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 Lake Forest Park WA - living - the video store is gone and a much needed fully stocked hardware store is nicely showcased on the center of the NorthEast upper Lake Forest Park Mall. They have some great stuff in here and all the displays are quite attractive - great use of space here - go check it out!
You can have your breakfast at the Honey Bear Bakery inside Third Place Books and then wander over to pick up all the tools you need for getting your household chores done! Lake Forest Park Towne Centre is definitely improved:)
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© Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services:
Lake Forest Park Real Estate (Your Source For Lake Forest Park Homes & Neighborhood Information)
Lake Forest Park WA Broker, Realtor,e-Pro, member Built Green, EcoBroker
lfp@cooperjacobs.com
Lake Forest Park Real Estate: Market Update 2010 - Feb 2010 comments -
 The average price of homes in Lake Forest Park has dropped to the tune of roughly 20-25% since 2007. This is surprising to me given the sheer volume of amenities that Lake Forest Park has to offer - the parks and shopping are wonderful. The city is waterfront on the banks of Lake Washington, and there are wonderful waterfront facilities for all depending on what part of the city you live in (Civic Club if within boundaries, Sheridan Beach Community Club if you are in those boundaries, and then of course there is the city owned waterfront park which many won't tell you about (Lyon Creek Waterfront Park)...Lake Forest Park has a wonderful farmer's market and some great merchants. I could go on with all the reasons that it makes no sense for prices to have dropped that much, but that is another post obviously......
Lake Forest Park homes are taking a bit longer to sell, but they should because the market is slower. You should expect to price your home appropriately and it might take 60-120 days to sell, but that is normal. Only under price your home if you truly need a quick sale. Looking at many of the house that have sold in only two or three days shows you that they were clearly under priced. I am sure there are those that will argue that they were priced right, but that is just not true. 
"I have gone to listing appointments and had the sellers tell me agents wanted to price their home below or at assessed value when there were clearly amenities and features of the home not accounted for in that number. I think it is pretty convenient to price a home at what Zillow or the county tells you it is worth rather than doing the work and trying not to leave any money on the table for your clients...."
Could it be that perhaps the Lake Forest Park real estate market has suffered so greatly because homes were not listed where they should have been? This is not 1999 and this is not 2005 or 2006. It takes longer to sell your home. The only thing that speeds that up is lowering your price to below market value because that is what buyers are after right now. Below market priced homes are being snatched up and I feel like a great disservice is being dealt to the sellers of these as well as the rest of the residents of the city who watch their home values drop as a result. Recovery is a team effort and won't be found by taking the easy way out. You need a local Lake Forest Park agent and you need to talk to at least three of them. Get someone who wants to act in your best interest and not leave YOUR money on the table. You can find all the latest Lake Forest Park Real Estate on our site - search for free always and no forced sign ups! Lake Forest Park Real Estate
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© Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services:
Lake Forest Park Real Estate (Your Source For Lake Forest Park Homes & Neighborhood Information)
Lake Forest Park WA Broker, Realtor,e-Pro, member Built Green, EcoBroker
lfp@cooperjacobs.com
Right Next Door to Lake Forest Park is Brier and this is a great piece of property! Via Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services:
Looking for a great price on acreage in Brier? Any equestrian lovers out there looking for a turn key horse property in the heart of the city of Brier only a block from the city horse arena???
 This has got to be the very best equestrian real estate bargain in Snohomish County, but close to the King County line....
Right now there are only five properties with any significant acreage attached to them and this particular property is best situated for supreme equestrian use. This great home also is the biggest available in Brier. Come see why this city and this place is so great! Brier is one of the most horse friendly cities in all of Washington State!
Looking for Brier real estate? You can find all listings here by all companies and it is a free search with no forced sign ups.
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© Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services:
Lake Forest Park Real Estate (Your Source For Lake Forest Park Homes & Neighborhood Information)
Lake Forest Park WA Broker, Realtor,e-Pro, member Built Green, EcoBroker
lfp@cooperjacobs.com
Lake Forest Park Photo Enforcement Speed Cameras...
You should never speed anyway, but anyone knows that there are two places you should know you will be caught speeding in: Seattle Suburbs Brier WA and Lake Forest Park WA. It is practically common knowledge for anyone living there or even driving through. Well Lake Forest Park has come up with a great tool to make sure to keep would be speeders in check - cameras that video tape speeders in school zones.
From the City of Lake Forest Park WA website -
"Lake Forest Park launches photo enforcement program
to reduce speed violations in school zones
 To increase pedestrian and vehicle safety in Lake Forest Park, the City is launching a new "photo enforcement program" aimed at reducing speed violations in school zones on NE 178th Street and 35th Avenue NE.
