Bellingham WA Real Estate Blog

Bellingham WA Real Estate Search - Updated on Site

2007-11-26T22:07:00Z

Our Bellingham WA real estate search pages at www.BellinghamWAHomes.com have all been updated with state of the art property search features. Were very excited to provide this first class service to our current clients and actually anyone searching for real estate in Bellingham WA.

By going to our Bellingham real estate site, buyers can now search for properties utilizing our property mapping system to find Bellingham homes for sale in areas that interest the buyer. Bellingham home buyers can use the property search maps to zoom into an area, zoom out, do radius searches from a particular place, even draw a box around an area and results are quickly displayed.

We have also developed individual pages to search Bellingham homes for sale by mls number, address, zip code, near schools, just new listings, or search all bellingham listings. The new Bellingham WA real estate search can be used for any location in Whatcom County or any other location in the entire Puget Sound region.

In the Bellingham Area, buyers can even search for homes by choosing one of the 23 unique Bellingham neighborhoods and find homes only in one of those neighborhoods. If your also looking for information on Bellingham WA neighborhoods we have plenty of information on them, with each of the 23 Bellingham neighborhoods having their own full information pages.

Buyers can also set up a free account and save your favorites inside your account. Then when your ready to see some properties, just give us a call and we will schedule appointments to view your favorite Bellingham homes for sale.

Call Jerry Campbell at 360-739-7779 or visit my web site at Bellingham WA real estate.

New Home Building Rebounded Slightly in October

2007-11-20T18:18:00Z

The Commerce Department is reporting that the construction of new homes and apartments rebounded in October by the largest amount in eight months but the unexpected increase was not viewed as a signal of a housing turnaround.

The agency reported Tuesday that housing construction rose by 3 percent in October, the first increase after three months of declines and the biggest advance since a 6 percent rise last February.

However, all of the strength came in the volatile apartment sector, which jumped by 44.4 percent. Construction of single-family homes fell for a seventh straight month, declining by 7.3 percent in October compared to September.

The overall increase left construction in October at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.23 million units, down 16.5 percent from activity a year ago during 2006.

Applications for building permits, seen as a good sign of future activity, fell for the fifth straight month in October, dropping by 6.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.178 million units. That is down a sharp 24.5 percent from a year ago.

I think it's pretty clear that until we can clear out the over supply of new homes that are still on the market, we won't start to see a turn around until then. Id say by sometime during the summer of 2008 we will start to see the supply of new homes on the market start to go down as builders continue to offer incentives to buyers and interest rates work down to very attractive levels.

Whatcom County Home Sales Steady

2007-11-07T14:32:00Z

Whatcom County’s home sales continue to plug along around last year’s pace, according to the latest numbers from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

In Whatcom County, 275 NWMLS homes and condominiums sold during October, down from 289 for the same period last year, according to the listing service’s report released Tuesday. The median price for the homes sold in October was $279,000, up from $262,500 in October 2006.

The NWMLS tracks home sales by real estate agents in several counties in Washington state, including Whatcom.

Through the first 10 months of the year, 5,562 homes and condominiums sold in Whatcom County, compared to 5,588 for the same period in 2006. Whatcom County had 285 pending sales for homes and condominiums in October, down from 328 in October 2006.

Across Western Washington, overall sales have been down, according to the report. Of the 19 counties the NWMLS covers, 5,959 homes and condos sold in October, down from 8,036 for the same month last year. The median price for those homes was $314,400, down from $315,000 for October 2006. Of the 19 counties studied, only Okanogan County had more homes and condos sold in October 2007 than October 2006.

King County has seen a significant slowdown in home and condominium sales for October. For the month, there were 2,359 units sold, down 25 percent from the same period last year. Via Bellingham Herald

Blaine - Birch Bay Trails and Parks Vote Nears

2007-11-02T23:30:00Z

This coming Tuesday voters in the Blaine and Birch Bay, WA areas will be voting for a small increase in property taxes to help fund the much needed work on local Trails and Parks. This is the Parks and Recreation District Two area. The tax would fund the district, which has been inactive for several years, with the aim of maintaining parks and creating bicycle and walking trails in the area. said Kathy Berg, Birch Bay Steering Committee chairwoman.

