Thursday, March 30, 2017

Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Mortgage, and the Economy - Smart Cities; Transportation and Tech

Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Snoqualmie Pass Properties, Snoqualmie Pass Homes, Snoqualmie Pass Lots, North Bend Real Estate, Snoqualmie Real Estate, Suncadia Real Estate, http://www.snoqualmiepassliving.com


Smart cities
Smart-city initiatives are transforming urban transportation and infrastructure. (U.S. Department of Commerce Illustration)
The political landscape may be shifting in Washington, D.C., but when it comes to building the high-tech infrastructure for data and transportation, urban planners are thinking globally and acting locally.
That message came through loud and clear at “Connecting Cities, Data and Citizens,” an event presented Wednesday night at Town Hall Seattle by MIT Enterprise Forum Northwest.
Loreana Marciante, project manager for Vulcan’s Smart City Challenge program, said civic leaders shouldn’t wait for the federal government to come up with grand solutions to the infrastructure challenges they face.
“Just like everyone else, we’re watching what’s happening in Washington, D.C., and I don’t think anyone has real answers,” Marciante said. “Anything is possible in the next four years. But we do look at cities as the solution. … Those are where the new frontiers are going to come from.”
Some of those new frontiers were pioneered by the Smart City Challenge, which was backed by the U.S. Department of Transportation as well as the philanthropic arm of Seattle billionaire Paul Allen’s Vulcan Inc. Seattle and 76 other U.S. cities competed for $50 million in grants by laying out their visions for high-tech transportation systems.
The winning city was Columbus, Ohio – but Seattle is no slouch when it comes to infrastructure technology. The city’s chief technology officer, Michael Mattmiller, pointed to several current and future initiatives:
  • Data.Seattle.gov, which offers open data on subjects ranging from crime statistics to building permits to traffic snags.
  • Seattle RainWatch, which serves as an early warning system for downpours that can tax the city’s storm drains.
  • MetroLab Network, a nationwide smart-city consortium that the City of Seattle and the University of Washington joined in 2015.
  • The Array of Things, another nationwide initiative that uses advanced sensors to monitor urban air quality, noise and traffic.
Mattmiller noted that the rise of “Big Data” in urban settings can raise privacy concerns. He pointed to past brouhahas over security cameras installed along the city’s shoreline and a cellphone tracking system that helps the city monitor downtown traffic.
The data flow could become even bigger with the rise of 5G data networks, which are expected to be at least 10 times faster than today’s 4G networks. Last month, Verizon announced that it would start phasing in 5G service in Seattle over the coming year.
To address the coming challenges, and to keep Seattleites clued in about the implications of smart cities for privacy and cybersecurity, Mattmiller said he’s planning a smart-city forum for citizens this fall. (The city is also planning to hire a smart-city coordinator.)
Urban development geeks needn’t wait until the fall to join the movement: This weekend there’ll be an AEC Hackathon at UW’s Center for Research and Education in Construction. (AEC stands for Architecture, Engineering and Construction). The event is aimed at developing data-based solutions to the problems facing “built environments.”

Transportation is another challenge facing the region, and on that issue, one of the leading cities happens to be Portland, our neighbor on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. Portland was one of the seven finalists in the Smart City Challenge, and the host city for last month’s NIST Global City Teams Challenge Super Action Cluster Summit. (Which sounds like the title of a superhero meet-up.)
Marciante said switching from gasoline-fueled vehicles to electric vehicles is a big part of Vulcan’s vision for addressing global transportation needs as well as the challenge of climate change. “The only way we will reach our climate stabilization objective is to electrify our transportation system,” she said.
Once again, Portland is one of the cities leading the way: Last December, Portland’s city council approved a broad strategy to boost electric cars as well as electric bikes.
Is Portland outpacing Seattle when it comes to smart-city initiatives? Marciante’s answer was suitably diplomatic, considering that her boss owns the Seattle Seahawks as well as the Portland Trail Blazers.
“I would never get in the middle of those two cities,” she said. “They are both leading cities, in my estimation.”







Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Snoqualmie Pass Properties, Snoqualmie Pass Homes, Snoqualmie Pass Lots, North Bend Real Estate, Snoqualmie Real Estate, Suncadia Real Estate, http://www.snoqualmiepassliving.com

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Mortgage, and the Economy - Seattle Among Fastest Rise In US

Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Snoqualmie Pass Properties, Snoqualmie Pass Homes, Snoqualmie Pass Lots, North Bend Real Estate, Snoqualmie Real Estate, Suncadia Real Estate, http://www.snoqualmiepassliving.com

Seattle
Houses dot the hillside in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, with the city skyline in the distance. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)
Home values and rents are rising in Seattle faster than almost any other place in the United States according to new data released Thursday by Zillow.
The Seattle-based real estate media company’s February Market Report put the median home value in the Seattle metro area at $420,200 — up 11.2 percent over last year. Tampa, Fla. (11.6 percent increase) and Dallas (11.1 percent) are the other markets in the top three.
Home values across the country as a whole are up 6.9 percent year over year. The median home value in the U.S. is now $195,700, the highest mark since June 2007.
Seattle is also leading the way when it comes to the rate at which rents are rising. The median payment is now $2,100 a month, up 7.2 percent over the past year. Portland saw a jump of 5.4 percent and Sacramento, Calif., rents rose 5.2 percent.
Rent figures across the U.S. rose 1.2 percent over the past year to $1,406 per month, according to the Zillow Rent Index.
With no apparent slowdown in the number of newcomers looking for places to live in Seattle, along with millennials aging into ownership ranks, housing inventory will be a concern during the home shopping season. With 10.5 percent fewer homes on the market than a year ago, Zillow predicts a very competitive market.
“Low inventory, strong demand and tough competition will be the defining characteristics of this year’s home shopping season,” Zillow chief economist Dr. Svenja Gudell said in a news release. “Even though interest rates are rising, buyers are eager to start their home search. If you’re a prospective buyer about to enter the market, keep in mind that it’s rare to get the first home you make an offer on, and homes in particularly hot markets frequently sell for over asking price. Buyers should give themselves enough time to get their finances in order and find a real estate agent they know and trust before jumping into the market.”











Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Snoqualmie Pass Properties, Snoqualmie Pass Homes, Snoqualmie Pass Lots, North Bend Real Estate, Snoqualmie Real Estate, Suncadia Real Estate, http://www.snoqualmiepassliving.com

Monday, March 27, 2017

Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Mortgage, and the Economy - Real Estate Frenzy

Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Snoqualmie Pass Properties, Snoqualmie Pass Homes, Snoqualmie Pass Lots, North Bend Real Estate, Snoqualmie Real Estate, Suncadia Real Estate, http://www.snoqualmiepassliving.com
Homebuyers Face Bidding Wars on Scarcer-Than-Ever U.S. Listings
  • Real estate frenzy spreads to ‘unlikely’ cities in heartland
  • Rising mortgage rates and prices add sense of urgency
llustrat
The winning bidder of a Grand Rapids, Michigan, house has been offered almost $20,000 to hand his purchase contract to another buyer. An agent in Nashville, Tennessee, got a property for his client by cold-calling local homeowners. Near Columbus, Ohio, it took a teacher five tries to secure a deal.
It’s the 2017 U.S. spring home-selling season, and listings are scarcer than they’ve ever been. Bidding wars common in perennially hot markets like the San Francisco Bay area, Denver and Boston are now also prevalent in the once slow-and-steady heartland, sending prices higher and sparking desperation among buyers across the country.
“Homebuyers are going to find this spring that, in a lot of markets, the inventory of homes priced and sized at price levels they were hoping for will be very limited,” said Thomas Lawler, a former Fannie Mae economist who’s now a housing consultant in Leesburg, Virginia. “Unlikely places are getting significantly tighter.”
Buyers are clamoring as an improved job market and growing confidence in the economy collide with rising mortgage rates -- yet there’s little new inventory for them to purchase. Housing starts remain well below levels before the last recession, and builders have focused on higher-end properties out of reach for many people. Homeowners have become even more reluctant to sell because, after all, where are they going to move?
The three months through January had the fewest homes on the market on record, according to an analysis by Trulia. Prices jumped 6.9 percent in January from a year earlier, the biggest increase for any month since May 2014, data from CoreLogic Inc. show. And homes sold faster in the first two months of 2017 -- spending an average 58 days on the market -- than at the start of any year since at least 2010, according to brokerage Redfin.
Homes are moving fastest in DenverSeattle and Oakland, California -- areas where heated competition have become status quo in recent years because of soaring job growth, particularly in the technology industry. But fourth on Redfin’s list is Grand Rapids, Michigan’s second-largest city, in a reflection of strengthening employment across even the slower-growing center of the country. Buyers are also struggling in cities such as Boise, Idaho; Madison, Wisconsin; and Omaha, Nebraska.

