Alternatives to Assisted Living in Spokane Real Estate

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/mar/26/hybrid-homes-cater-to-seniors/

‘Hybrid’ homes cater to seniors

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Wendell and Nada Anglesey knew they wouldn’t be able to live in their split-entry home much longer, but they sure weren’t encouraged by the housing alternatives on the market.

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Then they saw the duplexes built by Jim Rippy on Spokane’s South Hill.

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These are units designed, according to Rippy, as “a kind of upscale hybrid between assisted living and your own home, roomy and airy, but set up for the convenience of an older and less agile population.”

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The 1,500-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath units are all on one level with no steps down to garages or patios.

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Faucets and door handles are levers,

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Electric outlets on the walls are placed higher than normal

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Kitchen shelves pull out

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nterior doors are 36 inches

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hallways are wider

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two-car garage is insulated

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“This is the most convenient place I’ve ever lived,” Nada Anglesey said. Added her husband: “We’re going to be here forever. At our age, I don’t know how long forever is, but that’s the plan.”

3.875 % Mortgages

Anyone in the market for a new home should check out this deal. Or maybe even if you aren't - it's that good!

clipped from www.lilaccityrealestate.com Crazy-low Mortgage Deals on Unoccupied New Contruction The time to buy is NOW.  Buyers clearly benefit with banks like Sterling Savings and Banner Bank offering rates as low as 3.875 percent for a 30-year fixed loan. This isn’t a trick. These are REAL mortgages being offered to qualified borrowers as a program to put to use part of the government bailout they’ve received under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).  The homes must be built by the banks’ building partners and most (but not all) qualified buyers will have to put up either a 10 or 20 percent down payment.  Sterling also gives the option of a 3 percent contribution (up to $20,000), instead of the 30-year fixed loan, that can be used to fund financing costs associated with the home purchase.

Spokane Real Estate Market Improves

March sales figures show an improvement in the local market.

clipped from www.spokesman.com Prices on Spokane homes inch upward Average and median prices for homes sold in Spokane County last month crept above prior-year levels for the first time since last June, Spokane Association of Realtors Executive Officer Rob Higgins said Friday. The number of homes sold continues to trail last year’s pace, he said, but if the volume keeps growing month over month as it has so far this year, April could be the first month in some time that number is higher, as well. In March, 326 homes sold at an average price of $200,229. The median price was $176,200. The average price in March 2008, when 382 homes sold, was $196,456, and the median was $175,875. If February, 194 homes sold. Only 117 sold in January, when weather made travel difficult. The inventory of homes for sale fell to 2,687 as of April 4, down from 3,044 a year ago. Higgins said an association poll of its members found that 60 percent said they are busy, 20 percent very busy, with only 10 percent saying activity was slower.

More Spokane Homes to get Weatherization

The energy efficiency of Spokane real estate is about to go up with the addition of federal funds to a program to increase energy efficiency.

clipped from www.spokesman.com Weatherization gets a federal boost Bert Caldwell The Spokesman-Review Federal stimulus money will double the pace of home weatherization in Spokane, creating jobs and reducing dependence on imported oil in the process, officials said Tuesday. Spokane Neighborhood Action Programs, which administers the federal Weatherization Action Program in the community, will get $1.73 million annually over the next three years, on top of the $465,000 received currently, said Chris Davis, the organization’s director of housing improvement. She said weatherization saves an average homeowner $358 a year on utility bills. To qualify for the program, a family of four can earn no more than about $44,000, she said. Cantwell said the new money from the U.S. Department of Energy will boost the number of Spokane homes weatherized each year with federal dollars to more than 900, from about 320 now. Still more homes are weatherized using funds from other sources, said SNAP Executive Director Larry Stuckart.

Today at the Home & Garden Show

We arrived right when it opened. I don't think the A/C was going at first because it was pretty warm in the convention center. We saw landscaping companies, roofers, cabinet companies, etc. The grandkids were pretty mellow and my daughter and I were able to check out the whole scene. It was especially nice to be able to drop in on some of our friends' exhibits who own companies in the industry.

