More • May 10, 2010

How do you like to search for a home?

by Michael Fanning

Windermere is always interested to know how you like to search for homes online. Here are some of the responses I received when I asked a group of friends, "When looking at homes online what are the cool bells and whistles that keep you coming back for more?"

"Being able to type in a neighborhood, find the street you want and then be able to virtually view that home."

"Simple menus with minimal "clicking" required. Results must post quickly. Map with multiple views, photos arranged in an intuitive manner. Listing info with easy ability to forward listing or contact the agent. Hate virtual tours, take too long to load. I don't want much do I?"

"Recent sales with time on market info"

"I'll say pictures, pictures, pictures. Updated ones too, not pictures taken in the winter that you still have posted."

"When I view a house, please show me "suggestions" based on the inference gained from the house(s) that I was just looking at. In others words, a great "Recommendations" engine (like what Amazon does for shopping)."

"An easy loading aerial map that can zoom showing recent sales and current homes for sale;
- Comps
- LOTS of photos (both interior & exterior), preferably around 15, that have NOT been colorized or stretched (when there's only one photo, I see it as a huge red flag);
- A list of surrounding schools and amenities
- Searches that narrow type of dwelling, max & min price, square footage, time on market, and lot size…."

"Windermere was one of my fave search sites in the midst of our three house transactions over the last two years. Features on Redfin and Zillow were also helpful. Although zestimates can get botched with the standard computer model, I found zestimates for the most part accurate and helpful. My only criticism of these sites was that map loading often became cumbersome for my computer."

Pretty obvious maps, Data, and photos are critical. In addition, speed seems to be a common them as well. If you have some ideas we would love to hear them.

More • May 4, 2010

Windermere Foundation Quarterly Update

by Christine Wood

Greetings from the Windermere Foundation,

Because of you and the fantastic support the Windermere Foundation has received so far this year, we disbursed over $268,000 to qualifying social service organizations dedicated to serving low-income and homeless families throughout the West.

Times are still tough for many and yet the amazing agents and staff at Windermere and our public supporters keep giving to others in our community. Gifts to the Foundation during the first quarter of 2010 are up 42% compared to this time last year! With 55% of Foundation revenue coming from over-and-above donations and 45% from transaction fee revenue, I’d say you’re generosity is creating a great start to the new year for many low-income and homeless families.

I’d like to share a few letters from the recipient organizations illustrating how that support can really make a difference in lives of those they serve.

Portland Public Schools

“We want to thank the Windermere Foundation for your wonderful donation to our ‘Backpack Friday’ project at Harrison Park School. It is so nice of your company to support our Backpack Friday project! We were so thrilled to receive your donation for our families. Those who organized the project really appreciate having such wonderful people in our community who help with the program here at Harrison Park School.

The program’s goal is to provide backpacks filled with food items such as peanut butter, bread, macaroni and cheese mixes, soup, etc. that any student may pick up and take home on Fridays to make sure that anyone who needs it will have access to food for the weekend. Harrison Park School provides free breakfast for all our students and free or reduced lunch for the majority of the students. Students depend on getting meals from the school and many go hungry on the weekends. The Backpack Friday project will help alleviate this problem.

So, I want to thank you for caring so much for our children. It is truly heartwarming to have members of our community support our efforts. Thank you so much for your tremendous generosity.”

-Harrison Park School

Windermere Kids at the Y

“Thank you for your donation in support of the Windermere Kids at the Y program. This partnership has been such a boon to our program and we are grateful for the support of all the Windermere agents and employees.

During this time of economic hardship impacting the lives of so many of our neighbors, it has been more important than ever to have the valuable partnership with the Windermere Foundation. Because of your generosity we have been able to provide more scholarships for low-income families who can benefit from the Y’s after-school programs.

Typically, the families that need our programs the most are also the ones who need financial assistance to participate. Windermere Kids at the Y has allowed is to meet this critical need, providing safe and constructive programs for kids who otherwise would be left to their own devices.

Thank you again for the valuable partnership that makes our community a better place to live.”

