Northwest Living | Bellingham Real Estate Market

CNNMoney.com is reporting today that all of the cities in the US with populations of at least 75,000.  Bellevue, WA is one of the safest places to live in America.  Morgan Quinto Press, an independent research publisher in Lawerence, Kansas released the study monday.

The report studied 371 cities based on FBI crime statistics.  Bellevue, WA was listed with a crime rate of 145.2 per 100,000 residents.  On top of the list of safest towns was Brick Township, NJ with a 55.9 rate.  Here’s a link on data for my Bellingham, WA crime rate and Whatcom County viewers.  Lots of good data can be found on this site for Bellingham, WA.

The top two cities with the highest crime rate, according to the study, were this years World Series participants St. Louis, MO with a crime rate of 2,405.5 crimes per 100,000 residents, and Detroit at 2,357.6  via CNNMoney.com

Thanks to Pittsburgh Homes Daily for compiling a list of 500 real estate blogs from across the country.  I’m posting this list to provide our viewers with a good source on real estate information thru-out the country.  I’ve already checked out about 10-15 of the sites and found most of the blogs to be updated with good useful stories

“5 superstar cities should outperform the rest of nation over time, thanks to healthy economies and rising incomes.” It’s believed that even if markets like Seattle do experience a small downturn in prices, the long term trend will outperform most other big markets over time.  Seattle, WA and the Puget Sound in general from Vancouver, BC to Portland, Oregon are very desirable areas to live.  With the land restrictions in place, there just isn’t much area to build new homes on.  This fact, along with the areas strong employment figures, positions the Puget Sound area for good long term growth in the housing sector.It’s believed that even if markets like Seattle do experience a small downturn in prices, the long term trend will outperform most other big markets over time.  Seattle, WA and the Puget Sound in general from Vancouver, BC to Portland, Oregon are very desirable areas to live.  With the land restrictions in place, there just isn’t much area to build new homes on.  This fact, along with the areas strong employment figures, positions the Puget Sound area for good long term growth in the housing sector.I’ve always believed that when the real estate market toughens up at times like this, it’s best to be in an area of high demand.  I call it the “ripple affect”…If you drop a rock in a pond, the ripples are largest at that spot and get smaller as you go farther out.  For instance in my market, Bellingham is the most sought after real estate in Whatcom County.  The farther you go out from Bellingham, prices tend to be softer, for the most part.  We do have some secondary markets like Lynden, Ferndale and Birch Bay that hold their own.  However, in general Bellingham is the center of our market (pond).

It’s believed that even if markets like Seattle do experience a small downturn in prices, the long term trend will outperform most other big markets over time.  Seattle, WA and the Puget Sound in general from Vancouver, BC to Portland, Oregon are very desirable areas to live.  With the land restrictions in place, there just isn’t much area to build new homes on.  This fact, along with the areas strong employment figures, positions the Puget Sound area for good long term growth in the housing sector.I’ve always believed that when the real estate market toughens up at times like this, it’s best to be in an area of high demand.  I call it the “ripple affect”…If you drop a rock in a pond, the ripples are largest at that spot and get smaller as you go farther out.  For instance in my market, Bellingham is the most sought after real estate in Whatcom County.  The farther you go out from Bellingham, prices tend to be softer, for the most part.  We do have some secondary markets like Lynden, Ferndale and Birch Bay that hold their own.  However, in general Bellingham is the center of our market (pond).So it’s reasonable to speculate that markets like Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Boston & Los Angeles should in the long term do very well.  The standard of living is high, employment is great in these areas and there’s a lot of money flowing through these areas of the country.

Limits on the supply of new land and buildings factor heavily, but even more important are trends in household income. According to the study, prices are likely to keep climbing in cities where poor and middle-class households are being nudged out by rich ones. The phenomenon skews prices higher than the national average because more dollars are chasing fewer properties.

According to Joseph Gyourko, who coauthored the study with Sinai, living in these areas is akin to owning a scarce luxury good.  Via Business 2.0 Magazine.

Jerry Campbell - Bellingham WA Realtor - The Muljat Group - Bellingham, WA 98225

I recently took a trip with my family to the southwest part of Washington State along the Columbia River. Our route took us from Bellingham, WA down I-5 south to Kelso, WA where we then followed Hwy 4 west along the Columbia River to the town of Naselle, WA. 

We joined an uncle & his wife in Naselle to fish King Salmon on the Naselle River. What a beautiful area of Washington State with the great Columbia River directly south and the Pacific Ocean to the west.  The climate there makes for a lush woodland sanctuary for a variety of animals, plants and vistas that recall earlier times when the pace of life was much slower.

The area is held up primarily by the logging and fishing industries with many quiet, quaint towns dotting the highways and byways sustaining the friendly hardworking folks who call this area home.

