Maritime Heritage Park hosts a Fish Hatchery, an Amphitheater, Native Plant trail and Public display of local art. A great place to enjoy lunch or just a quiet moment after a visit to the area antique shops or Museum.

6-10pm daily

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“Through the recent Green Communities project at the Bellingham Housing Authority, Dawson Construction salvaged more than 400 toilets that would otherwise end up in a landfill. Cowden Gravel and Ready Mix crushed them, and city of Bellingham engineers developed and tested Bellingham’s own poticrete concrete mix.”

The city is also doing road improvement projects which include sections of sidewalk made with 40 percent recycled concrete, porous pavers for parking, and small rain gardens.

“The bigger story is that we’re working on making this mandatory for public works projects — not just poticrete, but recycled crushed concrete,” said Freeman Anthony, public works project engineer. “We’ll give it a year to see how it behaves.”

The poticrete will be officially unveiled with an opening ceremony Sept. 29. There will be an inlaid toilet seat that explains the unique poticrete mixture.

Want to donate a toilet or some old concrete, the city is working on a way to make that happen, stay tuned

They cited the annual Ski to Sea race as an example of some of the activities available for locals as well as visitors. The race has cross-country and downhill skiing, snowboarding, running, road biking, canoeing, mountain biking and kayaking. There’s loads of great hiking trails in and around the city, as well as other activities like sailing, motor-boating, rock climbing, horseback riding, water-skiing, wakeboarding, Scuba diving, crabbing, golf, running, Iron-man events and a few more outdoor activities I’m sure I left out not to mention an active sports community with loads of soccer, rugby, and even LaCrosse.

Let’s not forget all the great parks in Bellingham and the Lakes, Whatcom, Padden, Samish, and Emerald, and Larabee State Park and the Mt. Baker not to far away.

If you’d like any information about the area or about Bellingham Real Estate give me a call at 360-739-6981

As a new agent and first time home buyer, I am learning so much about the real estate process. I had no idea there was so much involved in     purchasing a home or property. I had already gotten my real estate license when my husband and I began looking for our first home, and even  with the amount of knowledge needed to get my license, I had a lot to learn. I have decided to document our journey and blog along the way to offer some behind the scenes looks at what exactly is involved in buying your first home.

Step 2: Making an Offer

After months of searching for the right home, we finally found what we thought was the perfect property. On close to 7 acres, this property would allow us to remodel the existing home and eventually build another home a few acres away, giving us a great investment opportunity. After taking a week to think it over and making sure this was what we wanted to do, we decided to make an offer.

Making an offer involves lots of paperwork and very specific timelines. Did we want an inspection? How long would we give them to accept our offer? When could we close? Was the property on a septic tank or city sewer? Would we need inspections on the septic? Buying land out in the county is different from buying in the city limits. You need to look into the quality of the land and whether or not it’s in a flood zone, if there are any wetlands on the property, how it is zoned and if it’s on a well or city water. Working with an agent makes this process much easier. They will prepare the paperwork, do research on the land, and help you put together a great offer. My mentor went through all the details with me until I was familiar with the information and Purchase and Sale Agreements. After they were all signed and ready to go, I called the listing agent to let him know I had an offer to submit. This is where our problems began.  He informed me that the sellers had gotten an offer the week before. Our excitement about our first offer immediately went down the drain- after all those months of searching and preparing, we would have to compete with another buyer for the most appealing offer. After reviewing our options and with lots of advice from my mentor, we decided to increase our offer and hope that ours would be more appealing than the other prospective buyer. When making an offer, there are other things to take into consideration other than just the price. Our offering price was higher, but the other buyer offered a much quicker closing date, which appealed to the sellers because they wanted to sell ASAP.  We were planning on getting an FHA Rehab loan, and the process required for that kind of financing would not allow for a quicker closing. In the end, we decided to start searching again to see what else was available.

We started from scratch, re-evaluating our goals and expectations, and started searching for houses that needed less work and were closer to town.  After looking at some more houses, we finally found one that fit our criteria. It was ready to move in, had beautiful upgrades, and was close to the freeway, making my husband’s commute about 5 minutes shorter. However, instead of the 7 acres we had found and loved at the previous house, this had a tiny yard and was in the middle of a very populated neighborhood. We had to compromise and decided that the yard would be large enough for our 2 small dogs and we liked the house enough to put in an offer. I wrote up the offer the next day and sent it along to the listing agent. He informed me that another agent potentially had a cash offer to bring in, but there was nothing submitted yet. This made us nervous and brought back nightmares from the other offer that didn’t work out, but we got down to business, got our lender in order and closed on our new house in 3 weeks. It was a long and emotional process full of excitement, disappointment and a lot of compromise, but in the end, we got a house that we can start a family in and can make our own.

Watch for next week’s blog: Step 3:  Closing. If you have any questions about real estate, the buying or selling process, or would like to see how eXp is changing the real estate world, please contact me

Mikki Flaherty -Realtor

Direct: ( 360)402-8968

mikki.flaherty@exprealty.com

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Whatcom County ranks No. 2 in US for vitality of independent businesses, in a new report about the vitality of independent retailers in the US. The Bellingham metro area – which includes all of Whatcom County ranked second out of 363 metro areas studied. The top spot went to Ocean City, N.J.; followed by Bellingham, Medford, Ore.; Carson City, Nev.; and San Jose, Calif.

Whatcom County residents have a regularly supported local, independent businesses.

The survey takes metro areas and looked at the amount of sales from major chain stores to determine market saturation. The less chain store saturation, the higher the ranking in the Indie City Index.

Whatcom County’s high ranking was surely spurred by the growth of the Sustainable Connections organization and its “Buy “Local” campaigns.

