NCW Real Estate Blog

I did a bit of a rant today at the Chelan Real Estate Blog on the new draft of the Shorelines Master Plan update for Chelan county.  I’m very disappointed in that the plan doesn’t actually do anything to keep our waterways clean and healthy but does burden property owners a great deal who want to maintain or build any shoreline improvements.  While I wrote about Lake Chelan, this plan will apply to all waterways and shorelines in the county.  If you have chelan county real estate, have a look!

The really disappointing part of this plan is, in spite of being horribly intrusive, it really does nothing to maintain or enhance the quality of the water in Lake Chelan!  It does not do any sort of comprehensive look at points of contamination, types of contamination and the capacity of the system or setting appropriate  limits on sources of pollution.  It does not look at or encourage innovative practices to reduce contamination to the system regarding marine practices.  It does not define the limits of development or types of contamination that Lake Chelan can take and maintain its quality.  It does not use science to solve problems,  just to control the public.  It just takes a huge hammer and smashes your rights without scientific basis or justification. – Chelan Real Estate Blog

Tags: General Interest, Land Use, Local by Al Lorenz
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Pacific Appraisals is not publishing a Snapshot report for the Cashmere and Leavenworth real estate markets.

The Cashmere Snapshot is new and suffers from not having a great history of data in a market where each month does not have enough data to show any trends.

The Leavenworth Snapshot is likewise a new work and only has 4 data points to show for February.  But, over time, these could develop into useful reports of the market.  Thanks Pacific Appraisals!

Tags: General Interest, Local, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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I also continued my rants on “affordable housing” yesterday.  We appear to have some affordable homes for sale at Lake Chelan, in spite of the regulations from our state and local governments that are doing every thing possible to make sure we don’t have any.  The problem isn’t “affordable housing” but the cost of regulation and fees being imposed by local and state government.

Just look at the city budgets of Chelan and Wenatchee to see how these local tax districts regulate affordable housing away and then tax the citizens to subsidize it!  That logic could only work in our current upside down era.  In fact, maybe that’s what this period in history will become, the Upside Down Age!

I found an article that explains the issue in clear language that is probably too clear for some.  Click the link to read more!

The problem of skyrocketing housing prices was all too real in those places where this problem existed. When you have to live on half your income because the other half goes for housing, that’s a real downer.

Almost invariably, these severe local problems had local causes — usually severe local restrictions on building homes. These restrictions had a variety of politically attractive names, ranging from “open space” laws and “smart growth” policies to “environmental protection” and “farmland preservation.” – Chelan Real Estate Blog

Tags: General Interest, Land Use, Local, Northwest by Al Lorenz
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I’m seeing some!  So are others it seems.  Click the link to read all the reasons why:

I found a Wall Street Journal article about a glimmer of hope in the California real estate market where for the first time in 10 months there was not a month to month reduction in the median price of home sales.  Investor’s Business Daily has an article that, in spite of the government actions (not because of them), the economy is taking a turn upward. – Chelan Real Estate Blog

Tags: General Interest, Marketing, Northwest by Al Lorenz
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Call me crazy, but the increased attendance and success of foreclosure auctions is a great sign for the real estate market.  I posted about Puget Sound real estate auctions that are hitting the mainstream press for the active bidding on my Chelan Real Estate Blog.

If you go back a few months, these auctions had nobody attending.  Now, it sounds like foreclosure auctions are hot in the Puget Sound area.  The inventory levels in the northwest can actually be worked through pretty quickly when the buyers come out again.  It sounds like buyers are coming out! – Chelan Real Estate Blog

Tags: Finance, General Interest, Marketing, Northwest by Al Lorenz
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The Wenatchee real estate market is incredible when compared to most of the rest of the country.!  Pacific Appraisal’s Snapshot report for March is now available, and real estate sales continue their approximate levels of the last six months or so.  This month’s reports includes tables and graphs that all you to  see the quickest and slowest selling price ranges and inventory in each range.  Click for the complete report on Wenatchee home sales!

Tags: General Interest, Local, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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I produced a couple of video shows for the Lake Chelan Realtors.  One is just for anybody’s use, below.  The second one was for a video contest on Strutta.com and includes some actual acting!

All That Glitters! from Al Lorenz on Vimeo.

Do those want to make you buy a home at Lake Chelan, in spite of the property tax postings?

Tags: General Interest, Local, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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Property Taxes

While it may seem to the people in the Lake Chelan area that taxes never go down, the property tax statements in much of Chelan County actually show some decreases.  My own properties that are out of the Chelan area showed a few percent decrease this year.  But, folks in the Chelan Valley did not!

Last year the Leavenworth area carried a big share of the tax increase for everybody.  One thing that has become clear is that the method of revaluing one fourth of the county each year, and each area every four years, creates some real burdens as the tax burden swings across the county.

I posted about the property tax amounts by taxing district with links to table showing the tax amounts for each taxing district across the entire county!  Have a look, it could happen to you and there is some good information to consider before marking that ballot!

Tags: General Interest, Local, Uncategorized by Al Lorenz
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View Larger Map

I’ve started (truly a work in progress) a directory of neighborhoods and landmarks in the Chelan Valley.  With time, I think this will be quite a resource.  Let me know your thoughts!  It is on another site, which has the directory and Lake Chelan homes and real estate for sale.

Tags: General Interest, Local, Northwest by Al Lorenz
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I did a posting in a Chelan Real Estate Blog about the continuing struggles, that made the Wall Street Journal, on the Puget Sound real estate market.  It continues to weaken, which is not a good sign for areas like Chelan and Leavenworth that depend on Seattle area buyers to buy vacation homes.

In the latter part of 2007 a leading mortgage insurer put the Seattle metro area in its lowest risk category–meaning that it viewed the likelihood of a decline in Seattle home prices over the next two years as extremely small.  That benign outlook was shared by many area home buyers–including real-estate investors who were exiting already topped-out markets in the West. – WSJ

Tags: General Interest, Marketing, Northwest by Al Lorenz
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