The district’s board of directors wants to create a master plan for the area, which is in need of trails connecting, Birch Bay to Blaine. Outside of Birch Bay State Park, the area has very few parks. Among the existing ones are Semiahmoo Park in Blaine and Bay Horizon Park in Birch Bay. Adding some connecting trail systems would be really nice for the area and enhance the outdoors experience.

Creating links to the Coast Millennium Trail is also a goal. Completing those links could benefit the area economically, attracting locals and outsiders alike. With the Winter Olympics in Vancouver 2010 coming, it would be nice to do some of these nice upgrades to also add value to the expected throngs that will visit these border areas.

Five Acres With Large Shop In Ferndale WA

2007-10-28T23:11:00Z

2987 Iverson Rd; Ferndale, WA - Great 5.03 acre parcel just one mile north of Birch Bay Lynden Rd off the Custer School Rd. Property has a 1500 gallon existing cistern. Property is at the very end of proposed area. Park-like forested area. This property is for sale at $219,500.

A beautiful 5.03 acre parcel situated at the very end of Iverson Lane off of the Custer School Road, with the last 200 feet of driveway being serpentine for privacy. The property is located with easy access to I-5 freeway, yet far enough off the road to a peaceful and quiet setting. Wild ducks and geese are a common sight here with the wooded park-like setting of the property. A Wetland delineation report has already been completed for the property, allowing plenty of room to build your dream home. The soil on the property is mostly sandy loam soil which gives excellent drainage and provides lots of potential for both flower gardens and vegetable gardens as well. The property also includes a 30 x 48 metal-frame shop building with a partial concrete work pad floor. This shop would be a great staging ground when it comes time to build your home. Additionally the land is classified as a true five acre parcel with 5.03 acres (rural 5A zoning), which would permit the construction of the main house and an accessory dwelling as well.

When you consider that the property has a large 30 x 48 shop and compare that to other 5 acre parcels on the market with out any buildings, this is a great buy!

Search Lake Whatcom Homes For Sale

2007-10-26T01:00:00Z

Searching Lake Whatcom real estate can now be performed on the Lake Whatcom page of our webiste. Lake Whatcom buyers can search for homes, condos, and lots by simply going to our Lake Whatcom homes for sale page and adding their search parameters. The new pages will concentrate on providing the public real estate information for the entire Lake Whatcom area, including the Geneva neighborhood, Silver Beach neighborhood, Sudden Valley real estate, and all the unincorporated areas as well.

The search engine that provides all the searches for Lake Whatcom homes for sale and the rest of our Bellingham and Whatcom County searches is provided by our sister site at Whatcom Home Search. Our search engine was developed utilizing state of the art web page designs through Graphical Data, that allows the site to take advantage of map searching techniques, search by mls number, searching by address, by schools, and so many other great features. Go to our Bellingham real estate search page and try out some of the many ways to search real estate in the Bellingham and Whatcom County housing markets.

We are very excited about developing the tools and resources for potential buyers and sellers to utilize in their Lake Whatcom real estate decisions. I have owned a home in the Geneva Lake Whatcom area for the last 15 years, which I feel adds to the value of understanding the Lake Whatcom real estate market.

This part of our web site will also provide useful information about area schools, parks, recreation, events, shopping, and topics related to the Lake Whatcom homes market. Give us a call if you have any questions about Lake Whatcom and all the surrounding areas.

Bellingham WA Geneva Neighborhood Information

2007-10-25T00:47:00Z

The Geneva Neighborhood page on our Bellingham WA Homes web site was completed today. We're very excited to provide the Geneva area with this useful information about the Geneva Neighborhood that's situated along the shores of Lake Whatcom. The Geneva Community is just outside the city limits of Bellingham, Washington but is very important to the city because of it's unique location.