The Indie City Index was released at the Advocates for Independent Retail National Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Jan. 20. To see the full report, visit IndieCityIndex.com.

Read more in the Bellingham Herald:

Sunset Magazine listed Bellingham among its 2011 “Best Towns” in an article headlined “Places to make you happy” in it’s February issue.

“So depending on what makes you smile, here are the ten best places to live (and find happiness) in the wondrous amusement park of the American West,” the article says in an introductory passage.

“American West” is defined to include Canada, since the first “town” on the list is Salt Spring Island, B.C. It made the list based on its excellent conditions for vegetable growing.

Every town makes the list for a different reason. Bellingham is characterized as “a seaside haven 90 miles north of Seattle” with 65 miles of multi-use trails within city limits, plus nearby access to mountains and sea.

Lakeway Mobile Estates boasts 218 units and an established community in which they have taken great pride in their homes and beyond. The asphalt roads are always well maintained, along with community clubhouse for gatherings. On site management to help you with all your needs. It is close to shopping and buslines, What a fantastic place to retire!

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Founded in 1883 by Dan Harris, aka ” Dirty Dan Harris” ( a nickname given to him due to his poor hygiene or lack of it), Fairhaven was originally  planned as the big import city of the upper West Coast, but lost this title to Seattle.  After a exodus of the towns people and laborers, the city revamped itself and became the charming town that it is today. Fairhaven still has many historic buildings and homes that were built in the late 1800′s.

It is also home to Bellingham’s Train Station, one of the best ways to travel to Vancouver or Seattle for a days visit.  I have rode the train to Seattle and what a fun day and trip it was.    You can also catch the Ferry to the San Juan Islands , Victoria or Alaska from the Bellingham Ferry Terminal.

Oh and don’t forget that ” It all ends in Fairhaven”.  Every Memorial Day Weekend, the annual Ski to Sea race is held and it does end in Fairhaven at the Fairhaven Festival.  A festival that overtakes the town with the race winners being awarded, food and craft vendors and much fun to be had.
As I mentioned earlier, there are numerous styles of homes from 2 Bedroom to 5 for the families out there or for those that love the older architecture or condos for those of you that are retiring and don’t want the responsibilities of a home. Prices in Fairhaven vary from Single Family Residence average selling price of $330,000 to  Condos average sale price at $580,200.

If you are looking to relocate to the Bellingham area you must visit Fairhaven.   Close to the university and in the Sehome School District, and Sehome High which was recently voted by Newsweek as one of the top High Schools in the nation, you can see that Fairhaven has so much to offer.

If you would like more information on Fairhaven or Bellingham Homes for Sale feel free to contact me at 360-303-3898 or email me at roberta.soares@exprealty.com.

I look forward to meeting with you to discuss your real estate goals.

Bellingham, Washington Entertainment

The Mount Baker Theater

In Bellingham, Washington there are many forms of entertainment, but one of the most well known places for entertainment is the Mount Baker Theater. The theater originally opened in 1927 as a part of the 20th Century Fox Chain and was renovated in 1995. The Mount Baker theater  was styled after the architecture of Moorish Spain which was unlike many of the other Theaters which were arising in the 20′s. It is also said the Mount Baker Theater is inhabited by the spirit of a woman named Judy. Haha! Not the Judy Schneider from  eXp Realty in Bellingham though!

This building is a preforming arts center and has many different types of entertainment through out the year. Many local schools have yearly field trips to the Mount Baker Theater to see different types of performances ranging from common plays to acrobatics. Also preforming here are singers and musical groups that many adults enjoy taking a trip to go see.

Herbie Hancock, a modern Jazz icon, is performing at the theater on the August 28th, 2010 at 8:00 pm. Tickets are on sale anywhere from $35-$75 on The Mount Baker Theater’s website: http://bit.ly/dj32Fk

Also playing at the Mount Baker Theater soon is Cash: The Living Tribute on September 10th, 2010 at 8:00 pm. Ticket are $24.  Buy your tickets online here: http://bit.ly/amKBtc

Also visit the Mount Baker Theater’s website for additional information about their upcoming events, ticket sales and group sales: http://bit.ly/bFAovJ

This beautiful remodeled two bedroom one bathroom home listed for just $22,000 is in a quiet senior park near Fairhaven and Bellingham, Washington in South End Mobile Estates. This neighborhood has an age restriction of 55 years and older making this a great retirement home. It has a  new roof and has been recently repainted. Inside are European Wide plank laminate floors, Mohawk premium carpet and ideal storage space, but also included is a 10 x 12 shed which provides extra storage space. The appliances are newer and all are included in the sale of this home. South End Mobile Estates also has a home owners clubhouse with TV’s, a pool table, and an exercise room.

This home is in a very convenient location close to walking trails, shopping areas, Lake Padden, Fairhaven and Bellingham, Washington.

If you would like to know more about this conveniently located retirement property go to: http://bit.ly/a50wav

Typically there’s a double edged sword that comes with food; if it tastes good, normally it isn’t that healthy. Fortunately, with Diego’s you get the best of both worlds. With home made guacamole, salsa, pinto, sauces, beans and meats, Diego’s is one of the few places where the food is cheap, healthy and absolutely delicious. My personal favorites are the delectable fish tacos and massive potato burrito. To wash it down, they’ve got an assortment of beverages including the finest Mexican beer, Sangria and Margaritas. If you’d like to bring a laptop, you can also take advantage of Diego’s free WIFI. Of course, even if you’re on the run, Diego’s provides food to go which their menu can be found on http://www.diegosmexicangrill.com/. All around, Diego’s offers a little something for everyone. And if you come around lunch time, you might run into me as I’m always eating there.