Bellingham, WA

Scam Alert Please Read -2825 McLeod Rd Bellingham WA- Whatcom County Real Estate for Sale

Scam Alert!!

I have a Home listed for Sale. I do not do property Management and my listing is showing up all over Craigs list as a rental. This was NOT posted by me or the Seller! Anyone that responds to this add is then contacted by email by a man saying he is the owner he uses a Yahoo email address. He also uses a phone number that is out of the country.

He goes on to say that he and his wife have relocated to Africa. I assure you I have never even been to Africa. Please do not give this person any of your personal information or send him any money. This Home is not for rent. 2825 McLeod Rd, Bellingham, WA. it is for Sale! It is a Scam, He wants you to send him the deposit money! I do not use Yahoo email or live in Africa. He has already contacted several people. The listing has already been Red flagged on craigs list too! I have talked to a few people already tonight that have already sent him information. Be Careful!

Thank You also to Active Rain. The people who contacted me today told me they found my phone number because they googled my name and found my Blog on Actiive Rain. Thank You to all of these wonderful people who called me to let me know.

Scam Alert!!

Scam Alert Please Read -2825 McLeod Rd Bellingham WA- Whatcom County Real Estate for Sale

We are creating a new Bellingham neighborhood

It's success will be measured by how well we add to the quality of life in our community. Our team has analyzed the environmental, economic, and social aspects of smart growth in the Bellingham area, but we are open to new ideas and committed to working in a collaborative manner. We want to hear from you.

Please take the time to visit Bellingham's newest neighborhood, Larrabee Springs.

If you want a vibrant, healthy community that meets our future growth needs and protects rural land please contact you County Council and candidates now. They will decide on this soon.

County Council Memebers

• Seth M. Fleetwood At-Large Representative (360) 671-3299 sfleetwo@co.whatcom.wa.us

• Sam Crawford District 2, Position B (360) 671-7262 scrawfor@co.whatcom.wa.us

• Ward Nelson District 1, Position A (360) 671-8145 lordward@aol.com

• Carl Weimer District 3, Position A (360) 384-5919 cweimer@co.whatcom.wa.us

• Bob Kelly District 1, Position B (360) 715-1168 rkelly@co.whatcom.wa.us

• Barbara Brenner District 3, Position B (360) 384-2762 bbrenner@co.whatcom.wa.us

• Laurie Caskey-Schreiber District 2, Position A (360) 354-3225 lcaskeys@co.whatcom.wa.us

City Council Members

• Jack Weiss Represents: 1st Ward (360) 738-2103 jweiss@cob.org

• Terry Bornemann Represents: 5th Ward (360) 305-0606 tbornemann@cob.org

• Gene Knutson Represents: 2nd Ward (360) 733-1640 gknutson@cob.org

• Barbara Ryan Represents: 6th Ward (360) 671-0148 bryan@cob.org

• Barry Buchanan Represents: 3rd Ward (360) 734-6639 bbuchanan@cob.org

• Louise Bjornson Represents: At-Large (360) 733-7756 lbjornson@cob.org

• Stan Snapp Represents: 4th Ward (360) 305-0607 ssnap@cob.org

For more information at anytime about how to take action to bring our community the neighborhood it needs contact us via the www.larrabeesprings.org website!

I do not know if anyone from Active Rain has written about this, locally in my area, or not. But last week, Thursday early morning, there was a major fire at Whatcom Middle School. Now I relate to that school. It used to be the original high school in Bellingham and when I was in school it was a junior high and I attended Whatcom Junior High.

In 1966 it became a middle school. Fifty years ago, in Bellingham, you went to elementary school grades 1 through 6. Then you were in junior high grades 7,8 and 9 and then you were at high school for grades 10, 11 and 12. Back in 1966, they changed it to the way it is today. Grade school is for grades 1 to 5. Then middle school for 6, 7 and 8. High school from 9th to 12th grades.

So this is a proud old building. The good news is that, while extensive damage was done, the school was not destroyed. The fire was, largely, confined to the roof and upper floor. None the less, it was a devastating fire as you can see in the video below. 