I had read an article in the Sunset Magzine about Southwest Washington and had always wanted to visit the area ever since.  It’s not the first time we read one of Sunset Magazine’s article’s and before you knew it, we were off exploring.

We stayed four days and 3 nights in one of only three motels in the Naselle area and were quite comfortable.  My uncle and I fished near by on the Naselle River several times over the next couple days.  It’s an incredible feeling being on the river in nature, enjoying all the sounds, the color of the landscape & trees and waiting for the alluding King’s coming up the river.

One of the several highlights was the visit on the river of three playful river otters.  They kept their distance but were as curious about us as we were of them.  We also had a pair of grey cranes that fished most of the time we were on the river. It was truly a naturalist’s wonderland.

After lunch one afternoon we made our way up to the Naselle Fish Hatchery. Our timing couldn’t have been better with the entire crew at the hatchery in full swing collecting all the King Salmon that made their way up the fish ladder to spawn.  The workers would collect all the female (Does) salmon on one side of the pen and the males (Bucks) on the other. Basically they would gather the eggs and sperm, mix them and after they had about 25 good size buckets full, they took them back up to the hatchery buildings to continue the spawning incubation process. The public is welcome to come and learn about the salmon hatchery anytime but I must say stopping by during mid-fall is really a good bet.

This area has a ton of history and if we had more time and not fishing, we could really fill the day touring all the sites. I saw several signs along the Columbia River about the Lewis and Clark expedition.  The town of Naselle, WA & Astoria, OR celebrate their Finnish heritage every other summer with a Finn Festival.

One late afternoon we took Hwy 401 south to Hwy 101 and then the Astoria Bridge over the Columbia River into Astoria, Oregon. We enjoyed an awesome dinner along the Columbia River at one of several restraunts to choose from, what a beautiful site.  We toured the historic town of Astoria after dinner and then returned that evening to Naselle.

On our way home Friday we decided to take another route along the Washington coast to see a different part of our state.  The weather was a beautiful sunny fall day, especially for viewing all the fall colors. I wish we had more time, there was so many places worth stopping.

Our route took Hwy 4 out of Naselle and then north along historic Highway 101.  We stopped several times along Hwy 101 to enjoy the beautiful views of Willapa Bay and some peak boo views of the Pacific Ocean.  The road pretty much stays along the water all the way up to the town of South Bend (the oyster capital of the world).  Then we continued along thru the logging town of Raymond and then North on Hwy 101.  We eventually took Hwy 107 east and then north into the town of Montesano.  From there we took Hwy 12 and then Hwy 8 into Olympia.  From here all the way home was back to the busy freeway of I-5. 

What a beautiful tour of the Southwest area of Washington.  The colors really were awesome, and unlike any other area of the country you have the mixture of our state trees, Douglas Fir & Redwood Cedar, mixed in with the maples, alder and all the other deciduous leaf trees of Western Wasshington. 

Another trip you might want to do, when your down in the Southwest corner of Washington is take a trip out to the Long Beach Peninsula and the Pacific Ocean.

Move over Bellingham Herald, competition has arrived via the Internet for weekend open houses in the Bellingham, WA & the greater Whatcom County area.  Realtors are starting to advertise their open houses on their own web sites instead of with the local print media all the time. 

Eventually, some entrepreneur will create a web site that serves the Whatcom County open house market displaying open houses to the public.  They could make the service available to any local Realtor advertising weekend open houses in the Whatcom County area. They could also make it available to for sale by owners and really provide a service that is needed in the market place today.

As a Realtor in the local market, I can definetly see a niche that is currently being filled only by the local newspaper.  Unlike the newspaper though, a new Whatcom County open house site could provide a lot more detail about the home and provide several photos.  With the paper you get a small ad & photo in the Sunday open house section.  They also put the ad copy on line under the company’s web site’s open house section.

It is a little frustrating with the high cost of advertising in the local paper and I think it would be a great alternative medium for local Realtors to advertise weekend open houses.  Once traffic on the website increases, the propreiter could sell adverting on the site to off-set the expense of promoting the site in the local paper, thus keeping Realtors costs to a minimum. I don’t think it would replace the ads in the local paper, but who knows with way the internet has proceeded.  It would just be nice to have a great alternative with a much richer medium for buyers and sellers. 

With the shelf life of a daily newspaper being so short and the internet being a never ending vehicle…maybe change is in the wind.  At some point a local open house site will come on-line and provide a service that is really needed right now and give the Bellingham herald a run for their money.  That would be a very welcome change when it does happen. I think it will be hard to beat with all the information one could provide to the to the viewing public thru a top notch web site.