The Geneva Neighborhood page will provide information on Geneva area schools, shopping, parks, recreation, housing information, and so much more. Home buyers looking to relocate to the Geneva area will soon be able to search for homes and property on the market in the Geneva Neighborhood and surrounding areas with our brand new mapping system.

Additionally, Geneva area home buyers can also utilize our Geneva property alert system to find homes for sale with our new automated system. Once the free account is set up, Geneva area buyers can select the search parameters that suits them, and when a new listing hits the market, the buyer will be alerted instantly. This awesome tool is FREE and its an Automated system. Buyers will receive an email once that perfect home hits the Geneva homes market.

Columbia and Sunnyland Elementary Schools Honored

2007-10-15T01:10:00Z

Columbia and Sunnyland elementary schools were recognized Wednesday for their students’ marked improvement on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning.

The two schools were named Schools of Distinction and given the new State Superintendent’s Learning Improvement Award.

They are joined by 84 other schools around the state, which together represent the top 5 percent of schools that improved on the test.

“Our staff and parents have worked diligently to provide the best education for our students,” said Columbia Principal Missy Ferguson in a joint statement with Sunnyland Principal Mary Anne Stuckart. “We have aligned our practices with the state standards while keeping the whole child in mind.”

To be considered for the award, schools needed to meet the federal benchmarks in reading and writing for all students. Officials then looked at the schools’ gains on the state Learning Improvement Index, which is a measure of a school’s performance in each subject.

To determine the gains, officials averaged the math and reading Index scores from 2001 and 2002 and compared them to the 2007 scores.

“We truly care about our students and believe in their abilities as learners,” Ferguson and Stuckart said Wednesday afternoon on their way back from the statewide recognition ceremony in Des Moines.

The new award comes only months after many schools and districts around the state missed federal benchmarks required by the “No Child Left Behind” law because of a change in the way progress was calculated. Critics of the federal legislation have argued for a number of years that schools should be recognized for their improvements year after year, not on whether they can get a high enough percentage of students passing the test in multiple demographic groups. Via partially bellingham herald.

Vancouver 2010 tickets on sale in one year

2007-10-12T14:50:00Z

Tickets for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia will go on sale in October 2008. The date will be on the minds of many Olympic enthusiast as the excitement builds towards the Games. One year from today marks the start of the initial round of Canadian ticket sales for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The games run from February 12-28, 2010 in Vancouver, BC and Whistler. The Paralympic Winter Games will follow and be held March 12-21, 2010.

Approximately 1.6 million tickets will be made available. Of those, 100,000 will be sold at $25 and half of all tickets will be $100 or less. Tickets for the Opening and Closing Cermonies will range from $175 to $1,100. For events that have high demand, a lottery will be used to determine who gets first shot at them.

More information about the Olympic events schedule and buying tickets can be found at Vancouver 2010 ticket information. Winter Olympic fans worldwide can sign up for ticket updates on the official Olympic website.

As with all Olympics, nearly one-third of tickets will go to active participants including athletes and their families, international sporting groups, media and sponsors. Organizers said they are planning to ensure those seats are full if ticket-holders do not use them.

“The ‘lure of the Olympic ticket’ is something that’s difficult to explain unless you’ve had a chance to get a ticket,” said John Furlong, Chief Executive Officer of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC). “We’re thrilled to provide a ticket program that follows through on our commitment to make tickets and the Olympic experience available to anyone who wants to go.”

A Well Dressed Home Sells Quicker!

2007-10-11T17:12:00Z

Selling your home in today's Bellingham real estate market would be enhanced if your home shines above your competition to begin with. With so many homes on the market currently in Bellingham, home owners should really make sure their home shows well before buyers in this market see it for the first time.

I remember reading a book many years ago called "Dress for Success". Those words hold true for a home as much as they do for your personal appearance in business, life and first impressions.

