Sarah Nopp, REALTOR(R), CRS. RE/MAX Four Seasons, Olympia WA

Everyone likes to complain bout taxes. Yes? (Who said No! Now is the day for you to get a job and start paying them.)

My question:

How many people really do something about taxes? Who can say "I made a Stand!" "I let my voice be heard!"

And who can say "I did it with grace, humor and I respected my fellow human."

I have no clue...

I don't even know if it is possible.

(In fact, if you start talking taxes at me I am likely to cringe in horror, my eyebrow will raise, I will slowly start backing away and will make a really clumsy excuse to leave the conversation area.)

But that is beside the point. Actually, all those questions are rhetorical. I don't actually care.

My POINT was that I needed to go blah-blah-blah for a bit so I could post this picture:

I hope it made you smile :)

If you would like to see if in real life, you will need to visit Shelton Washington and have a scoop of ice cream at this place:

The Olympic Station Deli, sister shop to the Olympic Bakery near Spencer Lake.

This newish location is on Hwy 3, right in downtown Shelton.

I recommend the always amazing and delicious Olympic Mountain Ice Cream

This is the same amazing, foodgasm inducing treat I went on & on about at this other blog post.

TMI?

And don't forget to have a cup of coffee, maybe a fresh rugelach. You will definitely need to pick up some freshly baked sourdough rye. And maybe an eclair for the road?

And of course a laugh at the 6 foot tall pig.

Because no matter your political leanings, it sure strikes a certain note.

And all we can really do is grin and bear it :)

I feel bad for Buyers.

Why? Because they believe all the hype about the "Buyer's Market".
They expect to find the deal of the century, with all their closing costs paid, there will be absolutely no deferred maintenance, it is painted & has all the appliances and they will have plenty of time to choose from the huge number of homes available.

The reality in my recent experience is quite different:
First time buyers have a LOT of competition right now. Homes under $200,000 are getting multiple offers (I know of one bank owned ficer that had 20 offers!). Pretty homes are getting offers in the first few days on the market.
And Seller's whose homes are getting this kind of response are resistant to making huge concessions.

I think the problem really comes from Language: the term Buyer's Market, or even worse, The Market.

"The Market" may be considered as a whole for averaging and trending. But it give s a very non-specific picture to buyers who have specific needs- beds, baths, square footage and PRICE. "The Market" for waterfront homes with over 3,000 square feet on acreage is incredibly different from "The Market" for entry level 3 bed, 1 bath homes near I-5.

Here is what I mean:

For all of Thurston County (as of June 5, 2009)

Active Homes: 1,638
Pending Homes: 680
6 months of Sold Homes: 1,097
Expireds/Cancelleds Homes (6 months): 1237
Days on Market Average: 104

This translates to about 9 months of inventory; square in the Buyer's Market territory as far as the statistics go. (A 6 month inventory level is considered a Balanced Market, with even Supply/Demand) But this covers the entire range of availability- which is way too broad for a clear picture of what is happening.

Sold Price Range: $57,000 to $850,000
Average Sold Price: $264,223
Days on Market Range: 0 to 981

See? That kind of range tells me nothing for the specific client I am helping.
In order to get a sense of what is going on for actual buyers who have really specific needs (like price) we have to narrow in.
Anecdotally, we know that the homes at the lowest price range sell faster with higher demand. But what part of the county? And what is entry level?

Let's imagine a pretty typical first time buyer for the Olympia/Lacey/Tumwater area.
They want to look for a home under $200,000 but are willing to consider up to $225,000 since that is an affordable monthly payment for a 2-income family.
They also need to be close in to the city to be able to get to schools and job, plus easy access to the freeway to get to Fort Lewis.
This puts them in the north half of Thurston County.

That is a pretty vague picture.
But take a look at the results:

Active: 178
Pending: 193
Sold (6 months): 259
Expired/Cancelled (6months): 214
Average Days on Market: 80

Inventory Level: 4 MONTHS

This is no longer a picture of a Super Buyer's Market. This is heading firmly into Seller's Market territory. And look at the difference in the time it takes for the houses to sell! Almost a whole month shorter.
Compare the number of Active to Pending: There are more pendings than actives in this niche.
And look at the number of Solds in this segment of the market compared to the whole of Thurston County: 1,097 vs 259.
Nearly 25% of all sold homes were in this part of Thurston County, in this price range!

This certainly casts a different light on the First Time Buyer portion of "The Market".

