Despite the snow in the foothills & temperatures this week in the 30’s, I knew that Spring was here. Lylene told me that I needed to fire off our lawn mower & today was the opening of the Bellingham Farmer’s Market. Two sure fire indicators that Spring is here.

We had intended to get to the Bellingham Farmer’s Market right at 10:00 to see how Mayor Dan Pike fared with the annual “Mayorial Cabbage Throw” but unfortunately I was distracted by a Mt Bakery cinnamon roll & missed the Cabbage Toss. I guess we’ll have to read about that in the tomorrow’s Bellingham Herald. If any of you were there & would like to comment on the Pike throwing arm relative to that of former mayor Mark’s arm please feel free to do so.

Despite a cloudy / cool morning the Bellingham Farmers Market was well attended: friends were meeting friends & making new ones at the same time, pasteries & the like were being sampled by all could make it to the counter (us included), kids of all ages were watching the hoola hooper, the juggler & anything / everything else that was going on. Lylene & I sampled our way through a variety of cheese booths (a couple of samples at Golden Glen Creamery), coffee stands (even though it might sound a bit ominous, don’t let the “Day of the Dead” blend from Guadalupe’s Coffee stop you - it’s delicious) , bakery tables that by the time we finished at the honey stall it was all I could do to muster enough strength to eat the Ethiopian dish that I picked out for lunch. If you have not attended the Bellingham Farmer’s market you should mark it on your calender. It’s great fun.

The Bellingham Farmer’s Market will be open come rain or shine from through December every Saturday from 10:00 to 3:00. If you can’t make it there, the Bellingham Farmer’s market also is open in Fairhaven from June to September on Wednesdays 3:00 to 7:00 PM.

Remember if you have a comment on the cabbage pitch’n arm of Mayor Pike let us know - a photo would be great.

I recently received an e-mail from an out of state client who is soon to relocate to Bellingham with her family. They have been looking at Bellingham real estate valued in the $500,000 to $600,000 range with the intention of buying this Summer. The client wrote “We’re going to rent in Bellingham rather than purchasing & in 2 to 3 years would like you to help us find our Bellingham dream home”. She asked me if I thought that strategy made sense given the state of the real estate market nationwide & our local real estate market in Bellingham / Whatcom County Washington.

I responded to her that I thought there would be some validity in their holding off on purchasing Bellingham / Whatcom county real estate if their intention was to familiarize themselves with areas / schools / police statistics but responded that I didn’t think there was much concern of our Bellingham real estate / Whatcom County real estate market falling into a real estate abyss. Statistically we have not seen prices dropping & certainly nothing that is being experienced in other areas in the United States.

I thought that it would be an interestiing dialogue to start on our Blog to see how you feel about the health of our Bellingham real estate market as well & what changes you have made because of it.

So to start things off, this is my reasoning for optimism regarding Bellingham real estate. We have tracked real estate sales for years. We have done this by community ie: Bellingham Real Estate, Blaine & Birch Bay Real Estate,Ferndale Real Estate, Lynden Real Estate & Sudden Valley Real Estate for years. If you’d like to know what was happening in Birch Bay Real Estate the week of April 12, 2003 & want to compare that with the same week of 2006, we could tell you. In fact we could narrow it down by price range to give you a definitive idea so that you could make a reasonable decision about your real estate holdings. If you have a home in Bellingham that is valued in the $350,000 to $399,999 range & would like to compare today’s market with the real estate market that existed in Bellingham for the same week in 2002, we could provide you with that informaiton.

Last month Lylene & I were talking & wondering if we tracked sales of Bellingham real estate that had sold 3 years ago & then
re-sold, if there was anything to be gained from that statistic. We reviewed all residential Bellingham real estate sales over the last 3 years & then tracked any subsequent sale of those homes over that same period. Believe me this was no small task given that the number of closed Bellingham real estate sales over that period amounted to 3641 homes. We filtered through those numbers & came up with 123 Bellingham homes that had sold & then re-sold. Of these Bellingham homes, only 11 had resold at prices less than they had sold for previously & 2 for the same sale amount. The remainder of the homes had sold for amounts more than the original sale. To break these sales down, we have come up with the following:
Bellingham real estate sales 2005 & re-sale of the same home in 2006 resulted in an average price increase of 15.4%
Bellingham real estate sales 2005 & re-sale of the same home in 2007 resulted in an avarage price increase of 12.8%
Bellingham real estate sales 2006 & re-sale of the same home in 2007 resulted in an average price increase of 16.0%
Bellingham real estate sales 2005 & re-sale of the same home in 1st Qtr 2008 resulted in an average price increase of 25.0%
Bellingham real estate sales 2006 & re-sale of the same home in 1st Qtr 2008 resulted in an average price increase of 1.5%
Bellingham real estate sales 2007 & re-sale of the same home in 1 st Qtr 2008 resulted in an average price increase of 29.5%

If you have interest in the breakdown of this data & would like to stop by & go over it, please call me @ 360-319-3267 or e-mail.

