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Renton, WA Real Estate News

By Rene Fabre, Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts
(ARFCO Media)
How do you explain it when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all the assumptions? I watched this TEDx talk last month that’s really got me thinking about my creative work processes. In this video Simon Sinek discusses concepts from his book, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. Sinek’s Golden Circle is a great little tool to visualize the way most people and companies approach ideas and marketing. With it he illustrates why some companies like Apple and people like Martin Luther King Jr. or the Wright Brothers became thought leaders and inspired us. Relating the conversation to sales and marketing Sinek demonstrates how the usual message is constructed from the outside in. What it is, How it is, then Why. In other words most marketing is, ...
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By Gary McNinch, Broker, Renton WA Real Estate
(Better Properties Real Estate)
What Would You Regret The Most IF??  If a person in your life died today, what would you regret most that you hadn't done?  Have you ever thought about this? Granted it isn't something most of us would choose to think about, since, with the exception of very old or the very very ill,  we choose not to anticipate death ..our own or that of any of our loved ones.  This subject is very close to my wife's heart as she lost her first born son years back when he was still a young man...24 yrs old and he was killed in a car wreck. Her regret now is that there weren't more pictures. Pictures were considerably more expensive years ago than they are now. There wasn't the plethora of photos taken of everyday life. Owning a good camera, buying the film and paying to get it developed all took a lot ...
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By Rene Fabre, Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts
(ARFCO Media)
The holidays bring up a lot of wonderful memories... and they include a few ghosts from Christmas past. Not to dwell on anything dark a few days just before Christmas but I was thinking of my Dad this day. Funny how you do that as time goes by. He’s been gone now since November of 1998. It struck me a few days ago that my son Jeff is 23. He’s a wonderfully gifted young man and I’m so excited about what he’s doing. Ahh to be in our early 20’s again! I too was 23 once, yet today that seems like a million years ago. When Dad was 23 he was in the Battle of the Bulge (December of 1944 - January 1945). If you read the book or saw the movie Saving Private Ryan then that was pretty much his same journey. He never talked about the war much. Actually, I found out more about him and his war experi...
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By Rene Fabre, Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts
(ARFCO Media)
I was reminded the other day of my first truck. It was a 1951 ¾ ton white Chevy panel. I bought it from the Orting Fire Department in 1967. They retired this big old fire rescue truck with its 4 speed long throw floor shifter with compound low, 17 inch wheels, a 92 hp inline 6 cylinder engine and leaf springs front and back. What a ride! The perfect truck for a rock band! So hey, this was 1967 after all. I took a razor blade to the official emblems on the doors and scraped off Orting Fire Department - Fire Rescue and inserted a peace sign. Totally appropriate for the times I thought. Plenty of room in that 8 foot bed for guitars, amps, PA and drums. There was absolutely no where we couldn’t go. We took it across small rivers and drove old logging roads and horse trails, even when it was...
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By Rene Fabre, Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts
(ARFCO Media)
In my box of old family treasures I found this Christmas Card. It was sent to my Grandpa George from his niece Julie in 1964. Though at first look it appears to be 3D, it’s actually a photograph of a handmade card. Pretty cool for 1964. Santa’s beard, coat trim, and the snow are obviously made of cotton. Santa and his bag of presents and the angel are cutouts. I think Julie was Grandpa’s favorite niece. He put everything she wrote into envelopes with notes attached into his old luggage chest where the important papers and photos were kept. Grandpa would read and translate her cards and letters for us on occasion. Her writings were in French. I thought it was quite magical they came all the way from Paris, France. The world as I saw it was a very big place then. Grandpa George grew up in...
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By Rene Fabre, Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts
(ARFCO Media)
Dang it! I did it again! As is often I’m on the run when I hear the sound of those jungle drums going off in my shirt pocket. It’s one of my tribe, they need me now! My adrenaline rushes, reflex takes over. Briefcase in my right hand I snap with my left... I’m one iPhone slinging 4s digital cowboy and quick draw that baby in a nano second. I’m thumbing navigation, pin in, check email, got it, and go for reply. Dang it! I did it again... I hit delete. Dear Apple... Why is the delete button in the middle and oh so close to reply?
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By Gary McNinch, Broker, Renton WA Real Estate
(Better Properties Real Estate)
CHRISTMAS HAPPENINGS IN RENTON Did you know that this weekend (Dec 14-15) you can take the kids to visit Santa's house right here in Renton?? Friday (14th) he will be there from 5-7 p.m. and Saturday (15th) from 1-4 p.m.  This will take place at the Downtown Piazza (on Burnett between 2nd & 3rd). Pictures with Santa will available FOR FREE (sponsored by downtown businesses - thank you business people!!). The pictures can then be downloaded online.   This could be your perfect opportunity to finish your shopping, let the kids have an opportunity to see Santa and then do a little of their own shopping (maybe for Mom or Dad? Grandparents? Daycare Providers?) Sunday (16th) at 3:00 p.m. you can enjoy the sounds of Renton Youth Symphony Orchestra's Holiday Concert at CARCO THEATRE (1717 SE Ma...