Let's flesh out this Buyer's needs list. We will add the following criteria to Price & Area:
At least 3 bedrooms
At least 1 1/2 bathrooms
At least 1200 square feet

THE RESULTS:

Active: 98
Pending: 126
Sold (6 months): 156
Expired/Cancelled (6 months): 104
Average Days on Market: 88

Inventory Level: 3.75 months

So you can see why I feel bad for Buyers. Because I work with a lot of first time buyers and that is where a huge amount of all the activity is right now.

Yes, I know not everyone loves numbers. And statistics can be a bit overwhelming.
But Buyers need to know about these kinds of trends. Because the Sellers do.
And if you are looking for the kind of deals I know you want, you need to know about the competition.

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If you would like help finding your first home, give me a call! You are welcome to take a look at everything that is available for sale in Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater and nearby on my website. I would love to sit down together and get you started!

Hi, my name is Sarah and I have a cookie problem.

Late at night, after having eaten a healthy meal of lean meat, garnished with nuts and twigs, and rounded with the one-glass-of-red-wine the heart conscious survive on.

I HUNGER for a cookie. The sweetness... the chewiness...

I wander through my house, looking, hoping, dreaming I will find a cookie that has somehow escaped my earlier hunts. This is an often fruitless hunt, usually in resulting the much needed second-glass-of-red-wine. Sometimes I find a marshmallow and stud it with chocolate chips, in a depressing attempt to sate the cookie need. Rarely is the hunt successful.

But now I will have a new focus during these late evening searches!

Rainier Washington!

(That is south of Olympia and Lacey WA by about a 20 minute drive. Out in the country.)

No, I have not moved. But I have FOUND the cookies of my dreams.

As I drive through Rainier on an almost weekly basis, I have noticed a charming old-town style sign on the south side of Main. It announces "Main Street Cookie Company". But I am mostly in Rainier on Tuesdays... which is the day the Company is sadly not open.

But this week, the cookie gods were with me! I was in Rainier on a Wednesday!

So I stopped. Of course. The first thing that caught my eye was the sign on the door for other cookie-hunters, calmly reassuring us that cookies are available across the street.

Then I stepped inside.

Ahhh- you know that smell of lovely fresh baked cookies, right? I now know the feeling of cookie mecca. There were ONLY cookies in the case. That is it. Not donuts, not bagels, not banana nut bread. Just cookies! Chocolate chip (of course), chocolate with frosting, butter cookies with pink frosting or lemon frosting, cookies with nuts and many more.

There was one more sign, to tell me I had indeed found The Right Place.

"We Bake with BUTTER" was proudly proclaimed across the far wall. (And rightly so! Have you ever tried an oatmeal raisin cookie made without butter? shudder!) I was also greeted by the cookie elves, merrily packing the boxes of cookies to be delivered to the many coffee shops and restaurants in the Thurston County area.

I think it was obvious that I had a problem. I may have had a slightly glazed look as I introduced myself and asked a million questions. They simply pulled out cookie after cookie and placed it neatly in a little bag, chatting with me all the while. And a cup of drip coffee. Cream please. Then I left in a daze, back out looking at houses.

I chose to eat the Chocolate Chip cookie on my drive back to Olympia. It was huge, It was buttery. It had melty chocolate chips in. It SATISFIED me. In fact, I ATE ONLY ONE delicious cookie as I drove home. And I saved one for my friend (chocolate with icing). And I brought one home to my husband (butter with lemon frosting). And I saved the last one for breakfast the next day (oatmeal with nuts and fruit).

I no longer wander the kitchen searching for the cookies. I know where they live. Now I have a bigger problem. I know where they live! Thankfully, Rainier is simply a 20 mile bike ride away, where I will have earned the cookie and coffee I long for.

If you live in SW Washington and need directions on locating this wonderful shop, you are welcome to shoot me a note: sarahnopp@remax.net. The shop's phone number is in the top picture, or down below.

And here is the link to the Google Map:

Main Street Cookie Company
112 Binghampton St W Rainier, WA 98576
(360) 446-0232

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Are you looking for a home in Rainier, WA? Maybe in another part of Rural Thurston County, like Yelm or Tenino or Rochester?
Click Here look at my website for a map of homes available in Southern Thurston County. You will find homes of all sizes and prices in the Rainier area and surrounds, some with small yards, some with many acres. Call me to learn a bit more living in this charming town named for the amazing mountain to the east.

I am an instructor for the WA State homebuyer course, and we have openings for the class this Saturday in Olympia. Call or email with any questions, but this is a Free class open to the public.

This class is intended to be the first step in purchasing a home!

