The Seattle Times: Real Estate

Mortgage lenders now advertising as crisis solvers

PacWest Funding's CEO watched in late 2007 as rival mortgage brokerages, banks and collaborators collapsed under The weight of The declining housing market.

Buy a home that's been vacant?

It may seem like a great deal, but be aware of possible expensive repairs lurking inside.

By Patrick Doty, Editor Bellevue home Team Blog

A for-sale house that's been vacant may look like a bargain, but buyers ought to be cautious, because expensive problems often lurk inside homes that have been unoccupied for some time.
A home can become vacant due to a wedding, job relocation, death or other life event. But vacancies today are more often due to a bank foreclosure or short sale in which the lender accepts less than the mortgage balance. It's these bank-owned properties — sometimes called "real estate-owned," or REOs — that tend to be "problem homes," says David Tamny, owner of Professional Property Inspection in Columbus, Ohio, & 2010 president of the American Society of Home Inspectors in Des Plaines, unwell.
Vacant homes can suffer from a wide range of ills due to neglect, deferred maintenance on the part of the earlier cash-strapped homeowner, & vandalism, Tamny explains. Broken water pipes, stolen copper wiring, damaged appliances & mold are but a few examples of the potential problems that may await buyers of these homes.
The risks for buyers are front & middle since the number & percentage of vacant for-sale homes has increased in the coursework of the housing slump. over 2.2 million for-sale houses in the U.S. were vacant in 2008, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That figure was over double the 1 million vacant for-sale homes in 2000. Vacant homes exist throughout the country, but the percentage of vacancies in 2008 was higher than the national average in the South, Midwest & West, & lower in the Northeast.

Turned-off utilities limit home inspection

Homebuyers usually hire a professional to conduct a visual inspection of the home & prepare a document on its condition. That's a wise precaution, but not even a well-qualified & thorough home inspector can see inside walls. Nor can an inspector evaluate the condition of a home's plumbing, electrical wiring, heating-and-cooling process or major appliances if the water, gas or electricity has been shut off.
"Buyers often don't understand that if there is no electricity, they are going to receive a very limited inspection," Tamny says. "You could end up with lots of surprises in the event you don't have those systems turned on prior to the inspection."
Swimming pools, which naturally are more common in such states as California, indiana, Nevada & Florida — where foreclosure rates have been high -- are also a special concern if a home has been vacant. Some inspectors won't include a pool as part of a basic inspection. Others will include the pool, but again, it may be impossible for the inspector to check out the equipment if the utilities have been shut off.
"You probably will must accept the pool (as-is because) it's unlikely that you'll be able to get the whole thing up & jogging  for the purpose of an inspection & then shut it back down," Tamny says. "You could have thousands of dollars in repairs."

As-is home purchase can be risky

Some banks have procedures in place that allow potential buyers to turn on the utilities, but the buyer may be necessary to pay a deposit to the utility company & put his or her own name on the account, even though he or he doesn't own the vacant home. That inconvenience may prompt some buyers to forgo parts of the home inspection that can't be performed unless the utilities are on.
That can be dicy, because unanticipated repairs can cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars, & the buyer usually will have no recourse with the bank. That means the buyer will be stuck with whatever problems the house has.
"Buyers are drawn to a house because it's discounted from what it sold for a lot of years ago & they are hoping to receive a bargain. they don't always understand that sometimes the problems make up the dissimilarity between the cost of the house & what they are getting for a discount," Tamny says.

Vacancy may affect homeowners insurance

Home buyers also ought to know that insurance companies may decline to issue a homeowners insurance policy owner until the agent looks at the vacant home, says Dick Luedke, a spokesman at State Farm in Bloomington, unwell. The agent's once-over isn't the same as a professional home inspection, but it can mean additional expense if the home is in poor condition.
"If the home is uninsurable, they wouldn't write the policy owner. If the problems  increase the risk of the potential of a future claim, then that might increase the premium," Luedke says.
A homeowners insurance policy owner also may need a vacancy endorsement, again at an additional charge, if the home will continue to be vacant for over 30 days after the sale. If the vacancy is due to major repairs, a dwelling-under-construction rider may be necessary as well.

Home Prices Continue to Decline

RICHARD VOGEL / AP

In this November photo, an open-house sign is seen on the front lawn of a home for sale in Los Angeles. Home prices are dropping in the nation's largest cities and are expected to fall through next year.

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NEW YORK — Home prices are dropping in the nation's largest cities and are expected to keep falling next year, as fewer people purchase homes and millions of foreclosures come on to the market.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home-price index released Tuesday fell 1.3 percent in October from September, not counting seasonal variations.  All cities recorded monthly price declines. The last time that happened was in February 2009.
Atlanta recorded the largest decline. Prices there fell 2.9 percent from a month earlier. Home prices in Washington dropped 0.2 percent in October, the second monthly decline after five straight increases.  Seattle-area home prices fell 1.3 percent from September to October, for a 4.1 percent decline in the past year. The October decline was more than twice the previous month's drop of 0.6 percent.  Prices in the metro area, which includes King, Snohomish and Pierce counties, hit bottom in February, then rose through July before heading down again.
Home prices in Dallas, Portland, Ore.; Charlotte, N.C.; Tampa, Fla.; and Denver have fallen for four straight months.  The 20-city index has risen 4.4 percent from its April 2009 bottom. But it remains 29.6 percent below its July 2006 peak.
This year is on pace to finish as the worst for home sales in more than a decade. High unemployment and tight credit have kept people from buying homes, despite some of the lowest mortgage rates in decades.
Government tax credits gave the ailing industry a boost this spring. But they expired in April, and in recent months, home prices have begun to dip again.  Millions of foreclosures are forcing home prices down. Many people are holding off on making purchases because they fear the market hasn't bottomed out, analysts say.  Foreclosures likely will remain high for the next two years, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.
Several lenders temporarily halted action after evidence surfaced that some used flawed foreclosure documents to take people's homes. Some banks have resumed foreclosures at a more measured pace.  Also, the number of homeowners who owe more than their house is worth is expected to remain high. They are more likely to default if they run into trouble, Zandi said.
Homeowners who have equity can sell their homes if they face a job loss or a divorce or an illness that makes it impossible for them to pay their mortgage.  And more people might be less inclined to buy now that mortgage rates are rising again. In the last month, rates on fixed mortgages have surged more than a half-point to near 5 percent.
Most experts expect the declines to continue through midyear with prices on average to lose an additional 5 percent to 10 percent.  The worst price drops will come from cities with struggling economies and the highest foreclosure rates, while those with better job growth will fare better.  Home prices have declined in 18 of the 20 cities in the past year.

