Real Estate in Whatcom County
Permalink +Tue, Oct 12, 2010, 11:54 am // Kamalla Rose Kaur
Julie Carpenter
I recently met up with my friend Julie Carpenter at the Book Fare Cafe on the top floor of Village Books to learn more about the real estate market here in Whatcom County. Julie is a graduate of Fairhaven College and works as a real estate Broker with RE/MAX.
"How long have you been a real estate agent and what was the market like in Whatcom County when you started out?" I asked her as we sat at a table by the window, overlooking Fairhaven's Village Green.
"I’ve been selling real estate for more than fifteen years," Julie replied. "In the past, many Canadians had second homes here because houses used to be cheap in Whatcom County. But when I started, Canadians were selling their second homes. Now, word on the street is that they are buying again. Bellingham back then, as now, is the preferred residential area, with Ferndale trying hard to attract business and permit growth. Birch Bay, Sudden Valley, Kendall and Glacier formerly had more seasonal residents and visitors. Now those areas are predominantly settled by full time residents."
“When did folks start moving here in droves?” I asked.
"We had a bump in sales in the years after Expo. Some people hope for a similar bump from people who liked what they saw when they came for the recent Winter Olympics."
"Not me!" I complained. "I'm a typical native. I keep wondering who all these people are and why they seem to like California strip malls? Why move to the Puget Sound if you want it to look and feel like California?"
Julie laughed. "We’ve certainly had many people join us from California - where they were able to sell high, and then venture here and buy low. People moving here from other places have done that too. It’s the reason behind our double-digit appreciation years right up to the recent crash. They had big down payments or were able to pay cash. We had multiple offers, bidding wars and increased home prices."
"Damn," I mumbled mutinously.
A handsome young waiter checked in with us. We both ordered herbal ice tea and took a moment to study the menu
Julie continued, "Bellingham, and by extension, Whatcom County, have been named in several magazines as among the ‘top ten’ best places to live. But that isn't all bad. Maybe we have attracted more kayakers, boaters, bikers, hikers, retired folks and business people. Those are pretty desirable neighbors, I’d say."
"Sure," I agreed a bit sullenly. "Nature lovers naturally wish to protect the environment, and hopefully Puget Sound culture, and they’re probably less likely to Californicate everything. And maybe business people can create jobs here. That would be an improvement."
"There’s been a big influx of retirees,” Julie said. “Bellingham was featured in AARP magazine as one of the best places to retire. One of my clients summed it up best. He said, ‘If you have a brain and a computer and you want to live near a university and a hospital on the west coast with a mild climate, you’ll pretty much have to live in Bellingham.”
"So all these newcomers, what do you make of them?" I asked.
"What's impressed me about the newcomers is that they seem to really appreciate what we have here, and many of them are working to protect it. They are serving as volunteers, donating to local charities, offering classes, opening businesses, sharing their success and abilities in a variety of ways which enrich our community. People move here who can move anywhere they wish, and they bring their own business or mobile employment with them that they can operate 'clean & green' from their home. One of my arbitrary personal measurements of the desirability of a community is how many Thai restaurants there are. We used to have one, then two, now we have seven or more."
"Thai food is good," I said. "And clean businesses because, again, we certainly need more jobs. I've wondered what all these newcomers do for a living in Whatcom County."
Julie sighed, "One troubling trend I’ve noticed is that many people who need jobs came here and bought homes before they found employment. They were maybe expecting an abundance of high paying jobs that simply don’t exist in our job market. Many people have used the proceeds of the sale of their previous home to live on. When that’s gone, and they still haven’t found employment, there’s trouble."
"Yikes!” I exclaimed.
Our waiter returned and took our orders.
“You think people will keep moving here?" I wondered.
"I predict we’ll experience a continued influx of people moving to the Pacific Northwest. As increased population and the resulting traffic, pollution and crime affect the rest of the country and world, we’ll see more well-off refugees choosing to move here. Global climate changes are accelerating, and they will be a big factor in residential migration. People will keep moving here from the too cold, too much snow places: Alaska, Montana, the Northeast coast; and people will keep moving here from the too hot, too stormy areas: Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, Louisiana and Florida, among others. Our prices are still relatively low compared to other 'Left Coast' areas.”
