Few cities, if any, appeared on the scene over night (remember, "Rome wasn't built in a day?). Even well planned cities have taken unusual twists and turns along the way from ground breaking to current habitation. And no two cities have ever taken identical paths. Builders of condominium complexes establish and record a comprehensive set of rules and regulations for the future use of that which they build, as required by law. But there is a point when the people who have purchased the various units have  greater interest in the complex than the builder and the balance of power shifts. The owners start to amend the rules and regulations. The landscaping changes. When more owners are involved in the day to day process of maintaining the property, the better the property becomes.

In many cases, when there is a predominance of rental units in the building, the property is not so well maintained. For this reason Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac require a high percentage of owner occupants or they will not accept the mortgage terms.

Cities usually have a cause attached to their location. A river allows for river transport of goods. The bay off an ocean demands a port. Mountain passes define routes, and where routes cross, trade has been going on for centuries.

Once a town or city has begun to grow, interested parties make rules and set up enforcement policies on how the inhabitants should get along. And as towns become cities the management becomes more complex.

City management systems include mayors and councils and more rules and regulations are made. There comes a time when the managers start asking neighborhoods to reoprt on their wants and needs. There comes a time when city managers tell the neighborhoods that they must plan for the future. They ask the neighborhoods how they are doing and how they want to grow.

Some neighborhoods heed the call and engage. The people that live in these neighborhoods meet and talk and tell the city managers how things are going. Neighborhoods are made up of people. Some academics like to do studies and they come up with things called demographics. These academics go deeper into there studies and say that if this then that. They start forgetting about the people that live in the neighborhoods.

You may think I'm wandering, but I am not. Seattle has asked it's 37 urban villages to come up with plans for growth and greater density. The Roosevelt neighborhood has done that. The Roosevelt neighborhood has come up with a zoning plan that allows for greater density and allows for a density that sustains a new light rail station to be built there. But certain elements fo the city are aligned with developers who have decided that blocks which they control would be better suited to growth and that the people who live in the neighborhood are just being selfish is wishing to control home their homes are impacted.

It's a sad day when communities loose control to developers. Don't let it happen to you. If you live in a Seattle neighborhood, support Roosevelt's Plan for the future. And Roosevelt will support your cause when the going gets tough.  Great neighborhoods make great cities.

Ravenna-Roosevelt May 2011 Market Report

The 16 closings in May was double that of the 8 closings of residential property in the Ravenna and Roosevelt neighborhoods of Seattle during April. Surely a good sign that the people who took the plunge actually made it to the closing table.  Active listings have been pretty steady for the past three months coming in currently at 33 . We still could use more inventory in these neighborhoods. There are buyers out there looking for homes.

Last month there were 25 listings pending inspection or otherwise resolved and just waiting to close. Now there are 29 such properties, so expect June totals to be up slightly.

For in-city Seattle north of the ship canal the statics include 219 closed sales in April, 469 pending sales (up 130) and 912 active listings up 121 since last month. Absorption rate is now 4.2.Still a sellers market.

This report includes single family homes, townhomes and condominiums.



If you live in the Seattle area, and in particular the North Seattle and the Ravenna or Roosevelt areas, give me a call and let’s discuss how to resolve your real estate issues.

When traveling I often mention to my driver (wife) that we should pull over in the next town and check out a Vietnam Veterans' Memorial. I must have seen a hundred of them by now, but never tire of pausing for a moment and bowing my head in rememberance of what all our veterans have done for us. I like to think that other countries have veterans too, and even if they opposed us in battle, it was their  leaders who sent them into the fray. Veterans from every country, from every war, get my respect all year long. My latest visit was on a bike ride along the confluence of the Columbia, Snake and Yakima Rivers.

This one is in Richland, Washington along the Columbia River.

I have to admit that like many people, I misjudged someone.

Here's the story. Last fall my mother-in-law passed away. She had passed 90 and still lived in her own home, alone, but a fall and complications took their toll. She lived on Bainbridge Island, Wa, a few miles from her daughter Ellen. Her other daughter and I are Realtors® only 10 miles, a ferry ride and light years away. Ellen and Marjie's brother Scott lives in New Hampshire.

The home would eventually be put on the market and since Marjie and I are in the business, we knew what had to be done, but because of that ferry ride we opted not to list this home. It is out of our area and expertise. The three siblings went about interviewing three local agents as the three in-laws continued preparing the house for market. Of course it went against my better instincts to keep my big fat nose out of the interviews, but I managed. The siblings selected Eileen Black to represent them.

