Bill Blanchard

Goat Hill is a unique neighborhood in the Juanita area of Kirkland that overlooks Lake Washington. Recently, I took some buyers to see the available homes on the hill. The road is narrow and winds up the hill and is not for everybody. My buyers loved it. Price ranges for the eight homes on the hill are $440,000 to just over a million. There are three new homes being built by Bennett that take full advantage of the view and my clients loved the detail. There are also two homes that where built in the 1930's. Per square foot is around $300 which is typical today for view property. There really is something for everybody.

One of the benefits of ownership on the hill is that most homes are deeded into a small waterfront lot at the bottom of the hill just west of Juanita Beach Park. It's a small beach but you can anchor your boat off shore.

There is colorful history about the area available on line at the Kirkland Heritage Society.

There's Kirkland, then Juanita and Finn Hill. The lifestyle is different in each area and so is the housing market.

Here is the difference in inventory between Kirkland and Juanita.

Kirkland is 24 months:

Juanita is 7.8 Months:

Kikrland For Sales, Solds, and Pends:

Kikrland For Sales, Solds, and Pends:

You can see the Juanita area is performing better than the General Kirkland area.

Barbara Corcoran on the Today Show talked about ten myths for buyers and sellers. This is great information everyone.

Myths like:

The longer the house is on the market, the more you can negotiate.
The sellers today are desperate.
You shouldn't buy before prices have bottomed.
And one issue I talk about:

Now's the absolute worst time to sell.
Barbara says "... if you're a homeowner who wants to trade up, the loss you'll take on your current home will be more than offset by the bargain you'll get on the next one."

Hopefully, further information like this will take away more of the uncertainty in the market.

URL: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28818023/?pg=3#TDY_RealEstateMyths

I'm a Real Estate Agent at Windermere in Kirkland. When I talk to parents who are thinking about moving they are definitely thinking about the schools their children might attend.

If you are thinking about schools in the Seattle area, here are maps or access to maps that show what school your child will attend. Contact your local school district for specific information. Also, today it seems with a little work on the parent's part (i.e. no transportation,) many children can attend the school of their choice.

For example, my Carnation listing is in the Snoqualmie School District but their son finished high school at Eastlake High School in Redmond.

Here are the links:

Bellevue

Bothell

Carnation

Duvall

Issaquah

Kenmore

Kirkland

Mercer Island

Redmond

Seattle

Shoreline

Snoqualmie

Woodinville

As agents, anxiety is the new reality in our lives. With transactions half of what there where a year ago, our business has downsized but no one sent us an official notice. We've all seen agents make adjustments such as moving back to their home towns, taking on service jobs or just leaving the business. Some need to turn their listings over to associates, their co-workers and friends, who are still working as full time agents. A self induced layoff.

I heard a veteran agent say "I will ride this recession out until things get back to the way they were." Are we ever going back to the way things where?

Unfortunately this is the time we need people in the industry to move ahead, be creative. As a New York Times article points out, with downsizing, people take fewer risks and become less creative. "The irony here is that this risk aversion comes just at a time when creativity is needed in the workplace." They point out that downsizing has been referred to as corporate anorexia; the companies get thin but not healthy.

Today we need agents and their companies to take risks, come up with new more effective and creative ways for our industry to benefit our clients. Tomorrow there will be a new role for the real estate agent. These are the days when we define that role.