Housing market's bumpy ride isn't over

Home prices may slide further, but some analysts see signs of stability emerging in 2011
By Eric Pryne, Seattle Times business reporter
For all the turmoil the residential real-estate market experienced over the last few years, by one measure it hasn't changed much at all.
About 16,000 houses sold in King County in 2008, the year after the housing bubble burst. Another 16,000 got new owners in 2009, according to the broker-owned Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
When the last of 2010's sales is recorded, the total is likely to be right around that 16,000 mark once again. But those annual totals mask what has been a wild ride for the real-estate market over the past two years.
Activity rose and fell with new federal tax credits for home buyers, a key component of the Obama administration's economic-stimulus package. Home sales surged in mid-2009 after the incentives were adopted, and then tailed off after they expired in mid-2010.
With Republicans hostile to the stimulus soon to be in control of the U.S. House, there's little chance the credits will be revived.
So what's in store for the local real-estate market in 2011, in this brave, new, post-tax-credit world? Real-estate executives say they see signs of stability emerging. "We're regaining our footing," said Lennox Scott, chairman and chief executive officer of John L. Scott Real Estate.
But other observers caution that it's too soon to say where demand is heading, and warn that prices may have farther to fall.

Mortgage rates edge down after 5 weeks of gains

By JANNA HERRON AP Real Estate Writer

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Rates on fixed mortgages dipped after rising for five weeks in a row.
Still, they remain more than a half-point higher than last month and are at the highest level since late spring.
Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage slipped to 4.81 percent from 4.83 percent in the previous week. Last month, the rate reached a 40-year low of 4.17 percent, but has since been edging higher.
The average rate on the 15-year loan, a popular refinance option, also fell to 4.15 percent from 4.17 percent. It hit 3.57 percent in November, the lowest level on records starting in 1991.
Rates had been rising since early November as investors shifted money out of Treasury's and into stocks on expectations that the recent tax-cut plan will boost economic growth and potentially increase inflation. The sell-off comes even as the Federal Reserve buys up $600 billion in bonds to try to lower interest rates.
Yields tend to rise on fears of higher inflation. Mortgage rates track the yields on the 10-year Treasury note.
This week, Treasury yields stayed in a tight range due to thin trading before the Christmas holiday.
Higher mortgage rates have become another obstacle for the ailing housing market. The number of buyers looking to refinance fell for the sixth straight week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday, while the ranks of people applying for a mortgage to buy a home slid 2.5 percent from the week before.
And while more buyers bought previously occupied homes and new homes in November than the previous month, the sales pace of both is far from what analysts consider healthy.
The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday sales of previously owned homes rose 5.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million units last month. It's the third gain in four months following the worst summer for home sales in more than a decade.
The Commerce Department said Thursday that sales of new homes rose 5.5 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 290,000 units. But that increase came after sales had fallen to the second-lowest level in 47 years in October.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac collects rates from lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a single day.

The average rate on a five-year adjustable-rate mortgage fell to 3.75 percent from 3.77 percent. The five-year hit 3.25 percent last month, the lowest rate on records dating back to January 2005.
The average rate on one-year adjustable-rate home loans edged up to 3.40 percent from 3.35 percent.
The rates do not include add-on fees, known as points. One point is equal to 1 percent of the total loan amount. The average fee for the 30-year, 15-year and 1-year loans in Freddie Mac's survey was 0.7 point. The average fee for the five-year ARM was 0.6 point.

Happy Holidays

Bellevue #4, Never Seems to Get Old

Patrick Doty, Editor, Bellevue Home Team Blog

Bellevue, WA

Bellevue is a resilient community and somewhat recession resistant due to some of the strong businesses like Microsoft, Google, Paccar and the like.  We enjoy many wonderful things here including a bustling economy and lifestyle along with a strong real estate market .  Yes, we do feel some of the effects felt throughout the US but to a much lesser impact.  In January when the real estate market starts it's annual upswing we will be glad that we live in such a strong, vibrant community as home buyers will be looking to purchase a home for themselves and their families.  I count myself fortunate to be living in such a wonderful part of the country and couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

Mortgage Aapplications fell last week in anticipation of the Holidays

By Patrick Doty, Editor, Bellevue Home Team Blog

Bellevue, WA

The number of people applying for a mortgage fell last week as higher rates and the holidays slowed borrowing.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday its overall mortgage application index decreased 18.6 percent from the previous week. The refinance index dropped 24.6 percent, marking the sixth decline in a row. The purchase index slipped 2.5 percent last week. These figures do not take into account the normal seasonal dips that occur.  In the Bellevue area as well as throughout most of the nation our mortgage applications slow during the winter and especially during the holiday periods and typically pick up mid to late January.  As most of us move towards spring and hopes of warmer weather, home buyers are applying for mortgages and start looking for home with their Realtor.  Moving through the holidays most sellers are painting, cleaning, repairing and remodeling in order to get their homes on the market

Rates on fixed mortgages continued to edge up last week, remaining at the highest levels in six months causing more potential homebuyers to start looking for homes and to see what they might qualify for. The survey said the rate on a 30-year fixed mortgages rose to 4.85 percent from 4.84 percent. The rate on a 15-year loan, a common refinance option, inched up to 4.22 percent from 4.21 percent.
Mortgage rates are rising because Treasury yields have been increasing on rosier economic data and expectations that tax cuts will spur growth.  The higher rates are causing more home buyers to accelerate their home searches now in anticipation of even higher rates.

Rates had been hitting decade lows almost every week since spring as investors, worried about the economy, sought less risky Treasury bonds. As the economy improves, investors feel more confident about putting money in riskier investments like stocks.
In related news, more people bought previously occupied homes in November, the third gain in four months following a this past summer, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. Sales increased 5.6 percent from the month before to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million units.

Preschool Preview in Bellevue

Dec 17 2010, 3:12 PM

ParentMap magazine will sponsor a preschool preview in Bellevue on Jan. 13 at Meydenbauer Center.

The 5:30–7:30 p.m. event is free and will bring together dozens of community preschools, giving attendees a chance to check out the various early-learning opportunities that exist in the community.

Parents, come alone or with the kids. At the Bellevue event, parents can get to know KidsQuest Children’s Museum, an entertainment center for children ages 6 weeks to 12 years old. Parents and their children can take a break from visiting the more than 50 preschool booths by visiting the museum's station for crafts and various activities.

Schools participating in the preview will be from Bellevue, Issaquah, Sammamish and other cities in the Puget Sound region.

More information, including a complete list of participating schools, is available here.