I've always believed in staging a home before it goes on the market, but in today's buyers market it is very important to prepare your home for the sale. Home owners can hire a professional home stager or they can also do it themselves.

If your going to do it yourself...I think one should start from the outside. Take a bunch of photos from the street and then work your way around the home. Once you complete that, take a bunch more of the inside and then you'll have your before and once completed, your after photos as well.

The most important area to work on, is the street appeal. Spend some time with the lawn and landscaping to get it in the best shape possible. If your house needs some touch up on the painting, grab your paint and brushes and do those touch ups. What ever it is that needs to be done, spend the time and complete those projects...it will pay dividends in the end. I think most of these things can be done by the homeowner. If you have to hire a professional, prioritize the work and concentrate on the items that will bring you the highest return.

The next most important area would be the room buyers first enter when they come inside your home. Dress this room up and make it warm and inviting to potential home buyers. Study some Feng Shui home ideas on line to assist you as well.

Some of the things you might want to do on the interior of your Bellingham home might include the following:

Clear any and all clutter from each room. Buyers need to imagine what your home will be like once they buy it, but its very difficult to imagine that if the home is full of clutter. For instance...in the kitchen, take all that stuff off the refrigerator and clear off the counters to the bare necessities. Maybe add instead a nice flower arrangement, candles, etc.
If a room needs repainting, I would go ahead and do it. It's so inexpensive for a home owner to repaint a couple rooms and the return is usually pretty good. Try to stay to the neutral colors to market to higher percentage of the buyers.
Either higher a professional carpet cleaning service or go rent a machine from your nearby Equipment Rental company. I've had good luck with Service Master locally. For Rental company's try Master Rentals, Hardware Sales Rental dept. and Bay City Supply.
Check for odors in your house. If you smoke in your home, have a cat box or any other possible odors, I would definitely remedy this situation. These are tough things to talk to a typical seller about...but they need to be addressed right away. Have a friend, neighbor, or your Realtor come into your home and see what they can detect. If they can smell the odor...trust me buyers will to and try to find the exit door as fast as they can.
After you've cleared the clutter and boxed up and stored unnecessary items, It's time to do the final staging of whats left and possibly even bring in some items to finish. If your going to put your home on the market, your eventually going to have to remove everything and box things up. I'm not suggesting removing everything...just box up whats not necessary and store it in the garage or even a small storage unit. Once you've done that...stage whats left so it's warm, cozy and comfortable. You want buyers to feel like they want to sit on your furniture or at the kitchen table and be comfortable. Make your home inviting so they will write you an offer and your Realtor can put a SOLD sign in your yard.

Well good luck on preparing your home for sale and remember I'm also a full time Realtor here in the Bellingham WA real estate market and work the entire Whatcom County area. Feel free to call me anytime for some advice on buying or selling real estate or if your interviewing Realtors currently. Good luck, hope some of this advice helps.

CH2M Hill doubling work force

2007-10-07T22:52:00Z

The local Bellingham work force for CH2M Hill will double over the next two years according to a company spoksman from the former VECO company. This is more good news for the local Whatcom County jobs report and local economy which is already experiencing historic low unemplyment numbers around 4%. CH2M Hill plans to add as many as 230 new workers for its Bellingham engineering office in the next two years.

CH2M Hill bought VECO in September. The Bellingham office of the firm currently has 250 employees, mostly working on projects at local refineries. But local officials say CH2M Hill has bigger plans for the office. First, there are 30 current openings to fill; plans call for hiring 100 people in each of the next two years.

Most of those jobs will be in the engineering and technical side of the business, where people can earn $80,000 a year. Some of the new CH2M workers will be relocating to Bellingham and will be home buyers and adding new dollars to Whatcom County retail sales.

The announcement is great news for our community. We need more highpaying, professional jobs to help support the economy. Too much of our economy now is dependent on lowerpaying retail and service sector jobs.

