I live in the Highlands and I love it! It’ s such a great location and a great neighborhood. My goal is to keep my readers informed about real estate and what’s happening in Kirkland. This blog is an opportunity to find out about Kirkland’s uniqueness and about the many wonderful things happening here.
Since 1987 I’ve been a REALTOR, mostly with Windermere Real Estate/East, Inc., selling homes in the neighborhoods of Seattle’s eastside: Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Woodinville, Issaquah, and Sammamish. I have a strong commitment and a particular fondness for the Highlands, since I live and work here. Besides the terrific location, one of the wonderful things about this neighborhood is the diverse housing. Nothing cookie cutter here! We have homes here in a variety of price ranges and styles.
I’ve had fun working with buyers and sellers over the years. I’ve always felt it important to bring local/national economic information, real estate tips and other newsworthy data to my clients. I like following current real estate trends, boomer issues, the latest real estate technology, remodeling tips, etc. You name it, if it has to do with real estate, I am reading about it and you may find it here! But lucky you, I will also throw in other things I think are of interest. I’ve spent considerable time gathering data from all sorts of sources regarding real estate and it will be fun for me to have a venue to share what I find. I will let you know what is happening in the pricing of neighborhood real estate, offer suggestions for home improvement, statistics on the neighborhood and information that will hopefully be relevant to you.
This blog is an opportunity for me to share information I find meaningful with the residents of the Kirkland Highlands. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if there is something you are curious about or if there is something I can research for you. Ask away and all the best!
Here’s a link to my personal website. You can also find me on LinkedIn and Facebook.
Kirkland Highlands Real Estate Buzz
Kirkland Highlands Real Estate Buzz 
I’ve been reading your blog for about a year now and find it really informative. Recently, you wrote about the importance of having a great marketing plan in place to sell a home. Can you share any best practices on how to reach the top agents that have clients? thanks.
Hi Leslie,
Thanks for reading. I am glad you find the blog useful. My goal is to talk about real estate in general, but to highlight specific issues here that affect Kirkland and the Highlands. On my http://www.eastsiderealestatebuzz.com,I focus more on general real estate marketing, trends, issues, in addition to eastside info. I also write on the Seattle PI Professionals blog. We really get into hot issues there!
The key to a successful sale is a partnership between the seller and the agent. Homes need to be in top notch conditon and ready to market before any marketing is done. All the marketing pieces need to be ready to go before the house actually goes on the market. Nothing is more frustrating to the buyers than pulling up a listing that is new to the market and has no photos. Very very bad.
Here is a list of what I think is important for Realtors to do:
First, there is marketing to the public and then there is marketing to Realtors.
For the publi:
agents need to take their listings where the buyers go. Homes should be advertised on multiple websites, not just the MLS. Trulia, Zillow, expolive, Craig’s List, Google, MLS, Windermere, all other local Realtor websites.
Professional presentation:
Staging, professional photography, photo galleries(lots of photos) everywhere.
Virtual tour of the home and neighborhood highlights like schools, parks, and shopping.
Professional marketing pieces:
four color, four page flyer with multiple photos describing the home and the area. (Buyers pick an area first)
Quality mailings
Marketing to Realtors:
MLS
Broadcast advertising at network meetings, office meetings.
Mailings to Realtors. Target the Realtors who also work in an area who may have buyers.
Advertise to Realtors who work with relocating buyers.
Broker open houses, get other homes for sale in the area to be open at the same time.
Realtors must stay on top of the market. They need to know the competition to help sellers price homes correctly.
My mantra for 2008:
Sellers must have the best home out there for the money.
Sellers must have the best marketing program to showcase their home.
Sellers must be realistic and flexible with pricing.
Price, promotion, and postioning are all key.
Leslie, I hope this gives you a good indication of all that needs to be done. There are a lot of behind the scenes things that can be done to get a home sold.
Thanks again for reading! If there is anything else you would like me to write about, do let me know!