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Eclectic Interior Design
When decorating your home, it can be hard to decide on just one aesthetic. Maybe you’re a fan of mid-century modern interior design but its minimalistic approach leaves you wanting more. Maybe you love the clean look of a farmhouse style interior but wish it had some of that classic Art Deco flair. Fortunately, there’s an approach you can take where you don’t have to limit yourself to the principles of just one line of design thinking. Eclectic interior design is a smorgasbord of home décor styles that allows your imagination to run wild.
What is eclectic interior design?
Eclectic interior design is a blend of different styles, patterns, eras, and all things home décor. By pulling from seemingly contrasting sources of inspiration, it allows homeowners to create an interior that’s uniquely personalized and lively. Eclectic interiors are inherently busy, so it’s important to focus on leveling the dynamic energy among the pieces and artworks you select to create balance, scale, and proportion.
Image Source: Getty Images – Image Credit: xavierarnau
Decorating with Eclectic Interior Design
With so many shapes and colors at play, creating harmony is vital. Choose a color palette for your home and select pieces that reinforce that section of the color wheel. That way, when you decorate with accent pieces throughout your home, you’ll have a solid base to work from. This will also help you select which neutral colors will best help to balance out your interior spaces. For example, if you’ve settled on blues and browns as your foundational colors, beiges and creams will act as complimentary neutrals while creating a comfortable, welcoming atmosphere.
When it comes to textures and patterns, you’ve got far more leeway with eclectic interior design than many other styles. Have you been waiting to extract your patterned vintage furniture from your storage space? Still waiting to find a home for that ornate gold-framed mirror? Eclectic design may be just what the doctor ordered. With this style, vintage design can pair with modern furnishings and vice versa. Textures help to create contrast throughout your spaces, but even with eclectic design, repeating a texture in a few spots helps to create cohesion. Similarly, make sure your textural pieces fit somewhere within your color palette to create consistency throughout your home.
Create a Gallery Wall
Image Source: Shutterstock – Image Credit: Ground Picture
A gallery wall is naturally eclectic, making it a perfect way to use up empty wall space while reinforcing this unique home décor style. Create a gallery wall at home by selecting the wall space you’d like to use and mapping out your desired gallery pattern. Once you’ve sketched out your plan, pay a visit to your local framing or hardware store so your artwork can hang professionally and evenly. Assemble your tools, hang your pieces, and admire how a gallery wall can really snap a room together visually. Experiment with different frame colors, designs, and textures that reinforce the rest of your interior. Here’s more on how to curate artwork in your home.
For more info on the various interior design styles, home décor tips and more, visit the Design page of our blog:
Windermere Blog – Design
Selling Your Home in a Balanced Market
Your local market conditions dictate the real estate climate around you. Where things are on the buyer’s/seller’s market spectrum will impact how you and your Windermere real estate agent approach selling your home. As a part of this process, it’s important to understand the different types of markets and how their conditions play into accurately pricing your home.
See the latest data on home sales, home prices, mortgage rates and more for your area here:
What is a seller’s market?
The housing market is categorized as a seller’s market when demand for homes is greater than the supply on the market. With limited inventory, competition is high amongst buyers. This drives home prices up, decreases days on market, and often leads to multiple offers from buyers. These are ideal conditions for selling your home, given that buyers are forced to continually sweeten their offers to win out. For example, buyers are often more apt to remove contingencies from their offers in a seller’s market.
What is a buyer’s market?
A buyer’s market is on the opposite end of the real estate market spectrum. It is usually defined as having six or more months of available inventory—meaning if no new homes were listed, it would take six (or more) months for all available listings to sell.
Because there’s greater supply than demand, there’s less competition among buyers, and it’s the buyer’s agents who often have the leverage during negotiations. Selling in these conditions emphasizes the importance of investing in improving your home before putting it on the market.
Selling Your Home in a Balanced Market
A balanced market exists in equilibrium between a seller’s market and a buyer’s market. It is the middle part of the Venn diagram between the two; it shares certain aspects of each, but only dips its toes into both.
When your local real estate market is balanced, it’s important to approach the selling process with a realistic mindset. In a balanced market, bidding wars are less likely and the chances of buyers having complete leverage are slim. These conditions, however, are all the more reason to make your home stand out amongst competing listings. Making repairs, remodeling, and boosting curb appeal can all help attract buyers while increasing the value of your home.
When coming out of a seller’s market, it’s important not to panic when your local real estate market experiences a cool-down or a return toward balance. In a balanced market, there are still plenty of buyers actively seeking homes, albeit at a lesser pace. Even as aggregate home sales decline and days on market increase, these market conditions should not be confused with more extreme situations like the housing market crash of the late 2000s.
