James Lupori, the blogger on www.KenmooreUndressed.com posted a great Christmas gift on his blog. A delicious recipe and DEMO on making Biscotti!
Here is the link to get to the post:
I am going to try it. Maybe you should too.
Greater Issaquah 2008 Slide Show
The worst snowstorms in 40 years is behind us (maybe)? Now brace yourself for wind.
Condominiums in Issaquah are often the best choice for buyers. Currently there are 191 condos for sale in Issaquah. They range from 1 bedroom and 648 square feet to 3 bedroom and 1705 square feet. A new project the Bentley House is near bringing on 40 plus more in the luxury class.
The average list price for 2 bedrooms is $282,000 for 3 bedrooms is $373,000.
The average days on market of over 100 days makes it a buyers market.
We would point out two of our advertisers and one of our listings as unique and worth a visit:
Tanglewood Condominiums in Klahanie: We have been so impressed with this property. It is over 80% sold out and a must see. Click here for the Tanglewood website.
The Bentley House, click here for their blog: Truly a lifestyle with VIP treatment and amenities unmatched. This is an upper end property in price.
Starpoint Unit # 412: A 1 bedroom 1 bath treat in the secure and upscale Starpoint Condominiums. This is our listing and we would be glad to show it to you. Click here for its blog:
Click Here and Enjoy a beautiful Christmas message and song. Larry and Kathleen
We always say we don’t get much snow here, and if we do it doesn’t last long. NOT SO this year. Most of our state and other places that don’t get much are getting a snow bonus this year.
Winter in South Cove
After going stir crazy for days spent snowbound. people are venturing out on foot.
Issaquah Winter
I wonder how many of my shrubs are going to survive this COLD and SNOW?
Nutcracker Lane
One of the few years it has really looked like Christmas at Christmas!
Looking for the weather forecast in Issaquah? Click on the picture that is always located on the right-hand side, labeled ‘Weather’. This will give you all the weather information you need.
With Kathleen writing about the Caribbean the weather forecast might motivate you to take a cruise. Take the family, they will love you for it.
While I sit here at my computer looking at all this cold, white stuff coming down from the sky, my mind ponders the joy of the Caribbean again, with great pleasure! Curacao, our next stop, is very close to northern Venezuala.
Curacao - (pronounced kyur-uh-sow) an Island of beaches, diving opportunities, impressive architecture, rich history, European flavor, Jewish culture, vibrant art scene, colorful carnivals and a climate of warm (but not too hot) weather. The white stuff here is SAND not snow!
WIllemstad, Curacao and the Queen Emma pontoon bridge
WIllemstad, the capital is divided into two parts, Punda and Otrobanda, but connected by the bridge shown above that opens up to let large ships come in and out.
We enjoyed a great lunch, walked around enjoying the unique Dutch influenced arcitecture……
…Took a gander at some of the innumerable shopping boothes…………………………………….
................made a wide path around this girl with a python on her neck
After waiting (not really, as there was much to do and see) for the bridge to close to get to the other side, we gave up and took a (water) taxi.
Hato Caves - a very different scene. Not far from the Curacao airport but a different end of the island from Willemstad. These caves have once been below sea level as they were formed but were thrust up and eons later became a refuge place for slaves to escape to.
Greeted upon our arrival by an Iguana.
Iguana soup is considered a delicacy. I don’t intend to find out if it is good or not!
Being a little bit claustrophobic, as interesting as it was, I was glad to get out of there. The tour was very professional and is worth seeing. There is a wonderful website with much info about Curacao www.curacao.com Be sure to watch some of the videos!
Like many places in the Caribbean, a mix of many languages has evolved, Papiamentu, a mix of portuguese, spanish, dutch, african and english! Wow, that must be hard to learn for an outsider.
European and Caribbean, 2 nations, 2 capitals
The island is divided almost in half. The South half capital is Philipsburg-Dutch Sint Maarten. The capital of the French side is Marigot, Saint Martin. The whole island is 36 Sq miles. They pack a lot into that 36 Sq miles. Our tour guide took us through all different areas, many elite, monied places and more common places. With the average wage at about $4.00 an hour there are many areas that resemble the poorer areas of Latin-American countries.
On the French side, the beaches have clothing optional and topless is the norm, we won’t show you this, however, because The Undressed Network is a G rated site!
We had a delicious lunch in Marigot at Sarafina's
House ready for Christmas St Martin style
A most common sight along the shore
Our time was too short. It would be nice to go back by plane, rent a villa and stay a week!? OR even a hotel would do. There are lots of nice ones.
LAST STOP! St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Here our cell phones didn’t have roaming charges, so this was the first place since Puerto Rico we called home. Surprise, they drive on the wrong side of the road here!
Coming into St Thomas
On our open air taxi (really a bus) which we took to get to and from the place of our boat rental, charged us $10.00 for each person. However, as residents got on along the way, they were only charged $1.00. We asked the driver about this. He said he was hoping we wouldn’t notice! And then added “That’s just the way it is!”
