Northwest Living | Bellingham Real Estate Market

This newer North Bellingham home is our home of the month for September 2008. It was built by custom home builder RH Construction and features lots of custom upgrades along with a beautiful landscaped setting. The home is located in the upscale Myers Estates community.

If your looking for a newer one story home, priced reasonably, you might want to take a look at this home and this lovely area of Whatcom County.  The landscaping and lawn is well manicured by the owner and pride in ownership shows through-out this beautiful home. One of the nicest landscaped yards in this area beaming with quality homes through-out.

The home is located at 5306 Myers Drive, which is about 3/4 mile west of Northwest Rd & Smith Rd in the North Bellingham area. It’s actually just inside the city limits of Ferndale, WA. The full details for our home of the month can be viewed at North Bellingham home for sale. This Ferndale home for sale is priced at $332,500.

The interior layout is unique in that the master bedroom is on one side of the house tucked in behind the kitchen and the two other bedrooms are on the opposite side of the home. The ceilings in the home are mostly nine foot, providing a spacious feeling to this 1,615 square feet home. The living room is quite large and comfortable that also features a lovely gas fireplace with a tile surround and wood mantle. There’s even a partial view of Mt Baker from the back of the home.

Some of the amenities near by include Hovander Park in Ferndale, Northwest Soccer Fields, Haggen’s Grocery, Cost Cutter Foods, Bellis Fair Mall, St. Joseph Hospital, tree lined streets, neighborhoods with sidewalks, walkers paradise, and easy accessible roads heading to all areas of Whatcom County.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group Realtors - Bellingham WA Homes

Portland, Oregon, takes the top spot as the greenest city in the U.S., according to a ranking of the nation’s 50 most-populous cities by SustainLane, an online guide to news and products related to sustainable living. This is no surprise at all to us that live here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

The rankings “track the unfolding story of cities working to improve their residents’ quality of life,” SustainLane said on its website. “In this story, some cities are becoming more self-reliant and better prepared for an uncertain future, while others have been slow to act on opportunities to green their municipalities.”

In ranking the cities, SustainLane looked at sixteen factors, including transportation options, air quality, roadway congestion, tap water quality, housing affordability, solid waste diversion and local food availability.

Portland, which SustainLane said has been “thinking green since the 70s, when the rest of the country was still embracing the strip mall,” was noted for its strict land-use policies. It is in the process of converting itself into a so-called “20 Minute City” in which residents spend a maximum of twenty minutes commuting from their homes to work and other activities. Portland ranked first in all sixteen categories except affordability, natural disaster risk and water supply.

Third on the list was Seattle, WA for many reasons. It’s location between Puget Sound and Lake Washington and to its easy access to just about any kind of outdoorsy activity your sustainable heart desires. Seattle is very committed to it’s area wide recycling programs. SustainLane’s site said In 2006, more than 90 percent of Seattle’s energy supply came from renewable sources. And by the time light rail plans are complete in 2016, Seattle ’s streets should be free from car congestion, trees and green buildings ubiquitous, and two-wheeled commuter sightings more common than an overcast day.

San Francisco, Chicago, and New York rounded out the top five on the list. Chicago ranked first in the category of water supply and New York took top honors in the categories of metro transit ridership and land use.

SustainLane started ranking green cities in 2005, and the last report came out in 2006. In gathering the data, the site relied on the U.S. Census to determine the most populous cities, along with public data and its own research.

If they ever do a study on smaller cities, Bellingham, WA would rate pretty close to the top of that list. It’s no secret that our area is a leader nationally when it comes to Sustainable Connections, the Green movement, and the Quality of the outdoor life we enjoy here in Whatcom County.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group Realtors - Whatcom County Real Estate

Home mortgage rates fell again this past week, sending the rate on the 30-year fixed rate mortgage down for a fifth straight week to its lowest level since February, Freddie Mac said.

The average rate on the 30 year fixed-rate mortgage is down about 0.75 percentage point since its decline began last month according to Freddie Mac chief economist, in a news release.

The mortgage rate averaged 5.78% for the week ended Sept. 18, down from 5.93% last week and 6.34% a year ago. It hasn’t been lower since the week ended Feb. 14, when it averaged 5.72%. The loan hit its low for the year on Jan. 24, at 5.48%.

The 15 year fixed rate mortgage averaged 5.35%, down from 5.54% last week and the year ago 5.98%. Five year Treasury indexed hybrid adjustable rate mortgages averaged 5.67%, down from 5.87% last week and the year ago 6.21%. One year Treasury indexed ARMs averaged 5.03%, down from 5.21% and the year earlier 5.65%.

As a result of the mortgage rate decline mortgage applications surged nearly 58% since Aug. 15, largely led by a 122% gain in applications for refinancing, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The more we can get the bad loans out of the system through refinancing into fixed interest loans the better this economy will be going into the future.

The government takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has spurred a decline in mortgage rates that some analysts say could be long lasting.

In the Bellingham, WA market I have had a quite a few mortgage people email me over the last few weeks that were very excited about where mortgage rates are currently at.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group Realtors - Bellingham WA Real Estate

If you’re planning on putting your home on the market consider fixing it up first. Simple cosmetic changes don’t cost very much and they can make a real difference to a buyer. The following are a couple of ways home owners can spruce up a home for sale:

1) Take out the stuff. You should throw out, or at least hide, the clutter. Pick up old newspapers and magazines from the coffee table and put the shoes away in the closet. Don’t let potential buyers be distracted by all your stuff. Homes look better without clutter. They also look more appealing with furniture, so fill any empty rooms you may have.

2) Polish and clean. You don’t want to show a dirty house. Mop the floors and scrub the counter tops. Clean kitchen appliances as well. If it’s an older model appliance, a little shine will make it seem newer. If a room needs a fresh coat of paint, then paint it. Try to stay away from bright colors, which might not appeal to every buyer.

3) Arrange your furniture. A good furniture layout can change the way a room looks. Try setting up chairs and couches around a focal point such as a fireplace.

4) Bring in a professional. Professionals in this arena are called stagers. Their fees can range from $200 for a two-hour consultation up to a couple thousand for a full house staging. Stagers can also provide any furniture and accessories that may be needed. A good resource to find a stager is the International Association of Home Staging Professionals.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group Realtors - Bellingham WA Real Estate