Tenants 4 Turns: Ski Free At Stevens Pass

To assist employees in finding housing for the winter season, Stevens Pass offers local area homeowners incentives to rent to Stevens Pass employees through the “Tenants 4 Turns” program.

How does it work?

Local landlords advertise their rental at Stevens and they maintain a list of rentals, and make it available to any hired employee.  Once they receive a signed rental agreement the landlord receives a pass or ticket package.

Are you an interested landlord or homeowner?
Do you have a house or room for rent in the area? Would you like to ski or ride this winter at Stevens Pass? Agree to list your rental through the Tenants 4 Turns program and rent to a Stevens Pass employee this winter and you may be eligible for 10 lift tickets good for the 2012-2013 winter season or a $100 season pass!

How can a homeowner sign up?
To request more information on the Tenants 4 Turns program guidelines and eligibility requirements, email humanresources@stevenspass.com.

Leavenworth Home Inspection Photo: Stick a cork in it!

I never know what I’m going to come across.  Check out this photo from a recent Leavenworth home inspection.  It’s an interesting way to fill a hole.  Now you know what to do with all those corks you get from wine tasting in Leavenworth!

Lake Chelan Home Inspection Photo

Here is an opportunity to learn from someone else’s mistake.  Check out the photo below taken at a recent Chelan home inspection.  You should never cut a main support beam so that plumbing pipes have an easier route.  Pipes have curved elbows and connections for a reason!  Don’t compromise the overall integrity of your structure.  Use proper plumbing installation practices.

Winthrop Home Inspection Photo: Rattlesnakes!

Check out this recent photo from a home inspection in Methow Valley.  I came across a dead rattlesnake in the crawl space.  This deadly guy may have entered through the ventilation while chasing dinner.  Make sure your crawl spaces are adequately sealed!

Winthrop home inspection in Methow Valley

Washington building industry to recover by end of 2012.

Our Wenatchee home inspection company is a member of the North Central Home Builders Association.  In the May/June issue of the Building Industry Association of Washington’s Building Insight Newsletter they included the chart below.  The green states show the best recovery predicted from 18 months from now.  These are promising numbers.  It is careful to note that the building demand may return but the cost of building may also increase.  With many out-of-work skilled laborers finding different jobs and mills shutting down during this construction lull the labor and materials may be in short supply and thus increasing the cost of new homes.  Those that are able to make investments right now are in a fine position to get the best deals.

Source: BIAW Building Insight May/June 2011

Kirkland gains 31,000 residents and Woodinville loses a fire department.

We perform a lot of Kirkland home inspections and I’m sure the new home buyers and current homeowners are very happy they’ll receive property tax savings soon.  The Kirkland annexation will boast the benefits of 31,000 more residents, a decrease in property taxes and increased law enforcement, but one neighborhood loses a fire department.  In a KING-5 News video interview the Kirkland mayor says that they are prepared to cover the larger area.  The city had been working on the annexation for 10 years.  The Woodinville area fire department had a closing ceremony today to honor their “second home” and office.

“One of the biggest annexations King County has seen in a long time became official a minute after midnight Tuesday. The Finn Hill, North Juanita and Kingsgate neighborhoods are now part of Kirkland…the city has done extensive research and is confident Kirkland can welcome 31,000 additional residents and 200 new businesses while providing essential city services.   One change will be law enforcement. On Tuesday, the King County Sheriff’s Office patrolled the Finn Hill, North Juanita and Kingsgate neighborhoods. Now Kirkland police take over. That’s why the department hired 24 new officers and still plans on adding 13 more.  The Kingsgate area, however, lost a nearby Woodvinville fire station. Residents there have concerns about what that will mean for service. Kirkland’s mayor said the city has hired additional firefighters and they are working to make sure response times stay low.”

