Shelton, WA

This is a picture I snapped today as I was driving to Shelton, Washington. This shimmering body of water is Oakland Bay. I used to be mesmerized by it when I was a kid. Parts of it are completely exposed when the tide goes out-I would not recommend trying to walk across- no matter how tempting-there is a reason Mom said no...trust me!

The majority of the time it appears like this- Beautiful, sparkling, and mystical when it is foggy. It is also a great place to dig oysters and enjoy watching otters play, and eagles soar!I thought you might appreciate this picture, especially if you are a local- and we get snow on Saturday.

While I was driving through Shelton Washington today, I found a very lucky home. The tree limb must have given way in the recent windstorm we had. I could not believe it did absolutely no damage at all to this house- not even a broken window! One of the small twigs broke up against the house, but the house it's self is perfect.I wish I had a better picture to show you just how significant this was, but I am certain the home owner knows!

Do you have any lucky houses where you live?

I wanted to share with all of you a picture I took today while showing homes to a long distance client that made a special trip to view homes here. This is the entrance of one of our finest communities.

While I understand that this was probably not done by anyone living in this community, it still stings them. My client instantly questioned how often this occurred, what were the crime rates, and is this a safe neighborhood? Yes, this is a wonderful place to live, but unfortunately it is making a difference in how others are perceiving the values here.

It is important to our communities that when we see graffiti that we eliminate it immediately. It will effect all of us one way or another- whether we live there ourselves or are encouraging others too. It brings down house values, and gives the illusion that we do not care.

How do you handle tagging and graffiti in your neighborhood?

My 23 year old nephew, Mark, just purchased his FIRST HOME. How Cool is that?

What is really Cool, is that his Realtor is a remarkable new Agent recently licensed to our Belfair Windermere Office. Realtor, Josh Murphy, just graduated from North Mason High School...

in 2008!

Is that not really Cool!

Ok, back to being more mature in my expressive discourse. I am the Managing Broker of the Windermere Offices in Allyn and Belfair and I referred my nephew to Josh. I felt that these two young men would get along and both have a great real estate learning experience.

In simple terms, Josh's customer service was AWESOME! And nephew Mark could not be happier.

The entire buying process was completed in 31 days.

The purchase was a Brand New Home and was Bank Owned. The home is located in Lake Limerick, Shelton Washington.

The Team of Professionals who also assisted were:

Financing - Vickie Nunez from Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

Title and Escrow was provided by Land Title in Belfair.

The Home Inspection was done by Don Whitfield of Washington Building Inspectors.

The Listing Agent was Realtor Valerie Spaulding, also with our Windermere Office in Belfair. Some of you know Valerie for her creative contributions to the Active Rain Community and Localism. She is an exceptionally experienced Real Estate Professional.

I would like to give a big heartfelt KUDOS to these Professionals for a Job well done. My nephew is thrilled. His Mother, my sister, is ecstatic.

And I am delighted that I gave a young Rookie a Chance to become a Real Estate Professional.

09 is going to be so, so Fine.

Yesterday morning,my friend Doug and I went to Shelton to enjoy the Mason County Treasurer tax auction. There were 10 properties on the list. The sale started promptly at 9. Thinking that there would be few people there with cash or a cashiers check, I had my cash roll ready to find a steal on a Shorecrest or Phillips Lake lot (across rd. from the lake). Unfortunately, both lots went for $6500, more than I chose to pay. About 40 buyers were there and most had quite a bit of cash available. One 10 acre piece went for $19,900 off Wallace-Kneeland Blvd. Someone got a steal on that commercial zoned property.