The cameras will operate between 7:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. The cameras will monitor both directions of traffic in school zones. Only vehicles that exceed the school zone speed limit of 20 mph will be photographed and videotaped."
So there you have it! Keep Lake Forest Park homes wonderful and keep our streets safe!
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© Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services:
Lake Forest Park Real Estate (Your Source For Lake Forest Park Homes & Neighborhood Information)
Lake Forest Park WA Broker, Realtor,e-Pro, member Built Green, EcoBroker
lfp@cooperjacobs.com
Great Harvest Bread in LFP!!!! Via Seattle Realtor Courtney Cooper Seattle Real Estate, Seattle Washington (Seattle Real Estate: Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services):
 Great Harvest Bread Co. in Lake Forest Park WA: baking up some wholesome goodness!
I have been to Great Harvest Bread Companies before, but had no idea they were individually owned and the Great Harvest in Lake Forest Park, Washington is at the top of my list! This locally owned small business has been creating wonderful wholesome food and giving back to the community they serve! If you haven't been to Great Harvest in Lake Forest Park, then you should go experience it because THERE IS A DIFFERENCE.
This local Lake Forest Park bread company offers up a lot more than bread and has some great eat in options with amazing soups of the day (Today's soup is Broccoli Cheddar) and a made to order sandwich bar among other fabulous items. My very favorite spot to stop for a sandwich is right here! They make their sandwiches with really fresh ingredients and their yummy bread. You can also buy a number of prepared baked goods packaged up and ready to go.
 So to the bread: Great Harvest puts out a bread schedule and bakes all of their normal staples daily, but also adds some variety by adding specialty breads using a daily schedule - for instance, today's specialty bread for July is Apple Crunch, Cherry Berry Bread, Dakota, Gluten Free Bread, Swedish Rye, and Whole Grain Sourdough. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, Great Harvest has gluten free breads and on Fridays they have hamburger buns. Breads are all baked from scratch and the ingredients are all local and organic. 
You will be greated with a smile and great service even if it is crowded. Great Harvest Bread Co. always has a table of samples that they will go through with you and give you a chance to try. I have never been disappointed - it is just good food!
After 24 hours if not sold Great Harvest donates to a local food bank. This is truly a company making a difference. I would highly recommend stopping by Great Harvest in Lake Forest Park if you get a chance and if you are a local, then buy all your bread here all the time. We should all support our local businesses and especially when they are stellar!
 Great Harvest Bread Co. in Lake Forest Park is located in the lower mall portion of the Lake Forest Park Towne Centre on the corner of Ballinger and Bothell Ways in Lake Forest Park WA. They are open M-F 6AM to 7PM and Sat-Sun 7AM to 6PM
17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, WA 98155 206-365-4778
If you want to know more about the amazing Seattle suburb of Lake Forest Park and want to know why this community is so wonderful, please feel free to get a hold of me or visit my Lake Forest Park real estate web page as well! It is small businesses like the Lake Forest Park WA Great Harvest that are making a difference in our local economies!
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© Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services:
Lake Forest Park Real Estate (Your Source For Lake Forest Park Homes & Neighborhood Information)
Lake Forest Park WA Broker, Realtor,e-Pro, member Built Green, EcoBroker
lfp@cooperjacobs.com
Sheridan Beach Real Estate in Lake Forest Park - Some great homes here! Via Seattle Realtor Courtney Cooper Seattle Real Estate, Seattle Washington (Seattle Real Estate: Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services):
Sheridan Beach Real Estate in the Seattle Suburb of Lake Forest Park, Washington - this is a wonderful Seattle waterfront neighborhood!
 Sheridan Beach is right across from the Lake Forest Park Towne Centre in the heart of Lake Forest Park WA - it is a small waterfront community with some amazing homes! The waterfront Sheridan Beach homes in Lake Forest Park are on the banks of Lake Washington and have wonderful low to no bank water frontage. The other homes in Sheridan Beach are all also close to not only the water, but the Burke Gilman trail and all that lake Forest Park has to offer.
Wondering what it might cost to get into Sheridan Beach in Lake Forest Park? Sheridan Beach real estate has a large range due to the nature of its boundaries to the East and West. On the West side is Bothell Highway and there are Sheridan Beach homes available starting in the $350,000 range from time to time, but only a couple blocks over is Lake Washington and waterfront Sheridan Beach homes start in the low million range and up. You can get a really nice Lake Forest Park lakefront home in Sheridan Beach for under 1.5 million.
