Gabrielle Nemes, SFR, SRS, GRI Auburn, WA

I was a bit (well, a lot) skeptical about whether we’d end up with a storm of the magnitude the weather folks were predicting early last week. We were to get 12-18” of snow. Uh huh … right!

In my area of south King County, we’d had a number of just wet little snow blizzards that melted about the time the flakes hit the ground. What I didn’t know, was that the worst of the storm was just laughing at me … waiting for me to go back into the house to finish my skeptical blog post.

For my area of the Auburn east hill, snow was late to arrive, but when it did, it was daggone serious. Now, remember you east coasters … we’re talking about the Seattle area here. We don’t get much in the way of snow. We may get a few inches here and there, close the schools for a day, and then melt off. There’s little snow equipment in the area, we live up/down on hills and the snow we do get is typically very very wet. None of that dry fluffy stuff that’s fun to ski … just Seattle “concrete.”

This time around was no exception. After fits and starts, snow really started to fall on Wednesday and it was wet wet wet sticky stuff. Great for making snow sculptures. That sort of thing.

Thursday morning around 7am, the power went out. A quick look outside said that it had snowed a bit more. With accumulations around 8 inches or so after it’d melted off a bit. Bummer—I wanted SNOW!—and an adventure! At my house, situated on a small community well, septic systems, electric heat, it was going to be a cold few hours – outside was around 28 degrees or so.

But, expecting the best and dressing in layers, we were prepared! Flashlights, generator, a full fridge and pantry full of food, bottles of drinking water and a bathtub full of water for the necessary stuff. Bring it on. We were ready.

HAHAHAHAHAAAA

Fast forward to late Thursday … it’s raining. That’s what was predicted. It was going to rain off all of our accumulations. No problem. What the weather folks didn’t know, is that the rain was freezing. Encapsulating everything and accumulating a deadly layer of ice on top of the snow. And it just kept on accumulating. By the time the rain stopped and turn back to snow on Friday, we’d gathered about an inch of solid ice on top of our snow layer. Stuff is falling off the trees everywhere. (Nothing like laying in bed listening … creeeekkkk, screee, schuuuuuckkkkk, CRASH!) Outside, it’s a winter wonderland with ice coating everything.

But then the snow kept on coming … again! Now there was about two inches of snow on top of the ice! Yikes! I had no idea. Friday morning I decided to let the dogs out front to avoid the broken tree mess in our back yard … and immediately after stepping off the porch all four legs splayed out on both dogs. Getting purchase and standing back up was a challenge for them.

By late Friday we were able to actually make it out of our driveway and back to the world and what a mess it was. Downed trees, downed wires, cars in ditches; it was total destruction. No wonder we had no power. Lines were down on both sides of our private road, huge trees laying everywhere.

But real estate calls just kept on coming. My cell phone kept ringing with people looking for houses. So on Saturday I decided to go ahead and make a showing appointment and give it a go. Yikes, what a further mess. Now our feeder road was totally blocked off, with power line trucks guarding the road so no one could get in or out. Lots of yellow caution tape. (Yay!! Maybe they were working on restoring power!) With lots of talking, we were allowed to carefully go around all of the barriers and trees and off to my showing. Only to be stood up by the Buyers. Sigh … but it was a fun adventure!

Here’s a shot of my favorite shade tree during the ice storm … and after. What you can’t see here is the line of tree trunks that are now just sticks. There’s gonna be a lot of tree removal again this year. I’m thinking that Mother Nature decided pruning was necessary so decided to help us get a start at it. We were very very fortunate – no real damage, but sure a lot of destruction. (And I was mighty glad to take a hot shower on Sunday when the power was restored!)

New home-building in Auburn, WA continues to increase, as evidenced by a quick drive through the area. One of the most ambitious new developments in Auburn is The Bridges, by MainVue Homes, located just east of 124th, between 304th and 288th.

A few years ago I watched as the area was cleared and developed with streets, lights, and playgrounds, and then the real estate economy tanked and the property sat idle … until recently!

Unfortunately, it appears that the folks at MainVue homes have decided not to list their homes on our local MLS. Visiting both their Web and physical sites indicate that several homes have already been sold, model homes are available, and homes are for sale.

Marketing is driven specifically to consumers and Broker/Agent participation appears to be discouraged.

With registration either on the Web or in person, the builder will recognize that a particular client is represented by a Broker, but they’ve certainly not made it easy. Having worked with Quadrant, Soundbuilt, Kendall Homes, Richmond American, and Polygon, I’m a bit spoiled, apparently. Those folks welcome Brokers and encourage us to be of help to Buyers. I’m afraid that’s not the case at MainVue.

I love working with Builders. I’ve built my business offering outstanding customer service to both Buyers and Sellers. I’ve helped Buyers sell their existing home quickly so that they were able to buy a new construction home. I’ve directed them to financing that was far better than what they were offered by the Builder’s preferred lender. I’ve helped the Buyers actually get the option package that was advertised by the Builder, but then went missing in their Builder contract.

As a transaction progresses, it’s sometimes necessary to indulge in a bit of professional and friendly nudging with the Builder to be sure that the Buyer ends up with the home of their dreams, while helping them with all facets of their home buying process.

