Owning a Home

By Satinder Haer The millennial generation is struggling to break into the housing market. Millennials, those between 23- and 34-years-old, are poised to be the next big wave of home buyers. However, many are coming up short on the necessary cash for a down payment due to high rental prices. Undeterred, millennial and first-time buyers …  Read More 

Ever seen a cop car cruising your quiet Seattle neighborhood? If you’re like me, you may be tempted to fire up a police scanner to find out what is happening. For those of you on Twitter, the Seattle Police Department has another option called Tweets by Beat.  Read More 

Steep slopes and overgrown thickets of blackberries and brush are the bane of homeowners in the Pacific Northwest. Most folks will hire a team of landscapers who may even have to bring in machinery to help with the task, but why not hire a herd of goats to get the job done?  Read More 

When you own a home, you need to pay attention to maintaining your own little corner of the world, but home ownership brings with it some neighborhood responsibilities as well. New homeowners may not realize, but the city actually needs some assistance to keep things in shape. There are too many roads, sidewalks and streets …  Read More 

Our wonderful Pacific Northwest climate gives us lots of green foliage, but unfortunately that foliage can include an awful lot of moss on your roof. Letting moss grow uncontrolled on your roof will damage the roof and lessen its life, not to mention that it looks bad. Unfortunately, many home owners end up doing more …  Read More 

Many of you probably fantasize about a fancy new kitchen in your house. You know, something to do away with the avocado appliances and yellow Formica counter tops from the 1970’s! While it won’t help you budget for the project, there are a number of fun online tools that you can use to design that perfect kitchen.  Read More 

Airbnb have built a formidable online business by renting out rooms/apartments/homes to short-term visitors. The premise is that it offers travelers and short-term visitors a comfortable alternative to hotels, and offers people a way to generate extra income from their residence. The problem is that a large number of rentals offered on this site are …  Read More 

The Washington State Archives Department keeps historic photos of many Seattle icons, buildings, and landmarks – including photos of older homes throughout the city. This is a great way to take a peek back in time at your own home and see what transformations it has undergone throughout the years. The process does take a few weeks, …  Read More 

If you are looking for a cool thing to do this weekend, and you love historic Seattle bungalows, then check out the 14th Annual Bungalow Fair  happening in Seattle this weekend, September 24-25, 2011.  Read More 

All of the counties in Washington state operate on an annual cycle for assigning an assessed value to your home and then applying an annual tax rate to that assessed value. If you live in King County, you probably just received an Official Property Value Notice for your home in the mail, listing what last …  Read More 

Do you receive numerous copies of yellow pages and phone books that you don’t open any more? If you live in Seattle, you can put your address in the city’s opt-out registry to prevent delivery of this unwanted paper. Seattle was the first city to pass this sort of opt-out law, and of course the …  Read More