Northwest Living | Bellingham Real Estate Market

Bellingham, WA - March is traditionally when homeowners thinking of selling their homes prepare their property for listing in the local Whatcom County real estate market. The winter holidays are usually the slowest time of the year because of the cold weather and holiday events. As soon as buds start to appear on trees it seems to be the real beginning of the listing season and for sale signs pop up in yards.

The last two years there have been a few more for sale signs than usual and they have stayed longer than the boom years from a few years ago. To stay competitive in this ever changing market most homeowners thinking of selling need an edge to get noticed. The best thing a homeowner can do is make sure their home is in show condition. I’ve posted about the importance of staging a home for sale before, so I won’t go into to much today. Our viewers might want to visit an article we posted called selling your home in a buyer’s market to get an edge in selling their home. There are also some good articles under our Seller Tips category that should help as well.

Bellingham and Whatcom County home owners have it a lot better than many real estate markets in southern states across the nation. According to the statistics, Whatcom County only had 19% of all loans in the sub-prime market, with 81% in prime lending. That number most definitely has dropped even more, now that the mortgage industry has returned to more normal loans. Just because Whatcom County has 19% of mortgages in the sub-prime market does not mean all of these will fail. It’s estimated that only about 5% of these will go into some form of foreclosure. By checking out the following national subprime mortgage map, county by county, home owners can get a better feel for where the real problems are across the nation.

If one were to look at the subprime map, you can see that the Northwest really doesn’t have the same problem that the many areas of the country are experiencing. I mention this because It’s really the negative chatter and consumer sentiment that is making our real estate markets tough in the Northwest. Because we are a national economy it does effect us locally, but certainly not like those in parts of California, Arizona, Texas, Mississippi, Florida, and many more states.

The thing most home owners should take to heart is that if your selling in a buyers market and planning to buy right away, then on the buying side you will gain that advantage. Actually no matter what market your in, as long as your selling and turning around and buying again…you’ll do fine. Happy Saint Patrick’s day everyone and may you find good luck in all your housing needs this year.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group - Bellingham WA - Bellingham WA Real Estate

 the National newspaper USA Today posted this little stat the other day in their paper showing that Bellingham, Washington showed that area homes were holding there value. In fact it was the second best area in the country during 2007 with that distinction.

I Believe that since the Whatcom County housing market is so close to the Canadian market and the fact that our Canadian neighbors are buying purchasing property down here helps contribute to our real estate. Ever since the Canadian Looney and the American Dollar achieved parity with each other, more and more home buyers from British Columbia have been buying property in Bellingham and Whatcom County.

When you compare the geographical areas where most residents of lower mainland British Columbia and the areas of Whatcom County the population is nearing three million in BC and just 180,000 in Whatcom County. A home in Whatcom County would be 2-3 times it’s value if it was located in the more demand driven British Columbia markets.

But nevertheless its always nice to see yet another national magazine touting Whatcom County, this time on home prices.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group Realtors - Bellingham Real Estate

During the whole month of December we have been developing a brand new Whatcom County real estate web site in order to better serve our buyers and sellers for the Whatcom County area.  The site will also provide services to the Skagit County, Island County, and San Juan County real estate market as well.

Our new web site will provide extensive information about the Whatcom County area to better inform buyers relocating to our area. 

The search real estate capabilities will be built out over time and we have joined the REW web site capabilities on our WhatcomRealEstate.com site with our WhatcomHomeSearch.com to create a Dynamic web site of the future. The combination of these two sites together will serve our current clients and future clients needs in so many ways, that we feel we will be providing them with many advantages over the competition.  

 The popular online Craigslist, is being used more and more by Realtors and some for sale by owners alike as an effective tool for advertising homes for sale in Whatcom County.  The centralized network of online communities, featuring free classified advertising for most anything one can think of and yes even homes for sale. 

 The service was founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark for the San Francisco Bay Area. After incorporating as a private for-profit company in 1999, Craigslist expanded into nine more U.S. cities in 2000, four each in 2001 and 2002, and 14 in 2003. As of September 2007, Craigslist had established itself in approximately 450 cities in 50 countries. The Photo to the left is their actual offices in San Francisco.

Vancouver, Canada, was the first non U.S. city included. London, England was the first city outside North America. As of September 2007, 450 cities in 50 countries are represented.

