More • June 8, 2015

June Perspectives

by Jill Jacobi Wood, OB Jacobi & Geoff Wood

Many years ago we realized that we have a responsibility that goes way beyond helping people buy and sell homes. We too are home owners. We too have kids. We too want safe, vibrant and livable neighborhoods. Because of that we have committed to helping create and maintain communities that are thriving and interesting places to be. One way we do this is through our annual Community Service Day.

For the past 31 years, Windermere offices have closed their doors for one day to give back to the communities that have given so much to us. The types of projects our offices take on vary from cleaning up parks and community centers to feeding the hungry. For example, one of our Bellevue area offices spends every Community Service Day at Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center, an organization that provides equine therapy to children and adults with disabilities. Like many non-profits, Little Bit is short staffed and heavily reliant upon volunteers to help care for their 18 acre property. So last Friday, our team was there washing fences, weeding, and clearing out paddocks to help keep Little Bit’s facility in prime condition for its patients.

On that same day, you could find a team of Windermere volunteers at Mary’s Place, an organization that provides food, shelter, and resources to homeless families. For the second year in a row, this group spent the day prepping meals, sorting through donations, and deep cleaning the shelter. Mary’s Place tells us that having the Windermere team there makes the families who use this facility feel loved and valued.

If you live in the area, you’ve probably heard of Camp Korey. It’s an amazing organization that provides recreational programs for children with serious medical conditions. For several years, a team of Windermere volunteers have spent Community Service Day cleaning the grounds, painting, gardening, and prepping for incoming campers. The group loves knowing that they’re making a positive impact on the brave children who visit Camp Korey.

We’re so proud of our team and the selfless role they play in their communities. We might be the leadership of this company, but it’s our agents who are the true leaders, proving time and time again that service to others is not something you do, it is who you are.

More • June 5, 2015

Community Service Day 2015

by Windermere Staff

Today you may notice your local Windermere office is closed, or it may take a little bit longer for your Windermere agent to get back to you. But we promise it’s for a very good reason: today is Windermere Community Service Day. Since 1984, our agents have taken one day a year off to dig into hands-on community service projects throughout the Western U.S. On this day, you’ll find our teams doing a variety of projects, such as cleaning, landscaping, and painting at local senior citizens centers, facilities for homeless children and adults, public parks and schools, low income housing, and emergency shelters, among others.

Follow what our offices are doing on Community Service Day on Facebook! You can also vote for your favorite Community Service Day photos in our #CommunityServiceDay2015 photo contest. The photo with the most votes will receive a $2,000 donation for the Windermere Foundation charity of their choice. Go here to vote: http://bit.ly/19ZHj8h. We encourage you to “like” our Facebook page, follow the Community Service Day projects, and vote your favorite Community Service Day photos!

A big thank you to all of our Windermere Real Estate offices for the amazing work they do. Community Service Day is an important part of what makes Windermere the place it is, and we appreciate everything they do to make our communities a little better.

Community Service Day Projects:

