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Should you hire a pro or tackle that home-repair job yourself? Chip Wade of HGTV’s “Curb Appeal” weighs in on some common questions.

Q: Can I replace a chipped tile in the middle of my kitchen floor?

A: Hire a pro. You’ll need a tile-and-flooring expert with an oscillating tool and an abrasive grout attachment to remove the grout and tile pieces, then pop in a new one. After a 24-hour drying period, the pro will come back and apply an extra layer of grout to finish the job. Prices vary depending on where you live, but I’d budget around $200 for the project.

Q: How do we keep our windows from fogging up in the winter?

A: Give it a go. Condensation on the inside of windows could mean your house is too humid and a dehumidifier will solve the problem. If that doesn’t work, it may mean air is leaking in around the glass.

Buy some window glaze at the hardware store and apply it to the edges of the windows to create a seal. If you have wooden windows, the frames may have cracks, and a simple paint touch-up will likely fix the leak.

Q: What do I do about a broken doorbell?

A: Give it a go. Doorbells are pretty simple devices, but they’re also electrical appliances that should be handled carefully. First try flipping your fuse breaker — the problem could be just a blown fuse. If the doorbell still isn’t working, turn off your power, then unscrew the switch plate and check to see if the two wires behind it are connected tightly; you may need to adjust them.

Still not hearing a buzz? It could mean there’s no power running to the switch. Time to call in an electrician for the fix so you don’t risk getting shocked or burned.

Article source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2017827901_realdiy01.html?syndication=rss

WASHINGTON — What’s behind the unusually high rate of contract cancellations and settlement delays in the real-estate market? With signs of recovery emerging in many parts of the country, shouldn’t deals be zipping along with minimal complications?

Apparently not. Nearly one-third of realty agents in a national survey reported contract cancellations — purchases crumbling before going to closing — in February. That’s up dramatically from a similar poll 12 months earlier, when just 9 percent of agents reported cancellations.

An additional 18 percent reported delays in scheduled closings in the latest study, which involved about 3,000 agents surveyed by the National Association of Realtors.

The high reported cancellation rate (31 percent) doesn’t mean that nearly one of every three of all signed contracts is falling apart, according to the association, but rather that more than triple the number of agents and their clients are running into deal-endangering problems compared with 2011.

If you are a potential buyer or seller in an otherwise improving marketplace, you need to be aware of the issues hampering sales, and be prepared in advance to deal with some of the most prominent.

Tops on the list:

• Appraisals below contract. You may assume the true market value of a house is what a seller and buyer agree to in a binding contract, but it’s not. The appraiser hired by the bank may come up with a different opinion of value — significantly below what was agreed between the parties — and this is occurring with far greater frequency.

Part of the problem is the excessive use of price-depressed foreclosure sales chosen as “comparables” to value non-distressed houses under pending contracts. But some appraisers are inexperienced, unfamiliar with local pricing trends and go far beyond their normal duties.

For example, Risa Bell, an agent for national broker Redfin in Boston, recently represented purchasers of a bank-owned property being sold “as is.” An appraiser for the lender not only detailed a long list of needed repairs but said the deal could only proceed if the prospective buyers spent thousands of dollars fixing up the house before — not after — closing.

Along the way, frozen pipes in the unheated house broke and a contractor hired to do repairs filed a mechanic’s lien requiring payment before the title could be transferred.

All of this combined to kill the financing and torpedo the closing, but the buyers ultimately were approved by a second lender using a different appraiser, who made no such demands for repairs in advance.

• Ultraconservative underwriting and documentation requirements. It’s no longer just towering credit-score minimums, hefty down payments and mind-bending paperwork that get mortgage applicants turned down.

“It’s a lot of other stuff, too,” said Melissa Zavala, broker and owner of Broadpoint Properties in Escondido, Calif.

Increasingly Zavala’s been running into regulatory hoops and restrictive underwriting rules at FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that knock signed contracts off the tracks or at least delay them for months.

