Jacquie Cliff - Short Sale Expert

According to The Herald, Mill Creek has been voted as the second best suburb in the country according to Business Week Magazine.

The community of Mill Creek has been named the second-best affordable suburb in the United States by BusinessWeek magazine The magazine rated cities within 25 miles of a major community, looking at such aspects as the length of commute, pollution, green space, education, test scores, crime, job growth, median household income and weather.

I have to agree, Mill Creek is a very nice community with a great shopping at the Mill Creek Town Center, easy access to Hwy9, I-5 and I-405. The area is still developing and growing and The Martha Lake Airport Park is going in now with a new 18 acre park with soccer and baseball fields on the west side (technically it is just over the border in Lynnwood.)

There isn't much that you can't find either in, or close to Mill Creek. Big shopping trips can be had at the Alderwood Mall or Everett Mall. With a short drive there is access to Puget Sound or a variety of lakes. All in all it is a great community with an excellent location!

Today the Herald is reporting that there is a push to give Everett city building permits an extension, owing to the fact that many projects are on hold, probably for several years. I will agree, it seems a bit redundant to force builders to pay city staff for re-approving plans when building is ready to commence on these projects.

The industry group is asking local governments to relax a number of building rules to help create a local "housing stimulus package."

The requested changes include reducing parking requirements, shrinking building setbacks and extending the duration of building permits, which are issued after land-use permits are secured.

Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon this week proposed extending preliminary permit approvals for residential subdivisions and slashing the cost of resubmitting preliminary permit applications.

While I can agree with the extention on existing permits, I am not so sure about the relaxing of setbacks and parking requirements. I can understand why builders want concessions there, because it will often allow them to build extra units on the same amount of space, making them more money. If they can sell them of course...

What is the consensus out there? Should we relax the rules to encourage more building or leave things they way they are since we have a glut of existing new homes as it is?

Despite a slow economy, the city of Everett voted to go ahead with improvements to Lion's Park. The 3.3 acre park is getting a pretty good going over, with hills being leveled, treed removed to increase parking and even a watering station for pooches!

Last week, the Everett City Council voted to boost its budget for Lions Park improvements to $1.2 million, from an initial $436,000.

In a related vote, the council selected Faber Brothers Construction of Lynden as the project contractor. The firm is expected to begin work in early February and finish this spring. Full Article in the Herald

Improvements to the park are a welcome announcement, and will help make the neighborhood a better place!

Map to Lion's Park in Everett

I just read the blog post at Edmonds Undressed about the Unocal pier being torn down.  This was news to me, and after reading the Enterprise article about it, I understand why.

The $2 million project is necessary, said Joy Goldenburg, with Washington State Ferries. The agency is paying for the work as part of early environmental mitigation for future improvements to Edmonds' ferry terminal.
The pier's creosote-treated timber pilings are rotting, and the pier is starting to fall apart.
That poses both environmental and safety hazards.
As work progresses, the pilings are broken down and transported to a landfill in Oregon, said Shawn Devine, a spokesman with WSF.  Full Article

Sort of a bummer to be losing a good dive site, and it won't look the same down there, but it makes sense that they need to pull it down.  As I commented over on the Edmonds Undressed blog, I hope someone takes up the cause of adding in a replacement reef or other underwater structure out there. 

If you know of anyone that is going to do something like that or have a comment on the removal of the Unocal Oil dock in Edmonds, post it and let the world know what you think and please, if you think other people should know about this post, share it on Digg, Stumble and so on!

Good news for anyone that is needing to sell a home for less than what they owe in Washington state (aka short sell.) According to the News Tribune:

Department of Revenue communications director Mike Gowrylow said the department will now only levy taxes on the actual sale price of the property not on the amount the owners owed.

Under short sales plans, families who've seen the value of their homes decline below the amount they owe on them negotiate with their bank to sell the house. The bank agrees to accept the sale price in satisfaction of their loan even if it is less than the loan balance. More...

This is really good news because when you are dealing with a short sale, every dollar counts! If you would like to read more about the change in excise tax on short sales in Washington state, you can read the PDF sheet they have on their website. The long and short of it is that if you have sold a property short (short saled) in Washington state, you are probably eligible for a refund of the real estate excise tax you paid on the difference between your sales price and the amount you owed.

If you have any questions about doing a short sale in Washington state, or need information on what your options are, please call me at 425-773-3149 or email me at Jacquie@jacquiecliff.com. Below is the link to request your excise tax rebate from Washington state, so get on it and get your money back!

Washington State Short Sale Excise Tax Rebate Request Form