As our oldest son who is a soon to be PHD at Stanford was quick to point out, these figures do not take into consideration those houses that sold over the last 3 years & have been put back on the market without subsequently re-selling with listing prices potentially below the original sale price. He is correct in that regard, however as we continue to track the re-sales of Bellingham real estate these figures will ultimately be added into the analysis.

Since we did this of course, the world has experienced the “Tsunami of Economic Blasts” not felt since the market crash of 1929. How the collapse of Bear Stearns will ultimately effect the Bellingham real estate market is just guess work at this point. What we will do is continue to track sales & subsequesent re-sales of Bellingham real estate & relay the information to you on this blog.

One of my all time favorite Country Western songs is “The Gambler” by Kenny Rodgers. In it, there is the lyric “You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away and know when to run.” As it is with cards, it certainly is true with real estate. Some Buyers & Sellers are using Ouigi Board / Pin the Tail on the Donkey strategies to determine whether they should “Hold Em”, “Fold Em”, “Walk Away” or “Run”.

Sooooooooooooooo to put this all together, I can see nothing on the Bellingham real estate radar screen that would lead me to believe that we are experiencing anything other than a much needed slow down from what we have experienced over the last several years. In terms of “The Gambler”, if I was considering purchasing real estate, I certainly would not put it off because I thought the bottom was going to drop out. Interest rates are good, there is a good selection of inventory & there are Sellers who are motivated to sell. From the standpoint of a Seller, I’d want to keep in mind that today’s Buyer is far different from that of 3 years ago. They are more cautious, discerning & much more concerned about negotiating.

In general, this is how we saw the Bellingham real estate market over 2007 and this would be our real estate prediction for 2008.

As I mentioned earlier, I’d be curious to know what your preception of the real estate market is. Whether you are from Whatcom County & would like to share your thoughts about the Bellingham / Whatcom County real estate market or are from out of the area & would like to share your experiences with your local market, feel free to comment. In terms of “The Gambler” which would you advocate - hold em, fold em, walk away or run?

Recently I received an e-mail from a lady living in India who is relocating to Bellingham Washington & is interested in receiving a Bellingham Relocation Package. I sent her a lenghty e-mail with several sources of relocation information for Bellingham & Whatcom County but in doing so I thought it might be an interesting post on our Blog for people who are considering relocating to Whatcom County ie: a one stop shop for Bellingham Relocation Information or Whatcom County Relocation Information. The following is a result of that effort.

For those interested in receiving a Bellingham Relocation Package in the mail, a few sources for you would include:
1. The Johnson Team’s Bellingham Relocation Guide, 2. the Whatcom County Visitor’s Bureau’sWhatcom County Relocation Guide
3. The Bellingham Chamber of Commerce for a slight charge will mail you their Bellingham, Whatcom County Resource Guide

Some easy access on-line sources of Bellingham / Whatcom County Relocation Information would include the following:

