Each year, Windermere Real Estate agents, managers, owners and staff from more than 300 offices across the Western United States gather together and devote their workday to making a positive change in the neighborhoods they serve through local service projects and volunteerism.

For this year's Community Service Day, the brokers and staff of Windermere's Greenwood office will be sprucing up & painting the teen center at the North Seattle Boys & Girls Club, located in our own Greenwood Neighborhood!

Stay tuned to Windermere Real Estate's facebook page for photos of all of our offices projects!  www.facebook.com/WindermereRealEstate

Windermere’s Community Service Day was established in 1984 to offer agents and staff a chance to volunteer an entire workday to give back to the neighborhoods in which they live and work.  Windermere’s Community Service Day has been recognized nationally as a model hands-on volunteer program and has been adopted by other real estate companies and businesses around the country.  For more information, please visit www.windermere.com.

Windermere Greenwood is excited to announce we are hosting our 1st PhinneyWood Art Walk Event!

We welcome artists D.Lisa West and Doug Keith

"Fab 4" by Doug Keith

Please stop by our Windermere Greenwood office located at 311 N 85th St. Seattle, WA

Friday, May 10th from 6-9 pm and Saturday, May 11th from Noon – 5pm

For more information and map of participating businesses and restaurants, visit: PhinneyCenter.org

D.Lisa West

Doug Keith

RUN, don't walk to the post office to stock up on "Forever" stamps by this Sunday! Postage rates for mail classes along with many special services will increase on January 27, 2013.

The new rates:
  
Letters (1 oz.): 1-cent increase from 45 to 46 cents

Letters additional ounces: unchanged at 20 cents. A new uniform price for Residual Single Piece Letters will be 48 cents.

Postcards: 1-cent increase to .33 cents

EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail) will increase from .142 to .16 cents.

First-Class Mail International® Global Forever stamps will be $1.10.

Prices also will change for other mailing services, including Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services and Extra Services.
More information on the new pricing is available at USPS.com

If you have any questions regarding how this may affect your future mailings, please contact Renee.

Consistency. Commitment. Connection. Collaboration.

2012 Windermere Foundation Calendars

If you need help preparing your calendars for bulk mail, I'm here to help. From creating decorative labels that match your holiday stationary, to stuffing & sealing and then bundling & hauling them away to the bulk mail acceptance unit at the post office, WREN graphics is available to assist with your calendar mailings again this year.

Calendar Mailing Services & Pricing

If you are planning to prepare all – or just part of your mailings, following are just a few tips that will ease the process:

1. All mail pieces must be identical in weight & content. No personal notes or cards are allowed, however, a computer generated holiday greeting letter is fine.
2. Zip code sort your list. The post office requires FLAT mailings (anything over 3.3 oz.) be zip code sorted & bundled. Having your list printed in zip code order saves a lot of time in this process!
3. Your Return Address is required.
4. Move Update/Address Service is required. In a previous blog post, I have outlined the methods available to use.
5. When labeling your envelopes – place the label in the lower right hand quadrant of the envelope.  
6. If WREN graphics will be mailing your calendars for you, place your envelopes in zip code order from lowest to highest. No sticky notes or dividers are necessary. Then contact Renee 206-395-9736 or email: wrengraphics@gmail.com  to let me know they're ready to be picked up!
7. I prepare a calendar mailing at least once per week. If you have less than 50 lbs./200 pcs. I will need to merge your calendars with another mailing of identical size and weight, so this matching may take a few additional days.

If you have any questions, please call or email. I look forward to assisting you!

Renee  206-395-9736  wrengraphics@gmail.com 

Community Service Day Friday, June 15th, 2012

Community Service Day Friday, June 15, 2012  

“On behalf of my staff, parents, and students, I want to thank you for sending the Windermere members to our school today. They did a fabulous job of helping us move furniture, clean rooms and weed the front landscape. It was so helpful to our school community.

Please give them a big thank you from all of us.  Thanks again.”

Dr. Walter M. Trotter
Principal, Greenwood Elementary

As our way of introducing ourselves to the new neighborhood and exploring new shops, bars and restaurants, we’re selecting a business each week to “Cash Mob”. The general idea of a Cash Mob is to encourage people to go to a small, local business and spend their money en masse – well, throughout the week in our case – to give the business owner a bit of economic stimulus.

