Over half of the listings are sitting 60+ days without an offer. These three fixes can change how buyers see your home the moment they walk in.

Here are a few considerations to make before cosigning on someone’s loan.

Hi, this is Sandy with Sandy and Company, and today we’re talking about whether you should cosign a loan for family or friends. Most of us have gotten a helping hand at some point in our lives. When I was teaching high school, I often had students come in and ask if they could borrow a dollar or 50 cents, whether it was something for the snack machine or to get lunch. As long as I had the money, I would go ahead and lend it. I made a little note, and if they didn’t pay me back, I just never lent any money to them again.

If someone is asking you to cosign a loan, it’s probably a lot bigger number than 50 cents or a dollar. You have to ask yourself two questions that are very important before you decide to cosign on a loan for someone that you care about.

First of all, do you have the money to pay that bill if they don’t? If something happened and their paycheck didn’t come in, something that they were counting on didn’t happen, or an unexpected bill came up and they couldn’t make that payment, could you cover it?

Secondly, could your relationship withstand that stress? Those are the two biggest questions that I have. Make sure you are financially capable of handling this and that your relationship is capable of handling any hiccup in their payback.

“Do you have the money to pay that bill if they don’t?”

Let’s say you can answer yes to both of those questions or for whatever reason you feel an obligation to go ahead and say yes and cosign. You need to have some security in knowing that they’re actually making that payment, whether you get statements that show every month that it’s been made or whether you can get notified if those payments fall behind. There are times when an authorized person can get notifications if the payment is not made. You need to not be surprised by a collection bill in your mailbox that is so far behind that it’s both affecting your credit and you’ve got collectors on your tail to get that bill paid.

If all that’s in place and you feel like this is the right thing to do, then yes. Please be a help to your friend, be a help to your family member, and help them get that foot up so that they can do what they need to to provide for their family as well.

No man is an island. We have people around us that we very much care about, and we just want to make sure in our caring for them, we don’t do something that’s going to hurt that relationship down the road or hurt your ability to be on your island and not sink in the ocean as well.

If you have questions about this or anything else we can help you with real estate, reach out, message me, or call me. I’m so glad to be that resource for you. Have a super blessed day, stay safe, stay healthy, and I look forward to talking with you soon.

Don’t wait to buy a home; it will cost you more in the long run.

Today I want to give you one more reason not to wait until prices drop before you buy a house. I totally understand the concern about where prices, home values, and affordability are—it costs a lot of money to buy a house. The question I have: Is it going to cost you more to not?

Let me explain: Since 1989, our prices have dropped only four years. Four years in the last 21 years. From 1989 to 2020, the prices  dropped only four years. Now, this is a national graph, but it follows what happened here locally in the Seattle area as well. I felt that bottom fall out in June of 2007, and it was not pretty. But I’ve also seen since then that anyone who held onto their property has not only made up that value, but then some.

Real estate has always made money over time. So if you are in the market to get a house and keep a house, to get an investment property and keep that investment property, to get a second house and keep that second house, do it now. Just do it now. I don’t care if you can buy a condo, a little fixer-upper, or anything you can get your hands on. I know that it’s a competition, but do it now because later on it will only cost you more.

“From 1989 to 2020, our prices have only dropped four years.”

Did you know that the average homeowner has 40 times more net worth than the average renter? Get in now. Get in while you can. If you’re not sure how you can do that, call me. Let’s either set it up so you can make that happen right now and get that competitive edge that we’re helping our buyers get, or if we can set up that plan to make sure you can purchase sooner instead of later.

We are here to help your home decisions matter, to help them make sense to you and your time. Can you time the market? No, not really, except for to get in. Let’s just get you in.

Call us, message us, let’s talk about how we can help you get into that home now, and make it work for you in the long run. Stay safe, stay healthy, be blessed, and we’re here to help. Reach out now.

Three gardening tips that you should do before it warms up outside.

Hey, this is Sandy with Sandy and Company. You may think that because it’s February and the sun is not shining and warm it may be time to still stay inside for a little bit longer, but this is actually the perfect time to get your yard and your garden ready. I’ve got three tips for you to do right now before it gets warm.

I confess that I have been inside baking bread and enjoying my cooking shows and my knitting, and I’ve been looking outside going, “Man, I think there are a few things I need to do, but I’m not quite ready to start.” Well, here are three easy things that won’t take me a lot of time, and as you’ll see, I am not done with them. In the next couple of weeks, my intent is to knock those things out.

