We all want to make sure we are living or are going to be living in a safe area. It is important to think about, especially now that children are starting to go back to school. There are various resources you can use to scope out a potential neighborhood or learn more about your own. Here are some of the best resources available:

Crime Mapping Services

A crime mapping service is a great tool to be able to see what kind of crimes take place in a specific area. Two of the better ones I have found are SpotCrime and CrimeReports. This tool is great to scope out what types of crimes and what dates they’ve been committed. You are also able to compare neighborhoods to find one with the lowest crime rate.

National Sex Offender Public Website

The National Sex Offender website allows you to enter the address of your home, or a home you are potentially looking to buy or build and see how many sex offenders live in a up to 3-mile radius. You are able to see their names and locations on the map.

AreaVibes

AreaVibes allows you to search for what is important to you. You are able to enter an address, neighborhood, city or even state and it gives a score based on factors such as crime rate, amenities, livability and housing. It also allows you to compare different places and can help you decide which areas you will be comfortable living in and ones you may want to avoid.

Take a Tour

If you are thinking of buying a house in a specific neighborhood take a tour of the surrounding area. Are houses in good condition? What are the conditions like? Is there graffiti or a large number of homes unattended? While it is no guarantee that a neighborhood is safe it is a helpful indicator on what type of neighbors you will have.

Ask

If you are still uncertain about a neighborhood you can try asking some potential neighbors what they think of the area. Are they happy there? Have they had any problems with crime? Sometimes all it takes is a simple conversation.

While there are no absolute guarantees when it comes to your or your family’s safety these resources are invaluable to helping you make the best-informed decision you can.

I am passionate about Real Estate and eager to answer all of your real estate questions! Text or Call me at 360-880-2356 or email me directly to ask about Buying, Selling or Investing in today's Real Estate Market - serving Lewis County & Thurston County, WA.

Janet Simons | Certified Residential Specialist | Real Estate Broker
Mountain Valley Real Estate

We all know buying a home is stressful. It is a huge purchase and incredibly time-consuming. And to top it all off you have sellers unwilling to compromise or asking a price that seems incredibly out of range for the market. However, instead of automatically making the seller into the bad guy, why not try and look at things from their perspective? This article is meant for buyers to help them see things from the seller’s point of view.

Local Market Conditions

Can you imagine holding onto your house waiting for the right time to sell? Maybe putting off buying your dream home or retirement possibly for years until the market is right? The local market plays a huge role in whether or not the home will sell and for some sellers, the timing does not work in their favor. Along with the market not being the best time, there is also how long the home sits on the market to consider. As a seller, if you aren’t in the home you are still paying a mortgage, utilities, insurance, etc. and if you are in the home you are tasked with keeping all areas ready to view at all times.

Time of Year

Some sellers have a small window in which they’re able to put their home on the market. Whether it is for deployment and the family has to move immediately or the family has to wait until the end of the school year sometimes the seller is in a hurry and needs a quick sale. Waiting on buyers who are ill-prepared or people asking to see your house now but want to buy in 6 months to a year would be incredibly frustrating and would honestly feel like a waste of time.

It’s Emotional

As a buyer, you look at a house and think of what it could be. All the BBQ’s your family COULD have in the backyard. All the hours you COULD spend in the pool. When a seller is putting their house on the market, they have to think about all the hours they DID spend in the pool. Or all the family BBQ’s they DID have. It’s sometimes hard to let go of the tangible even when you still do have the memories. And while it is frustrating as a buyer to have a house be priced on sentimental value there is a reason for that. It’s because the seller is attached to their home.

Getting the Home Ready to Sell

Putting your home on the market isn’t an easy process. Repairs may need to be done; new coats of paint may have to be put on. The clutter has to go before the Realtor will want to take pictures. There is a lot going on behind the scenes and it’s a hard process. If you had spent every weekend trying to prepare your home for the market only to hear people complain about the finishings or paint color it would be annoying and feel like a waste of both time and money.

Unrealistic Home Buyers

As a buyer, you always feel as though you are being realistic, however, that may not actually be the case. Many home buyers will offer well below market value, even to a point where it is insulting to the seller. As a seller when an offer was made way below what would be fair how would you respond? While the point of putting in an offer is opening up a negotiation, if a person’s offer is comically low it feels like there is no place really to start. From you, the buyer’s perspective, a low-ball offer is a way to get a great deal the seller sees it quite differently.

