Fairhaven condos

Last-Minute Gift Ideas for Your Special Someone

Looking for a last minute gift for your special someone?  Still struggling to figure out what to get for the person who has everything ? I’m here to help!  Believe me, I know how hard it is to find the perfect gift. Fortunately, I am a master of creativity. In my capacity as Realtor Extraordinaire, I am commonly asked for assistance with some of life’s biggest decisions. Here are some thoughts for great gift ideas:

• How about a nice remodeled craftsman bungalow?
• Or maybe a water-view condo with easy beach access?
• Perhaps that Lake Whatcom waterfront estate with a dock for your boat?
• Maybe a Fairhaven fixer project?
• Maybe a nice little cottage on the water in Birch Bay?

Just imagine the surprised and happy looks you’ll get when they tear the wrapping off of that huge box under the tree on Christmas morning! Just be careful when you try to explain the inherent paradox of Santa coming down the chimney of your house while carrying another house in his sack…it might get a little messy with the kids. Go ahead and dumb it down for them, if you like…

There is still time left to shop! Operators and lightning-fast escrow officers are standing by:

*first 5 callers will receive a free 100 yard spool of giant ribbon! (green, red, or sparkly silver)

Happy Holidays from Rob LeRoy and eXp Realty!  You can reach me any time at 206.883.6668 or by e-mail at rob.leroy@exprealty.com

Fairhaven condos

Bellingham’s Newest Waterfront Condos: Edgewater Place

A couple of days ago I had a chance to stop by the Edgewater Place Condominium project, currently under construction near Fairhaven.  Wow.  These places are NICE!!!  I’ve spent quite a bit of time touring condo projects, old and new, throughout the Northwest, from Portland to Seattle to Vancouver, BC, and I am not kidding when I say these compete with the best of them.  That’s no accident.  From what I’ve heard, the developers deliberately set out to emulate the best features of the most popular condo projects in each of those areas. Edgewater Place is a near-perfect hybrid of the best of the Northwest.  Combine that with it’s superb location, perched on a bluff overlooking Boulevard Park  and the beautiful Bellingham Bay.  Perfect as a vacation home or a relaxing, luxurious place to retire, Edgewater has a lengthy list of perks that make it stand out in front of the competition.  Prices range from $950-1.25M.  Spendy, yes. But well worth it.  A few reasons why:

• The view is unparalleled, unobstructed and unbelievable.  Each unit has a 40-foot view of the park, the bay, and the San Juan Islands in the distance.
• Entertainment-sized decks with optional gas fireplace and BBQ
• Top-end appliances from Wolf, Sub-Zero, and Miele
• State of the art acoustical designs that keep the units almost completely soundproof
• Innovative, open floor-plans that maximize the view and make great entertaining spaces
• Two shared guest suites- so your friends and family can visit (and stay out of your face at the end of the day!)
• Shared gym and meeting area
• Secured underground parking with elevator access
• Great investment potential. There are only 16 units, so they will always be in high demand. It is unlikely that another project will ever come close to competing with the class and style of this building.  Owning one of these will make you feel seriously special.
• Click here for a full list of specs (provided by the developer)
• Click here for architectural drawings of the 4 unit types

For more of my pictures, please click here!

The Edgewater Place Condominiums are located at 472 S. State St. in Bellingham. Click here for a map

For more details on Bellingham condos, or to schedule a tour, call me any time at 206.883.6668, or e-mail me at rob.leroy@exprealty.com

Be sure to check out my other articles here!

Thanks for reading!  Please leave your comments below. I appreciate your feedback! If you have any questions about Bellingham, Seattle, or real estate in general, please feel free to email Rob LeRoy directly at rob.leroy@exprealty.com or call me at 206.883.6668

This post simultaneously published by Rob LeRoy at theRealEstateNovelist.com

Fairhaven condos

Fairhaven Condos: Thumbnail Sketches of What’s on the Market

Coming around the corner on I-5 at about 75 miles per hour to see the State Troopers happily waiting to greet you into Bellingham is hardly the first impression Fairhaven wants to make, but the underlying message is clear…..slow down. There’s something to see here.

And there’s plenty, which you can read about in the other Fairhaven articles on this site, but once you’re in, you’re in.

