I know many of you will be shopping in stores and online this week – I hope that the items below help with a person or two on your list.  I wish you and your family the happiest of holiday seasons.  

Earlier this year we wrote about unusual ways to use foods like Tabasco sauce, sliced bread and cornmeal for cleaning, and we asked if you, our readers, had your own tricks to share. Did you ever! After sorting through hundreds of responses, here are our favorites, from cleaning glass with gin to grooming the family [...]

By Steve Wydler and Hans Wydler - November 5 - Washington Post The process of building a custom home is often the most misunderstood segment of housing hunting. Said differently, a high percentage of prospective home buyers start out thinking they may want to build a custom home but then end up buying an already [...]

Findings from a survey of 1,144 U.S. homeowners on Houzz about their recent or planned master bathroom renovation projects Anticipating Aging Needs: The majority of baby boomers (ages 55 or older) are addressing current or future needs of aging household members during master bathroom renovations (56%). One-third of baby boomers are addressing current aging needs [...]

Imagine scrimping and saving for a down payment to buy a home when a scammer swoops in and steals all that money right before you're about to get the keys. Even worse, there's little or nothing you can do to get your money back. This scam is so big, even the FBI is sounding the [...]

I always lament about the junk I have in my garage and closets (how does this happen?!)  Fortunately,  I don’t have any of these collections below.  Got Junk says these are some of the oddest things they’ve had to collect. 5) 13 giant porcelain Buddha statues 4) 1200 lbs of concrete animals 3) 400 brand [...]

Many people aim to have the 20% down to avoid PMI (private mortgage insurance) in their monthly payment.  While this is a “best practice” it’s just not always practical, especially for younger buyers who are trying to save up.  The good news is that there are many loan products that will help buyers procure homes [...]

Bright, white kitchens are as popular as they are timeless, but have you ever considered black? Get inspired to try a darker hue with trendsetting kitchens that boast something a little more bold.

I know we aren’t Seattle . but we’re close – so whatever happens up there tends to impact us over time.   Forbes just ranked Seattle as the #1 locale for “business”. by KOMO Staff - Friday, October 26th 2018 A new report released Friday ranks Seattle as the best city in the nation for business [...]

I truly enjoy sharing my real estate findings with you via print and digital newsletter.  I try to “curate” articles from different perspectives – economics of housing, home maintenance, décor, community interest and anything else I think is just plain captivating.   I view sharing this information as a “service” to you.  If you ever find [...]