Real Estate News You Can Use fo

r December 2

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Dear Friend,We’ve finally reached the end of the year, and what a year it’s

been! So much has been happening in the world. Some of it has been negative, but so much has been positive—not the least of which has been the improvement in our economy and real estate market. I feel fortunate to be part of such interesting times. In the spirit of interesting times, this month’s newsletter has a

plethora of interesting short articles and some market talk, too.I open with a story a fun article about the future—from the

perspective of someone living in the 1800’s. Because it is December, I’ve also included a history of Santa Claus, as well as some winter-time knee-slappers to share with friends and children during your holiday parties.On a more practical note, I’ve added

a piece about where we’re at in the mortgage world, from my friend Kyle and feature information on Seattle’s Madrona neighborhood. Finally, I include some information on a few easy things to give

your home a facelift, as well as why sometimes waiting until Spring isn’t the best thing to do if you’re thinking of selling. Oh, and lastly, I talk about my annual Holiday Open House to support YouthCare.During this holiday season, when you hear a friend or neighbor

mention that they need my help buying a home or getting their home sold, please let them know I’m here to help. Thanks, and have a wonderful Holiday season!Kind regards,

Nick SimontonWindermere Real Estate Co.206.588.5775 | nick@windermere.com

Visit www.TheSeattleHomePro.com or Call (206) 588-5775

Things To Do This MonthNovember 22-December 3. Festival of Trees. View 21 designer trees in the lobby and driveway of the Fairmont Olympic Hotel during the annual Festival of Trees charity event. See schedule for gala, family celebration, and teddy bear suite. Free to view.

December 1-24, Bellevue Holiday Show. Enjoy a 20-minute show of lights, music, snow, and enthusiastic young drummers in uniform on the sidewalks of Snowflake Lane (Bellevue Way). Free.

December 1-31, Wild Lights at the Woodland Park Zoo. WildLights has 500,000 lights in animal shapes, real reindeer, night creatures, a carousel, indoor play, and carolers at Woodland Park Zoo. Closed Dec. 24 & 25. Tickets and information: www.bit.ly/wildlights2014

December 5 & 6, Winter Beer Fest. Try winter beers from 50 Washington breweries with food truck cuisine at Winter Beer Fest at Hangar 30 in Magnuson Park, then vote for your favorites. Tickets and information online: www.bit.ly/1yNle3K

December 14, Jingle Bell Run/Walk. Seattle’s Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis is a fun way to kick off the holidays. Wear a holiday themed costume. Tie jingle bells to your shoelaces. Raise funds to fight arthritis. Information at bit.ly/1xydcPb

December 31, New Year’s Eve Symphony. New Year’s Eve: Concert, Countdown & Celebration features classical music performed by the Seattle Symphony, a countdown with a live band, dancing, and a toast, at Benaroya Hall. Tickets available here: www.bit.ly/1vl4wuG

News from Your Real Estate Adviser for Life.

8401 35th Ave NESeattle, WA 98115(206) 588-5775 directnick@windermere.comwww.YourSeattleHome.com

This newsletter is intended for entertainment purposes only. Credit is given to the authors of various articles that are reprinted when the original author is known. Any omission of credit to an author is purely unintentional and should not be construed as plagiarism or literary theft. Copyright 2014 Nick Simonton, CNE. This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical, legal, financial or tax advice. Any and all decisions and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a qualified physician, attorney, financial advisor and/or CPA. We cannot be held responsible for actions you may take without proper medical, financial, legal or tax advice.

Go Green:Recycle This Newsletter!After you’ve enjoyed my

newsletter, please recycle it by passing it along to

a family member, friend, neighbor or coworker.

In this Issue December2014

Origin of the Jolly Fat Man (Continued)

Making a Move?

Are you or is someone you care about thinking about making a move?

Make sure you work with

someone you trust.

Call me at (206) 588-5775.

I am here to help.

My Annual Holiday Open House and Drive to Help Homeless YouthEvery year around the holidays, I like to invite my friends, family and clients - past, present and future - to join my family at my home in North Seattle for a holiday Open House.

This year is no different and, like last year, we’ll be asking for your help to support Seattle’s homeless youth, through YouthCare.

Each night, 700-1,000 young people in Seattle have no safe place to sleep. That’s every night.

YouthCare helps children 12 to 24 years old go from a kid in a doorway to a kid in school, an adult on the job, to an independent and stable citizen.