“So now Pacific Northwesterners get to face the overpopulation and resulting traffic and crime,” I said. “And what happens to the amazing delicate Puget Sound eco-system?”
“Our natural resources continue to be the ‘bank’ we tend to take for granted. Clean air, clean water, healthy soils, plants and animals, unpolluted oceans - we feel we can rely upon the natural environment, but each of those resources is now compromised by both local and global impacts of pollution. The science describing this is indisputable. We have far more people living in ignorance, barely making it, and breeding, than we have folks cleaning up the planet. Business as usual just isn’t sustainable for life anymore, that’s why we need unpopular restrictions to come from government as well as each of us taking more responsibility for not soiling our own nest.”
“Unpopular restrictions?” I asked.
“When we insist through government that we and industry run clean transportation, clean power , etc. and give incentives so businesses and individuals can afford to make the necessary tech upgrades, the environment wins. Preserving the natural environment requires putting curbs on what people can do, including building houses.” Julie told me. “Preserving the opportunity for home ownership, one of our core American values, means land and homes have to be affordable. Government performs a balancing act. The more you restrict what can be done, the higher the cost. As seen elsewhere, soon only the wealthiest folks moving here will be able to buy and build homes.”
“Which ruins and changes Pacific Northwest culture. Rich people build on the hills so they have their views - of the islands and mountains, and the view of poor people below them.” I groused.
“I think one way we need handle new residents is to find ways to welcome influential people who value and will help protect our ecology and bring “Green jobs” with livable wages with them.” Julie replied. “We need to make sure the additional people don’t ‘love it to death’ by their very existence. Legislating and funding to support birth control, smart building and infill, environmental education, waste reduction and recycling, smart transportation, pollution controls, it all must be done. And of course, most of us want government to be smaller, to preserve all of our freedoms, and to do all these things and more without raising taxes!
“You’re also in favor of Americans owning our own houses.” I said.
“Yes, I see the decrease in home ownership vs. rental in our areas as a step backwards in our community development. When a majority of people own homes, when we have ‘skin in the game’ We’re more committed to our community. And, environmentally, when we own our homes, we tend to take care of them with long term preservation in mind. When we can afford garbage & recycling services, we keep the place clean.
“What about jobs in Whatcom County?” I asked Julie next. “If we’re going to be home owners we need to have good paying jobs here.”
“The largest employers in our area- the County, the cities, the university and the hospital- all operate largely from funds from the rest of us. The other big industrial employers like Intalco are struggling as cheap power, cheap water, abundant financing and weak regulations disappear.”
“Like Georgia Pacific.” I said.
“Georgia Pacific was a dinosaur industry that people were afraid to lose. When they laid off hundreds of people, most stayed here. They valued living in our area more than they valued leaving to pursue a similar job elsewhere. Contrary to dire predictions, when GP left, the local economy and housing market did not perish. Independent people operating small businesses are the key to a healthy diversified local economy, versus being a ‘company town’ subject to the devastating effects of the failure of one mega business or industry.”
“See any new job growth happening?” I asked.
“The next jobs coming from development may be on the waterfront in Bellingham, although finding businesses with funds to invest in a ‘start up’ location will be challenging. I hope we see our economy grow to better serve the increasing population of elders.”
Our food arrived. We ate quietly for a spell before I launched another question.
“So how has the recession affected Bellingham-Whatcom County real estate market?”
“Our prices have dropped, and we would love to have more buyers. The decrease in home sales and resulting massive decrease in excise tax funds going to the County General Fund have made a huge impact in the county budget, affecting employment and a variety of public services.”
“How do we compare to the rest of the country?”
“We’ve dropped way down in our number of transactions, just like the rest of the United States, and our prices have dropped, though not as much as bargain hunters seem to hope for. Houses well priced statistically are still selling at 96%-99% of listed price. Lately, brokers are trading horror stories about would-be buyers, some from other areas, who appear to be watching too many real estate infomercials, or reading how-to-get-rich-quick books. Not many sellers are going to be happy with an offer that’s 50% or 75% of the listing price, but we’re seeing more of this fishing for bargains.”
“Are there any big bargains?” I asked.