The site serves over five billion page views per month, putting it in 51st place overall among web sites world wide, ninth place overall among web sites in the United States (per Alexa.com on November 10, 2007), to ten million unique visitors. With over ten million new classified advertisements each month, Craigslist is the leading classifieds service in any medium. The site receives over 500,000 new job listings each month, making it one of the top job boards in the world. The classified advertisements range from traditional buy/sell ads and community announcements, to personal ads and even erotic services.

One nice thing about advertising on sites like Craigslist is that you don’t have to worry about abreviating as you do in the print media with local newspaper ads. You’re not posting in the newspaper anymore. Craigslist and other classified sites let you write as much info as you’d like. Use that ability. Everyone does not know what dw, cac, and other abbreviations mean.

First glance at the site and it’s hard to see how craigslist can be so popular.  Her case in point, don’t let the appearance fool you, these guys are giants in advertising in what ever city they set up in.  It seems like almost a weekly or daily experience where someone is telling me that they got a great response from just advertising a free ad on craigslist.

After posting this article in fact I’m actually heading over to my real estate web site to post some new listings on to…you guessed it… CraigsList. Search Bellingham real estate on CraigsList.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group Realtors - Bellingham WA - Bellingham Real Estate

Inman News recently released a list of the 100 most influential people associated with the real estate business that reflects the industry’s best and brightest this business has to offer.  The list also includes some people outside the business who were considered influential to the home buying and home selling business of real estate.  According to Inman the people of this list embraced leadership, innovation, ingenuity, power and persistence.

The list was categorized into six categories that included: Brokerage, Technology and Online Real Estate, Trade associations and goverment agencies, media heavyweights, economist and Academics, Mortgage and ancillary services, and a bonus area called notables.

The list included some Northwest people and you can find them by going to 100 most influential real estate leaders.

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

Frontier Financial Corp. has acquired Whidbey Island Bank in a move to improve its position in the Northwest area of Washington State.  The deal to purchase Whidbey Island Bank will cost Frontier about $191.1 million.

“We are absolutely thrilled to have Washington Banking join our organization,” stated John Dickson, Frontier Financial’s President and Chief Executive, in a prepared statement. ”Whidbey Island Bank is a high-quality organization that operates with a philosophy very similar to our own.”  He went on to say, “We believe this will be an outstanding combination of highly talented employees who bring with them a solid customer base, and we look forward to welcoming the Washington Banking team into the Frontier family.”

The holding company for Frontier Bank, Frontier Financial is headquartered in Western Washington. The terms of the agreement call for Frontier to pay approximately $21.40 per share to Washington Banking Co., the holding company of Whidbey Island Bank.

Frontier already owns 782,506 shares of Washington Banking common stock at a cost basis of $3.1 million. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.

Frontier operates 47 offices in Washington and plans to open its 48th location in October in Gig Harbor. Whidbey Island Bank has 20 branches in San Juan, Skagit, Island, Whatcom and Snohomish counties.

“The professionals on the Frontier team are amongst the finest bankers in the region, and I am confident that our organizations will both benefit from this combination,” said Michal Cann, chief executive of Washington Banking Co. “As we considered all of our strategic growth options, it became obvious that choosing to partner with Frontier would provide the greatest benefits and opportunities for our shareholders, employees, customers and the communities we serve.”

Following the merger, Cann will continue as senior vice president and regional manager. Additionally, one member of the Washington Banking board will be selected by Frontier to join the boards of Frontier.

Frontier previously announced a merger with the Bank of Salem that it is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2007. Following the mergers with Bank of Salem and Washington Banking, Frontier’s total assets will be approximately $4.6 billion.

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

What are the changes taking place today that will influence our business tomorrow? Learn what the experts at Real Estate Connect think the future of real estate will be like.

I’ve always admired Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist.com. He has a terrific sense of humor, especially when he referred to himself at this year’s Connect as “eye candy.” He is an amazing model for our industry. For a man who is worth billions, he describes himself as “just the customer service guy who answers the phone.” I have every confidence that Newmark takes customer service calls. At the heart of what our business should be, even in light of all the technological innovation, is being of service to those who elect to do business with us. Our business is not about just the numbers, it’s about making a difference to those who lives we touch.

Craigslist is in a sense, like a huge blog, because it’s constantly being added to and updated with unique content.  Since Craigslist is so interactive with millions of users it definetly is part of the wave of Web 2.0.  Craigslist founder says that what Web 2.0 offers is a chance for those who are “normal” to have a louder voice than the “crazies.” What does this have to do with real estate?

