Bellingham Real Estate Blog

A Seattle consultant has been hired to study the environmental impacts of a proposed 739-unit housing development on Chuckanut Ridge. They will provide information  to the city to determine what it will require of developers. The decision is being criticised by a group opposed to the Fairhaven Highlands project. Responsible Development says the Fairhaven Highlands project would harm an important and sensitive wetland habitat on Chuckanut Ridge. 

Developers Horizon Bank and David Edelstein will pay $50,000 for the consultant to create the environmental impact statement and up to $25,000 to reimburse a city planner's time in managing the project..

The consultant ESA Adolfson estimated 489 hours would be needed to develop the environmental impact statement.  The next closest estimated 979 hours. This is also drawing criticism from Responsible Development, objecting to the consultant because it was recommended by the developers and its time estimate was less than half of the next closest bid.

Planning Director Tim Stewart said the time estimate doesn't matter much because the contract will have to change anyway if the city discovers the study's scope should need to be widened. "In my opinion, they're probably the best firm to do this work," Stewart said.

Bellingham's economy is booming.

A new study by the federal government shows that Bellingham did extremely well in their most recent study of growth that took place between 2004 and 2005. They looked at Bellingham's gross domestic product and ranked it seventh out of 363 metropolitan areas. Bellingham's GDP growth was 11.1 percent compared 3 percent increase nationwide. The GDP is the market value of goods and services produced by property and labor.

According to Hart Hodges who is the director of the Center for economics and business research at Western Washington University much of the increase could be attributed to the rise in oil prices. Look like they took all of Whatcom county into consideration, not just Bellingham, Mount Vernon saw an even bigger increase of 18.9 percent the second in the nation.

This economic growth is one of the things that seems to be keeping the real estate values in Bellingham and Whatcom County rising, in contrast to the rest of the nation. Looks like as long as the economy of the northwest is strong, so is the value of our real estate.

Photo By LinBow at flickr.com

I was just came upon a site that is trying to give craigslist a run for their money.

Kijiji.com bills themselves as a free local classified site, like craigslist they are nationwide and broken up into regions, so you can use their site from anywhere in the country, locally. They are actually in many other countries in the world as well.

Just another place for you to post your real estate listings or services.

Did you ever want to join the circus and be a clown?  

Well here is your opportunity to learn how to be a clown.   The NW  Festival of Clowns is coming to Bellingham this weekend Sept. 27-30 at The Best Western Lakeway Inn. The instructors will be Steve "Peachey Keene" Long who has been a clown since the late 1970's, & Gerry Giovinco the cosmic clown, Captain Visual, who started in 1980.  Some of the events title classes are: Make-Up "Let's Face It", Clowning in Hospitals, Fast/BIG/FUN Balloon Hats.

Sounds like a fun filled event to me.

Joe's Garden was founded by Joe Bertero, in 1927. Joe was a native  of Italy, He and his wife Ann started what has become a Bellingham institution.  The small farm changed hands in the 1980's but kept the name. It is an oasis in the city,sSeveral acres of vegetablesand berries surrounded by homes and condos. You can see Joe's produce in many local markets just marked as Joe's, everyone in town knows what that means, fresh locally grown Bellingham's own. If you want to visit Joe's they are on the corner of 30th Street and Taylor Ave.

Enjoy Fresh & Local

Trader Joe's will finally be opening in Bellingham September 28.

Bellinghamsters have been anxiously awaiting TJ's for quite some  time now as the neareast one is down in the Alderwood Mall south of Everett.

They are great marketers, I have been getting their catalogues for at least 6 months now, getting us primed  for their coming I guess.

We've all heard of Two Buck Chucks, their infamous award winning inexpensive wine. I know folks looking forward to the exotic and not so exotic bargains that await..................Well the wait is almost over.

$249,900 2 bedroom 2.25 bath 1287 sq ft. This beautiful,p Private townhouse condo has it's own private deck. Both bedrooms have adjoining baths and walk-in closets. Private enclosed 2-car garage. This well appointed and better than new unit is located near all amenities. Walking distance to Whatcom Community College and shopping. Close to bus line. 

The Whatcom Transit Authority's newly expanded and renovated bus station in downtown Bellingham will be open for business this Sunday September 16th. There's actually grand opening reception today between 11 and 1 PM that is Friday September 14th. The buses will move back to their new home and away from the temporary location on State Street.

My wife is from Bangkok Thailand with a bus system is heavily used. She always comments about how empty the buses look in Bellingham. In Bangkok there are really crowded, people standing in the aisles. I can relate to that as I grew up in New York City and took the public bus system to get high school and college. What would pass for crowded bus in Bellingham would be an empty one in New York or Bangkok.

A little interesting history about the Bellingham bus system. The first bus to the streets of Bellingham was in 1938, prior to that there was trolley transportation since the 1920s. Up until 1971 the buses were privately owned. The city of Bellingham took over then,in 1983 Whatcom County got involved in services expanded as far as Lynden and Ferndale the Whatcom Transportation Authority as we know today began in 1992. Today the WTA also serves the communities of Deming, Kendall, Everson, to Nooksack and Sumasthat

What can you do to your home to make it more appealing.

Let's start with all the fixtures in the house. Make sure they're all clean and replaced with new ones where needed. Clean the sinks really good to try to remove any stains they may have. Make sure all knobs and faucets turned easily and don't leak.

Take a look at the walls and ceilings and see if there any water stains. If there are make sure the leaks have been repaired and and stained areas repainted. Speaking of paint, a neutral off white paint make your home feel more light and spacious and will appeal to more people than brightly colored rooms. Paint is inexpensive and easy to apply.

Steam clean the carpets or replace any that are outdated or worn out. Repairing broken tiles and windowpanes, make sure all the doors are easy to open. For those of you who smoke or own pets try to take care of the odors they might cause. Odors are often the first thing that buyers notice when they walk in the door.

Take a walk around your house and look at it from your neighbors point of view. What can you do without spending a lot of money to make it more appealing. You've all heard the phrase curb appeal, this is what the outside of the house is all about. Make the entrance to your home appealing. Just painting the door and polishing the handle and putting out a fresh new doormat, might make the entrance more appealing. Planting some colorful flowers and bushes can help keep your house some more curb appeal. If you have very mature plantings make sure they aren't covering the windows, sometimes a little trimming can help with curb appeal as well. Painting the outside of the house can be expensive, deciding whether to spend the money will depend on how bad it needs of paint job. How tired and faded does it look, a new paint job will often bring a higher bid.

These are some suggestions that will help your home the more appealing to a buyer. It's up to to decide how much time energy and money you would like to invest to help your home sell for top dollar.

Friday Sept 14

The Nylons: 8pm, Bellwether on the Bay

Greek Orthodox Festival in Bellingham at St. Sophia Orthodox Church, 510 E Sunset Drive, September 14-16

Saturday Sept 15

Todd Rundgren: 8pm, Silver Reef Casino

Speed & Chrome Car Show: 8am-3pm, 1400 Larrabee Ave.

Fairhaven Runners Waterfront 15K: 8:30am, Fairhaven Village Green - a 9.3-mile race features Bellingham Bay's beautiful waterfront trail

Broken Spoke Festival  10am Sat., Sept. 15 Meet at Bellingham Farmers Market - "The BrokenSpoke Festival showcases the area's trail networks and park systems and the unique ways they link the community."

Salmon Barbecue: 1:30-3:30pm, Fairhaven Village Green