2014 Olympics....Starting Tomorrow!!

2014 Olympics

Tomorrow is an exciting day. It is the opening ceremony of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
This is the 22nd Winter Olympics, and runs from February 7th-23rd. It will be broadcast on NBC.

This Olympics will feature 12 new events. The ski halfpipe (men's and women's), ski slopestyle (men's and women's), snowboard slopestyle (men's and women's), snowboard parallel slalom, women's ski jumping, biathlon mixed relay, a new figure skating team event and luge team relay.Most of these events were added to bring a fresh new feel to the Olympics and it has been said it will help liken it to the popular X-Games.

Click the link below the image above to be taken to the Sochi Olympics website to view when each event will occur. Also be sure to check out nbcolympics.com to see the local television schedule.

Seattle Times: Home prices spiked sharply last year in some neighborhoods

Home prices spiked sharply last year in some neighborhoods

By Sanjay Bhatt
Seattle Times business reporter

The median price of single-family homes sold in King County in 2013 hit $415,000, its highest in five years, as the local housing market’s recovery gained steam.

After tumbling to a seven-year low of $340,000 in 2011, the median rose 7 percent in 2012 and grew 14 percent more last year, according to data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. The median price means that half of homes sold for more, half for less.

But some areas in King County saw bigger spikes than others, according to a Seattle Times analysis of MLS data.

The Jovita/West Hill neighborhood in Auburn led all King County areas with a 29 percent increase in the median price, to $273,000.

Close behind, with 24 percent appreciation: Seattle’s Sodo/Beacon Hill area, also with a below-average median price of $320,000, and Bellevue’s neighborhoods west of Interstate 405, with the county’s highest median price: $1.3 million.

The smallest increases, from 3 to 6 percent, were in Central Seattle, Newcastle/Issaquah and North Seattle.

Despite the strong annual gains for homes, the median sales price for 2013 in nearly all areas of King County was still below its peak in 2007, when the housing bubble burst. But some places are close to recovering all the ground they lost.

Overall, the countywide median price of homes sold in 2013 was still 9 percent below its 2007 peak of $455,000.

In South King County, where foreclosures were rampant during the Great Recession, the median prices of homes sold in Skyway, Burien, Des Moines, Federal Way and Kent in 2013 were still below their peak by 25 percent or more.

Areas close to downtown Seattle have bounced back more quickly.

In Seattle, for example, West Seattle’s median price in 2013 was 7 percent below its peak; the Queen Anne/Magnolia area, 4 percent off its last peak; the Ballard/Green Lake/Greenwood area, just 3 percent below.

In Eastside tech hubs like Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond, the median price has returned to between 7 and 9 percent below its last peak. But the median price in bedroom communities like Kenmore, Renton Highlands and Vashon Island is still between 12 and 22 percent off the peak.

Central Seattle record

Central Seattle, which includes Capitol Hill, Washington Park and Madrona, is the only area where the 2013 median price — $619,000 — surpassed the level set during the 2007 housing bubble and saw a new high.

“My gut tells me that’s on the strength of infill development,” meaning new housing built in established neighborhoods, said Michael Doyle, a managing broker for Windermere in Seattle.

According to the Multiple Listing Service, the median price of new single-family homes in King County was $455,500; for condos, it was $438,303.

There’s been a flurry of homebuilders redeveloping single-family lots in Central Seattle: They buy an old house for $300,000, demolish it and build three high-end town homes priced at $500,000 apiece.

But there were also more than 100 homes sold in that area last year for $1 million or more, according to Redfin.

The luxury-home market is booming across King County. According to the MLS, there were 1,426 sales of $1 million-and-up homes last year, about 50 percent more than in 2012.

The highest price paid for a single-family home last year was $9.75 million for a property in Medina, while a penthouse condo in downtown Seattle sold for $6.2 million.

Among luxury buyers is Frank Loyko, who bought a downtown Seattle condominium last summer for just over $1.3 million.

In an interview last year, Loyko said he’d lived on the Eastside for more than a decade, but once his children had grown up, he and his wife wanted to leave the suburbs. Downtown Seattle’s food, arts and music scene appealed to him, as well as the idea of a high-rise community.

“It seems as though the baby boomers, the downsizers, had their retirement accounts flush again and were able to make moves they were previously unable to do,” Doyle said.

The article continues talking about Condos and their place in the market. Over all 2014 is a new year ready for more growth. As the months go by look to the market for higher listing volume and more activity.

To read the entire article please visit: The Seattle Times

Free Ballard......From What?

Free Ballard…..From what?

Did you know that Ballard was settled in the 1860's and in 1890 it was incorporated into its own city? It was not until 1907 that Ballard was annexed by Seattle.

If you have spent any time in Ballard I am sure you have seen the ever popular Free Ballard bumper sticker. This is Ballard's proclamation to push to become its own again.

Ballard is home to the Hiram Chittenden Locks. These locks connect Lake Washington and Lake Union with the Puget Sound. Nearby the Locks is Fisherman’s Terminal. It is just that, a place for fishermen and fishing vessels. It homes hundreds of local ships and boats.

Ballard is very strong in Nordic Heritage.  It has Nordic gathering halls, Nordic bakeries and restaurants, Nordic statues, and the Ballard Ave Historical District that was established in 1976 by King Carl XVI of Sweden.

Ballard is also home to farmer’s markets, live music, art galleries, small boutiques, ship yards and more. It is a great place to reside because not only is there a lot happening all the time, there are amenities all within walking distance. Banks, stores, library, restaurants, and more are scattered throughout the Ballard neighborhood.

