Bellingham Real Estate Blog

 HUD has announced that first time home buyers tax credit of $8,000 has been approved  for all FHA loans.

But the catch this time is that you can't use this tax credit for the required FHA down payment of 3.5%.

The new rules say you can receive the first time home buyers tax credit upfront, as a second loan from any Federal, State, or local agency, or any FHA approved non-profit organization.

What this all means is that you can borrow the money from the $8,000 Tax Credit as your down payment, but after you put down the first 3.5% of that down payment. You still need to come up with 3.5% of your own funds. With FHA loans, that can still be a gift from someone in your family, or it can also come from a non-profit or government agency but not from the tax credit . You can now borrow money against your tax credit in advance, to use for additional down payment or closing costs.  But you can't receive any money back at closing.

You can read the HUD letter here.

Washington State has some Funds set aside in its latest budget to use for these loans but it has been difficult to find any information about it.  I think they are still working out the details and have been waiting for this announcement from HUD to finalize them. I think we will be hearing more about this soon.

2 Bedroom, 1.5 Bath, 1872 Sq Ft, .26 Acres

Address: 1246 St Paul Street, Bellingham, WA 98229

MLS #: 29074338

This solid 1954 home in located in the desirable Puget neighborhood. It has views of Bellingham Bay and the city. The home has beautiful mature landscaping with a fully fenced backyard and a variety of well established trees & flowering shrubs. The basement could easily include a third bedroom or an office/rec room/family room.  It has air conditioning and it is located near schools, parks & shopping. The versatile outbuilding in the backyrard that sits at the back of the property could be  wonderful art studio or  workshop.

It's Memorial Day weekend and what that means here in Bellingham is the annual Ski to Sea Race from Mt. Baker to Bellingham Bay.  The race is a relay starting on Mt. Baker with a cross-country skier handing off a baton to downhill skier who hands off to a runner who hands off to a bike rider who hands off to a canoer who hands off to a mountain bike rider who hands off to a kayaker who finishes the race in Fairhaven.

The race is often traced back to the Mt. Baker Marathon held from 1911 to 1913. The marathon was a  foot race to the top of Mt. Baker conceived by the Mt. Baker Club as a publicity stunt aimed at focusing the government's attention on the region to have the North Cascades area designated as part of the National Park System

To present Ski to Sea Race began in 1973.  Now a relay race, it was designed to showcase the recreational opportunities available in Whatcom County. The Race has evolved into the annual event it is today, attracting participants from all over the world.  It has been featured on national television several times.

Aside for the race Ski to Sea weekend has also evolved to include a grand parade, a junior race, a junior parade, a golf tournament, and a tremendous party and festival where it "all ends in Fairhaven" on race day.  If you happen to be anywhere near Bellingham come on down to Fairhaven enjoy the party atmosphere, the art, the food, the music, and watch the racers cross the finish line.

This  Friday and Saturday, May 15 and 16, Bellingham Technical College's Welding Technology Program will be hosting the 8th Annual Welding Rodeo Sculpture Competition

Friday will be the Amateur Competition and Saturday the Pro's will  take over. This sculpture competition will have 10 teams, (each consisting of 4 people)  selecting scrap metal, designing, and fabricating a finished sculpture in just 8 hours.

There will be individual and team prizes for contest winners, as well as an opportunity to exhibit on BTC's campus.

All sculptures will be available at a public auction, with the proceeds benefiting the BTC Welding Student Scholarship Fund, the Welding Rodeo, and participating artists.

The year's theme is "Space"

The rodeo started out to bring attention to the schools welding program and recruit interested students as well as raise funds for scholarships for those in the welding program. It was a one day event with five teams that has changed into a popular event that has given Bellingham Technical College and its welding program some popularity.

The popularity of the welding program has grown tremendously since the beginning of the rodeo eight years ago. There are presently about 150 students in the program

Yesterday I posted that Shaun Donovan, Secretary of HUD announced that buyers could get the $8000.00 tax credit to use as a bridge loan for a down payment on a home.

I read the information at the National Association of Realtors website.

There was a letter put out by HUD which may no longer be available.

Well it seems that this information is WRONG!! At least today that is.

I called HUD to find out for myself and they told me "the letter that  had stated this information had been rescinded."  That was all the information they would give me, no reason, nada.

Sorry if we got some peoples hopes up, I think Secretary Shaun Donovan ought to provide some kind of explanation.

Great news for first-time home buyers. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary Shaun Donovan said that the Federal Housing Administration is going to permit its lenders to allow homeowners to use the $8,000 tax credit as a down payment.
Mr. Donovan was speaking at the Mid-year conference of NAR in Washington when he said "We all want to enable FHA consumers to access the home buyer tax credit funds when they close on their home loans so that the cash can be used as a downpayment," he According to Donovan, the FHA's approved lenders will be permitted to use the tax credit through short-term bridge loans which will allow eligible home buyers to access the funds immediately at the closing table. This will basically gives first-time homebuyers $8000 towards a down payment and/or closing costs on the new home.
I think this is a great step to help the housing market make a comeback as a down payment can often be a stumbling block for first-time home buyers. The government is finally stepping in to help them.

Backyard Habitat and Native Flora Fair on the Fairhaven Village Green - Saturday, May 9, 10am-4pm 

Want to attract some birds to your yard? Enjoy a day in Fairhaven and learn about native habitat for your homes. Native plants can provides food and shelter for local songbirds and other wildlife, reduces the need for water and chemical pest control, and increases the biodiversity of our town.

The Fairhaven Village Green will be the site of this annual free event which will features guided walks and garden tours, a presentations on native plants and backyard habitat gardening, a native plant sale, backyard tours (11am-3pm), information booths, and a chance to build a nesting box with folks from the North Cascades Audubon Society.

This event is sponsored by the Bellingham Parks and Recreation Backyard Habitat Program and the Koma Kulshan Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society.

image courtesy of flickr.com by law_keven

The following is a quick analysis of the Whatcom County real estate market.

• There are currently 1547 homes for sale.
• Homes are priced from $12,000 - $6,995,000
• Average Asking Price $430,541       Days on Market: 122 days
• Median Asking Price $335,000        Days on Market: 72 days
• Homes sold in April: 141
• Average Listing Price $306,013
• Average Sold Price $292,172       Days on Market 115
• Median Listing Price $259,900
• Median Sold Price $261,000             Days on Market: 80
• Homes Pending this week: 71    Total Homes Pending: 358

• Currently Active Listings: 470
• Price range of active listings - $25,900 - $1,565,000
• Average List Price $271,868       Days on Market: 188
• Median List Price $204,950           Days on Market: 115
• Sold in April: 24
• Average Listing Price $247,407
• Average Sold Price $236,919           Days on Market: 133
• Median Listing Price $237,000
• Median Sold Price $230,500              Days on Market: 110
• Condos Pending (went under contract) last week: 6    Total Condos Pending: 45  

The 19th Annual Haggen to Haggen 5K is an fun Run & Walk. It usually attracts well over 1,000 participants evenly divided between runners and walkers. Haggen to Haggen is a fast course that winds through several Bellingham neighborhoods, including downtown.

The event begins at Sehome Haggens and ends at Meridian Haggens. Free busses will be available to shuttle participants back to the start. The first two miles are mostly level and descending terrain, including an a run/walk through downtown Bellingham on Holly Street. But need to save a little something in their tanks for The final mile has a slight uphill grade as an a bit of a test of endurance for those in the race.

Prizes will be awarded to the first three male and female run finishers.
Walkers are noncompetitive, the walk starts at 8:00 am and runners start at 8:30 am.

For more information you can contact me, as I am the volunteer coordinator or Dale Kreiser the Race Director

The following is a quick analysis of the Blaine real estate market.

• There are currently 268  homes for sale.
• Homes are priced from $69,900 - $6,995,000
• Average Asking Price $488,117        Days on Market: 134 days
• Median Asking Price $340,250         Days on Market: 78 days
• Homes sold in April: 11
• Average Listing Price $195,069 
• Average Sold Price $188,405         Days on Market 179
• Median Listing Price $199,990 
• Median Sold Price $199,900               Days on Market: 179
• Homes Pending this week: 8    Total Homes Pending: 44

   

• Average Sales Price April 2008: $259,915
• Median Sales Price April 2008: $250,000
• Sold in April 2008: 31

 The Average Sales price is down 27.5% compared to April 08 and down 22.8% compared to March 09.

The Median Sales prices is down 20.0% compared to April 08 and down 4.8% compared to March 09.

The number of sales is down by 20 or 64% to April 08 and is down by 5 or 32% compared to last month March 09.

Condo Analysis for Blaine/Birch Bay 

• Currently Active Listings: 102
• Price range of active listings - $25,900 - $1,300,000
• Average List Price $370,437         Days on Market: 166
• Median List Price $319,500           Days on Market: 131
• Sold in April : 2
• Average Listing Price $392,430 
• Average Sold Price $350,000             Days on Market: 174 
• Median Listing Price $392,430  
• Median Sold Price $350,000               Days on Market: 161
• Condos Pending this week: 0    Total Condos Pending: 4  

The Average Sales price is up 72.0% compared to April 08.

The Median Sales prices is up 136% compared to April 08.

The number of sales is down by 3 or 60%.

It is pretty amazing looking at these numbers, the number of Blaine condo sales are pretty small, skewing the numbers as they have been the past few months.