Triplets! If you need a substantial flower arrangement for a big table, do it in triplicate. This is also the perfect time of the year to pick the last of the hydrangeas. Don't worry if they are a little faded, it just adds to the autumnal look; And if you wrap the stems in a wet paper towel, then put it in a plastic bag they will dry slowly and last forever. 

The beauty of fresh with longevity of silk...the perfect flower arrangement for Staging! Or just life in general.

And oh BTW, I got the vases at Goodwill for a song.

There are a lot of people who think that staging is just throwing furniture into an empty room and calling it good. You can see from the pictures below that is not the case. The true purpose of staging and photography is:

•  To accentuate the very best features of a room;
•  To draw the buyer in;
•  To make this house stand out amongst the competition;
•  Thereby creating the setting for the money shot.

Staging is an art, not just a skill-set. So the next time you’re looking for a stager in Seattle, look at more than just the bottom line: look at their body of work.

This is the same room in the same house. Both rooms have been staged. The room on the left was staged a year ago and the picture on the right was staged by me a few months ago.

Okay Stagers if you have any examples of rooms you've re-staged, post them now!

   I am the Seattle Realtor who stages all of my listings at no addtional cost!

www.SusanPeters.com

"The Better it Looks ... the Better It Sells"

My contract with Sprint has finally ended (hallelujah) and I can get rid of my Treo. I've thought about taking a sledgehammer to it.

I love, love, love the IPhone and I can live without the key-box access but I'm still wondering about the Instinct. Before I make my final decision I'd Love some feedback. Thanks.

10.  Your agent doesn't bother to post pictures on your listing.                                                          

9.  Your agent has taken pictures but your house is being featured on Bad MLS pictures. Yes, this is a real website. 

8.  Your agent has decided to call your circa 1953 Ranch a Tudor just because it has a brick exterior.

7.  Your agent tells you "You don't need to paint (your dingy faded walls). The buyers will want to pick their own colors. You don't need to re-carpet (even though it smells).  We'll (you'll) just give them a carpet allowance. What they don't tell you is that you're going to lose up to 10 times the cost of these simple improvements and you're going to gain days, weeks or months on the market.

6.  Your agent tells you "It's okay for you not to have a sign if you don't want one. A serious buyer will find it." Believe me, when it comes to real estate, anonymity is a dirty word.

5.  When you say you don't want to have a lockbox your agent weenies out and tells you what you want to hear instead of the truth. "You don't really need a lockbox if you don't want one.  I'm sure the agents won't mind making a special appointment to see your home." Not!

4.  No driving directions on your listing. 

3. Worse yet, driving directions that lead agents in the exact opposite direction.  My favorite is turn left or right with no point of reference. Sometimes your best offer will come from an out-of-area agent.  Why make it hard for them to find your house?

2.  An agent is standing at your door with their buyers and, try though they may, they can't get the key to work.  After tracking down your agent they get the following instructions: "Insert the key half way in, take a deep breath, lean to the left while pushing the key in and turning it to the right at the same time." For pete's sake get a new lockset installed before you list!

                                                              Drumrolllllllll!!!!       

1. Your agent neglects to mention in the listing, "You'll be greeted by Sally the friendly pitbull. Don't worry about about the fact that she'll charge you with teeth bared- she's actually very friendly."  I'm not making this up, it happened to me just last month. Can you spell lawsuit?

The 1st thing you need to know about this property is; the square footage from KCR is NOT accurate. This house is significantly bigger. The 2nd thing is; this is the very best value in all of Renton. Oak floors, vaulted ceilings, 2 full spa-like bathrooms & a romantic mastersuite all sited on an oversized street to street lot. Freshly painted in designer colors. This may be exactly the home you've been looking for. Take a break from the holiday & see for your self. You will not be disappointed!

I thought that I was dreaming the other day when I heard Jim Cramer of Mad Money tell his audience: if they didn't buy a house in the next nine months they would regret it.

Back in January he recommended it as well. So how many folks are going to wait until they really, really know for sure?

And how will they know for absolute certainty that the market has turned?

• Prices will begin to rise.
• Sellers will get cockier
• Selection will diminish.
• In certain areas the dreaded multiple offer will rear it's ugly head.

Frankly my dears, I'd rather be a little ahead of a rising market than behind it; and in Seattle when our market turns it turns on a dime!

My dad, Leslie Hilton Shadwell was born in 1922 at the beginning of the Roaring Twenties and came of age during the great Depression. The last of six children, he was what was affectionately know as a “change of life baby”. Well loved and yet never spoiled. A classic Libra, he was slow to anger, quick to forgive, unassuming and his word was his bond.

Will Rogers may have ‘never met a man he didn’t like’ but I can honestly say that I never met a man, woman or child who didn’t like my dad. Everyone was drawn in by his quiet intelligence and delighted by his dry wit.

At Dad’s funeral many people were surprised to learn that he was a Purple Heart recipient for injuries received during the invasion of Iwo Jima. Although he had every right to be proud of this service to his country he would be the last one to tell you about it.

I miss him every single day.

       Happy Fathers Day to all of the wonderful dads here on Activerain!

Recently I put together a list of all my favorite retailers for home decor and remodeling. I emailed it to my clients and asked them to email me back with their suggestions. This is a really easy way to stay in touch with your clients and have them forward your expertise on to their friends and family.

Stagers, this could also be a nice peice to send to your favorite Realtors to pass on.

Click here to see Susan's Instant Interior's Resource List

For years I fought ear infections with my Lhasas and if you have a dog with long floppy ears, you probably have too! I would have to say in most cases, the ear infection won. Then I met Dr. Jacqueline Obando who is trained in both the traditional and naturopathic veterinary sciences. In one quick visit she gave me this simple secret to fighting ear infections. Here it is…

 
#1. Make a cup of green tea and let it cool to body temperature.

#2. With a cotton pad dipped in the green tea gently clean the inside your dog’s ear out to the best of your ability.

#3. Pat it dry with a clean washcloth.

#4. Using a tiny spoon and holding the ear open as much as you can, pour a half a teaspoon of boric acid into the ear canal (this is a slightly granular powder – you can find it at any drug store); work it in by massaging the ear for a minute.

#5. Repeat twice a day for a week. It works like a charm!

Since I’m not a veterinarian and I don’t play one on TV, ask your own vet about this first! If they haven’t heard about it, contact a homeopathic vet like Dr. Obando. http://www.mercyvet.com

A client of mine called me up the other day to ask me about Time Shares. It could just be because it's almost June and we're still wearing our coats.

That being said, I'm trying to pull together some info and I have to admit that this is an area for which I not only have no expertise, I don't even have an opinion. So I'm asking you all to share any of your experiences: the good, the bad and the ugly. Thanks!

• What are the typical cost?
• Are they ever a good investment?
• Do they take dogs and cats?