LeMay

Posted on May 18, 2012

Marrow

Posted on April 19, 2012

My wife and I tried Marrow, a new restaurant on 6th Avenue. Marrow is different… and quite amazing. The decor is designer cool, with bare light bulbs hanging in clustered bouquets from the rafters, as an example. Our waitress, Brie, was personable, helpful and had outrageous tattoos, most of which propriety would not allow her to show us, in spite... Read More »

How to Research Tacoma Neighborhoods

Posted on February 17, 2012

All of us with David Gala & The Hume Group have lived in the Tacoma area most of our lives. We know the individual quirks and amenities of each neighborhood like the backs of our hands. That said, it is against the Federal Fair Housing Law for and of us to steer your towards a neighborhood or talk you out... Read More »

Can’t Trust a Zestimate – Conclusion

Posted on February 15, 2012

Estimating the value of your Tacoma home Last fall I wrote a post about how my own home value was low on Zillow–about 32% at the time. Furthermore, they showed 3 bedrooms instead of 4, no view of Puget Sound, baseboard heating instead of gas, and about half the correct square footage according to the Pierce County assessor. I learned... Read More »

Tacoma Real Estate

5 Great North End Homes that AREN’T Our Listings (Except One!)

Posted on January 16, 2012

As Realtors David, Matt, and myself are always out looking at homes. We decided to sift through all the great inventory of homes in the North End and identify a few great homes. As I started sifting, I made a surprising discovery. I suppose I knew on some level but it took this exercise to bring it into focus: The... Read More »

Tacoma Real Estate

Buying a Rental Near UPS: Is now the time?

Posted on December 21, 2011

The area around the University of Puget Sound is one of North Tacoma’s finest. In addition to a number of beautiful historic homes, the area is dotted with rentals for UPS students to live in while they are attending college. From seasoned investors to parents looking to find a great place for their kids to live and make a great... Read More »

Tacoma Real Estate

5 Steps Before Selling Your North Tacoma Home

Posted on December 7, 2011

We have sold tons of homes in Tacoma’s north end–probably numbering in the thousands between us. Our job, day in and day out for nearly two decades has been positioning homes in the marketplace, creating effective marketing plans to reach likely Tacoma buyers, as well as negotiating and shepherding pending sales through to closing. If you’re are planning on selling... Read More »

Ice Rink Downtown. Like Rockefeller Center… but in Tacoma

Posted on November 18, 2011

An updated article on Polar Plaza in Downtown Tacoma appears here Signs of winter abound; Christmas decorations, ski areas opening, snowflakes in the forecast, red Starbucks cups, an open air ice skating rink downtown. Truly, that is happening. It could be a nice tradition and a further enhancement to our already vital downtown. “Franciscan Polar Plaza” will transform Tollefson Plaza... Read More »

Tacoma Real Estate

Can’t Trust a Zestimate update

Posted on November 3, 2011

Two months ago a wrote about an experiment. I thought my home’s value in Zillow was low and noticed they had erroneous property information. I claimed ownership of the house and edited the info, promising to report back as to what effect this had on my Zestimate. Nothing changed. It did not go up–and in fact the information is back... Read More »

Tacoma Real Estate

Local Dock Replacement Company–For Waterfront Homes

Posted on November 2, 2011

The other day I got to talking to a friend, Greg Horn, who builds docks. His company is Pacific Dock Builders, LLC. Greg lives and works primarily in Lakewood, which is Shangri La if you are a dock builder because wherever you are in Lakewood you’re near a lake. He estimated that two out of every three homes on Lake... Read More »