Each year at our open house, we supply hors d’oeuvres and cocktails while asking our guests to donate to this great cause through donations of sleeping bags, hand warmers, new underwear, new socks, backpacks, travel size toothpaste/deoderant/shampoo, etc., feminine products, gift cards and of course, cash.

Please join us this year on Saturday December 13th. For more information, email me at nick@windermere.com or call me at (206) 588-5775.

locationonGet More Stuff!Fill out the form below or head to YourSeattleHome.com/GiveMeStuff to request your personalized reports.

Or, just call me at (206) 588-5775 and I’ll get your information to you, or your family and friends, ASAP.

Free Reports q Protect Your Family from

Burglers q Five Mistakes Home Sellers Make q Making the Move Easy on the

Kids q How Sellers Price Their Homes q How to Stop Wasting Money on

Rent q How to Sell Your House for the

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Free Information q Free Homefinder Service q Special Report on the Features

and Sales Prices of the Most Rent Homes in My Area

q Personal Report on an Individaul Property

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>> December Quiz Question>> Five Fast Home Face-Lifts>> The Perfect Dream Gift>> The Future... Not Exactly As Predicted>> Cold Winter Riddles>> Spotlight on Madrona>> Waiting Until Spring>> Mortgage News from Kyle>> My Open House & Homeless Youth

York Historical Society in 1804, promoted St. Nicholas as patron saint of both society and city. On St. Nicholas Day in January 1809, Washington Irving published the satirical fiction, Knickerbocker’s History of New York, with numerous references to a jolly St. Nicholas character. This was not the saintly bishop, but rather an elfin Dutch burgher with a clay pipe. Irving’s work was regarded as the “first notable work of imagination in the New World.” Gradually the St. Nicholas feast day of December 6 migrated to Christmas Day and St. Nicholas became Santa Claus.

St. Nicholas, a 4th century religious figure, is the origin of our modern day Santa Claus (“Claus” is a shortening of the last portion of the name Nicolas, while Santa is another way of saying Saint.) Nicholas was a kindly Bishop who secretly gave gifts to people in need, expecting nothing for himself in return. It is this selfless generosity which seeks only the good of the other that made Nicholas a saint. But how did an early Christian saint become a roly-poly red-suited American symbol for merry holiday festivity and commercial activity? History tells the tale:

The first US Colonists, primarily Puritans and other Protestant reformers, did not bring Nicholas traditions to the New World. Although it is almost universally believed that the Dutch brought St. Nicholas to New Amsterdam (in what is now the New York area), in the 1600’s, scholars find scant evidence of Christmas traditions in Dutch New Netherland. Colonial Germans in Pennsylvania kept the feast of St. Nicholas, and several later accounts have St. Nicholas visiting New York Dutch on New Years’ Eve, thus adopting an English custom of New Year gift-giving.

In 1773 New York non-Dutch patriots formed the Sons of St. Nicholas, primarily as a non-British symbol to counter the English St. George societies, rather than to honor St. Nicholas. This society was similar to the Sons of St. Tammany in Philadelphia. Not exactly St. Nicholas, the gift-giver.

After the American Revolution, John Pintard, the influential patriot and antiquarian who founded the New

The Future (not exactly as predicted)Nostradamus is said to have predicted, in the 16th century, such events as the crash of the Hindenburg, the rise of Hitler, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Other “seers” haven’t been as accurate. Here are a few predictions from the past that missed the mark:

• The Associated Press predicted in 1950 that in the year 2000 the average woman would be more than 6 feet tall, with muscles like a truck driver. She would consume food capsules instead of meat and potatoes.

• In 1893, a minister named Thomas Dixon predicted that during the 20th century, “Law will be simplified and brought within the range of the common people. As a result, the occupation of two-thirds of the lawyers will be destroyed.”

• In 1878, the Hartford Woman’s Friday Club, one of the oldest women’s organizations, published a paper and concluded that electricity, though an interesting experiment, was too uncertain and dangerous to be put to practical use.

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December QuizQ: Do penguins have

feathers or fur? Everyone who texts, emails or calls in the correct answer by the end of the month will be entered to win 2 Movie Tickets!

November’s QuestionQ: A flock of crows is called a crows is called a murder. What is a flock of ravens called? (Multiple possible answers)

A: A congress, a quorum, an unkindness, a conspiracy, or a flight of ravens.

Congratulations to Dan & Joanne Squire who texted and won 2 movie tickets!