Lack of foreclosure data leaves big questions

By Sanjay Bhatt and Jennifer LaFleur

The Seattle Times and ProPublica

The worst foreclosure crisis in the nation's history might have been detected earlier if the government had a better tracking system for mortgage data, experts say.
High levels of risk became apparent only after the housing market collapsed and loan defaults skyrocketed.
"It's like air traffic control without a radar screen," said Keith Ernst, director of research for the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit research organization based in Durham, N.C. "If air traffic control sees 20 planes coming in at once, they can do something about it. Otherwise, there will be serious problems."
Susan Wachter, a real-estate and finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, said borrowers and investors were both hurt by a lack of real-time data on loan delinquencies and a lack of transparency in the world of mortgage-backed securities.
"If we had that, we would have seen the crisis in 2006," she said.
Even now, federal agencies from the Federal Reserve to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have to rely on mortgage data they purchase from private companies.
"There really wasn't and still isn't comprehensive data in the public domain that gives us a good handle to analyze it," said Bill Shear, GAO director of financial markets and community investment.
Congress, consumer advocates and researchers are pushing for expanded public mortgage data, such as loan terms, as well as the age and credit score of borrowers, but all without names, specific addresses and other personal identifiers.
Experts say such faceless data could reveal, for instance, a particular lender making high-interest loans to borrowers with high credit scores, an indicator of deceptive practices. But the mortgage industry is pushing back.
Expanding current mortgage data means "you're essentially broadcasting people's credit scores," said Bill Himpler, executive vice president of the American Financial Services Association.
Outdated law tracks mortgages
A 35-year-old law dictates the home-mortgage data that lenders must report, but it has fallen far behind today's mortgage reality.
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), passed in 1975, was intended to stop banks from discriminating against minority borrowers. Lenders were required to disclose such things as loan amounts, reasons that a loan was denied, and the race or ethnicity of the borrower.
Not reported: key loan characteristics, such as teaser rates, balloon payments, fees and penalties, or borrower attributes, such as first-time homebuyers, age and their debt level. HMDA also leaves out major players” smaller banks and mortgage brokers have no obligation to report.
Recognizing the need for better data, regulators have been playing catch-up. But while Congress has called for agencies to collect more information, there still are critical limitations, both in what the government collects and what it provides to the public.
The U.S. Treasury Department began requiring the nine largest national bank-mortgage servicers to submit loan data on a monthly basis beginning in early 2008, and in June of that year, it issued its first quarterly Mortgage Metrics report.
Loan servicers” mostly big banks” must report 108 different pieces of information on millions of loans to the department, including interest types and rates, credit scores and foreclosure data.
But those metrics cover only about 65 percent of first mortgages. And loan-level data are not available to the public, not even with names and identifying information stripped out. Treasury doesn't plan to make it public, citing concerns over privacy and banks' proprietary information.
Congress mandates new reports
This July, President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which among other things, calls for increased reporting under HMDA and adds a financial-research division at Treasury.
As a result, the Federal Reserve Board is revamping what lenders must report, including credit scores, ages and ratios used to assess borrowers' ability to pay.
The financial overhaul also directed the federal Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) to develop a database on defaults and foreclosures, and make the information available to the public. Such data might alert regulators of changes in lending patterns before they get out of hand.
The project could take as long as three years, said Brian Sullivan, a HUD spokesman, but consumer advocates say it's worth the wait.
"Homeownership remains our primary mechanism for economic mobility," said Ernst of the Center for Responsible Lending. "Understanding how that's working is pretty critical."

Christmas gone wild with Marcella Cascini

By Rebecca Teagarden

photographed by Ellen M. Banner

MARCELLA CASCINI is a shopaholic, and she's played one on TV.
"I was quite the shopaholic — on a soap opera," the former actress and model offers up cheerfully.
The experience comes in handy when you are now, as an interior designer, a professional shopper and Christmas is, by far, your favorite holiday.
"I have a European background, and this whole idea of having something in each room comes from that," Marcella says, standing before the Mardi Gras Tree filled with feathery masks. "I feel Christmas should be a holiday journey."
It is quite the trip among the rooms of the spacious home Marcella shares with her husband, attorney Wade Cascini, just off the 10th green of Sahalee Country Club. From the Christmas bells on the front door to the bouncy ripstop nylon snowman in the billiards room downstairs, there is something for everyone someplace. And everyplace.
"It's a little sentimental journey about your family and friends, and sometimes about those who are no longer with us," says Marcella, who dresses up even the bathroom vanities in greenery.
"My husband, who's very supportive, hates that because he's always pricking his fingers," she says.
Marcella's secret is to work with the items already in her home, creating vignettes that go with. This can be quite the trick among décor that includes elephants, giraffes and animal-print pillows and throws. A bowl of fruit displayed on a hallway chest, for example, is woven in greenery and white lights.

"White lights; that's the staple," says Marcella, of Interior Staging and Design, explaining the twinkling tie that binds from room to room to room. This highway of sparkle ends at a wine cellar that, with so many items handsomely displayed, looks like a retail store.
We have not yet even discussed the Santas. "I have Santas from all over the world — from 2 feet to 7," she says. We are standing in front of the fireplace before a massively jolly fellow snagged at Costco one year.
"My friends say, 'How do you do it? Do you drink?" Marcella laughs. "I do drink a lot of coffee. And sometimes coffee with a bit of Bailey's."
But the key, she says, is to take your time (start a few days before Thanksgiving) and "the big thing is to enjoy it if you can."
We forego discussion of the Far East Tree in the dining room to focus on what looks like an old-growth artificial tree in the media room. It is so fat and grand. Bedecked in bronze and brown and gold, draped in strands of pearls. Flocked in feathers and gold leaves and apples. Topped by an angel and a star.
Standing nearby is another Santa: known as The Santa from the Woods. "My little people. I'm very attached to them," Marcella says. "This may sound a little nuts, but I give them a little hug when I take them out of the box every year."

Decorating is Marcella's department, but Christmas dinner is all Wade.
"We do a big Italian dinner," Marcella says, visions of homemade meatballs dancing in her head. "Wade makes it all by hand. We have veal parmigiana, pasta, gnocchi, meatballs, sauce."
Diners are each provided with a funny Christmas hat that they must wear to the meal. Lighted trees, Dr. Seussy gold spirals, reindeer antlers. No exceptions. They are then gifts to be taken home.
In fact, everybody Marcella knows is remembered at Christmas. The dentist, the doctor, the paper guy. "Last year I had to chase down the garbage man," she says.
"I know a lot of it is silly," Marcella says. "But this all creates memories. I like that."

Close to Home..Man accused of trying to sell home he didn't own

by TONYA MOSLEY / KING 5 News

SHORELINE, Wash. - Zael Zura has a lot of work to put into his new house, but that's OK. All that matters is that he and his fiancé can call their little yellow house, home.

"We're in. We're working on the house. It's our home now," said Zura.  It was a different story last month.  "We were freaking out," he said.

Zura and his fiancé were about to close on the house when something unbelievable happened. Someone had moved into their house.  "I said 'how'd you get in?' They said 'Jim came in and let us in. We rented it from him.'"

The Jim he's talking about is James McClung. McClung was involved in another case out of Kirkland where people were arrested for moving into a multi-million dollar house that was in foreclosure.  "You can't have something for nothing and the guy is just a con artist as far as I'm concerned."

According to court documents, McClung's friend was the previous owner of the home and let it go into foreclosure. After Zura confronted McClung, the renters left and, in a bold move, McClung tried to sell Zura the house he was already buying.

"First, it was really hard just talking to him. Anybody who wasn't born under a rock is just like 'What?'" said Zura.  Zura is now the rightful owner, but online, the house is still listed for sale under McClung's name.  "The guy is not even a real estate agent. The fact that his name is tied in with our house and his scams makes me very, very angry."   Angry, but also relieved that McClung may soon be behind bars.