Our Chief Economist Matthew Gardner covers recent housing marketing conditions as they compare to the Great Recession. Read his analysis in two recent articles:
Working With an Agent to Sell Your Home
All these factors highlight the importance of working with your agent to accurately price your home in a balanced market. Real estate agents have access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which gives them access to a huge network of data on available homes both present and historical. They’ll use this data to conduct a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) to competitively price your home. To get started, connect with a local, experienced Windermere agent:
Market Insights: February 2023
February 2023 in Stanwood and Camano Island showed upticks in new listings and pending sales compared to January. Based on the activity, it appears that a degree of balance is returning to the market.
New Listings: There were 66 new listings added to inventory last month, 38 in Stanwood and 28 on Camano Island. This is only 1% fewer than 12 months ago.
Pending Sales: Volume of pending sales increased 14%, from the year-ago total of 51 to 59.
Homes Sold: Year over year closed sales declined 22% from 47 to 37 transactions.
Sale Price: Average sale prices in Stanwood and Camano Island slipped 10% and 17% respectively from last February.
SELLERS – There will most likely be a shortage of inventory this spring, but the Buyers are out there! Multiple offers are being seen on the right properties despite the interest rates. Price is important. If you are thinking of listing your home, meet with your local agent to discuss market value and additional value they can bring.
BUYERS – Get pre-approved for a mortgage now. This will give you a better idea of your budget and price range to focus on. Be patient! The current market is still a bit competitive, so it may take some time to find the right home at the right price. Hire a local agent who knows this area and market well.
At Windermere, our responsiveness to the local market, dedication to the community, and commitment to our trade is why we help our clients buy and sell more real estate in Stanwood and Camano Island than any other company.
We are all in, for you.
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Marla Heagle
REALTOR®
Managing Broker, Windermere Stanwood & Camano Island
360-387-HOME
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Homeownership Terms to Know: Pre-Approval, Pre-Qualification & More
Throughout the home buying process, you’ll encounter several checkpoints. At every stop, you’ll get closer to the ultimate goal of purchasing your next home. Each one satisfies unique criteria required to become a homeowner, and each one has its own terminology. Before you begin your home buying journey, it’s helpful to know about pre-approval, pre-qualification, and proof of funds, and the role they play in a real estate transaction.
Pre-Qualification and Pre-Approval
What is pre-qualification?
Pre-qualification and pre-approval go hand in hand, but one precedes the other. Pre-qualification is a very early step in the home buying process leading to pre-approval. After sharing your financial information with your bank or lender, they’ll give you an estimate of the loan amount you can expect to qualify for. During this time, you’ll learn about the different home loans available to you to help you decide which is best. Pre-qualification usually only takes a few business days.
What is pre-approval?
A sibling to pre-qualification, pre-approval takes things a step further. Once you submit a mortgage application, you’ll provide your lender with the required information to perform a financial background check to assess your creditworthiness. You’ll get a pre-approval letter showing the lender’s offer of a specific loan amount, so you’ll know how much you can borrow. You’ll also get a better understanding of what interest rate you can expect to pay on your loan. Mortgage pre-approvals are typically valid for 60 to 90 days.
More information on the benefits of pre-approval and when to get pre-approved:
Once you’ve gone through the pre-approval process, it’s helpful to know which homes you can afford. Use our free Home Monthly Payment Calculator by clicking the button below. With current rates based on national averages and customizable mortgage terms, you can experiment with different values to get an estimate of your monthly payment for any listing price.
Image Source: Getty Images – Image Credit: Thitiphat Khuankaew
What is a proof of funds letter?
Simply put, in real estate, a proof of funds letter is a document that proves to the seller that you have enough money available to purchase the home. Proof of funds letters may vary depending on the terms of the transaction. For example, if you’re making an all-cash offer, your letter will prove that you have enough liquid cash to complete the deal.
For more information on the home buying process, read our blog post on searching for a home:
How to Search for a Home: Buying Guide
Market Insights: January 2023
New Listings: Camano Island had 20 new listings hit the market in January. Stanwood had 15 new listings compared to 21 last January. Overall, 35 new listings were added to our market, compared to 45 last January. However, January’s volume of new listings blew past December’s total of 26. Currently, there are 93 active listings in our two zip codes.
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Marla Heagle
REALTOR®
Managing Broker, Windermere Stanwood & Camano Island
360-387-HOME
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What’s a Home Warranty and Why Do You Need One?