Office Name	State	Organization	Project
Prescott	AZ	Coalition of Compassion & Justice	Baby drive: collect and deliver diapers and wipes for local families.
Prescott Valley	AZ	Coalition of Compassion & Justice	Baby drive: collect and deliver diapers and wipes for local families.
Scottsdale	AZ	Coalition of Compassion & Justice	Baby drive: collect and deliver diapers and wipes for local families.
Brentwood	CA	Food bank of Contra Costa County	Food drive
Clayton	CA	Food bank of Contra Costa County	Food drive
Del Mar	CA	Support the Enlisted Program (STEP)	Raised money, providing resources and donations to Military families
El Sobrante	CA	Boys & Girls Club El Sobrante	Painting, cleaning, general maintenance
Fallbrook	CA	Support the Enlisted Program (STEP)	Raised money, providing resources and donations to Military families
La Jolla	CA	Support the Enlisted Program (STEP)	Raised money, providing resources and donations to Military families
Rancho Bernardo	CA	Support the Enlisted Program (STEP)	Raised money, providing resources and donations to Military families
Santaluz	CA	Support the Enlisted Program (STEP)	Raised money, providing resources and donations to Military families
South Carlsbad- Aviara	CA	Support the Enlisted Program (STEP)	Raised money, providing resources and donations to Military families
Fort Collins	CO	Homeless Gear	Collect and distribute outdoor gear for homeless families
Greenwood Village	CO	Colorado Coalition for the Homeless	Support website launch and resource sign up with on-site shelter support
Kona-Big Island	HI	Coalition for Tabaco Free Hawaii/ Surf riders	Spencer Beach (Kauai High) clean up.
Waimea-Big Island	HI	Coalition for Tabaco Free Hawaii/ Surf riders	Spencer Beach (Kauai High) clean up.
Boise- Access Realty	ID	Idaho Diaper Bank	Sorting and bundling diapers for local families.
Caldwell	ID	Caldwell Public Library	Interior and exterior maintenance projects.
Coeur d'Alene	ID	The Coeur d'Alene Children's Village	House cleaning, painting, landscaping and other maintenance projects.
Hayden Lake	ID	The Coeur d'Alene Children's Village	House cleaning, painting, landscaping and other maintenance projects.
Lewiston	ID	Christmas in Action	Maintenance on adopted home for a local elderly couple.
Moscow	ID	Palouse Skate Park/Boost Collaborative	Park maintenance
Post Falls	ID	The Coeur d'Alene Children's Village	House cleaning, painting, landscaping and other maintenance projects
Sun Valley – Hailey	ID	Adopt a Highway: Highway 75	Road cleanup
Sun Valley – Ketchum	ID	Adopt a Highway: Highway 76	Road cleanup
Hamilton	MT	Ronald McDonald House	Painting, weeding, carpet cleaning, and general maintenance
Missoula	MT	Ronald McDonald House	Painting, weeding, carpet cleaning, and general maintenance
Henderson- Anthem Hills	NV	Veteran's Village	Facility improvement and maintenance projects, preparing and serving lunch, and hosting a bottled water and socks/underwear drive for residence.
Las Vegas- Summerlin	NV	Veteran's Village	Facility improvement and maintenance projects, preparing and serving lunch, and hosting a bottled water and socks/underwear drive for residence.
Coalville	UT	The Inn Between Transitional Housing	Building a memorial garden, landscaping and general outside maintenance.
Park City	UT	The Inn Between Transitional Housing	Building a memorial garden, landscaping and general outside maintenance.
Park City- Kimball Junction	UT	The Inn Between Transitional Housing	Building a memorial garden, landscaping and general outside maintenance.
Salt Lake City- Sugar House	UT	The Inn Between Transitional Housing	Building a memorial garden, landscaping and general outside maintenance.
Salt Lake City- Union Park	UT	The Inn Between Transitional Housing	Building a memorial garden, landscaping and general outside maintenance.
Branch Support- Stellar	OR	First Emmanuel Lutheran Church	General maintenance projects
Commercial- Lane County	OR	Lane County Grass Roots Garden	General maintenance projects
Commercial- Redmond	OR	Brightside Animal Center Thrift Store	Sorting and selling
Corvallis- Willamette Valley	OR	Corvallis Elks Lodge #1413	Landscaping and outdoor improvement
Eugene	OR	Lane County Grass Roots Garden	Gardening and general maintenance
Eugene North	OR	Lane County Grass Roots Garden	Gardening and general maintenance
Gearhart	OR	Seaside
Hillsboro	OR	Reedville Creek Park	Lawn maintenance
Hood River	OR	Food drive	Companywide food collection and delivery
Lake Oswego	OR	Rolling Hills Community Church	Tualatin School House Pantry
Pacific City	OR	Reedville Creek Park	Lawn maintenance
Portland- Lloyd Tower NE	OR	St. Andrew Nativity School	Landscaping, lawn and other maintenance at
Portland- Moreland	OR	Meyer Boys & Girls Club	Landscaping and general maintenance
Portland NE – 39th	OR	Oregon Humane Society	Support with taking and sorting donations
Portland- NW Johnson	OR	First Emmanuel Lutheran Church	General maintenance projects
Portland- Raleigh Hills	OR	Legacy Hopewell House	Landscape cleanup and gardening
Portland- Sunset Corridor	OR	Reedville Creek Park	Lawn maintenance at
Redmond, OR	OR	Brightside Animal Center Thrift Store	Sorting donations and selling
Salem	OR	YMCA of Marion and Polk Counties	Painting projects
Sandy	OR	Adopt a Highway	Clean up along Highway 26 in Sandy
Scappoose	OR	Public hiking trail clean up	Clearing foliage at trail entry
St. Helens	OR	St. Helens Food bank & dollar store	Loading supplies on a food bank truck & $500 donation to the local Dollar Store
West Linn	OR	West Linn Senior Center	Grounds maintenance
Alderwood	WA	Red Barn Community Farm	Hoeing, planting and building trellises at
Auburn- Lakeland Hills	WA	Child Haven	Landscaping, cleaning and general maintenance projects
Bellevue	WA	Jubilee Reach	General maintenance
Bellevue Commons	WA	Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center	Sprucing up the grounds
Bellevue South	WA	Mamma's Hands/ or House of Hope	General maintenance
Bellevue West	WA	Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue	General maintenance
Bellingham- Bakerview	WA	Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellingham	General maintenance
Bellingham- Fairhaven	WA	Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellingham	General maintenance
Birch Bay- Blaine	WA	Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellingham	General maintenance
Burien	WA	Burien Parks Dept.	Parks cleanup & general maintenance
Camano Island	WA	Community Event	Soap Box Derby on June 20^th