"We got the house. We got the tree up, so there's a lot of work to be done and we're pretty happy," said Zura.  There's now a warrant out for McClung's arrest. Neighbors told us he moved out of his Edmonds home months ago and might be in California. His mother told us over the phone the charges are bogus.

Govt trying to keep people in homes

The Associated Press

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday the government is trying to keep as many struggling borrowers as possible in their homes in several programs.
Geithner told a congressional oversight panel that although the Treasury Department's ability to spend new bailout funds for the central foreclosure-prevention effort expired in October, it is running other programs for borrowers in certain situations such as those who are unemployed.
Geithner testified that the housing market remains weak. He said the government is putting downward pressure on mortgage rates through agreements with finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The government has been buying securities backed by mortgages that are issued by Fannie and Freddie.
"The American financial system today is in a much stronger position than it was before the crisis," Geithner said.
He said that Treasury's $700 billion rescue program, which came in at the peak of the financial crisis in the fall of 2008, "will rank as one of the most effective crisis-response programs ever implemented."
The Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that the program will cost taxpayers about $25 billion. Geithner noted that is far below early estimates that it would cost $350 billion or more. And he suggested it could end up costing even less than $25 billion.
Of the total $700 billion bailout, $75 billion was earmarked for mortgage assistance programs, including the central foreclosure-prevention effort known as the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP.
Treasury had the authority, which expired on Oct. 3, to spend up to $30 billion in taxpayer funds on the HAMP program. Only about $4 billion likely will be spent, according to a report issued Tuesday by the oversight panel.
The report said the two-year-old HAMP program won't reach its original goals and the government should come up with clear, measurable objectives for it. Because Treasury has failed to properly analyze the program, it is nearly impossible to determine whether it is a success, the report said.
The program was designed to help people in financial trouble by lowering their monthly mortgage payments. Homeowners who qualify can receive an interest rate as low as 2 percent for five years and a longer repayment period. The homeowners receive temporary modifications that are supposed to become permanent after borrowers make three payments on time and complete the required paperwork.
Treasury's original goal of preventing 3 million to 4 million foreclosures under the program has been reduced several times. The oversight panel estimates that the program will prevent some 700,000 to 800,000 struggling borrowers from losing their homes - compared with 8 million to 13 million foreclosures expected by 2012.

Fewer Homeowners Underwater in the third quarter

By JANNA HERRON

AP Real Estate Writer

The number of homeowners who owe more than their houses are worth fell for the third straight quarter this summer.
About 10.8 million households, or 22.5 percent of all mortgaged homes, were underwater in the July-September quarter, housing data firm CoreLogic said Monday. That's down from 23 percent, or 11 million households, in the second quarter.
The decline came mainly because more homes had fallen into foreclosure and not because home prices had increased.
In a healthy housing market, about 5 percent of homeowners with a mortgage owe more than their homes are worth, CoreLogic's economist Sam Khatar estimates. The firm does not have historical data before the third quarter of 2009.
The ranks of underwater borrowers will remain high and likely rise because home values are expected to fall through the middle of next year. About 2.4 million hold only 5 percent or less equity in their homes, putting them near the tipping point if prices in their area fall.
Two-thirds of homeowners in Nevada who have a mortgage had negative home equity, the worst in the country. It was followed by Arizona, Florida, Michigan and California.
However, Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida also posted the biggest decline in negative equity, mostly because a high percentage of severely underwater borrowers in those states fell into foreclosure.
Oklahoma had the smallest percentage of underwater homeowners in the third quarter at 6 percent. Only nine states recorded percentages less than 10 percent.
The total amount of negative equity decreased to $744 billion nationwide, down from $766 billion in the previous quarter.

The Importance Of First Impressions in Real Estate

Perhaps the most important aspect of a home showing is the buyer's first impression. Have you ever looked at a home for sale and thought; "wow, I'd re...

David Ellis

Perhaps the most important aspect of a home showing is the buyer's first impression. Have you ever looked at a home for sale and thought; "wow, I'd really like to see more of that place!" or "yikes! I don't even need to look to know I don't like that place!" This is the power of the first impression. Buyers have a tendency to make up their minds within the first few seconds of seeing a home as to whether or not it warrants further investigation. Contact a Realtor today for advice.  As a home seller you cannot afford to be on the losing side of this situation. You need people's reaction to be the former, not the latter.
The curb appeal of a home plays a big role in the first impression that a buyer has. While how the home looks from the outside is important, it does not equal the importance of the first view that buyers get when walking in the front door. By the time buyers walk through your door their impression of the home is already partially formed. The entrance way of the home has the ability to justify that impression or shatter it.
Upon entering buyers should be confronted by a warm, cozy, bright and pleasant smelling home. There is nothing worse then walking into a home and being greeted by an overpowering pet smell or remnants of last night's dinner. Try to avoid cooking anything with a strong aroma before shows. Also do not extensively use air fresheners, some people will take this as evidence that you are trying to cover up a smell that cannot be gotten rid of. Fresh flowers are a nice touch and add a decorative air to the entrance way, but be careful not to overdo it. People want to see your home, not your vase collection.
People viewing your home will have several first impressions as they move from room to room. It is vitally important that each of these impressions are positive and add to the overall impression of your home. As buyers move through your home they will be taking great notice of any flaws or negatives in the home. This is only natural as these are things that they can utilize to bargain the price down during the offer process. After all, you would do the same when buying a home right? Of course, we all want the best deal possible when making such a huge purchase. Be careful to go over your home with a fine tooth comb and follow the advice of your real estate agent before you list it for sale. Make sure that the first impression that people have of your home is an impressive one.

5 Christmas gift ideas for easy home improvement

Out of Christmas gift ideas this holiday season? ‘Tis time to think outside the box, and make someone’s home remodeling wish come true! To make it easy for you, the HomeSavvi team has compiled five creative home improvement Christmas gift ideas that go beyond a simple piece of art for the wall or a typical power tool set, and the best thing is, you don’t even have to lift a finger!

1. Color consultation package
Contact a local interior designer and purchase a gift certificate for a home color consultation, together with one gallon of the recipient’s favorite paint color (if you happen to know it), or a selection of small paint samples they can choose from. Complement this with a contract with a painter to get the work done. A great gift idea bound to please anyone looking for a spring decorating spree!

2. Space planning consultation
Did the gift recipient always want to bring Feng Shui into their home? Then now is the time for space planning! Select a two-hour space planning consultation package with a local interior designer to help your friend or family member rearrange their furniture in their living room or bedrooms or study. For those working from home full time, a consultation with an organizing company to help organize a home office also makes a great gift.



3. Block of handyman time

Never-ending list of random house projects driving them crazy? Call a local handyman and reserve four to five hours of their time to come out to the gift recipient’s home, and finally get all those projects done once and for all. This is a particularly useful gift for people living alone, families with kids, or professionals leading busy lives due to business travel.

