Remember
Mr. Electric?
At the time I wrote my
last post, they were not very responsive to my request for an estimate for the work I wanted to have done at my house. I waited for 4 days to get an estimate that they promised they were going to email me the following day. But by some kind of coincidence, the same day I wrote my post, the owner of the local Mr. Electric himself called me and apologized repeatedly for the miscommunication between his employees and for not getting the estimate to me on time. He took it upon himself to make sure that I would get an estimate within a few hours and sure enough I got it within a few hours. He also gave me a nice discount which I thought was a very nice compensation. The work from then on was perfect. He sent 2 of his best electritians who came on time to my house. They did their work and left everything clean. The owner followed up the next day with a phone call to see if I was satisfied with the job to which I said yes!
I will definitely use Mr. Electric again. I like their work, but perhaps next time, I will send an email to the owner to make sure my work won't fall through the cracks.
Once the electrical work was done, the painters were able to start doing their job. Oh, the colors I chose with the help of my interior decorator are beautiful! They are very warm and invtiting colors. The hallways, kitchen and familiy room have been painted in a soft yellow color called "peanut" by Devine paint from
Miller paints. My dining room has been done in this beautful red named "paprika" and it looks gorgeous against the white millwork. The living room has been painted in a rich brown called "cafe". All these beautiful colors on the walls plus the new stained hardwood floors gives my house a new warm feeling. I love it!
Although, this renovation has taken longer than I thought, it has been worth it. We had to spend 4 days at a hotel while they were doing the floors. Then, we couldn't cook because everything was covered with plastic. Our next project is putting new carpet throughout the rest of the house. I know
my husband is hoping to be out of town when the carpet company comes to do the installation! This is going to be a huge project but, if we've survived the painting, the electrical work and the installation of hardwood floors, we can definitely survive the installation of new carpet!
Living room in Cafe
Dining Room in parprika
The front
Oh, by the way, I have the best painter. He is from Mexico and he is just a very hard working guy. His name is Gamaliel. I was very impressed the first day I met him. He came to my house and he said to me "Mrs. Carmen, I am sorry but I am a little hyperactive. I want to do a good job for you. I work fast because I don't like to waste peoples' money" He's done a great job as you can see. He often brings his son and nephew to help him. You can call me if you would like his phone number. I highly recommend him.
I can't believe I have not added an entry in my blog since February. I apologize. I have been busy with Real Estate, kids, home improvements and life in general. My husband
Jeff is a very good blogger. He adds more than one entry a day. It is not that I don't have anything to say because there are a lot of things to blog about but for me is more a matter of setting aside time exclusively for writing. I am determined to do it every night (I'm crossing my fingers).
Have you ever done any major improvements to your home? I'm talking about the big ones, where you gut everything out. When we (my husband and I) started to think about doing some improvements to the house , mainly to keep up with the regular maintenance that a house requires. At first, all we wanted was to replace the existing carpet in the living room, dining room and family room for hardwood floors. But like dominos, one thing leads to another. For example, we realized that since the floors were going to look so beautiful, that we needed to paint the rooms but not before adding the light fixtures that I have always wanted to have in the living room and family room and... well, since the electrictians were going to cut the ceiling to add the new lights why not ask them to install new wiring for speakers around the house and outside, and how about changing all the hardware of all the cabinets and doors to stainless steel, and the curtains...oh, I guess we need to get new curtains too because they won't go with the new color of the walls. Where does it end? You know what I mean...my husband is afraid that once everything is done, I am going to want new furniture to go with a freshly painted home with new shiny hardwood floors (that's actually my plan :-))
Talking about furniture, when we decided to do the hardwood floors, we needed to empty out the living room, dining room, family room and the kitchen so we rented a
pod which is a big container that a truck brings and puts it on your driveway so you can put all your furniture there while your house is being remodeled. These pods are amaizing, what a great invention! It was fun to watch how they put the container on the driveway.
So I emptied out the room where the new hardwood floors were going to be installed. The Hardwood guys came and installed the new floors. Actually that's the name of the company
The Hardwood Guys. I was very impressed with them. They did an awesome job. They were on time getting to my house. They worked hard and left everything clean. My floors look good!