Newmark says that advertising today is about authenticity; it’s not about scripts or Madison Avenue advertising tactics. Instead, it’s real people telling real stories. It’s time to stop apologizing for who you are and connect with the world out there. Ultimately, it’s the personal chemistry that gets you the business, not how fancy your Web site or advertising copy is. Especailly with the real estate business, where it’s how a Realtor connects on a personally with their clients.

Hugh MacLeod in his keynote echoed similar sentiments. According to MacLeod, “The market for something to believe in is infinite.” MacLeod spoke extensively about “social objects.” A group of 1,000 baseballs could be identical. However, the one that Barry Bonds hits to set a new world record has extreme value. It’s not the object that has value, it’s the story. What matters are the conversations that we have with others about the social object.

This dovetails with the work of Clotaire Rapaille, the marketing guru for 50 of the Fortune 100 companies. Americans are not really buying the bricks and mortar — what they’re really buying is the dream of home ownership.

Web 2.0 is about sharing our experiences. Coca Cola and Doritos elected to have their customers compete to see who could create the best commercial. Customers voted for their favorite. They talked to their friends, argued for why their choice was best, and ultimately created more buzz and word-of-mouth marketing than any well-executed advertising campaign from an agency could generate.

We are already being inundated with stories and pictures from numerous sources. A great video can give you an international reputation in just hours. Sites such as Flickr.com allow us to share our photos. YouTube.com, HelloWorld.com, BlipTV.com and Blinx.com are places to share our videos. Blogs and social networks such as Facebook.com, Linkedin.com, RealTown and MySpace.com are creating international communities of like-minded people where they share their experiences and seek advice. Sites such as Twitter.com allow people to share what they’re doing this moment.

As computers expand from dual processors to 64 processors or even more, our ability to access full-length, high-quality video and even three dimensional communications will follow. The new “maplets” from Google allow you to populate those maps with gas stations, museums, your listings, or just about any other information that you would like to include. Microsoft’s Virtual Earth is also moving into providing the equivalent of 3-D imagery.

Here’s the bottom line: our clients need us to provide them with a stellar customer experience. They want us to be their trusted advisor and a trusted source for timely information about current market conditions. They want to interact with us in a fast, fun and easy-to-use environment. We must be credible; we must be authentic. We need to help them manage their expectations about what they’re buying. They want their information now and they expect us to be mobile. The business of the future belongs to those who are willing to step forward and integrate these innovations in their business.

Perhaps this seems like a tall order for an industry that has been slow to adapt to the Web. If Craig Newmark believes Web 2.0 may be the vehicle for peace in the Middle East, then is it too much to hope for that our industry will embrace these changes to create an entirely new way of conducting business in the 21st century?  Via Bernice Ross, a national speaker and CEO of Realestatecoach.com, the author of “Waging War on Real Estate’s Discounters” and “Who’s the Best Person to Sell My House?” Both are available online. She can be reached at bernice@realestatecoach.com or visit her blog at www.LuxuryClues.com.

New local firms help consumers find environmentally friendly homes.  Kathryn Crawford’s concern for the environment influenced where she decided to work and what she does for a living.

It’s not surprising, then, that when Crawford decided to buy a home in Everett, she wanted a real estate agent who understood a “green” home means more than energy-efficient appliances and solar panels.

“I didn’t think a traditional agent would understand what I was looking for,” said Crawford, a community planner with a strong environmental ethos.

She became one of the first clients of a new Everett-based real estate brokerage focused on helping clients buy and sell properties built with green practices and products.

The business, Greening Properties, is the first of its kind in Everett. A handful of area agents at traditional brokerages specialize in green properties, and a company with similar aims, GreenWorks Realty, operates in Seattle.

Green agents aren’t the only sign the Northwest real estate industry is getting greener. The Northwest Multiple Listing Service recently added environmental check boxes to its listing forms, so homebuyers and agents can identify homes with certain features or third-party certifications. A homeowner can now tell, for instance, if a home offers Energy Star appliances, renewable bamboo floors or a drought-tolerant landscape.

Greening Properties operates like a regular brokerage, representing both buyers and sellers and providing standard services such as market analysis for sellers and presenting offers and negotiating on behalf of buyers.

What differs is knowledge of green practices and products, say owners Valerie Steel and Mary Ehrlich. Both have a history of community involvement, particularly on local environmental issues. Both were founding members of the Everett Shorelines Coalition, formed to protect shorelines, and Historic Everett, focused on preserving buildings with historic significance.

The term “green building” covers a lot of ground, including design, materials and building practices. One client may be interested in energy efficiency while another may be concerned about building materials that could exacerbate a child’s asthma.

