Join Sheri Puzke as she partners with American Dream TV, a nation show who’s goal is to positively impact real estate communities through the voice of top realtors.

EPISODE 1: MACADAM FLOOR & DESIGN

In this episode, I had the opportunity to chat with Micheal Owen of Macadam Floor & Design and take a look at some of the beautiful finishes they offer for buyers and consumers of new construction to outfit their new homes.

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EPISODE 2: THE POLKADOT JERSEY BIKE SHOP

In this episode, I had the opportunity to chat with the owner of The Polkadot Jersey Bike Shop, Micheal Telmosse and explored the popular Seattle neighborhood, Leschi. Perched on a hill just east of Downtown Seattle, Leschi boasts lush parks, boutique shops, charming local restaurants and stunning waterfront views in this idyllic lake location.

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Working from home is an aspiration for many of us, but to do so effectively takes effort. A disorganized space at home can be just as troublesome as a hectic office. The most disciplined telecommuters will tell you that you need a structured routine and organization in order to be successful.

Having a designated workspace is one of the most important elements to your success when you make the switch to telecommuting. Even if you live in a small space, you need to find a balance between home and office. People who work from home often have a difficult time separating their work hours from their non-work hours because it’s so easy to keep at it late into the night. But maintaining a balance and shutting down the computer is important for overall wellbeing. What are some other must-haves for a successful home office? Here are the top five:

1. Natural Light – Study upon study tells us that natural light is needed to boost productivity and mood. Make sure to set your desk up as close to a window as you can. If being near a window isn’t an option, a natural light lamp is the next best thing. It helps balance your body clock and leaves you feeling rested and refreshed.
2. To-Do List or Planner – Start each day off by making a to-do list outlining what you need to get done before the end of the workday. Make sure to set a realistic time frame in which all of that should be completed, so you can check each one off the list and feel immense accomplishment once you’ve completed them all.
3. Storage – If you have a big enough space, put in a large bookshelf where you can organize everything (think storage boxes). It reduces clutter and looks stylish. Using your walls and cabinetry is the most efficient use of space.
4. Calendar – Many people tend to rely on digital calendars these days because of their convenience. When all of your devices sync together and pop up with reminders, you never have to worry about missing an appointment. However, many people find that it helps to keep a paper calendar handy too so you can easily view your whole month at a glance. Choose which options works best for you by playing with both options, or something in between and see which one lets you be more productive with the least amount of stress.
5. Space for Inspiration – It doesn’t matter what field you work in, having a source of inspiration in your workspace is essential. Whether it’s a photo of your family, your dream car, or that vacation you’ve been dying to take, having that inspiration right in front of you provides a constant reminder of why you do what you do.

This post originally appeared on the Windermere.com Blog.

The condo a quarter-mile away from the Life Care Center of Kirkland — the long-term care facility at the epicenter of the U.S. novel coronavirus outbreak — hit the market at $365,000 last week, one day after the first resident of the nearby facility died of the flulike illness.

By Monday, roughly 34 groups of home shoppers and looky-loos had toured the property, not one expressing concern about the viral disease, according to the listing agent.

The condo sold five days after it was listed, with the winning offer of nearly $400,000 waiving all contingencies.

Even as concern over the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus mounts, the most recent data on area home sales from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) shows the market for Seattle-area residential realty remains hot.

It’s too early to tell just what the impact of the novel coronavirus will be in the coming weeks, but all else being equal, low inventory and price increases are expected to continue into the spring, brokers said.

An emergency interest-rate cut Tuesday — the first time the Federal Reserve has used emergency powers since the depths of the 2008 financial crisis — could add further fuel to property markets around Puget Sound, brokers said.

“Our agents aren’t yet seeing any impact on open house attendance due to the COVID-19 outbreak,” said Mike Grady, president and COO of Coldwell Banker Bain in Bellevue, in a statement. “We continue to be bullish on the Puget Sound economy and real estate market.”

In February, median home prices in King County spiked 7% over the previous month, to $675,000, representing a 3% gain year-over-year. There were also more new listings in King County, 2,271, than any time since September.

Meanwhile, inventory plunged even lower than January’s already-tight market, by one metric. There were 40% fewer homes on the market in King County in February than there were in January, the NWMLS data shows.