-YMCA Spokane

Events supporting the Windermere Foundation
The Coeur D’Alene office had a wine and chocolate Valentine’s Day party and raised $5,000 for the Windermere Foundation in just two short hours. Using some lights, candles and a few wine and food stations, they turned the whole lower level of the office into a romantic bistro. Everything for the party was donated by agents and title and bank representatives. One agent even brought their live band! They charged $5.00 at the door, which brought lost of guests in the door and bidding on auction items.

The Walla Walla office took over the Stardust Lanes for a bowl-a-thon and raised over $3,000. They invited their neighbors and had a great turnout. There were 55 bowlers: 28 from the public and 27 associated with Windermere. Sixteen sponsors also accommodated each lane.

Closing gift that gives back
Many of you have purchased a glassbaby as a thoughtful closing gift for clients and thanks to you, the Foundation has received nearly $600! Glassybaby is contributing 10% of your purchase to the Windermere Foundation when the Windermere promotional code is entered at checkout. The Windermere promotional code is: Windermere. A glassybaby is a colorful, hand-blown, glass cup, candleholder, or vase. Choose the perfect glasybaby at glassybaby.com.

We’re receiving some great videos!
I encourage everyone at Windermere to check with their office about plans to create a video for the 20th Anniversary of the Windermere Foundation. The five offices with the best videos will each receive $2,000 for their Windermere Foundation cause of choice. The deadline to submit a video is July 1, 2010 so there is still plenty of time and Community Service Day is a great opportunity to film your office getting involved in your community. Complete details at WORC > Resources > Foundation > Foundation 20th Anniversary.

Best,
Christine Wood

More • May 3, 2010

24th Annual Windermere Cup

by Geoff Wood

The 24th annual Windermere Cup is on the books. Each year, as part of the festivities surrounding the Opening Day of boating season, the University of Washington hosts crews from across the nation and around the world for this rowing competition.

If you've never seen a crew race, it's something special. From a distance, you marvel at the elegant precision of eight men or women precariously balanced on a sliver of carbon fiber called a shell. The shells glide over the water, powered by the crew pulling together on very long oars. From a distance, the progress seems effortless and almost robotic.

But as the shells come closer, you see the individual crew members working, and you realize how human they are. Their faces are etched with grimaces of near agony. Muscles strain. Sweat pours. Their precision seems impossible. It's clearly an intense struggle to keep up the pace and finish the race. After crossing the finish line, the athletes are completely spent, and they collapse over their oars.

Seconds later, the celebrating begins. You see these extraordinary athletes smile, laugh, fist-bump, and dig in an oar to splash a teammate. You are reminded that these are not super-robots after all. They are loose-limbed, college kids who simply love to row with their friends.

A crew race is a lot more than an athletic competition. It's a commitment to excellence, to being the very best you can be. It's not about fame or money. It is about the price and pride of achievement. It is about the joy of knowing you dedicated yourself and did all you could do to be the best you could be.

Reminds me of qualities important to our company. It’s why we’ll always be a part of this event!

Buying • Selling • April 29, 2010

What are you afraid of?

by Windermere Staff

Fear. Just the word alone scares me. A well-respected real estate professional once told me that there are 4 big fears for buyers and 3 big fears for sellers. Think you can name them? Post away!!

I'll post the answers next week. It will be interesting to see if they match up with your answers.

Living • April 22, 2010

Bring Earth Day into your home

by Guest Author

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. How will you spend the day? Here are a few simple ideas to save energy and reduce your impact on the earth.

Create your own Earth Hour
During Earth Hour, people around the world turn off the lights. Even famous places such as the Eiffel Tower and Empire State Building go dark. Re-create your own Earth Hour tonight by turning off the lights and the TV. Play a board game, have dinner or read a book by candlelight.

Adjust your thermostat
Spring is slowly heating up into summer. Check that your heating and cooling settings are appropriate for the new season.

Use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs)
If you haven’t already made the switch, think about replacing old light bulbs with CFLs. According to EnergyStar, if each home in America replaced just one light with an ENERGY STAR light, the energy saved would light more than 3 million homes for a year and save about $700 million in annual energy costs.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Upcycle
Upcycling is the art of taking something that could be seen as garbage and turning into something useful. Do you have a basement full of items that you're thinking about throwing away? Next time you want to run to the store to buy something new, head down to your stash and envision if there’s anything there that you could use instead, like this pair of rubber boots that became a flower pot.