4. Tile package
Do you think your friend or family member’s kitchen or bathroom needs an update? All you need to do is to get a selection of tile samples from a local tile store that you know will match the gift recipient’s current home décor, and combine it with a gift card from a local contractor for the installation of a new kitchen or bathroom backsplash. It won’t take long, and will make all the difference. You could do the same for cabinet refacing.







5. Closet company consultation

You know what they say: The more space, the more clutter. Offering a gift certificate for a consultation with a local closet company will help the recipient see what can be done to organize their closet space. From reorganizing and modifying current storage space to creating new, alternative options, this could be the gift answer for busy families.

If all else fails, gift cards from home remodeling stores such as Lowes and Home Depot, or colorful home retail outlets such as Pier 1 Imports and Crate & Barrel will always be appreciated.

Mortgage rates hit 4.61 pct.; refi's could slow

By JANNA HERRON

AP Real Estate Writer

Rates on fixed mortgages rose for the fourth straight week this week. The surge could slow refinancings and further hamper the housing market.
Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rates on 15- and 30-year fixed loans increased sharply from last week. Mortgage rates tend to track the yields on 10-year Treasury bonds. Those yields have been rising as investors anticipate Congress will extend the Bush-era tax cuts for two years and long-term unemployment benefits for 13 months.
The 30-year rate rose to 4.61 percent from 4.46 percent last week. That is well above the 4.17 percent rate hit a month ago - the lowest level on records dating back to 1971.
The average rate on a 15-year fixed loan, a popular refinance option, rose to 3.96 percent. Rates hit 3.57 percent last month - the lowest level since 1991.
Rates are rising after plummeting for seven months. Investors are selling Treasury bonds in anticipation of the tax deal President Barack Obama and Republicans forged that could boost the economy next year if passed. A stronger economy would make the stock market a more attractive place to invest money. That's a big reason why many investors are selling their safer Treasurys bonds.

Caught by mistake in foreclosure web

By MICHELLE CONLIN

AP Real Estate Writer

Christopher Marconi was in the shower when he heard a loud banging on his door. By the time he grabbed a towel and hustled to his front step, a U.S. marshal's sedan was peeling out of his driveway. Nailed to Marconi's front door was a foreclosure summons from Wells Fargo, naming him as a defendant. But the notice was for a house Marconi had never seen - on a mortgage he never had.
Tom Williams was in his kitchen thumbing through the mail when he opened a letter from GMAC. It informed him that the bank would confiscate his house unless he immediately paid off his mortgage balance of $276,000. But Williams had never missed a mortgage payment. And his loan wasn't due to mature until 2032.
Warren Nyerges opened his front door in Naples, Fla., to find a scraggly-haired summons server standing on his stoop. He plopped a foreclosure notice from Bank of America in Nyerges' hands. But Nyerges had paid for his house in cash. And he'd never had a checking account, much less a mortgage, with Bank of America.
By now, you may have heard the stories of bank robo-signers powering through hundreds of foreclosure affidavits a day without verifying a single fact. But most of those involved homeowners who had stopped paying their mortgage. They were genuine defaulters. Now a new species of homeowner is getting pushed into foreclosure hell.

Area Home Prices Slip From a Year Ago

By Eric Pryne

Seattle Times business reporter

 The median price of houses sold in King County slipped to a new post-bubble low last month, according to statistics released Monday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
The number of sales also fell, dropping nearly one-third from November 2009's total.
"We're not out of the woods yet," said Glenn Crellin, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University.
November's median single-family sale price was $359,950, the lowest in more than five years. Prices now have dropped more than 25 percent since July 2007, when the local market peaked.
While it set a record, November's median price still was down just 2.7 percent from the same month last year.  Crellin said he expects prices will continue to drop on a year-over-year basis until mid-2011. Higher-priced homes now constitute a larger share of sales, he said, and that has kept the median price from dropping more steeply.

Those properties are selling, he said, because buyers are negotiating steep price discounts. The growing number of homes in foreclosure also should keep prices down, Crellin added.  Buyers closed on 1,092 houses in November, down 31 percent from November 2009. But the drop was expected: Last November's sales were inflated by first-time buyers rushing to take advantage of a federal tax credit for first-time buyers that had been scheduled to expire at the end of that month.  That credit later was extended and expanded but expired for good earlier this year. In Southeast King County, "it's been dead ever since," said Marti Reeder, an agent at the John L. Scott Real Estate office in Kent. "October and November were complete busts."
But December is looking brighter, Reeder added. She wrote up two offers Sunday and was writing up another Monday afternoon.

Developer Selig's one-man show plays well in current downturn

By Eric Pryne

Seattle Times business reporter

In this time of great turmoil in the Seattle office market, Martin Selig  of all people  seems to be doing just fine.
The developer who remade downtown's skyline in the 1970s and 1980s is no stranger to the financial brink. He has survived past crises only by selling some of his trophy properties, including the
76-story Columbia Center.
He spent much of the 1990s dealing with foreclosures, bankruptcies, receiverships and lawsuits from unpaid contractors. Seattle City Light threatened on several occasions to cut power to his properties because he hadn't paid bills topping $600,000.
And now, in this real-estate downturn to end all downturns?
"We're in fine shape," Selig says.
At least for the moment, he appears to be right.
• Other developers are scrambling to fill mostly vacant office towers completed after the real-estate bubble burst. Selig also delivered two empty projects in 2009 but since then he's leased most of one to the federal government and inked a tentative deal to fill more than half of the other with Seattle's most-watched biotech company.
• The vacancy rate in his 17 older buildings is in the single digits. For the greater downtown office market overall, it's pushing 20 percent.
• Some office landlords are struggling with debt they no longer can afford. A couple of buildings already have gone back to the bank, and more could follow.
Selig? He's carrying hundreds of millions in debt. But public records and loan-servicer reports give no indication he's in trouble with his numerous lenders.
And City Light says he's current on all 55 of his accounts.
What's Selig's secret? What's he doing differently this time?
Nothing, Selig insists. "Just working harder," he said in a terse, 13-minute telephone interview.
Selig hasn't changed, other landlords and brokers agree things just happen to have worked out better for him this time.
"He's been the cat with nine lives," said Matt Christian, a senior director at brokerage Cushman & Wakefield/Commerce.
But Selig does have an advantage over many other downtown landlords, industry insiders say.
Over the past two decades most of Seattle's big office buildings have been acquired by out-of-town investors.
"Twenty years ago the bulk of Seattle real estate was owned by people you could see walking down Fourth Avenue," said Rob Aigner, senior vice president of Harsch Investment Properties. "That's no longer the case."
Selig, who arrived in Seattle at the age of 3, is a throwback. He runs his own show no partners, no committees, no corporate higher-ups. That means he can respond to the market more quickly, insiders say.
With out-of-town, institutional landlords, "sometimes it's like turning a battleship," Aigner said.
"Martin can turn much faster."
Major office owner
Selig, now 73, remains among the region's biggest office owners, and probably still is the best-known.
His 19 buildings, which stretch from Lower Queen Anne to the Chinatown International District, contain 3.3 million square feet of leasable space more than two Columbia Centers. He also owns more than a dozen parking lots.

