Thankful Thursday on Tuesday - Judy Schneider - Whatcom County Real Estate for Sale I decided that I would write my I'm thankful post today, because I am thankful today. I am Thankful first of all, for the good health of my family, friends, and myself. I am Thankful for my wonderful husband and children, and their ability to make dinner and clean up too! On those nights that I get home late from work! I am Thankful also for the wonderful agents that I work with and the fact that they are supportive and make me smile! Wonderful and devoted customers/friends that I have a great relationship with.  My adorable little dog, who is always happy to see me when I walk in the door. Hearing a wonderful voice on the phone, only to find out it is someone that you have been talking to for a while on... 09/15/2009

Sudden Valley is located along the shore of Lake Whatcom. This is a wooded neighborhood area with many hiking trails, parks and tot lots. Sudden Valley also offers a tennis courts, golfing, swimming pools, lake access, and many other amenities. Typically, you can get more house for your money in Sudden Valley than in Bellingham proper. Here are the real estate stats for Sudden Valley: Sudden Valley Active Listings Month of Aug New Listings - 32 units in '08 to 21 units in '09 - Down 34.4% YTD New Listings - 253 units in '08 to 208 units in '09 - Down 17.8% Month of Aug Total Active Listings - 147 units in '08 to 103 units in '09 - Down 29.9% Month of Aug Ave List Price - $347,550 in '08 to $326,714 in '09 - Down 6% The YTD Average List Price - $350,315 in '08 to $337,655 in '09 - Down 3... 09/14/2009

Here are the Active and Sold year to date real estate stats for Bellingham Washington. These stats are based on homes sold through the NWMLS from year to date through 31 August 2009. Active Listings Month of Aug New Listings - 158 units in '08 to 153 units in '09 - Down 3.2% YTD New Listings - 1,342 units in '08 to 1,196 units in '09 - Down 10.9% Month of Aug Total Active Listings - 657 units in '08 to 553 units in '09 - Down 15.8% Month of Aug Ave List Price - $529,208 in '08 to $525,119 in '09 - Down less than 1% The YTD Average List Price - $504,746 in '08 to $528,813 in '09 - Up 4.8% Month of Aug Median List Price - $395,000 in '08 to $389,900 in '09 - Down 1.3% The YTD Median List Price - $379,950 in '08 to $399,900 in '09 - Up 5.3% Average Days on Market - 110 days in '08 to 120 d... 09/14/2009

  Speechless Sunday - Bellingham Whatcom Falls- Whatcom County Real Estate for Sale If only this bridge could talk! This is a very well known bridge in Bellingham, Whatcom Falls, Whatcom County, Washington. This bridge holds alot of memories in Whatcom County! Many couples of all ages will tell you some story about this old bridge! Many couples had their first date or first kiss or Marriage proposal on this bridge! It is a beautiful place to go and hike on the trails! The Salmon hatchery here is also very interesting! Picnics and many other entertaining things to do and see! I love Bellingham Whatcom Falls and go here often to just get away and relax! If you are interested in buying or selling Real Estate in Whatcom County, Washington, I would be honored to help You find what you are lo... 09/13/2009

Look no further than, Historic Fairhaven for fun weekend activites to fill your schedule! Detailed postings are available at fairhaven.com on the events page for you to browse and choose from.  The list includes outdoor activites to gallery tours.  Tomorrow, September 12th is filled with activites for the active enthusiast with the long awaited Fairhaven Runner's Waterfront 15k, a Walking Festival sponsored by NWTrekkers and a Fitness day at the Bellingham Tennis & Fairhaven Fitness Club.  For the art lovers, the Woodstock Farm Conservancy Art Show runs the entire weekend featuring Regional Artist.  End the night at Skylarks listening to a classic jazz quartet. As you can see it's worth checking the Event Schedule for Historic Fairhaven for fun weekend activities.     09/11/2009

Join us for a day of food, fun and sales in Historic Fairhaven! I can smell the barbecue and all the fixins now.  Stop by an enjoy a menu derived for the Pacific Northwest:  Cooked by fishermen who know the best barbecuing techniques-- Pacific Northwest King Salmon, plus delicious sides, like coleslaw, corn-on-the-cob, bread, dessert and a beverage.  For the little ones, we will have a separate hot dog meal available.   Saturday, September 19 || 1-4pm || $12 per person for the salmon bbq meal and a kids' hot dog meal sold separately. Fairhaven was famous for this event in the 1980s, has a heritage as once the "salmon canning center of the west coast" and now this BBQ is a regular September celebration for the community!  Whether you're a resident, neighbor or a visitor, come to the Vil... 09/11/2009