Green encompasses a home that’s smaller and more energy-efficient, and it also can apply to older homes, since buying one doesn’t require the use of new resources. Sustainable homes also include touches a homeowner may never see, such as recycled materials, and paints and finishes that emit fewer toxic fumes. It may also mean the land was developed in a way that minimizes erosion, or workers recycled materials at the job site.

The specialty knowledge includes the ability to cut through what’s green and what’s marketing, Ehrlich said. The pair saw a recent listing where an agent misrepresented the greenness of a property, describing a home as green because it had a brick facade.

The company also differs from a traditional brokerage by providing clients with a livability checklist based on criteria by various green certification agencies such as Built Green and the American Green Building Council. For buyers, that checklist compares the features of properties they might wish to buy.

For sellers, the company rates sustainability of property and recommends how to make it more sustainable before it’s listed. For instance, if a client planned to spruce up his home with new paint and carpet before listing it, the agent might recommend using low-fume paint and a renewable flooring such as bamboo instead of carpet, Ehrlich said.

Demand for homes with green features is growing, and it can be difficult to find homes with certain green features, Steel said. Finding a home with Energy Star appliances is easier, while finding a home on land that hasn’t been “slashed and scraped” by developers is more difficult, she said.

Crawford, one of the company’s first clients, didn’t expect to find a green home ready for her to move in. Instead, she asked Steel to find an older home with “good bones” that she could remodel. She settled on a solid 2,220-square-foot home in the Port Gardner neighborhood, and she is already making plans to add solar roof tiles, replace windows and add bamboo floors. Via HeraldNet

If any of our viewers want more information on green homes visit Tree Hugger, these guys post an amazing 20-25 articles a day and have a ton of resources living green.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group Realtors - Bellingham WA -Bellingham Green Homes supporter

While the disruption roiling the mortgage-financing industry may seem like panic, some market veterans say it is actually a return to normal after a period of excess.Without trillions of dollars in easy money pouring into bonds backed by mortgages in the last few years, many of the lenders going bankrupt this year would never have thrived. And the U.S. consumer never would have grown accustomed to a market where someone with a spotty credit history and no verifiable income could borrow lavishly with little or no down payment.

“There is a little bit of rationality returning to the markets,” said Richard Bookstaber, a former risk manager at a number of Wall Street investment banks.

Bookstaber, author of “A Demon of Our Own Design,” which argues crises like this are inevitable because of the way markets are structured, said this newfound aversion to risk — though painful — is ultimately good for the economy.

That can be hard to explain, though, to the tens of thousands of people who have lost their jobs at bankrupt lenders like New Century Financial and American Home Mortgage.

Anyone who owned mortgage-lending stocks has lost a lot of money in the past six months, and the shakeout in the industry prevents some people from buying a home.

People and lenders had borrowed “to the hilt,” Bookstaber said. It is better for this industry to return to earth before it grows even bigger on borrowed money, he said.

“It is better to fall off the ladder when you are just four rungs up than when you are 20 rungs up,” he said. “Every month that nothing goes wrong, people think the market is all the less risky so they borrow more.”

Flight to safety

Most of the credit problems that ignited this flight to safety sprouted from “exotic” mortgages, including loans with cheap teaser rates that reset higher in two years, loans that are not backed by enough collateral, and loans where borrowers do not have to document their income.

These loans are becoming more difficult or sometimes impossible to obtain as lenders become pickier about the risks they are willing to take. If this shakeout seems drastic, consider that some of these loans were practically nonexistent at the turn of the century.

The worst may be yet to come, though. Many adjustable-rate loans still being paid at a teaser rate are scheduled to reset higher within the next year.

Decaying credit

And Countrywide Financial, the nation’s biggest home lender, has reported decaying credit quality even among borrowers with prime credit quality. In the meantime, standards are tightening.

“The industry has returned to what it was doing 10 years ago,” said Frank Bowersox, president of the Pennsylvania Association of Mortgage Brokers.

The permissive underwriting standards and exotic products of the past few years “were directed at people who normally would not have been able to buy a home,” he said.

That means people with good credit who can verify their incomes still have mortgage loans readily available to them, Bowersox said. In fact, interest rates for prime home loans are at some of the most attractive levels in 20 years, he said. Via Seattle Times

 Hardware Sales located at 2034 James St., in Bellingham, WA has done very well in the last ten years even with the likes of national company’s like Lowe’s and Home Depot opening huge warehouses along I-5.