The first thing we need to do is trim these fruit trees. You can kind of see where it’s rounded and where the growth is—the lots of little twigs—and where it just goes straight up. Take a look at that shape, and you can see where it really wants you to trim back to so that you can have nice, diverse branches coming out.

Take anything away that looks dead, and take anything away that’s crossing another branch. They actually want to have their own space. If you don’t have tall trimmers, that’s actually something that I can lend you. I’ve got a trimmer for some really tall trees. There’s a clip and there’s a saw part of it that would be really helpful there. But do it before the sap starts coming into the branches and before the buds open up. So this is perfect fruit tree trimming time. 

“Now’s the time to just make your space clean and fresh and ready for the new green stuff to come up.”

The next thing is to get rid of dead plants. Now, I’m embarrassed to show you, but I actually have sunflowers that are dead and just sitting there, and they’ve got to go. Anything that’s dead that’s a perennial, cut it back. If it’s an annual, take it away completely. 

While you’re there, go ahead and pull out some of those green weeds that are coming through, and make some good space for the new plants to come up. Then decide what it is that you want to keep and what you want to take out. Now is the time.

The third thing you can do is actually for the life around your garden. Take a look at your bird feeders; clean them up. My son gave me this bird feeder for Christmas. Thank you! And of course, we’ve got our hummingbird feeder over here. We’ve tried several that are even fancier, but they only like that flat bottomed red one. So give them a lift, clean them out, and make sure that they’ve got enough food to get through until they can really start getting some food on our trees. Here’s a suet cup that one of my clients (thank you, Caroline) gave me that the birds are really getting into. 

So, now’s the time to just make your space clean and fresh and ready for the new green stuff to come up. Take a look at your yard. I am not going to bore you and fill up your inbox with every time I get one of these things done, but take a look at our Facebook or our Sandy Company page. And that will be my accountability to you and make sure I get this done in the next little bit before everything starts to grow, and I go, “Oh my gosh, I really wish I could be seeing what I really wanted to see that makes my garden and my yard beautiful.”

There you go! Enjoy your homes. Your home is the place for you to thrive and to really just stretch out and say, “This is what looks and feels good around me.” This is what we want for you. If you don’t feel that way about your home, talk to me. I would love to see what we could to help you either love your home or find one that you will. This is now the time; it’s an awesome time to buy and sell real estate. Give me a call. Have a super blessed day! Stay healthy! Stay safe. We love you, and we look forward to talking with you soon. Be blessed.

Here’s a message of prediction and peace as we begin a new year.

Today we’re talking about what’s coming up in 2022. I have had so many people ask me over the last few years:

“Are we gonna have a crash?” 

“What’s happening with the real estate?” 

“Are prices going up?”

“Are prices gonna drop?”

I heard an awesome explanation of what happens before a real estate crash. A real estate crash only happens when we don’t have people who want to buy houses. That is obviously not the case in the Pacific Northwest. Anywhere near Seattle, the housing market is still incredibly tight, and it’s definitely a seller’s market all around.

“Let’s talk about what really works for you.”

With that said, we’re not expected to maintain the increase at the same rate that we did during 2021. How much are we going to increase? It really depends on your local market and what’s exactly happening. Local market can be as much as your neighborhood: a five-block radius, a part of Everett, a part of Seattle, Shoreline, Edmonds. It really depends on what’s happening directly around you. How much did you go up this last year? And then shave a little off the top—how much? Let’s talk about what really works for you.

This should give you some peace going into 2022 if you have concerns about your real estate market and what you need to do. Whether it’s the time for you to sell, whether it’s the time for you to buy, whether you’re looking to find the next place, we’re not about to have the bottom fall out from under you. Because we can generally forecast, and as we get closer, we can more specifically forecast what’s going to be happening for you. That way we can talk with our clients, both sellers and our buyers, about what the best time is to meet your needs and your goals in your real estate transaction. 

We wish you amazing peace in this next year. In your families, in your homes. If you’re doing a real estate transaction, we would love to help you with that and let you know how we can help you during that process of both forecasting at the beginning and walking you through, holding your hands, and making sure that we’re putting our expert experience to your best use and your bottom line. Have a super 2022. I am looking forward to talking with you when we can help with your real estate needs. God bless you, stay safe, stay healthy, and I look forward to talking with you soon.

Here’s the answer to whether it is a good time to sell in winter.