Visit Bellingham Sunday open houses on my local real estate site.

Jerry Campbell - Bellingham WA Real Estate - The Muljat Group - Bellingham, WA 98225

 The York neighborhood is one of my favorite areas of Bellingham.   As I’m driving through the York neighborhood, the trees through out this area are in full fall colors.  The streets are lined with many colorful maple trees as well as other species.  It’s really a beautiful site to see and enjoy in this historic neighborhood.

Speaking of Historic, this area is dominated by turn of the century homes.  York neighborhood was established in 1888 with most of the homes in this area being built between 1890-1920.  The architecture of the homes are rich in history, with there sandstone foundations and Victorian era exteriors.  The area has many foursquare houses that were turned out (in numbered pieces) by Sears Roebuck and other catalogue home companies during the years they were manufacturing and selling houses.

York is one of the smallest neighborhoods in size, but is very compact with about 80% of the area consisting of single family homes.  Most of the business located in the York area are in the south, west & a few in the North.

York neighborhood is bounded by Whatcom Creek as its northern boundary.  Starting at state street and following along until the creek crosses under I-5 and into the Puget Neighborhood.  York’s boundary then heads south along the west side of I-5 from Whatcom Creek down past Lakeway drive to Abbott St area. 

 Then the neighborhood goes north along Samish Way, Northwest along Maple St and then north again on Ellis St.  The neighborhood then goes Northwest along E. Holly St heading towards downtown to State St.  Finally York heads Northeast along State St. Until it reaches the bridge that crosses over Whatcom Creek.

The neighborhood features two city parks in Franklin Park & Rock Hill Park.  Franklin Park is located at the corner of Franklin St. & Whatcom St. and features a large grass field, basketball court, playground equipment & a small baseball playing area.  Rock Hill Park, located near Lakeway Drive & Iron St., includes a playground, a field and a basketball court.

The Schools that serve York neighborhood are Carl Cozier Elementry, Kulshan Middle School and Sehome High School.  The Southern end of York is close enough to Western Washington University that a few college students live here and walk or commute to school.

There are a variety of business’s in the York neighborhood, including my office located at The Muljat Group, 510 Lakeway Drive, Where Iv’e been a full-time Realtor since 1993.   In the the Southern section of the York neighborhood you’ll find Boomers Drivein, Diego’s Restraunt, Macs motel, Penzoil master lube and the new Gateway Centre office building.  Our local office for the Northwest Multiple Listing Service is located in the Centre.  Along Ellis st there are a couple business’s including a large day care, Farmers Insurance & Texaco.

Holly St from Ellis to State St. is lined with business’s and older brick apartments.  Some of the business’s are Shell gas station, Kinco’s Copy, Car Quest Auto Parts & a few small professional offices.  State St. along the York neighborhood side is in the Downtown area & is lined with business’s. 

The Bellingham Housing Authority takes up a large area of land off of York St & Grant St.  The Bellingham Housing Authority offices and 198 unit apartment building occupy this site along Whatcom Creek.

There is one large car dealer on the north side called Diehl Ford .  These guys have been around since 1908 and really do offer an outstanding service in the car business.

There are several churches that provide fellowship to the neighborhood: The Glad Tidings Tabernacle at 1430 North Garden Street, built in 1902; the Unitarian Fellowship Hall at 1474 Franklin, built in 1910; the Garden Street Methodist Church at 1330 North Garden, built in 1912; the former church building at 1446 Franklin; and the Bethel Fellowship at Franklin and Grant, built in 1918. 

The York neighborhood web site can be viewed at York Neighborhood Association.  Some additional web sites and articles about the York Neighoborhood listed here: Dividing Line, York rezone, and Bellingham Neighborhoods. 

Jerry Campbell - Bellingham WA Real Estate - The Muljat Group - Bellingham, WA 98225 

 For the next 6 months we will share with our viewer’s about Bellingham’s unique neighborhoods. A New Bellingham neighborhood review will be added each week.  We hope you find the review’s informative, fun & exciting.  Depending on who you talk to, Bellingham WA has between 21-24 unique neighborhoods.  In this guide we will include all of them…plus a few extras for good measure. My office at The Muljat Group is located in the York Neighborhood, centrally located in Bellingham, Washington.

Some of the Neighborhoods that will be included here are the following: Alabama Hill, Birchwood, Columbia, Cornwall Park, Downtown Bellingham, Edgemoor, Fairhaven, Guide Meridian, Happy Valley, Lettered Streets, Meridian, Mount Baker, Puget, Roosevelt, Samish, Sehome, Silver Beach, South, South Hill, Sunnyland, Western Washington University, Whatcom Falls, York. 