You could even come for the day and check out the Locks, Fisherman’s Terminal, Golden Gardens Park, Ballard Farmer’s Market, and all the other local businesses. There is always something to do in Ballard, so come on over and check it out!

Take steps to prevent frozen pipes....
Frozen pipes may mean good business for plumbers, but it’s bad news for homeowners. Now’s the time to prepare for the next cold snap, if you haven’t already.

Seattle Times has a series of articles featuring questions from readers....
HomeWork is the weekly column by the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties’ Remodelers Council about home care, repair and improvements. 

This week they are answering a question about frozen pipes. They give many different ideas for how to keep them functioning and from freezing. Seattle has fairly mild winters and there are not many days to worry about this but on the off-chance we have a frigid day, or string of days, this could become very important. Better to plan ahead then need to call an emergency plumber.

You can read the complete article here.

2014 is here already!!

Making your home more efficient for little money!

All this talk about making your home green, making it more energy efficient. Sounds expensive, but it is not. There are many huge projects to tackle that are expensive such as new windows, more efficient appliances, solar panels and the like, however there are many small projects that have great benefit as well. 

Changing your light bulbs out for LED lights.
--- LED's are a bit more expensive than CFL's and incandescent bulbs but they last longer and pull less electricity. They also stay cooler than the other bulbs when they are on.


Installing low flow shower heads.
---You can purchase these at your local hardware store or online. Take off your old shower head and just replace it with the new one. Over the years these have evolved into normal shower heads with all the different settings as the old heads. Chances are you will not even notice the difference.


Checking your toilets and faucets for leaks and slow drips.
----An easy way to check your toilets for leaks is to place a few drops of food coloring in the tank. Wait a few minutes and if the water in the bowl has been changed at all then you may have a slow leak. Most of the times it is as easy of a fix as just changing the flapper that is found in the tank. 


Weatherstripping around doors to cut down on drafts.
---There are different types of stripping. Some is thin foam with adhesive on the back. It comes in a roll and it is super easy to install. If you have a draft at the bottom of the door you could make or purchase a draft stopper. This sets inside your home in front of the door and stops the cold air from sneaking in.


These are just a handful, but will make an impact on your home and the utilities. Not only is it good for the environment because you are saving energy, but it is beneficial to your wallet because you will be saving on wasted utility usage.

Seattle Times: King County home prices rise more slowly

This article is just emphasizing the fact that the market is still strong in Seattle. There are houses for buyers to choose from but not many. Because  of this buyers are needing to settle with what is there, this can create opportunities for multiple offer situations on your home. The winter can typically be stagnant as far as home sales go but for now one of the reasons the number of sales is lower is just because there is no inventory to be sold.


From the Seattle Times:
"The residential real-estate market is winding up a very good sales year with price increases moderating.

The Northwest Multiple Listing Service said Wednesday the median price of a single-family home in King County rose 7.5 percent compared with a year ago. It was the 20th consecutive month of a higher year-over-year median price, but the first time in more than a year that the increase was less than 10 percent.

The drop-off may mean the housing market is moving away from the dreaded boom-and-bust cycles that can lead to a market crash, brokers and economists in the region said.

“A single month doesn’t make a trend, but it is indicative that we are moving toward a more stable market,” said Glenn Crellin, associate director of research at the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Washington. “The market just can’t sustain those double-digit increases.”

The median price for a single- family home was $414,000 in King County in November. The market peaked at $481,000 in July 2007 and bottomed at $308,125 in February 2012.

While mortgage-interest rates remain relatively low in the 4 percent range, real-estate brokers and buyers are more worried about homes on the market.

Kim Andes and her husband have been looking for a house for eight months. The couple said they realized quickly that even with her husband’s six-figure income as a Microsoft developer, they were not going to find their dream house because there just wasn’t a lot to choose from.

“Seeing what is actually available out there is just surprising,” she said while at an open house in West Seattle with her daughter Tuesday.

There were 3,820 houses listed for sale in November, about 2.7 percent more than a year earlier. That represents a two-month supply.

Industry analysts consider a balanced market to be a four- to six-month supply.

“Going forward, the market will normalize because of the inventory getting back to an even-Stevens level,” said Dick Beeson, principal managing broker at RE/MAX Professionals in Tacoma.

“Once again, this year we will be heading into the New Year with shortages,” J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate, said Wednesday. “The market activity is at a strong level, which is mainly being driven by job growth, investors in the market and foreign buyers.”

But Scott said he thinks that if more homes are not built in the Seattle area, not just in Snohomish and Pierce counties, the people moving to the city could create an even larger home shortage and potentially hurt the Northwest’s recovering housing market.

More houses and condos in the four-county region have changed hands so far this year than in all of last year.

In 2012, 19,799 single-family houses and 5,268 condos were sold, according to the MLS.

In the first 11 months of 2013, 22,899 houses and 6,150 condos have sold, increases of 15.6 percent and 16.4 percent, respectively.

In Snohomish County, the median price for a single-family home increased more than 14 percent over the previous year, to $309,925, and the number of listings jumped almost 36.8 percent to 2,108 last month.

The median price of a single-family home in Pierce County was $214,990, up 7.5 percent.

In Kitsap County, the median price dropped 10.6 percent to $224,900, according to the MLS.

The median price of a condo in King County increased 17.4 percent from a year ago, to $240,000. There were 1,056 listings, a 3.8 percent increase from a year ago.

In Snohomish County, the median condo price increased 19.7 percent to $190,000. There were 343 listings, up 61 percent from a year ago."

By Coral Garnick

Seattle Times business reporter

To see more about this including charts and graphs and to read the complete article please visit  http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2022395813_homesalesnovemberxml.html