For instance, FHA’s toughened rules on condominium associations — limits on the percentage of existing residents in the entire project who are delinquent on their condo dues, plus controversial requirements for “recertifications” of condominium developments that many condo boards find costly and burdensome in terms of legal liability — are rendering individual units in those communities difficult to get financed, no matter how well qualified the purchasers.

Little-publicized recent changes in FHA rules on loan applicants who have outstanding collection accounts buried away in their credit files “can force you to take three to four months to clean up” through mandatory repayment plans, Zavala said. By that point the contract may well have gone bust.

• Poor service by lender staff. Agents in the survey identified “lack of customer service” and “generally bad attitudes” as contributing factors to delays and some contract failures. But Zavala said realty agents themselves need to be on the ball when loan-processing deadlines begin to slip or communication breaks down with lenders.

“Agents can be part of the problems” — and the solutions — when it comes to moving the financing along, she said.

Bottom line: If you seriously want to go to closing on a house you’re buying or selling, make sure you know all the key rules and requirements up front, then stay on top of the lending, escrow, title and real-state professionals assigned to your transaction.

And don’t give up if your deal runs into complications. There are more of them out there than usual.

Ken Harney’s email address is kenharney@earthlink.net.

Article source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2017845779_harney01.html?syndication=rss

Apartment rents are rising in King and Snohomish counties and should keep inching up for the rest of the year, two leading research firms agree.

But that could change in 2013, they say, when a bumper crop of new projects is completed and the vacancy rate is likely to increase.

Average monthly rent for the first three months of this year was $1,094, up 1.7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011, according to Apartment Insights Washington.

Dupre + Scott Apartment Advisors, whose methodology is different, pegged the average rent in March at $1,066, up 1.1 percent from the firm’s last report six months ago and nearly 5 percent from March 2011.

Tom Cain of Apartment Insights and Mike Scott of Dupre + Scott attributed rent increases to several factors: job growth, rising demand from young adults, little increase in apartment supply.

But the region is in the midst of its biggest apartment-construction spurt in two decades. Cain calculates more than 3,100 units in complexes of 50 or more units will be delivered this year, with another 5,500 coming in 2013.

Next year’s big bump in supply should make landlords “justifiably apprehensive,” Cain wrote. He said rents could start dropping — or at least begin rising more modestly — by late 2013.

Scott’s new-construction projections, which include complexes with 20 or more units, are even higher than Cain’s. Anticipated job growth alone won’t fill all those units, he said.

The vacancy rate, which Scott’s firm calculates at 4.2 percent, could climb to 6 percent by the end of 2014, he added.

But vacancies could remain low if employment growth exceeds expectations, Scott and Cain both said.

Apartment Insights calculated the two counties’ first-quarter vacancy rate at 5.21 percent, down a hair after an unexpected increase of more than half a percentage point in the fourth quarter of 2011.

“It seems like it’s stabilized,” Cain said.

But falling home prices and low interest rates could turn more renters into buyers, he added, and that could reduce demand for apartments.

Other highlights from the two firms’ reports:

• More than 80 percent of the apartments under construction in King and Snohomish counties are in Seattle, according to Apartment Insights.

• In-city neighborhoods had the region’s lowest vacancy rates, both firms say.

• Nearly 79 percent of landlords participating in Dupre + Scott’s survey said they plan to raise rents over the next six months, by an average of 3.9 percent.

• Average rents topped $1,500 for the first time in downtown Seattle and downtown Bellevue, Apartment Insights reported, and average rent per square foot in downtown Seattle hit a record $2.03.

• Fewer landlords are offering incentives like free rent now than six months ago, Dupre + Scott said, and the dollar value of those incentives has fallen.

Eric Pryne: 206-464-2231 or epryne@seattletimes.com

Article source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2017845743_apartments27.html?syndication=rss

Looking for new home-design trends or fresh ways to brighten up your living space for spring?

These days, many designers and design enthusiasts are turning to the social-media site Pinterest for inspiration.