I was disappointed with
Mr. Electric from Sammamish. I called them because I have driven by their shop and they have lots of vans outside. Anyway, I made an appointment for Thursday and by midday, they called me to reschedule the appointment because the person they were going to send to do the estimate at my house, became ill. Hey, I understand, it happens sometimes. I told them unfortunately, I couldn't take another day off from work so he was able to find someone else and was sent to my house. I appreciated that. I was very impressed with the person that came to my house. He was very knowledgeable and helpful. He told me that I would have an estimate for the work I wanted by 10:00 am next morning and if I approved, they could start the work as early as Saturday morning. Wow, that's service! ...Not! I didn't get the estimate on Friday. I called them up to make sure they had my email or phone number correct. Saturday I called again... nothing. Monday I called them twice. They promised me they were going to get in touch with the person that came to my house to do the estimate and, again, I didn't hear from them all day long. Now, I'm upset. I lost 4 good working days that I could have scheduled somebody else. The painter cannot start until I have the electrical work done. Darn it!
Too bad for Mr. Electric. I have found someone else.
You've heard that so many times and it is true. Location is the most important factor in real estate.
I am selling a wonderful split level home in the city of Sammamish. It is perfectly located within walking distance of the Plateau shopping center with restaurants, a gym, the Sammamish library, parks, and much more. It is within 2 to 3 miles to East Lake Sammamish Pkwy which connects to I-90 and 520. Redmond Town Center is approximately 6 miles from it. You don't find many houses in the Sammamish plateau for less than $500,000 and this one is! It is selling for $484,950.
Let me tell you about it. The new roof was installed about 2 years ago. It has new hardwood floors in the living room, dining room and stairs, the carpet in the bedrooms are new and the kitchen has been updated with new counters. All the light fixtures are new and a new deck has been recently installed. This charming split level sits on a 10,000+ sq.ft. lot with mature trees.
For more information, read
the listing.
But don't just take my word for it, come and see it. I will be holding an open house on Saturday February 24th from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm and on Sunday February 25th from 11:00 am to 2:30 pm. See you there!!
As a special bonus to readers of my blog, mention that you read this post and I will you give a gift certificate to Starbucks.
Since I am in the Real Estate business, my friends, clients, and acquaintances often ask me about how their credit score is figured out. This is really a question that should be asked to someone in the mortgage industry, but this following is what I understand.
Your credit score is also known as your FICO score. FICO stands for Fair Isaac Corporation who were responsible for developing credit bureau risk scores. FICO scores are used by lenders to determine the credit risk of a prospective borrower or existing client in order to make credit and marketing desicions.
Here is how your score is determined: 35% of your score depends on how timely your are with paying back your debts and loans. Another 30% consists of how much you owe to lenders versus how much open credit you have. This is called utilization rate. For example if you owe $1,000 in a credit card but your credit limit is $10,000 then you are in okay shape but if you owe $8,000 and your credit limit is $10,000 then your score will be lower. Another 15% of the score depends on how long your credit history is. Then, 10% of your score will depend on what kind of debts you have - i.e. mortgage, department stores, etc. and the last 10% is determined by how much new credit you are seeking.
There are three major credit reporting agencies where all this data is accumulated, analyzed, and ultimately your score is generated.
As a consumer, you have the right to request your credit information to see if the information they have on your credit is correct. These agencies are required by law to provide toll free lines, staffed with real people during normal business hours to handle any complaints and to provide reports that can be read and understood. These reports are also free of charge.
It is very important that you check your credit report periodically so that mistakes can be corrected on time.
The three agencies where you can order your credit report are:
Equifax 1-800-378-2732 and 800-685-1111
Trans Union 1-800-851-2674 and 800-916-8800
Experian 1-800-422-4879 and 800-392-1122
For more information go to myfico.com
I was doing a market analysis for a client on Sunday and I saw an open house sign for this pretty house in the Plateau. The house was in such great condition on the outside that I decided to go in.
As soon as I stepped inside, I was surprised to see how immaculate this house looked. The house looked so nicely decorated that I asked if the house had been staged for showing. The agent said no.