I noted that Eileen had signed on to ActiveRain at one time but never really engaged. I checked her other listings at the time and she seemed to be working in a price range that tripled the projected value of my mother-in-law's home. Stupid me. I thought she wouldn't really give the siblings the time of day once this property was listed.

Lesson learned. I was way wrong. With a great deal of patience while certain work was being done and the season changed and the principals' vacations ended the property, with some final recommendations from Eileen, came on the market. There were two offers after the first open house and one was accepted, but the buyer backed out a few days later because she couldn't build a certain fence there. Undaunted, Eileen kept Ellen, the executrix, informed daily. The next week she managed to feature the home in the local newspaper, and an all cash buyer, who wasn't intending to buy anything at the moment put in an offer that was accepted and closed.

From my perspective and the phone conversations I overheard, there was a lot of work that went into the process and Eileen did an amazing job. My somewhat worrisome sister-in-law was well informed and finally admitted that she didn't realize that her sister and I had so much work to do with each transaction.

I applaud the work of Eileen Black and would recommend her for any listing in any price range on Bainbridge Island in the future. If you live there, make a note. She will serve your needs as a buyer or as a seller.

April 2011 Ravenna Roosevelt Market Report

The data is in for April is in and the results are pretty much as predicted. Closed sales are up 100%! There were only 8 closed sales in March, but there were 17 in April. Inventory has remained at 31 active single-family units including condos for the Roosevelt Ravenna neighborhoods. 

The map below shows the sales in red, the pendings in yellow and the active listings in green.

What does the data have to say about the month of April? Let's take a look.

We see that the average days on market for the pending and sold properties went way up. This indicates that those sellers who were too high have lowered their prices to meet the market, or that the market has improved and in spite of what Case-Shiller says and what you read in the paper, the housing market in the Seattle neighborhoods of Roosevelt and Ravenna is alive and well.

If you would like to be a part of this activity, give me a call. Let's take a close look at how the light rail station in Roosevelt will affect the growth in this neighborhood.

The 34th Annual Ravenna Park Egg Hunt in the Park will be held On April 24th in "Little Park" on Easter Sunday at 2:30 rain or shine. If you have a child participating, bring a dozen plastic eggs, filled with candy, coins, sticker, or other treats (no nuts, please) to the Coleman's House at 311 19th Ave NE before 6 PM on Saturday April 23rd. 

With your eggs please include the form which is available here: The Egg Hunt Form.

You can help hide eggs, make a donation for the "Golden Eggs," or volunteer to be the Easter Bunny next year.

Come join the neighbors this Sunday for a good time in the Little Park.

The Washington State Property Management Law as Applied to Real Estate Licensees has changed twice in the past two years. First the State tried the "one law fits all" approach but it proved to include a process that was too difficult to manage.

A real estate brokerage in Washington is now known as a Firm. A Firm can decide if they want to provide property management services and/or selling and listing services. If they choose to do property management, they must have a trust account.

Property management places duties on the licensee to both the landlord and to the tenant. Among other obligations, the landlord is owed the duty of striving for profitability, the accounting of funds in collecting of rents and disbursement for maintenance and repairs, showing properties and securing tenants, making mortgage, tax, and utility payments, and in dealing with tenant problems. To the tenant the licensee owes the duty of providing a safe environment, and of seeing that the terms of the rental agreement are fulfilled by the landlord.

It was ruled, that since all licensees are managed by their broker for real estate activities, and because property management is a real estate activity, all agents managing property, including their own owned property must account for all finances through their Firms trust account. Firm owners and designated brokers objected and the law was changed.

Now, licensees may manage their own owned properties by keeping a separate trust account, but, in all dealings with their tenants they must exclude the Firm name and any mention that they are in fact a real estate broker.

It's confusing to say the least, for the licensees and for landlords and tenants.

If you are a licensee and your broker does not have a trust account for property management, you may not collect or disburse funds, or show property to or for a client.

If you are a licensee and own rental property, you must not give your tenants your real esate business card, nor should you have them meet you or deliver rents to your office. Your letters and emails to them should not have your Firm name included. This seems contrary to disclosure laws, but that is the way the State of Washington wants it.

If you've purchased a property as in investment, you should ask your realtor first if he is allowed to do property management, before asking him to engage in any actions which may be prohibited..

Good luck to all of us. Let it be further said, that I am not an attorney in any state. If you have questions, ask your designated broker.

It's baseball season again and Green Lake has Little League. My son played on the RUG team (Roosevelt, U-District, GreenLake) team 20 years ago. Today I watched a game with my grandson playing. He'll soon be 14. Hard to believe.

Loren (#22) plays for the Northwest team and today they beat the RUG boys. Loren pitched scoreless two innings of the game and he got on base a few times too.