Sheridan Beach is a great neighborhood to choose when looking at Lake Forest Park real estate if you enjoy the outdoors and want to be close to both the lake and the trail for walking, biking, and more. Having the Town Centre right across the street helps, too, and a car can actually become unnecessary in this neighborhood! The Burke Gilman trail runs all the way into Seattle and interconnects with other trails both North and South of Lake Forest Park.
The Town Centre has grocery, restaurant, banks, coffee, videos, book store, pet store, library, cafe, Subway, and more. In addition, there is a seasonal farmer's market and city hall is right there, too! Lake Forest Park has a lot to offer and is a pretty easy commute to Seattle! Sheridan Beach is one of Lake Forest Park's fabulous neighborhoods and has some great perks!
Courtney Cooper, Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services 206-251-5948
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© Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services:
Lake Forest Park Real Estate (Your Source For Lake Forest Park Homes & Neighborhood Information)
Lake Forest Park WA Broker, Realtor,e-Pro, member Built Green, EcoBroker
lfp@cooperjacobs.com
This is happening here, too. Via Dean Moss - Dean's Team Chicago Real Estate Team (Dean's Team - Keller Williams Lincoln Square Chicago):
Hope you had a great weekend, folks! Cool here in Chicago - not complaining at all!
Up until last week, during my 15 years in Real Estate, I suffered through ONE under-appraisal!
Last week, I endured THREE!
And I am not talking about a few bucks under! Serious stuff! $25,000 light on a $215,000 home. $15,000 low for a $179,000 townhouse. $20,000 below for a four-bedroom brick home, in the very attractive, but by no means affluent, Dunning Neighborhood on the Northwest Side of Chicago.
Why?
A dearth of direct comparable properties! Or, too many short sales and foreclosures nearby! Or, no two-bedrooms, and three-bedrooms adjusted downward will not be accepted by the now-more-persnickety Review Appraiser or the Underwriter, according to one appraiser who completed the inspection and appraisal report on one of our "subject" properties.
The boundaries from which to pull comparable properties are far tighter these days - here in the City of Chicago - maximum one-mile circle. Preferably, half a mile! No crossing neighborhood boundaries. In the suburbs - identical elementary school districts, identical neighborhood "feel," according to appraiser's discretion.
And nothing more than four months old! Three months are preferable! If all that has closed in the last few months are poor condition bank-owned properties and short sales, these become your comparison panel! Adjustments for condition - minimal!
Lenders can't dispute the findings! Realtors can't dispute the findings!
And, if you attempt to force another appraisal, at buyer's expense, the bank rarely adjusts upward - even if the appraisal comes in higher the second time around!
In the average neighborhood of Chicago, our Team has seen appraisers apply a one-percent depreciation factor per month to their appraisal reports. So, for example, a house appraising for $200,000 on May 1st, would now, theoretically, value at $197,000!
In some Chicago Neighborhoods, we have seen the time adjustment over the last few months hit close to 2%. That same $200,000 home, again selling in early May, 2009? It theoretically appraises for $194,000 today!
So, please, plant this picture in your mind -
The buyer sells his house cheaper than he thought possible, even a year ago. An overly-aggressive buyer asks for nearly every inspection item on his report be corrected, at considerable cost, to the seller.
Further, the seller, fearing a replacement buyer is only a distant possibility, agrees to the big credits.
Then, the borrower has to clear loan conditions that seem like an obstacle course on one of those reality shows - what's that crazy show, "Wipeout?" After great effort - the buyers clear the course!
But then the appraiser comes in, low, without opportunity for anyone to refute it. The only way the property can sell is if the seller grants another price reduction.
He doesn't! Or, he can't, financially! So, the transaction dies! And, nobody wins!
The pendulum has turned, folks - 180 degrees from where it was just a couple of years ago! At that time, nearly anybody could qualify for a loan, and closing on a home after an offer was tendered was almost a foregone conclusion.
Today, that happy conclusion is not just tougher to realize. It's too often . . . FANTASY LAND!
The NEW Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC). Protection for homebuyers? Or, just too much over protection, and too much discretion for nervous appraisers?
Any thoughts? Please share!
DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
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© Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services:
Lake Forest Park Real Estate (Your Source For Lake Forest Park Homes & Neighborhood Information)
Lake Forest Park WA Broker, Realtor,e-Pro, member Built Green, EcoBroker
lfp@cooperjacobs.com
Horizon View Real Estate in Lake Forest Park WA! I bet you dind't know some of these things: Via Seattle Realtor Courtney Cooper Seattle Real Estate, Seattle Washington (Seattle Real Estate: Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services):
Horizon View real estate in Lake Forest Park WA - this is a great neighborhood in the Seattle suburb of Lake Forest Park Washington!