Cash Offer

Grand Rapids -- a diverse economy underpinned by health-care, technology and manufacturing companies, with a 3 percent unemployment rate -- has seen a 27 percent drop in homes for sale in the past year. One listing recently attracted 40 bids.
Competition is so extreme that real estate agent Tanya Craig, working with an out-of-town couple six months into a search for a home near their grandchildren, had to get creative. She called an agent representing a buyer who just signed a contract for a $350,000 house and offered about $18,000 in cash if her clients could purchase it instead. Craig, an associate broker with the Katie K team at Keller Williams, is waiting to hear back.
“People need to get their houses on the market, but they’re gun-shy,” Craig said. “Unless they know where they want to go, everyone is hesitant.”
While sellers are losing their nerve, buyer confidence has climbed since the November election, hitting a new high in February, according to Fannie Mae, which began its sentiment index in 2011. The unemployment rate is at 4.7 percent and business confidence has soared amid President Donald Trump’s vows to lower taxes, increase infrastructure spending and trim regulations. Rents are also at a record, making ownership more attractive.

Rising Costs

Would-be purchasers have a reason to rush as rising borrowing costs -- and prices -- close off opportunities. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate has jumped by more than half a percentage point since the election. The Federal Reserve this week increased its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point and signaled it will do so two more times this year, boosting borrowing costs from low levels that have been in place for almost a decade.
The average 30-year rate probably will climb to 4.7 percent by the end of 2017, from 4.3 percent this week, and could reach 5.5 percent next year, said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors.
Higher mortgage costs could eventually shrink the pool of buyers able to qualify, but it may also discourage homeowners from selling because they might have to take out a more expensive loan to purchase something else.
“In today’s market, many buyers think the trough in rates is over,” said Sam Khater, deputy chief economist at CoreLogic. “If you don’t get in now, it’s just going to be worse later. Rates will be higher, prices will be higher and maybe inventory selection will be lower.”
Older people who may typically move are choosing to stay where they are, Chris Herbert, managing director for Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, said in an interview Friday.
“One factor is that you have the baby boom generation on its way to being 65-plus,” Herbert said. “They’re moving less so you have fewer homes on the market. That could be part of the glue keeping the market stuck.”

Price Gains

There are are pockets of the country, such as Miami and Manhattan, where inventory has climbed amid new construction and less interest from foreigners, and some regions have yet to experience the job gains that fuel housing demand. Yet other cities that haven’t had strong price gains in recent years are now seeing a big jump.
In Philadelphia, prices for single-family houses jumped 11 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, compared with a gain of less than 5 percent at the end of 2015, according to Kevin Gillen, a senior research fellow at Drexel University.
Buyers are making full-price offers before properties have even been listed, said Mike McCann, associate broker with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach.
“We might end up with fewer transactions in 2017 because we don’t have inventory," McCann said. “Thirty-five percent of my properties are selling within the first week or two of hitting the market.”