But months of inventory — a measure of how long it would take to sell all the homes currently on the market — stayed constant at 1.2 between January and February, indicating that homes weren’t moving quite at January’s greased-lightning pace.

Prices rose more slowly in Seattle than anywhere else in King County, to $730,500, a less-than-1% bump over this time last year. Elsewhere in the county, from the tonier neighborhoods of the Eastside to less-expensive parts of Southwest King, price growth saw an increase of roughly 10% compared to last year.

Elsewhere in Puget Sound, home prices continued a meteoric rise, especially in Kitsap County, where they rose by an eyeball-popping 18% year-over-year. Growth in Pierce and Snohomish counties hovered around 10% compared to last year, with median prices hitting $395,000 and $515,000, respectively.

Seattle’s condo market saw rocket-powered growth in sales compared to last year, with a 47% increase in closed sales and a corresponding 8.4% rise in median sale price, to $481,225.

It was joined by the Eastside condo market, with a 25% rise in closed sales and a 6.7% jump in prices, to $475,000. Together, those two markets account for one-third of condo sales in Western Washington.

Brokers said they planned to wait and see how the spread of the coronavirus impacts Puget Sound’s sweltering home markets, with most predicting it would have little to no effect on home sales.

At the condo down the road from Life Care, “people were coming and going” at open houses last weekend, said listing agent Alena Pushkina, of Skyline Properties.

At least nine people associated with the center have died of the new coronavirus, and more than a dozen other cases have been linked to the nursing home.

Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty broker Mei Yang said foot traffic at open houses during the upcoming weekend would show whether area home shoppers are caught up in the worries over the virus.

She’s preparing to list a house next week, she said, and out of an abundance of caution asked colleagues whether they thought she should postpone the open house until after the progress of the disease had slowed.

“Their sentiment was to just go ahead,” she said. “So I plan to go ahead.”

Some brokers, though, are taking precautionary measures to protect themselves and their clients from disease.

The National Association of Realtors issued novel coronavirus guidance Thursday advising brokers to require all visitors to open houses to disinfect their hands and inquire about their clients’ travel histories before meeting in person.

Engel & Völkers agent Freddy Delgadillo, who toured the Kirkland condo near Life Care with a client, said they wore masks while in the unit.

Delgadillo said he also wore a pair of black leather gloves while in the condo. As for his client, “I didn’t have her touch anything,” he said, “just in case.”

This article was written by reporter Katherine Khashimova Long and originally appear on SeattleTimes.com

Naturally the most frequent question I’m getting lately is about how the coronavirus is impacting our local market.  So far, traffic remains brisk and multiple offers with escalations continue for well-presented listings. Savvy buyers are taking advantage of the increased buying power that historically low interest rates afford. Investors looking for a reprieve from stock market volatility are also looking to real estate for stability. Inventory remains extremely tight and demand strong.  My advice to my Sellers is to proceed as planned. We are taking appropriate preventive measures by providing hand washing stations at my listings and cleaning surfaces for open houses. As we are all aware, the situation is evolving rapidly.

I am monitoring real estate activity closely and welcome your questions  – please don’t hesitate to reach out to me!

BY THE NUMBERS

Click the images below to download your neighborhood’s recent real estate figures!

Interest rates dropped again prompting buyers to leap off the fence resulting in multiple offers for well-priced, turnkey properties. Sellers – this is your sweet spot! Inventory is increasing daily but we are still far short of meeting buyer demand. Savvy sellers are rushing to get their homes on market and take advantage of this seasonal opportunity.  I have some great listings with more in the pipeline – call me or stop by my open houses to check them out!

BY THE NUMBERS

Click the images below to download your neighborhood’s recent real estate figures!

Another banner year for the region has brought tremendous prosperity across a breadth of industries, a wealth of new jobs, flourishing tourism, and the welcoming of several large businesses into our cities.

So, how is the Eastside poised to begin a new decade? Will this growth continue? To find out, 425 Business ditched the crystal ball and talked to Eastside movers and shakers across myriad industries to find out what they believe the year ahead holds.