To be a homeowner is to understand that things can change at a moment’s notice. It’s only a matter of time before the systems in your home break and your appliances are on the fritz. But this inevitable truth isn’t meant to be all doom and gloom. Fortunately, you can protect yourself against these events with a home warranty.
What is a home warranty?
A home warranty and homeowners insurance both protect homeowners against unexpected events. A standard homeowners insurance policy typically covers your home, your belongings, injury, or property damage to others, and living expenses if you are unable to live in your home temporarily because of an insured disaster.
The policy likely pays to repair or rebuild your home if it is damaged or destroyed by disasters, such as wildfires, a winter storm, or lightning. Your belongings, such as furniture and clothing, are also insured against these types of disasters, as well as theft. Some risks, such as your home flooding, are routinely excluded from homeowners insurance policies.
A home warranty picks up where homeowners insurance leaves off by covering some or all of your HVAC, electrical systems, plumbing, and major appliances. A home warranty contract pays for the repair costs associated with these household items. However, if something in your home has not been properly maintained, your home warranty likely won’t cover it. Clarify the specifics of your policy’s language regarding proper maintenance with your warranty provider to avoid potential disagreements. Most home warranties are good for one year with the ability to renew annually.
What does a home warranty cover?
Home warranty policies vary by provider and location. Different coverages offer different protections among your home’s systems and appliances, or a combination of the two. Fees vary as well, based on your plan’s coverages and applicable service fees.
Image Source: Getty Images – Image Credit: PeopleImages
Why do you need a home warranty?
Home warranties have several benefits both for buyers and sellers. For buyers, you can rest assured that your appliances are covered if and when they break down. This saves you from unexpected repair bills from having to hire a contractor. And when selling your home, a home warranty can serve as a way to differentiate your property over other listings. When buyers know a home is protected with a warranty, they can buy with confidence.
Finding the Right Home Warranty
As with anything in the home buying or selling process, it’s important to shop around when searching for the right home warranty policy. During your discovery process, ask questions about the policy’s costs, its dollar amount limit, which items it covers, and its applicable fees including service calls. Talk to your agent about trusted warranty providers in your area.
For more information on protecting your home, visit the Living section on our blog:
Written By Sandy Dodge
Windermere Chief Economist Shares Local Predictions for 2023
Matthew Gardner, Windermere’s Chief Economist, joined us at the Camano Center where he delivered his 2023 forecast for Stanwood and Camano Island. He provided an in-depth look at the local market and highlighted key trends that will impact the area’s housing market over the next few years. His forecast provided essential insight into where Camano Island’s real estate industry is headed – and what potential buyers and sellers need to know.
In the current economic climate, the cost of living can be a significant burden for many. However, recent developments are suggesting that inflation might be on its way down across the board. This is in part due to falling gas prices, which have decreased dramatically over the last few months. According to Gardner, this trend is heading in the right direction; however, it isn’t happening as quickly as consumers would like.
“I contend that the FOMC waited too long before starting to shift their policy stance and that they will continue aggressively raising rates for longer than necessary due to inflation, which will likely result in a recession,” Gardner went on to say, “The Fed is still willing to risk a recession to bring inflation to heel and a “modest” contraction is now baked into economists’ forecast”
What does this mean for our local market in Stanwood and Camano Island?
“Rates averaged 3.11% in 2021 but the Fed withdrawing much of their support led them significantly higher – peaking at over 7% in 2022 before starting to yield” Gardner shared, “I believe that rates peaked last quarter with inflation slowing and bond yields pulling back rates will slowly trend lower as we move through 2023.”
But Matthew Gardner isn’t the only one to predict this. When comparing his predictions with those of other analysts’ expectations no one is predicting rates to rise further with their end-of-year mortgage rate predictions ranging from as low as 5.2% up to 6.4%.
When looking at sale prices on homes in our communities Gardner expects prices to reduce. Buyers are again negotiating and sellers must adjust to that shift in the market. Although there has been a pullback in those prices Gardner cautions us not to worry but to recognize that the prices are correcting after the artificial conditions created by the pandemic. “Prices are correcting but are unlikely to fall much further before they start to stabilize and then returning to the long-term trend in price growth,” Gardner shares.
“I expect that 2023 will be a year of transition,” Gardner concluded. “It may feel rough, but this is actually a good thing and will allow a more stable market to return!”
At Windermere, our responsiveness to the local market, dedication to the community, and commitment to our trade is why we help our clients buy and sell more real estate in Stanwood and Camano Island than any other company.
We are all in, for you.
