Are you curious about how your home compares with the national housing figures?
Here is a segment of a very interesting collection of statistics that Mark Brian, Silver Star Real Estate compiled from HUD’s 2009 American Housing Survey (AHS). HUD started this revealing survey in 1973, and it’s interesting to see how homes have changed. Take a look at HUD’s 2009 figures revealing everything from square footage to front porches as home owners have come to expect amenities not standard 37 years ago.

•There are 130,112,000 residential housing units in the US; 86% are occupied and
… read full article

Scaling Down, Downsizing, Cutting Back, Minimizing, Simplifying: there are many words we use for sorting through our things and releasing our control of them to others. Formerly thought of as, well, second-class, currently the handed down item is now a recycled, green, unique and admirable thing. Websites such as EBay and stores like Value Village have capitalized of the current search for used properties. What is the appeal?

A used thing takes on a sort of persona. To the second hand buyer, it has a sense of mystery. It often is something from far away or long ago.… read full article

I live on San Juan Island, but I have a second home in the wilderness without even a television or cell phone coverage. Lots of people have second homes in the San Juan Islands. What is it that makes a second home work? Here is what I think

1. A second home should be a different setting for you that will refresh your attitude and leaves you pleased to return to your first home. It also gives you a place to dream about and escape to when things at your first home or job get stressed. You can… read full article

When we look back at the places where we have lived during our life, we remember some with nostalgia and love, while others we remember as places connected to unhappiness and pain. We often assume the ups and downs of life are associated with the place where certain events in our life occurred. Many simply leave it at that, never considering that perhaps the house itself may have contributed to their feelings of discontentment or well-being. Houses are essentially alive.

Begin to think of your home as a living, breathing entity requiring a loving, reciprocal relationship. Our homes… read full article