A virtual pinboard or scrapbook, the website allows users to collect and organize their favorite images and ideas from around the Internet. “Pinners” can add their own images to their online profiles, or peruse others’ pinboards and “like” or “re-pin” their images for future use.

Each image links back to the website from which it was taken, and images can be organized by topic, color, design, event or any other category.

While there’s not yet a way to quantify pins, style and home décor are among Pinterest’s most popular pinning categories, says Lauren Indvik, an editor at the social-media news blog Mashable.com.

Remodeling your kitchen? Create a “Kitchen Makeover” pinboard and scour Pinterest for ideas. Or go more specific: “Countertop Ideas” or “Kitchen Paint Colors.”

“Pinterest is like keeping an electronic-clip file — that manila folder with tons of tear sheets from magazines. It’s how I renovated my first kitchen,” says Mary Leigh Howell, a free-lance public-relations specialist in Greensboro, N.C.

Women make up most of Pinterest’s more than 10 million users, and are driving traffic to home magazines like Country Living and Elle Decor in record numbers, Indvik says. Last summer, Pinterest sent more traffic to marthastewart.com than Facebook and Twitter combined, and House Beautiful magazine has seen triple-digit increases in referrals in the past six months, according to Indvik.

How to start

You can join Pinterest by requesting an invite from someone already on the site, or by clicking “Request an Invite” on the home page. Once invited, register using your Facebook or Twitter account.

Once you create an account and install the “pin it plug-in” to your bookmarks bar, Pinterest automatically generates a few generic pinboards for you to begin pinning to.

Either nix or rename these boards to something you actually care about so they don’t appear blank on your online profile, advises Brie Dyas, editor of Stylelist Home for the Huffington Post.

Start pinning by searching in the upper-left corner for an item or project (keep it short), or look up brands, stores and TV personalities, browse their pinboards and share what you like, says Sabrina Soto, host of HGTV’s “The High Low Project.”

Click on the “Everything” tab in the middle of the home page to see all images being pinned at a certain time. Or scroll down to narrow what you’re seeing to categories such as art, design, DIY and crafts, gardening, or print and posters.

How to thrive

You can turn your pinning up a notch by downloading the Pinterest app to your smartphone, letting you pin products or home-improvement ideas you see while out and about, Soto says. “This is so helpful for when I’m looking for ideas on my upcoming products,” she says.

Search often if you’re looking for ideas for a specific room or project.

“Follow someone so that when they update their boards, you will be notified,” says Megan Meloy, design expert for the Norcross, Ga.-based children’s room retailer KooKoo Bear Kids. She says she uses Pinterest every day to showcase the company’s merchandise, at pinterest.com/megankkbk.

If you’re looking for more followers, Dyas recommends making yourself known by following, liking and commenting on other people’s pins and not pinning everything you like at once.

What to avoid

“Don’t limit yourself to creating a single board dedicated to one topic,” says Soto. “Combine everything that you love and make several boards that cover a wide range of interests.”

She also recommends branching out to pin images from many different websites, not just one.

Blogger Amy Lynn Andrews, who penned a list of Pinterest tips at bloggingwithamy.com/pinterest-tips, advises against cutesy descriptions for pins (“Super cool!” “Love this!”). Instead, use keyword-rich entries (black concrete countertop) to make your pins and boards easier to find.

Trendsetters

Everyone has the ability to be a great pinner, Howell says.

“You don’t have to be famous or artistic,” she says. “You just have to recognize great visuals.”

Here are some popular boards and pinners as recommended by home-design pros and Pinterest fans. Search for them by their user names:

Lonny Magazine: lonnymag

HGTV: hgtv

Elle Decor: elledecor

Rue Magazine: ruemag

Real Simple: realsimple

Joy Cho: ohjoy

Etsy: etsy

Better Homes and Gardens: bhg

Rachel Halvorson: rachelhdesign

DIY Network: diynetwork

Martha Stewart Living: ms — living

Article source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2017819797_realpinterest25.html?syndication=rss

Q: I have an older home with a bothersome smell. After maneuvering into the dirt crawl space under the house, a broken pipe was discovered. It had probably been leaking sewage for one or two months. We had the pipe repaired thinking this would solve the smell problem. It did not. We discovered that thick plastic had been laid on top of a muddy composting mess.

My husband removed the plastic and dug out several inches of sewage/mud. He also laid oyster shells on top of the damp ground to help neutralize the smell. He then opened all foundation vents and placed a fan to blow the air out from under the house. So long as the fan is blowing, the smell does not drift up through the wood floor and stink up the house.

You have suggested charcoal. Should we put open bags of charcoal on top of the dirt/mud under the house? What else can we do?

A: Raw sewage in a cellar, basement or crawl space can be a serious health concern for the occupants of the home. According to an article published by americanrivers.org:

“The most common pathogens in sewage are bacteria, parasites and viruses. They cause a wide variety of acute illnesses including diarrhea and infections. These illnesses can be violent and unpleasant, but mostly pass after several days or weeks with no lasting effects. In some cases, however, pathogens can cause serious long-term illnesses or even death.”

The sewage and contaminated soils under the home should be removed by professionals who have the experience and proper equipment to work in such hazardous conditions.

Once the area has been decontaminated, a layer of 6-mil plastic vapor barrier can be installed.

If you are a determined DIYer, though, make sure you wear a long-sleeved shirt, rubber gloves, eye protection and a half-facemask respirator.

Use a sled or piece of plywood as a skid with a rope attached so that a helper can pull the buckets of soil out and a second rope attached so that you can retrieve the empty buckets without having to go in and out with each load.

Once the area has been cleaned, spread hydrated lime to reduce the odors and to dry the soils. Cover the entire dirt floor with a 6-mil vapor barrier. Discard the rubber gloves, clean your tools with a mild bleach-and-water solution and launder your work clothes immediately.

In a basement, use a wet/dry vacuum to clean the spill, emptying the canister into a toilet. Any contaminated material including carpeting and wall coverings should be discarded. Place smaller items in plastic garbage bags and set outside for proper disposal.

Woodwork and wood furniture can be washed using 1 cup household bleach to 1 gallon of warm water. Venting the basement using fans will help to remove odors and speed the drying process.

Dwight Barnett is a certified master inspector with the American Society of Home Inspectors. Write to him with home-improvement questions at C. Dwight Barnett, Evansville Courier Press, P.O. Box 268, Evansville, Ind. 47702 or email him at d.Barnett@insightbb.com.

Article source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/homegarden/2017800951_homefix25.html?syndication=rss

Affiliates of mortgage holder CBRE Capital Markets of New York took ownership of Seattle’s landmark Smith Tower in a foreclosure auction on the steps of the County Administration Building this morning.

CBRE Capital bid $36.795 million for the 42-story building at Second Avenue and Yesler Way and the neighboring two-story Florence Building.

CBRE Capital, which acquired the delinquent mortgage on the troubled Smith Tower last fall and began foreclosure proceedings a few weeks later, filed notice to schedule the foreclosure auction in December. Also in December, a court-appointed receiver took control of the tower’s day to day operations.

The historic office building’s owner, Chicago-based Walton Street Capital, defaulted on loans totaling $42.5 million that it took out when it bought the Smith Tower and an adjacent two-story building in 2006, according to public records.

Most foreclosure auctions in Washington result in the lender taking title to the property, because other bids — if any — fall short of the outstanding debt.

Walton Street owes more than $43 million on the Smith Tower loan, which matured last April, according to the auction notice.

CBRE presumably paid less than that for the nonperforming mortgage, but the price hasn’t been revealed.

King County values the Smith Tower for tax purposes at $21.3 million — less than half what Walton Street paid for it less than six years ago.

The 97-year-old Smith Tower is 70 percent vacant, according to CBRE’s court filings, and monthly rents don’t cover the building’s operating expenses.

Walton Street received city approval in 2007 to convert the tower to condos but backed away after the condo market cooled.

Article source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2017823159_smithtower24.html?syndication=rss

In home décor, there’s something about the start of spring. When life’s renewing itself outdoors, we feel the urge to revive our interiors, too.

This season, décor offerings are especially upbeat.

Start with the palette. “Saturated” is a word being used a lot; it means ripe plum hues, intense tangerines, rich indigos, verdant greens, zingy turquoises, hot reds and peppy yellows.

Dee Schlotter, a color expert with PPG Pittsburgh Paints, says exuberant orange is No. 1 on her trend radar.

“It’s full of joy and playful,” says Schlotter, who also cites Geranium Pink as a hot hue. “It goes really well with orange, and it’s a happy, girlie color.”

Teal and turquoise are back after a lengthy retirement, and with experience in midcentury modern and traditional décor, they’ve got legs that will carry them into fall.

Erin Olson loved the color family enough to devote a blog to it; the House of Turquoise follows all things blue-green.

“What I love about turquoise is that it can be paired with any other color, since it has both warm and cool undertones,” she says.

“My personal favorite is using turquoise as a fun punch of color to an otherwise neutral space. A turquoise throw pillow, lamp or rug will instantly bring new life to your room, and can easily be switched out,” she says.

Black as a foil

Crisp, clean white’s a common counterpoint, but you’ll see black as a foil as well.

Graphic prints pop in these bold colors: Zigzags and stripes are all over the home-accessories marketplace; so are lattice and ironwork prints; big and little florals; and abstracts. African hand-block, Moroccan and Silk Road patterns have crossed over from last season.

Not a fan of bright? Look for a whole world of calming neutrals such as soft putty, a gray/yellow blend, gray/beige, aqua, pewter, copper, vanilla and shell pink.

You’ll see lots of texture in this category: weathered wood, animal hide, burnished metals, burlap and gauzy cottons. Honeycomb patterns, naturalistic motifs like twigs, leaves and birds, watery Impressionist prints and airy florals soothe the soul.

Neutrals are “taking the popular gray trend and moving it forward, by adding warmth with natural materials like jute and linen, and then giving it a real punch by adding a sunny pop of yellow,” says Sherwin-Williams’ color marketing director Jackie Jordan.

Repainting walls in a fresh spring hue is one way to update a room, but if you’re not ready to commit in a major way, small changes can also alter a room’s mood. Try a lemony throw, clean white paint trim, a teal rug or sandy-toned drapery.

Go for a bright, candy-hued lamp base, and pick the color up again in a big fruit bowl. In the kitchen, replace cooking tools with new ones in luscious tomato red.

Flor’s new spring collection of floor tiles features Fedora, in a soothing palette of dusty turquoise, oatmeal, walnut and flannel. Used in a bedroom with lavender, cream or pale-pink textiles, you’d wake up to spring’s birdsong in the most serene of sleeping spaces.

Land of Nod has a cheery Watermelon Stripe duvet cover in a rainbow of fruity hues, as well as the Dot Matrix rug, composed of hundreds of rolled felt balls like colorful gumballs.

Dramatic statement

Black and white geometrics make a dramatic statement — you’ll find them on dinnerware, patio umbrellas, candles and awning stripes at Z Gallerie, including a very Jonathan Adler-esque vase made of lacquered bamboo.

Ikea is offering its Expedit shelving in fire-engine red; there’s the new Varmdo rocking chair in the hue, too.

Loll Designs’ cubby bench comes in a pretty grass green. And CB2′s Go-Cart desk in vibrant blue would be a fun place to work. Their Parlour atomic-orange chair adds energy to a neutral room.

Pier 1′s Liliana armchair has an ironwork pattern that’s recurring in textiles and furniture detail this season. The Annie Black Bird wingback chair features a dramatic black and white nature motif that would pop against dark or white walls and wood floors. And a hanging lamp in caramel with leaves rendered in gold is the perfect addition to a restful room filled with tawny hues.