Calling Owners

Rich Ramsey, an agent with the Helton Group at Keller Williams in Nashville, has been knocking on doors and working the phones. When he heard from a family frustrated after losing out on two homes they liked in a townhouse development in the city’s Midtown neighborhood, Ramsey started calling owners in the area.
“I found someone who had considered selling,” Ramsey said. “I asked if they had a price in mind and we started negotiating.”
The family purchased the three-bedroom property in January for a price in the low $400,000s, Ramsey said.  For some buyers, patience and persistence can pay off. Jessica Streit, a 42-year-old teacher and mother of two, has been searching for months for a home in Sunbury, Ohio, north of Columbus. She lost three bidding wars and even went into contract on a home, only to back out after an inspection revealed some expensive problems. Last week, her fortunes changed -- she signed a $136,000 deal for a two-bedroom condominium with a finished basement.
Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Snoqualmie Pass Properties, Snoqualmie Pass Homes, Snoqualmie Pass Lots, North Bend Real Estate, Snoqualmie Real Estate, Suncadia Real Estate, http://www.snoqualmiepassliving.com

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Mortgage, and the Economy - Rising Home Equity

Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Snoqualmie Pass Properties, Snoqualmie Pass Homes, Snoqualmie Pass Lots, North Bend Real Estate, Snoqualmie Real Estate, Suncadia Real Estate, http://www.snoqualmiepassliving.com



Rising home equity lifts many underwater homeowners


The numbers of homeowners that owe more on their homes than they are worth are falling as home equity continues to rise in many real estate markets.
Research firm CoreLogic estimates that, in 2016, 1 million fewer homes had what’s known as negative equity, also called being underwater and upside down. As of last year’s fourth quarter, there were 3.17 million residential properties where owners owed more than the homes were worth -- a 25 percent decrease from 4.23 million during the same period a year earlier. 
Negative equity peaked in 2009 at 26 percent of all properties. The figure now stands at 6.2 percent.  Homeowners in this predicament are often in low-income neighborhoods.

underwater-line.png
 CBS MONEYWATCH/IRINA IVANOVA

In the 10 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas, the San Francisco region had the highest percentage of properties where homeowners owe less than they are worth. (99.4 percent), followed by Houston (98.5 percent), Denver (98.5 percent), Los Angeles (97 percent) and Boston (95.3 percent). 
The Miami area, whose real estate market was hit hard during the recent recession, had the highest percentage of properties that were upside down, followed by Las Vegas (15.5 percent), Chicago (12.6 percent),  Washington, D.C. (8.4 percent) and New York City (5.1 percent).

Tighter credit standards will make it more difficult for borrowers to turn their home equity into quick cash as they did during the financial crisis.  According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, balances on home equity lines of credit were $1 billion as of the end of last year, little changed from 2015. Debt payments as a percentage of total disposable income are at a 35-year low, while consumer confidence is at a 15-year high.
Homeowners saw their net equity rise 11.7 percent,  or $78 billion, to $7.5 trillion, in 2016, CoreLogic indicated. On average, home equity rose on a year-over-year basis by $13,700,  fueled by home price increases. Helping this trend: One-fourth of all outstanding mortgages have terms of 20 years or less, which obviously amortize quicker than standard 30-year home loans.
Gains in home equity were strongest in high-end markets where prices posted double-digit increases, such as Washington and Oregon. These two states saw home equity gains of $31,000 and $27,000 respectively, double the overall U.S. rate, noted CoreLogic’s chief executive, Frank Martell.

Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Snoqualmie Pass Properties, Snoqualmie Pass Homes, Snoqualmie Pass Lots, North Bend Real Estate, Snoqualmie Real Estate, Suncadia Real Estate, http://www.snoqualmiepassliving.com

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Mortgage, and the Economy - Seattle and Tacoma in U.S. top 5

Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Snoqualmie Pass Properties, Snoqualmie Pass Homes, Snoqualmie Pass Lots, North Bend Real Estate, Snoqualmie Real Estate, Suncadia Real Estate, http://www.snoqualmiepassliving.com

Seattle and Tacoma in U.S. top five for percentage of homes selling above list price

