Want to go out for a nice dinner, but don't want to spend a lot? Want a view but don't want to pay for it? Consider The Boat Shed restaurant in Manette in East Bremerton!
The restaurant sits almost underneath the Manette Bridge, and if you aren't looking for it you could miss it! The unassuming entrance will leave many doubting the quality, right until they open the front door and smell the tantalizing food from inside.
Get a table by the window. From your seat, you will have a view of the bridge, the USS Turner Joy, and the Seattle-Bremerton ferry arriving and departing every hour or so. On summer days, count the pleasure boats that whiz past under the bridge.
The Boat Shed has been open since 1979. The restaurant serves a nice blend of steaks, seafood, salads and pastas for dinner. At lunch, they also have many unique and classic sandwiches, with cool names like the Spinnaker and the Clipper. Dungeness crab and crab cakes are almost always on the menu. The restaurant is well-known for its clam chowder, and the nachos and margaritas are great for an after-work happy hour. 
A nice wine list includes such local favorites as Chateau St. Michelle and 14 Hands. And don't forget to leave room for dessert!
On a nice day, ask to sit outside on the deck. The restaurant is actually perched over the water, and there is a boat dock connected to it, with room for several smaller boats.
The service is usually very good, and the food is excellent! They also have a kids menu. It is one of my family's favorite places to dine in Bremerton, and has been for many years.
Wine aficionado and Foodie Mike Watkins is pairing with Cosmos Deli in Port Orchard to offer a fantastic Wine Tasting and Dinner to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!
Sunday, September 7 at 5:00 pm, Mike and Cosmos will provide a sensational gourmet dinner paired with five, yes FIVE different wines. Dinner includes an antipasti, braised beef short ribs with smashed yukon gold potatoes, and grilled sweet peaches with gelato and honey.
Dinner is followed by a silent wine auction, including bidding for a Magnum of 2005 Bordeaux.
All proceeds benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, an organization which helps patients with several different types of blood cancers. For more information on the organization, please visit their website here.
Cosmos is usually open Monday through Saturday only, but is opening this Sunday only for this very special event. Cosmos serves cheese and meat in their deli, coffees and teas in their espresso bar, and has a wonderful restaurant and bar that serves both small plates and full meals.
There are not many tickets left, so hurry! To purchase tickets, call Cosmos at 360-895-3138. Cosmos is located at 1821 SE Lund Avenue in Port Orchard.
Each year, the people and businesses of the charming Manette neighborhood of Bremerton celebrate their community culture and spirit in a fantastic one-day festival. 
This year, join us for Manette Fest 2008 on Saturday, September 6!
The festival starts with a Fun Run for all ages and athletic abilities, continues with a pancake breakfast, then features Manette's Tiniest Parade, which is open to anyone and everyone. Have the kids decorate their bikes, or dress up their strollers and bring them out!
Spend the afternoon listening to the music and entertainment and watching the street dancers. Don't forget to check out all the vendors and artisans at the many booths lining the streets of Manette's downtown area!
The schedule is as follows:
9:00am : Fun Run Begins
9:30am : Pancake Breakfast @ The Manette
9:45 am : Stage Performances Begin
11:00am : BBQ Lunch
1:00pm : Manette's Tiniest Parade
1:45pm : Kids Raffle
5:00pm : Close of Event
The kids can jump in the free bouncy house, get their faces painted and try their luck at the dunking booth. Big kids can cool off at the beer garden. Loads of food can be purchased at the event.
Best part of the event? It's all FREE!
What a great way to spend a Saturday in Bremerton! For more information, go to the Manette Fest website, designed by Bremerton's Rival Vision.
"I want to buy a house when the prices are at their lowest."
"How long before the market turns around again?"
"I'll wait a while longer til prices drop a bit more."
"Buy low, sell high" doesn't apply only to the stock market - it applies to real estate as well. However, the problem that plagues stock investors also plagues the real estate investor -- how do we know we have hit bottom?
As real estate agents, we listen to the financial experts, monitor the economy and the real estate market in general, watch the national trends, track home prices and foreclosure rates, and analyze the historical data. But for all that research, and after two decades in the real estate business, I can only offer an educated guess as to when prices will be at their lowest.
The inherent problem in "waiting for the bottom" is that no one knows it is "the bottom" until months later -- and then it is too late. Prices have started to rise, interest rates are fluctuating, and who knows what the economic forecast will be? Bearish? Bullish?
In real estate in Kitsap County, we are experiencing a Buyer's Market. There are too many homes on the market (supply) and not enough serious buyers (demand). When supply exceeds demand, prices fall and competition between sellers flourishes.
If you are considering purchasing a home in the near future, whether to live in or for investment purposes, don't wait! Take advantage of the foreclosures, pre-foreclosures and short sales happening around us. You can find the right home at a good price for yourself and your family.
A post by Pacita Dimacali entitled "Bottom-Feeders?" is actually a post about whether short sales or bank foreclosures are better options for investments. One of her commenters is quite opinionated on the subject of "Bottom-feeders", however. This commenter vehemently pushes the idea that agents who represent investors who look for short sale opportunities are flawed individuals with no principles or ethics. As a matter of fact, she outright calls these people "bottom-feeders".
Really? Are we? I am working with a very serious investor now who is looking for short-sale and foreclosure opportunities in Kitsap County real estate. And I love working with this gentleman! I enjoy a challenge, and finding just the right property can be just that -- a challenge. But I am good at it -- we have a property under contract right now.
Does that make me as his buyer's agent a "bottom-feeder"? Is he as the investor a "bottom-feeder"?
When a seller is in a short-sale situation, it is sad. There is no question about that. There are personal and financial tragedies taking place across the country because of the loss in value many homes have experienced lately.
So we make low offers on short-sale properties and the sellers have to deal with that. But let's look at the alternative, shall we?
The home sits on the market for two months with no offers. The sellers lower the price even more, dramatically less than they paid for it three years ago when the market was booming in Kitsap County. He has lost his job and she is sick and needs medical care -- they must sell. No offers after four months. They have received a Notice of Trustee's Sale -- their home is being foreclosed on. By month six, the house is no longer theirs. It is now a bank-owned property after being auctioned on the couthouse steps.
Now, would they have been better off if they had gotten a low offer and done the short sale?
I would argue that investors may actually be helping a seller out of a bad situation. It is not a perfect solution, but it may be the only solution these sellers can get. All you need to do is look at the higher number of foreclosures many areas are experiencing, and you see the proof.
As the investor's buyer's agent, I can make sure that the investor is properly following federal, state and Kitsap County laws and customs of real estate, and help the transaction run more smoothly. Having a real estate agent involved in a short sale in more likely to result in a closed sale than if the buyer and seller were doing it on their own. So perhaps I too am helping the seller out of what could be a much worse situation. Think about it...
If you'd like more information on investing in real estate in Kitsap County, or would like lists of short sale and foreclosure properties in Kitsap County, please call me at 360-689-6836, or email Marlene@RealtyStationInc.com
Marlene serves buyers, sellers and investors in all areas of Kitsap County. As the wife of a US Naval Officer, she prides herself on helping other military families at Naval Base Kitsap.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
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