As a new construction homebuyer, you’ll have a lot of questions – at the time you choose your lot, your model and floor plan, and throughout the build. You need someone to look out for your interests. (By the way, Mr. Builder, I also kept Buyers happy, answering their questions, interfacing with your representatives, and keeping them out from underfoot so that you can do your job! You should want to work with me!)

When you’re ready to buy a home at The Bridges, please be sure to use a well-qualified Broker. If you choose to visit The Bridges on your own without your Broker, do so only once, and be absolutely certain those folks know you’ll use your own Broker for your purchase.

I’m delighted to be of service to you … and am happy to represent your purchase of a MainVue home – even if the Builder isn’t excited about working with Broker/Agents.

Be certain you’re well represented during this most important purchase! There’s a lot of money involved and you deserve the best!

My husband, the amateur weatherman, has been obsessively following the build-up to the “Megastorm” of decades, currently predicted for our greater Seattle region. We’ve been watching for days, experiencing a bit of snow here, and a bit of snow there. At our home in east Auburn, so far we’ve accumulated a couple of inches, which largely went away today even through additional flurries of wet heavy snow.

I grew up in Seattle and remember a few good-sized snow storms from my childhood; even one or two while raising our own children. This storm, however, is expected to dump somewhere between 12- and 18-inches in our yard, according to the “Futurecast” radar displayed on one of our local news sites, KIRO7. That’s a significant amount of snow. Significant!

According to AccuWeather, the history of great Seattle snowstorms is as follows:

1. Jan. 5-9, 1880: Est. 36.0" with 6-foot drifts
2. Jan. 31-Feb. 3, 1916: 33.4"
3. Jan. 26-31, 1969: 30.7"
4. Jan. 12-15, 1950: 26.8"
5. Dec. 23-27, 1965: 14.9"
6. Dec. 30-31, 1968: 13.0"
7. Jan. 23-26, 1972: 12.6"
8. Jan. 25-26, 1950: 12.4"
9. Dec. 26-27, 1974: 9.8"
10. Nov. 20-22, 1985: 9.4"
11. Nov. 27, 1985: 7.6"

Twelve-to-eighteen inches. I’m expecting the roof to be fine, but I’m thinking the tarp-type carport under which we park our riding lawnmower and various “stuffs” to probably take a hit. We’ve brought pellets for the stove into the garage. The chickens are safely ensconced in their coop with plenty of food and water. The dogs are oblivious, but will love it. The cat? Well, we may have to hand-carry him out now and then to visit the kitty potty.

Twelve-to-eighteen inches, followed by rain. It should be exciting!

I’ve always loved the Lakeland Hills area of Auburn, which technically straddles the King County / Pierce County borders and includes both Auburn and Sumner addresses. Perched above the Auburn valley, there are some staggering views of the valley, southeast of Mt. Rainier, and east to the Cascade foothills.

Much of Lakeland Hills is new(er) construction in a planned community with a variety of housing choices and prices, shopping, parks and entertainment. Here you’ll find apartments, condominiums (both attached and detached), along with single family homes.

A large portion of the newest homes, perhaps those built from about 2007 and later, sit on typical new construction smaller lots--under about 6,500 square feet. Older neighborhoods with homes built in the ‘70’s or so may have yards that are a bit larger.

Because so much of Lakeland Hills is new, prices and sales have been impacted by the real estate downturn with new construction continuing to play a huge role in home sales in the area.

Prices in Lakeland Hills spiraled during the 2005-2007, falling significantly in mid-2008:

New construction played an important part of closed sales in 2011 in Lakeland Hills and continues to grow in much of the area, possibly a nod to the presumed (and actual) difficulty in closing short sales and bank-owned properties:

Here’s another look at the same information, sorted by type of sale rather than year:

Considering a move to the area, love new construction, or thinking of selling your Lakeland Hills home? I specialize in the Auburn area -- please don’t hesitate to give me a call, just to talk through some of the possibilities. I’m always delighted to be of service!

Truly! Snow is coming! The world will come to an end in Auburn in three days!

At least so say the weather stations.

The greater Puget Sound metropolitan area is a unique place when it snows. We’re hilly around here and our typical warm ocean breezes prevent us from getting much in the way of significant snowfall, which means most of the cities and towns in our area have a minimal amount of snow equipment to deal with the mess. We don’t dump a lot of sand or salt on the roads. Some … but not a lot.

Oh sure, once a year or so we get dumped on with a couple or three inches, but then it rains away within the next day or so. I know, I know – you Seattle’ites remember the recent great snowfall of ‘ought eight’ when we had 6+ inches on the ground for a week or so.

It was darned cold out there and the stuff was packed hard on our road. (We happen to live almost at the bottom and no way were we getting out of here.) It was exhilarating! Snowball fights. The dogs romped through the yard like puppies. BIIIGGG snow creatures adorned the yard.

I remember that the Mayor of Seattle got into all sorts of trouble for not arranging to have side streets and a few major hills plowed (as if he could do much about it with the few plows available), and so on. It was chaos out there.

But I love the snow. Snuggling inside with hot cocoa and a good book.

So … just a word to the wise: Beware!! Real estate .. and everything else involving cars … is coming to a screeching halt if we get 1/2” of snow on Sunday. …….

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… of course, then it’ll all start back up again in a day or two and we’ll be raring to go back to work.

Enjoy!