Bay Area tops nation in homebuying bidding battles
PUBLISHED:  | UPDATED: 

Amid rising interest rates and widespread concerns about the cost of housing, one might expect the Bay Area’s real estate market to run out of steam.
Apparently, that’s not happening.
In February, the fiercest bidding on homes took place in the Bay Area, according to a new national report from Redfin, the real estate brokerage. In San Jose, 63 percent of homes sold above list price, followed by 62 percent in San Francisco and 59.1 percent in Oakland. Among all U.S. markets, those were the three highest shares of “over asking” bidding. Next in line were two markets in the state of Washington: Seattle with 49.3 percent and Tacoma with 36.3 percent.
February’s fastest-moving markets were, in order, Seattle (with about half of all homes pending sale within 12 days of being listed); Oakland (where homes typically spent 15 days on market); Denver (18 days on market); San Jose (21 days); and San Francisco (28 days).
Still, industry observers point to an underlying problem: The housing supply is low in much of the country, and that doesn’t make for a healthy market in the long term.
Nationally, the number of homes for sale declined 12.9 percent in February on a year-over-year basis. It was the third consecutive month of double-digit drops in inventory, Redfin reported.
The number of homes for sale fell year-over-year by 12 percent in Oakland, by 5.3 percent in San Francisco, and by 2.0 percent in San Jose. (Sacramento inventory practically fell off a cliff — down 25.4 percent from a year earlier.)
With “low-tier” affordable homes in particularly short supply around the nation, first-time homebuyers are struggling to get a foot in the door. That’s because, with inventory at such low levels, competition persists: Those buyers who remain in the game keep putting upward pressure on prices.
Taking all of this under consideration, Nela Richardson, Redfin’s chief economist, painted a half-rosy picture of the current market.
“The total level of home equity reached a new peak at the close of 2016, according to recent Fed data,” Richardson said. “While great for homeowners, continuously strong price growth across the U.S. since 2012 has posed significant challenges for first-time buyers, especially given such low supply in affordable price-tiers.”
But she pointed to a silver lining: “Rising prices and increased equity may tip the scales for homeowners who have been delaying their decision to move up,” she said, “which could add much-needed starter-home inventory to the market.”
Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Snoqualmie Pass Properties, Snoqualmie Pass Homes, Snoqualmie Pass Lots, North Bend Real Estate, Snoqualmie Real Estate, Suncadia Real Estate, http://www.snoqualmiepassliving.com

Monday, March 20, 2017

Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Mortgage, and the Economy - Empty Nesters' Market


Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Snoqualmie Pass Properties, Snoqualmie Pass Homes, Snoqualmie Pass Lots, North Bend Real Estate, Snoqualmie Real Estate, Suncadia Real Estate, http://www.snoqualmiepassliving.com

Why It's Now An Empty Nesters' Housing Market

Mar 10, 2017
There’s a mismatch in the housing market. Demand is rising, yet homebuilders don’t have the capacity to create the supply the way they did in the boom years. They haven’t banked as much land, they haven’t filed the permits and they’ve become increasingly short of labor—one possible byproduct of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigrants. In fact, the nation is probably short about 700,000 homes on an annual basis. That explains why new home sales have been somewhat disappointing.
It also explains why sellers in many markets are now in prime position. According to Realtor.com, in December and January the supply of existing homes was 3.6 months, something that hadn’t happened since January 2005. In Seattle, for instance, the average time a house stays on the market is 36 days, compared with the national average of 90 days. In Dallas-Ft. Worth, it’s 42 days, according to Realtor.com. Combine that with the prospect of higher-priced mortgages thanks to the Federal Reserve’s decision to begin lifting interest rates and it makes buyers a little more motivated. “We’ve seen home sales surge because buyers are beginning to realize there is this expectation that mortgage rates will rebound: you might as well get in now,” says Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at The Economic Outlook Group. He says prices are rising at twice the rate of inflation and more than two times the rate of average hourly pay. That’s bad news on the affordability front for first-time buyers who are trying to get onto the first rung of the housing ladder.
Click here for more articles from Time Inc.’s Looking Forward series.
But it’s great news for empty nesters and other homeowners looking to downsize. Even better, there’s less of a supply constraint because developers have targeted the boomer market by building high service, luxury condominiums in major markets. And why not, says Peter Wells, a partner at Real Capital Solutions, which is developing a luxury condo tower in suburban Dallas: “When [boomers] sell their big place, they're cash rich and it becomes all lifestyle driven.” Spring is a traditional time for buying and selling homes, and this season stands to be a busy one.
Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Snoqualmie Pass Properties, Snoqualmie Pass Homes, Snoqualmie Pass Lots, North Bend Real Estate, Snoqualmie Real Estate, Suncadia Real Estate, http://www.snoqualmiepassliving.com