The challenge?  The hurdle?  There are a lot of places to live in Fairhaven, and a lot of condos to choose, some in buildings built in 1964  (Skyline House off of Boulevard), some in the last year or so (Waldron building, 2008).

Since Real Estate has beaten the “location” horse like it stole something from the beginning of time, I want to flesh out what it means in Fairhaven terms.

Walkability:  If you’re interested in a short walk to the stores right out your door, the Harris Square Buildings (2005) , Fairhaven Gardens Buildings, aka Finnnegan Way (2005), and the Fairhaven Square Building as well.   All have the brick-faced look that keeps Harris Ave and it’s neighboring streets with the quaint look that ushered Fairhaven through the last 100+ years, but with updated interiors. Caution: The Home Owner Dues on these condo units are something to keep an eye on with your purchasing budget as some of the units can push your monthly payment up to $500 more that you were expecting to pay.

Ocean View: The older buildings are going to have some of the better views, strictly from Super-positioning. The

idea that they were here first, had their pick of spots and perch looking at 180 degrees of San Juan sunsets are what’s going to account for most of the listing price. Buildings like Spinnaker Reach, the Skyline House, and  Riptide all have unsurpassable views, but older accoutrements.  If you’re looking for a higher level of comfort, you may have your work cut out for you (baseboard heat, formica countertops, 3 inch shag carpet, metal framed windows, and sliding doors). BENEFIT: they weren’t built in the last 4 years, and the listing price may have a little more margin to work with.  Whatever you offer, remember: The seller still has to agree with you.

Hidden Gems:  Buildings like the Creekside at Fairhaven, or Fairhaven Heights get overlooked yet still offer the proximity to Fairhaven, views mere moments from the front door, newer construction (2005, 2006), but aren’t front and center, and priced accordingly.

The condos inside these units are going to be as different as the owners, some ecletic, some simple, but they’re all looking to sell.  And with 190 days as the average of being on the market, their motivation might be increasing as the promise of spending the holidays somewhere else might be wavering.

Which is the oldest condo on the market?  E-mail me to find out. You might be surprised……

Fairhaven condos

Real Estate Investment and your College Kid

If you are the parent of a college kid,  you might want to take a minute to think about real estate investing.  You’re already spending a ton of money sending the kid to school, “investing” in his or her future, so why not hedge your bets on an investment that might actually pay you back someday?  Think about it- you’ve got at least four years of living expenses to pay for on top of the tuition. You can either throw it away paying for a tiny, overpriced dorm or some dumpy, overpriced rental, OR you can take that money and put it toward something that has a future. Like real estate.  Let me explain…

I went to Western Washington University, here in Bellingham, so I will use it as an example, though the numbers would likely look quite similar in just about any college town. Rates per person at Western’s dorms run roughly $500 (3 kids in a room) to $800+ (single occupancy) per month, NOT including food expenses.  Rental rates anywhere near campus run about $400-600 a month per room, depending on the number of rooms.  Studios and 1-bedrooms are commonly $700-900/month, whereas you might find a decent  3-bedroom for $1400.   Let’s be conservative and say it’s about $600/month on average, per room. Over 4 years (48 months) that’s almost $30,000(!) that you will NEVER get back.  As Everett Dirksen famously said,“ A billion here, a billion there…pretty soon you’re talking about real money!”

Consider this:  Right now, you can buy a 1-bedroom, 600 square foot condo, built in 2006, less than a half-mile from Western Washington University, for $140k.  With 20% down at 6% interest, the monthly payment, which includes taxes, insurance, and HOA dues (W/S/G) comes to about $925, leaving only electricity and cable for expenses.  Sounds like kind of a lot, doesn’t it? Let’s take a closer look.

• Similar units in this building are currently renting for between $725 and $800.

