What’s the recipe for a perfect place to live? For those who call Bainbridge Island home, it would be this: a close-knit community surrounded by water and the scenic beauty of two mountain ranges, just a short ferry ride to a fantastic city. Some of the elements that make Bainbridge special are easily defined: a top school system, numerous parks, great health care, a variety of shopping and restaurants and an active arts community. Other things are less tangible: community events like summer concerts in the park and the 4th of July parade, being on a first name basis with your postal carrier, and spending time catching up with friends in the aisles in the hub of the community, the Town & Country market.
Whether you are thinking of making Bainbridge your home or you are already living the dream, Bainbridgeagent.com (along with me, the Bainbridge Agent!) is your resource for real estate information.
June 21st, 2009
Who Cares? We do!!
It could just be my super-duper-Bainbridge bias, but it seems to me that people on our little island not only care deeply about this community, but in additona to “talking the talk” they also “walk the walk.” A few examples that strike me how entrenched giving is here follow.
Bainbridge Island Rotary Auction and Rummage Sale
Each year, this event raises hundreds of thousand of dollars ($353,000 in 2008) that help support the mission of the nonprofit Rotary organization. For instance, this year 11 Bainbridge high school students were awarded scholarships for ongoing education. The scholarships are awarded to students who exhibit “Service Above Self,” an important theme for Rotary.
Save Our Teachers Campaign
School districts across the state are facing deep budget cuts, and Bainbridge is no exception. Earlier this spring, 17 teaching positions were eliminated due to lack of funding. The Bainbridge Schools Foundation went right to work to get the word out about the cuts, what impact they could have on education, and what the community can do to help. From rummage sales to car washes to individual donations, money has been pouring into the foundation to help recall the teachers who lost jobs.
Montessori Country School Rummage Sale
This amazing pre-school and kindergarten is where my oldest daughter has spent the past two years learning and thriving. Acknowledging that the current economy has been hard on many islanders, the school (with the driving force of one parent in particular) organized a rummage sale that yesterday raised $5600 for scholarships.
There are many other examples of giving that happens every day on BI. I feel fortunate to live in a place where people don’t look the other way when there is a need - they face it head on and with energy, enthusiasm and caring.
June 17th, 2009
New Sound & Mountain View Listing for Under $600K
It’s been a while since a custom-built, nearly-new house with views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains could be had on Bainbridge for under $600,000.
A new listing on Parkview Drive in one of the sunniest spots on the island has it all: views, size (2823 square feet), 4 bedrooms, beautiful landscaping, and yes, a “man cave”. What, you may ask, is a man cave? It is a place where men go to be men: play video games, watch Caddy Shack, or tie flies. While this special room is fairly plush for a man cave (it has central heat and nice carpet) it meets the basic design needs: tucked away in the basement level where the man of the house can pretend he does not hear the calls to please mow the lawn or help with the dishes.
All jokes aside, this is one heck of a nice house. The light is phenomenal, it is on a smaller lot but feels private, and there is a lot to the rear of the house that can be included with the property for just $40,000.
For a gallery of additonal photos, click here: http://www.windermere.com/tid260388 or call or email me with any questions. The house will be open for the public to view this Sunday, June 21st, from 1-4pm. The man cave will be open in honor of Father’s Day.
May 21st, 2009
Treehouse Architect - How Cool is THAT?!?
One thing I like about living on this island is how it seems to attract creative people. A talented architect I know (Craden Henderson) has been designing and building treehouses for organizations and private families. Talk about a dream job!
There is also a great photo gallery showing the treehouse being built. http://gallery.me.com/sherwoodrodney/100099 I am just so amazed by this. Growing up, we slapped a piece of plywood between some tree branches, nailed some pieces of two by four to the trunk for a “ladder” and called it good. Craden takes it to a new level - and he has so much energy and enthusiasm for it!
April 8th, 2009
Stats 101
Today, I looked at some basic statistics to measure how the single family home market is holding up on Bainbridge. In the news and anecdotally, I am beginning to hear that there are some bright spots. My amazing mother, who has been a broker in Massachusetts for 25 years, has said that she believes her market (Sagamore Beach, on Cape Cod) has turned the corner. (Well, this comes from the woman with the Midas Touch. She is successful in ANY market.) Here are some numbers…
Single Family Residences
# Sales YTD (1/1/09 - 4/9/09)
2008 39
2009 38
It is nice to see we are holding pace, and with a flurry of activity in the past month (33 single family homes pending sale) it looks to me to be, at the very least, not negative news.
I also like to see how Windermere/BI stands. Are we doing a good job for our clients in difficult times? I looked at how long our properties are taking to sell and how much our clients are getting as a percentage of their final listed price, versus the market as a whole. These numbers were astounding:
Days on Market*, Single Family Homes (1/1/09 - 4/9/09)
Windermere 63
All Brokerages 134
Selling Price as a Percentage of Final Listed Price, Single Family Homes
Windermere 99.84%
All Brokerages 95.93%
This just goes to show that being well-prepared, appropriate pricing, and professional marketing do make a difference. This is where I should thank the team we have at Windermere/BI (you know who you are!) who make sure our marketing materials, advertising, and web presence are the best.
*Days on Market = List Date to Pending Sale
March 26th, 2009
Jumbo News
Even thought the median price of homes sold on Bainbridge in the last 6 months was $530,000, the median price of the 225 homes listed for sale is $795,000. While the market under $600,000 has remained healthy relative to the rest of the market, sales have limped along in the higher price ranges. This is in no small part due to the lack of availaility of money in the jumbo loan market. Jumbo loans (anything over the conforming amount of $417,000) have been more difficult to get and more expensive since the sub-prime meltdown. Good news came out this week from two banks that are entering the jumbo market with reasonable rates: Bank of America and ING. (See 3/29/09 Seattle Times article). It will be months before we see the effect, but in theory this would help energize market like ours where there is a large percentage of inventory for which jumbo loans are necessary.