Time to refinance? Good question

By MICHELE LERNER

Bankrate.com

Home mortgage refinancing may sound like a good idea in theory, but it's not always possible or desirable.
For starters, lenders have tightened up the approval process, making it more difficult to get loans.
"Homeowners today need to be triathletes to qualify for a loan, with great income, great credit and great value in their home," says Anthony Hsieh, founder and CEO of loan Depot.com.
In addition, a refinance may not make sense financially, particularly for borrowers who plan to sell their homes in the next few years.
Before taking the leap and opting to refinance, homeowners should ask themselves these questions.
Do I have enough equity?
Homeowners need to have at least 80 percent equity in their home to qualify for a new loan without paying private mortgage insurance (PMI). Adding that to the cost of a new loan could negate the benefit of a refinance.
Today, many homeowners are underwater — meaning they owe more on their mortgages than the house is worth. However, being underwater or having little equity does not necessarily rule out a refi.
"Homeowners should still apply for a refinance even if they have low equity, because there are some Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac programs and FHA loans that may accept them," Hsieh says.
How soon should I refinance?
Homeowners should refinance quickly in case the housing slump deepens, causing values to depreciate even more, says Roy Meshel, district vice president for W.J. Bradley Mortgage in Phoenix.
That can make it even more difficult to qualify for a refinance.
What can help me qualify?
Patrick Cunningham, vice president of Home Savings and Trust Mortgage based in Fairfax, Va., recommends an increasingly popular approach — the so-called "cash-in" refinance.
"Some people are opting to bring cash to the settlement in order to pay down their loan balance to qualify for a refinance," he says.
Is my credit score good enough?
Borrower credit scores play a big role in securing a good mortgage rate. In fact, you'll need a good credit score to qualify for any type of mortgage.  Mortgage rates operate on a sliding scale, with the lowest rates going to applicants with the highest credit scores of 720 or higher.  Borrowers with scores below 620 will have trouble qualifying for any mortgage.

Fed proposes stripping key lending protection for homeowners

By Tony Pugh

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON

As Americans continue to lose their homes in record numbers, the Federal Reserve is considering making it much harder for homeowners to stop foreclosures and escape predatory home loans with onerous terms.
The Fed's proposal to amend a 42-year-old provision of the federal Truth in Lending Act has angered labor, civil-rights and consumer advocates along with foreclosure defense attorneys.
They're not only asking the Fed to withdraw the proposal, they also want any future changes to the law to be handled by the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which starts work next year.
In a letter to the Fed's Board of Governors, dozens of groups, including the National Consumer Law Center, the NAACP and the Service Employees International Union, say the proposal is bad medicine at the wrong time.
"At the depths of the worst foreclosure crisis since the Great Depression, we are surprised that the Fed has proposed rules that would eviscerate the primary protection homeowners currently have to escape abusive loans and avoid foreclosure: the extended right of rescission."
Because the public-comment period is open until Dec. 23, a spokesman declined to comment on the matter.
But in a September passage in the Federal Register, the Fed said the proposal was designed to "ensure a clearer and more equitable process for resolving rescission claims raised in court proceedings" and reflects what most courts already require.
Since 1968, the Truth in Lending Act has given homeowners the right to cancel, or rescind, illegal loans for up to three years after the transaction was completed if the buyer wasn't provided with proper disclosures at the time of closing.

Mortgage rates rise to 4.46 pct. as economy lifts

By DANIEL WAGNER

AP Business Writer

Rates on fixed mortgages edged up again this week after hitting their lowest level in decades last month.
Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate for 30-year fixed loans rose to 4.46 percent from 4.40 percent last week. Three weeks ago, the rate hit 4.17 percent, the lowest level on records dating back to 1971.
The 15-year loan also rose, to 3.81 percent from 3.77 percent. It hit its lowest point since the survey began in 1991 a month ago, when rates fell to 3.57 percent.
Mortgage rates are rising because strong economic news has drawn investors away from the safety of Treasury bonds. As demand for Treasurys decreases, investors demand higher yields from the government. Mortgage rates tend to track those yields.
Those yields have risen from yearly lows as the economic picture brightened over the past month. They climbed again Wednesday after reports showed factories boosting production, auto sales rising and many regions of the country seeing stronger economic growth.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac collects rates from lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a single day.
Rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.49 percent, up from 3.45 percent a week earlier.
Rates on one-year adjustable-rate home loans edged up to 3.25 percent from 3.23 percent last week.

Futuristic, low-priced homes with a past finally go on sale

By Tristan Baurick

Kitsap Sun

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — If you ever dreamed of living in an iPod, now's your chance.
Two cutting-edge prototype homes, once heralded as the future of urban housing, are on sale on Bainbridge Island after a convoluted journey that took them from the roof of a downtown Seattle building to the old Bainbridge Island dump and finally to their current location on a Winslow street.
"A tremendous amount of work went into these," said Ken Balizer, executive director of Housing Resources Board (HRB), the nonprofit affordable-housing organization that hopes to sell the small, stackable homes for under $130,000 apiece.
Billed as "Ikea meets iPod" when they were unveiled three years ago, the homes are shiny, sleek and loaded with earth-friendly features and a few high-tech gizmos that baffle even Balizer.
The one-bedroom homes were built with energy-efficient windows, insulation, lighting and appliances; occupancy sensors to control lights and heat; recycled flooring materials; and a vegetated roof to reduce stormwater runoff.
The smaller, second-story unit, listed at just under $105,000, has 475 square feet of living space and a covered deck. The ground-floor, $129,900 unit has almost 700 square feet of living space.
HRB hopes to sell the homes to income-qualified homebuyers. The units would be owned by the occupants, the land underneath by HRB.
The homes were donated to HRB by Unico Properties, a Seattle firm that planned to manufacture them as a less-expensive alternative to Seattle condos. Unico prominently displayed the units on the roof of Rainier Square to drum up interest. When the plan didn't pan out, the units were moved to Bainbridge Island for use as low-cost housing at a city-owned Day Road farm.
But farmers objected because the homes wouldn't be limited to farmworkers. After another move fell through, the homes were stripped and stored at the former Bainbridge Island dump for six months. Last spring, they were brought to their current location on Knechtel Way.
HRB spent about $185,000 to move and restore the units. The most recent effort to relocate and fix up the homes was assisted by a volunteer construction manager, landscape architect, engineer, attorney and about 20 others, Balizer said.