This fire displaced nearly 600 students and the school district is still wrestling with getting these kids educated during a totally unexpected crisis. By the way, work was being done on the school -- welding on the roof as they worked on earthquake upgrades -- and it is thought that this work was involved in the fire getting started. I hope those guys working, if it turns out that way, are insured.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

So nearly twenty years ago I setup my first banking relationship with a small local credit union. Granted I was 14 at the time and it was really my parents that set it up for me, but I think there's something to be learned from this. As I ventured out on my own I decided it best to use a big well known bank such as Wells Fargo to bank with. I was thinking it provided me more security for my assets and a bigger bank knew what they were doing better, right?

I've recently come to some conclusions which are pushing me to re-think my decision. Granted a lot of this has to do with the current credit crunch, and banks just tightening down in general; however, here's what I've found.

My big bank sucks! Not only that, they are expensive. And not only that, they treat their customers like dirt. I walked in the other day to cash a 3rd party check, as I had done on many past occassions. Whenever there was any question about who I was or what the bank was going to do for me, a teller might call over the manager, who had visited my business a year prior and knew me well. I also maintained balances in all my accounts well enough to cover the check if for any reason it didn't clear. Well my story starts right here. The teller said No. It wasn't a "I'll check", or a "Let me get approval for you", it was a flat "no, we don't do that any more". Naturally, having done this many times previously I asked to speak with her manager. It was also an urgent matter.

Here's where the second bit of change comes in. The manager I knew and liked was no longer there. The new manager says "the teller is telling you the fact, we don't do that anymore". I pointed out I had enough funds to cover any problems, and reminded them I could take my banking elsewhere. It didn't matter, they refused to serve me. Keep in mind, I'm a very long term customer at this point who has not once ever bounced a check or had even a single late payment with this bank.

It must have been within a week after this issue that I got a letter from the bank. I really wasn't expecting anything, but upon opening it my 2nd bit of big bank news arrives. It went something like this: "the credit card you have with us is going up to to 18% interest". Wow, are you kidding me? I maintain decent balances in my accounts for money you can then use for investing and loaning. The bank then pays me virtually nothing in interest. I think Wells Fargo currently pays right near .2% interest; it might and probably is even lower. All this and for a person who has excellent credit, and has never ever ever had a late payment to them or any other bank, they are raising the rate up nearly 10 points. Why? Simple answer is they are greedy, and because they can.

So my days of doing business with this bank are certainly numbered, especially since I discovered an alternative. Taking a lesson from my parents twenty years ago, and having heard local radio advertisments for them for years, I decided to step into one of our hometown local banks. Here's what I found:

1. The 3rd party check is no problem, so long as I have the balance to cover them until they clear.

2. The same people have worked at this bank for 10-20 years. They don't have high employee turnover such as my old bank.

3. They pay me to put my money there! Currently they are paying 1.5% on money just sitting in a checking account, which honestly is the most convenient place for it for me for ultimate liquidity. They pay more on CDs and other savings vessels too.

4. The people are friendly and want to help, in contrast to Wells Fargo's policy of quoting corporate scripture.

The only downside thus far about banking local are a couple conveniences which I've come to rely on over the years. This is making the transition take a bit longer.

1. Their ATM doesn't accept deposits. They do take deposits at the teller or nightly drop box. So now I print a deposit receipt from my favorite property management software, and just drop an envelope in the night drop box.

2. I haven't been able to successfully tie my bank accounts in with my personal finance software. I am told it is possible; however, it's clearly not as easy as it was with the old bank.

So to you AR members. Where do you bank? Big faceless policy driven bank, or a local one?

--- about the author ---

Rentec Direct provides property management software free to landlords and property managers. Because of the importance of thorough screening for prospective tenants, we have integrated tenant screening directly into the software so in just a few clicks a complete and comprehensive background check including previous evictions can be done on any new tenants.

Bare light bulbs in closets are a safety hazard. I know of that first hand. You see that bulb there -- assume that the socket is not loose -- well people do things like use closet bulbs as hangers. I know that one firsthand. My dear departed dad (yes Heather that was great grandpa Lee) once hung his baseball cap on a similar bulb in his closet. Now you can forgive him, he was about 95 years of age at the time. This condition of the bare bulb is common around Bellingham and Whatcom county -- probably everywhere there are older houses.

Anyway, this was years ago and I got a call from my mom. She had smelled burning and found the source. A few days later I installed a covered light fixture for them. 

Even if a person does not hang a hat or a scarf on such a light, there is a risk that clothing will get too close to it and result in combustion. These bulbs get way hotter than people realize. And no, putting a bare fluorescent bulb in the socket is not the right solution either!

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith