Owner: Dean Dretske's Blog URL:http://www.deandretske.com/my-blog.asp Join Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2007 12:47:25 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: This blog will provide you with valuable information, tips, and general insight into the real estate market in Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Issaquah and other Eastside communities. Site statistics:Click here
Light Rail from Bellevue to Seattle 2007-09-08 11:46:16 Interested in plans to build a light rail line through Bellevue
? Here’s how you can get on board!
Sound Transit is proposing to extend a light rail line across the I-90 bridge through Bellevue and on to Redmond. Funding will come from the Roads and Transit package on the November ballot.
The purpose of this “best practices” study is to learn what works, and doesn’t work, elsewhere and apply those lessons in Bellevue.
City staff at the open house will explain the study’s purpose, provide information on light rail and east Link, confirm and clarify issues/opportunities heard to date, and receive additional public comments before beginning the case study work.
The open house will be on Sept 13, 2007 from 4-7 pm at the Bellevue City Hall Concourse.
For more information, please take a look at Light Rail Best Practices
Read more:Seattle
Fashion Week in Bellevue 2007-09-08 11:32:00 I thought I would pass along this announcement for Fashion
Week - though I should probably go to get some advice, you will probably find it hard to find me there. Enjoy the events!
Source: The Bellevue
Collection - No, this is not New York. This is Bellevue, Washington and it’s Fashion Week
! From September 14th through September 22nd head to the Eastside for nine days of runway and trunk shows, seminars and fashion-forward nights out for both women and men. Events will be held at Bellevue Square, Bellevue Place and Lincoln Square, collectively known as The Bellevue Collection.
Proceeds from the events benefit a great cause, Susan G. Komen for the Cure Puget Sound .
To see a schedule of events and find out more, The Bellevue Collection
Home Maintenance Tip 2007-09-05 02:03:19 Lime and Mineral Deposit Remover
Hard lime deposits around faucets can be softened for easy removal by covering the deposits with vinegar-soaked paper towels. Leave the paper towels on for about one hour before cleaning. The end result will leave chrome clean and shiny.
For Plastic and Metal Showerheads:
To remove deposits which may be clogging your metal showerhead, combine 1/2 cup white vinegar and one quart water. Then completely submerge the showerhead and boil for 15 minutes. If you have a plastic showerhead, combine 1 pint white vinegar and 1 pint hot water. Then completely submerge the showerhead and soak for about one hour.
Hope this helps!
Read more:Maintenance
A new dining choice 2007-09-05 00:11:27 We had dinner tonight at a new restaurant in the Crossroads area of Bellevue - the Black Bear Diner. It is a chain out of California (www.BlackBearDiner.com). This location just opened. We were looking for a simple sit-down dinner and certainly found that here. The place had a nice friendly, “homey” feel. Plenty of food - be ready to take home a doggy bag!
The menu looked like a newspaper from 1969. In addition to dinner, they also have a pretty good breakfast and lunch selection. We’ll be back to try those.
Oh, they also make fresh bear claws - plain and fruit filled. I got one to go for breakfast tomorrow.
Give them a try and let me know what you think.
New Listing: 12227 NE 136th Pl 2007-09-01 19:13:22 Check out this new Single-family property that I just posted on my Web site. It is at 12227 NE 136th Pl in Kirkland. This Single-family property has 4 bedrooms and 2.75 baths. Beautifully remodeled 4 bed, 2.75 bath multi-level home with 2330 square feet of living space and a large fenced yard. This house boasts an updated master suite and princess suite, a brand new kitchen with granite countertops, updated bathrooms, new carpet, new wood floors, new roof, new appliances and more. THIS IS A MUST SEE!.
See the featured listing here
FLIP seminar coming to Seattle 2007-08-13 00:25:03 Millionaire Systems Presents:
FLIP: How to Find, Fix, and Sell Houses for Profit
Based on The New York Times best seller FLIP: How to Find, Fix and Sell Houses for Profit, this seminar will take your real estate skills to the next level and turn you into a profit-spinning real estate investor.
In our one-day, interactive FLIP seminar you’ll learn to:
Target houses with real profit potential.
Separate suspects from prospects and make smart offers.
Determine what improvements are your best investments and how much they’ll cost.
Tap into the skills you already have to make a lucrative and rewarding investment! If you’re a real estate agent, you’re already one up on the competition!
Register by visiting http://www.millionairesystems.com/
This seminar will sell out – act now to reserve your seat!
EVENT INFORMATION
Date: September 20th, 2007
Location: Westin Seattle
- Downtown
Speaker: Gene Rivers
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Who: Agents, Investors,and guests!
Price: $129 (with a
Seafair - traffic changes 2007-08-03 18:53:03 This is Seafair weekend - in truth, Seafair is about a month long considering all of the community events that are under the Seafair umbrella. This weekend is the culmination of Seafair - with the hydroplane races and the Blue Angels.
There will be some trafficchanges
- specifically the bridges. Here is the Dept. of Transportation information from www.Seafair.com:
Thursday, August 2, 2007
(Two separate bridge closures, during which pilots will practice maneuvers and become familiar with area geography)
First Closure: 9:45 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.
Second Closure: 1:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Friday, August 3: 12:45 p.m. - 2:40 p.m. (practice show)
Saturday, August 4: 12:45 p.m. - 2:40 p.m. (full show)
Sunday, August 5: 12:45 p.m. - 2:40 p.m. (full show)
Drivers who want to ensure they can cross the lake using I-90 should drive across Lake Washington at least one hour before the announced closure times. No stopping or parking is allowed on the floating bridges.
Seattle Street of Dreams 2007 2007-08-01 01:25:24 I am part of the team that is holding open House #5 at the SeattleStreet
of Dreams
this year. We take shifts of 4 hours at a time to hold it open - I have now done that 3 times. It is a great house and I have enjoyed meeting many people each time I am there.
Yesterday, I went a bit early and took pictures of the entire Street - including the other houses. I did this in the sense of a review and as a service to several people I have met who have not been able to get good pictures of the houses. The photos are available here:
Seattle Street of Dreams 2007 - Overview
Seattle Street of Dreams 2007 - House 1
Seattle Street of Dreams 2007 - House 2 (link disabled awaiting listing agent permission)
Seattle Street of Dreams 2007 - House 3 (link disabled awaiting listing agent permission)
Seattle Street of Dreams 2007 - House 4 (link disabled awaiting listing agent permission)
Seattle Street of Dreams 2007 - House 5
I hope you enjoy the pictures - but each house really must be experi
Bellevue Arts Fair 2007-07-30 12:26:46 Jen and I went to the Bellevue
Arts Fair yesterday. I took a few photos which you can see here. The weather was fairly nice but overcast. It was not as zoo-like as the UW Street Fair has been - the crowd was light enough to move around easily with our pups on leashes. There were quite a few dogs there - all were well behaved and friendly. We had a lot of kids ask to pet the pups, which shows that the kids were well behaved too :>
Ninja Coaching for July 2007-07-26 00:00:38 We had our monthly session with Walt Frey (www.WaltFrey.com) for coaching in the Ninja
style of real estate business. I thought I would share my notes for the session here. If you have any questions about these notes, please email me or add a comment of your own to the post.
The average person takes 9-21 months from the first thought of moving to the completion of the sale. However, some 72 hour period during that time is when they pick their realtor. This is why we must make regular periodic contact with our sphere - to still be on their mind when that 72 hour period hits.
We have tiers of contacts - the top tier is our Sphere of Influence (SoI) and should hear from us monthly. The next tier could move into the SoI, but we don’t know enough about them or don’t feel close enough. Send them a survey to find out more (and they self-select to move up by responding). The survey can ask:
Favorite Restaurant
Favorite movie
Names of kids
Birthdays of family members
Welcome to Dean Dretske’s Blog! 2007-07-16 11:12:10 Welcome to Dean Dretske’s Blog! This blog will provide you with valuable information, tips, and general insight into the real estate market in Bellevue. Visit my website at http://www.deandretske.com.
Read more:Welcome
Law against flipping 2007-09-24 03:35:39 This may seem extreme, but the legislature in Washington may have passed just such a law! The Department of Labor and Industries proposed some changes to the section of law that defines ‘contractors’ - this is RCW 18.27.010. The changed legislation is described as 1843-S.SL.