It is a split level home with 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and an ample 2-car garage. All the appliances in the kitchen are new and the carpet has been replaced recently. It is located in a great area in the plateau and I think it is a very good value for the area. It is basically impossible to find a good house in the Sammamish Plateau for under 400K.
This house was originally listed at $399,999. They have just reduced the price to $389,999.
This one is going to go fast and I would love to show it to you. It is the perfect house for a first time home buyer, in a great location, convenient to shopping, Microsoft, I-90 and 520.
Call me at 425-246-3423 or send me email at carmenbarr@johnlscott.com if you would like to see this house.
Wow, what a storm! I hope you are all doing okay and that you made it home safely on Wednesday night and yesterday. Wednesday evening, about 4:30 pm, I was in my office at John L. Scott Realty in Redmond when my son called me and said, "hey, mom have you looked outside? It's snowing, you better leave soon". So I looked outside and it was coming down hard. I quickly gathered my things and left the office. I am not very comfortable driving in the snow because my car does not perform well in the snow. I know now that I need to get new snow tires or at least put chains around the existing tires. Anyway, I got in my car, said a little prayer, and started to drive to the Bear Creek bus stop, where I was picking up my son who was coming back from University of Washington. He takes the bus to and from there. It took about an hour to drive from my office in Redmond on Cleveland street to the bus stop. I was so glad to see my son there because I quickly turned the wheel over to him.
The ride from the the Bear Creek bus stop to my house in any normal day takes me about 5 minutes but on Wednesday night, the cars were inching their wayaround. When I got to my neighborhood, there were already cars parked at the bottom of the hill. We did not even attempt to go up our steep hill. We knew that the Mercedes would not make it so my son parked my car on a road used only by the road construction workers on 202. I know my car was safe from people who tried going up the hill and ended up sliding back down. I walked up the hill to my house, put on my snow boots, grabbed my dog and my camera and went down the hill again. By this time there were plenty of cars parked there already. My neighbor's new mercedes was hit twice while she stood there not knowing what to do but just wait for the inevitable. Lucklily, people are more understading under these circumstances and work things out with their insurances.
I saw that only the big monster trucks were making it up the hill but the small cars did not.
Look at these pictures:
I know when we have a snow storm it is very incovenient for everyone. We can't get to our jobs, can't get to the stores or can't do our regular activities, but I can't help to admire the beauty of nature. The evergreens, the rooftops and the grounds look so beautiful all covered in white. The air was crisp and cold. My kids and I all bundled up in our snow gear and went out to play. We had a great snowball fight, made snow angels on the ground and sleded too. I also went for a walk with my neighbor and we all enjoyed the beautiful scenery of our neigborhood. That night we slept soundly after all that play.
The next morning, I braced myself to walk down the steep hill to see if my car was lucky not to have been hit by other cars. When I got there I saw that my car was in great company of many other cars that were not able to make it up the hill. Everything was frozen! Since my car was parked on a great spot, I decided to wait for a few hours in hope that the snow would melt as it got warmer during the day.
Look at this pictures of early morning:
and some ventured out on their bikes
the neighborhood kids having fun on the snow
As I said before, I know the snow is incovenient for everyone but the few times that we have it, go out for a long walk and marvel the beauty of the snow, take your sled out and and go down a hill. Put work aside at least for a few hours and enjoy yourself with your families. The snow doesn't last too long. So my friends, have a wonderful day and be careful!
It's good to be back home. I can't believe I missed this horrendous
storm. I almost feel guilty because my kids were home.
My
husband travels a lot because of his business and he is always asking me to accompany him and I almost always decline because I don't like to leave the kids. So early this month he asked me to go with him to Japan and this time I decided to accept his invitation. I hired a great babysitter and left to Japan on Sunday December 10th. We came back the following Sunday on the 17th. On our way home in the taxi, we were able to see all the debris on the roads. It looked like a tornado had hit the city, debris everywhere! When we got home the house was cold but everybody was well taken care of. Our babysitter did a great job and the kids were safe and had a lot of fun. I also had wonderful friends that checked on them too.
