, I went fishing here with ... 10/23/2012

What's a Halloween without a Jack O Lantern! This one was sculpted from soldered tin sheets. I discovered it at the Puyallup Fair back in September of 2010. Later, I couldn't resist and had to play with it and turn the photo into a digital painting. Yesterday and today were such typical Pacific Northwest days. We had everything from fog, wind, rain, sun, a little warmth, moody skies, light and dark clouds moving across the sky in different directions. All indicators of where we're headed, for winter! I love the energy you feel on days like today. You never know from any one moment to the next what's going to happen. I enjoyed a few trips out to run errands this weekend, and of course, work today, it's Monday! But now it's such a comfort to be home gazing out at the trees swaying in the ... 10/22/2012

Thanks to the folks at copyblogger for this great infographic.  Times have changed from the rotary phone party lines of my childhood.     Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger. 10/22/2012

You will find yourself truly inspired by this beautiful 3 bedroom home for sale in Renton, WA. It is strategically located in the Maple Ridge Estates near Fairwood. This 3 bedroom home for sale in wonderful Renton showcases many unique qualities that you will immediately adore, such as the magnificent cathedral ceilings and custom skylights that flood this divine 3 bedroom home for sale with light and an airy sense of welcome.  The hardwood floor entry lends a solid sense of style and elegance to this fantastic 3 bedroom home for sale in Renton, WA. The house also features magnificent architectural add-ons such as the recessed bedroom ceilings, designer niches and nooks, open stairway, and balconies. This lovely 3 bedroom home for sale has a glorious kitchen that is equipped with new q... 10/16/2012

I was at the Seattle Center the other day with my good friend Dave. We enjoyed a beautiful afternoon conversing about life, the universe, and pretty much everything under the sky. My mind's been all over the map lately and I choose to blame it on the unseasonably good weather and not anything or anyone in particular. Yet some good fellowship and the rain returned to the Pacific Northwest and I'm back in sync with my environment. I've been stressed, “Why is it I'm so totally tuning out politics?” Well, for one, both sides of the 'race for president' equation are (amongst many things) supposedly using social media. I say not. They’re both abusing it and totally about push and not at all about attraction, which in my humble opinion still rules. (Welcome to our times!) Both sides are forget... 10/14/2012

I’m getting hit with all this 50 year anniversary stuff lately. I think I need to buy lotto tickets and use some of these dates as numbers to play. Today is the day after that famous Columbus Day Storm of 1962, so sorry, I know, old news. I was 12 years old then and I still remember quite a lot about that day. It was a Friday. I remember being in the backyard watching the trees sway back and forth listening to the wind howl. We were fortunate and a little protected because our home was towards the bottom of the hill in Earlington, yet our garage got hit pretty hard and so did the back fence and a few trees. Fortunately, the damage in our neighborhood was minimal. The plan was to go to the Renton High School Football game that night, but that didn't happen. The winds grew worse and all a... 10/13/2012

Interesting Info that I found from my favorite lenders, Team Evergreen@Evergreen Home Loans.   How fast does a year go?....pretty darn fast.  Speaking of numbers....today is 10/11/12. We'll only experience another date like this one more time in our lives; on 11/12/13.    CREDIT: The average credit score on new loans closed in August 2012 was 750, nine points higher than August 2011...  Only 22% of consumers have credit scores over 749, getting them the best pricing on a loan.  Remember that generally, banks can finance buyers with FICO scores in the 640+ range (some exceptions allow us to go lower).   DOWN PAYMENTS: Back in 2005, the median down payment for American borrowers was a mere 2%, AND 43% of borrowers put down nothing at all.  Compared to today's average of 21% down payment. ... 10/11/2012

I'm proud of yet another cool project that Renton has helped to make a reality in the Puget Sound region. So many good things to come out of this project, part of which includes cleaning up a salmon stream to try and help bring back our local stocks to sustainable numbers and connecting to the foothills trail system. You can read all about the project at this link from Renton Patch. What I love about living in this city is that we have a diverse community that is constantly striving to improve itself with thoughtful projects. Helping to redeem waterways that salmon use to spawn is a great thing and the use of permeable sidewalk material helps to dampen pollution/runoff. Taking an old industrial site and turning it into a greenway with use for the public is fantastic and connecting it to... 10/11/2012

Do you remember finger painting as a child? I used to love the promise of a blank piece of paper and the challenge of creating something pretty....well, pretty as defined by a 5 year old! Fast forward 40+ years and it seems I can still be moved by fingerpainting. About 18 months ago, with Residential real estate still in the gutter, I found myself wrestling with some pretty tough business decisions revolving around risk and reward. I vacillated for several months until I met the amazingly talented, Iris Scott, through a mutual friend's Facebook Page. Iris is an artist. She is a WSU Grad and lives in Covington. What's more intriguing is that she is a finger painting artist. Watching Iris's video showing her creating the super popular "Shaking off the Blues" canvas was literally the tipp... 10/08/2012