• You can write off some (maybe  all) of your interest payments , giving you roughly 25% back at tax time, depending on your bracket, making the effective monthly expense closer to $700. Make sure to talk to your accountant about this and other creative write-offs you might find…

• As an owner, your monthly expenses remain fixed over time.  According to Cory Walken, a colleague who studies rent growth in the area, rents near Western have increased at an average of about 6% per year, over the past 5 years.  Assuming that trend were to continue, the monthly rent on that same unit would go up  to almost $900-$1000 by the 4th year of your student’s education. Over 4 years, that would cost you between $38000-$42000 in rent! Gone, flushed….never to be seen again…

• Don’t forget about appreciation! Even in these tough times, most analysts are expecting the market to have corrected itself in the next couple of years, meaning there is a good chance the value of your investment will begin to increase during the 4-5 years that your student will live there.  That’s right, you might even MAKE money on this thing! Worst case, you can always hang onto it to make sure the kid doesn’t try to move back in with you after college…

This is just one example, of course.  There  are several other condo opportunities I can point you toward.  There are also houses and duplexes, etc… The numbers can look even better if you buy something with more rooms. Then, you can collect $500-$700/month of OTHER PEOPLE’S money! That ’s the best kind of money, after all…

If you’d like to look more seriously at this type of investment, keep in mind that there are all kinds of different programs available, requiring anywhere from 3.5% to 20% down.  You can buy as an investment property, as a second home for yourself, or possibly as a first-home for the kid, which means eligibility for the $8000 first-time buyer tax credit. Each of these options has it’s own credit and income requirements, as well as unique tax implications.  Again, I would suggest consulting your accountant, as well as a mortgage professional, to make sure you understand clearly these particular details. You can talk to me if you want to know where to find these properties.

I can be reached on my cell at 206.883.6668, or by email at rob.leroy@exprealty.com

For more information on loan programs, you can talk to Jack DeCook, Senior Mortgage Consultant at Wells Fargo in Bellingham, 360.319.7119 jack.decook@wellsfargo.com.

This post simultaneously published by Rob LeRoy at theRealEstateNovelist.com

Fairhaven condos

A different feel: Waterfront Condos in South Hill/Fairhaven Area

When I see the condominiums in Bellingham, I’m doing so after having seen flats, condos, Brownstones, from Florida, to Boston, to Chicago, as well as Seattle.  I’ve been lucky enough to travel early on, and see a lot of different architecture, interior design, and changing trends and products used to various benefit and demise.  And since moving here, and working on expertise as a relocation and luxury second-homes  (working on, I’ll never be finished), I’m with clients from out-of-the area, from the same areas, and exploring how to help people acclimate to our climate, both the weather and the weather of our Real Estate market.  It’s a harder conversation than you might think. And it’s why I preview as many properties as possible, trying to find the diamonds in the rough.

Because if I have clients from Florida, and they want to see a water-view condominium in Fairhaven, over a certain price range, they’re going to expect a WOW factor, like the one’s you would get from walking through the Park Place condominiums, overlooking Boulevard Park.   Keep your 9 foot ceilings, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances.  Try contemporary glass frontage that takes advantage of the view.  Use cement for the interior walls, and include radiant heat and a twelve foot long gas fireplace so questions about warmth dissipate with the view.

If my clients are from New England, maybe they’ll want something with more traditional accents, like the Pierside Condos on the water side of Eldridge.  These are real cathedral ceilings, with a view out the windows worthy of worship, and accents in the master suite that make the owner really feel like, well, the master of the house.

Can you see the detail in the ceiling here?  Compare this bedroom with your usual flat white ceiling, non-descript lighting fixture, married to the “real estate brown” walls we’ve all seen 1,000 times.   I’ll wager 100% of my clients are more impressed, and will be more excited to see this condo.

And there are those from across the country that want a taste of the Pacific Northwest, the Upper Left Hand Corner, and theCraftsman detail on the inside and outside of the condos on Taylor are a perfect example. Water view, close to Fairhaven, BUT, the inside is a warm lodge atmosphere with exposed beams, wood floors, and accent lighting that shows premeditation that resulted in a killer interior.

The luxury that these condos lend is expensive.  What’s outrageous for some is the cost of comfort for others.  But certain builders are recognizing the value of craftsmanship that should accompany the pricetag.    And to them, I’m saying thank you.

Quote for the day:

“I can’t sell my VW for more, just by parking it in downtown Fairhaven. More people might look at it, but in the end, it’s going to come down to the quality of the interior.”

-Anonymous client