Close to Home

There are a lot of ways to get the leg up in the real estate market, on this weeks Clouse Corner, Brennen explains how and when to utilize an additional down payment to gain a tactical advantage. 

Halloween is closing in this week and in the sprit of clever disguises this week Brennen is offering up some practical advise. Now I'm sure some of you are still looking at the words "additional down payment" and thinking, "really?" Trust us, we know that sometimes it feels like there isn't another pound of flesh to give when it comes to purchasing a home. That being said tactically using an additional down payment, particularly on a single family home in the Seattle market right now can yield surprisingly good results. Find out all the details by listening to the episode.

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Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

Thanks for listening!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Low Life High Life”

By Dan Henig

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week Brennen is breaking down the various timelines that go hand in hand with various real estate practices, his theory is that it's better to be well informed than to live dangerously, but he's open to dissenting opinions. 

We've covered timelines a few different times on this program, both from a buyer and sellers perspective, but something we've never dared ask before: Are timelines exciting? 

Could it be that timelines in real estate are actually sexy bad boys, and not just high stakes homework assignments which cost you an arm and leg if you mess them up? Maybe they cost you an arm and leg but like, in a cool sexy way... Nope, I can't do this. It's about timelines guys, they are things your real estate agent should know. If your agent doesn't know about them you need a new agent. Maybe get in touch with Brennen? Especially if you have any questions, we are all about answering your questions.. when we are not busy anthropomorphizing real estate terminology. New Close to Home episode this Wednesday, catch you then!

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

Thanks for listening!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Low Life High Life”

By Dan Henig

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

It's time to get Upstaged! Brennen and Tracy are sitting down with Fernanda and Flavia, best friends, business partners, and creators of Upstaging Seattle, to talk about how they met, how they make homes so beautiful so fast, and how to start a successful business using only Google searches and Instagram.

If you're a theater kid, like some of us who work on the show, then you think of upstaging as a bad thing. Well get ready to have that idea turned on its head, because when it comes to real estate stealing the spotlight is the name of the game, and Upstaging Seattle are the stars of the show! When Brennen or Tracy need a house made beautiful fast these are the experts they turn to, in fact Brennen was the first customer to earn their regular customer discount last year (that's how much we love these ladies). Don't believe us? Check out their amazing Instagram for before and after shots that will blow your mind! If you like looking at glamorous home décor shots (a strong possibility if you enjoy our show) then they are well worth a follow, or if you live in Seattle and need a house staged, better yet give them a call!

Speaking of calls, if you have additional questions about the show, or ideas for future guests or topics please feel free to reach out to us. We love to hear from you!

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

As always thanks for listening, we'll be back on the 28th with a new Close to Home!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Good Times”

By Patrick Patrikios

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week Brennen is talking about the rumors of a, "Seattle Exodus"  is it a real thing and should people be alarmed? Listen and find out!

If you live on the West Coast and have tried to rent a U-Haul recently you've probably heard from someone on the customer service chain that truck supplies are low because of everyone is moving right now. This is certainly the case in Manhattan and San Francisco where previously very in demand areas are suddenly seeing an excess of available inventory relative to the demand.  But what about Seattle and other major cities, are they also experiencing this disparity and if so what might that mean for people who own property or are looking to buy? Well, we've only got about 5 minutes, but we'll certainly do our best to answer all these questions on this weeks Clouse Corner. 

As always if you have additional questions please feel free to reach out to us, we love to hear from you!

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

Thanks for listening!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Low Life High Life”

By Dan Henig

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week in our ongoing effort to demystify any and all real estate terms Brennen will be digging into underwriting and how it can effect the buying process.

Taken at face value underwriting sounds like those correction notes teachers used to leave on your essays back in school. However, it's actually an important part of acquiring a loan for buying a house or property. Basically it's an assessment of the amount of risk that a loan would carry, but that is the most skin deep of definitions. In order to get the full picture you'll have to actually listen to the episode. Brennen does a better job of explaining it all than I ever could. 

Of course, if you have questions feel free to send them our way, we love answer them and we love to hear from you!