Renting a boat at the Naughti Nymph to go to St John
St John, a quieter island
A place for great snorkling
A great place for snorkling, but when we got back to the Naughti Nymph, the owner asked where we went. After being told of the place where we found wonderful snorkling, he told us he didn’t tell tourists about that place because sometimes on the open sea side of the little island you can get carried out to sea! Yikes!
Leaving St John, back to St Thomas, back to Adventure of the Seas, back to Issaquah
Back on the ship and after an night at sea, we arrived back in Puerto Rico (Click Here for article and photos of the ship.) Sadly, our vacation was over. It was still nice to know I live in a place I love, Issaquah, even if it does snow once in a while!
Today, I would have to say the Caribbean! Morning temperatures here in Issaquah were 19 degrees with snow on the way tommorrow?! Aruba, an average of 82 degrees pretty much year round. YES!
We just got back from there. Why, Oh Why couldn’t I have been in the Caribbean during this cold snap? What a difference a week makes.
This is not usual for Issaquah, It rarely snows, rarely is this cold and seems to be setting new records for a long cold period.
Our son and his wife love cruises. They invited us along one this one and we thought about it for a nano second and jumped at the chance. This was our first cruise. Puerto Rico was the launching place and the stops were Aruba, Curacao, St Martin and St Thomas. Swweeeeet. We had two days in Puerto Rico before the ship left.
Favorite things about Puerto Rico: Doing absolutely nothing.
The view from our hotel (at night).
Day trip to Fort San Christobal -
The Castillo de San Cristóbal is a Spanish fort in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was built by the Spaniards to protect against land based attacks on the city of San Juan. It is part of San Juan National Historic Site.
Castillo de San Cristóbal is the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the New World. When it was finished in 1783 it covered about 27 acres of land, basically wrapping the city of San Juan. Entry to the city was sealed by San Cristóbal’s double gates. After close to one hundred years of relative peace in the area, part of the fortification (about a third) was demolished in 1897 to help ease the flow of traffic in and out of the walled city.
Fort San Cristobal
Ocean view from Fort San Cristobal
View of San Juan from the Fort
Stairs and Tunnels and Dungeons, not for the faint hearted
Three Flags
A Stash of Cannon Balls
Old San Juan
Buildings in Old San Juan, No Glass, Just Shutters, Bright Colors and Charm
The Adventure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean….soon to be off to Oranjestad, Aruba. Ouite a crowd waiting in line to board. Seems like there could be a better system. Once on board, I was amazed and in awe. We were at sea the next day, I guess, I could hardly tell. There was much to keep one ocupied on this floating city. Fun and Food! And they aren’t kidding about the FOOD.
The Adventure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean
Santa visits Aruba early, he didn’t leave anything with me! Perhaps he will visit in Issaquah, unless I have been naughty, not nice. Hmmmmmmmmmm! Oh, well a lump of coal might help me keep warm.
We laid on the beach, walked on the beach, watched people on the beach, paid $20 bucks for an umbrella, if you wanted a chair it was another $8. Aruba is a flat, dry island, consistant weather and is out of the way of hurricanes, unlike other Caribbean Ilse.
Who would believe it? Bears sure. Tigers of course. In the Cougar Mountain Zoo. But Lions no. Lionheads yes. What is a Lionhead you ask? I didn’t know until I visited the Issaquah Grange Supply. There I saw a Lionhead. He was cute. He was friendly. I discovered that there is a breed of rabbit named Lionhead. They have one there to see. He was really a neat discovery. Go take a look. He is in a cage near the front. Unlike the two tigers at the zoo, you can put your hand in this cage.
PS: I also found out there is belief the the Naples the Staples Rooster is an escapee from the Issaquah Grange Supply. Lar
PSS: For your education and satisfaction - from WikiPedia:
Lionhead rabbit is one of the newest breed of domesticated rabbits. It has particularly long hair surrounding the face, reminiscent of the mane of a male lion, hence the name. Other characteristic traits of the lionhead include a rounded head and small size, usually between 2.5 and 3.5 pounds. It also tends to have slightly shorter ears than most breeds.
The Lionhead rabbit originated in Belgium. It is reported to have been produced by breeders trying to breed a long coated dwarf rabbit by crossing a miniature Swiss Fox and a Belgian dwarf. The Lionhead seemed to have been more popular than the long coated dwarf, and so breeders carried on this trend in breeding them intentionally, and so came what we know today as the Lionhead rabbit.
Some of you may have picked up on the fact we are in the mortgage business. This has been a roller coaster type ride for us. At the peak we had 100 loan officers and were one of the largest brokerages in the state. It was fun. It was stressful.
We and a few of our favorite loan officers are now a branch of Loan Network LLC. Kathleen and I manage our branch and direct those in need to one of our skilled loan officers. Which one depends on your needs.
I offer this as a preamble to the question, will mortgage rates go even lower?
Yesterday one of my favorite competitors Rhonda Porter quoted under 5%. Yep, that is where it is headed - down baby down.
