The Bellingham Real Estate Blog

Updated HARP Goverment Loan Refinancing Program Starts March 15th

March 6th, 2012 by Fawn | Posted in Random | No Comments

If you are like many home owners in America you may owe more on your home than the home’s appraised value. If you are feeling like you are under water on your home and not sure where to turn then the new HARP program might be just the help you have been needing.

The government’s Home Affordibility Refinance Program (HARP) has been updated and goes into effect March 15th . Under the new program regulations homeowners who owe more than their house is worth can refinance at lower rates regardless of the home’s appraised value if the loan is held by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and the homeowner is current on their payments. For details, go to http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/programs/lower-rates/Pages/harp.aspx. To see if your mortgage is held by Fannie or Freddie, go to www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup or http://www.freddiemac.com/mymortgage. For free help, call 888-995-4673 – 24 hours a day.

If you have questions regarding the local Bellingham and Whatcom County Real Estate markets feel free to visit our website www.JohnsonTeamRealEstate.com or call us toll free at 1-888-713-3056.

For more information on Bellingham Real Estate or to search for homes in the Bellingham and Whatcom County area visit www.JohnsonTeamRealEstate.com, your one stop Bellingham real estate and community information resource!

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Bellingham Real Estate Market Home Sale and Pricing Update

March 5th, 2012 by Fawn | Posted in Bellingham, Bellingham, Random, Real Estate Sales Statistics, Whatcom County | 1 Comment »

There are some odd things going on in the real estate market.

Trend lines of average and median prices for the past 3 years have been down, but the units sold trend has been stable. We crossed the tipping point this month…all trend lines are now heading down both for Bellingham and the county as a whole.
With that said, sales for the first two months of the year are up strongly in all areas except Bellingham and Birch Bay/Blaine.
The number of short sale and bank owned properties on the market has been dropping over the past 2 months, and the number of those types of properties sold is down from last fall.
The Bellingham market is the largest in the county and has typically been the strongest, but that doesn’t seem to be the case lately.

Indications of shifts in market activity to areas outside Bellingham started showing up at the end of the year. Bellingham inventory continued lower than the prior year, but the number of pending sales also started to decline. In some other areas of the county, however, pending sales were climbing. Look at the numbers as of the end of February in the table below.

Comparison of Month End Active and Pending Residences in 5 areas
	Feb 2011	Feb 2012	% Change
Bellingham
Active	491	358	-27%
Pending	127	119	-6%

Ferndale
Active	189	146	-23%
Pending	37	51	28%

Sudden Valley
Active	60	71	18%
Pending	22	24	9%

B Bay/Blaine
Active	194	157	-19%
Pending	38	42	11%

Lynden
Active	129	116	-10%
Pending	24	40	67%

So why are pending sales so strong, particularly in Ferndale and Lynden, compared to Bellingham? In looking at the individual properties represented in these numbers, the increases seem to be driven by new construction. Ferndale and Lynden went into the recession with large numbers of platted lots available. Prices on those lots have come down and new houses are being built. While some of that is going on in Bellingham, it is a much smaller percentage of the market. Read On…..

For ongoing real estate numbers and details on all the Whatcom County market areas, go to main website. We update the site weekly with everything from interest rates to market conditions to information from Fannie Mae, the FED and the FDIC. Also, feel free to call us at (360) 303-2734 or e-mail Info@JohnsonTeamRealEstate.com if you want to know more about a specific portion of the market – we track a lot more than we have space to report.

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Whatcom County Home & Garden Show This Weekend!

March 1st, 2012 by Fawn | Posted in Bellingham, Lynden, Whatcom County, Whatcom County Events | No Comments

This weekend March 2-4 you will want to be sure to head out to Lynden and check out the 2012 Whatcom County Home and Garden Show there will be over 200 vendors showcasing different products for your home. Throughout the show there will also be several seminars held including a gardening question and answer with TV personality and gardening expert Cisco Morris. To view the complete list of seminars to be held during the show click here.