Source KING 5 News, June 1, 2011 at 7:20 AM

2011 Wenatchee Real Estate Outlook (5 of 5)

Guest writer, Rebecca Darley

As the manager of a Wenatchee home inspection company I attend many local real estate events to stay informed of the latest real estate news and developments.  On May 19, 2011, the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted a discussion panel called “2011 Real Estate Outlook.” This blog entry along with the other 4 entries will summarize the panel discussions of each speaker including a loan officer, appraiser, commercial real estate agent, builder and residential real estate broker.

 Previous Entries:

• Speaker from Touchstone Appraisals, Cheri Farivar
• Speaker from Peoples Bank, Darel Ansley
• Speaker from Windermere NCW, Fritz Nichols
• Speaker from Gold Construction, Randy Gold

Alan Biedler, Commercial Real Estate Broker at Sage Real Estate Services

Alan Biedler is a Commercial Real Estate Broker, Certified Property Manager and Certified Commercial Investment Member.  He has specialized in commercial sales and leasing for the last 26  years and has been active in the Wenatchee Valley housing and commercial real estate market for more than 41 years. 

Due to the lack of sales in 2008-2010 Alan feels that appraisers are having a hard time finding comps and are either using non-local or old comps.  This isn’t helping to identify true values.  The commercial leasing market is the most interesting he’s seen 26 years.  Businesses are downsizing and landlords are offering better concessions.  Tenants are asking for free rent and fixed leases for several years.  For example, a recent transaction occurred where the potential tenant started negotiations by asking for 10 months of free rent, a moving allowance and space planning allowance on a 5 year lease agreement.

Alan predicts that there will be a huge problem in refinancing commercial loans.  Businesses that have not performed well over the last couple of years or who have experienced decreased sales will have a tougher time qualifying.  The low commercial rates of 4.5% and the affordable value of raw land make it the perfect time to invest.

Wenatchee Real Estate Outlook 2011 (4 of 5)

Guest writer, Rebecca Darley

As the manager of a Wenatchee home inspection company I attend many local real estate events to stay informed of the latest industry news and developments.  On May 19, 2011, the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted a discussion panel called “2011 Real Estate Outlook.” This blog entry along with the other 4 entries will summarize the panel discussions of each speaker including a loan officer, appraiser, commercial real estate broker, builder and residential real estate broker.

Previous Entries:

• Speaker from Touchstone Appraisals, Cheri Farivar
• Speaker from Peoples Bank, Darel Ansley
• Speaker from Windermere NCW, Fritz Nichols

Randy Gold is the owner of Gold Construction and has 26 years of experience in the building industry.  Gold Construction won two awards in 2002: the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) Washington State Builder of the Year and Wenatchee Business Journal Reader’s Choice Award for Best Builder. He was the founding President of the local Home Builders Association (NCHBA) and the 2003 President of the BIAW, the largest trade association in Washington State.  He moved to Wenatchee from San Diego in the early 1980’s.

Randy started his discussion with a look back to the building industry cycles of the preceding decades.  In the 1970’s the interest rates averaged 10%.  In the early 1980’s the interest rates escalated to an astonishing 19%.  Randy commented that he was trying to build anything that he could “from fences to dog houses” to make ends meet.  In the 1990’s he started building spec homes and was doing really well.  As that decade ended the demand fell and he was stuck with 2 -3 spec homes on the market for two years.  In 2000 he decided to focus on high-end custom homes and was feeling like he had figured out the industry when the bottom fell out in 2008.  He says “this is longest downturn I’ve ever seen.”  Everyone on the panel agreed that they’ve experienced slow and hard times in our real estate market but the fallout of 2008 is taking a long time to sort out.

Randy believes that bargain hunting, longer processing periods, low offers and desperate sellers accepting lowball offers are all factors contributing to the decrease in home values.  He has already sold one spec home for less than it cost to build. 

He predicts a huge epidemic will surface once the new construction demand returns.  Many mills and plants closed and skilled workers found other jobs due to lack of demand in construction.  Randy believes that building material costs will skyrocket and construction lag time will increase while a shortage in building materials and skilled workers will have to be figured out.  He agreed with the other panelists that this is the best time to buy.  New regulations and requirements from building codes will increase the cost of building as well.  He believes that interest in remodeling will increase due to everyone’s equity being tied up in their home.