I am fortunate to get daily information from some pretty sophisticated economy and market experts. People I respect as they are often right on.
Their belief seems to be that the answer is yes. They believe the market is headed for 4% for a 30 year fixed rate.
Unbelievable eh? Contact me if you want to be emailed when rates hit a specific number.
New lending policies have changed things for locking rates. You must be ready to move to capture a rate. Locks must be done on real deals. If a loan officer locks the loan he or she is expected to deliver. A fax request won’t lock a loan. The file must be electronically input into the system to lock. That means you must have selected a lender that has your complete data.
You won’t need the appraisal completed, but you may find your loan officer won’t lock the loan without the appraisal. So that could leave you rushing to get that part completed.
These are trying times. Many have people in the industry are gone. Volume for many was less than half this year over last year. We just experienced a surge. In times like these you should be working with full time, hard working, well connected loan officers.
Fortunately for you, that is about all that are left.
Yes, they traded J J Putz. Click here for the P I Article on the Mariners trade.
And yes, J J like many of our professional athletes lives in Issaquah. Why you might ask? Knowing where Griffey and Buehner lived, it was probably the privacy of that development, the size of the homes, the security, the large lots, and the ease of access to Safeco Field. By the way, we have a listing for a lot just down the street from these two famous homes.
Another reason is probably how close it is to Costco. OK, all shopping. And skiing? After retirement of course. I think one of the things we like about living in Issaquah is how convenient it is. We like Bellevue Square, Snoqualmie pass, and Seattle. We only wish the Issaquah Highlands High Street Mall was completed, even under construction. With that Issaquah shopping would be complete.
We have family in Woodinville, Lake Forest Park, Maple Valley, and Federal Way; all which are amazingly easy to visit. It would be better if they moved Federal Way closer to Maple Valley.
Back to the J J Putz trade. That leaves these looming questions: Will Putz sell his Issaquah Highlands home, how will it affect Brandon Morrow, is J J really healthy now, who the heck is Franklin Gutierrez and Endy Chavez, and isn’t it a relief to get back a bunch of prospects?
The prospect commentary from the P I: To complete the deal they delivered right-handed reliever Aaron Heilman, Chavez, left-handed reliever Jason Vargas and three minor leaguers — first baseman Mike Carp, outfielder Ezequiel Carrera and right-handed pitcher Maikel Cleto — from the Mets and Gutierrez from the Indians.
And quoting the P I: Not bad for Zduriencik’s first trade as a general manager.
For a Lifestyle, more than a condo visit Bentley House Undressed.com, a member of our Issaquah Undressed Network of consumer blogs.
Issaquah Condo sales are down by 50% over a year ago, including pending sales. This is as reported by the NWMLS. A study of the graph above shows the last 14 months in available inventory of condominiums, pending, and closed sales.
The graph below makes visible the volatility of months of supply of condos. In one month it went from 4.9 months inventory to 11.7. That swings in and out of what type of market real estate condominiums are in.
One of our advertisers, Tanglewood Condos in Klahanie, is fortunate. They are in the final stages of selling a very nice project priced right for the market. In addition to being well done and having great amenities, they are in the lower price range, not suffering so. Note the charts below.
Photo is not of the type of modification of the subject article, by rick from Flickr
I am aware there is a lot of discussion on line and off about loan modification. As there are a lot of borrowers in financial trouble it is both pertinent and a haven of bad information. As many know of me as a loan officer, mortgage broker, and branch manager I am often asked about the topic.
Here is our company position on loan modification: Loan Modification is OK if done properly and through an attorney.
We do have the services of an attorney we trust to consult for you, a friend, or family member. He will handle all of the direct and consulting letters to the lenders. He will investigate any RESPA issues.
Few loan officers, real estate agents, or brokers have the ability to fight well for suffering borrowers.
I will return on December 7th. If any of you know of anyone who believes loan modification is appropriate you may have them contact me and I will put them in contact with this attorney. Larry
Where? Where? The Reindeer Festival, of course. Where is that? The Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah. Round up the kids, sit on Santa’s lap, give him a list. Get up close and personal with a reindeer.
Want to rent a reindeer? YOU CAN DO THAT! www.cougarmountainzoo.org Wouldn’t that be a hit at your party!
Santa is at the Zoo during the Reindeer Festival from 10:am to 4:30 pm Daily (only during the festival)……Pssssssssssssssssssssst! Santa takes a nap between 1:00pm and 1:30pm. That’s why his chair is empty here. I missed him last year because of this, so I have a really long list of things to ask for this year.
Up close and personal with Blitzen? Or is it Donner?
This is a little too up close and personal for me!
The Reindeer Festival has been an annual event since 1989. It is unique to Issaquah. Quite different from visiting the zoo in the summer. Elfs are on there best behavior and are quick to point out which reindeer is which. I don’t know how they can tell, but they can. Find out more from their website www.cougarmountainzoo.org. I wonder what Taj and Almos think about all this reindeer stuff?
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