Home and Garden Show Kids Coloring Contest Sheet

Local appliance company DeWaard and Bode and Kafe 104.1 will also be giving away three prizes at the show with a value of over $10,000. You will want to be sure and stop by their display to enter to win a price. For the kids there is also a coloring contest, you can download and print the coloring sheet early by visiting the BIA website.

The Whatcom County Home and Garden Show is being helpd at the Northwest Washington Fair & Events center located at 1775 Front St in Lynden. Tickets prices are $7 for Adults 16 and older, $5 for seniors 55 and older, and children under 16 are free.

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Mortgage Rate Update For Bellingham Real Estate

February 29th, 2012 by Fawn | Posted in Banking News, Mortgage Rates, Random | No Comments

Happy Leap Day! If you are shopping loan rates for a new home purchase or refinance you will want to read this! It’s that time again, time to update you on the latest in home loan and mortagage rates. If you are in the market for a home loan below are the mortgage rates as of today Feb. 29nd 2012, courtesy of Sidney Stonecypher at People’s Bank Barkley Branch here in Bellingham.

	Down Payment	Interest Rate	APR	Credit Score	Points
Conventional 30 yr fixed	20%	3.625	3.732	740	1
Conventional 15 yr fixed	20%	2.875	3.059	740	1
Jumbo 30 yr fixed	20%	4.250	4.386	740	1
FHA 30 yr fixed	3.5%	3.375	3.809	660*	1
VA 30 yr fixed	0%	3.375	3.725	640	1
*Score requirement will vary by lender

To view homes or property for sale visit our Bellingham Real Estate Search Page. For more details, or a custom home loan quote, contact Sidney Stonecypher at People’s Bank, 360-676-4597 or sidney.stonecypher@peoplesbank-wa.com. Remember that many variables come into play in determining the rate a lender will give a borrower. If you are getting a rate quote from a lender who does not have all your information, that rate may not be real. What with the low rates, it is still a great time to buy a house!

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Heath Tecna- Whatcom County Employer Spotlight

February 29th, 2012 by Fawn | Posted in Barkley Village, Bellingham, Random | No Comments

Heath Tecna is located in Bellingham, Washington and is one of the most premier suppliers of interiors for passenger aircraft industry. Heath Techna manufactures equipment for the passenger cabins of airplanes, the flight deck and the cargo bay. Established in the early 1950′s Heath Tecna supplies airplane interior components to over 30% of aircraft with over 100 passenger seats.

Heath Tecna also is a key player in the interior integration of aircraft as well. They provide certification services to reconfigure aircraft interiors to help to bring to up to date with cutting edge designs and interior systems. Heath Tecna has employees who are certified by the FFA and is able to repair and overhaul aircraft interior equipment for airlines, lessors or even private owners.

Heath Tecna, Bellingham, Washington

View more videos from The Johnson Team.

Heath Tecna employs approximately 420 employees in various fields from human resource specialists to engineers and CNC machinist and everything in between. To search for current job openings with Heath Techna visit their Career Page.

If you are seeking employment at Heath Tecna or another position in Bellingham or Whatcom County, we would be happy to provide you with an information and relocation package on the communities around Heath Techna.

Request your FREE Personalized Bellingham and Whatcom County Relocation Package
Courtesy of The Johnson Team Real Estate.

In your personalized relocation package you will learn about the city of Bellingham, statistics on area schools, art and cultural events, and local community and neighborhood information. If while waiting for your package to arrive you would like to further explore Whatcom County, feel free to visit the community virtual tours we offer on our website that give you a front seat tour around the sites and events of Bellingham and Whatcom County.

Bellingham is home to over 20 neighborhoods and provides a vast array of real estate options from luxury and waterfront real estate, to more modest subdivisions and historical neighborhoods: there is something for everyone in the area. To get an idea of real estate available in the area visit the Bellingham Real Estate Search page to look for homes or property specific to your needs.

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Updated HARP Goverment Loan Refinancing Program Starts March 15th

Bellingham Real Estate Market Home Sale and Pricing Update

Whatcom County Home & Garden Show This Weekend!

Mortgage Rate Update For Bellingham Real Estate

Heath Tecna- Whatcom County Employer Spotlight

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