NCW Real Estate Blog

Open House Meeting #1

June 3, 2008 5-7 p.m. (3:30 setup) at the Confluence Technology Center 285 Technology Center Way, Wenatchee.  The meeting is to Introduce the public to the update process for the Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Plan, describe current conditions, and solicit input on issue and potential improvements.

There will be a brief presentation at 6:00 p.m. and stations with hosts, displays and flip charts for comments.  There will be a rating system to identify [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Local by Al Lorenz
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Yesterday the members’s meeting was held for the Chiwawa Community Association.  It was a well attended meeting with over 65 voting members.  I estimate about 100 people were in attendance.

Topics included voting on an amendment to the protective covenants, an update on the water system, a presentation from the Leavenworth hospital on ambulance and construction, election of board of trustee members, and other new business.

First, there was an amendment to the Protective Covenants that would change the covenants to allow low-impact service oriented businesses and clarified that residences could not be rented for terms less than 6 months.  The vote in favor was [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Local by Al Lorenz
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That’s right, I don’t want to hear any complaints about traffic in two or three years if you don’t at least get involved in the County Comprehensive Plan - Transporation Element and County Wide Transportation Plan Update that is ongoing starting about now.  A public meeting is scheduled for May 28th, from 4:00 to 7:00 pm at a location yet to be announced.

Here is your chance to have your say.  Worried about Highway 150 to Manson?  You better get involved!  Union Valley Road, the Chiwawa Loop Road or [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Local by Al Lorenz
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The “Snapshot” from Pacific Appraisal Associates for March is out. It shows a softening market in sales volume in both the Wenatchee multiple (down 10% in $) and the Wenatchee Market (down 24% in $). The number of homes sold is down 19% year to date in the Wenatchee multiple and 28% in the Wenatchee market.

But, for the good news, average home sales price year to date is still up 11% in the multiple and median price is still up by 10%. In the Wenatchee market area, both median and average price are [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Local, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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I met with Ron Tate and Mary Pat Scofield at Bear Mountain Ranch this week. I knew that Bear Mountain Ranch is a beautiful project, but felt remiss in that I really didn’t know what was happening up there these days. So, I went to find out.

What I saw is that I really had no idea how much the Bear Mountain Ranch project entails. I learned a bunch. 

This year will mark the first year that they have offered the Private Residence Club at Bear Mountain Ranch. This is a fractional ownership opportunity for 1/8 share (6 weeks per year) in 2-story single-family style homes. This is a deeded equity ownership that allows the flexibility of scheduling any of the homes in the Club and use of the amenities of the resort development.

Also new this year is the Beach Club [Read more →]

Tags: Construction, General Interest, Local, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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Here it is, a business opportunity for somebody in North Central Washington. The Wall Street Journal today has a post that talks about the effectiveness of home staging. Well, the article is really about “buyer beware” home staging might make you pay too much.

That, of course, is silly. Regarding staging of a home, the article states:

Home buyers impressed by such good looks, tend to overpay. According to home stagers, staged homes sell for [Read more →]

Tags: Design, General Interest, Local, Marketing by Al Lorenz
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That’s what it sounds like when I read through the public input received on the City of Wenatchee’s 2008 Housing and Community Development Action Plan you can find here.  There was a public hearing on April 12, 2007 and nobody spoke.  In August of 2007 notice was published inviting public comments from residents and other interested folks to comment on the 2008 action plan.  One letter was received.  In October of 2007 a public hearing was held to review comments received on the plan.  No one spoke at the public hearing.

This month, on April 24th, the City of Wenatchee is having a [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Local by Al Lorenz
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I have posted a spreadsheet showing historical residential sales numbers from 2005 in the Chelan Co-Brokers’ MLS. 

The number of pending sales has climbed from the lower to mid twenties to the 42 to 44 range.  Traffic in town has been picking up and I, and other real estate folks have been pretty active showing and listing property.

BUT, the first quarter sales are 19 homes in the first quarter, down from 29 in 2006 and 2007, but up from 11 in 2005.  The Average Sale Price is still up year to year, to $484,257 from $413,023 in 2007.  The Average Sale Price was only $220,681 in 2005.

AND, only 4 residences were sold in March, excluding timeshares, at an Average Sale Price of $378,000.  With only 4 sales, I don’t put much stock in the Average Sale Price being statistically significant.  But, it does appear pretty clearly that 2008 is starting a bit more slowly than 2007 did.   Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Tags: General Interest, Local by Al Lorenz
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The Manson Sub Area Plan meeting was very well attended last night.  It was standing room only at the Ray Bumgarner building with several folks standing in the back throughout the meeting. 

There were a number of new faces who gave lots of great testimony and opinion to the Manson council.  There are folks who are worried about growth and change in almost every way imaginable.  A couple of young families who own acreages said they would like to be able to divide and build their homes on their property.  There were a few orchardists who talked about having some flexibility that would allow [Read more →]

Tags: Land Use, Local by Al Lorenz
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In an article entitled “Property Values Rise by nearly $1 Billion in Chelan County” by Michele McNeil in the Wenatchee World today, County Assessor Russ Griffith said:

The county is now in the process of assigning new values to properties in Chelan, and the overall increase there is expected to be even greater than the western part of the county, he said.

“The demand for property (at Lake Chelan) is just astounding,” he said. “If you are looking to buy a place and you are a young person just starting out, the market is [Read more →]

Tags: General Interest, Local by Al Lorenz
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