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

Thanks for listening!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Low Life High Life”

By Dan Henig

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week, in part two of our ongoing series about pet care, Brennen and Tracy are sitting down with Whitney H. the manager of Frolic Pet Services to talk about the amazing services they are offering in the Seattle and Puget Sound area!

We know that during quarentimes more than a few of people may have picked up a new furry companion to take the edge of their stress, or maybe you've just let their training lapse a bit and now you're worried about leaving your pet to go back to work, maybe none of these are true and you are just super into lizards. If any of these are sounding familiar then you definitely can have some great take aways from listening to this weeks episode and getting acquainted with the services Frolic Pet Services offers. Seriously, they deal with everything from dogs to poison dart frogs, it is wild. 

Also check out their Instagram at www.instagram.com/FrolicPet/ it's cute pictures of animals, so what not to love?

If you have a local business in the Seattle area you would like us to spotlight, or you have other questions about real estate, or whatever, feel free to reach out to us: 

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

As always thanks for listening, and we will see you next month with a new Close to Home!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Good Times”

By Patrick Patrikios

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Good Times”

By Patrick Patrikios

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week Brennen is weighing out the advantages of buying a new home.

You may have asked yourself what are the advantages of buying a home new? Some of the primary ones are having a greater say over the final touches of construction, as well as saving money on initial upkeep. Certainly most of the market is usually comprised of older homes and don't get us wrong they can be great too! However, if you are weighing all of your different options, and maybe there's a particular style of kitchen finish you have your heart set on, you are more likely to have a say over that kind of thing if you chose to buy new. There are other advantages as well, but you'll have to listen to this weeks episode of the Clouse Corner to hear them all!

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

Thanks for listening!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Low Life High Life”

By Dan Henig

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week Brennen is demystifying the term, "equity" so that listeners can better understand how it translates to money in their pocket.

What is equity? From context it's decently easy to pick up that it is a good thing. Our parents and friends tell us we should but property so that we can start gaining equity, but unless you are in the know that can really just lead to more questions. That's why we decided drop some basic financial literacy on you this week and make it abundantly clear just what exactly "equity" is, how it's calculated, and why you probably want it. 

It's a super quick listen so check it out and then check off, "learn something new," learn something new from your list of things to do today.

Also, as always if you have any questions or comments feel free to reach out to us, we always love to hear from you!

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

Thanks for listening!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Low Life High Life”

By Dan Henig

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week we are introducing our brand new co-host the amazing Tracy Erickson! She is also a broker with Compass and going forward will be hosting Close to Home episodes with Brennen! Speaking of which, this week they will be discussing Selling Sunset, the new Netflix series centered on the glamorous life of selling high end real estate in Los Angeles. What, if anything, does it get right? Or is it in fact soapy overblown hyperbole? Together, Brennen and Tracy will discuss the show, their own experiences in the business, and what living the lifestyle of a real estate agent really means. We hope you enjoy!

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

That’s all for this week, stay safe out there and thanks for listening!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Good Times”

By Patrick Patrikios

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week Brennen goes through the final checks and touches you should keep in mind during a final walkthrough of a property. 

Hey folks! We are back again with another top 5 list and this weeks is an important one. It doesn't matter if you're buying or selling the final walkthrough is possibly the most important step of the process. If you're selling it's where you make sure that everything is in up to your standard and appealing to a potential buyer. And if you're buying it's your last chance to catch any problems you might have missed and make sure you don't get stuck with a lemon (pro tip, think electrical). If you genuinely don't know what you should be looking for in a final check of a property and were just planning to fake your way through by nodding along and inspecting some grout, then take 5 minutes and give this one a listen. We promise it's worth it!

As always if you have questions feel free to reach out to us!

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Also online at: TheClouseGroup.com

Thanks for listening!

Our Opening theme:

“Inspired”

By Kevin Mcleod (incomptech.com)

Other music (in order used):

“Low Life High Life”

By Dan Henig

“Ruination 2”

By Vibe Mountain

“We Don’t Know How it Ends”

By Lee Rosevere (leerosevere.bandcamp.com)

Music obtained and Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/