The 34th Annual Ravenna Park Egg Hunt in the Park will be held On April 24th in "Little Park" on Easter Sunday at 2:30 rain or shine. If you have a child participating, bring a dozen plastic eggs, filled with candy, coins, sticker, or other treats (no nuts, please) to the Coleman's House at 311 19th Ave NE before 6 PM on Saturday April 23rd.

With your eggs please include the form which is available here: The Egg Hunt Form.

You can help hide eggs, make a donation for the "Golden Eggs," or volunteer to be the Easter Bunny next year.

Come join the neighbors this Sunday for a good time in the Little Park.

The Magnolia Trees in Seattle seem to be blooming late this year. It's been cooler than normal and very few warm days. I've stopped running now but used to run in the St Patrick's Day Dash in Seattle. We'd run through a tunnel and then up on the Alsakan Way Viaduct with fun views of the city and out over Puget Sound. The race was rerouted a couple of years ago and it's a pretty boring run these days in light of the alternatives.

Driving down to the race start I always remember picking up a friend who ran with me almost every year. She had a Magnolia Tree in her yard and it seems like every year when I picked her up her car would be covered with the blossoms from the tree. That race is alwyas held on the Sunday closest to St Patrick's Day. I took this picture this week.

Are there rats in Ravenna, and Roosevelt, too? Who would know unless they seee them or unless they went to the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association meeting last night. About 120 people showed up and it was a busy agenda. First off the acting president was named official president for the coming year. (I showed up without pen and paper, so I have no names to report.)

After her introductory remarks, a nice young lady from Seattle Public Health arrived and shared some information on rats and what to do about them. There are 4 steps to removing rats:

1. Take away their food. (Stop feeding birds for a while if you must)

2.Exterminate by trapping and/or poisoning.

3.Keep rats out of your yard by eliminating places they nest.

4.Keep rats out of your home. Rats can enter through an opening the size of a quarter.

For the very inquisitive, you can view a dot map of where rats have been reported in people's toilets. And the why of that is something I've been harping on for years. Garbage disposers in kitchens are food processers for sewer rats. They love that stuff and will follow the food trail to it's source. Of course it's dark in those pipes and on occasion they make a turn and end up in your bathroom. Save your self a couple hundred bucks and get rid of your disposer. It will never break down again.

Fortunately Seattle has a yard waste and food waste recycling system and all such waste is composted. These items are stored in containers and picked up each week. Wonderful.

Next up we heard from the Department of Transportation. Seattle has two floating bridges and one of them (the north bridge on the rat map) needs replacement. In order to pay for it there are going to be tolls and the tolling begins soon. So the talk concerned electronic tolling and what it might mean to you. Can rats cross the bridge and get into Seattle? Can they use the bridge to get out of Seattle? Will they too be charged a fee? These questions were not asked.

Next on the agenda was the selection of board members and their approval. All went well and even some new folks stepped up to help. It was also approved that board meetings would be open to all. Meetings on the first Tuesday of the month.

Then came the big draw of the evening. The run down houses in Roosevelt. I wrote about them before and even have blog dedicated to the Roosevelt-Ravenna Zonning Issues. On the property in question, are there rats? And the answer is an unequivocal, "YES!" An important part of getting rid of these rats is to make sure they are contained and destroyed, not just driven onto neighbors well kept properties. A second and equally important part of the rat remove issue is taking measures to keep other rats from invading the location with their bad building concepts and inappropriate designs. Overbuilding and building in the wrong location destroys a neighborhood just as surely as the current condition of these properties does. Jim O'Halloran, the Roosevelt Land Use Committee spoke to the large audience of about 125. Two processes are in action at the moment.

1. The Roosevelt Neighborhood Plan is working its way to city approval and needs the support of the Ravenna neighbors. The RNA plan was worked on by a large group of people from the community with the desire to grow the neighborhood since a light rail station will be built there. A great deal of effort went into enhancing the neighborhood while preserving its charm. That support is easy. Everyone should email member of the Seattle City Council and tell them that they support the RNA Plan.

2. The RDG (an out of area development company which wants to build buildings on the rat infested property in excess of 120 feet, where current and recommended zoning is 40 feet) is taking some plans to a design review board. The time to oppose bad design is all of the time and any time. Jim requested that the audience be alert to this meeting and voice opposition when appropriate.We have to do what we need to do to keep the rats out.

The meeting closed with a short piece regarding the Ravenna quest to win a $50,000 prize by being the most efficient recycling neighborhood in Seattle. And we are now leading. Kudos to us. Ravenna rocks!

Closings in any January are usually down because December is often a slow month. And this year is no exception. And, usually, many listings that haven’t sold go off the market at the end of the year. Sellers assess what their future holds and some decide to wait until “Spring” to re-list. Some rent their properties out hoping for better times. The smart ones are often the ones who stay on the market during a time of reduced inventory.

With 5 closed sales and only 21 active listings, the Absorption Rate is just a hair over 4. Definitely a seller’s market. I know there will be more homes coming on the market in the months ahead, but if you are prepared, now might just be the time.

For in-city Seattle north of the ship canal the statics include 116 closed sales, 211 pending sales and 743 active listings, for an Absorption rate of 6.4
This report includes single family homes, townhomes and condominiums.

You can see the listings included:

Ravenna Market Report.

With 8 possible closings if February and the current shortage of listings I look forward to a month that will not be as busy as it could be unless more sellers put their homes on the market.

People talk about shadow inventory, foreclosures, short sales and REO’s, and try to predict where the market is going and what will happen next. Rest assured that it is not going anywhere with any great speed. If you desire to buy or sell, now is as good as anytime in the foreseeable future.

This lovely house sold and closed in January of 2011 for $800,000 in Ravenna Park, directly across from the park.

If you live in the Seattle area, and in particular the north Seattle and the Ravenna or Ravenna Park areas, give me a call and let’s discuss how to resolve your real estate issues.

The Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) manages a program called the Seattle Senior Housing Program. The old Ravenna school has been remodeled into one of the twenty three apartment buildings managed by the SHA. The units in the buildingss are either one or two bedrooms. Buildings have elevators and also all have community rooms to encourage activity among the residents. All are smoke free.

To qualify, residents must earn 80% of area median income or less, and be 62 years or older, or disabled. Rents are affordable at one of four levels based on income. I see the sign out at the Ravenna location, which means that the waiting list is probably short right now. For further information, consult the website link above or just give me a call.

The old Ravenna school is located right next to the recently remodeled Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center, a children's playground and the Ravenna pea patch. There are also many restaurants and shops nearby, including Third Place Books, LaVassar Florists, DaPino Italian Deli and many more. About six blocks to the south is Ravenna Park.

Perhaps you know some senior who needs to move from their home but does not want to leave the neighborhood. This is the perfect opportunity to let them know.