2011 Wenatchee Real Estate Outlook (3 of 5)

Guest writer, Rebecca Darley

As the manager of a Wenatchee home inspection company I must stay educated on the latest local real estate news and developments.  On May 19, 2011, the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce invited local real estate experts to lead a discussion panel called “2011 Real Estate Outlook.” This blog entry along with the next 2 entries will summarize the panel discussions of each speaker.

Previous Entries:

• Speaker from Touchstone Appraisals, Cheri Farivar
• Speaker from Peoples Bank, Darel Ansley

Fritz Nichols is the owner of Windermere NCW in Wenatchee.  He’s been in the real estate industry since 1994 residing in the Puget Sound area and has recently expanded his services to the Wenatchee Valley.  Like us, Fritz works in Western and Central Washington and has seen the effects of the housing market throughout those areas.  He started off his discussion with some stats.

In the first quarter inventory of 2010 there were 620 single family homes comparing to 501 in 2011.  About 10% of the inventory is bank owned homes matching the stats of the past couple of years.  The Puget Sound area is seeing about 20% REOs and short sales in their inventory with up to 45% in some badly affected areas.  In Wenatchee we’ve been fortunate to see rental vacancies trending down along with the inventory.  This is a good sign.

Fritz predicted that the 2011 inventory will increase over the summer as it usually does annually, but he doesn’t expect much appreciation in home values.  Fritz also commented on the media’s negative coverage on the real estate market.  Gallup polls and Newsweek articles claiming that the homeownership dream is dead is not an accurate portrayal of the local opinion.  His experience with clients has been completely opposite.  Home buyers are taking advantage of affordable homes and cheap money realized by low lending rates.

On a side note, I came across an article while research Fritz’s Wenatchee home market stats.  Bloomberg news write this on May 10, 2011: “Among metropolitan counties, the biggest sales improvement from the fourth quarter of 2010 was in Chelan County (Wenatchee), which saw a 25.5 percent increase in sales, followed by Spokane County with a 20.1 percent jump. Sales declined 18.2 percent in Asotin County (Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Wash.) and 9.1 percent in Thurston County (Olympia).”  Good news for Wenatchee!

Source: Sales and prices of homes slip in Wash. State

Wenatchee Valley Real Estate Outlook 2011 (2 of 5)

As the manager of a Wenatchee home inspection company it’s very important learn about the latest real estate news and information.  On May 19, 2011, the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce led a discussion panel with local real estate experts to discuss the current state of the real estate market and to say their predictions for the rest of 2011.  This blog entry along with the next 3 entries will summarize the panel discussions of each speaker.

 Previous Entry: Speaker from Touchstone Appraisals, Cheri Farivar

Darel Ansley, Real Estate Loan Officer at Peoples Bank

Darel is a Real Estate Loan Officer at the Wenatchee Peoples Bank.  He specializes in construction loans and mortgages for Wenatchee, Chelan, Leavenworth, and Okanogan Counties.  He has lived in Wenatchee for 8 years after moving from Issaquah.

Darel concentrated on the topics of availability of funds and the access to low mortgage rates.  Mortgage fees increased a quarter point in March while rates are staying at an extremely low 4-4.5%.  Darel assured everyone that there are plenty of funds.  While more affordable options are available in the Wenatchee home market, buyers have to consider increased mortgage fees that are adding about $100 on average to the monthly payment.  With “cheap money” lended to home buyers they can currently buy more home for less money.  Darel agreed with Cheri Farivar (Touchstone Appraisals) that now is the time to buy!  He sees our current economic cycle in the bottom of a “U” shape.  While our market is going to improve slowly in the next couple of years the new regulations imposed on lenders and appraisers will only make the home buying process more time consuming and will double the amount of time to close a transaction.  He also predicts that rates will increase up 5.5% by the end of 2011.