Cathlamet	WA	Lower Columbia CAP	Beautification and cleanup projects
Centralia	WA	Back pack project for local school children	Shopping for school supplies and filling backpacks
Edmonds	WA	Edmonds City Beach	Beach cleanup projects
Entiat	WA	Habitat for Humanity	Building and maintenance projects
Federal Way	WA	Bethel Christian Center	Yard work, road maintenance and building repairs
Federal Way West Campus	WA	Bethel Christian Center	Yard work, road maintenance and building repairs
Gig Harbor- Builder's Choice	WA	Paint Tacoma-Pierce Beautiful	Working on low-income homes
Issaquah	WA	Eastside Baby Corner	Collecting and sorting donations
Kelso/Longview	WA	Lower Columbia CAP/ City of Kelso	Beautification and cleanup projects
Kent	WA	Kent Food Bank	Food and clothing drive
Kirkland-Northeast	WA	Kirkland Hopelink Food Bank	Collecting and sorting donations
Kirkland-Yarrow Bay	WA	Attain Housing in Juanita	Clean and prepare homes for summer residents, storage organization, outdoor and landscaping maintenance including garden donations
Lake Chelan	WA	Helping out at a local Habitat for Humanity site	Building and maintenance projects
Lynnwood	WA	Casino Road Ministries	Landscaping, painting and general maintenance projects
Maple Valley	WA	Maple Valley Community Center	Cleaning, fixing and general maintenance projects
Marysville	WA	Marysville Main Street beautification project	Planting flowers along an 8-block stretch of Main St, and around a monument
Mercer Island	WA	Mercerdale Park	Park restoration, beauty bard, and clean up
Mill Creek	WA	Habitat for Humanity	Staffing the grand opening at the H4H store
Mill Creek Town Center	WA	Habitat for Humanity	Staffing the grand opening at the H4H store
Moses Lake	WA	Community event	Providing paper shredding services and garbage pick-up
Mukilteo	WA	Mukilteo Food Bank	Gathering and delivering donations
Packwood	WA	Local senior center	Hosting game day and activities for seniors
Port Angeles	WA	Captain Joseph House	General maintenance
Property Management- Bellevue	WA	Camp Korey	Preparing the camp for incoming youth, including: grounds clean up, planting the edible garden, painting, setting up TPs, craft room set up, etc.
Property Management- Edmonds	WA	Camp Korey	Preparing the camp for incoming youth, including: grounds clean up, planting the edible garden, painting, setting up TPs, craft room set up, etc.
Property Management- Seattle	WA	Boys and Girls Club Seattle	General maintenance
Property Management- Seattle North	WA	Camp Korey	Preparing the camp for incoming youth, including: grounds clean up, planting the edible garden, painting, setting up TPs, craft room set up, etc.
Property Management- South	WA	Bethel Christian Center	Yard work, road maintenance and building repairs
Property Management- Tacoma	WA	Paint Tacoma-Pierce Beautiful	Working on low-income homes
Pullman	WA	Palouse Skate Park/Boost Collaborative	General maintenance
Puyallup	WA	Northwest Trek	Maintenance project
Realty Group-Vancouver	WA	Rolling Hills Community Church	Tualatin School House Pantry
Redmond	WA	YWCA Family Village	General maintenance
Republic	WA	Assisted Living Facility	Cleaning and landscaping
Seattle-Ballard	WA	St. Luke's Episcopal Church	Grounds maintenance
Seattle-Capitol Hill	WA	Lambert House	Yard work, painting, etc., at
Seattle-Eastlake	WA	Rebuilding Together Seattle	Working on interior and exterior of a home
Seattle-Green Lake	WA	City Fruit apple orchard	Various volunteer duties
Seattle-Greenwood	WA	Viewland Elementary School	Painting the pre-school playground
Seattle-Lakeview	WA	Wallingford Senior Center	General maintenance & senior engagement
Seattle-Madison Park	WA	Washington Park Arboretum	General maintenance
Seattle-Magnolia	WA	Clean up, clean out event	Paper shredding, electronics recycling and Goodwill collection
Seattle-Mount Baker	WA	Wellspring baby boutique	Sorting donations
Seattle-Northgate	WA	YouthCare	Preparing and serving lunch for homeless youth
Seattle-Northlake	WA	Northshore Senior Center in Bothell	Various volunteer duties
Seattle-Northwest	WA	Greenwood Food Bank	Sorting and collecting donations
Seattle-Queen Anne	WA	Queen Anne Food Bank at Sacred Heart	Collect 800 bags of food
Seattle-Sand Point	WA	Northeast Seattle	Local home maintenance
Seattle- Services, Marketing & Technology	WA	Ryther	Outdoor maintenance including building a retaining wall, leveling ground for new play area, building flower beds and planting, rebuilding vegetable garden beds, replacing planking on picnic benches and weeding
Seattle-Wall Street	WA	Mary's Place- Seattle/Belltown women’s facility	Cleaning the kitchen, prepping meals, sorting toys, strip & wax the floors, planting flowers and presenting $2,000 donation for professional painting services
Seattle-Wedgewood	WA	NEST (North East Seattle Together)	Yard work, window washing and outdoor maintenance for 8 senior homes in North East Seattle.
Seattle-West Seattle	WA	Solid Ground	Painting and refurbishing a West Seattle home
Sequim- East	WA	Boys & Girls Club Sequim	General maintenance
Shoreline	WA	Food Lifeline	Various volunteer duties
Silverdale	WA	Local church	Assisting Pastor Eric Roberts with weeding, fence painting, etc.
Spokane-City Group	WA	YFC West Central	Interior and exterior maintenance projects
Spokane-Cornerstone	WA	YFC West Central	Interior and exterior maintenance projects
Spokane-Liberty Lake	WA	YFC West Central	Interior and exterior maintenance projects
Spokane-Manito	WA	YFC West Central	Interior and exterior maintenance projects
Spokane-North	WA	YFC West Central	Interior and exterior maintenance projects
Spokane-Valley	WA	YFC West Central	Interior and exterior maintenance projects
Tacoma-North	WA	Paint Tacoma-Pierce Beautiful	Working on low-income homes
Tacoma-Professional Partners	WA	Paint Tacoma-Pierce Beautiful	Working on low-income homes
Tacoma-University Place	WA	Paint Tacoma-Pierce Beautiful	Working on low-income homes
Vancouver- Mill Plain	WA	Fruit Valley Food Bank	Food drive
Vancouver- Officers Row	WA	Fruit Valley Food Bank	Food drive
Vashon Island	WA	Granny's Attic Thrift Store	Various volunteer duties
Walla Walla	WA	YWCA Family Shelter & Downtown Walla Walla park	Various volunteer and maintenance duties
Wenatchee	WA	Habitat for Humanity	Installing sub floor on Habitat for Humanity home
Whidbey Island- Freeland	WA	Good Cheer Food Bank, Garden & Collection Center	Various volunteer duties
Whidbey Island- Langley	WA	Good Cheer Food Bank, Garden & Collection Center	Various volunteer duties

