Living

Living

Simple Ways to Conserve Energy at Home

SOURCE: Windermere Whether you want to use less energy to reduce your carbon footprint or your monthly costs, there are plenty of easy ways to conserve the electricity and natural gas you’re using in your home. Energy conservation can be as simple as closing your curtains, changing a light bulb, turning down your thermostat, or […]
Living

Beat the Heat Without AC

SOURCE: Windermere There’s no doubt about it: summers are getting hotter. While many of us who live in the western United States have been able to do without central AC in years past, rising temps make it more difficult to beat the heat. If installing central air is beyond your budget, try these tips to […]
Living

Home Maintenance Checklist: Summer Edition

SOURCE: Windermere As summer nears, who doesn’t dream of camping trips, weekend getaways, and hammock lay-arounds? But before you book your entire summer, remember that it’s also an important time for home maintenance and repair, particularly outdoors. Whether you’re prepping your home for summer fun or enhancing its efficiency, here’s a checklist to consider while […]
Living

Toolbox Essentials for Homeowners

SOURCE: Windermere For all its perks—stability, tax breaks, building equity—being a homeowner comes with the responsibility of maintaining your home and the occasional repair. Some jobs require a professional, but if you are willing to take on minor repairs or DIY projects, you’ll need the right tools. Whether you’re starting a toolbox from scratch or looking to […]

Living Simple Ways to Conserve Energy at Home SOURCE: Windermere Whether you want to use less energy to reduce your carbon footprint or your monthly costs, there are plenty of easy ways to conserve the electricity and natural gas you’re using in your home. Energy conservation can be as simple as closing your curtains, changing a light bulb, turning down your thermostat, or […]

Living Beat the Heat Without AC SOURCE: Windermere There’s no doubt about it: summers are getting hotter. While many of us who live in the western United States have been able to do without central AC in years past, rising temps make it more difficult to beat the heat. If installing central air is beyond your budget, try these tips to […]

Living Home Maintenance Checklist: Summer Edition SOURCE: Windermere As summer nears, who doesn’t dream of camping trips, weekend getaways, and hammock lay-arounds? But before you book your entire summer, remember that it’s also an important time for home maintenance and repair, particularly outdoors. Whether you’re prepping your home for summer fun or enhancing its efficiency, here’s a checklist to consider while […]

Living Toolbox Essentials for Homeowners SOURCE: Windermere For all its perks—stability, tax breaks, building equity—being a homeowner comes with the responsibility of maintaining your home and the occasional repair. Some jobs require a professional, but if you are willing to take on minor repairs or DIY projects, you’ll need the right tools. Whether you’re starting a toolbox from scratch or looking to […]

Living How to Stay Safe at Home During a Power Outage SOURCE: Windermere A stormy night with the lights out can complicate things at home. But with the right preparation, you and your household can switch gears quickly and ride out the blackout period, however long it may last. Power outages can happen unexpectedly, so taking the necessary steps to have a plan in place should […]

Living 6 Home Cleaning Tips to Eliminate Household Odors A home that smells fresh feels fresh. But as all homeowners know, even after spending hours cleaning your home top to bottom, musty and unclean smells somehow find a way to hang around. We’ll take a look at some of the most common household odors and offer home cleaning tips to eliminate them room by room. […]

Living Managing Your Investment Property: DIY vs Hiring a Professional Owning real estate is an efficient and productive addition to your investment portfolio. For an investment property that you don’t plan to live in, whether it’s your second home or you’ve done this a few times before, you’re faced with decisions about how to best use that investment for your goals. Some investors will remodel their new property and […]

Living 7 Tips for Cleaning Your Appliances Your appliances help your home run like a well-oiled machine. But without the proper cleaning and maintenance, they can make your life more complicated. When thinking about the most helpful cleaning tips around the house, we often center our efforts on open, high-foot-traffic areas. However, spending some time cleaning your appliances will have your home […]

Living 13 Appliance Tips & Hacks for Household Chores Modern home appliances make our lives so much easier. They tackle dreaded household chores, saving us time and effort. There are lots of ways to use them, however, that you may not have thought of before. Here are 13 little-known tricks for getting more than your money’s worth from your appliances. 13 Appliance Tips & […]

Buying W Report – October 2022 Local market update. Shifts in the housing market are changing the narrative on local real estate conditions. In September, King County saw inventory increase and prices decrease month-over-month, but prices were still up compared to this time last year.Find our full market recap here. News + trends. [THE STATE OF] REAL ESTATE Despite the “Great […]

Buying W Report – September 2022 Local market update. The market is finally settling into a more balanced pattern, as price appreciation slows across King County. Reports of a bear market are exaggerated however, since last month’s slower pace is comparable to typical end-of-summer sales.Find our full market recap here. News + trends. [THE STATE OF] REAL ESTATE Rising rents reflect […]

Living EASTSIDE 2020 GROWTH FORECAST 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 […]

Living Designing Your Rental To Feel Like Home Stylizing your own home can be a daunting but rewarding challenge. When you own your living space, it’s easy to feel a sense of ownership over every piece of your design. But for renters, the challenge is a bit different. Despite limitations, it’s no less important to one’s well-being for a residence to convey a […]

Living Extend the Life of your Roof Your roof is one of the most important and expensive assets of your home, but no other element is quite as valuable. While the average lifespan of a roof is about 15 years, careful homeowners can extend the life of their homes without enduring too many hardships. Take a look at these three quick maintenance tips […]

Living The Impact of Staging Your Home For more than 20 years, the benefits of staging a home have been well documented. Numerous studies show that staging helps sell a home faster and for a higher price. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, 88 percent of home buyers start their search online, forming impressions within three seconds of viewing a listing. […]

Living Preparing Your Garage for an Electric Car Photo Source: FleetCarma.com Electric cars help lower emissions and fuel costs, improve fuel economy, and bolster energy security. And considering the volatility of gas prices—and their general skyward trajectory—electric fuel shows promise as an economic alternative. But switching to an electric vehicle entails more than new driving habits and a conversation piece with strangers. It’s also […]

Buying Five Things to Consider When Downsizing Downsizing is on the minds of many homeowners today. Some are ready to retire, others want to live more simply, and many want to save money and say goodbye to home maintenance. If you can relate to any of those sentiments, ask yourself these five questions: Have you done the math? The financial savings […]

Living Blinds or Curtains? Or Both? Top Things to Consider When Choosing Your Window Style Some rooms just need blinds, other rooms just need curtains, and then some rooms look best with both. But how do you decide which rooms need what? There are a number of factors to consider when you’re picking window treatments for rooms in your house, from price to insulation to style to orientation within the […]

Living Multigenerational homes are back in style, with more breathing room Bob and Myrna Conrad, both 65, share a house with their son Wade, 41, his wife, Dana, 42, and their grandson Bryce, 21. Isn’t it crowded? Don’t they cramp one another’s style? Actually, no. “We just set some ground rules, and it’s been working great,” said Wade Conrad, who has been living with his extended […]

Living 6 Deck Renovations That Really Pay Off—and 1 That Doesn’t Charles Schmidt/iStock If there’s one thing that unites this great country—especially once the weather starts getting warmer and barbecue season gets ever so tantalizingly closer—it is our passionate, even obsessive love for our outdoor decks. Truth be told, just about all of us desire a perch from which to survey our backyard (or rooftop) kingdom, lazily hang out, or […]