There were 4 homes reported sold in the month of November in Newcastle, ranging from $505,000 to $1,430,000. The homes sold at an average of 94% of the original list price. With the most expensive home selling after 687 days, the average days on the market was 275, compared to 89 days last month. As noted in last months figures, these statistics may change as reports are completed and updated.
When we decided to pull the house plans out of the drawer and see what exactly was behind the pantry and under the stairs, we couldn’t tell much. So my curiosity go the better of me and while my husband was pre-occupied watching football, I pulled an old knife and a stud finder out of the drawer, and went to work on my own little investigation. He eventually heard the little mouse in the pantry and came to see what I was up to this time. “What are you doing that’s going to create another project for me?”, he said. I giggled and said, “look what I found!” What I found was a ton of sheet rock burried underneath the stairs, obviously from the original house construction. This isn’t uncommon. When they were constructing the walls upstairs, they dropped all the scraps down into the stairwell, knowing it would be enclosed later. There are two reasons for this. Sheet rock is heavy so it’s expensive to dispose of. Second, they say it adds extra insulation. Either way, it was no big deal to me. I was just thrilled to discover that there was usable space here and I couldn’t wait to find out how much.
So yes, Mike got another project. It is typical around here that I get these wild ideas, start the demolition, and then he has no choice but to complete it. In the end we are both usually pretty proud of ourselves. Look at all this storage space we have for Costco items now! So start digging around. See what kind of usable space you may have in your home. Add more value with little details. Click here to see some of the other creative space ideas.
Click on the map belwo tp see this weeks open houses near Newcastle, WA
Date: Friday, November 28, 2008
Time: 11am
Location: South Court (near Target)
Popular children’s entertainer Tim Noah will perform a musical sing-along, greeting Santa for the first time of the season. Kids can then visit Santa in his house, share their wish list and get their photos taken!
Tim Noah hosted the award winning weekly series How’s That and is the recipient of eight Emmy awards for his music and television productions.
Santa will be at Factoria Mall every day from November 28 through Christmas Eve for photos and visits. His house will be located in the South Court, which will be transformed into a winter wonderland from Thanksgiving through Christmas.
“Tim is a unique and charismatic performer with non-stop energy and enormous talent”-Deborah Strichartz, ABC TV, New York
Yesterday, the Treasury Department moved to guarantee mortgage securities causing rates to drop to their lowest point in over 30 years. Thirty year fixed rate mortgages were as low as 5.125% today. The Fed is going to buy Mortgage Bonds. The Federal Reserve just announced that it would purchase $600B of Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae. This brilliant move by the Fed is designed to help increase the availability of credit, while lowering fixed mortgage rates. And this move is already lowering mortgage rates so far today as Mortgage Bonds are up a whopping 128bp and appear destined to retest the price highs of 2008.
Government fixed 30 (ltv's greater than 80% allows for lower credit scores as well) 5.25%@1 5.375%@1 ($1,500 closing cost credit) 5.5@0 (no cost option) Conforming 30 yr fixed 5.25%@1 5.375%@1 ($1,000 closing cost credit) 5.625%@0 (no cost option) Conforming 15 yr fixed 4.875%@1 5%@1 ($1,000 closing cost credit) 5.25%@0 5.625%@0 (no cost option) Conforming 20 yr fixed 5.25%@1 ($1K closing cost option) 5%@1 ($1K closing cost credit) 5.5%@0 (no option) Conforming 5 yr fixed period arm 5.125@1 Non conforming 30 yr fixed (loan amounts greater than $567,500) 6.75%@1 *figures courtesy of Kari A. Kuipers Countrywide Bank, FSB kari_kuipers@countrywide.com
We’re all excited about the Newcastle YMCA opening and it’s exciting to hear about all the programs they’ll be offering. This YMCA, almost 50,000 square feet, will include:
The Coal Creek YMCA in Newcastle will serve north Renton, south Bellevue, southeast Issaquah, Newcastle and Mercer Island.
For an enven better idea of what it will be like, Click the picture below to see the Northshore YMCA. Our Newcastle YMCA will be very similar.
Contact Marcia Isenberger at misenberger@seattleymca.org if you are interested in volunteer opportunities.
Well, after a pretty rough season for both the Cougars and the Huskies it looks like Washington State will have the bragging rights this year. This year’s Apple Cup was a pretty good game all the way down to the last minute.
On both ends of town you’ll find that Arco has broken the $2.00 mark and reduced gas prices to $1.99/gal. Woo Hoo!
There’s nothing like having a pet in your home to add that spark, life, entertainment and love to a family. They somehow fill a space that no one else can. Somehow as I’ve gotten older I’ve become more of a cat person. I hope that doesn’t mean I’m headed for being an old lady with a house full of cats but when I was younger, I was all about dogs. They are a perfect companion, almost a room mate that you take everywhere. But now with a family, kids and jobs a cat has come to fit my needs. Having a cat is like having kids. You dont realize how great it is until you have one of your own. Cats tend to get very attached to their owners so you may never really know the love and affection of a cat until you have one.
What ever your preference visit the Bellevue Humane Society this month and see for yourself. They have wonderful visiting areas to get to know both dogs and cats. You can spend all the time with them you like, just visit and play or entertain the idea of taking one home. Either way, the animals and staff encourage your visit, just for the attention.
Sharon spent so much time with me, making sure I found the right pet which wasn’t an easy task. I pretty much fell in love with one in every room, until I walked into the back room and saw someone else holding my cat. I sat down and patiently waited for them to put my cat down. Just then, Sharon walked in the room and I said’ “I found my cat.” I have no idea what is was, but now after having her home for 3 weeks, I am absolutely sure that I was right because I think she picked me.
13212 SE Eastgate Way
Bellevue, WA 98005
(425) 641-0080
