Pamela Hughes

Last Thursday I attended a 2009 Legislative Wrap Up session hosted by the coalition of Chambers of Commerce for East King County. Approximately 10 state legislators attended and participated on a panel to share the outcomes from the latest legislative session and the particular impacts to East King County. My key takeaway, besides the fact that the State of Washington has much work to do in too many areas, is that citizens need to have an active voice to enable legislators to represent our views and positions as we might like.

In order to be able to prioritize key issues for East King County, the public has to understand the issues well enough to be able to prioritize where our very limited resources are focused. To understand, citizens must get involved and help themselves become informed. As we become informed, it is incumbent on us to share our views, educate others and help communicate the priorities. It is too easy to sit back and say that education is important and needs money, transportation is important and needs money, healthcare is important and needs money and, well, you get the picture. The challenge comes in defining how much, when, for whom and exactly what. East King County needs people to determine what things are most important. What things are we willing to forego in order to improve in any one or set of areas of deficiency. The resources are less today than yesterday. We must do things differently and with less, not more resources. Help East King County to prioritize our communities' key issues.

Economic vitality is a key component of a city's health. As real estate professionals, we have a vested interest in helping to build and maintain the the health and economic vitality of the towns and City's where we live and work. In Issaquah, Washington, the Chamber of Commerce is working with its members to encourage the involvement and participation of the business community to help ensure the long term economic vitality of the Issaquah community. A strong business community serves the community by providing jobs, a critical tax base, needed services and products for a community and a needed perspective for a city on how to achieve its desired vision for the community's long term plan. The City of Issaquah, Washington is working to progress economic vitality in the community to support even stronger sustainability. Visit Issaquah, WA. It is a great place to call home!

Issaquah real estate is on sale! This historic little burrough is well located adjacent to the thriving City of Bellevue and is a welcome respite for the City weary. As a result of Issaquah's proximity to Bellevue, Issaquah real estate tends to lag Bellevue in terms of valuations. For most of us, that is good news. Issaquah real estate is affordable and underrated. Ready for its recovery, Issaquah real estate is poised for an upturn. With interest rates so low and tax credits for first time home buyers, this may well be the opportunity to build your wealth in real estate. Now is the time to buy Issaquah real estate!

If you are interested in learning more about Issaquah real estate, please contact me for more information or visit my website at www.coldwellbankerbain.com/pamelahughes.

In a distant past, I worked in the investment products world. We manufactured and brokered investment products through sales forces that the company I worked for built, managed and sometimes, owned. A pioneer in this industry that sold investments through bank lobbies, we were quite successful, enough that we were eventually acquired by GE Capital.

Even during those years when the masses were investing in the market, I held a belief that "real money" was made in real estate. Don't get me wrong. I know that stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc. have their place, but real estate is, well "real," enduring and often three dimensional. Now, take one of the greatest asset classes of all time - real estate, combine it with a market downturn like most of us have never witnessed, interest rates at their lowest in 40-50 years, and some unique retirement investment laws that exist today, and you have the makings for a gold rush.

Consider that most of us on AR are small business owners. As such, we are eligible for one of three types of Self Directed IRA programs. Most of us are eligible to participate in the most liberal of these, a 401K Solo program. Using this vehicle, we have the opportunity to invest in real estate with monies that we have amassed and can move into our 401K's within a Self Directed IRA. Imagine being able to take advantage of today's opportunities for tomorrow's benefits. You could even buy that second home. Hold it as a rental and later remodel it and move in when you are ready to slow down a bit.

I don't know about you, but I am looking for opportunities for my clients and myself. Consider, too, the opportunity to form SDIRA LLC's with like minded investors to purchase real estate. The options are limitless. I'll keep you posted on my progress and adventures and I'd love to hear about yours!