Living • June 4, 2015

How to Style Your Bookshelf

by Guest Author

Whether you have a library full of books or only hold onto a few favorites, a bookshelf is one of those furniture pieces most homes are guaranteed to have, and yet, few have them are properly “styled”. We have some easy DIY tips that will transform your shelves, while still allowing your books to stay center stage.

Start with a blank canvas. Take everything off your shelves before you decide to start putting your books back on.

Mix it up. Don't have all of the books vertical or horizontal (but never stack anything on top of vertical stacks). Layer them on top of each other in different ways on all of the various shelves. Bigger books on bottom of stacks, smaller ones on top. Place your most attractive books at eye level.

Accessorize. Add items in between, in front, and on top of books. This can mean collectibles, candles, small plants, pictures, you name it. You can use a variety of shapes and sizes, but try to keep all non-book items to the same theme/color.

Leave Space. Adding just a little bit of space between items gives space for the eye to breathe and helps your book and collectibles to stand out.

Little details. Don't follow the same pattern on each shelf otherwise it could end up looking too stiff. Try to zig-zag your way down (or up).

Add color. If you're ready for a full-fledged redo, paint the back of the bookshelves to add dimension and character before styling. If you don't want to permanently color your bookcases, try fabric or wallpaper. For example, if you have glossy accessories, choose a metallic wallpaper to turn your bookshelf into a shimmering showpiece.

Have too many books or don't feel like accessorizing? No problem. Color code your books ROYGBIV style to make a bold and fun statement in your room.

More • June 1, 2015

Windermere Real Estate: Grounded in Tradition and Growing with Innovation

by OB Jacobi

Originally posted on RealtyTrac.com and Inman News.

In 1972, my dad, John Jacobi, a young banker at the time, wanted to own his own business. He bought a small, eight-agent residential real estate business in the Seattle neighborhood of Windermere. At the time, he wasn’t trying to make history — just a good living for his young but growing family.

He had a simple idea: build a real estate firm that put relationships before sales quotas, with an emphasis on service to clients and community. His vision was to hire the best sales people, arm them with the best tools, unleash them into the marketplace — and let them build their own businesses under the Windermere Real Estate brand.