More • April 20, 2010

Windermere Services Co. (Seattle, WA) helps kids & families at Children’s Hospital

by Christine Wood

Greetings from the Windermere Foundation,

Windermere Services Company (Seattle, WA) donated $1,000 over the past month to help families who had a child receiving medical treatment at Children’s Hospital. Social Workers at the hospital have very few resources to turn to when advocating for families in need of financial assistance – not for medical bills, but for things insurance simply doesn’t cover but are necessary for both child (patient) and family.

The most recent request was for a stroller for a little boy with Cerebral Palsy who also received the heartbreaking diagnosis of Leukemia. Due to the fatigue and bone pain caused by his treatments he is no longer able to walk on his own. With the Father being laid off from his job, the cost to purchase a stroller simply wasn’t in the budget.

The Windermere Foundation donated $150 for the purchase of a new stroller for this very deserving little boy. Another family was helped with rent expenses. When requests like these come across my desk, I’m especially thankful to all the donors who help make granting these requests possible.

Best,
Christine Wood
Windermere Foundation

More • April 15, 2010

Help name this blog (and win)

by Guest Author

This Windermere Real Estate Blog needs a name. What do you think it should be? Send us your idea and the winner will receive something special for your home.

You could leave a comment here, on our Facebook page or send an email to friend@windermere.com.

With this blog, we hope you'll share with us either here or on our Facebook page about the things that will give you and all our neighbors some ideas for selling a home and buying and creating a dream home in a vibrant community. We have a few thoughts to share as well.

Sincerely,
Windermere blog team

Official contest rules (PDF).

More • April 12, 2010

Welcome to the Windermere Real Estate blog

by Guest Author

We’re pretty lucky because the people we have the opportunity to serve are more than clients; they’re our friends and neighbors. Creating vibrant communities for all of us to connect and thrive in is one of the things that inspires us to come to work everyday.

Together, we’re part of these communities everywhere we go: the grocery store, PTA meetings, when out walking the dogs and in the last several years, when we connect online.

Offline and now online, we at Windermere value our relationships with people like you, in our real and virtual communities.

It’s why we have this blog – to start a conversation about the ideas and resources that will help you live your dreams in a home and neighborhood you love.

Welcome to our online community. We’re excited to hear from you.

Sincerely,

The Windermere blog team

More • April 6, 2010

The Goodwill Development Association receives $3,000 from Seattle offices

by Christine Wood

Greetings from the Windermere Foundation,

The Goodwill Development Association received $3,000 from five Seattle Windermere offices (Eastlake, Madison Park, Magnolia, Queen Anne & Wall Street).

The Goodwill Development Association’s mission is to help eliminate homelessness in the Greater Seattle area by providing transitional housing for low-income and at-risk teen mothers and their children. They also aim to help families obtain permanent housing, increase skills and income, and gain greater self-determination.

“Through our programs, we have seen many lives changed for the better. After completing necessary requirements at the Goodwill Development Association, they will be able to take full responsibility for themselves and their children. Since 1990, 227 teen mothers have successfully completed the program.” The Goodwill Development Association

The Windermere Foundation grant will be used to provide supportive services such as education, case management, life skills training and self-esteem workshops.

Best,
Christine Wood
Windermere Foundation

Market News • April 5, 2010

We are actually starting to create jobs!

by Windermere Economics

The U.S. economy created a significant number of jobs in March. The Labor Department indicated that the economy added 162,000 jobs in March which is the strongest growth rate in over three years.

Now, there are those that might suggest this increase is an overinflated figure due to temporary hiring of census takers but a deeper look at the figures suggests to me that this is not the case. The government did hire 48,000 temporary workers for the Census, but this number was below that which economists, including myself, estimated. Private payrolls added 123,000 workers – the largest increase since May 2007. This is in addition to the 8,000 new workers added to the workforce in February.

Here is my take on this. The number – ex-census – is good, but the makeup of the report is not completely encouraging. The number of long-term unemployed continues to go up which is a concern; however additional data shows consumer spending improving and the Household Survey (a separate measure of employment) also suggests that companies grew significantly in the first quarter. These are both positive signs. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and I am starting to believe that it actually is the end of the tunnel, and not a train coming our direction!