Owning a Home

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 countertops 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

You just closed on the purchase of your new home and have the keys in your hand. The excitement has barely worn off, and you have already started your move. Other than arranging your move, here is a handy checklist of items that you will need to take care of during the first weeks in ... Read More

Property taxes in Washington are paid based on the “tax assessed value” of your home. The tax assessed value is supposed to reflect the current market value of your home, and the assessor’s office uses a variety of statistical analysis of sales data combined with the facts about your home that they have in their ... Read More