Today we are talking about the wintertime market. The question we often get is: “Is there a bad time to sell? Can I sell in the wintertime? Is it a good time to sell?” And my answer is always, “yes; it’s a great time to sell.” There is actually never a bad time to sell. 

But for example, we have two families right now that we have helped to go ahead and sell their house, one in town and one in a bit more outlying area. And they both had multiple offers. They both went over their listing price.

“So is winter a good time to sell? Only if you want to make some money.”

The one most recently last night, they were hoping for one price, we listed for $50,000 more using comparables and direct data to show us why we should do that. And then, guess what happened? Six offers, much over asking price, and we are in contract for a good amount, that’s going to pay for their move to Missouri, and everyone is really happy.

Now, obviously, it still has to finish out, but it’s looking really good. We’ve got a cash buyer and another one right behind him that says that if this one can’t do it, they’re ready to take over. So is winter a good time to sell? Only if you want to make some money. And we’re glad to help you with that.

Our motto is making lives better. How can we help you with yours? Have a super blessed day, and give us a call when we can help you with your house in the wintertime. Be blessed.

I wouldn’t be where I am today without all of your support.

Thanksgiving is here! I hope you are as excited as I am.

I’d like to take a moment to express my gratitude to all of you this Thanksgiving. We’ve had a wonderful year with wonderful people who have made me laugh and love. I wouldn’t be where I am today without all of your support, and we are grateful.

Please enjoy my Thanksgiving encouragement video, complete with a significant guest appearance by Harley.

And then enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner—that’s what we plan to do!

Then as soon as the leftovers are put away and the stock is ready for turkey noodle soup, we’ll be back in the office and ready to serve you again.

Please watch to hear how we’re grateful for you this Thanksgiving season.

Here are three podcasts that have improved my life for the better.

Hi, this is Sandy with Sandy and Company and today we are talking about your greatest investment: yourself.

Did you know that the law of entropy applies to yourself as well? Everything moves from order to chaos. Everything, including your thought life and your motivation to become and to stay the best of who God made you. You can charge ahead in your business life and in your home life and your personal and your school life, but unless you have someone else coming alongside to help you stay up the up at the top, you can slide pretty quickly down that hill that you have climbed every day.

In an interview in 2019, Warren Buffet said, “By far, the best investment you can make is in yourself.” There are so many ways to invest in yourself, whether you go into classes and seminars, if you read books, listen to podcasts, you do coaching or you get mentorship.

“By far, the best investment you can make is in yourself. - Warren Buffet”

Lately my favorite is podcasts. When I’m in the car, for an hour or so, one of the best ways I can stay awake is to listen to podcasts and to actually keep my mind moving the entire time. And they’re usually growth minded. I’m gonna give you my three favorite podcasts right now.

Here’s my first favorite podcast: TheBrianBuffiniShow.com. I love The Brian Buffini Show because he is interviewing so many different people from different walks of life.

Whether they are athletes, authors, preachers, politicians. Sometimes he just talks about the books and what he got out of them. But ultimately they’re looking at the mindsets, the motivations and the methodologies, it’s way it’s the way they put it of success. And it’s always encouraging. And it’s always giving me things I can think about, about how to either improve things or sometimes to pat myself on the back a little bit because I’ve already got that in place.

“This is how I keep my mind fed.”

My second favorite podcast is Graham Cooke’s BrilliantPerspectives.com. Graham Cook has such a heart for the love of Jesus and the magnificence of who he is and who we are in him. And I’m always left with an understanding with a better understanding of how much God really loves me, how much potential I have in him and the steps that I can take to really reach into, feel and experience that love. God loves me so much. And he loves you that much, too. Anything that we can do to tap into that is just making life better all the way around.

My last favorite podcast is Keep The Faith’s ContagiousInfluencers.com. David Sams interviews high profile people. Most of the ones I’ve listened to have been actors, musicians, and athletes, high profile people that really once you get to the story behind the story, and I’m sure there’s even more behind that, but it just gives us an idea of how that person got through either life’s difficulties or even life successes and how it impacted them, and helps me think as well about my path and the tough things that I’ve been through and the great things I’ve experienced and how I can impact other people as well and share those experiences so that I can share the wealth and share the contentment of a really great life, that’s lived well. As you can tell, I love The Lord, and I love people, and I get encouragement from both of those. 