With no brokerage experience, he instilled a family-oriented and agent-centered culture at Windermere, where agents conduct themselves professionally, with honesty and respect for all parties. By putting friendships and relationships before sales, my dad created a collaborative environment that fueled innovation and success.

That approach turned out to be groundbreaking in the industry, and I’d like to share the core concepts behind the blueprint my father created for success. I believe those same principles can be beneficial for many other brokers across the country in this 21st-century real estate environment.

Innovative thinking

During the 1980s, my dad shook up real estate by offering a better commission structure for agents. Because he believed that entrepreneurial motivation made for happier, more productive agents, he discarded the traditional 50-50-split rule and introduced the graduated commission scale.

At Windermere, agents split commissions 50-50 with the broker until the agent reaches a particular goal. From that point, the agent takes home 80 percent, and the broker gets 20 percent. Ultimately, Windermere sweetened the deal even more and made it possible for agents to keep 100 percent. Sliding commission splits attracted higher producers to our company while discouraging the one-off producers.

Collaborate. Dominate. Differentiate.

My dad also discouraged competition among the agents — or between offices. What sets us apart and is central to our success is Windermere’s belief that our agents and owners are our most valuable assets.

Slowly, dad’s vision started to take root. With each new office that opened, he would seek out like-minded entrepreneurs. As he added new brokerages, he would expand through synergistic partnerships with businesses in which he held a minority stake but retained voting control and ensured each of those partner companies would maintain the quality he believed in as we rapidly grew. Eventually, we gained over 30 percent market share in the Seattle area.

Eventually, Windermere Real Estate became a 300-office operation, with nearly 7,000 real estate professionals in 11 states and Mexico and closed over 77,000 transactions annually for more than $27 billion in sales.

“The Windermere Way”

Windermere’s way of doing business is grounded in four core values: relationships, collaboration, professionalism and community. My father instilled these values in us — early and often — and they are at the heart of everything we do.

For us, working at Windermere isn’t a day job; it’s about a 24/7 ongoing conversation about how we can do things better and succeed. When we plan, we don’t necessarily think about the next five-year goal — we think about how can we leave this business for our kids. It’s long-range strategic thinking. Indeed, the company culture that my dad created and fostered over the years is still alive today.

Community service

From day one, Windermere has aggressively embraced community service, fervently believing that helping the communities where we live and work is vital to our business.

It started in the early 1980s, with our annual Community Service Day, a company-wide initiative where we close all our offices for a day so that our agents, owners and staff can give back to the community.

During this time, we’ve volunteered more than 1.2 million hours of community service. Followed in 1987, by the sponsorship of the annual Windermere Cup, a collegiate rowing regatta hosted by Windermere and the University of Washington. It has grown into one of the premier international rowing competitions, attracting the top crews in the world.

Two years later, we launched the Windermere Foundation, a 26-year-old nonprofit organization that has donated over $28 million to organizations that support low-income and homeless families throughout the western United States.

Collaboration

Windermere’s core business model is franchising. Connecting agents, brokers and customers to close transactions promptly is crucial to our success. Today, technology drives this collaboration. But it’s deeper than that.

Internally, we don’t compete against each other; we collaborate. Because we’re a tight-knit family-run company, when a good idea comes up, we share it with the other franchise owners. The lack of competition among the Windermere franchisees is one of our strengths. The close, collaborative relationship among all franchise owners is something the Windermere culture has worked hard to foster. For us, it’s all about teamwork and trust.

Second-generation thinking

At Windermere, we’ve recently noticed an interesting family dynamic blossoming — and it’s not just with the Jacobi family, but it’s spreading to our business partners, too. A significant number of our 300 offices are transitioning to second-generation ownership. At last count, one-third of Windermere’s original franchise owners have passed their businesses on to their children. And our family business is young, too. Most of the second-generation Windermere owners are in their early 40s to mid-50s.

Now that my dad has retired, management of our family business has been in the hands of a tight-knit, second-generation triumvirate. It includes my sister, Jill Jacobi Wood, who joined the firm in 1985 and is president of Windermere Services; Jill’s husband, Geoff Wood came on board in 1994 and is CEO of Windermere Services. And I joined the firm shortly after that and now serve as president of Windermere Real Estate. Together, the Jacobi family also owns eight Windermere offices with about 300 agents throughout the Seattle area.

As we enter the 21st century, the family team is in it for the long haul, preparing the third generation for the next transition and continuing the positive momentum and expansion in the years ahead. We’re a forward-looking company; we’re always acting rather than reacting. We don’t worry about quarterly profits as much as we think about our kids and the next generational succession plan. It’s a different way of thinking about the real estate business. And it works.