“Mechanisms are in place for institutional owners like banks and real estate holding companies to sell at deep discounts. Those discounted sales have become a small but significant portion of the market. They have certainly created the illusion that everything is on 'fire sale' but it’s not.”
“What’s the normal situation?”
“Most sellers have a mortgage, most pay it reliably, and most will not be selling their home for less than what they owe. Many, many sellers want to move, but don’t have to, and are waiting for things to improve before they list their homes. The so called 'shadow market' of houses about to be foreclosed upon is also backed by this possibly even larger 'shadow market' of solvent sellers who will be putting their homes on the market when demand increases again.”
“Sounds like a great time to buy.”
“Yes.” Julie agreed “We have historic low rates. If you can qualify for a loan, it’s a great time to buy. It’s just not a great time to sell.”
“You think the market will pick up again?”
“Absolutely.” Julie told me. “I can’t think of a place that has better prospects for long term appreciation, or that is a better place to live. We’ve got our own slice of ‘Ecotopia’ here.”
“How can people with lower incomes hope to buy homes, now or in the future?”
“Kulshan Community Land Trust for several years now has worked to help people become homeowners, placing those homes into a permanently affordable protected status. They've also secured funding and brought those dollars into our community to build new units. They are working on preliminary stages of the next new houses now, planned for the Birchwood area near Bellingham Technical College. And The People's Land Trust owns several cooperative houses in Bellingham.” Julie informed me. “Also Habitat for Humanity and Whatcom Self-Help homes, two other non-profits dedicated to affordable housing are also making a difference, one home and household at a time.”
“How about intentional communities?”
“We have a few intentional communities locally, some with multiple households. There's the Evergreen Land Trust, owner of River Farm and properties in other counties. There are a growing number of county properties where people are joining together to work small farms.”
"Nice."
“We have a number of innovative housing arrangements in our area. For example, for many years we have had group or cooperative households. Many of these houses have names, histories and permanent residents who've welcomed and housed a large number of roommates over the years. Shared housing has the benefit of using existing homes and being the most flexible and affordable. It's the original ‘infill’ and it provides ‘community’ versus living in isolation.”
“I live in a historic and named house like that.” I said. “What about co-housing?”
Julie nodded, “The co-housing model provides for group planning & design and start up funding, along with individual home ownership including a ‘share’ of community or common features. The Bellingham Co Housing group on Donovan used this European model for community development. They built new construction and also remodeled an existing shared building that has a big kitchen, guest room, office and large group meeting room with a separate shared woodshop. And there's a new co-housing group that’s building on the south side. There’s a lot of interest in intentional community living, particularly if private home ownership is involved. Funding seems to be the main stumbling block.”
“What about the law on the books that prohibits too many unrelated people from living together?” I asked.
“It makes no sense to me that many people will outwardly support the idea of ‘infill’ but also oppose ‘unrelated people’ living together.” Julie exclaimed. “It makes no sense that City regulations attempt to prevent the remodeling and use of garages or other outbuildings as living spaces. In the 80's rental housing for students was hard to find. We shared houses, fixed up garages and sheds and basements and attics, and the majority of us did not become a nuisance to our neighbors. We need incentives to create additional living spaces in existing residential areas, not regulations preventing it.”
“What are your best wishes for the county?” I asked Julie.
“Oh so many things!” she replied with a sigh.
“Like what?”
“I hope for more creative employers like Sustainable Connections, relative newcomers who’ve made a huge positive impact networking on behalf of sustainability. Their mission of helping businesses to develop ‘green practices’ is critically important. We need to bridge the gaps instead of just preaching to the choir of like minded environmentalists.”
“What else?”
“I’d love to see more organic farm and food related businesses thrive, in part because of the food security of having them as nearby as possible. I hope to see the long term non-profit “Re Sources” continue to thrive, and I hope that they can continue the recycle hot line and expand their building materials recycling and other services.”
“How about new jobs?”
“I’d love to see some big geeky high tech environmentally progressive business move here. One that could employ all the wonderful computer-oriented folks and that would boost our government and school programs with virtually harm-free tax dollars. It would boost our non-profit initiatives with donations from well-off, highly educated employees who care about preserving our area.”
“Development?”