Friday, March 17, 2017

Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Mortgage, and the Economy - Customizing a Space

Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Snoqualmie Pass Properties, Snoqualmie Pass Homes, Snoqualmie Pass Lots, North Bend Real Estate, Snoqualmie Real Estate, Suncadia Real Estate, http://www.snoqualmiepassliving.com


When Customizing a Space, Homeowners Are All About the Options

Whether it's a number of finishes, fixtures, or colors to choose from, homeowners want to collect as many ideas as possible before deciding how they want their new space designed


Remodels offer the perfect opportunity for homeowners not only to create a more functional space for their families, but also to beautify the home. Once they decide exactly what they need (more storage, an additional bedroom, a place for the dog to sleep), they turn to their remodeler to help craft the dream home and make the space uniquely theirs. What are homeowners looking for when they customize the home? It’s much more than just a pretty snapshot to share on Houzz.
Options Abound 
“It strikes me how, today, people want more and more things customized,” says Daniel Hurst, owner/general manager of Hurst Design Build Remodel in Middleburg Heights, Ohio. Hurst attributes this to the fact that he thinks his clients are more open to ideas now that they were in the past. The advent of the internet and idea websites like Houzz and Pinterest has made it easier for homeowners to expose themselves to new ideas.
“Never before in history could you look up ‘mudroom locker ideas’ and get 1,000 different ideas in three seconds,” he says.
Homeowners are looking to customize a home’s function in addition to its finishes, which is why they need the help of a highly skilled remodeler to walk them through the design process.
“People have kind of an idea, but they’re not sure what’s possible … sometimes it’s just a little bit of inspiration and we help them find the best options,” Hurst says.
Erik Block, founder/owner of Block Design|Build, Hadlyme, Conn., agrees. “Typically, everything we do is custom,” he says. “We start with ‘What are you looking for? What gets you excited?’ Then, we go from there and find the product that matches that.”
Block’s team has certain products and companies they recommend, but there are a few times where he lets the homeowners explore their options on their own.
“For bathrooms, a lot of the time, we have the homeowner do the homework. We’ll recommend certain fixtures we’ve had good luck with in the past and then they take it from there so that they can get exactly what they’re looking for.”
Those homeowners scrutinize their decisions. Block says that homeowners have analyzed the chrome finishes on flush handles and bathroom fixtures from different manufacturers to make sure that both are the same shade.
Homeowners can find as many options as they please, but the end result of the project still needs to mesh with their needs. Jason Walsh, lead industrial designer at Masonite’s Innovation Center, says that the one difference between a millennial and a baby boomer remodeling their homes is the functional requirements. Baby boomers, for example, often are remodeling their homes so they can age in place.
“The connecting feature [for all homeowners] is something with an updated design,” Walsh says. “They’re looking for something that fits their functional requirements, but is on-trend.”    
Cool, Warm, or Neutral?  One easy and fairly painless way homeowners can customize a home and keep it on-trend is through color. (Though, we’ll admit, the 1970s avocado trend was slightly painful.) Neutrals, such as grays, remain popular for both inside and outside of the home, but homeowners seem to be customizing their colors even further than a single shade.
“We have noticed that there’s a greater desire on the parts of builders and homeowners to have more specifically correct colors,” says Kate Smith, chief color maven at Sensational Color. “Rather than slapping on a gray roof, people want the specific gray that best matches their home.”
While companies are offering their products in a wide range of neutrals, many are also offering bolder hues. Tando’s all-new line of polypropylene exterior shake and stone is available in a variety of colors. TandoShake comes in three different collections: SignatureStain, Color, and Natural. SignatureStain comes in six colors. The Color Series offers 19 shades ranging from neutrals to bold colors like reds, yellows, and greens. The Natural Series features eight dark, earthy tones.