Some of the extra neighborhoods that will be included are: Chuckanut, Geneva, New Whatcom, Tweed Twenty, Sudden Valley, and North Bellingham.  These five neighborhoods fall just outside the city limits, but I believe they are very important in the overall fabric of the community in general.   We also plan to review and discuss  all the great towns & rural areas that make up the Greater Whatcom County communtiy. 

We also have started work on cities, towns and communities outside of Bellingham in the rest of beautiful Whatcom County.  Go to these links for information on the following towns: Birch Bay WA, Ferndale Washington, and Lynden, Washington.

According to the National Association of REALTORS, buyers are returning to the market place in many parts of the country now that it appears that home prices are starting to bottom out.  Interest rates have stabilized and have actually come down slightly since the beginning of August 2006.

David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said the housing market is showing signs of life and that sales may be leveling out. “Many potential home buyers who have been taking a wait-and-see attitude or taking their time and being methodical in the search process are being enticed by lower home prices,” Lereah said. “Given a positive economic backdrop of lower interest rates and job creation, we expect sales activity to pick up early next year.”

Existing home sales are forecast to be fairly stable in the fourth quarter and sales for all of 2006 are expected to drop 8.9% to 6.45 million – still the third strongest year after consecutive records in 2004 and 2005.

NAR President Thomas M. Stevens from Vienna, Virginia, said this presents a unique opportunity for buyers. “The supply of homes on the market is the highest we’ve seen in over 13 years, and mortgage interest rates are experiencing an unexpected decline,” said Stevens, senior vice president of NRT Inc.

“The 30-year fixed rate is hovering around 6.3 percent, and sellers in most of the country are now showing a willingness to negotiate,” said Stevens. “While this changing market is a great time to buy, it’s become increasing important for parties on both sides of the real estate transaction process to have professional representation.”

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage will probably average 6.5% in the fourth quarter but will trend up modestly in 2007.  Via RisMedia

Jerry Campbell, Bellingham WA Realtor - The Muljat Group - Bellingham, WA 98225

 Lynden, WA is currently the fastest growing town in Whatcom County, over the last 6 years.  1,730 people moved to Lynden during that span, a 19.2% increase, bringing the population to 10,750.  Blaine, WA came in second at 18.8% increase.

All told, Whatcom County added 17,474 people in the last six years, for a rate of 10.5 percent, making the county eighth in Washington in terms of population growth. Most of those people — 13,011 — moved here from somewhere else.

Lynden has worked hard to put new people inside city limits or in urban growth areas, and it has been welcoming to the national businesses that have been attracted to the increasing population, Mayor Jack Louws said.

“With the increase in population and the businesses that have been developed to support that, I think Lynden’s economy is very healthy,” he said. “I think that we’re still a very desirable place for people to locate in. And it’s my goal that we continue to have the welcome mat
out.”

Nearly 7,000 people moved into rural areas in the last six years, for a 9.2 percent increase. That’s more than twice the rate in rural areas elsewhere in the state.  via the Bellingham Herald.

Once you’ve visited Lynden, WA it’s very easy to see why this town is so desireable.   Driving thru town, your drawn in by it’s treed lined streets, well maintained yards and homes, championship golf course at homestead and the Dutch heritage that thrives strong in this great community.

Brought to you by Jerry Campbell, Realtor - The Muljat Group - Lynden WA real estate 

I just attended the annual Washington Association of Realtors meetings in Bellevue, WA held at the Meydenbauer Convention Center.  This years conference was held October 5-6th. It was another successful event with two full days of continuing education classes, full day of trade show and many other events surrounding this 2006 conference.  I highly recommend all Realtors to attend this event every year to improve their education and get to know other Realtors in our market area.

   During the two day conference I attended several classes.  One of my favorite’s was REALTORS and Blogs taught by Russ Cofano & Dustin Luther.  It was a very informative seminar on the basics of blogs and how to start one for our own business.  Russ Cofano, an awesome speaker in my opinion, blended his 15 years of experience as a speaker along with Dustin Luther, the guy that created a very popular blog in the Seattle, Wa area called Rain City Guide.  I would also review Russ Cofano’s web site called Realty Objectives.

In the afternoon session I attended Ralph Roberts class called How to Explode your Business through the use of a virtual assistant.  Ralph Roberts is considered the ”Michael Jordan” of residential real estate sales in the United States market.

On Friday October 6, 2006 I attended a full day of classes on The Economics of Real Estate in Today’s Market, put on by John Tuccilo.  He is one of the foremost real estate and housing finance economists in the United States.

The trade show was awesome as usual, with over 150 title companys, banks, real estate software companys, home inspectors and many more segments of the real estate business.

Jerry Campbell - Bellingham WA Realtor - The Muljat Group - Bellingham, WA 98225