Residential Real Estate

The Eastside residential real estate market is going to experience significant growth in the next few years. Amazon, Google, Facebook, and other tech giants are rapidly expanding their footprint to the Eastside. Thousands of tech workers relocating to this area, along with new hires for supporting businesses (such as retail and restaurants), will greatly increase the demand for housing. This year, almost half of the buyers who walked through my open houses were relatively new in town.

Condos under $750,000 and single-family homes under $1.5 million will sell very quickly if they are in good condition and priced right. Also, homes with easy access to public transit and future light rail stations will become more and more desirable. Areas in and near downtown Bellevue and downtown Kirkland will still be the hottest submarkets because they are job centers with superb amenities.

– Mei Yang, global real estate adviser and broker at Realogics Sotheby’s International Reality

Commercial Real Estate

(The current) cycle exhibits some significantly different conditions from those that precipitated the “thrift crisis” of the ’80s; the dot-com bust of the ’90s; or, certainly, the “Great Recession” of the last decade. Interest rates are lower, equity is plentiful, and expectations for return on equity across all asset classes are significantly less expensive.

Federal taxes and punitive regulations are generally lower (unfortunately, we can’t say that about state and local), and corporate earnings are remarkably strong (yes, with a few notable exceptions) despite tariffs and turmoil. Perhaps most important is the fact that employers across all sectors are scrambling to attract workers and have tens of thousands more openings to be filled.

My belief is that real estate economics is pretty simple — it’s all about employment. If you have healthy job creation, everything works. It attracts more residents who need housing, businesses that need more lawyers and accountants, kiddos who need teachers, demand for groceries, and so on. Conversely, if employment flattens or falls, the economy constricts.

Bottom line: If you can tell me when Eastside employers are going to quit hiring or start laying off, I’ll tell you when commercial real estate on the Eastside is going to suffer. Until then, land prices and rents on existing buildings will continue to rise, and developers will race to provide the office, apartment, and retail space to support the growth.

– Robert Wallace, CEO of Wallace Properties

Transportation

Bellevue has a ton of local transportation improvements on tap for 2020 that will make travel safer and easier for thousands of residents. But we’re also excited about the work we’re doing with our regional partners. It has the potential to benefit hundreds of thousands of people in the coming years and will be a big boon for transportation options on the Eastside.

Bellevue and Kirkland are working with King County Metro on a new RapidRide K Line that will connect the Eastgate Park & Ride in Bellevue to the Totem Lake Transit Center in Kirkland starting in 2025. And King County Parks is working with several Eastside cities on Eastrail, a regional pedestrian and bicycle path.

On the roads side, the state Department of Transportation will break ground in 2020 on the I-405 Renton to Bellevue Widening and Express Toll Lanes project. It will add capacity, boost transit options, and improve safety on one of the most congested stretches of highway in the state.

– Andrew Singelakis, transportation director for the City of Bellevue

Healthcare

Next year, I see healthcare in general (and EvergreenHealth) placing an increased emphasis on access — both in the traditional sense and through innovative alternatives. The ever-permeating digital age provides care for patients through new approaches with even greater creativity and efficiency. We also will have the increased benefit of effective solutions, possible through new sources of data analysis and other breakthroughs.

As always, we’ll collectively prepare for the needs of an expanding senior population, offering valuable services to help them sustain their well-being and healthy, active lifestyles.

Finally, we are committed to collaborating with our schools and others, supporting care for students with behavioral health issues.

– Jeffrey J. Tomlin, CEO of EvergreenHealth

Tourism

Bellevue and the Eastside’s tourism and hospitality industry is positioned for continued growth. Demand is projected to increase due to the growing corporate presence on the Eastside, a strong consumer economy, healthy airline capacity, and popularity in the Pacific Northwest as a destination. In recent years, the Puget Sound region has seen significant hotel supply increases, which have caused property rates and occupancy to level out, but we are hopeful that this additional demand will offset the recent inventory surge.

As a whole, travel growth in large technology markets like San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, and Vancouver have recently slowed, compared with previous years. With that said, many business travelers now book rooms and visitor experiences outside of the large city centers — which positions areas like Bellevue and the Eastside well for 2020 and beyond.