So what happens to a house when there is no electricity? Well, the house was cold, luckily we got power back 2 hours after we arrived on Sunday. They hadn't had electricity since Thursday. The food in the refrigerator had to be thrown away. The laundry was piled up high. The computers were off - no internet connection. The televisions and radios were off, so besides the phones, there was little communication with the outside world. Luckily, we have a gas cook top which they lit with a match, so they had plenty of hot meals.
I know this experience made my kids appreciate the comfort of their home even more and how sometimes we take for granted little things like electricity. We are blessed to live in this country and to enjoy many things a lot of countries do without regularly.
Now, I want to talk about my trip to Japan. Japan was AMAZING! I loved it. We stayed in the district of Shibuya. Shibuya is a very busy place. It is like Times Square but ten times bigger and with 20 times more people. I have never seen so many people together in my life! The intersections are enormous and they have pedestrian bridges everywhere. When the traffic lights change to let people cross, there are thousands of people doing it at the same time. If you are not careful you can be pushed around. You have to keep pace with everybody else.
Their buildings illuminate the night with all their advertisement and big Jumbotrons. It is a very busy city, people are out until late at night.
Japanese people are very respectful. I almost felt uncomfortable coming out of the elevator of my hotel in the mornings because I knew there would be a couple of people who I think were hired to just greet and bow at you and of course I always responded in the same manner. They are soft spoken and very helpful. They don't expect tips for the services they provide. If you leave a tip on the table for a waiter or waitress, they come after you and they tell you that you have forgotten your change. In Japan, you don't tip anybody.
While my husband worked during the day, I took the train and explored the city. In Japan, most people don't own a car instead they rely on their train system which is very effective. It is a very intricate system with lines going everywhere in the city. You can go pretty much everywhere and know that there will be a train station close by. Unfortunately only few signs are translated in English. I never got lost and if I wasn't sure what train to take, I would ask the attendant at the station and he would mark on a map the right route.
The food was fantastic. For sushi lovers like me and my husband, we were in paradise. We found this sushi restaurant with a conveyor belt. There were 4 sushi chefs busy making the sushis and a small selection of rolls to keep up with the consumption rate. Once we got stuffed, they count how many plates we have eaten and then we paid by the number of plates we had on the counter. I ate 9 plates, that means 18 pieces of sushi and rolls altogether. Yummo!
If you do not know Japanese and you want to order food, no problem! All the restaurants display their food with replicas made out of a synthetic material. All you have to do is point to the plate you want and they will make it for you. It is actually a big business in Japan to make food replicas. It is a work of art. We went to this district where they sold supplies for restaurants and they have stores after stores where they sold this food. It was amazing! Take a look:
But not only their fake food looked good, their real food was even better. I loved their markets, their fruits, vegetables and meats were so fresh and excellently packed.
Take a look:
I loved their food and I can't wait to learn how to make some sushi rolls here at home.
But enough about food. I was also delighted to see some of Japan's parks. I didn't go to any famous parks but to the neighborhood park and they were beautiful. Green space is so rare in Japan that people really appreciate their parks. The leaves in the trees are still changing colors making the scenery even more spectacular.
and look at these beautiful temples
The five-story building is called the Pagoda. This is my hubby Jeff (above)
I found Japanese people to be very stylish. You don't see people wearing tennis shoes when in the city. The women wear stilettos all the time and they sometimes walked like their feet are hurting. Of course, I can identify with that :-) I don't remember the last time I wore a pair of flats except when I go to the gym but never when I go out.
Overall I loved Japan. I loved the people. They were very respectful, they keep to themselves but they are very helpful and very nice when you talk to them. I loved their food. I am going to become an expert in making sushi rolls, sashimi and Katsudon which is one of my husband's favorite dishes. I know that I will go and visit Japan again. I am planning to take my kids there and also go with a whole bunch of girlfriends. Aragato Tokyo!!
Last year my husband took a whole bunch of pictures of the
gingerbread houses at City Centre Mall in Seattle and posted them on his blog. He got a lot of comments from all over the world. This year, I am posting some new pictures on my blog and I hope you enjoy them.