We bumped into some friends who own Cretewerks. They do some pretty cool stuff with concrete!

CreteWerx

My grandson LOVES tractors!

There was even a Girl Scout cookie bus???

My Granddaughter hanging out in the stroller.

My son-in-law works at Living Water and I'm also friends with the owner and other employees. It's a great lawn care and tree service company. Check them out at www.livingwaterspray.com.

Here's the exhibit for our good friends at Budget Blinds. You can check them out at http://www.budgetblinds.com/NorthSpokane/

This display was all artificial! Looked real to me!

And here's a shot of the whole thing.

In the news: Federal Bailout Money Being Put To Use

This is a great opportunity to get into a new home with a low monthly payment at these rates!

clipped from www.spokesman.com Heating up the home market Sterling Savings Bank and Banner Bank are offering mortgages at interest rates below 4 percent in a pair of programs designed to help their contractor customers move unoccupied homes – and show that the banks are putting federal bailout money to work in Northwest communities. He said customers have the option of taking a 30-year mortgage at 3.875 percent, or a 3 percent lender contribution – up to $20,000. Buyers can use the lender contributions for closing and other related costs. They must buy a home built by a Sterling-financed contractor, and the deal must close by May 31, Costa said, although an extension is possible in markets where not enough homes sell. As of Dec. 31, Sterling had $1.5 billion in contractor loans on its books, he said. The rate is also so good that the homes available will be less expensive than building the equivalent new, Costa said.

Saturday Fun

Hi everyone, for a little break from Real Estate marketing I am taking my daughter to the Spokane Home and Garden Show at the Spokane Convention Center. More details to come....

clipped from 64.221.250.167 Spokane Home & Garden Show  Description:  Spokane Home and Garden Show 2009 Group Health Exhibit Halls Friday, April 3rd - 12:00pm - 9:00pm Saturday, April 4th - 10:00am - 8:00pm Sunday, April 5th - 10:00am - 5:00pm

First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit in the News

Be careful when filing your taxes, make sure you know which version of the first time home buyer tax credit you used.

clipped from www.spokesman.com PERSONAL FINANCE First-time home buyers could save good money on their 2008 income taxes, maybe enough to buy furniture, but they must wade through confusing tax breaks. For ’08 first-time buyers, only one type of credit could apply. Yet if you buy a home this year before Dec. 1, you could use another break on the 2008 or 2009 return. If you bought in 2008, know that the first-time buyer credit must be repaid. “It’s very much like a tax-free loan,” said Mark Luscombe, principal analyst for CCH in Riverwoods, Ill. The credit could apply if you bought the house after April 8, 2008, and before Dec. 31, 2008. Vacation homes don’t qualify. A first-time home buyer is someone who has not owned a home within the last three years. The credit amounts to 10 percent of the purchase price, up to a credit of $7,500 for either a single taxpayer or a married couple filing a joint return. The maximum credit is $3,750 for married persons filing separate returns.

Local Area High End Real Estate Slumping

Although this Black Rock North is in Idaho, the decline of this project mirrors the decline in the high-end Spokane real estate market as well.

clipped from www.spokesman.com Black Rock North faces foreclosure Bank files action for $14.6 million against luxury home project on Lake Coeur d’Alene April 3, 2009 in City John Stucke Staff writer Bankers have filed a $14.6 million foreclosure action against one of developer Marshall Chesrown’s ambitious and upscale projects overlooking Lake Coeur d’Alene. Though construction crews built the second golf course, the demand for luxury homes to pay for the project has collapsed. No homes or lots have been sold and the Black Rock North Development group has defaulted. The plans included 206 homes and 325 condo units overlooking the lake. The foreclosure action is the latest sign of trouble with North Idaho’s high-end real estate market. Chesrown also controls the company developing Kendall Yards, a housing and retail project near downtown Spokane. That plan calls for transforming 78 acres along the north bank of the Spokane River into a residential and commercial neighborhood.