There’s definetly a difference when you walk into Hardware Sales when it comes to customer service.  A majority of the employees have worked at Hardware Sales for years and have always been able to answer a question.  These guys really do offer a niche that can’t be found at the big store’s.

Here’s an article that was written by a the Bellingham Journal that will give you much more insight about Hardware Sales.

In 1962, Alta and Max McClellan purchased Lee Stevens’ Bellingham “booming business,” Powder Sales. The McClellans sold dynamite and blasting caps to loggers, miners, and road builders, along with Army, Navy, and Boeing surplus items.

Bellingham knows the business now by the name it assumed in 1971: Hardware Sales. 
In those early days, current Hardware Sales President Jerry McClellan was a high school student helping the family business by cleaning ashtrays, wire-brushing the rust off ammunition boxes, and sorting the used work gloves purchased from Boeing. 

These gloves were used by metal workers and welders, and Jerry recalled fearing that one day he would find a severed finger.

Since its inception, Hardware Sales has assumed a rightful place as a Bellingham landmark and a representation of all that is unique about life in the “Fourth Corner.” 

The store offers an inventory of over 100,000 different items in its veritable maze of corridors, shelves, and cubbyholes. Within what at first glance seems an intimidating place roams a staff of expert, friendly souls who can locate an item as if they were negotiating their kitchen pantry.

Alta, still going strong at 90 and working rings around many 40 years her junior, has a simple business ideology. It is the benchmark of the McClellan and George family and the staff at Hardware Sales: all customers get “thank you” service, a “hop, jump and run” service that identifies and solves their problem.

Alta emphasizes as well that this professional, “problem-solving” service must not belittle the customer. She rejoices in the post cards, phone calls, and letters from customers “thanking us for going that extra step,” and mentioned some Bellingham customers who have moved away ask for a Hardware Sales in their new home town.

Max McClellan has passed on and over the years Alta and Max’s daughter LaDonna George, son Jerry, and grandsons Rich George and Ty McClellan have joined Alta in ownership and overseeing the business. Jerry emphasizes the importance of unanimity in business decisions, as these five family members participate in the decision-making process.

One dissenting vote can be a call for more discussion and research. The family works, and often plays, together and this family harmony contributes to a common philosophy and the continued success of Hardware Sales.

The ultimate objective of a favorable experience for each customer informs the decision-making process for the family. The quality (and quantity) of the hardware offered is one key to this favorable experience and will be explored later.

Perhaps even more important to the store’s continued success is the staff, and the hiring of each employee is a decision that can make, or break, the business’s reputation. Jerry says the family is not afraid to hire people “smarter than I am,” and each prospective employee faces a battery of tests and an extensive evaluation process before joining the Hardware Sales “family.” This sense of family is an attitude that flows down from the McClellan family, through the staff, and ultimately to the customer. LaDonna mentions that more than once she has seen romance blossom between employees and has witnessed several marriages among the staff.

Jerry has hired managers from the retail or grocery field, as well as persons from construction trades, former contractors, and some managers form the old Home Base store. While the business of Hardware Sales is, of course, tangible items such as tools, paint, and pipes, loyal customers return for the intangibles: the service and the sense their patronage is valued.

Hardware Sales is actually several smaller companies under a large umbrella. An Industrial Sales Division serves large general contracting firms, the state of Washington, Western Washington University, Port of Bellingham, Whatcom County, various fire departments, Parks and Recreation and local communities.

A Rental Department began with the family loaning their fork lifts to their neighbors: it now offers all the tools the store sells. An Office Furniture Division began with one hundred used office chairs and now occupies over 9,600 square feet.

Hardware Sales also offers kitchen and bath cabinets, designer lighting and fans, and a design staff. In March of 2006, the company began selling tools on the Internet. All of these branches, as well as the over 100,000 items on hand, stem from Jerry’s explanation of the family’s product philosophy: if the customer wants it we will get it; then we will figure out where to put it! Each department has a “wants book” and if an item is requested more than once, the managers will usually add that item to the inventory.

In these times of global corporations and conglomerates, Hardware Sales serves as a reminder of earlier years. It is a local family business that has grown with the community, yet still maintains local, small town service and an array of goods.

Alta, the matriarch of Bellingham business women and her immediate and extended family at Hardware Sales, is moving successfully into the 21st century while doing business with early 20th-century values: Respect each customer, do not take their patronage for granted, and provide expert advice.

Thanks Hardware Sales for serving our community and may you have many many years of prosperity ahead of you.