Print Newsletters Still A Priority

Unlike a lot of Realtors, or other companies for that matter, at The McFarland Group we write, design, and publish our own print newsletter each month called Coffee Break.

It’s all done in our office, printed by a local print shop, mailed from a local post office, and hand delivered by a local postal worker to your mailbox at your house. Everyone in the office is responsible for the content, we discuss article topics and seasonal events, local market conditions, etc.

It takes a lot of time to do this every month but it’s a priority in our office. Why? Because our readers respond to Coffee Break. They tell us they like it. We get emails, letters, and phone calls telling us they enjoy the articles, and the recipes, that they read it every month.

Technology is nice and inexpensive but for some of our clients it’s the old school print newsletter that makes a difference and adds a personal touch.

If you are not on our mailing list to receive Coffee Break, hand delivered to your house, just send us an email with your mailing address and we’ll add you to the list.

Home Buyer Education

Buying a house, especially the first time around, can be stressful and confusing. There are a lot of words you may not know, procedures you don’t understand, and fees that make no sense at all. Our buyers agent Brandon Bogart offers a FREE class to explain it all so it makes sense. Brandon breaks the entire process down so you understand it, can ask questions, and does it all in an hour. The class is offered 2x a month and it just so happens there is a class tonight. Click here for the schedule and details or call Brandon directly at 425-367-1723.

Downtown Seattle Traffic Improvements!

I don’t go downtown much, actually very rarely, but to those that do have you noticed a change in traffic flow? Apparently Seattle has gone through and re timed the traffic signals downtown, something that hasn’t been done in over 2 decades! That seems crazy to wait that long. With all the complaints of how bad traffic is how come this wasn’t done sooner? The Seattle PI reported it only cost $300,000 to do the work so I’m wondering why that wasn’t one of the first ideas on the table years ago. The city still plans to work on more signals downtown and of course spend millions in other traffic improvements. To read the entire article from the Seattle PI click here.

That rainwater belongs to the state!

Have you heard about the non profit farm in Woodinville, WA that is under scruinty for storing rain water? 21 Acres Farm has plans to build a 150,000 gallon rainwater storage facility to help water their plants but the problem is that rainwater technically belongs to the city and storing it violates state water law.

I had to find the article and read it for myself to understand how water from the sky belongs to anyone, let alone the state. Here’s the link to check it out! Basically the state doesn’t mind if homeowners store a few barrels of rainwater but they haven’t defined where the cut off amount is yet.

I know, kind of random but makes for a great conversation at a dinner party.

Corn on the Cobb with a twist

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Butter:
1 red bell pepper
1 pound salted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup basil leaves
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Corn:
4 ears corn, husked

Roast the red peppers whole over a gas or charcoal flame, or under a broiler, turning every few minutes until entirely blackened. Immediately place in a paper bag. Seal bag and let sit for 3 minutes. Peel off the charred skin and discard. Slice the peeled peppers open and discard the membranes and seeds.

In a food processor, puree the bell peppers, butter, basil, lemon juice, and pepper.

Transfer to a loaf pan that is lined with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for approximately 1 hour, or until butter hardens. To serve, remove from plastic wrap. Use leftover butter on fish, veggies, bread, etc.

In a large pot, bring 8 cups of water to a boil. Add corn and boil for 6 minutes. Serve with roasted red bell pepper butter.

Open Houses

Open Houses are a great, no pressure way to take a look at a home (or see the inside of your neighbors home). Every weekend if we are not showing houses to clients we are hosting a open house at one of our listings. It’s a great time for us to spend some time in the house and see peoples reaction and get a good feel of the home. It’s time well spent in more ways then one. When people come through we are there to help answer any questions they may have and in between people coming through we always have our laptop set up and ready to do work or research things for clients.

Stress Free Showing Tips For Sellers

Listing your home for sale can be a very stressful process. You want your home to look its best so you do some touch up, maybe put in some plants or paint a room or two and this work definitely helps! The hard part is keeping your house looking its best everyday for all those buyers who want to see your house in person. That means picking things up daily like clothes, toys, dishes and other things. This is especially hard if you have young children at home.

Most agents will call and give some warning that they are bringing some buyers by so you can be prepared. Here are some quick tips to get ready for a showing!

• Put dishes in dishwasher
• Wipe and clear counter tops
• Empty garbage and spray some freshener if needed (you don’t want to be known as the house that smelled like fish!)
• Make beds and pick up clothes, shoes, and toys
• Open curtains! Natural light is always a good thing.
• Put the toilet seat down (seriously it makes a difference)
• Sweep and vacuum if needed

Don’t forget to maintain the outside too. Weeds are not pretty and neither is knee high grass. It takes some effort to make your house look good but the end result is always worth it!

Free Homebuyer Education Class

Interested in learning more about buying a home?

The McFarland Group has teamed up with NW Plus CU to put on a few FREE homebuyer education classes! 

The classes will be held at the Everett and Smokey Point NW Plus Branches.  They will be held at Everett on 7/30, 8/13 and 9/10.  We’ll be holding them on 8/27 and 9/24 at the Smokey Point branch.

To sign up, just give Brandon a call  at 425-367-1723.

There’s no cost, no obligation, nothing to buy, nothing but free knowledge!

Looking forward to seeing some of you there!

Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Offer

If you have ever opened a line of credit in the last 21 years you are most likely eligible for this class action lawsuit settlement offer.

CNN reports that TransUnion, a credit monitoring company, sold customer information in the form of marketing lists to other companies. The settlement is TransUnion will offer free unlimited access to your credit score, a almost $60 value and an opportunity to receive a cash settlement.

If it sounds too good to be true check out the story on cnn.com by clicking here.

Bad Foods into Good Foods?

I love pizza. I eat it all the time and will choose it over other fare. But pizza is so bad for me and so are many other things I enjoy like cake, ice cream, donuts … bacon. I have often wished that I could choose some bad foods that would magically be good for me, or at the very least, not horribly bad for me. If you could turn five bad foods into good-for-you foods, what would you choose?

I’d choose:

1. Pizza (of course)
2. Chocolate cake 
3. Potato Chips
4. Cheeseburgers
5. Spahgetti