– Brad Jones, executive director of Visit Bellevue Washington

Technology

(Next year) is the year that cybersecurity will turn inside-out. Malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks are all significantly on the rise, and (historically) 61 percent of data breach victims have been small businesses. These businesses can no longer rely on legacy tools like antivirus and networks that only protect them at the office.

Security must go mobile and leave traditional technologies behind. It’s also time to eliminate SMS-based authentication in favor of hardware keys that support Universal Two Factor authentication.

– Riley Eller, chief technology officer at Rubica

Legal

We expect the rapid growth of technology companies of all sizes based on the Eastside or expanding their operations to the Eastside to continue, many of which will be focused on intelligent connectivity, including 5G, AI, IoT, and Quantum computing. With that, we expect to see more regulatory attention on consumer privacy and data usage.

This regulatory attention will increase the demand for legal service providers, especially those who have a stake in the Eastside community and a desire for more personal interaction with their clients.

– Barry Stulberg, counsel, and Carly Chan, associate, Davis Wright Tremaine’s Bellevue Office

Finance

Eastside residents and business owners should have a plan in place for when times are good and when times are bad, regardless of the Federal Reserve’s actions. The Fed cut rates by 25 basis points, to 1.5 percent (from) 1.75 percent. This means that the Fed is helping prolong the economic expansion. The Fed is not expected to reduce rates further in the coming year, barring a recession. However, consumer confidence fell for a third straight month (as of Nov. 1), and consumers have not shown signs of slowing down.

Fed rate cuts to prop up an otherwise-slowing global economy generally mean that they are prolonging the inevitable — a recession. However, the bigger effect is to Americans saving for later. Because of low interest rates, American consumers are forced to take on more risk than necessary to make their money work for them. It would be prudent to include in one’s portfolio insurance and real estate to complement their investment portfolio.

Because of the technology industry and the various Silicon Valley companies coming into the Seattle-Eastside area, our economy will not be as affected as other economies when we experience a recession.

Clients at local technology companies have indicated that hiring has slowed down, and jobs that were eliminated aren’t being replaced with new workers. This can mean they are bracing for a possible recession or slowdown in the economy.

Consumer confidence is still not at a level where they are pulling back from spending; this explains why housing is still strong in the area and consumers are stretching their budget to buy into a hot real estate market.

Restaurants in the area are feeling the effects of a low interest rate environment, which generally follows inflation of raw materials and commodities. It is evident in the exorbitant prices we are experiencing when we go out to eat.

– Tony Sablan, wealth manager at Eagle Strategies LLC

This article was originally posted on 425 Business.

Some states shine in health care. Some soar in education. Some excel in both – or in much more.

Considering numerous metrics and thousands of data points, a new study by the U.S. News and World Report ranks Washington state as number one in the nation.

Using 71 different metrics and thousands of data points, the magazine measured how well states are performing for their citizens. In addition to health care and education, the metrics take into account a state’s economy, its roads, bridges, internet and other infrastructure, its public safety, the fiscal stability of state government, and the opportunity it affords its residents.

Named the best state overall, Washington ranked fourth in health care and education, third in economy, second for infrastructure, 14th in natural environment, 15th for public safety, and 19th for opportunity. Our lowest ranking was 22nd for fiscal stability for our residents.

The data supporting these rankings were “drawn from extensive and reliable governmental and private sources,” along with a national survey of what matters most to citizens around the country, according to the magazine.

Health care and education were weighted most heavily.

The top 10 states following Washington were New Hampshire, Minnesota, Utah, Vermont, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and Colorado in that order.

View all of the results and full rankings for this year and previous years on U.S. News & World Report.

This was originally posted on U.S. News & World Report and on king5.com 

2020 is off to a great start! We normally see a bit of a lull in January, but my open house traffic is already up significantly this month. In particular, I’m seeing heightened activity in the “affordable” range (under $1M). Extremely tight inventory and excellent rates are motivating buyers off the fence in what is shaping up to be a brisk Spring market. Buyers – it’s critical to get pre-approved before starting your search so you are shopping within your budget and are ready to offer when the perfect home comes along. Reach out to me for a referral to a trusted loan officer. Sellers – timing is everything!  To plan ahead for the Spring market, contact me now for a complimentary listing consultation.

BY THE NUMBERS

Click the images below to download your neighborhood’s recent real estate figures!