We welcome CH2M Hill to the community and wish them well in their expansion plans. We hope that they are a successful part of our local economy for many years to come.

For any CH2M Hill employees relocating to the Bellingham, WA area and need relocation assistance and help in locating housing or buying a home, feel free to contact me. Bellingham WA real estate.

Go Green at Home Inexpensively

2007-10-06T19:27:00Z

Going the green way today doesn't have to be as expensive as the prevailing thought on the popular movement thats sweeping the country. There are a lot of things homeowners can do in your current home to lower your monthly utility expenses and contribute to helping the environment by following a few quick tips.

A recent poll by the American Institure of Architects showed that over 90% of homeowners would be willing to pay $5,000 more for home that's easier on the environment. I think one just has to first follow some simple energy saving advice at home and start from there on the savings.

The fact is making your home more energy efficient can save you money over the course of a year, accomplishing two goals. Try some of the following suggestions from Jane Bennett Clark, an editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. She suggest these 10 simple ways to go green without going broke:

Insulate your water heater for one. If it was built before 2004, you can save as much as 10% on your annual water-heating bill by wrapping the tank in an insulating fireproof blanket.
Pad those pipes. You can cut heating costs just by insulating exposed hot water pipes in your home.
Weatherstrip your doors. Putting weather-stripping around your front and back doors will net you around $30 a year in energy savings.
Wash your clothes in cold. That uses 50 % less energy than washing them in hot water.
Don’t use permanent press. Employing the regular setting instead of the permanent press setting on you washing machine will conserve five gallons of water per load.
Watch your water flow. Save a gallon of water per minute when you’re doing the dishes by restricting the water flow to a stream the width of a straw. Save another two gallons by turning off the water when you brush your teeth for two minutes.
Tune up your furnace. Getting your furnace serviced every two years not only reduces the amount of carbon dioxide it emits, it also cuts your heating bills by up to 10%.
Lower the temperature. The Alliance to Save Energy estimates that you can take 5% off your heating bill for every degree you lower your home’s temperature during the cold season.
Fix that leaking faucet. That constant drip, drip, drip isn’t just grating, it’s also wasting water — 2,700 gallons a year to be exact.
Check your toilet tank. If you put a drop of food coloring into your toilet bowl and it doesn’t disappear, your tank is leaking, says Clark. Get it fixed and you can salvage 200 gallons of water a day.

Once you start thinking about ways to save energy costs at home ideas will really start to flow. Making your home green will contribute to energy savings, help the environment and save you a little money along the way.

Whatcom County Parks Growth Potential

2007-10-04T17:02:00Z

Whatcom County is looking at creating low-impact parks, with trails and camping, for thousands of acres of state-managed land that may be transferred to county control, Parks & Recreation Director Michael McFarlane said Tuesday.

The Whatcom County Executive and state Department of Natural Resources announced Friday they agreed to work together on a plan to transfer lands in the Lake Whatcom watershed. The plan should be ready for public review by the end of the year.

At issue are more than 8,000 acres of state-managed forestland, which could be used to develop parks and trails to connect the 641 acres of parkland the county owns in the watershed.

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, a lot of questions that need to be answered on this,” said McFarlane, who provided an update to the County Council Tuesday night. “At this particular point in time, we don’t even know what that would look like out there.”

The county could benefit because a deal could help protect Lake Whatcom’s water quality and provide recreational opportunities for residents, McFarlane said. Meanwhile, the DNR could benefit by combining lands under its control, making them easier to manage, he said.

How much it would cost the county to manage the land isn’t yet known, officials said. The county would also lose revenue generated by timber harvesting on those lands.

Lake Whatcom, the drinking water source for about 91,000 Bellingham-area residents, is seeing deteriorating water quality, and stormwater runoff from development is at least partly to blame.

McFarlane said the county executive had to get the DNR to the table to see if it was interested in negotiations.

“Both parties need to come into this willing to negotiate and give and take,” he said.