There it is again. The photo you see below has to be one of the most cited issues found at home inspections in the northwest. What you are looking at is the B-bent for a gas furnace. That B-vent is in contact with the loose fill insulation. A B-vent requires one-inch of clearance from flammables and that includes insulation. This is simple to do. They put a metal shield, like a collar, around the vent and then put the insulation around that. The problem is not that this is a difficult fix. The problem is that somehow the steps get out of sequence, the insulation gets put in and the B-vent remains like this until the concern is caught by a home inspector.   Thanks for stopping by, Steven L. Smith Washington State Licensed Home Inspector #207 09/10/2009

It seems wrong to be saying that water is the enemy. People in some parts of the world and this country are in desperate need of water. Even here in Bellingham, we have some rivers that are looking pretty low right now.  But, when it comes to the health and well-being of homes in this region, water is the enemy. Water can lead to rot, mold and other nasty conditions. Take a look at the crawl space below.    You might think that photo is shocking, if you realize that what you see there is the sub-structure of a home, but I have seen this many times in my region of the county. Crawl space water is to be avoided. I have had clients suggest that it is no big deal. Wrong -- crawl space water of significant quantities WILL over time lead to serious problems with building materials and it wil... 09/09/2009

  Hello again Active Rain...it's been a while.  I stopped by to check out my blog today, and saw that ALL of the Postlets I have posted are inactive.  Reason : They are all SOLD!!!  WOW!!!  It has been a GREAT SUMMER for Real Estate in Bellingham and Whatcom County Washington!  I have quite a number of new listing Postlets that never made it here, because I have been too stinkin' BUSY this summer to update the myriad of sites I belong to.  (It sure would be nice to post to my Active Rain site using the ADD THIS feature.  Does anyone know how to do that?) It's good to be busy.  It's good to be a Realtor.  It's good to help people buy houses to call "HOME".  It's good to remember that Real Estate has and always will move in tides, Buyer's markets, Seller's markets, Buyer's markets, Seller... 09/09/2009

When there is an unconditioned crawl space under a home, the most common situation in Bellingham and the Pacific Northwest, it is important that the vapor barrier be effective. For a vapor barrier to be effective -- keeping evaporation from the earth under the plastic -- it must cover all of the soil. Below is a classic example of a sloppy job of installing a vapor barrier. It is, also, probably the way the vapor barrier looks at about half the houses I inspect -- even the new ones.  A home with major gaps in the vapor barrier can lead to significant quantities of water evaporating up and into the home. If that goes on for too long, it contributes to the chances of a home developing fungal issues, such as mold. Steven L. Smith Bellingham WA Home Inspections Washington State Licensed Ho... 09/08/2009

Vinyl siding is very popular in Bellingham and Whatcom county. Often I will see homes with vinyl siding and it looks to be in good shape. One place the inspector really needs to look carefully though is at decks and patios -- any place where barbecues or equipment might be stored. This photo is typical of what you are likely to find at the patio. Perhaps even more common than that is the melted siding where the barbecue has been sizzling away and it overheated the siding. Remember, vinyl is plastic and plastic melts. If you are checking a home with vinyl siding, as a realtor or selling agent, snoop a bit behind the equipment at the patio or deck. Also look down low where lawn mower and weed wacker damage is prevalent. Thanks for stopping by, Steven L. Smith Washington State Licensed Ho... 09/08/2009

Thankful Thursday on Monday can I do that-Whatcom County Real Estate for Sale Thankful Thursday on Monday can I do that? Today has been one of those days, that I am so truly Thankful for. Labor Day weekend turned out to be a wonderful Open House weekend on Lummi Island for me. Saturday's open house had an amazing turnout! I am Thankful for that. I am also Thankful on this Labor Day, for the time I was able to spend with my family. We also had a wonderful dinner together! I was also able to spend some time with my wonderful Mother in Law. I do not get time so see her often enough! It was a wonderful afternoon! I just had to take a moment to be Thankful. Since there is a group Thankful Thursday I had to try. Thankful is everyday of the week, don't you think? Thankful Thursday on Monday ca... 09/07/2009

  When you live in a wet area, like Bellingham and the Pacific Northwest, sometimes all people can do to keep the crawl space reasonably dry is to install a sump pump. The biggest ongoing problem with sump pumps is the fact that they are mechanical devices. Mechanical devices -- like your car and the airplane you fly in -- quit working unless they are well-maintained. That is true of a sump pump too. The next problem is this: Homeowners do not know much about them, they are out of sight and out of mind and, with few exceptions, homeowners have no clue if they are working or AWOL. I am convinced that people avoid their crawl spaces. At a recent inspection I found this sump pump. It was one of the largest catch basins I have seen in a crawl space -- not just the plastic bucket. Problem wa... 09/06/2009