I woke up early this morning. No idea why. It’s Saturday and that’s a couple 2 or 3 extra taps on the snooze button. Yet I’m up, coffee’s on and I’m looking through pictures on my PC. “Man... did I take a lot of photos or what this summer!” And I hardly used any of them. In fact, I’m just discovering a bunch I totally forgot about. As any blogger worth half his salt, I have a hunter’s eye. I’m always keen on the lookout for prey. (I mean subjects.) Nothing tells (or enhances) a story like a great picture. I love today’s parlance, “A picture’s worth 50,000 words!” Did you know we spend about 70% of our eye time on the page looking at the photos. After the visuals we scan the text (just give me the bullets), then look back to the images. If our interest was captured, read on. Yet, most of... 10/06/2012

I was late getting home last Friday night so I did the quick and scramble to tidy up, run the dishwasher, get dinner started, and take out the garbage. A busy week, across the finish line, and “Yay” I’m home. I’m working on a couple of music pieces, so while my little chuck roast and veggies need an hour in the oven I sit at my piano with a lovely glass of red and play through a few of the sketches. Nothing heavy tonight, just enjoying a Friday night looking forward to Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) at 8:00, followed by a double feature of Inspector Morse (John Thaw). I’m in Heaven! (I know what you’re thinking, that René sure lives one exciting life!) It's true. Then ding goes the oven timer, then a startling blast from the tsunami alarm (the ear shattering obnoxiously loud clothes dry... 10/04/2012

I am very excited about the news that Renton is hosting its 1st ever Oktoberfest this weekend, Sept 28-30th!!!  I've been a fan of the one in Fremont for 2 decades now, but this will be so nice to have one closer to my current home in the Talbot Hill area of Renton. Groupon has a discount option for anyone interested in going too, so you can't beat the deal!   09/27/2012

Yesterday I stopped by the Renton Farmers Market to stock up on fresh produce and to say goodbye to many vendors and acquaintances for the season. This was the last market of the year and you couldn’t have picked a more beautiful evening for the occasion. I was running late with traffic and trying to find a parking place, so I didn't arrive until a little after 6:00 pm. As I got out of my truck a few blocks away I could hear the music bouncing around in between the buildings. The sidewalks downtown were full of people coming and going. Those leaving were walking away with big bouquets of colorful flowers. The others, like myself, had a little urgency in their step. It was like we all got the text message at the same time. "The market closes at 7:00 so you better get to it if you don’t w... 09/26/2012

A point we shouldn't overlook online as marketers who blog as our primary strategy is understanding we live in a culture of searchers. As in the most ancient of times, or like the most modern of times, regardless of what we’re looking for, it's very likely these days we'll start with Google (or another search engine) to find it. This shared experience didn’t always exist. It evolved rather rapidly over the last decade. In the U.S. alone over 77% of us use the internet and we all use search, even those who admit they are challenged by technology. Yet the mindset of many online marketers doesn't get the fact yet that the audience we try to attract is already out there looking. It’s not like John Wayne, as Ethan Edwards, in the classic western movie The Searchers, who's wandering the Texa... 09/18/2012

Renton Farmers Market 2012 It's been a wonderful Summer this year at the Renton Farmer's Market on the Piazza in downtown Renton. This year I planned my grocery shopping around Tuesday's to get my fresh veggies, fruit, flowers, and herbs. I took the time to enjoy the food, mingle and talk, and to enjoy the live music. I've had great conversations with growers about their methods. I met people like Anne Boyington of Trevani Truffles and talked about chocolate making and met old friends like John Giuliani who plays accordion and stand up bass. Of course we chatted about music and Renton old timers. We both grew up here. I enjoy the diversity of people and stopping here every Tuesday gave me several reassurances about life. We all have something in common... The simple joys of a summer aft... 09/14/2012

  Where Is Your Toilet Today? Renton Bank Owned Homes   We find the most amazing things when we go out to Renton bank owned homes. Jim Burton, owner of Better Properties Real Estate Kent WA, had occasion recently to be in a Renton foreclosed home. It had recently been vacated by a family which included a toddler and an infant. The home was infested with FLEAS!! To the point that Jim was getting bitten after only a few minutes in the home and had to go home and shower immediately upon exiting.     While we often find filthy conditions which most of us would deem unlivable, we also find some funny things and some sad situations. Funny would definitely be the look on our faces when we walked into a home recently that housed a full blown Marijuana grow operation. Very sad were our hearts fo... 09/13/2012

We are successfully completing Renton Short Sales and it seems the process becomes more and more cumbersome. Second mortgages, Mortgage Insurance, missing spouses on title, liens on title are just a few of the items that we deal with when we sell your home. I saw this great video from NASA which highlights all the steps and process of successfully landing a vehicle on Mars. My first thought was .... hmmmmmm .... same as today's short sale.   Hope you enjoyed the video and when you need information on selling your Renton home short or the process of buying a short sale, call a top Renton Realtor. You wouldn't hire an inexperienced rookie to send your family to Mars, so please don't hire an inexperienced agent to sell your house. Working with investors and banks to release the monetary de... 09/09/2012