1. For Whatcom County / Bellingham School District information click here
2. For Bellingham School Performance Reports click here
3. For Ferndale School Information click here
4. For Blaine School Information click here
5. For Lynden School Information click here
6. For Meridian School Information click here
7. For Mount Baker School Information click here
8. For Nooksack Valley School Information click here
9. For Whatcom County Private School Information click here
10. For Higher Education in Whatcom County click here
11. For photo galleries of Whatcom County, Bellingham & several of the yearly events ie: Deming Log Show, Scottish Highland Games, Sea to Ski & others, click here
12. For Whatcom County Recreational opportunities click here
13. For weather information click here.
14. For information about Bellingham Neighborhoods to include available inventory in each neighborhood access our Johnson Team Bellingham Real Estate Neighborhood Section. Another excellent resource for you relative to Bellingham Neighborhoods would be the City of Bellingham web site. You can access it by clicking here
15. A topic that people are always interested in is safety. The Bellingham Police Department has an excellent web site & specific information about the neighborhoods which you can access by clicking here
16. People are always curious when relocating to Bellingham or Whatcom County about job opportunities. Other lists of Top Employers in Bellingham & Whatcom County would include this list from the Whatcom County Department of Economic Opportunity.
16. No discussion of Relocation to Bellingham or Relocating to Whatcom County is ever complete without mention of Health Care. There is also an excellent Web Site by the Whatcom County Medical Society that enables you to find physicians & services in Whatcom County.
17. Questions are always asked about Bellingham Real Estate Values. This site is an excellent resource to help you track Bellingham Real Estate & Whatcom County Real Estate trends & sales.
18. The search engine that The Johnson Team uses on it’s web site for searching for real estate in Bellingham & Whatcom County is state of the art & one of the few that down loads market information almost hourly. It is one of the best resources for timely & accurate real estate information in Bellingham & Whatcom County.
19. For a General List of local links ranging from Bellingham Newspapers to modes of transportation in Whatcom County & Bellingham this will satisfy many needs.
20. We have put together a Bellingham Whatcom County Business Directory that ranges from bankers to plumbers to video rentals. You can access this Whatcom County Business Directory by clicking Here

This list certainly is not exhaustive. I have probably left out countless excellent resources that would be important for someone moving to Bellingham or Whatcom County & wanting relocation information but at least it’s a beginning. If you know of a site that should be added to this list or think of an area that you would like included, please contact Rich Johnson or Fawn Macaras.

In the meantime I hope you find this suppliment to our Bellingham / Whatcom County Relocation Package useful.

I just attended the Inman News conference in San Francisco featuring leaders in the Real Estate & Lending Industries.  This includes the tried & true performers & the up & comers with new ideas, technologies & business models. 

As the conference was wrapping up, Brad Inman, of Inman News, asked the audience what our greatest insight was from this conference.  On the plane traveling back to Washington I decided that for me, the light bulb that went on was the idea that the one size fits all real estate model that I’ve known & worked within for the last 20 years might be going the way of the buggy whip & LP records.  The “Traditional Model” is under siege by such companies  as Redfin, Help-You-Sell, MLS By Owner & others who are offering programs today that many Buyers & Sellers are finding very appealing.  If the “Traditional Realtor” is to grow or simply maintain market share, we, “The Johnson Team” specifically, need to look at the way we are conducting business in today’s world & determine if it’s still valid or if it needs to be modified.

I’d be curious to know, if you have recently bought, sold or in one aspect or another been involved in a real estate transaction, how you found the experience ie: did you feel the Real estate agent earned his or her fee, were there services that were provided that you would or could have taken on with a corresponding reduction in fee by the agent, were there services other than those associated with the buying or selling of real estate for which you would seek a Realtor’s advice, assuming that those services were provided on a fee for service basis?
It would be helpful to know your thoughts on these issues as we decide how to move forward into “Real Estate 2008″ and beyond.

�

We bought Lylene’s  Dad a DVD the other day.  He is a former teacher and school administrator – one of those rare people who think that children of 12 to 14 are the very best to teach.  He is 80 years old now, so when he was teaching it was Junior High School rather than Middle School, and while he didn’t have the drug issues to contend with there were still all the other challenges of that age group.

He talks often of his former students, what he taught and how he taught it, and what comes through is how much he loved what he did.  Even now, one of his greatest thrills is when a former student comes up to him in a store or restaurant or calls him on the phone to tell him how much they enjoyed his class, or that they still have the scrapbook they made or that they still can “sing the presidents”.  He actually taught reading, but what his students learned was History, Literature, Writing and Speech.  They learned to run a meeting following Roberts Rules of Order and how to present information in a public venue via a panel discussion.  He focused on the American Classics, and along the way he also taught them about character.

When we saw “The Emperor’s Club,”  we saw Lyle.  The story is about a teacher who teaches about character, and the bottom line is that we all have to live with ourselves.  There is a quotation that I have always liked but unfortunately don’t know who to credit for it, “Character is what you do when no one is looking.”

The real estate market in which we find ourselves now is a real test of character for all the players – buyers and sellers as well as agents.  It can be stressful, confusing & frustrating, but character on the part of everyone involved results in a good experience.  At the Johnson Team, our goal is always a great experience for our clients.  Call us – we think you will be glad you did.   