For Sale By Owner Homes

Contact Michael Gougis at 773.837.8831 --

Contact Michelle Owolola at 773.540.9577 -- Parklike setting backyard completed with 3 bedrooms, 1.1 bath, tri-level home with lots of character. Huge back yard and Large eat in kitchen, ceiling fans thru out. No work to be done, just move in.

I love it when those employed or investing in the web or real estate 2.0 industry, supposedly with 100’s of high-tech options available to them, choose traditional methods to buy or sell a home. Their actions underline the importance of traditional marketing and the MLS.

Rich Barton, Chairman and CEO of Zillow has his home listed with Gordon Stephenson of RPA, and now Kristin Acker, VP, Product and Design at Zillow found her new home and is selling her present one with Gordon too.

Mr. Barton has been quoted saying “major change in home selling is inevitable over the next five years or so because “there’s an unsustainable disconnect” between the commissions charged by most agents and the value of their services.” But, I’m glad to see he’s paying a 2.5% commission on the sale of his $2.8M home.

When Zillow was first launched, Barton was more frank about his intentions, or perhaps his business model has changed or he’s got better handlers or PR, but now he’s claiming Zillow is just a media company and a partner with Realtors and not a competitor.

Since they just hired Greg Schwartz as Vice President, Advertising Sales, to Zillow, perhaps we’ll see some new features and advertising opportunities rolled out soon for Realtors, agents and brokers.

Contact Timothy Kopaczewski at 708.205.5132 --

Here’s a bit of nonsense from Slate: “Why home ownership causes unemployement” by Tim Harford. The article, while entertaining, draws erroneous conclusions. We want to encourage homeownership and not try to make tenuous ties or correlations between homeownership and joblessness.

In a study by Denise DiPasquale of the University of Chicago and Edward L. Glaeser of Harvard University, they provide evidence that owning a home appears to build a sense of community and make people better citizens. Using survey data, the researchers found that homeowners are much more likely than renters to work to solve local problems, or know their local congressman by name.

Some folks are against mortgage tax breaks and government efforts to promote homeownership, however, there is proof that owning your own home provides indirect benefits or ‘’positive externalities'’–benefits that extend to the welfare of society as a whole.

Using survey data and controlling for age, race, gender, income, marital status, having children, and other variables, the two economists find that homeowners are much more likely than renters to work to solve local problems. They’re also more likely to vote in local elections, attend church, garden, and join nonprofessional organizations.

Predictably, homeownership also affects the shape of local government spending. The researchers report that homeowners tend to favor lower overall budgets and welfare outlays but higher spending on schools and highways.

Interestingly, the positive effects of homeownership appear related to its negative impact on mobility. The longer people live in their own home, the more likely they are to engage in activities that improve their communities.

National Bureau of Economic Research, “Are Homeowners Better Citizens?”

Contact Alex Bezzaz at 630.379.9412 -- PRICE REDUCTION! LARGEST, BRIGHT END-UNIT TOWNHOME ON CUL-DE-SAC. ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS 3-BEDROOM, 2.5 BATHS. MASTER BR: VAULTED CEILING W/FAN, WALK-IN CLOSET, BATH WITH OVERSIZED SHOWER. CONVENIENT 2ND FLOOR LAUNDRY. LONG HALLWAY SEPARATES 3 BEDROOMS. EXTRA STORAGE. 3M SCOTCH WINDOW TINT IN LIVING ROOM & 2ND BEDROOM. OPEN KITCHEN W/BREAKFAST BAR. FRONT & BACK PATIOS. GLEN ELLYN SCHOOLS. CLOSE TO PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. MUST SEE!

Contact Rosetta Bowen Garner at 312.501.5635 -- Beautiful 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 2 story home. Private master bath, separate living and dining rooms, eat-in-kitchen, large family room with fireplace. Freshly painted and newly carpeted. Remodeled, handicapped assessible bath. Amazing home in desirable area! Priced to sell quickly!!

As reported by The Stranger, Sarina McDonald AKA Ravenna Black, fired from Windermere for DWSRE (dancing while selling real estate), has been rehired by Ewing & Clark in downtown Seattle. Apparently Sarina tried to explain to her ex-Broker that what she was doing wasn’t sleazy and that it’s considered a neo-art movement, but he wasn’t convinced and he turned in her license back to the State.

Luckily, it seems that she’s landed on her feet and is back to work.