NOAA site on Lake Union on the market

By Eric Pryne

Seattle Times business reporter

The owner of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Operations Center on Lake Union has put the soon-to-be-vacated property up for sale, marketing it as "a great future development opportunity."
NOAA's lease expires in June, and the federal agency is moving its research fleet to Newport, Ore., after nearly 50 years at the Lake Union site.
Biotech and office buildings are among the development possibilities, said Jason Rosauer of GVA Kidder Mathews, one of the brokers marketing the property. "A Carillon Point or an Elliott Bay Marina would be an option," he added, referring to waterfront developments in Kirkland and Seattle, respectively.
Or the site, with 915 feet of waterfront and three piers, could provide moorage and other services for fishing vessels or luxury yachts, Rosauer added: "We want to let the market decide its best use."
The market also will decide what it's worth, he said: There's no published asking price.
The 8-acre property, at 1801 Fairview Ave. E., has been owned since the 1920s by a corporation controlled by several families. The corporation's manager could not be reached for comment Monday.
NOAA has leased the site since 1963. The agency moored four oceangoing research ships there until fire damaged the piers in 2006. The facility also has serviced six NOAA ships based in Alaska, California and Hawaii.
The property includes a two-story office/lab building and a 12,000-square-foot warehouse.
NOAA decided last year to move its research fleet to Oregon, in part because governments there offered generous subsidies. Seattle-area political leaders tried to get the decision reversed, but Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who oversees NOAA, said in August that it was too late.

Tiny house movement thrives amid real estate bust

By TERENCE CHEA

Associated Press

As Americans downsize in the aftermath of a colossal real estate bust, at least one tiny corner of the housing market appears to be thriving. To save money or simplify their lives, a small but growing number of Americans are buying or building homes that could fit inside many people's living rooms, according to entrepreneurs in the small house industry.
Some put these wheeled homes in their backyards to use as offices, studios or extra bedrooms. Others use them as mobile vacation homes they can park in the woods. But the most intrepid of the tiny house owners live in them full-time, paring down their possessions and often living off the grid.
"It's very un-American in the sense that living small means consuming less," said Jay Shafer, 46, co-founder of the Small House Society, sitting on the porch of his wooden cabin in California wine country. "Living in a small house like this really entails knowing what you need to be happy and getting rid of everything else."
Shafer, author of "The Small House Book," built the 89-square-foot house himself a decade ago and lived in it full-time until his son was born last year. Inside a space the size of an ice cream truck, he has a kitchen with gas stove and sink, bathroom with shower, two-seater porch, bedroom loft and a "great room" where he can work and entertain - as long as he doesn't invite more than a couple guests.
He and his family now live in relatively sprawling 500-square foot home next to the tiny one.
Shafer, co-owner of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, designs and builds miniature homes with a minimalist style that prizes quality over quantity and makes sure no cubic inch goes to waste. Most can be hooked up to public utilities. The houses, which pack a range of amenities in spaces smaller than some people's closets, are sold for $40,000 to $50,000 ready-made, but cost half as much if you build it yourself.
Tumbleweed's business has grown significantly since the housing crisis began, Shafer said. He now sells about 50 blueprints, which cost $400 to $1,000 each, a year, up from 10 five years ago. The eight workshops he teaches around the country each year attract 40 participants on average, he said.
"People's reasons for living small vary a lot, but there seems to be a common thread of sustainability," Shafer said. "A lot of people don't want to use many more resources or put out more emissions than they have to."
Compared to trailers, these little houses are built with higher-quality materials, better insulation and eye-catching design. But they still have wheels that make them portable - and allow owners to get around housing regulations for stationary homes.
Since the housing crisis and recession began, interest in tiny homes has grown dramatically among young people and retiring Baby Boomers, said Kent Griswold, who runs the Tiny House Blog, which attracts 5,000 to 7,000 visitors a day.
"In the last couple years, the idea's really taken off," Griswold said. "There's been a huge interest in people downsizing and there are a lot of young people who don't want to be tied down with a huge mortgage and want to build their own space."
Gregory Johnson, who co-founded the Small House Society with Shafer, said the online community now has about 1,800 subscribers, up from about 300 five years ago. Most of them live in their small houses full-time and swap tips on living simple and small.
Johnson, 46, who works as a computer consultant at the University of Iowa, said dozens of companies specializing small houses have popped up around the country over the past few years.
Before he got married, Johnson lived for six years in a small cabin he built himself and he wrote a book called "Put Your Life on a Diet: Lessons Learned from Living in 140 Square Feet."
"You start to peel away the things that are unnecessary," said Johnson, who now lives in a studio apartment with his wife. "It helps you define your priorities with regard to your material things."
Northern California's Sonoma County has become a mini-mecca for the tiny house industry, with an assortment of new businesses launching over the last few years.
Stephen Marshall, 63, worked as a building contractor for three decades before the real estate market tanked three years ago. That's when he jumped into the tiny house business, starting Petaluma-based Little House On The Trailer.
His company builds and sells small houses that can serve as stand-alone homes equipped with bathrooms and kitchens, and others he calls "A Room of One's Own" that can be used as a home office or extra bedroom. Many of his customers are looking for extra space to accommodate an aging parent or adult children who are returning home, he said.
He said his small houses, which sell for $20,000 to $50,000, are much cheaper than building a home addition and can be resold when the extra space is no longer needed. His company has sold 16 houses this year and aims to sell 20 next year.
"The business is growing as the public becomes aware of this possibility," Marshall said. "A lot of families are moving in with one another. A lot of young people can't afford to move out. There's just a lot of economic pressure to find an alternative way to provide for people's housing needs."

Mortgage Modifications Co's are put under the Microscope

The promoters have names that resemble federal foreclosure-intervention programs such as Making Home Affordable or Home Affordable manipulation. Some even flash pics of President Obama or the great seal of the United States.

You've probably seen the pitches on TV & radio and the net or found them stuffed in your mail: official-looking communications complete with logos & letterheads that look vaguely like those used by the Treasury, IRS & other federal agencies.

Bogus firms always insist on getting your funds upfront with often thousands of dollars; then do little or nothing. But now the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is cutting off the main fuel supply for mortgage-modification scammers: Under new rules outlined Nov. 19, the agency designs to ban virtually all upfront payments, institute mandatory disclosure rules; clamp down with new federal restrictions on lawyers who participate in mortgage-modification schemes.

They are in lieu criminal enterprises posing as do-gooders who promise to get you out of the mortgage jam you're in, whether you're severely delinquent or deeply underwater. they claim they can persuade your lender to cut your every month payments, forgive all penalties, slash your rate of interest & even get your loan balance reduced. If your lender won't cooperate, they say they'll perform "forensic audits" on your mortgage; persuade a court to cancel your whole loan transaction because of technical mistakes in the paperwork.

Kick Off to the new Holiday Season 2010

Reserve your ticket for Garden d'Lights in Bellevue

If you haven't experienced the Garden d'Lights Festival at the Bellevue Botanical garden, you're missing out on an brilliant holiday experience. From Nov. 27 through Jan. 1, the garden is ablaze with thousands of plants, flowers & animals, all created from strings of lights. The light total is over a half-million now, & dedicated volunteers created each artistic piece.

This year, a tortoise will join Charlotte in her web, Willie the slug (complete with slime trail) & the 30 or so other animals throughout the garden.

Tickets cost $5 per person. babies 10 & more youthful are free. Entry is free on a variety of nights, but you still must reserve a ticket & have it with you to enter the garden. For information or to reserve tickets, visit www.gardendlights.org.

