Welcome to SoundBiteBlog.com. This website focuses mainly on providing Real Estate, Mortgage, and Local Area information for consumers and residents in Western Puget Sound, we also share our passions, expertise, and practical insights on Internet marketing and technology, including social media/networking, SEO, website design, and custom web applications. SoundBiteBlog is an award-winning joint venture between Mark Flanders of Pastik Design and Rich Jacobson of Keller William West Sound.
Within the pages of SoundBite is an eclectic collection of articles covering a wide variety of topics we hope you'll find interesting, engaging, and helpful. Rich is committed to relentlessly representing his client's best interests and empowering them to make informed decisions. Mark finally decided what he wanted to do when he grew up and gets excited when the code he's written solves a customer's problem with blinding efficiency!
Okay, Sportsfans!
For an easy 500 points, what State in the US makes it illegal to walk across the road with a Duck on your head?
First 5 people to respond here with the correct answer, snag 500 ActiveRain points!
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The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has announced the first razor-clam dig of the 2007 Fall season to get under way on October 25th. To find out all the relevant details, go HERE.
There are a lot of similarities between Razor-Clamming and Real Estate.
Both have their respective ‘seasons.” Right now in real estate, we’re experiencing a cooling trend throughout the country. While our market here in the Seattle area is better than most, sales of residential properties has slowed down considerably. We have approx. 50% more homes on the market right now than this same time last year. Though this gives Buyers more choices and greater negotiation room, it makes things much more competitive and difficult for Sellers.
Digging for Razor-Clams is hard work. Whether you use the traditional ‘shovel’ method or a tubular clam gun, you spend serveral hours using muscles you never thought existed! In a slowing market, being a professional real estate agent takes determination and hard work. You don’t have the luxury of simply putting a home up onto the local Multiple Listing Service and waiting for the Buyers to line up. You have to educate your Sellers on how to effectively prepare a home for market. With all the other competing homes available, you really need to pull out all the stops and make your property stand out. You need to price the home agressively, according to market value (what people are willing to pay TODAY), and not based on what the Seller’s perceived value is. You need to market and promote the home agressively as well. Maximum Internet exposure is critical to achieving success in today’s real estate market.
Both result in tremendous reward. A licensed professional real estate agent who intimately understands the nuances of the current market, and works diligently on your behalf, will help you to successfully achieve your home buying or selling goals. And, there are few things more enjoyable in life than sitting down to a feast of freshly fried Razor-Clams!
So, if you want to enjoy a slice of life here in the scenic Pacific Northwest, run out to the coast and have a go at digging Razor-Clams. And, if you’re looking to buy or sell a home in the West Puget Sound area, give me a call.
Can you “DIG” it? 360.440.4758
Share on FacebookA friend of mine was recently visiting from out of state. He complimented me on my nice tan. I told him, “That’s not a tan, that’s ‘rust!’
The jokes about rainfall here in the Pacific Northwest are endless.
“What do you call two straight days of rain in Seattle? A weekend!”
“It only rains twice a year in Seattle. August through April and May through July.”
However, I recently read some rather encouraging news. It seems as though the bad rap we get here in Washington State for inclement weather isn’t all that accurate.
According to a recent study conducted by the San Francisco CA based WeatherBill, Inc., where they ranked the Top Wettest US Cities, the State of Washington didn’t show up until the 24th position with our capitol city, Olympia.
Who was the wettest city, you ask?
Mobile, Alabama, with a whopping 5 feet of annual rainfall!
Pensacola, Florida, comes in 2nd, followed by several other cities mostly in Louisiana, Florida, and Texas. To read the entire article, click here.
Well, maybe we don’t get the MOST rainfall per year, but surely we have to be in first place for the number of rainy overcast days overall?
So maybe our kids do have webbed feet afterall. Or perhaps daylight savings simply means another hour of rainfall.
At least we don’t have to worry about water rationing!
Share on FacebookAll week long our loyal readers are subjected to dry, real estate realted related articles (yawn). Being a Saturday, I thought I’d liven things up a tad.
We are considering this new ad campaign and would welcome feedback and comments from any of our SoundBiteBlog readers. Especially the quiet ones. We know you are out there! The site statistics prove it! Over 50 people each day are visiting the site, reading an average of 10 articles (approx) and coming back to revisit the site 3 times each month. But only a few have been leaving comments.
Here’s your chance to jump in and speak your piece. What do you think? Is this advertising idea a winner or a dud?
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(This article is a follow-up to my previous Sparky’s Crablog post “Got Crab?” )
You have to understand what it is that motivates any person in their right mind to ever consider buying a boat in the first place.
Crab. Yummy, tasty Crab. Lots of Crab.
Our initially sad, but comical efforts with the Wally Mart inflatable left much to be desired. Hence, the purchase of the sea-worthy C-Dory!
Now it doesn’t usually take all that long, from the time you buy your first boat, and enjoy the brief thrill of ownership, to quickly realize what an utterly ‘stupid’ and ‘idiotic’ purchasing decision you’ve made.
The learning curve of safe boat operation is a painful and costly succession of errors.
Our first trip out was disasterous! We went over to Brownsville Marina in Bremerton, one of the better launching spots in the area. We got the boat about halfway down the slightly steep ramp when the winch strap ‘snapped!’ Luckily, we had the security chain attached, and the boat only slipped down a few inches. The Marina Store was conveniently located nearby, so we purchased a new winch strap (the first in a very long line of expenses)
Let me stop right here and just mention one of the basic tenets of ‘Murphy’s Law of Boat Repairs:’
“Whenever you need to buy something to repair your boat, you will never, ever be remotely close to a store that sells discount boat parts, or anything that even remotely resembles a bargain priced item.”
We installed the over-priced, gold-plated, diamond studded winch strap and lowered our vessel into the cool, blue waters….
For the next several hours, we vainly attempted every conceivable option known to man in an effort to coax/ellicit life from our 40 horse Johnson outboard motor. When that failed, we switched our novice attentions to the 9 horse kicker motor. Nothing there either. It was an outboard motor tag team. They were both in cahoots against us.
All the while, as we toiled, sweat, and prayed for a motor miracle, we neglected to notice, that the tide was going out.
As the resident boating Newbies, what we didn’t realize, was at the Brownsville Marina, when the tide goes out, the launching ramp is rendered useless for several hours. The only thing worse than not being able to start our boat engine was having to sit helplessly at the dock, watching the paint peel, and waiting for the tide to come back in.
To make matters worse, because the launch ramp is directly adjacent to the marina store/cafe, our escapades were on full display for all the luncheoning patrons to see. We provided some really great comic relief!
You know, sometimes, life is a lot like learning how to safely operate a boat. Inevitably, you’re going to make a few mistakes along the way (okay, a lot of mistakes). Sometimes the mistakes are costly. Other times, they’re just frustrating, embarassing, and, well, just plain stupid. What’s important, is to learn from those mistakes. And it’s not simply a matter of learning what you did wrong, but learning what you can do right or better the next time.
Oh, the joys of boat ownership! Trust me, this is just the beginning of “Stupid Human Boat Tricks!”
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