I heard about this issue at the Flipping seminar that I attended on Thursday (see notes on that seminar). A lawyer was brought in to discuss the law and the implications of the changes. He pointed out that the text is very vague on several issues that will make it much harder for property owners (not to mention investors) to stay legal. One example of this is Section 1, which defines ‘contractor’ and is modified in several ways - including the following:
“Contractor” also includes any person, firm, corporation, or other entity covered by this subsection, whether or not registered as required under this chapter or who are otherwise required to be registered or lic Read more:against
Flip Seminar 2007-09-21 04:00:52 I attended the Flip Seminar
today. The main speaker was Gene Rivers who is a KW agent / team leader / operating principal from Florida. Gene is the only presenter of this seminar and has had extensive experience flipping properties in his market. He has met the authors of the book and speaks highly of them. The authors have participated in over 1000 flips in their market in Texas. With all of this experience, they have systemitized the finding / analyzing / buying / fixing / selling process. Gene indicated that one of the most amazing things about meeting the authors was that he realized how un-systemized his own process of flipping had been. I agree with that sentiment - I have done several flips and this material brings the process into a easily reproducable whole.
The seminar started with a reference to a new law in WA state that requires any flipper to have a contractor’s license. The discussion of this issue was tabled until after lunch and there is so much
Real Estate Investors Association of Washington on 9/10 2007-09-21 03:00:40 I attended the monthly meeting of the Real EstateInvestors
Association of Washington
on 9/10/07. The meeting opened with a short announcement from Greg Pineo about the free seminar coming up.
Mobile Home Parks
The majority of the meeting was a presentation by Corey Donaldson discussing investing in Mobile Home parks and Self-Storage Facilites. Corey is part of the Mobile Home University and is a good speaker.
Corey told us a story about Mr. Violi - he arrived in this country in 1961. He could not speak English at the time. He started buying duplexes and renting them out. By the time Corey met him (Corey knew one of the Violi daughters), he lived in a large estate and was living very comfortably. If Mr. Violi can do it with those limitations, any of us in the room can do it. It is just doing it with perserverance.
We then heard about Lonnie Scruggs, the author of Deals on wheels: How to buy, sell and finance used mobile homes for big profit and cash flow. Lonnie specia Read more:Real Estate
Open House on September 15, 2007 at 12227 NE 136th Pl 2007-09-15 11:01:37 On September
15, 2007 at 12:00 PM, you are invited to an Open House
at 12227 NE 136th Pl in Kirkland. If you are looking for a Single-family property in this area, don’t miss this rare opportunity to visit this magnificent property. For a preview of this Single-family property, check out my site at www.deandretske.com. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me if you have any questions or wish to schedule a private showing.
Open House on September 16, 2007 at 21430 114th Ave SE 2007-09-15 10:53:41 On September
16, 2007 at 12:00 PM, you are invited to an Open House
at 21430 114th Ave SE in Snohomish. If you are looking for a Single-family property in this area, don’t miss this rare opportunity to visit this magnificent property. For a preview of this Single-family property, check out my site at www.deandretske.com. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me if you have any questions or wish to schedule a private showing.
Open House on October 06, 2007 at 21430 114th Ave SE 2007-10-02 22:29:01 On October
06, 2007 at 15:00 PM, you are invited to an Open House
at 21430 114th Ave SE in Snohomish. If you are looking for a Single-family property in this area, don’t miss this rare opportunity to visit this magnificent property. For a preview of this Single-family property, check out my site at www.deandretske.com. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me if you have any questions or wish to schedule a private showing.
Open House on October 07, 2007 at 12227 NE 136th Pl 2007-10-02 22:28:07 On October
07, 2007 at 12:00 PM, you are invited to an Open House
at 12227 NE 136th Pl in Kirkland. If you are looking for a Single-family property in this area, don’t miss this rare opportunity to visit this magnificent property. For a preview of this Single-family property, check out my site at www.deandretske.com. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me if you have any questions or wish to schedule a private showing.
September REAPS and the Law against flipping 2007-09-28 15:02:50 I attended the Real Estate Association of Puget Sound’s monthly meeting last night. The meeting featured a panel of attorneys who answered questions from the audience. There were a variety of questions that got answered - unfortunately, a lot of the issues around SR 1843 (the redefinition of ‘contractor’ that severely limits flipping) remained unclear (see below).