Not surprisingly, Garden d'Lights has become so popular that the organizers of the festival are limiting the number of visitors that will be allowed in each night. To gain entry to Garden d'Lights, you now must reserve a ticket in advance.

Happy Thanksgiving

Mom on a Mission

More snow expected to fall this evening

Lauren Barkley, 8, left, and her brother, Richard, 6, play in the snow at Downtown Park after an early release from Sacred Heart School in Bellevue on Monday.
Chad Coleman/Bellevue Reporter
By NAT LEVY
UPDATE, 4:32 p.m.The Bellevue School District announced that all schools will begin two hours late Tuesday, as a result of weather conditions. Release times will follow the standard schedule. Bus trips to the south end of Bellevue will be on limited schedule, according to BSD's website.
More than an inch of snow has already dropped on Bellevue, and the rest of the Seattle metro area, and it won't stop anytime soon.
The Monday evening commute is expected to be impacted by another snow system that has settled over the area and could drop several more inches of snow on the ground by the end of the day.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the Puget Sound Region early Monday, predicting anywhere between two and six inches of snow this evening.
NWS Meteorologist Dennis D'Amico said Monday afternoon that the snow will continue to fall through the night with drier conditions Tuesday. Wind will be a factor, with the potential for gusts as high as 40 miles per hour.
But when the snow fades, the issue of it freezing and turning into sheets of ice comes into play.
"Ice will be a problem if roadways are not treated well," D'Amico said. "Our highs tomorrow will not go above freezing."
To this point, treatment of the roadways has prevented accidents. There have actually been fewer incidents Monday in Bellevue than a normal day, in which more cars might be on the road, said Sheryl Mullen, spokeswoman for the North East King County Regional Public Safety Communication Agency (NORCOM), which operates dispatch centers for Bellevue and other nearby cities.
Mullen applauded road crew work for keeping snow and ice off main arterials and preventing the kinds of accidents that can lock up an entire city, or even the whole Eastside.
"Either people are doing better in the snow than we think," Mullen said, "or the road crews are keeping the roads really clean. We're waiting for things to pick up but they just haven't."
Plows from state and local municipalities have been at it all day, working on highways and city streets.
Plows from the Washington State Department of Transportation have been out all day clearing highways as snow falls on and off.
In Bellevue, the city's 14 plows have been extremely active. Mike Jackman, assistant director of utilities for Bellevue, said all major arterials and neighborhood roads have been cleared.
The vulnerable roads are the small residential streets and those at higher elevations south of I-90. Jackman said utilities crews will continue to work on the main streets, but he hopes to get into most of the neighborhoods overnight so ice doesn't become a problem.
"Our biggest concern is as the temperature begins to drop, there could be some real icing conditions developing overnight," he said. "We'll be all out and trying to de-ice all night long ahead of the morning commute."
But the snow is continuing to impact travel. Roads are beginning to stack up as travel times soar above their average times, according to WSDOT travel times.
For those seeking protection from the weather, Bellevue's severe weather shelter at the Crossroads Community Center will be open beginning at 8:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The shelter, located at 16000 NE 10th St., accommodates 50 individuals and is run by the Eastside Interfaith Social Concerns Council. For more information, the council can be reached at 425-614-8544.

It's Still Coming Down

Seattle, Jane Calbreath Dec. 2010

As the day went on in Seattle and Eastside Neighborhoods, the snow continued to fall.  Drivers and People on foot were slipping on icy roadways and sidewalks.  As I look out the window in Bellevue at 9:23pm I can see the snow isn't seeming to let up.  If you are out in the weather, please bundle up and stay warm, remember that as the wind blows it causes the temperature to drop even more against your exposed skin.

HERE IT COMES!

Light flakes of snow visited Bellevue on Sunday afternoon, not sticking here on Richards Road, but makingthe day pretty.

Craig Groshart, Bellevue Reporter

Magnolia manse inspires a designer to move and compromise

By Rebecca Teagarden

photographed by Mike Siegel

BETTER BUCKLE up, because we're going over to Kelly Rivelo's. And I'm betting, based on the previous homes of this crazy-for-interior-designing woman, that Kelly Rivelo has more energy than all of us put together.  "This house is a bottomless pit of want/need," she says.  Uh-oh.
"The kitchen was bad. Really bad. The ceiling was falling down. There were rats. It was a foreclosure on its way to being condemned when the previous owners bought it."  Rivelo is standing in what is now the charming French-country kitchen of her latest personal project. Another stately brick home in Magnolia with water/city views. And from this, her fourth residence in that neighborhood in 16 years, Rivelo could rappel down to Palisade for dinner. If she so desired.
When we last visited Rivelo it was in another stately brick, just down the road, the old Blackstock Lumber family manse. She spent a fair amount of time scraping, rebuilding, papering, painting, tiling, carpeting and pampering that house into perfection.
And then she went to an open house.
"A Realtor friend of mine called and said, 'Kelly, I think you should see this house. It's just coming on the market.' I told her, 'I am not going to buy another house.' But I went. As I got to the bottom of the steps the owner saw me, grabbed my hands in hers and said, 'I know you're going to be the one to buy my house. And I want you to be the one to buy my house.' "
Can't fight fate.
Rivelo bought the house in 2007 and set out to make it her own. This is a woman who goes both ways: loves "The Great Gatsby" and "Me Talk Pretty One Day," classical music and Cheap Trick. Is a fan of the Facebook page "I'm not cranky, you're annoying." In other words, she has a wild sense of great taste.
But Rivelo has remarried, and her husband, Dr. Bill El-Kawa, is a contemporary man who does not share his wife's taste for eclectic-country-traditional.
In compromise, "I've really toned down my drag-queen chic," she says, laughing. A magnet of drag-queen Divine reminds. It is stuck to the front of the royal-blue Lacanche in the expanded kitchen. But, still, there's a Carerra marble farm sink. Matching custom zinc counters and exhaust-fan hood (crafted by Christopher Lee Plummer of CLP Designs, flown in from Pennsylvania).
The home, designed by Joseph Cote, was built in 1915 for Charles L. Hibbard in 6,800 square feet over three floors; three bedrooms, a den and five baths. Separate staircase for the servants. The backyard sits on two levels on more than half an acre. You can see it all Dec. 4 during this year's Magnolia Holiday Tour of Homes.
Yes, one 1940s bathroom with mint-green everything remains. But Rivelo is working her way through the square footage. Thirteen can lights in the master bedroom are gone.
This house has good energy and loves a crowd, Rivelo reports. "I can seat 25 in the dining room," she says. "Yeah, it's a party house." Case in point: Rivelo hosted a friend's wedding recently. Seventy-five people and a band. An anniversary party included 120 guests and another band.
"I put in two dishwashers. It's so easy to cook for parties. The kitchen closes off; it's great for caterers.
"I'm not moving again," she says with a big sigh. "I can't.
"Maybe France. For the winters."