A new generation nostalgic for the glamour of the 1940’s and full of admiration for icons such as Bettie Page are determined to bring back burlesque. But for many performers, it goes beyond merely re-enacting burlesque and strip shows of the past. It is a political statement of power and sexual politics. This revival was pioneered by groups such as “The Velvet Hammer Burlesque” troupe, which coincided with the burgeoning popularity of many other older art forms such as the circus (Circus Contraption), vaudeville (The Flying Karamazov Brothers) and dinner theater (Teatro Zinzanni), all with roots in Seattle, all with a slightly subversive slant.

Today, New Burlesque has taken many forms, but all have the common trait of honoring one or more of burlesque’s previous incarnations, with acts including cabaret, striptease, expensive costumes, humor and now, sexual politics.

Many individual artists come to mind who have created a whole industry around the sexual politics of burlesque, stripping and sexuality. Dita Von Teese has parlayed a talent for ballet and classical dance with an interest in historical costume design and modeling, into an entire glamour empire.

By coincidence, I met ethereally beautiful Miss Von Teese at the Mark Ryden opening earlier this month in LA. Both she and I (and her former husband Marilyn Manson) collect Ryden and we were there to see his new gallery exhibit “The Tree Show”. (See Ryden gallery opening photos on Juxtapoz. And lots of art on Supertouch.)

So what attracts a young woman to burlesque performance?

As Linsey Lindber writes in “Neo-Burlesque: a Feminist Ideal“:

The resurgence of burlesque has to do with reclaiming an art that has garnered a negative female stereotype for so long.

Traditionally, women have been told that their body and sexuality is something to be seen and enjoyed only by men, that we are not allowed to be both smart and sexy for our own pleasure, and that in order to be “beautiful” the female body must measure up to the standards codified by our Britney and Paris-crazed society. These are the ideas that neo-burlesque challenges by recasting those stereotypes. Watch a burlesque dame strut her stuff and remove key articles of clothing and you will see a confident, smart, sophisticated woman who is unafraid of social pressures and proud of her body and her sexuality. She mocks and makes jest of the role women have played in men’s fantasies—changing it over to ask the more important question, what role do I want to play in my own fantasies?

…. Do we challenge being part of a separate stereotyped “feminine” sphere by drawing so much attention to it and effectively mocking it? Absolutely. Are we promoting the agenda of the women’s liberation movement? While it may not be intentional, it speaks inevitability of a step forward in feminist thinking. It emerges in an art form like burlesque because everyone is ready for it to. And performers are interested in sharing this synthesis of sexuality and creativity with all women.

Burlesque is not the only long lost diversion that’s being revived by an ironic youth culture. Mocking the ideals of the past and “claiming” the activity for themselves, these women are taking the (usually negative) power of these other activities and infusing them with their own meaning.

An example of this is another lowbrow pastime that has been revived, taken back and imbibed with a power of its own, and that is women’s Roller Derby. For girls who had no interest in Title 9-funded organized sports or couldn’t stand any kind of “organized” anything in school with jocks or jockettes, Roller Derby has proven to be an alternative way to get and stay in shape, stay focused and stay strong.

Seattle has the Rat City Roller Girls with 4 teams and over 100 members and they race other girls teams all over the U.S. in Phoenix, Boston, Chicago a, Houston and a 100 other U.S. cities.

Another “revival”, at least in Seattle, is Ladies Wrestling. The Pin Down Girls was started by Cissy Miller, and has become an annual wrestling match that has its bouts at a local night club. No real estate agents are members (yet), but there is a software engineer, a published author and a practicing attorney with the State of Washington. Don’t ask, don’t tell!

It’s rare that a young person goes to school to become a real estate agent (though Washington State University is one of the few schools that actually offers a 4-year degree in Real Estate). For most, real estate is a second career. Because of that, it seems naive to think that agents won’t be doing other, perhaps artistic, perhaps unauthorized or “unapproved” activities on their own time. Without mentioning any names, it’s well-known that a local Title LPO visits a Seattle sex-positive club several times a month. Is that grounds for discipline? No, not THAT kind of discipline (wink!) But is that anyone else’s business? Could be just another networking opportunity. Everyone’s so into transparency nowadays, maybe this is just taking it to its logical conclusion

Teasy Does It from New York Magazine
Tired of the constant barrage of in-your-face sex in popular culture? You’re not alone—which may explain the comeback of good old-fashioned burlesque.

The Pontani Sisters

New Age Burlesque from the Washington Times

Miss Dirty Martini

Burlesque as performance art from the Seattle Times

Contact ZipRealty at 1.800 CALL ZIP -- Great neighborhood to tear-down & build your dream home. Architecture plans by owner not completed but were "in progress". Call for info.

Contact Thomas Groh at 847.650.4517 -- Great neighborhood to tear-down & build your dream home. Architecture plans by Owner not completed BUT were "in progress". Call for information.