Twenty years ago I met the parents of two players and have since had 9 transactions with realted members of the family. There is noting quite like enjoying an afternoon in the sun and watching the kids playing their hearts out.

Are there rats in Ravenna, and Roosevelt, too? Who would know unless they seee them or unless they went to the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association meeting last night. About 120 people showed up and it was a busy agenda. First off the acting president was named official president for the coming year. (I showed up without pen and paper, so I have no names to report.) 

After her introductory remarks, a nice young lady from Seattle Public Health arrived and shared some information on rats and what to do about them. There are 4 steps to removing rats:

1. Take away their food. (Stop feeding birds for a while if you must)

2.Exterminate by trapping and/or poisoning.

3.Keep rats out of your yard by eliminating places they nest.

4.Keep rats out of your home. Rats can enter through an opening the size of a quarter.

For the very inquisitive, you can view a dot map of where rats have been reported in people's toilets. And the why of that is something I've been harping on for years. Garbage disposers in kitchens are food processers for sewer rats. They love that stuff and will follow the food trail to it's source. Of course it's dark in those pipes and on occasion they make a turn and end up in your bathroom. Save your self a couple hundred bucks and get rid of your disposer. It will never break down again.

Fortunately Seattle has a yard waste and food waste recycling system and all such waste is composted. These items are stored in containers and picked up each week. Wonderful. 

Next up we heard from the Department of Transportation. Seattle has two floating bridges and one of them (the north bridge on the rat map) needs replacement. In order to pay for it there are going to be tolls and the tolling begins soon. So the talk concerned electronic tolling and what it might mean to you. Can rats cross the bridge and get into Seattle? Can they use the bridge to get out of Seattle? Will they too be charged a fee? These questions were not asked.

Next on the agenda was the selection of board members and their approval. All went well and even some new folks stepped up to help. It was also approved that board meetings would be open to all. Meetings on the first Tuesday of the month.

Then came the big draw of the evening. The run down houses in Roosevelt. I wrote about them before and even have blog dedicated to the Roosevelt-Ravenna Zonning Issues. On the property in question, are there rats? And the answer is an unequivocal, "YES!" An important part of getting rid of these rats is to make sure they are contained and destroyed, not just driven onto neighbors well kept properties. A second and equally important part of the rat remove issue is taking measures to keep other rats from invading the location with their bad building concepts and inappropriate designs. Overbuilding and building in the wrong location destroys a neighborhood just as surely as the current condition of these properties does. Jim O'Halloran, the Roosevelt Land Use Committee spoke to the large audience of about 125. Two processes are in action at the moment. 

1. The Roosevelt Neighborhood Plan is working its way to city approval and needs the support of the Ravenna neighbors. The RNA plan was worked on by a large group of people from the community with the desire to grow the neighborhood since a light rail station will be built there. A great deal of effort went into enhancing the neighborhood while preserving its charm. That support is easy. Everyone should email member of the Seattle City Council and tell them that they support the RNA Plan.

2. The RDG (an out of area development company which wants to build buildings on the rat infested property in excess of 120 feet, where current and recommended zoning is 40 feet) is taking some plans to a design review board. The time to oppose bad design is all of the time and any time. Jim requested that the audience be alert to this meeting and voice opposition when appropriate.We have to do what we need to do to keep the rats out.

The meeting closed with a short piece regarding the Ravenna quest to win  a $50,000 prize by being the most efficient recycling neighborhood in Seattle. And we are now leading. Kudos to us. Ravenna rocks!

Ravenna-Roosevelt March 2011 Market Report

There were 8 closings of residential property in the Ravenna and Roosevelt neighborhoods of Seattle during March. That is up from 5 last month and reflects that more of the 19 pendings from last month have made into the closed category. Active listings went from 36 to 31. Where are the sellers? I wish I knew. There are buyers out there looking for homes.

This month we have 17 pending sales and 8 more awaiting resolution of the inspections. Market time for the Actives is down but for the solds, it’s up. Buyers must have taken advantage of some over-priced listings and negotiated a good deal.

For in-city Seattle north of the ship canal the statics include 235 closed sales in March, 336 pending sales and 783 active listings, for an astounding absorption rate of 3.0. Houses are flying off the shelf again.

This report includes single family homes, townhomes and condominiums.

You can see the active Roosevelt and Ravenna listings included: Ravenna Roosevelt March 2011 Market Report.

If you live in the Seattle area, and in particular the North Seattle and the Ravenna or Roosevelt areas, give me a call and let’s discuss how to resolve your real estate issues.