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Bellingham, WA Real Estate News

By Michael Eisenberg, Bellingham Real Estate Guy
(eXp Realty)
Bellingham's 15th annual Chalk Art Festival is happening this Saturday, Aug 11. Artists young and old will take to the streets to brighten up ou cities sidewalks with some color and beautiful art. Families and kids are encouraged to participate, and the results will linger a while for all to see. 200 spaces were available this year, half of those reserved for kids.  Allied arts will also be hosting Le Bella Strada Art Festival in conjunction with Chalk art. They will be on Cornwall Ave, with music and vendors galore. 
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By Michael Eisenberg, Bellingham Real Estate Guy
(eXp Realty)
Negotiations will have to take place between city and county, as Whatcom County leaders rejected Bellingham's plan on where and how big the city can grow.     Bellingham wants 2,128 acres to be put in urban growth areas, an area where denser growth should occur. The city says there isn't enough room inside city limits and the current urban growth area to accommodate expected growth. The County Council did voted to include only 250 acres near King and Queen mountains in Bellingham's urban growth area, allowing those to develop at higher densities. More than 40 people spoke at a public hearing on the County Council's plan, about evenly split between supporters and opponents.  
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By Michael Eisenberg, Bellingham Real Estate Guy
(eXp Realty)
According to a recent Bellingham Herald article, local area residents' income is rising but but not at the rate of the national average, according to a national report released Tuesday. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis stated that a resident Whatcom County had a per capita personal income of $30,881 in 2006, a 4.5 percent increase from the previous year. The national average was a 5.3 percent increase. Bellingham ranked 199 out of the 363 Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The highest income area was Bridgeport, Conn., which had a per capita income of $71,901, the lowest was McAllen, Texas, annual income of $17,111. Bellingham's income increase was behind the national average but the Seattle area - with a 6.3 percent rise - was well above. This is considered an indication that the over...
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By Michael Eisenberg, Bellingham Real Estate Guy
(eXp Realty)
Music lovers will be converging on the Deming Log Show grounds this coming weekend August 10 -12 for the Subdued Stringband Jamboree. This is a homegrown event in its 6th year here in Whatcom County. Started by  local musician, Robert Blake and his friends as a place to come together and play music and party, the event has grown every year to where it is now attracting not only the local Whatcom ans Skagit County musicians, but some regional and national acts as well.Here's the line- up:FRIDAY: The Flat Stage5pm 6:30pm7pm8pm9pm10pmSquare Dance with Lucas Hicks as Caller Dream and Vern Acrobatics Songwriters in the Round: Kasey Anderson, Kit 'Stymee' Stovepipe(of The Inkwill Rhythm Makers), I Love You AvalancheRobert Sarazin BlakeRachel RiesThe Yogoman Burning Band(all times approx.)FRID...
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By Michael Eisenberg, Bellingham Real Estate Guy
(eXp Realty)
Those of us who live in Bellingham realize that it has been "discovered."  Well it seems we've just been found by Mother Earth News Magazine. "Beautiful scenery, access to an abundance of local food and a strong commitment to water and energy efficiency makes Bellingham really stand out." The author of the article talks about how locals of our town sink snowboarding was invented and perfected on Mount Baker. They're taken with Bellingham's commitment to quality of life issues and he green and sustainable lifestyle.It's true or so much to do is the here in Bellingham and Whatcom County from snowboarding to sailing and kayaking, watching whales to watching concerts and seeing great art. The outdoor possibilities are almost endless here. If you're interested in any more information about B...
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By Michael Eisenberg, Bellingham Real Estate Guy
(eXp Realty)
The Lummi Island Reefnet Festival is a unique event happening this coming Saturday August 11, 2007 from 1:00-8:30 PM. It is an educational tribute to a culinary tradition. It will take place in Legoe Bay Marina, Lummi Island.Reefnet fishing was originally practiced by the Native Americans of the Puget Sound in canoes using cedar bark rope and march grass to simulate underwater reefs. Come on down to the island and watch reefnet fishing in action and feast on wild salmon, and learn about the tradition and history of reefnet fishing,There will be live music, arts and crafts, skiff rides, and the food and beer garden as well as boat rides from 2-7 PM to see the reefnet fishing.
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By Ben Kinney, We do real estate:Tech, Training, Sales, Brokerage
(Ben Kinney Team)
Bellingham weather is rarely extreme.  Each season has its own perks, and residents are rarely inconvenienced by Bellingham weather. Summer On the whole, Bellingham weather in the summer is perfect.  Even cloudy mornings almost always burn off by 11 AM, leaving the rest of the day for kayaking in Bellingham Bay, jumping off the cliffs of Whatcom Falls into the swimming hole below, or simply lounging around at one of the city's many parks. Bellingham weather from June through August typically peaks in the mid-70s.  Of course, summer has its streaks of hot days (though other regions might smirk at the Northwest's definition of "hot"), with highs in the 90s.   However, gentle, fragrant breezes from the bay make even the sweatiest days bearable.  The period of hot days is usually balanced b...
