Real Estate • January 31, 2014

Are you thinking of a new neighborhood to live in? Let’s talk about Wedgwood.

by Tom Fine

Seattle is so fortunate to have many great neighborhoods. It's all about what you are looking for? Location close to Amazon, Broadway, Downtown, need to be North of town? Well there are others that are located in great areas, Ballard, West Seattle, Capitol Hill and on. I am not here to talk about these but what about Wedgwood, that's how you spell it, with no "e" in it. Wedgwood is located just North of Downtown Seattle and North of the University of Washington and East of I-5. Wedgwood has sidewalks and tree lined streets.

Wedgwood was created right after WWII by a developer who built Cape Cod style homes in this area. The name Wedgwood came from the landowner’s wife who had china that was named "Wedgwood". This neighborhood consists mainly of the middle class America. There is dental clinics, hair salons, restaurants, you don't have to leave this area unless you wanted to. If you have a craving for donuts, then you can go to Top Pot Donuts, or you can grab pizza at Fiddler’s Inn or Wedgewood Ale House & Cafe.

If you would like to check out the Wedgwood Blog

It's a great place to take a drive to and check out this area. Go for a stroll and enjoy your afternoon and enjoy a great meal. You can't go wrong in or around Wedgwood, it's only a 15 minute drive to downtown.

Keep an eye out for more information about other neighborhoods.

Tom Fine, Broker

Windermere RE, Capitol Hill

Real Estate • January 25, 2014

Don’t Throw your Money Away! Use the Referral From your Realtor

by Tom Fine

Do you like to throw your money away? If you are like me, I value my money and don't like throwing money away. Don't get me wrong, I do buy things once in a while that might be ridiculous, but at least I am making that choice. When you pick a mortgage broker, because they are a friend or friend of a friend or they may be a big bank. This may be you are gambling with your money.

Why do I bring this up, well this happens more than I would like. I have clients that come to me and they have a buddy that is a banker for a large bank and we have a real estate property that we are in contract with. It has a 45 day close. The banker takes the information and the appraisal doesn't happen for 15 days, (what! 15 days for an appraisal) but the client is told by the banker everything is good and release the financing contingency. Done, Financing contingency is released, no contingencies left. I tried to interject and emails would not come back to me form the banker, the banker was only responding to his client which is "our client". 5 days before the scheduled close, the client is rejected by underwriting, (What!) The banker said to his client (Suppose to be our client) he can work it out and needs another 5 days. We are now going to 50 days to close. Seller does not accept an extension, guess what, we are so close to the client loosing his earnest money. Why? Because of the buddies relationship with the banker. a large sum of money was on the table as far as the earnest money that was in jeopardy. After an exhausting day with multiple conversations with the listing broker, I was able to work out an extension with working with the listing agent and negotiating a deal. Today, the deal got done, but my gosh, none of us need to have this kind of stress.

What can be learned from this? Please use the referral from your Realtor.

It is about getting the deal done for our clients, with the least amount of stress to the clients. Our clients need to feel special and that they are being taken care of. It's critical to provide them with updates with the current program and where they sit in the funding process.

This is what we do, getting the job done with the least amount of stress and provide updates and clear and open communication.

Incredible Madrona Home Ready for New Owners

by Tom Fine

What Great Views and a Wonderful Home!

Come to Madrona, Don't forget to explore the tunnel to the garage. There are s may great features of this home, from the beautiful renovated home, the kitchen, bathrooms, the millwork, the comfortable living spaces and the basement area that has the exposed basement walls that give this home the warm characteristics and shows so well.

Perched high above the street with serene lake and mountain views sits this completely renovated traditional home. This 1926 Craftsman unites formal and informal living spaces to create the perfect home. Leaded glass windows, crown moldings , Batchelder tile mantles and built ins abound.

Updates include a generous kitchen, 3 baths, a powder room, electrical, roof, sewer, heating and plumbing.

Enjoy the patios, greenhouse, hot tub and mature landscaping. A well lit stair meanders to the rocking chair porch and the front door. There are three garages, one of which has an underground passage lead-ing to the house. A fantastic find just minutes to Lake Washington, downtown and the eastside .

As you enter the front door and you look tot he right (Which is East) the great views from the main floor mesmerize you and as you walk up the wonderful stairway, they views don't stop. Exploret he house, it's fabulous form basement to the top floor and on the nicely presented grounds.

Contact me today to see this wonderfull piece of Seattle History. No modern home can compare to this!

Tom Fine

Fine Homes NW, Inc.

Windermere Real Estate

Real Estate • August 23, 2013

Houses are Moving and We Just Closed on Another Great One and On-Time!

by Tom Fine

In this challenging market, finding a house is hard enough and then meeting all the criteria is another challenge and finally the sellers looking to close as soon as possible.

Another challenge was my client wanted to use a good friend of his that worked for one of the larger banks in the country, of course keeping those friendships tight, is big business and we all understand helping friends and families. The issues that came up was my client wanted to use his friend at the big bank ad we had multiple discussions on this and that it was critical to meet the requirements of the contract and close in 30 days or less.

The Big bank wanted 2-3 weeks to do the appraisal and could close in most likely 45 days. The kicker to switch my client over was when he heard me say he would loose the earnest money if we didn't close in 30 days or less, could his friend guarantee 30 days, No, he couldn't guarantee 45 days.

Thanks to Jackie Murphy and the group at Cobalt Mortgage, they put all the paperwork together in less than 30 days.

It's all about having a great team behind me that makes me shine. I am so happy to have them work with me to help families find a great home.

Let me and my team helps you buy a home or sell your current property.

Tom Fine, Broker

206-434-6516

Fine Homes NW, Inc.