And that’s how I really keep my mind being fed, so that I’m not just sitting in my own thoughts and sitting in my own experiences, getting my head out of my own self and into other people’s stories really helps me keeping on the right track. You can find all of these online, just on the regular internet, as well as any podcast app that you have on your phone. And I highly encourage you to take some time and listen as a way to increase your net worth. And don’t be surprised if you see the other net worth rise up as well. If you do need to change your home, if it’s time to sell, if it’s time to buy, or it’s time to invest. Give me a call. Message, call, text me today, email me today. We are your Realtor resource who is interested in adding to your bottom line. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay blessed. I’ll see you on the flip side.

Here’s a short story that shows why homeownership is so important.

This is a friend-of-a-friend story today. One of the big questions we have right now is: With all the uncertainty, are we going to have enough money to make it in the future? A friend called me a few weeks ago, and she was concerned for her friend who was in her 50s and still renting an apartment. We’ll call her Faith.

My friend had been talking to Faith for a while now about buying a condo in order to stabilize her living expenses. Faith works at Walmart, an hourly job, but she has also just gotten a nice little inheritance. So if she bought a condo, she could go ahead and pay for that condo with her inheritance, have enough money for security, and let her hourly job pay for her living expenses and homeowners association fees, especially once she no longer paid over $1,000 a month for rent.

“The best way to control your future living costs is to own your own home.”

So finally, Faith was ready to take that leap. We found her a nice little condo in town and made sure she had an inspection so that she can get her family in there and make sure that we had the thumbs up from everyone that she was going to be well taken care of. I just gave her the keys last weekend, and she is so excited. She is thrilled that she gets to make this her own place that feels so good and feels pretty around her. And our mutual friend is relieved Faith is no longer paying rent to a landlord who can charge whatever he likes because he can, and that’s what the market will bear.

Did you know that the best way to control your future living costs is to own your own home? If you have questions about this and about how homeownership is a key part of financial security, let’s talk. If you’re looking for a Realtor who can help you increase your net worth and stabilize your living expenses, call me, text me, or message me today. Stay safe, stay healthy, and have a super blessed day. And I look forward to helping you with your real estate needs. Call me today.

Here’s why a change in our market means more opportunities for you.

We watch the trends all the time about what’s going on in today’s market. What’s happening in the last month, six months, a year. What we can project forward moving into the next few months and even to this next week. And as much as those trends have shown us that the market is strong, and it is strong, there is still a little bit of a change in the air right now.

Now it is fall. The air is cooling. We were used to 90 degrees, 100 degrees. It was really steaming hot and fast and furious. Now suddenly I’m seeing that things are shifting a little. We’ve had two buyers right now who have had their offers accepted even when they had to sell their current house first. It’s been a process. We’ve had to work through it, but we have two buyers who are purchasing even though they have a house to sell. That is one big indicator of how I can tell things are changing because in the market where everybody was going red hot, and houses were selling with so many buyers that don’t have a house to sell, that wouldn’t have even been considered.

The second thing I’m seeing is that we have houses on the market for longer. We had a house just last week that we listed, and for the first time in probably a couple of years, it has lasted longer than the Monday that we were reviewing the offer. We’re not worried. We know we’re in a good position. We’ve got a game plan, but it’s just telling me that things are shifting.

“Let’s talk now because we don’t know what’s going to happen in six months.”

Like I said, when it was 90 degrees and then it turns into the 80s and 70s, sometimes it feels a little chilly. If I’m a seller, I might actually be concerned about this, but the exciting part is that there is not a concern, there’s just the game plan. You’re going to sell and buy in the same market. Whether it’s up or whether it’s down, you’re going to get the opportunity on one side and the tension on the other. So you’re going to be fine ultimately.

The opportunity that we see here is that we have a chance for sellers to go ahead and find the next house without having to take away all the safeties that make it an easier transition. 

So, here’s the question I have for you: Are you looking to buy? Are you looking to sell? Do you need to change your home? Do we need to do it in a way that is a little easier on the stress factor? If that’s the case, this is the time for you. Let’s talk right now because who knows what’s going to happen in a month or six months. It might cook back up again and be 100 degrees-plus. But right now we have an opportunity for you to make that change and do it in such a way that you feel more comfortable.

Give me a call. Let’s talk today. If you’re looking for a Realtor who can gauge today’s temperature and today’s market and make today’s plan, then let’s talk today. Have a beautiful day, stay healthy, stay safe, be blessed, and I’ll talk with you soon.