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By David Helm, Bellingham, Wa. Licensed Home Insp
(Helm Home Inspections)
This weekend, Bellingham,Washington hosted a sand sculpture contest.  It covered the three days of Friday through Sunday.  I happened upon it quite by accident, but since I did have my camera with me, I thought I would check it out.  All the entries had an architect as a sponsor, and they all were interestingly creative.This one is in progress, and it is being done by a professional sand sculpture team.Chess gamePirate shipwreckMice and cheeseAnd finally, the organizers didn't forget the kids.  There were two very large sand boxes for the kids to play in.  Any local cats would have been in exstatic.As always, thanks for looking.David Helmwww.helmhomeinspections.com
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By Michael Eisenberg, Bellingham Real Estate Guy
(eXp Realty)
I took my family to see the Sand in the City event last night. It was awesome as usual. It is just amazing how creative people can be with the little or I guess in this case they had a lot wo work with. I hope to make it back there some time tomorrow to see what the professionals are doing.
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By David Helm, Bellingham, Wa. Licensed Home Insp
(Helm Home Inspections)
As the summer progresses, this Bellingham, Washington vegetable garden gets more out of control.  The pumkins and squashes leap out of their beds and fill the pathways.  The fourth succession planting of brocolli is ready to harvest.  The corn is producing tassles.  Eggplants have started producing fruit.  Tomato plants and pepper plants are loaded.  I ate my first pole beans today.  The first planting of bush beans is not far behind.  It gets harder to find the time to weed, but I try to do a little each day.  It is truly wonderful to go out to the garden and pick the days dinner.  There is nothing fresher, and for the eco people, it's a carbon negative way to eat.Brocolli, two kinds of Kale and some flat leaf Parsley sandwiched between them.The corn is doing better than I expected.  W...
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By David Helm, Bellingham, Wa. Licensed Home Insp
(Helm Home Inspections)
Last week I harvested my garlic (Ajo in Spanish).  I grow both hardneck (rocambole) and soft neck garlics.  I grow several varieties of hardneck because I like their flavor  and ease of peeling.  I grow the soft neck because they keep longer.  Hardnecks will lusually last till December and soft necks will go into March or April.  In both cases, they have to be properly dried.  Here in Bellingham, Washington the garlic is usually planted in November.  It puts down roots and grows to about six inches high before any frost.  It then goes dormant till it warms up a little, usually in January.  Here is what some of my crop looks like.Hardnecks are on the left and softnecks on the right.Thanks for looking.David Helmwww.helmhomeinspections.com
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By David Helm, Bellingham, Wa. Licensed Home Insp
(Helm Home Inspections)
The road I live on is very rural and thus has very little traffic.  The local (Bellingham, Washington) cycling club uses it for practices and on Tuesday evenings, races.  There are usually 60 to 70 bicycles involved in these races.  The do a number of laps on a large loop that is several miles long.  It's pretty fun to watch them go by every ten or so minutes.  With that large of a group the sound of their passing is amazing, and they create their own wind.  This past Tuesday I tried to get a few pictures of them.  They happened to be sprinting when I got out my camera and were going nearly 40 mph.  The pictures I got (below) didn't get much.  The digital delay was such that they were past before the shutter opened.This is the leader of the group coming towards me.They are just getting ...
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By Michael Eisenberg, Bellingham Real Estate Guy
(eXp Realty)
Bloedel Donovan Park will be the site this Saturday for the 18th annual Bellingham Kids' Festival. The free event attracted nearly 4,500 people last year.The festival, geared towards at children 12 years and younger, promises free food, games, prizes, clowns, chalk drawing,face painting, balloons, bubble pools, obstacle courses, inflatable jumping houses, bowling, and tons of other sports activities including martial arts and rock climband entertainment. The Banana Slug String Band, "dedicated to fostering positive attitudes about the environment through music," will be performing as well as The Bellingham Youth Jazz Band and children's singer Tim Noah.. The first 300 children to enter the festival,beginnin at 11 a.m., will receive free Kids' Fest T-shirts. The event is sponsored by the...
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By Michael Eisenberg, Bellingham Real Estate Guy
(eXp Realty)
This weekend is another event not to be missed, The Sand in the City Festival. It's not at the beach but in a parking lot near Squalicum Harbor. Truckloads of sand are brought in for the competition. Last year there were at leat 10 teams competing, this year they are saying over 150 competitors, Each team has 5 cubic feet of sand and 6 hours to create their sand sculpture, and try to win the "Golden Shovel" award. .  I was just blownn away by the awesome sand sculptures at last years competition.There is a giant sandbox for the kids, music, food and vendors of course.Sculptor Bert Adams and five associates will create a masterpiece over the weekend as well . The hport sponsored event will also have guided bus tours of the Port's waterfront redevelopment site (former Georgia Pacific prop...
