Zillow Advice a Great Way to Get, Well, Advice!

Lord knows there are many "help" sites out there -- Yahoo Answers, Wiki Answers, and Answers... answers, but now there's a real estate answers site, too -- Zillow Advice. OK, it's not answers, but it's the same principle. Go and get advice to your questions, or offer answers, if you know them! It's pretty cool, and you can drill down by geography to see what questions/answers exist for your region. For example, I'm in Seattle, so I'll check what kind of advice is coming in for Seattle. I know, I'm nosy, but, I've been able to help answer questions and that kinda feels good.

Home Improvement Hub -- Dueling Digs

Half the problem with home remodeling is getting ideas. And, what do design experts say? Save photos of your favorite designs in a folder and then when you meet with an architect or designer, pull out your folder and show them what you like. This helps them design a space to your liking.

Zillow's Dueling Digs is a home improvement idea generator. Click through to see kitchen remodeling ideas, and bathroom remodeling ideas, plus two of the newest additions: home theater renovation ideas and ideas for swimming pools.

You can even "duel" between two photos and vote for the one you like best.

W and Laura Choose Dallas Home

It looks like W and Laura have decided where they will end up after they leave the White House: the Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas. The address is 10141 Daria Place, Dallas, Texas. Now, if you were a neighbor in good 'ol Preston Hollow, would you be excited? Angry? Nervous?

I'm B-a-a-a-c-k

I'm wiping off the dust from Vade Mecum (Latin for "Go with me") and trying to infuse some life into this baby. Where have I been? I've been at Zillow, writing for Zillow Blog and helping edit Mortgages Unzipped and doing all kinds of crazy things at Zillow.

I won't make this a long, drawn-out post, but the outcome of the 2008 presidential election was pretty indicative that people want change, although they're extremely curious about the Republican VP, Sarah Palin. For example, I wrote some posts on the presidential and VP candidates' houses and Sarah's house was a hit. Here they are, if you're interested:
Barack Obama's house
Joe Biden's house
John McCain's houses
Sarah Palin's house

This is Alarming

Imagine living next to a firehouse for 30 years. Imagine you got used to the commotion of living with alarms that go off at all hours of the day and night. And then one day you're told your house needs to be torn down to make the firehouse bigger. For 30 years you've lived there and now eminent domain will squash you like a bug. This is the story, by the Magnolia News, of some folks who live near Fire Station 20 at 3205 13th Ave. W, which serves Interbay, Queen Anne and Magnolia.

Turbulent Weekend

What a weird weekend it was. Due to high winds, we lost power at our Magnolia home on Saturday at 9 a.m. and then waited until 4 p.m. to see if the lights would come back on. They didn't, so we packed up and went to the Marriott on the Waterfront. Even though it sounds pricey, it was only $100/night since this is their slow time of year and rates are low. They said most of their customers were from Magnolia or areas of the city that lost power.

We saw the culprit of our outage: around the corner, a big 'ol evergreen-ish tree took out a transformer. By morning we had our power back.

Historic Hotel For Sale -- Concrete

Whenever I see restaurants and bars for sale, I just have to laugh because it taps so many memories of my upbringing. I grew up in upstate NY where my parents had a "restaurant." I wouldn't consider it a restaurant, but rather a tavern. It's where men -- mostly men -- would gather at the end of their day, spending their hard-earned cash from blue-collar trades such as plumbers, mechanics, electricians -- you name it. My parents never referred to them by their real names, only "Joe the plumber," "Frank the mechanic," and "Al the carpenter." And, of course it was a quid pro quo relationship -- "Joe" would always fix our plumbing and Frank our cars. They got free beer and food in return.

Up in Concrete, Washington, where Tobias Wolff wrote a memoir on his upbringing there, is a restaurant/hotel for sale on Craigslist. I know people dream of owning a bar because they think it's fun and exciting. From personal experience, it's a lot of hard work and not so much fun, or exciting. It's actually a 24/7 experience that gets old pretty fast.