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By Rene Fabre, Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts
(ARFCO Media)
One of the things I enjoy during the Holiday Season is getting out the old box of decorations to revisit those little treasures from yesteryear. Like the tree ornament my brother Terry made back in grade school out of Plaster of Paris. It weighs over a pound and would bend the branch so far you feared the tree would fall over. It was always placed very near the trunk and low to the floor. I remind him every year! I made a stained glass Madonna like card for Mom by ironing a crayon drawing between wax paper on construction paper. Did you ever do that? As I was digging through the box I came across Christmas drawings from my kids when they were small. Christmas Trees and drawings of our home with lights on it and of course Santa.  Then there’s that first photo op with Santa at the JC Penn...
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By Rene Fabre, Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts
(ARFCO Media)
I picked up the guitar when I was 13 years old. The British Invasion had just begun and I knew there was no way I’d ever become a rock n roll star playing an accordion or french horn. I spent hours and hours listening to 45 records and strumming along to learn the tunes. After I got past the 3 chord songs that used G, C, D and the like I discovered the minor chords through songs like The House of the Rising Sun. Life was never the same and as a kid longing to express himself, I now had my instrument, a friend, and a companion.  Fast forward to yesterday, I was listening to Chris Smither in the car running errands. My friend Rob Porter turned me on to Chris about 10 years ago. Not sure how I missed this wonderful artist, he’s been around as we say, forever. I found a lovely short intervi...
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By Rene Fabre, Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts
(ARFCO Media)
Last night I was thinking about the Thanksgiving stories and comments I’ve enjoyed here over the past few days. Delightful memories of family and loved ones gathered around the table enjoying a wonderful meal and telling stories about one another from back in the day. The one's that capture my heart and imagination are the fun goofy remembrances, the “remember when ______” stories. I love these familism’s. Those little stories of once upon a time that remind us our lives are woven together in many more ways than we may see or think about most days. They not only reveal the inner child in all of us, like communion, they’re a vehicle to experience and express the belonging we can’t always articulate. I hope you all had a great holiday and enjoyed a round or two of  ‘remember when’ stories.
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By Gary McNinch, Broker, Renton WA Real Estate
(Better Properties Real Estate)
Christmas Preparations - It's that time of year again!! Some of us are trying to hold off with the Christmas preparations at least until after Thanksgiving and others are chomping at the bit wanting to get this "show on the road."   My wife and I took a day trip to Leavenworth last weekend knowing that it would be the last calm quiet one that town would be experiencing for the next month. We went over Stevens Pass and saw snow near the top. Not much, but enough that it looked like a postcard with the snow tipped trees. (Later that night they got a LOT more!)  We took our time wandering around the town, doing a little shopping and then enjoyed a delicious lunch at Cafe Crista before we headed home via Blewitt Pass and then Snoqualmie Pass.  By next week Christmas activities will be in fu...
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By Rene Fabre, Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts
(ARFCO Media)
I was thinking about growing up this morning and how I learned about Thanksgiving. Much of it then was in school, church and sunday school and of course at home. I recall the childhood plays of Pilgrims and Indians, the little art projects we made cutting out black, white, and autumn colored construction paper with lots of paste. Mom read us stories from the Little Golden Book Library series. It was fun to take some time last night to go down a few virtual rabbit holes online to do a little research about the history of Thanksgiving and to revisit where it all started back in the autumn of 1691. Who’d a thought all these years later I’d have so many online friends that live where this all began. The first Thanksgiving I actually remember doesn’t date all the way back to the Pilgrims, bu...
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By Rene Fabre, Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts
(ARFCO Media)
The other day I was asked in a social media class, “But how does this relate to real estate?” I was talking about community and the conversation was going something like this... Most of us use online like the 21st Century Phonebook. We have a question or a need and jump on Google, Bing, or Yahoo etc. to look for the best Happy Hour in Seattle. What’s the phone number for my Grocery Store Pharmacy in downtown Renton? Who makes the best Pizza in Tacoma? What movies are playing in Bellevue? Who has the best price on an 8 cup coffee pot in Kent? In short, we’re searchers. All of us. We’re virtual bedouins. Over this past decade we’ve all come to rely on search to find almost all of our wants and needs from love to our genealogy, auto parts and rare books, driving directions, check the lates...
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By Colleen Fischesser Northwest Property Shop, A Tradition of Trust in the Pacific NW since 1990!
