As the last few clients I've had in town have been interested in the  total costs of places in Bellingham per month, we'll always go through what they're comfortable paying according to their monthly mortgage payment.  Then figure in utilities, other bills, car payments, credit cards; a regular slough of money going out.  We're all there, so no judging, especially around the holidays. 

And yet with condos, everything is neatly packaged for the most part.  A large portion of the complexes in town are going to include water/sewer/garbage, sometimes cable, sometimes even Internet or an on-site gym.  Most also include the upkeep of the exterior of the complex, and any of a cornucopia of repairs will be taken out as special assessments or from the coffers of the reserves on Home Owner Dues. 

So as it's the season for lists, I thought a list of Fairhaven Condos on the market as of  today, as well as what they include might be of help.  The list below is based on what's been reported through the NWMLS as of 12/12/08.

Harris Square	158	Earthquake Insurance, G/W/S
Parkway Square	225	Cable TV, G/W/S
Spinnaker Reach	212	Cable TV, G/W/S, Earthquake Insurance
Brookmoor	145	Cable TV
Harris Square	205	Earthquake Insurance, G/W/S
Rose Garden	170
Pippi Condos	235	G/W/S, insurance
Woodland Hills	179	W/S
Creekside at Fairhaven	161	Earthquake Insurance, G/W/S
Fairhaven Trails Condominiums	200	Earthquake Insurance, G/W/S
Young Condominiums	168	G/W/S
Harris Square	252	Earthquake Insurance, G/W/S
Harbor Heights	314	Cable TV, G/W/S, Earthquake Insurance
Spinnaker Reach	306	Cable TV, G/W/S, Earthquake Insurance

 

And these can change, mainly with meetings for the Home Owner's Associations or special assessments.  If you'd like to know more about what to consider when considering condos, drop me an e-mail.

Labels: Fairhaven Condos, Fairhaven homes for sale, Fairhaven Market, Fairhaven Real Estate, Fairhaven Sales Numbers, Fairhaven Stats

The Waldron building is one of Fairhaven's oldest and yet newest buildings. Originaly built in 1891 at the height of Fairhaven's first expansion. During that period Fairhaven was one of several cities trying to become the major West Coast railroad terminus, and Fairhaven saw it's first major expansion.
Their were 35 hotels and boarding houses in Fairhaven at that time. It was soon after that Seattle got the railroads, and the bust hit Fairhaven, the economy went bust in 1892 and construction on the Waldron came to a halt, only the first two floors were finished. The top 3 floors of the Waldron were never occupied, until now.

The ground floor saw commercial establishments come and go. The bank of Fairhaven, a stationery store and real estate office were the first occupants of the building. A department store called The Fair, and George Hohl's Feed & Seedwere also occupants of the Waldron.

I remember the mid 1970's in Fairhaven very well, there were 2 infamous taverns in the building, The Kulshan and Fairhaven Taverns. One of the things I did in those years was play washtub base in a Jug Band and we played there quite often.

The Waldron is a historical building that has had it's outside preserved while a new building was practically constructed within to bring it up to current earthquake standards and resurrect it for retail space once again on the ground floor with 6 luxury bay view condos above, and underground parking below. It has been an amazing transformation and a new beginning for the Waldron.

If your interested in seeing the units available in the Waldron, click here.

If you have any questions or want to see any Fairhaven condos feel free to email me at or give me a call at 360-739-6981.

Labels: Fairhaven Condos, Fairhaven History, Fairhaven Real Estate

One of the most popular pages on http://realestate.bellingham.net/ is the Fairhaven page.  In fact I pulled up some web stats from our Google Analytics Account and found that outside of the main portion of the site the number one place our visitors visited is the Fairhaven page.  This really shouldn't be a surprise.  As Chris McNamarra pointed out in a prior post earlier today all roads in and out of Bellingham tend to lead to Fairhaven.

We have been working on a model that would make sense to provide an ongoing conversation on communities in Bellingham.  We had done that in an original blog however it seems that the blog itself should be in the same place that individuals are researching homes.  To that end we decided to start the conversation here where visitors are already visiting and searching for homes, condos and other property.

Be sure to check out the Fairhaven Map Search:

Over the next few weeks and months and hopefully years stop by, read and participate in the conversation.

Questions: Feel free to email Glenn Founder / CEO of BuyerTours Realty LLC direct @ Glenn@BuyerTours.com or call Glenn at 360-220-1470.

Labels: Fairhaven Neighborhood, Fairhaven Real Estate, Fairhaven Stats

Fairhaven, one of Bellingham’s most popular communities, is located on Bellingham Bay. Known as the Historical District, Fairhaven was its own city before it was consolidated to the city of Bellingham back in 1903. In the late 1800’s, Fairhaven was a big boom city where residents were working on making Fairhaven the next hub city of the west, building railroad tracks, commercial buildings, and hotels. Seattle became the main transportation city, however; the residents were crushed and the city went into a depression for a short period of time. Why Fairhaven? There are several reasons why tourists and residents flock to Fairhaven. Downtown Fairhaven has reserved its turn of the century brick buildings and cobble-stoned streets, and the city has restored many of the buildings. There has been several new developments with commercial space on the ground level and condos above going into the downtown area as well, but due to the Bellingham Municipal Code the buildings are required to conform in exterior appearance to the community’s traditional 19th century style.

Sycamore Square Harris Avenue

Fairhaven is also home to the Bellingham Cruise Terminal and transportation center, where ferries leave for Alaska and seasonal foot ferries and charter vessels provide connections to Victoria, British Columbia, and the San Juan Islands. Fairhaven is the southernmost port for the Alaskan Marine Highway System. Conveniently located next to the ferry terminal are the Amtrak Station and the Greyhound Station, where travelers can take scenic train rides to Vancouver and the Greyhound buses run several times a day to both Vancouver and Seattle.

Labels: Fairhaven Neighborhood, Fairhaven Real Estate, Fairhaven Washington

Real estate in Fairhaven is pricier than other areas in Bellingham because of the prime location. There is a small residential area south of Donovan Avenue, where the side streets are undeveloped and homes modest. Downtown Fairhaven has been busy developing new condo projects, but in general it’s hard to find anything for under a quarter of a million.

Neighborhood Market Statistics

Average sold price

	2-Bedroom	3-Bedroom	4-Bedroom	5+Bedroom
	$350,528	$397,333	$482,800	$545,000

Labels: Fairhaven Homes, Fairhaven Market, Fairhaven Real Estate