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By Michael Eisenberg, Bellingham Real Estate Guy
(eXp Realty)
The Mount Baker Rythm & Blues Festival is this weekend at the Deming Log Show Grounds. The show is always filled with great entertainers and lots of fun for thos who love the Blues. Lots of good food and vendors will be on hand as well.Here is the line up for the weekend.Fri, Aug 3rd7pm - Grey House Blues Band8pm - The Fat Tones10pm - Anthony GomesSat, Aug 4th11am - Back Beat Revival12pm - Brian Feist Band2pm - Cathouse Blues Band4pm - Bump Kitchen6pm - DK Stewart8pm - Coco Montoya10pm - Jeff Healey Band Sun, Aug 5th11am - The Fat Tones12:30pm - "Big"2:30pm - Tinsley Ellis4:30pm - Kal David & The Real Deal6:30pm - Savoy Brown featuring Kim Simmonds
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By Michael Eisenberg, Bellingham Real Estate Guy
(eXp Realty)
Looks like things have slowed down a bit in July compared to last month but are still up over last year at this time by 5.7% for the average sales price. The median price went down quite a bit more from June and fell a bit from last year at the rate of -.6%.So Bellinghm prices still seem to hold their own.  We live in a beautiful place and the Real Estate values are showing it to be a desirable place to live as well as the press.If you would like any more information about Real Estate or Real Estate statistics visit my website at BellinghamProperty.com
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By Michael Eisenberg, Bellingham Real Estate Guy
(eXp Realty)
Real Estate Market Report/Conditions for Bellingham, WA for 08/01/2007The following is a quick analysis of the Residential Bellingham real estate market by Michael Eisenberg of Fairhaven Realty.Currently Active Listings: 712  Average List Price $484,626   Days on the Market:  95 Sold in July: 121   Average Sales Price: $396,383 Average List Price:$404,271Ratio of List to Price: 98%Average Days on the Market: 93Pending Sales Last Week: 41  Condo Analysis for BellinghamCurrently Active Listings: 392  Average List Price $248,871   Days on the Market:  187 Sold in July: 47   Average Sales Price: $208,240Average List Price:$218,009Ratio of List to Price: 95.5%Average Days on the Market: 191Pending Sales Last Week: 22Sales were a bit off from June as you will see when I post my graphs tomorro...
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By Michael Eisenberg, Bellingham Real Estate Guy
(eXp Realty)
The Heritage Flight Museum at Bellingham International Airport will be hosting the "Sentimental Journey", A World War ll era B-17 aircraft at the Bellingham Airport Sunday and Monday July 29 & 30. The Sentimental Journey the "most accurately restored B-17 that exists," said its pilot Bob Blue, a retired United Airlines. The B-17's were known as the Flying FortressThe airplane was built in 1944, and entered United States Army Air Corps service as a photo reconnaissance plane in the Philippines.  It then worked at sea rescues, next as a mother ship piloting drone planes through atomic bomb blast areas, Blue said. It flew over forest fires until the Commemorative Air Force purchased it in 1978 and it has been touring since.
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By David Helm, Bellingham, Wa. Licensed Home Insp
(Helm Home Inspections)
This is a quick look at an intergovernmental/private money project to restore the riparian area  along sections of the Nooksack River  just outside Bellingham, Washington.  This area, which is prime wetland habitat, had been poorly used for many years.  It is home to many species of duck, overwintering area for Trumpeter Swans and Snow Geese, and had badly trashed small streams.  The streams have been repaired, with current interrupting log jams, and many riparian trees have been planted.  A good sign is that the beavers have returned.You can see the number of agencies involved in this project.This is an overall view of the project. Thanks for looking.David Helmwww.helmhomeinspections.com 
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By David Helm, Bellingham, Wa. Licensed Home Insp
(Helm Home Inspections)
Bellingham, Washington has a long and active history of commercial fishing.  In its heyday there were a number of very large Salmon Canneries around Bellingham Bay.  Today, with the decline of Salmon runs and the major control of fishing grounds to keep the worlds oceans from becoming a desert, local fishers have to have licenses and nets for many different species, and have to travel far afield to keep their way of life.  The following photos are acknowledging their commitment and honoring their profession.This is the original fishermen's memorial at Zuanich Pt. Park.  The plaque on the left names those who lost their life following this profession.The previous three pictures show the proliferation of nets required, and the constant work to keep them in good repair.  Commercial fishers...
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