Well, while this announcement might be a wee bit premature, and I hope I don’t end up with egg on my face, but it looks like Windermere Real Estate/JS -in little old downtown Marysville, will have won the 8th straight Snohomish County Realtor’s Food Drive. All food and $$$ went to the Marysville Food Bank. They sure can use it! And if you feel that you ever want to drop your canned goods or sealed goods off at my office at 801 State Avenue, Marysville, I will personally deliver those goods to the Food Bank. Yeay! In all of our turmoil, I’m very proud of being associated with such a hard working group of people here at Windermere. We ALWAYS give to our community. If you were at Hagen’s last week on 88th, you saw me twice providing generous grocery shoppers with information about the Food Drive and collecting their cash and food. I’ll have the totals posted soon.

Okay, our area has fared better than many nationwide…and now Yahoo Finance has an article stating they believe Seattle is # 2 in the nation as poised for a housing recovery. Check out this article! Time always tells the story…we will just have to wait and see!

http://customsites.yahoo.com/financiallyfit/finance/article-108002-2984-2-5-cities-positioned-for-a-housing-recovery

I believe if you treat people the way you want to be treated, it will be reciprocated. That, however, is not always true. When you look for a realtor to assist you to sell or buy real estate, you might consider the length of time it takes them to return your calls or e-mails, and their knowledge of the market conditions. If they do not return your calls now, how can you expect them to respond to you under contract conditions and time frames? One of my biggest pet peeves is working with real estate agents..or anyone for that matter..who is not responsive and will not return calls.

Okay, my rant for the day is over!

From time to time, my friends and clients will start a business and I want to trumpet their fabulous ideas! The Cartwrights, Adam and Sierra, have started a new used book store in Marysville, adjacent to and just south of Cristiano’s Restaurant in the Safeway Plaza on the corner of Grove and Old Highway 99. They have great looking space, a kids area, Open Mic night, local artists and great books! 425-232-2164!

The 2009 Snohomish County Realtor Food Drive has begun. Please bring your food items and/or cash into our office and help us win the Food Drive for the 5th Straight Year! Just bring in your stuff, if you need me to pick it up, let me know. We are in some seriously tough times in our Country right now. My best college friend told me she reckoned noone would starve and let’s make sure that she was telling the truth! Let’s Not Let Anyone Starve! Our address is 801 State Avenue, Marysville. Tell the people at the front desk that you’re bringing the food for the Food Drive!

Hello Buyers-if you think having to save for 3.5% for a Federally Insured FHA loan is tough, there is currently a bill in Congress that will require a 5% down payment for FHA. This means to me that you should run not walk to purchase a home as quickly as you can qualify and find one, aside from the $8000 tax credit, to save yourself not only a little money but get a fabulous 30 year fixed interest rate.

MSN Money says it is. Interest rates are still at historical lows or thereabouts, and you should read this article.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/RealEstate/its-time-to-invest-in-real-estate.aspx

This is a GREAT VIDEO (short) of the $8,000 Tax Credit and should be watched by anyone looking for a home and wondering if they qualify. Washington Realtors have produced this video and the video will guide you to their link for more information.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIVb2ordwNQ

Remember, I work from mid-Skagit County South to Seattle, East to Start up, MOnroe, Bellevue, Eastside and Darrington, and have even sold homes in Kitsap County. If you know of anyone thinking about buying a home right now, I can assist them to locate a fabulous lender as well as locate, secure, and navigate the deep channels of home buying…..call me at 425-356-9177.