Richard R Bell Broker-Manager Allyn~ Belfair Washington State Realtor

Belfair and Hood Canal waterfront/recreation property was favorably mentioned in the November 2008 issue of the Seattle Homes Lifestyles Magazine. The article, written by Lindsey Rowe, was entitled "Close To Home" and focused on Seattle area second-home buyers looking closer to home for recreational type property.

The editorial stated that the top five western Washington vacation-home locations are San Juan Island, Chelan, Whidbey Island, Hood Canal and Belfair. It was also noted in a 2006 survey of Vacation properties that over 60% of vacation homes are owned by Puget Sound residents.

A check on were Mason County Buyers were coming from showed the following: Of the 449 Sales for first quarter of 2008, 418 sales were to Washington State Buyers. 285 of the Sales were to people from the 985xx zip code (Mason County), followed by, 62 from 983xx (Jefferson County), 24 from 980xx (Kitsap), 23 from 981xx (Seattle), 17 from 984xx (Tacoma), 6 from 982xx (Snohomish) and 1 from 990xx (Eastern Washington).

There were 31 out of State Buyers of which 11 were from the State of California, 6 from Oregon, 2 each from the states of Wyoming, Texas and Idaho. Other out of State buyers of Mason County Properties (8) were from all over the county.

With the high cost of gas, airline travel and lodging people appear to being staying closer to home and looking for second homes within an average of 100 miles from their primary residence. Lindsey pointed out in her article that the Boomers want to be closer to their children and grandchildren and the younger second homes buyers are foregoing long vacations and instead opting for longer weekend getaways. She also stated that "close-in second homes allow telecommuters the ability to create a more peaceful workday." That's terrific news for Mason County property owners because we are wired, thanks to the investment made by PUD 3's Fiber Optic installation a few years back.

Hood Canal, South Puget Sound, and the Olympic Peninsula offer potential buyers countless opportunities in recreation and finding that ideal second-home. Our County has become highly prized for its Hood Canal shrimp, crabbing, oysters, gooey duck, wine, boating, golfing, camping, hiking, biking just to name a few of the activities enjoyed by us all.

Localism was the topic today in our office meeting. We discussed the question of "What is Localism," as defined by AR. Everyone agreed it is very important for us to draw more attention via the Web/Bloggs to our community, i.e. issues, uniqueness and lifestyle. Even our local Chamber of Commerce has adopted the slogan to "Shop Local". Subsequently, those of us actively Blogging will see to it that an extra effort is made to provide more community communication. Who better than us, the Real Estate community, to make it happen?

Rural areas have always depended on each other to find out about the new business opening up or setting the record straight on local gossip. We think it is a great opportunity for us to be the community spoke person. We have the chance to showcase all the smaller communities that have very little or no presence on the Web. To narrate their story and perhaps bring back the time when every person knew what was going and everyone knew their neighbor.

The AR people did a great service in providing us with this channel. We locals must take hold of this vision and do some serious networking with the neighborhood

Today's blog will be the first in a series of informative articles introducing readers to LakeLand Village "A Residential Golf Community" located in Allyn, Washington. Hopefully you are reading this on the localism link and find it helpful.

LakeLand...A Dream Fulfilled

More than 50 years ago, Virgil Anderson acquired his first 160 acres, with a dream of farming and raising cattle. He moved his family to their new home, a log cabin built on the "old farm". Adjoining lands were gradually acquired where he and his two sons went to work striving to preserve that dream which brought him and his family to this wooded land. Together they would reclaim the marshland, restore the lake fed by the creek and underground springs, clean out the tangled underbrush, clear the rotting and fallen timbers until their acres would be a wooded park. Someday, there would even be a full-size lake, a refuge for migrating birds and small animal life.

That someday came in 1965 with the completion of Anderson Lake. The land was platted, roads constructed, covenants were written and prospective homeowners were invited to participate in the realization of a "dream come true."

Construction of the Generation I Golf Course was completed in 1972, followed by the Generation II Golf Course in 1983 and Generation III Golf Course opened for play in the summer of 1997.

LakeLand Village today now has 12 Divisions consisting of gorgeous custom homes, sizeable home sites and carefree condominium living.

Over the past 35 years it has been the goal of the Andersons to continue Virgil's commitment to preserve the natural resources for the benefit of those who wish to enjoy suburban living. And the dream lives on...

I have lived in LakeLand Village for 14 years and have truly found a homeowners paradise. For more detailed information about LakeLand Village go to their website www.lakelandliving.com. I am also the Managing Broker for Windermere Peninsula Properties the exclusive Real Estate Company for the Developer home sites and the GlenAllyn V Condominiums.

I compose this blog for the Haiku group at the request of the creator, Dinah Griffey. She replied to a comment "Haiku" I wrote in her Fall "Haiku" posting. She asked if I might write a blog expressing where the inspiration of the poem was derived.

On Saturday, my wife and I set sail from Port Orchard, Washington to our destination of Blake Island. It was a beautiful Fall day, cool, crisp weather and very tranquil. The journey through Rich Passage went smoothly, however, as we entered Admiralty Inlet the wind picked up out of the North and created Irregular wave action on our port beam making for an adventurous crossing.

We arrived at our destination safely. Docked the boat in a quiet spot in the small marina at the State Park and took pleasure in a trek along the northwest shore line of the island savoring the vibrant fall colors. Our cruise back was also a marvelous cruise. The wildlife was abundant. The daylight was waning. And as the Ferry passed us, the passengers on the Ferry waved and took pictures of us being tossed about by the Ferry's wake. It was a cool day on the water's of Puget Sound and so I wrote a simple Haiku that convey our voyage.

Irregular Waves

Crisp, Clear Skies Above

Destination Arrived

Real Estate closed sales were slightly up during the last two weeks of September 08. The total Mason County real estate sold count was 79 properties amounting to $13,810,832. Of the 79 sold 38 of the sales were single family resales on less than 5 acres. Two single family resale homes on more than 5 acres sold and 4 new single family homes sold.

The Multi-family group posted 1 sale and there were 3 commercial/industrial sales. In the Land categories, 12 - land with mobiles sold, 13 - platted lots, 3 - short plats and 3 - unplatted pieces were recorded.

Prices for single family resale's, on less than 5 acres, were all across the board during this period. For example, there was 1 sold for $500,000 or more, 1 between $400,000 and $499,000, and 1 between $350,000 and $399,000. All of the pricing ranges had 1 or more sales while the $200,000 to $249,000 range had the highest number of sales of 9 sold's. 5 homes sold in the $180,000 to $199,999 range, 3 between $160,000 and $179,999 and 4 homes sold in the $145,000 to $159,999 and 4 in $130,000 to $144,999. There was actually one home that sold for under $25,000.

Within Area A (Shelton) the real estate sales count totaled 30 while 18 of the sales were single family homes. Area C (North end of the County) posted 26 sales, 11 of the sales were single family. Area D (Hoodsport/Union) posted 13 sales 5 of which were single family and Area B (Harstene/Agate) posted 10 of which 4 were single family.

A brief analysis of Mason County Real Estate during this period places the average price of a single family resale at $220,626 and a median price of $197,500. New Single family homes averaged $188,750 while the median was $192,500. Lots average price was $48,350 with a median of $40,000.

The average conventional 30 year real estate loan rate was 6.24% and the adjustable rate was 6.08%. There were 176 loans taken out in the amount of $26,190.948.

This article, along with graphs, will also be posted to my new blog at http://therealstateofrealestate.com.