Instead of a fully colorful house, some homeowners are adding a touch of color to the exterior via the front door. John Gerhardt, associate product line manager for interior doors at Jeld-Wen, says that blues, greens, and yellows have been popular front door choices recently.
Walsh agrees that there’s more interest in color. He notes that turquoise and warmer colors like reds and yellows, inspired by the tropical regions, are popular choices for exterior doors. “Black continues to be popular,” Walsh says. “It’s a pretty bold statement.”
“We’re seeing more and more people interested in black,” Hurst agrees. “Black cabinetry, black trim, black doors, or some version of that in a charcoal color.”
The interior door is another story. Walsh observes that many homeowners want to stay neutral with their interior doors, only occasionally adding pops of color.
Smith warns that homeowners are willing to incorporate color, but they won’t step too far out of their comfort zones. Homeowners want to be educated about color and how to make color choices, she adds. They want to be told what they should know about color in order to make an informed decision.
Create a Clear Picture
Many of Block’s projects are remodeling and restoring historic homes, so a number of his jobs are focused on crafting a beautiful space that meshes with the architecture and design of the rest of the home.
“Everything has to match; everything has to be related somehow, whether it’s hues or colors or textures. We’ll push for certain looks,” Block says. “They’re not going to have a kitchen that’s all white and clean with nice marble countertops and then have the rest of the house be all black.”
Carrying a design throughout the home seems like a no-brainer
"It always seems to start with kitchens and baths and then homeowners take the rest of the home to that level. ...It's always kitchens and baths. Nobody ever says, 'I want to remodel my dining room.'" - Erik Block
for a remodeler, and product manufacturers are picking up on the trend. Jeld-Wen’s new Studio collection is a series of contemporary-style doors for both the interior and the exterior.
“We wanted to bring the whole home design together,” Gerhardt says. They settled on a contemporary style because not only have product manufacturers been shifting to a more modern aesthetic, but more homeowners are looking for the clean lines contemporary offers.
The craftsman style also has been popular, though it has been modernized with a “cleaner, simpler design,” Walsh says. For those clients who like the craftsman style and are looking to create a design throughout their entire home, Masonite has released an exterior door to coordinate with its craftsman line, Heritage.
“We don’t see people wanting to directly match the doors, but they want to coordinate,” Walsh says. “If they have a craftsman-style front door and they choose a craftsman interior, the panel layout on both doors might be different.”
Give a Little Bit
Customization doesn’t end at interior function and exterior style. It can also extend to the structure itself.
“We see people being more interested in the integrity of the build than the actual photoshoot at the end,” Block says. He says that for some remodels, homeowners are willing to spend money on the “behind the scenes” products, such as rain screens, that will protect the home, instead of spending that money on flashy, upgraded rooms or fixtures.
“I’m guessing it’s probably more common in [New England],” Block says. “It’s good to see that people care about that.”
Not every homeowner will need or want to spend money on structural components, but will instead want something customized in an unusual way. For those instances, Hurst advises remodelers to have an open mind.
“I think there’s a lot of opportunity for inspiration out there and you just have to be flexible with some of your ideas,” Hurst says. “People are looking for custom options for everything. … Any chance we get to provide those options, that’s what we want to do, and I think that’s what people are drawn to today.”

Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Snoqualmie Pass Properties, Snoqualmie Pass Homes, Snoqualmie Pass Lots, North Bend Real Estate, Snoqualmie Real Estate, Suncadia Real Estate, http://www.snoqualmiepassliving.com