Home maintenance can seem daunting, expensive, and frankly, a real pain. Yet, home maintenance protects the resident's health (mental and physical) as well as the property's value. Being a person that likes working with his hands, I find staying an top of home maintenance gives me personal satisfaction, a sense of assurance that no major, really expensive items will unexpectedly arise.

But what if you're just getting started, bought your first home, or just ready to tackle some projects this year and now feeling overwhelmed. Where do you start?

Below there is a Home Maintenance Checklist that can be printed and/or saved to your phone or computer that breaks down monthly, quarterly, and annual maintenance items to address/review and even has  items organized by season.

Have a safe and wonderful 4th of July. We will be heading to Downtown Arlington for the parade, food, and fun. Everyone seems to BBQ, go out on a lake, the Sound, hike in the mountains, play in the river, or just chill at home yet what do you like to do? Is there something special, some special way to remember our Freedoms, and/or favorite place to watch fireworks? If so, share with us below and have a safe and fun 4th!

Who is Hosting a Firework Show or what Towns Allow?

• Darrington (has a show)
• Monroe (legal to light)
• Snohomish (legal to light until 10pm)
• Stanwood (legal to light until 12pm).

Whether you're needing to buy a home, needing to sell a home (primary residence or other), looking to purchase your first, or next, investment property, or just getting started and self educating, there is a lot to process when it comes to homeownership.

In this blog post, the goal is to share information so anyone, not matter the stage of ownership or knowledge, can watch market conditions, read up or get a refresher on the buying and selling process, and/or tune in and watch real estate in under one minute on relevant, Snohomish County information.

A long time ago, in a real estate market far removed from today, new construction homes used to supplement Snohomish County's housing inventory and not comprise such a significant part. However, times have changed and available housing inventory has been on a steep decline since 2016. If you have purchased, or tried to purchase, since 2016 then you're well aware that negotiations have favored sellers and home buyer's had, and still have, to compete heavily with other buyers.

Yet, this post isn't about buyer competition but What Percentage of Homes for Sale are New Construction? Below, you'll find the following for every Snohomish County city: Total homes for sale, Total new construction homes for sale, and the percentage of homes that are new construction. Also, these figures are for residential, condominium, & townhomes.

Highlights from Article

• New construction homes in Marysville, Mountlake Terrace, and Monroe make up nearly 50% of all homes for sale.
• New construction homes in Arlington, Bothell, Brier, Lake Stevens, Lynnwood, Stanwood, and Sultan range from 18% - 30%.
• New construction comprises 24% of all homes for sale in Snohomish County.
• 5 Towns have no new construction for sale.

Here are the number breakdowns by city.

What is in a parcel number? That question is something we don't hear to often yet the tax parcel ID is an integral part of owning a piece of real estate and here is brief overview with two graphics.

Sometimes parcel numbers, also known as tax ID numbers, can seem like a random stream of numbers. This couldn't be further from the truth. The parcel number is used by the Snohomish County assessors office to keep track of land for tax purposes.

They actually contain a lot of information about how to locate the subject property with a Section Township and Rang; or, a lot and block inside of plat or subdivision. Find the below breakdown of what's in a parcel number.

Platted Tax ID Number

The Platted Tax ID Number contains Major Number / Plat Number, BLock, Lot, and Additional Segregation.

When moving to a new area, it's important to consider all factors that may impact your daily routine. In Western Washington, and more specifically Snohomish County, has limited interstates and highways for commuters to travel. Its a major soar spot for everyone that lives here and even if a home is located relatively close to your workplace, heavy traffic can greatly increase the time it takes to get to your destination.

It's often the case in Snohomish County that a homeowner's commute is based on time rather than mileage and with that. there are 2 Things to Know about commute and housing.

With housing inventory remaining low in Snohomish County and concerns of continued interest rate hikes, you are probably wondering how those factors will impact a home's or property's market value.

Or, are needing to sell a property due to a death or divorce and haven't been tuned into the housing market for a period of time? Whatever the reason for selling, it's important to understand the "market value" of your home or property and how its derived.

Related Webpage: Click >>> To Receive an Instant Property Valuation

In Snohomish County we use a Market Approach when determining a home's or property's value based on comparable (similar) properties. That Market Approach looks at comparable active, pending inspection, pending, and sold properties as well as days on market and median/average closed sales prices to determine a recommended listing price.

Related Webpage: Click >>> How to Sell a Home Flowchart

Yet, there are other items that sellers need to be away of when understanding home valuations and in this article we'll outline the factors that go into:

• What the Market Value of Your Home is NOT
• What the Market Value of Your Home is BASED On
• What Sellers / Homeowners Can Control
• What Sellers /Homeowners Cannot Control

Whether you're new to the area or just conducting research on Snohomish County Washington, here is a infographic that is easy to read and highlights the following County statistics:

• County Size in Square Miles: 13th Largest in WA State
• Population: 833,540 in 2021, 0.7% increase from 2020
• Housing Units: 318,057 with a owner occupied rate of 68%
• Building Permits: 5,780 new permits in 2020
• Boeing & Navy: Leading employers

Have you been curious about the dirt work along 172nd in Lakewood over the past years? If so, you're not alone.

Many folks we've talked to have been more than interested and we all have heard our fair share of rumors. So we decided to do more research as previous attempts never alluded to who might be the owner, other than a LLC.

Today, it was noticed that the corner of the 172nd and 23rd Ave NE that Providence Health & Services-W owns 2 parcels totaling 9.55 acres - the south eastern side of the round-a-bout and across from Hobby Lobby.

While its unknown what type of services would be there, it is good to read the lots are not owned by another apartment investor - traffic in the area is pretty bad right now.

Do you have any thoughts on the 172nd development that you'd like to share? If so, the comments below are open.

The Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) published its Market Snapshot for January 2023 which we've complied into easy to follow infographic. The infographic highlights the following categories:

• Closed Residential & Condo Sales
• Closed Median Sales Price: Residential & Condos
• Total Dollar Value of Closed Sales
• Closed Median Sales Price: New Construction
• Available Months of Housing Inventory
• New Listings Comparison: Jan. 22 to Jan. 23
• Pending Sales
• Total NWMLS Members & Member Offices