 Horizon View is the highest point in Lake Forest Park and because of that the homes here tend to have some great views! The Horizon View neighborhood has views of Lake Washington, the Cascades, Mount Baker, Mount Rainier, and Seattle on a clear day.
The real perk here for Lake Forest Park Horizon View homes, though is the park itself and great reason to look at Horizon View real estate- Horizon View Park is one of the most phenomenal around and a great smaller scale version of all the things we all like about Green Lake in Seattle! There is a quarter mile loop and a mile loop, enclosed tennis court, basketball/sport court, ball field, playground complete with choo choo train and separated by age appropriateness, and more! There is parking, porta-potties, a water fountain, and dogs are allowed here on leash. In true Lake Forest Park fashion, there is a dog bowl here for your furry friends to sip out of as well. The park is 8.4 acres and includes a giant Seattle reservoir which is inside of the larger loop. 
Little known Horizon View Lake Forest Park fact: Ready for this one? Horizon View Park used to be a Nike Missile site! It was the radar tracking portion of the system, but it was right here in Horizon View Park from 1957 until it was decommissioned in 1964. You can still see the relics if you look closely. After my daughter beat me at a game of tennis, we wandered up an old staircase that was covered in brambles and seemed to literally lead to nowhere. I didn't know it at the time, but this was one of the radar pads left over from the old site - it was still a bit eerie. The actual launching site is over on 1st and 228th on Nike Hill in Bothell (I also had no idea where the nick name had come from for the hill). Through out the 1950s Seattle got a lot of these installed apparently.
Horizon View is a great neighborhood and Lake Forest Park is a wonderful Seattle suburb in Washington! I have written about Lake Forest Park real estate before, but wanted to start really getting out some cool neighborhood information - Horizon View is a cool Lake Forest Park neighborhood and there are some wonderful homes here!
Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services 206-251-5948
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© Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services:
Lake Forest Park Real Estate (Your Source For Lake Forest Park Homes & Neighborhood Information)
Lake Forest Park WA Broker, Realtor,e-Pro, member Built Green, EcoBroker
lfp@cooperjacobs.com
 The City of Lake Forest Park is known for its natural beauty and settings and also for its amazing gardens! The filtered lighting through the trees is an ideal place to raise some of the most beautiful plantings. Here is some of the info the city is putting out on the latest Garden Tour this month:
"The Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park garden tour is one terrific garden tour," said Ciscoe Morris.
"The 2009 Lake Forest Park Garden Tour includes special gardens. This year the gardens will foster your imagination and your creativity."
Ciscoe Morris of News Talk 97.3 KIRO FM will be broadcasting from the Lake Forest Park Towne Centre on June 20, 2009 between 10 am and 1 pm followed by live music until 4 pm. Ciscoe Morris will be broadcasting from the Plant Sale in the lower level of the Towne Centre.
Advance ticket sales for the Secret Gardens of Lake Forest Park are $12.
According to the city, you can purchase tickets at the Towne Centre at Two Trading Tigers, Wildbirds Unlimited and at the Farmers Market.
Are you interested in Lake Forest Park homes with big gardening spaces? You can find all kinds of Lake Forest Park living and Lake Forest Park real estate info our site! Free MLS Searches and no registration plus community information for Seattle suburbs and neighborhoods.
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© Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services:
Lake Forest Park Real Estate (Your Source For Lake Forest Park Homes & Neighborhood Information)
Lake Forest Park WA Broker, Realtor,e-Pro, member Built Green, EcoBroker
lfp@cooperjacobs.com
Third Place Books is changing their hours beginning 4/1:
Lake Forest Park's community gemstone is changing their hours beginning April 1st - This is a great place to go hang out, shop or browse, and more and has been a center of Lake Forest Park living for quite some time!
Here are the new hours starting in April:
Monday thru Friday: 9AM to 10PM
Saturday: 8AM - 10PM
Sunday 9AM to 8PM
Third Place Books is just a wonderful book store and so much more. They always have a great selection, good prices, and have been very accommodating in the past with helping us find anything we are looking for. With the Honey Bear Bakery right there, too, it is just a great place to hang out and have breakfast, lunch or just a latte.
Lake Forest Park Real Estate: Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services lfp@cooperjacobs.com
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© Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services:
Lake Forest Park Real Estate (Your Source For Lake Forest Park Homes & Neighborhood Information)
Lake Forest Park WA Broker, Realtor,e-Pro, member Built Green, EcoBroker
lfp@cooperjacobs.com
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