(NextHome Experience)
Median Sales Prices for Single Family homes in Renton, WA peaked in September, according to statistics from NWMLS.   The median Sales price for homes in Renton, sold year to date in 2012 hit a high of $328,178 which is a 39% increase over the low of $235,500 in January of this year.  One likely contributer to the price bump is the decrease in inventory. Compared to January 2012, when there was 15 months of inventory, today...and actually since May, the Renton market has experienced much lower inventory numbers. Since May, there has been a consistent 2 months of inventory available to home buyers in the area. Working throughout the suburban communities South of Seattle, my team and I continue to help buyers understand the market data in order to make their best offer on desirable propert...
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By Cyndi Carver, Newcastle & East Renton Specialist
(The Carver Home Team)
Here's a beautiful home that is looking for a new owner. In the popular Briarwood neighborhood of East Renton. If you like cathedral ceilings, and window walls, you'll love this home.  The current owner had been relocated to another state in the middle of the bubble burst and leased it to a couple with the option of purchasing the home. That couple decided not to purchase it and wanted to buy a home on acreage instead. Although values has steadily increased in this neighborhood since the real estate bubble burst, the value has not quite come up enough to cover the balance of this mortgage. So it is a short sale. Here are some other photos: This is a photo of the living room with large floor to ceiling clarestory windows. Here is looking at the other side of the living room with hardwood...
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By Rene Fabre, Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts
(ARFCO Media)
I grew up in a musician’s household. It was a public and social upbringing and we were always around a lot of people. It was understood by my brothers and I that we’d be well behaved in public and we were, with few exceptions. Not that we were kid geniuses or anything, we just understood consequences early on. If we strayed from the lessons we learned at Mom’s Preparatory School of Proper Social Etiquette and Good Manners the correction was passed to the Dean. Upon the infraction Dad would lean forward slightly pursing his lips, tilt his head to one side and give you “that” look. It worked and his silent stare conveyed volumes, then the festivities continued as if nothing ever happened. Privacy was something we had at home but only when Dad wasn’t teaching music lessons in his studio do...
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By Colleen Fischesser Northwest Property Shop, A Tradition of Trust in the Pacific NW since 1990!
(NextHome Experience)
Halloween is over and now we move on to the next round of hoiday fun!  I admit I have become one of those who has embraced the extended Winter holidays and have, in recent years,  rolled them into one long celebration starting with Thanksgiving and winding up with the New Year. Maybe it's because life moves so fast or we're so busy, but by decorating sooner, shopping earlier and yes, celebrating longer, it seems easier to stop and enjoy the moment just a little more often. This year we are excited about many upcoming holiday events. Kicking them off will be the Holiday Tree Lighting at The Landing in Renton. Saturday, November 17 from 4:00-7:00 pm. After that we move on to Santa Photos here at our RE/MaX Select Office at The Landing. Every Saturday from 3-7. Stay tuned for those detail...
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By Colleen Fischesser Northwest Property Shop, A Tradition of Trust in the Pacific NW since 1990!
(NextHome Experience)
Since opening our new RE/MAX Select office at The Landing in Renton, WA, we've had lots of fun getting to know both people and pets living and visiting the area just South of Boeing, Lake Washington & the Seahawks Traning facility.  Today was "Trick or Treat Street" where most businesses opened for adorably costumed pint-sized people and what a blast it was!           While Snow White was the hit of the day outside our office, many lined up to have their photo taken with Dora the Explorer outside the new Union Bank location.    It's always fun stepping outside my day to day activities of listing and selling real estate here in South King County, but as you'll see from my Costume...I look better as a Broker than I do as a Bug     Happy Halloween!    
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By Rene Fabre, Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts
(ARFCO Media)
The one constant in life is change. Like the old saying goes, “the one constant we have in life is change.” Old Anonymous Unknown was pretty smart, I say. Someday’s the passage of time is a joy because we’re closer to what we desire, yet other days it appears relentless, a marathon, and we dread tomorrow. Either way, it arrives... In my industry, title and escrow, it’s predominantly women. I’m so fortunate to work with many I sincerely consider outstanding professionals and also great human beings. They’re smart, creative, hard working with a keen sense of humor, and rarely if ever shy away from a challenge. Their abilities at juggling work, family, and community are impressive. Most of them have kids and several have teenagers. I love the stories. Case in point, one 16 year old son is ...
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By Colleen Fischesser Northwest Property Shop, A Tradition of Trust in the Pacific NW since 1990!
(NextHome Experience)
Short Sales in Renton Washington continue to be a reality of and influence upon our local real estate market. The graph below demonstrates activity over the past 90 day period. Because the short sale market in King County fluctuates with inventory and buyer demand, it's helpful to see activity over a shorter timeframe. As a Broker who works with Sellers throughout South King County on their short sale listings, I find it's much more advantageos to look at more recent activity than going back 6 months or more. Of interesting note is the clog of pending transactions awaiting Lien holder approval. The short sale funnel shows no sign of drying up any time soon. If you're interest in buying a Short Sale in Renton you can view inventory here. In South King County, search short sale listings h...
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