The Origin of the Jolly Fat Man

Five Fast Home Face-LiftsPaint may be the easiest way to improve the look of your house, but here are five additional ideas for a fast face-lift:

1. Add cork flooring over the top of your old flooring. Cork is soft, warm, and adds an earthy feeling. Just be sure your old flooring is level and smooth, or you’ll end up with bumpy cork.

2. Replace moldy caulking in the bathtub. Chip away the old caulk, clean the tile with bleach, and then study up about how to caulk correctly. It’s easy and very inexpensive.

3. Replace or add new decorative baseboards. In some homes, baseboards are thin, worn, or overpainted. Tearing these off using a wedge (look up how to remove baseboards first), then painting and preparing your boards before installing them will make this job go faster.

4. Add crown moulding. Cut and paint it before installing it. Then patch the holes and seams, and do touch-up painting afterwards.

5. Add an easy-to-clean kitchen backsplash. This can be almost any material, from tile (which can be purchased in finished sections), to metal sheeting, to glass, and more.

Madrona UpdateThis month I’ll talk about the HOT Madrona neighborhood in Northeast Seattle.

Of course, like most areas in Seattle, the market is a strong seller’s market, and here are the stats to show it:

Averages Last MonthSold Price: $853,000 (up $76k over last year)

Price/Square Foot: $345 (up $46 over last year)

Sold vs. List Price: 104% Above

Days on Market: 9

Winter Riddles• Q: How are bad grades like a

shipwreck? A: They’re both below C level!

• Q: What do chefs call “Baked Alaska” in Alaska? A: “Baked Here”

• Q: Where do seals go to see movies? A: The dive-in!

• Q: What do you call fifty pen-guins in the Arctic? A: Lost! (Penguins live in Antarc-tica.)

• Q: What do you call ten Arc-tic hares hopping backwards through the snow together? A: A receding hare line.

OnLocation is brought to you by Your Real Estate Adviser for Life, Nick Simonton, at Windermere Real Estate Co. Call me at (206) 588-5775 Get Tips, Information and More at www.TheSeattleHomePro.com OnLocation | December 2014

The Perfect Dream GiftThe day before Christmas, a young wife told her husband over breakfast, “Last night I dreamed you gave me a diamond necklace for Christmas!” And she smiled. “What do you think that means?” Her husband grinned back. “Maybe you’ll find out tomorrow.” Christmas Day arrived, and the husband handed his wife a small box. “Merry Christmas, darling.” The wife opened it. Inside the box was a book: The Interpretation of Dreams.

Finance Chatter

DID YOU KNOW…

Kyle BergquistGuild Mortgage Company

Cell: 425-478-0961kbergquist@guildmortgage.net

MLO# 918621 • NMLS# 3274

Finance Chatter Sponsored and Written By:

Waiting Until Spring to Sell Isn’t Always the Best MoveAs we start to roll into the holidays and winter, many would-be sellers will be hold-ing off on listing their home, waiting for the spring “selling season”. But if you’re ready to sell your home now, is waiting until spring the best strategy? Not accord-ing to the data, it isn’t.

After looking at home sales for a million homes across the country, and analyzing their sales across 3 quarters, here’s what was found:

• Homes listed in the Winter sold fast.

• Homes listed in the Winter are more likely to sell.

• Homes listed in the Winter tend to sell above their original price.

That’s right. Overall, homes listed in Winter sell wonderfully. That’s not to say Spring isn’t a great time to sell, but Winter wins out in one category: price. Homes listed in the Winter generally sell for slightly higher than homes listed in the Spring. Homes in Seattle that are listed in the Spring and Winter stay on the market for substantially less time than homes listed in the Summer and Fall, which average a slower sale at 23% and 27% above median respectively.

Of course each house and situation are unique, so there’s no guarantee (there never is, right?). That said, the data does seem to indicate that Winter gets a bad rap for no good reason.

Madrona Hotel, Dec. 18, 1892

The latest forecast, by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), for a 30 Year Mortgage rate is 5% by the end of 2015, and 5.4% by the end of 2016.

Although global turmoil and disappointing international GDP reports are giving a boost to the US Mortgage Bond, meaning interest rates continue to hover around their 18 month lows, interest rates have fallen so much that the MBA has revised their 2015 and 2016 forecasts upward by almost 20%.

Lower rates mean more people can afford to purchase, and with rates currently at 18 month lows and only expected to rise, right now is the least expensive time to purchase a home based on current and forecasted interest rates. However, as rates increase, affordability decreases - meaning purchasing power decreases as well.