Oh yes, if only everything could be perfect. My belief is that, if you are talking houses, the word "perfect" never applies. That is my view, having worked for several years as a home inspector in Bellingham. Here is an example -- I often find water heaters that are installed in finished living space and the tank has no pan with a drain to the outside underneath it. The inspection report language goes much like this:  The water heater is installed over finished living space and has no catch pan and drain installed. While the probability of this becoming an issue increases proportionally with the age of a water heater, should the tank develop a leak, a pan and drain will route any water outdoors so interior damage would be minimized. Recommend that client consider having a pan with a dr... 09/04/2009

In this wet corner of the Pacific Northwest, when a home does not have gutters and downspouts, the uncontrolled runoff water ends up in all those places you do not want to find it -- like running down the siding or collecting at the foundation and entering the basement or the crawl space or rotting the wood trim or the siding. Sometimes people in heavy snow or mountain areas do not want gutters because they might come down when snow collects in them, although there are gutter systems designed for mountain locations. When I inspected this house years ago, the front porch had significant rot, in part the result of the eave above emptying water directly below.   Gutters alone are not enough. The system also requires downspouts to control the runoff and a drain system or extensions to get ... 09/03/2009

Today, at Bellingham Technical College, students spent the whole day focusing on learning about the various wood destroying organisms that are found in this state. The primary culprits are carpenter ants, termites, wood boring beetles, moisture ants and wood decay fungi or rot. Under the new home inspector licensing law, a home inspector inspects for rot and conducive conditions (things that cause rot or attract pests) but the inspector does not inspect for wood destroying insects. However, many home inspectors are also licensed structural pest inspectors and they do inspect for wood destroying insects. The purpose of this class, an add on to basic home inspector training, is to teach students about the role of the inspector and the structural pest inspector. In a few weeks each studen... 09/02/2009

The weather has changed and, with it, the winds of change have blown into Washington State. As of yesterday, the licensing of home inspectors became official. Washington state is a state that licenses home inspectors now and in the future. This whole process of wrangling over the law, and the implementation of the law, took place over years. In fact it is not all complete as of yet. Until July of this year, there are a few inspectors, who have been given extra time to work, so they can gain mandatory education credits. If they do not do that, then they are done in the field as of the last day of June. As I understand it, the phone was ringing off the hook and many people were showing up at the DOL offices in Olympia over the last couple days. There is nothing like people putting things... 09/02/2009

I work as a Bellingham home inspector, serving all of Whatcom county and frequently Skagit county and Island county. On the job, I see a number of old homes. When a home is older, and the foundation is post and block (pier), it is very common that some settling will have taken place over the years. In fact, that is so common in my experience that one of my disclaimers on an older home with that type of foundation notes that this could be ongoing. When possible, if there are smooth floors without carpets, I will put a large glass marble on the floor and see which way it rolls. Sometimes when I give it a nudge, it goes nowhere but often it will roll down a slope in one or more directions. That was the case the other day. Here the marble headed -- consistently -- to the east. Sometimes, w... 08/30/2009

A few weeks ago, I received an inquiry about a Blaine Bank owned property.  I was happy to help this potential client and wanted to give her as much information as I could regarding the property so that she could make an informed decision as to whether she wanted to move forward in pursuing this property.  After her initial inquiry, she decided that she'd like to view the property.  We met the next day to view the property and she informed me upon arrival that she had been working with another agent...for a while.  I'm definitely not one to step on anyone's toes, but I'm also aware that some agents out there perhaps shouldn't be.  I gave her the spill of agency relationship, which she knew & she was aware that she was stabbing her agent in the back by calling me.  The point was she didn... 08/29/2009

In Washington state, at least up until recently, most of us home inspectors are also licensed structural pest inspectors. I have seen plenty of carpenter ant activity and damage over the years.  I teach the course in wood destroying organisms for Bellingham Technical College. I have seen more ants on premises previously, but nothing to compare to the amount of frass that I saw the other day. It was quite amazing. Frass consists of sawdust and byproducts of insect tunneling or feeding.   All of those shavings came from carpenter ants. At first, based on the amount of frass, I was surprised. I thought maybe this was not ants but that somebody had thrown sawdust in the crawl space at this old home. I sifted through the frass and found bits and pieces of dead ants and I even found some ful... 08/28/2009