Selling • May 29, 2015

10 Tips for Senior Citizens Downsizing Homes or Moving

by Gentle Giants

10 Tips for Senior Citizens Downsizing Homes or Moving from Gentle Giant Moving Company

Gentle Giant takes the time to work with seniors during transitional periods.

Moving senior citizens, retirees, and the elderly is emerging as a specialty service as baby-boomers are faced with downsizing themselves while simultaneously transitioning their parents to one of the many types of senior housing.

Below you will find Gentle Giant Moving Company‘s helpful 10 Tips for Moving Seniors:

Start with a floor plan of your new space.
A floor plan may be the single most important thing you can have. It will tell you how much furniture you can fit, and help you decide where everything will go before you step foot into your new home.

Reduce the amount you have to move.
Downsizing can be physically exhausting and emotionally draining, but many items that have been accumulated in a home over many years can’t or shouldn’t be squeezed into a new home. So take your time and ask for help. If you have children who no longer live there, ask them to retrieve their possessions. Give things to friends and family. Have a yard sale and/or donate some items to charity. If you can’t bring certain items that you’re not ready to part with, consider using a storage facility.

Begin in areas of the house no longer in use.
This strategy will be least disruptive to normal life and will help develop some momentum to carry you through other areas of the home later on.

Have a sorting system.
Use colored stickers to identify items that are going with you, elsewhere, or to-be-determined. Make a list of potential recipients, such as loved ones or charity or auction, and match up items to them instead of coming up with different recipients as you sort through items one by one.

Start with large items and work toward smaller ones.
Sorting through large furniture pieces first will create a sense of progress for the person who is moving. This will make it easier to sort smaller items later on, because it will be clearer what storage will be available in the new home.

Block off a certain amount of time for working each day and stick to it.
Start and stop at a certain time. Don’t get sidetracked. You’ll be surprised how much you can accomplish.

Focus on one area at a time.
Dealing with a whole house can be overwhelming. Break it up into smaller chunks by focusing on one part of a room at a time. Then move on to the next.

Packing – Let the movers take care of it.
A professional move coordinator like the ones at Gentle Giant can recommend a professional packing crew to help prepare your dishes, linens, furniture, you name it. Hiring such a team will make packing go by much faster, and your items will be safer as they are moved.

Create a Move-Day suitcase with the essentials for the first 24 hours in your new home.
Set aside a couple of outfits, a set of dishes, towels and sheets. Include a first aid kit and a flashlight, or even a night light. You’ll have what you need at your fingertips instead of having to dive into many different boxes to find what you need.

Be patient – with yourself and others.
Moving is hard, especially for seniors who may be leaving a home where they’ve spent decades with their family. Remember it’s okay to be sad about parting with things, however the goal is not to get rid of everything – just to simplify. Set aside down time, and reward yourself or the person you are helping at various stages in the process. Accept that there will be a range of emotions.

Gentle Giant Moving Company is a 35 year old Boston-based national moving company with offices across the country providing customers with licensed, insured, and professional moving services

Buying • May 28, 2015

Inside the Vacation Home Boom

by Guest Author

According to a new National Association of Realtors (NAR) report, the market for vacation homes is booming.

Consumers bought 1.13 million vacation homes in 2014, the highest amount since NAR started tracking sales in 2003.
Vacation home sales were up 57% over the previous year.
Vacation homes accounted for 21% of all real estate transactions in 2014, compared to just 13% of all transactions in 2013.

Why are vacation home sales booming now?

The value of most people’s primary home has gone up significantly in the past few years, giving them more confidence to extend their real estate investment to a second home.

Increased net worth from the strong stock market, along with low interest rates, have made buying a second home more feasible.

Many baby boomers are shopping for a place to vacation at now, and retire to later.

What are people buying?

54% bought a single-family home
27% bought a condo
41% bought in a beach area
19% bought in the country
17% bought in the mountains
19% plan to convert their vacation home into their primary residence in the future

Your vacation home can be a revenue source.

Some second home owners opt to rent their home out when they’re not using it, making a vacation getaway an additional source of income.

Websites like Airbnb and VRBO make it easy to rent your home on your own, or you can turn everything over to a property manager to do the work for you.

Many resorts offer their own service that manages all the details of renting your vacation home.

Windermere’s Destination Living program was designed to help our clients buy and sell properties in resort, retirement, country club and waterfront communities. Here is a sampling of vacation homes on the market in Washington.

Originally posted on the Windermere Real Estate Eastside Blog.

More • May 14, 2015

Windermere Foundation Quarterly Report Q1 2015

by Christine Wood

Windermere Foundation Quarterly Report

Q1 2015

Thanks to the generosity of donors like you, the Windermere Foundation was able to provide over $410,000 dollars in support during the first quarter of this year to organizations that help low-income and homeless families throughout the Western U.S.