Unrealistic Home Buyers (Again)

Buyers aren’t only unrealistic when it comes to putting in offers, they are also unrealistic regarding the condition of the home. As a seller you probably have put a lot of work into your home getting it ready for market, however, there may be things you don’t feel need to be done, or you don’t have the budget to do and that is perfectly okay. The problem is when the buyer wants things done exactly suited to their tastes and is not willing to compromise. As a seller, you will be aware your home may need some upgrades and the price will reflect that however, a buyer will still put in an incredibly low offer with the excuse there are repairs to be done. As a seller, you’re now being penalized twice for needing repairs, you decrease asking price because of it and the buyer takes off even less because of repairs needed.

Closing the Deal

Just when you get to the finish line of selling your home is where it can easily all go wrong. There are many things a buyer can do to derail their loan and it is entirely out of the seller’s hands. Not only is this frustrating it is also damaging regarding how other buyers look at the home. As a seller, the loan falling through had nothing to do with you but now potential buyers see your home as having something wrong with it that caused the original buyers to back out.

While buying a home comes with its own distinct set of challenges it is helpful to realize that selling a home isn’t always easy either. Instead of feeling as though one side doesn’t understand the other, progress is made when each side agrees to look at it from a different perspective.

I am passionate about Real Estate and eager to answer all of your real estate questions! Text or Call me at 360-880-2356 or email me directly to ask about Buying, Selling or Investing in today's Real Estate Market - serving Lewis County & Thurston County, WA.

Janet Simons | Certified Residential Specialist | Real Estate Broker
Mountain Valley Real Estate

We’ve all been there either the washer dies and no amount of resuscitation can fix it, or the freezer has suddenly turned your house into a pool. Or even a new house needing all new appliances, it is hard to know exactly where to start! How do you find the best brands at the best prices? It’s a daunting task just to get started but here are some tips to help.

Choose a Price Range

Without knowing what price you are willing to pay for each item you are going to have a harder time finding brands that will work for you. By narrowing down options that do not work for your price range you are saving time on your research.

Wish List Time

Next, make a list of things in two categories, one what you are not willing to compromise on and what is negotiable. For example, you may know that for your family requires a large washing machine by excluding sizes like 3.8 cu ft. you are quickly able to narrow down the list of possible brands that will work for you. Or if you are like me a refrigerator with an ice machine is at the top of the list, I am able to search for that and exclude options that do not fit my criteria.

Compare Brands

This is the part most people tend to dread when it comes to appliance shopping. There are so many places to look at reviews, and in some ways, it feels like a guessing game when it comes to what to get. The first place I would look is the website where you plan to purchase your appliance or appliances from. Where I live that narrows your store down to one option, for others there could be multiple places. But with your criteria in hand, you are able to quickly sort through what will and won’t work for you. Once you have a short list of options, start looking over reviews, even if you don’t plan to buy from that specific store the reviews are an invaluable resource for you. Other options for reviews would be Consumer Reports, J.D. Power, or Consumer Affairs website are all great options for reviews as well.

Go to the Store

Now that you have 1-3 appliances you have narrowed the search down to your next step should be going to the store if possible. Even if you plan to buy online it is easier to make sure you can reach the bottom of the washer before it’s installed than after (I may be speaking from experience here). Or the buttons to the oven may have looked great online but in store, they feel cheap and likely to break. These are all things to take into consideration.

Shop the Sales

At this point, you should know exactly what you are looking for. Now is the time to shop for some sales. Using sites like Honey or Flipp you can easily browse sales papers. These sites allow you to easily find what options you may have; one store may be able to save you hundreds off the purchase price! Also, you should be aware most large appliance manufacturers release new models in the early Fall. So. shopping in September or October may work out well for you. As well as these dates there are Black Friday deals to be aware of as well.

With all of these tips in mind, we hope to make appliance shopping a little less of a hassle and a lot more fun!

I am passionate about Real Estate and eager to answer all of your real estate questions! Text or Call me at 360-880-2356 or email me directly to ask about Buying, Selling or Investing in today's Real Estate Market - serving Lewis County & Thurston County, WA.

Janet Simons | Certified Residential Specialist | Real Estate Broker
Mountain Valley Real Estate