The attorneys who donated their time were:
Jeff Wells - Bankruptcy
Randy Redford - Evictions and landlord defender
Rick Gregorek- asset protection and host of KVI radio show on legal issues
Chris Benis - legal counsel for Rental Housing Authority
Steve Anderson - real estate attorney and long time member of REAPS
Each of the attorneys started by talking about an issue of which they thought we should be informed.
Jeff Wells talked about using bankruptcy in a strategic way and as a solution for the ‘bump in the night’. He gave the example of a mortgage with a balloon payment that comes due Read more:September
, against
Bellevue Chamber Lunch - Microsoft on the Move 2007-10-14 17:32:34 On Thursday, October 11th, I attended a lunch held by the BellevueChamber
of Commerce at the Hyatt in Bellevue. Jim Stanton, Microsoft
Senior Community Affairs Manager, was the speaker for the lunch talk. He talked about Microsoft’s expansion on the Eastside - both past and plans for the future. I took some notes and will pass along the highlights here.
Microsoft has approximately 78,000 employees globally - 40,000 workers on campus here (5000 are vendor/contractors). Last year, Microsoft hired 12,000 globally. Microsoft had revenue of approximately $50B last year, $10B more than the year previous. This expansion has pushed them to acquire more space.
Microsoft and Redmond have created an agreement to support this expansion. Each party contributes some set of actions for this goal. The slide that showed the pieces of the agreement went by too quickly for me to write down all of the elements - and the slide no doubtedly was a synopsis of the major elements. Read more:Lunch
New Listing: 401 100th Ave NE #311 Bellevue 2007-10-12 02:36:28 Check out this new Condo property that I just posted on my Web site. It is at 401 100th Ave NE #311 in Bellevue
. This Condo property has 2 bedrooms and 1.75 baths.
More on Law Against Flipping 2007-10-09 05:03:32 I attended the Real Estate Investors Association of Washington meeting on Monday night. This meeting was about Landlord / Tenant law presented by Verna Cameron of L/T Services. The first meeting was, however, dedicated to a discussion about the SR 1843 revision to the contractor law.
There were several people who were asked to talk a bit about the law and its effects:
Dean Dretske (Me) - I related a story I heard from another realtor (’Steve’) in my office. Steve was talking with a client (who I will call ‘Bob’ for clarity) about a property that Bob was interested in buying. Steve thought that Bob might be thinking about flipping / leasing the property and asked Bob it he was aware of the SR 1843 changes in the law. Bob said that he was very aware because he had been recently visited by a representative from the Department of Labor and Industries - L&I is responsible for enforcing the contractor laws. This representative visited a worksite of Bo Read more:Flipping
Negotiation Seminar last weekend 2007-10-05 01:15:15 Reach Returns
I attended a free 2 day seminar that was put on by Reach Returns over the last weekend. Greg Pineo was the only speaker on both days. He has been a real estate investor in the Seattle area for the past 30 years. The seminar was advertised as education on the art of negotiation. Instead, it was like most free seminars - an overview of the constellation of subjects that Reach Return’s education products cover. They did encourage us to buy those products at every break. I think Greg is a very good teacher and has a firm grasp of real estate investing. He has owned several hundreds of buildings over the years and is very creative about how he structures the deals. I have spent quite a bit of money on education from other ‘gurus’ - I think I would have been much better off if I had saved that money and bought Reach Return’s material.
Greg Pineo is a philosopher at heart - he often quotes Thoreau, Whitman, Ruskin and others. If you have Read more:Negotiation
, Seminar
Open House on October 28, 2007 at 12227 NE 136th Pl 2007-10-23 20:13:53 On October
28, 2007 at 12:00 PM, you are invited to an Open House
at 12227 NE 136th Pl in Kirkland. If you are looking for a Single-family property in this area, don’t miss this rare opportunity to visit this magnificent property. For a preview of this Single-family property, check out my site at www.deandretske.com. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me if you have any questions or wish to schedule a private showing.