Programs benefitting children and youth continue to receive a significant portion of Windermere Foundation funds. These funds are made possible by your ongoing support. Programs like Seattle Children’s Hospital’s Emergency Patient Assistance Fund, which provides food, a change of clothes, transportation, and other essentials that make a big difference for more than 2,000 families a year during a difficult moment in their lives. This fund is supported entirely by donors and an endowment.

Here is a thank you message we received from Seattle Children’s Hospital:

You helped families in their darkest hour…

A patient arrived at Seattle Children’s Emergency Department by helicopter, alone and unconscious. As the Emergency Department team worked to resuscitate the boy who had nearly drowned, his parents drove several hours in stunned silence to the hospital, hoping their son would be alive when they got there. After receiving the good news that he would ultimately recover from the accident, they realized that they’d left their cell phone charger at home and had no way to contact family and friends. Social worker Lynne Hakim says the basic necessities you generously helped purchase, like a simple cell phone charger, enabled this family to cope with all the uncertainty and intensity of an unplanned hospital stay. “If you’ve ever had an emergency where someone came to your aid, then you know the flood of relief that our families feel,” explains Roosevelt Travis, director of Social Work at Seattle Children’s. “I hope everyone who contributed to Operation Family Care knows that the gift cards and groceries they purchased were really rays of hope for many of our families in crisis.”

Thank you for providing a safety net. We estimate that one-third of our families spend every dollar they make on living expenses. There’s no safety net if one or both parents have to miss a paycheck to be with a sick or injured child. For this group of parents and caregivers, the cost of meeting their own basic needs — especially buying food — is probably the biggest financial strain during their child’s hospital stay. “You shouldn’t have to worry about going hungry because your child is in a hospital bed,” Carpentier says. “If we can eliminate just that one stressor for even a few days, it greatly improves parents’ ability to be present for their child — and families are always so appreciative.”

Above is just one example of how Windermere Foundation funds assist those in need. If you’d like to help, click on the Donate button to make a donation.

Thank you for supporting the Windermere Foundation. Your generosity is truly making a difference in the lives of many families in our local communities.

To learn more about the Windermere Foundation, visit http://www.windermere.com/foundation

Market News • May 14, 2015

Oregon and Southwest Washington Real Estate Market Update

by Windermere Economics

Windermere Real Estate is proud to partner with Gardner Economics on this analysis of the Oregon and Southwest Washington real estate market. We hope that this information may assist you with making better-informed real estate decisions.

Economic overview

From an economic perspective, I am pleased to see that employment continues to trend higher in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Additionally, there’s a considerable reduction in the number of long-term unemployed, and the number of layoffs is also dropping. We’re starting to see a growth in wages which will also help with the state’s overall economic growth.

Home sales activity

First quarter had 10,269 home sales, which is an annual increase of 16.9%.
Polk County saw the steepest increase in sales at almost 60%; however, the absolute increase was just 61 units.
All but two counties in the region experienced double-digit percentage increases.
Three counties saw a decline in home sales, but these are very small areas and the total loss was only 15 units.

Home prices

Year over year, the average home price in the region rose by 3.6% to $284,833.
When compared to Q1 2014, Klickitat County had the strongest price growth of over 73%. This is attributable to the size of the market, which allows for substantial swings in price.
All but three counties saw an annual gain in prices, with eight showing double-digit percentage gains.
Prices fell in just three counties, but these are counties where relatively few transactions take place, so they are prone to extreme swings.

Days on market

The average number of days it took to sell a home in the region dropped by 11 days when compared to the first quarter of 2014.
On average, it took 122 days to sell a home in the region.
There were a few markets where the length of time it takes to sell a home did rise, but the increases were still fairly modest and no cause for concern.
With inventory levels as low as they are, the time it takes to sell a home will likely continue to fall.

Conclusions

This speedometer reflects the state of the region’s housing market using housing inventory, price gains, sales velocities, interest rates, and larger economic factors. As you can see, we are still very clearly in the midst of a seller’s market and, unless we see a significant increase in listings, it will remain that way for the foreseeable future.

The shortage of inventory, and subsequent competition for homes, has driven prices higher, but the rate of appreciation has slowed somewhat.

Interest rates are still at historic lows, and we expect that this will continue to be the case through 2015, which further favors conditions for home sellers. That said, obtaining a mortgage remains more difficult than it should be due to the ongoing implementation of the “qualified mortgage” rule which reduces access to financing to certain buyer segments.

To conclude, the region is in need of inventory and I hope that we will see a modest increase in listings as we move further into the late spring/early summer. Some are talking about the potential for another housing “bubble” given the lack of homes for sale and the bullishness of buyers in bidding up properties; however, I believe that there are sufficient safeguards in place so that we will not see this happen.