“I’d love to see a substantial part of the downtown waterfront development in open space, with native plants and grass, protected wildlife areas, greenbelts and of course, a great trail running along the water the whole way around Bellingham Bay. And more green built homes of all kinds.
“Me too!”
“I’d love to see Huxley College and the Vehicle Research Institute, and other science departments of Western Washington University become global leaders in education, research and development and I’d love to watch them create multiple lucrative patents in their respective fields. If we could only find good uses for mold, moss, and gray skies!” Julie exclaimed. “I’d love to see a local green job waiting for each of their graduates.”
“Don’t forget land conservancy.” I urged.
“Yes! I support preservation of ecologically valuable land by the Whatcom Land Trust and encourage everyone to donate to them. I’m so pleased every time I see the map of properties they’ve protected. I don’t think anyone in the future will be sorry that this generation preserved wilderness habitats, open spaces, farm land, and public park land!”
We paid our bills and prepared to leave the cafe.
“Anything else, Julie?” I queried.
“I wish everyone would make support for global population control part of their ‘family values’ and political mission, to help reverse exponential population growth. The root cause of most pollution and many other problems we struggle with is that there are too many humans – we’ve gotten just smart enough to cause problems on a global scale. It’s time to evolve further and to solve them.”
Comments (1)
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Dick Conoboy // Wed, Oct 20, 2010, 9:46 am
?It makes no sense to me that many people will outwardly support the idea of ?infill? but also oppose ?unrelated people? living together.? Julie exclaimed. ?It makes no sense that City regulations attempt to prevent the remodeling and use of garages or other outbuildings as living spaces. In the 80’s rental housing for students was hard to find. We shared houses, fixed up garages and sheds and basements and attics, and the majority of us did not become a nuisance to our neighbors. We need incentives to create additional living spaces in existing residential areas, not regulations preventing it.?
The idea of infill is good, if it is controlled. What we have in Bellingham is a free-for-all where over 50% (17,000) of our housing units are rentals. In single family, low density areas increasing infill has meant illegal accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and rental of homes to large groups of students and other unrelated residents with modest incomes. The city seems incapable or unwilling to enforce its codes. Only about 71 ADUs in the city are registered as required by law, a risible number. As for the number of unrelated people in a single family rental, the city is equally incapable of enforcing its own statutes. Nor does it seem to have the courage to take the law off the books (which I am not advocating).
It is now a crap shoot for homeowners who may find their block turning to rentals. Ms. Carpenter should know, as a real estate professional, that large numbers of uncontrolled illegal rooming houses on a street tends to invite physical deterioration and the change in neighborhood character which in the long run will depress home values as homeowners sell out and flee to outlying neighborhoods. A good example of this is Magnolia Hills which has turned into a horror show of rentals. My own street (a cul-de-sac) with 12 homes had four rentals on it when I purchased the property in 2002. (As a newcomer to Bellingham I was not aware that the city did not enforce its rental code.) Two of these homes are now owned by single families and the change in the neighborhood is palpable.
A good part of the problem lies with Western Washington University and its policy over the last several decades of not building any dormitories whatsoever and leaving it to the city to absorb increasing numbers of students, now numbering 8,000, (not to mention those from WCC and BTC) each year. I sympathize with the students who look for good affordable housing by grouping together to lower costs. The sad effect overall is an upward pressure on rental rates since a group of single renters can afford to spend more in the aggregate than a single family of modest means for whom an equal rent is out of the question.
Of equal concern, but not related to the issue of density (ADUs and illegal rooming houses) is the condition of these rentals and the health and safety of the occupants. One would think that the real estate agents would be clamoring for safe rental housing as a professional issue for unsafe housing reflects on them, too, as many agents offer rentals as part of their services. It seems odd that real estate agents, as individuals, and their offices must be licensed professionally through the various local associations of Realtors? and locally through the City of Bellingham while rental property owners (the self-described ?rental industry?) need not be licensed - nor are their properties subject to inspection.
So my question to Ms. Carpenter is, “When are the Realtors? going to step up to the plate and support controlled infill and safe rental housing?”
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Post-Oklahoman Confessions
The American Telegraph
Quiet, offline or dead
David HackworthGitmo prisoner 345
Mega Awesome
Not in my county
Parkenfarker
Pro-Whatcom