It is sponsored by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, taught by local experts (myself, a lender, a title rep and an inspector) and covers the whole process of purchasing a home, or as much as can be covered in one day!

We will discuss a variety of topics: deciding on the right financing for you, narrowing your home search criteria, issues to look for during an inspection, warnings & tips on how to stay out of trouble with your mortgage, and even ideas on how to maintain your new home when you move in.
And of course, be lots of handouts and information resources to take with you and plenty of opportunity to have all your questions answered.

About the Commission-sponsored seminars & certificate:
* free and open to the public
* includes information about the Commission's low-interest rate mortgage program, down payment assistance, and other programs
* accepted by all affordable housing loan programs as meeting or exceeding educational requirements.

The instructors have gone through WSHFC's House Key and Homebuyer Education Instructor training class.
There will be No direct marketing or sales presentations by the instructor or any guest speakers.
If you plan to use one of the Low-Interest Rate State Bond House Key programs to purchase your home, you must complete the seminar before your loan officer can lock in your interest rate.

Additional information at http://www.wshfc.org/buyers/index.htm

Reservations are required.
Please call 360-236-9970 to reserve your seat.
If you are unable to attend on this date, please contact the instructors for additional future dates.

Date & Time:
This seminar is Saturday, April 4th, 2009.
9:30 to 3:00, please bring a lunch. Light snacks & coffee will be provided.
Location:
Eagle Home Mortgage, 3825 Martin Way E, Olympia WA 98506

The Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater area has for many, many years enjoyed a lovely swath of forest & river (namely Fort Lewis and the Nisqually Delta) to the north, separating us from the metropolitan central Puget Sound.
But we do have all the little gems of city city life- great theaters, music, political sideshows, etc. We just get to enjoy them in a more relaxed, personal setting.

The slow pace fosters a whole bunch of wonderful family-owned businesses too. And because they operate on personal scale, they are unique from each other, and very different from the big stores selling so much of the same stuff in strip mall after strip mall (I just returned from Tucson, if you want to hear about strip malls).
It also means we rely on each other to share when we find a new gem! So I am doing my duty as a South Sounder to bring you news of yet another wonderful Winery, right in our backyard!

MADSEN FAMILY CELLARS

A couple weeks ago I was driving through the Hawk's Prairie area of Lacey (NE of I-5, out near Cabela's & Shipwreck Beads in the Meridian Campus area) after showing some houses. I was headed toward the I-5 exit off Marvin Rd and saw the small sign out of the corner of my eye. My car decided to follow it (my car is well trained to look for things like this). After going past some sports fields I saw some metal buildings. Thankfully it was a Sunday, they were open for tasting!

I was greeted by the proprietors (not pictured) and the very friendly wine greeters/ wine guardians (pictured). Inside was much as you would imagine a metal building housing a wine makers to be: full of wine in barrels and a small counter at which to sample & chat & purchase.

I was on my way to lunch, so was not able to stay too long or try everything, but the proprietors were very friendly and I was able to sample a few of their offerings.

The wines:

Of course they have the Washington classics: Cab sauv from Red Mountain grapes, a Yakima Riesling and even a couple Chardonnay- they are very proud of their unoaked.

Right now (March 2009) they have a small batch of a Raspberry white wine blend which I liked (I am not a big fan of these usually) as it is not sweet, but tart. It is undergoing a secondary fermentation in the bottle, so it would be a lot of fun to use a variety of ways. I am thinking summery vinaigrette? Maybe a special sparkling mixer? I told my restauranteur friends to check it out.

My personal favorite (and the wine I took home that day): a dry Gewurztraminer! I loved this wine! It was light and dry and really balanced. In fact, it is all gone now. I need more. So I have to go back soon, and this time I will try more of what they have to offer. (For those who wine-shop by the eye, they do have a lovely label- the whole local artist / local business connection is great.)

I hope all you South Sound wine lovers take some time to stop in too.

Hours: Saturdays & Sundays, 12 to 4.
Directions: From I-5 take Exit 111 to North on Marvin Rd (I-5 is going east-west at this point) past the 2nd roundabout, and watch for the little sign on the Left and follow to the shop.
The address (and map link): 2825 Marvin Rd NE, Lacey WA.

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If you are moving the the Olympia / Ft Lewis area and believe that small businesses like this winery are important to your quality of life, I would love to help you make this your home and learn about the area. (And all those shops!)
I help Buyers, Sellers & Investors throughout the South Puget Sound buy & sell homes.
Call me or email me with any questions, or CLICK HERE to find homes for sale in NE Lacey near the winery.