About Matthew Gardner

Mr. Gardner is a land use economist and principal with Gardner Economics, considered by many to be the foremost real estate analysts in the Pacific Northwest. Over the past 25 years he has served on many industry-related panels and has been cited regularly in local and national media.

Market News • May 6, 2015

Western Washington Real Estate Market Update

by Windermere Economics

Economic overview

From an economic perspective, employment in Western Washington continued to grow during the first three months of the year, and unemployment rates, although moving slightly higher in some counties, are still generally trending lower. In general, the region continues to perform well when compared to the United States as a whole.

Home sales activity

13,112 home sales were reported during the first quarter of 2015, up by 10.2% when compared to the first quarter of 2014.
Between the fourth quarter of 2014 and the first quarter of this year, total sales were 22% lower, but this can be attributed to a drop in listings.
The rise in sales was most pronounced in Cowlitz and Jefferson Counties, but there were double-digit increases in a majority of the counties included in this report.
Sales slowed in Grays Harbor County but the drop of just 16 units was minimal.

Home prices

Prices in the region rose by an average of 4.9% year-over-year, but are 3% lower than in the fourth quarter of 2014.
When compared to Q1 2014, San Juan rose to the top with price growth of almost 23%. Double-digit gains were also seen in Cowlitz, Clallam, and Snohomish Counties.
Island County was the only county that saw year-over-year sales prices fall.
Price growth should continue through 2015 thanks to low levels of inventory and significantly more buyers than sellers.

Days on market

The average number of days it took to sell a home dropped by three when compared to the first quarter of 2014.
It took an average of 102 days to sell a home in the first quarter of this year.
There were a few markets where the length of time it took to sell a home did rise, but this was likely influenced by the time of year and not a bigger cause for concern.
With inventory levels as low as they are, the time it takes to sell a home will likely continue to decrease.

Conclusions

This speedometer reflects the state of the region’s housing market using housing inventory, price gains, sales velocities, interest rates, and larger economic factors. As you can see, we are still very clearly in the midst of a seller’s market, and unless we see a significant increase in listings, it will remain that way for the foreseeable future.

Price growth remains at healthy levels as inventory constraints persist. Interest rates are still at historic lows, and we expect that this will continue to be the case through 2015, which further favors conditions for home sellers. That said, obtaining a mortgage remains more difficult than it should be due to the ongoing implementation of the “qualified mortgage” rule which reduces access to financing to certain buyer segments.

About Matthew Gardner

More • April 30, 2015

Join us Saturday, May 2nd for the 29th Annual Windermere Cup

by Shelley Rossi

This Saturday, May 2 marks the 29^th anniversary of an event that is a touchstone for our company, our family of offices and agents, and the University of Washington. The Windermere Cup, held annually on the first day of boating season, is both an international sporting event and an opening day party, followed by the world’s largest boat parade. But more than that, it’s a celebration of camaraderie, teamwork, and a commitment to excellence.

The camaraderie is everywhere you look: on the banks of the Montlake Cut, where Seattle residents welcome visitors from around the world to the beautiful University of Washington campus; on the water, where great athletes join together to do what none of them could do individually. Thousands of people coming together for a common cause. That, in and of itself, is powerful stuff.

But what we find most remarkable about this sport, and what sets the Windermere Cup apart from most other major sporting events, is the teamwork. Though it may look easy from the sidelines, rowing is a physically demanding full-body sport. Rowers practice long hours, starting before dawn and ending after sunset, both on the water and in the gym. A crew boat can only race if all eight members plus the coxswain show up, and they can only perform as well as the weakest among them. There are no superstars in crew. It’s one for all, and all for one. So they leave their personal issues at home and push themselves to the limit, every time, for the love of the team.

It’s that commitment to excellence, seen on the face of every rower in every shell at the Windermere Cup, that makes us proud to sponsor this community event each year. It reminds us of our own guiding principles at Windermere: strong relationships built on trust, goodwill, and mutual respect; a spirit of teamwork that makes us more successful as a whole than we are individually; and a ceaseless commitment to excellence and unparalleled service. It’s truly a great tradition to be a part of.

This year, we invite you to join us as the Husky men’s varsity eights race down the Montlake Cut against Columbia University and current world champs, New Zealand Rowing Team, while the UW women will face off against the University of Virginia. In addition to the competition, the Windermere Cup is a family-friendly community event that will include food vendors, booths to purchase Washington apparel and Windermere Cup commemorative gear, as well as a bouncy house.

To learn more about the Windermere Cup, visiting teams, and event schedule, go to www.windermerecup.com and follow us at www.facebook.com/WindermereCup and @WindermereCup.