Most council members said they supported the idea but hoped the county would study early on how it planned to manage the land. One felt it would be an exciting legacy to have this potential park area in the watershed be created.

Some residents told the council they supported the idea, which David Wallin, an environmental science professor at Western Washington University, said has been considered for more than a decade. Park land is better for the lake than land that’s logged, he said.

Subprime Mess Could be Masking a Great Buying Opportunity!

2007-10-01T19:52:00Z

Lately when reading a paper, internet news services, or watching the nightly news, one might think getting a mortgage today is out of the question. That's the irony of this whole sub-prime mess. If you have good or decent credit its actually a great time to secure long term financing on your dream home.

The media is concentrating way to much on past loans and all the foreclosures that the market is experiencing and forgetting to mention that it's actually not a bad time to buy a home. It's so hard to see thru all the negative chatter to realize the next couple years might just very well be one of the best buying opportunities for the next decade.

Take my area of the country for instance: we have very low unemployment, retail sales are still relatively high historically, Interest rates on a 30 year fixed loan are in the low 6 percent range, we live in a very desireable area of the country and you have a buyers market. Forget about that mortgage mess, what does that have to do with buying today and into the future.

I for one am glad that mess is getting cleaned up. I was never a fan of interest only loans or mortgages that had those 1-3 years fixed that turned into adjustable loans. I can see if someone secured a 5 or even 10 year fixed that turned into an adjustable after that period, but certainly not the shorter term ones. To make things worse, buyers were putting down anywhere from 0-10% in many cases, thats not good coupled with those short term fixed loans.

Most qualified home buyers have nothing to fear, except the confusion they have from all this negative chatter. If you have good to decent credit, a decent down payment and plan to stay in your home for at least 5 years or more, today is a great time to buy a home.

The term "mortgage meltdown" has become so commonplace — on TV, in headlines and even casual conversations — that you might assume that this is a tough time to get a mortgage.
But the reality is starkly different: Mortgage money is plentiful, most mortgage products remain relatively unaffected by troubles in the subprime segment and interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate loans remain in the low 6 percent range for people with reasonably good — not necessarily perfect — credit backgrounds. via Kenneth R. Harney, Syndicated Columnist

Consumers are hearing so much negative talk about the mortgage business that most think it's a terrible time in the mortgage market, which leads them to believe that won't qualify for a loan. The good news is that the products and underwriting that allowed people to buy houses they couldn't afford have disappeared. Were finally getting back to a more normal mortgage market when it comes to lending for the real estate market.

Whatcom County Hires New Planning Director

2007-09-28T01:14:00Z

Whatcom County has hired David Stalheim as their new Director of Planning and Development Services. Stalheim most recently was the Community Development Director for Ashland, Oregon. He also has previous experience by working for nine years as the community development director for Wenatchee and also served as the planning director for Clallam County for over five years.

Former Whatcom Planning Director Hal Hart resigned the position earlier this year. Stalheim will start in early November at a salary of $101,364.

Stalheim was scheduled to be present at Tuesday's Whatcom County Council meeting for his confirmation and to meet the council and community members.

Pete Kremen, Whatcom County Executive, said "Mr. Stalheim is a collaborator, he is knowledgeable, very experienced and has the skill set for moving this community forward".

Stalheim said family considerations figured into taking the Whatcom County position. “I am eager to return to Washington State where I have developed deep roots. Our family looks forward to becoming part of the community," he said.

While in Wenatchee, Stalheim is credited with bringing the city into compliance with the Growth Management Act and implementing the Geographic Information and permit tracking system. He also managed $5 million in grant funds for community centers, housing rehabilitation, parks and planning.

Kremen said it was a deliberate and focused search. “We wanted to make sure we got the right person and I believe we have. I am very excited about David taking over in planning." Sam Ryan had been acting as the planning director during the interim period.

For all your Bellingham real estate needs visit Bellingham WA Homes.