Open House on October 27, 2007 at 401 100th Ave NE #311 2007-10-23 20:12:15 On October
27, 2007 at 12:00 PM, you are invited to an Open House
at 401 100th Ave NE #311 in Bellevue. If you are looking for a Condo property in this area, don’t miss this rare opportunity to visit this magnificent property. For a preview of this Condo property, check out my site at www.deandretske.com. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me if you have any questions or wish to schedule a private showing.
Winter Maintenance Tips 2007-11-05 19:57:42 Here are some suggestions for maintaining your home through the winter:
Remove screens from windows and install storm windows
Clean out gutters and downspouts
Insulate pipes in your home’s crawlspaces and attics
Store firewood at least 30 feet away from your home
Familiarize responsible family members with the gas main valve and other appliance valves.
Clean the clothes dryer exhaust duct, damper and space under the dryer.
Make sure all electrical holiday decorations have tight connections.
Check the attic for adequate ventilation.
Clean the kitchen exhaust hood and air filter
Check the water hoses on the clothes washer, refrigerator ice-maker and dishwasher for cracks and bubbles.
Test all ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets.
Read more:Maintenance
News on the flipping law 2007-11-10 19:56:38 Robert Penfield (of Kelley Penfield PLLC) will be speaking at the Real Estate Investors Association monthly meeting on November 12 at the Hyatt in downtown Bellevue. The meeting starts at 6 pm and you can register here
From REIA’s website description of the event:
The November REIA Monthly Meeting will focus on changes to Washington State’s Contractor law under SHB 1843 for investors purchasing flips and holds, and serving as lenders, through their entities and through Self Directed IRAs. This REIA Monthly Meeting follows REIA’s meeting with the Department of Labor and Industries, attended by Bob Penfield for REIA, Sue Schindler, REIA’s Legislative Liasion and REIA Founders Fox and Shirley Henderson, and offers direct opinions from L & I that relates to our Members and Guests.
New Listing: 27029 SE 164th Pl 2007-11-09 01:01:51 Check out this new Single-family property that I just posted on my Web site. It is at 27029 SE 164th Pl in Issaquah. This Single-family property has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. Beautiful Lindahl Cedar Home on 1+ Acres, A master suite with a walk-in closet, and full bath, A dramatic living room with soaring cathedral ceiling, 2 full baths with tubs, large loft with cedar walls. Great light from the outside streams through the skylights, solarium and the cedar framed windows. The garage has 2 doors, but is deep enough to hold 4 cars. Great investment opportunity! Subject to lender approval - short sale, as-is.
Update on Flipping Law - notes from REIAWA meeting 2007-11-13 03:05:34 I attended the Real Estate Investors Association of Washington (REIAWA) monthly meeting
tonight. The subject was an update about the flipping law 1843. Robert Penfield, or Kelly Penfield PLLC, is licensed in Washington and Oregon. He has expertise in Real Estate litigation, entity formation, and foreclosure litagation.
Robert indicated that this law change has given quite a bit more power to the Director of Labor and Industries. The Director nows has subpeona power (to review business records to determine intent and details of the deals done) and can request search warrants.
Robert, Shirley and Fox Henderson, and Sue Schindler (all representing REIAWA) attended a meeting with Pete Schmidt and Sally Elliot (from Dept of Labor and Industries) to discuss this law change. Pete Schmidt is the Chief of Contactor Compliance. I did not catch Sally’s title. Sue had compiled a list of 100’s of questions which they left with L&I for answers. Pete and Sally indicate Read more:Update
, Flipping
Ninja Group Coaching in October 2007-11-11 13:54:43 I got behind in transcribing my notes - we had a NinjaGroup
Coaching session on 10/31/07 with Walt Frey. There were about a dozen of us in this session. It was held in the Keller Williams Realty Bellevue’s office.
Accountability
Each of us is supposed to be tracking our time using the PIN system, the count of new contacts we are making and the number of FORD calls we are making. The PIN system tracks the number of hours spent in Productive, Indirectly productive, and Necessary activities.
Productive activities - face-to-face sales activites - eg Listing presentations, buyer’s consultations, offer presentations, etc.
Indirectly productive - activities whose result should be the generation of Productive activities - eg marketing, FORD calls, networking events, newsletter generation, open houses (as long as there are guests), etc.
Necessary - things that we need to do, but don’t generate production and won’t lead to it - eg continuing education classes, pap Read more:October
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