Take a look at Matthew Gardners Recent Blog: 2023 Real Estate Forecast: Why This Market Won’t Be Like 2008
Windermere under new ownership
Windermere Real Estate Stanwood Camano has new leadership for the first time in almost two decades.
Jill and Jeff Vail have taken over as owners.
The Vails take over for Randy and Marla Heagle, who also own Arrowhead Ranch on Camano Island. The Heagles have stepped down as owners of the Windermere office after 18 years.
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Contact reporter Izzie Lund at ilund@scnews.com and follow her on Twitter @IzzieLund for updates throughout the week.
Market Insights: December 2022
The 2022 real estate market in Stanwood and Camano Island “ended with a whimper rather than a bang”, stated Matthew Gardner, Chief Economist at Windermere Real Estate. “Overall, the housing market is going to continue falling off the ‘sugar high’ that was a function of the artificially low mortgage rates during the pandemic,” he added.
New Listings: Camano Island had only 6 new listings hit the market in December, a 65% decrease from last year. Stanwood experienced a 17% decline in new listings from last December with 20 new listings compared to 24 last year. However, on December 31, our inventory count was up 222% over this same time last year, with 90 active listings in our two zip codes.
Pending Sales: Stanwood and Camano Island both saw fewer pending sales compared to last year, with 28 Sellers accepting offers on their homes, compared to 54 last December (down 59%).
Homes Sold: There were 27 homes sold in zip codes 98282 and 98292 in December. 8 sales on Camano and 19 sales in Stanwood. This is a 74% year-over-year decrease. Despite the fewer sales, the average YTD sale price still rose by 22%.
SELLERS – We believe there will be an uptick of new listings heading into spring and that the majority of them will be going under contract within 30 days. The home price increases have hit the maximum – if you are ready to sell, remember that overpricing can be dangerous, especially with increased competition.
BUYERS – Many buyers became less active in the market over the past few months as interest rates increased. Those buyers are still in the market and are reassessing their criteria. Sellers are becoming more competitive, so be ready to buy when you find your dream home.
At Windermere, our responsiveness to the local market, dedication to the community, and commitment to our trade is why we help our clients buy and sell more real estate in Stanwood and Camano Island than any other company.
We are all in, for you.
Marla Heagle
Windermere Real Estate Designated Broker | REALTOR®
Managing Broker, Windermere Stanwood & Camano Island
360-387-HOME
Staying Safe When Selling Your Home
Staying organized while selling your home can feel impossible, especially if you’re buying a new home at the same time. There’s also the pressure to keep your home clean and tidy for showings to prospective buyers. In all the chaos, taking the proper safety precautions can fall by the wayside, but it is something that should be prioritized. Keep these safety tips in mind as you work with your agent to sell your home.
We’ve assembled a comprehensive checklist of the common tasks required to get your home ready to sell. It is available as an interactive web page and downloadable PDF here:
How to Prepare for an Open House
Open houses are a major driver of buyer interest. Preparing for an open house is a matter of boosting curb appeal, cleaning, and staging to get your home in tip-top shape. It’s vital that you and your agent take certain safety precautions, given that you likely won’t be on sight when the open houses occur. Buyers often feel uneasy in the presence of the seller when touring a home. It also makes it more difficult for them to visualize the space as their own. Accordingly, it’s best to let your agent handle the open house. Here is a helpful list of how to prepare.
Staying Safe When Selling Your Home
- Go through your medicine cabinets and remove all prescription medications.
- Remove or lock up precious belongings and personal information. You will want to store your jewelry, family heirlooms, and personal/financial information in a secure location to keep them from getting misplaced or stolen.
- It is best to remove all family photos during the staging process so potential buyers can see themselves living in the home; it’s also a good way to protect your privacy.
- Check that your windows and doors are secure before and after showings. If an intruder is looking to get back into your home following a showing or an open house, they will look for weak locks or unlocked windows and doors.
- Consider extra security measures such as an alarm system or other monitoring tools like home security cameras.
Image Source: Getty Images – Image Credit: ferrantraite
Talk to your agent about the following safety precautions:
- Perform a thorough walk-through with your agent to make sure you have identified everything that needs to be removed or secured (medications, belongings, photos, etc.)
- Go over your agent’s screening process so you are both on the same page about how to qualify buyers before showings.
- Lockboxes to secure your keys for showings should be up to date. Electronic lockboxes track who has accessed your home.
- Go through your home’s entrances and exits and share important household information so your agent can advise you on how to secure your property while it’s on the market.
To connect with a local, experienced Windermere Real Estate agent, get started by clicking the link below:
Our Team
Written by Meaghan McGlynn