The Macy's Holiday Parade this year was fantastic! Every year it has become a tradition with my family to go and see the Macy's Parade. We got up early the day after Thanksgiving - that's right no staying in bed a little longer even though we were all tired from the day before. We had a quick breakfast and we headed out the door. It was a cold day but at least it was not raining.
When we got to the city, traffic was not bad and parking was easy to find at the public parking buildings. Then we started to walk for a few blocks until we got to the east entrance of Macy's. Every year, we position ourselves by this entrance because we know that when Santa arrives, he will be coming into the store through these doors.
We watched the parade. We saw marching bands from different schools playing holiday music, we saw people on unicycles, firetrucks followed by their dalmatians, Ronald MacDonald - all the kids loved to see him. We saw a huge gingerbread man, walking cupcakes, lollipops - so colorful! After 2 hours of standing in the cold and watching these beautiful floats go by, Santa arrived. As he approached in his beautiful float made up of reindeers and a big sleigh, white confetti paper shot up from the Macy's building and it fell on the ground gently like snow. The whole area was covered with snow - it seemed so magical.
Santa's sleigh stopped in front of the store and he gently came down his sleigh. I love seeing his face. He is the same Santa of years past. I waved at him and for an instance our eyes met and I thought he recognized me and he waved back at me. Then I was thinking he remembered me from all these years that I've come to see him! I followed him until he got into the elevator that took him to the 6th floor where he would sit in his chair all day long holding children on his lap and listening to all the wishes for this and that. I waved at him one more time and he waved back me again and then I didn't see him any more. For me, I just love to see him arriving in his sleigh and the beautiful fake snow falling on the ground. For me that's the beginning of the holidays. I don't like to have my picture taken with him - that seems so commercial. I just like the memory that I have after I see him.
So here are some of the pictures of that day. It was so cold but it was all worthwhile. I had a blast with my family!
I am not a picky eater but I am one of those people that if I go to a restaurant and my food is not good, my whole night is ruined. That's why I have to ask all my friends if they have eaten at a certain restaurant before I try it on my own.If you don't know about Pomegranate, it is owned by Lisa Dupar. It is located on the corner of 68th Street and Redmond Fall City Rd. Its building is unassuming, boring in its appearance, surrounded by 1 story small office buildings. But its sign is eye-catching. It is red with a big pomegranate where the letter O is supposed to be.
I celebrated my birthday with some friends and they decided to take me to Pomegranate Saturday night. Our reservation was for 8:30 pm. A little late for me to have dinner but it was Saturday night and that was the only time we were able to get seating. For me, this is a sign of a good restaurant. Anyway we waited for about 5 to 7 minutes before we were seated. Our waitress was very pleasant and greeted us with a warm smile. We were offered water right away. She was very attentive and had plenty of suggestions for first timers.
Inside, the restaurant was comfortable but not fancy. It looked more like a family restaurant, a place where you could bring the kids and not be afraid if they spilled something. The inside also had big windows where you could see the big working area. I assume this is where she prepares the food for her catering business. Actually there was someone making huge batches of what looked like chocolate biscottis. it was fascinating to see her staff working. I was in the mood for beef so I ordered the Misty Isle Angus Burger on an onion roll with catsup, rusett fries, fixings and slaw. I don't usually order sandwiches when I go out to dinner but for some reason this is the dish that caught my eye. And I did not regret it. My plate arrived at the table piping hot (I like it like that!), my hamburger was cooked to perfection and it was very juicy. I could tell that they use good ground beef. The french fries were great but I had only a few. It came with a nice cole slaw salad. My husband ordered the Sweet Potato and Dungeness crab stack, shrimp and tomato butter sauce. Of course I tried some of his food and it was delicious. We also ordered the flat bread with arugula, prosciutto, pecorino truffle and french sea salt. They have a variety of flat breads that they cook in their pizza oven. The result was very good.
My girlfriend ordered the mahogany glazed apple wood smoked salmon with coconut cilantro cashew sauce on a rice cake and sea salt and my other friends shared the grilled pomegranate glazed pork chops with fall mashers. To finish this wonderful meal, we all shared a slice of cheesecake with raspberry sauce. I think we were all pleased with the food and the service. We had a nice evening of good conversation and laughter and I celebrated one more year of life!! I feel so blessed!
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