We’ve got over 50 agents & staff, hopefully most of them will participate to make a positive impact on small businesses in the community which we’ll soon be working on a daily basis. Maybe we’ll find our new favorite hole-in-the-wall antique shop, restaurant, coffee shop or bar.

Our first “CashMob” business selection is Herkimer Coffee located at 7320 Greenwood Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98103.

Herkimer Coffee roasts their beans on site!

Despite Greenwood Avenue North’s current road construction/repaving phase, I was able to find parking within a ½ block.  Herkimer Coffee does their own roasting on-site, has free wi-fi and very friendly service brewing up tasty lattes with pretty foam, tea, beans, and a good selection of pastries. Ironically, our first “cash Mob” business is a “cash only” business – so next time you have some folding money in your pocket, stop by!

Stay tuned for next week’s “Windermere Cash Mob” and join us. If you decide to stop by one of the local Greenwood-Phinney neighborhood businesses we select, tell them you heard about it from Windermere/Oak Tree – Soon to be Windermere Greenwood!!

The races are held as part of the celebration of Seattle’s Opening Day of Boating Season and are followed by the Seattle Yacht Club’s Opening Day Boat Parade. More than 700 rowers compete in this prestigious international event, which culminates with the women’s and men’s Windermere Cup races.

The University of Washington and Windermere Real Estate are excited to host the Argentina National Team, Gonzaga University, the University of Virginia and Oregon State University for the 26th annual Windermere Cup races to be held on Saturday, May 5, on Lake Washington.

Following the races, fans are invited to join the regatta champions for an awards ceremony and presentation of the Windermere Cup Trophy at the Conibear Shellhouse.

Admission to the event is free. Viewing is available on the shores of the Montlake Cut, or by boats anchored to a log boom in Lake Washington.

For more information visit http://www.windermerecup.com/ or the Windermere Cup Facebook page!

On Saturday, April 28th, from 11 am to 2 pm, we will have two trucks on site to shred your paper material, and recycling electronics.

Items Accepted: desktop and laptop computers, monitors, cell phones, iPods, keyboards, mice, power cables, scanners, copiers, and TVs.

Not Accepted: DVD Players, VCRs, microwaves, stereo equipment, kitchen or other appliances, styrofoam or cardboard.

We will be serving grilled hot dogs and bratz, soda, chips, coffee, cookies, and a smile to thank you for your support!

Surveying about 1,300 real estate agents, InmanNext found some of the following characteristics common to those who make $100,000 or more per year versus those who make less.

Survey Conducted by InmanNext

This is a great article backed up by great stats by Inman. Technology has made the ability to earn six-figures+ each year consistently easier and with less overhead. Technology aids realtors, their clients, as well as everyone involved in the transaction, from escrow to lenders.

High-income earners reported spending more on marketing and technology. Among middle-income earners, 62.4 percent spend less than $2,500 out of pocket on marketing.

Meanwhile, about 63 percent of high-income agents said they spent $5,000 or more per year out of pocket on marketing. Among the highest-income agents (those making $200,000 or more per year), 42.4 percent spend more than $20,000 per year on marketing.

The survey also outlined some of the differences from high-income to medium-income respondents in consistency of use of Blogging and Social Media sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Google+.

About 39 percent of respondents in the the $30,000 to $50,000 income range reported updating their website or blog once a month. Less than a third updated their site more than a few times a month compared to nearly half of respondents in the $100,000-or-more income range who updated their site at least a few times a week.

High-income agents tend to cultivate their social media channels more than middle-income agents. While 96% of respondents in both income ranges said they belonged to Facebook, just over two-thirds of middle-income respondents reported having between 500 or fewer friends on Facebook, compared with nearly half of high-income agents reporting 500 or more friends on Facebook.

If you are a little skittish of tech or need some assistance with your marketing, give me a call! I’ll be happy to consult with you regarding implementing some of the tools successful real estate agents are using to create effective marketing, consistent contacts, and streamline your business.

WREN graphics wrengraphics@gmail.com