If you like strong pattern but prefer quiet colors, consider BlissLivingHome’s muted deep-sea and celery chevron reversible Maru throw. DwellStudio’s got a new collection of zigzag flat-weave wool and cotton rugs in lapis and citrine. And Galbraith Paul’s loop-embellished velvet pillows come in gentle shades of coral and nutmeg.

A hammered brass stool from India makes a cool side table, from Wisteria; there are Kuba cloth chocolate and white throw pillows and a great collection of cowhide stools, trunks and benches here, too.

Article source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2017770757_realspringcolors18.html?syndication=rss

Q: My fireplace is in the basement and the chimney is on the wall between the house and attached garage. In the summer when it is very humid, the glass doors on my fireplace sweat and the condensation pools on the floor in front of the hearth. We keep our home cool (67 degrees) at night in the summer. If I open the glass doors, the condensation does not occur.

I would like to put in an electric-fireplace insert, but am concerned about the condensation. The insert resembles a flat-screen TV in appearance. Any condensation could damage it. I have only one fireplace and it is the only thing that vents through the chimney.

I have thought about inserting insulation into the top of my chimney and capping it, but am concerned the walls of the flue could create condensation during the humid summer days. Do you have any recommendations?

A: Condensation in the home occurs when moisture, which is present in the conditioned air, is transformed from a gas to a liquid. This is most often noticed in the winter when moisture forms on the cold glass surfaces of windows.

It’s a simple fact that cold air cannot hold or retain as much moisture as warm air, and when the two meet, the warm air starts to cool, releasing some of its moisture.

Homes with high humidity levels will often have condensation forming on the interior side of windows in colder weather. When the humidity levels are too high, mold and mildew can become a problem. A normal and comfortable level of humidity inside the home would be anywhere between 30 and 60 percent at 65 degrees.

Humidity levels below 30 percent can result in dry skin, nosebleeds and static-electric buildup, whereas higher moisture levels lead to the aforementioned mold and mildew.

A hygrometer, a device that measures humidity levels, can be purchased for under $20 and will give you an accurate reading. Only when you know you have a humidity problem can you correct it.

As you know, if you plug the top of the chimney above the fireplace, the flue-liner condensation will trickle down to the fireplace. You will need to protect the insert from moisture problems. According to one manufacturer’s recommendation, insulation and vapor barrier should be placed a minimum of 2 inches from the unit.

This means you can use rigid foam insulation behind some inserts to control temperatures and airflow, and a vapor barrier to protect the insert from moisture, but first read and follow all installation instructions.

Dwight Barnett is a certified master inspector with the American Society of Home Inspectors. Write to him with home-improvement questions at C. Dwight Barnett, Evansville Courier Press, P.O. Box 268, Evansville, Ind. 47702 or email him at d.Barnett@insightbb.com.

Article source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/homegarden/2017771185_homefix18.html?syndication=rss

The annual Tour of Architects, which showcases some of the top residential design work in the Pacific Northwest (including the house pictured here), is Saturday (March 17) and Sunday (March 18), and March 24 and 25.

The architects and their clients offer an opportunity for the public to visit custom homes and architecturally designed spaces, and to meet the architects who designed them.

The event, sponsored by AIA Seattle and AIA Southwest Washington, offers four tours on four different days. Tour One (Saturday) features projects in the Tacoma, Gig Harbor and Port Orchard areas. Tour Two (Sunday) features projects on Bainbridge Island. Tour Three (March 24) features projects in Seattle. Tour Four (March 25) features projects in Seattle and on the Eastside.

Tickets are $20 per tour, $35 for a weekend pass, or $50 for two-weekend pass. Profits will be donated to Wild Fish Conservancy.

Tickets and info at www.TourofArchitects.com; email Liz@TourofArchitects.com or call 206-819-3618.

Article source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2017702887_realbrownbox11.html?syndication=rss