Gig Harbor Undressed

Need landscaping help or excavating in Gig Harbor?

There are lots of reasons that Gig Harbor residents may need a little extra help with their landscaping.  Does your yard have a steep slope and you’d like it to be terraced?  Too much brush and unusable land on your property?  Trees fallen over and you need stumps removed?  Having drainage issues with all the rain?  Maybe you just want to beautify your home and add a walkway or reconfigure your driveway.

Whatever the reason, there is a new excavating company in Gig Harbor that can meet all of your needs, from removal of an old concrete patio to construction of a new water feature or rock wall.  Gig Harbor resident Tony Dulas recently opened Harbor Point Excavating here in Gig Harbor.  Tony and his family have lived in the Harbor for about a year and a half, and he has come to love this community.

His company motto is, “Specializing in small jobs, no job too big…”  Tony loves the one on one interaction he gets with his clients, and has therefore chosen to keep his business small so that he can stay hands on.  His tractor equipment is small enough to fit through most residential gates, maneuver well through tight places, has rubber tracks so as to make it suitable for many surfaces, and is strong enough to do some heavy work.

Tony is a Pierce County Firefighter as well, and has 20 years of experience in excavating, including land clearing, digging foundations, swimming pools, and driveway construction.  His main focus now is on the smaller residential jobs that the bigger companies simply don’t want to do.

In December of ‘06, my wife and I had a tree come crashing through our home, making a mess of our home, yard, and fence.  I tried renting a Bobcat to do the cleanup myself…didn’t work too well.  Those things are harder to maneuver than I had thought.  I definitely could have used Tony and Harbor Point Excavating at that time.  If you live in the Gig Harbor area and are looking for excavating, drainage repair, rock walls, grading, land clearing, brush clearing, etc., give Tony a call. 

Gig Harbor’s Friendly Residents

I used to walk my dog along the Gig Harbor waterfront nearly every morning.  A local resident, Mike, would walk the waterfront each morning as well, with a pocket full of dog treats (I know I’m not the only one who has met Mike in the mornings!).  He doesn’t have a dog with him, but he loves to give the dogs a treat (or in Sebastian’s case, multiple treats…the beggar). 

When my family and I moved to North Gig Harbor in July, I started walking Seb through Canterwood rather than the waterfront, since it was closer and just as nice in its own way.  Well, this morning I decided to take Seb walking on the waterfront again just for a change of pace.  Sure enough, not more than 4 minutes into our walk, we see Mike coming towards us with his familiar gait.

Seb started wiggling and whining when Mike was still 100 feet away.  Keep in mind Mike and I only know each other from our walks.  I’ve never seen him anywhere other than the waterfront on our morning walks.  Also keep in mind it’s been about 5 months since I’ve seen him.

While giving Seb a treat or two (or three), Mike asked if my wife had delivered our child yet, was she going back to teaching, etc.  I was impressed and honored that he even remembered my name (I was thankful I remembered his) much less all the details about my life.  Mike’s a great example of the friendliness of the folks in the Harbor.

When people are moving to Gig Harbor, or anywhere I suppose, they always want to know, “What are the people like?”  I know you can’t generalize, and Gig Harbor has its share of sour apples who aren’t the kindest, but for the most part, if you were to take a pulse of the Gig Harbor community, I think you’d have to agree that the majority of our residents are like Mike.  Genuine, sincere, and friendly.

I’d love to hear other stories of the folks you’ve met along the way in Gig Harbor.

Give Gig Harbor’s “The Great Australian Bite” Restaurant a Try!

A few months back, I posted a blog comparing Australia’s Gold Coast to Gig Harbor.   You may remember that there weren’t too many comparisons.  Well, I’ve just found another similarity.

A new restaurant, or cafe, recently opened on Gig Harbor’s waterfront.  The Great Australian Bite is a small Australian bakery that serves up big tastes.  When I was in Australia, I found that Aussies really treasure their meat pies.  The Great Australian Bite offers a better assortment of meat pies than anywhere I found in Australia.

You can choose from the standard beef pie, gourmet steak pie, chicken and asparagus, vegetable (I know that’s not meat), BBQ chicken and more.  Prices for the pies range from $1.60 for a mini pie to $18.00 for the family sized pie.  I enjoyed a great breakfast pie for only $3.75.  They also have sausage rolls, spinach rolls, great pastries, coffee, tea, espresso, and more. 

I strongly encourage you to take a beautiful walk along Gig Harbor’s waterfront and stop in for some great international food.  Gig Harbor isn’t exactly known for a great variety of foods, but The Great Australian Bite fills a nice niche for those looking for an inexpensive, tasty way to fill up!   Click here for a map to The Great Australian Bite.

Ooops…did I make the dessert photo the biggest?

Gig Harbor Real Estate’s Absorption Rate

Statistics don’t lie.  You can make them say just about anything you want, so they can be very deceiving, but they don’t lie.  Real estate is full of statistics.  One of the numbers that I find to be important is what is referred to as “Absorption Rate,” the rate at which the market could absorb all of the houses currently for sale.  To calculate this number, I look at how many homes are currently on the market, and divide that number by the number of homes that sell each month.  If, for example, there were 600 homes on the market, and 50 sold each month, it’d take 12 months for all 600 homes to sell (be absorbed). 

Looking specifically at Gig Harbor real estate, there are currently 517 homes on the market in Gig Harbor.  Averaging November and December’s numbers, we are selling 26 homes per month.  That means our absorption rate is 19.9 months.  If nobody else put their home on the market in Gig Harbor, and houses continued to sell at their current rate, it’d take essentially 20 months for all of the houses for sale in Gig Harbor to sell! 

That’s an important number to keep in mind when you are thinking of selling your home.  Does that mean that when you list your home, it’s going to take a year and a half to sell?  Of course not.   It means that you had better seriously consider your home’s condition, the price that you’re asking, and the terms that you’re willing to accept when you put your home on the market. 

Let’s say for example there are 25 homes on the market in the $385,000-$400,000 price range, the range you believe your house falls in.  If you put your house on the market and it’s not in pristine condition, or you price it at $399,900 because you’re sure it’s nicer than those other homes, chances are you’ll still be sitting on the market in several months because not only do you have the 20 months worth of absorption, but you’ve got new houses coming on the market each week pushing yours further back.  If on the other hand you have your house in tip-top shape, priced closer to the bottom of that price range, your house will be the one that attracts the buyers, leaving the other houses to wallow on the market longer.

20 months is a big number for an absorption rate.  It doesn’t mean houses aren’t selling and it doesn’t mean that you can’t get a good price for your home.  It simply means that you’d be wise to invest some time preparing your house for sale and researching the market to best price your home.  I’d be happy to share with you some tips that I’ve learned to make sure your home is in its best condition, and I’d be happy to give you a professional market evaluation to give you a good idea of what your home’s current value is.

Charting area home sales

One of my goals for ‘08 is to keep accurate, weekly charts of the Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, and Key Peninsula housing market and pass them on to you.  Ideally, at the end of the year you’ll have a nice line graph showing how many houses were listed for sale each week, how many homes went under contract each week, how many total homes were for sale as of that week, and how many total homes were under contract as of that week.  This will be for single family homes only, as the condo market in Gig Harbor is pretty scarce, as is the market for multi-family homes…you can ask me specifically if you’re interested in condos, multi-family, or vacant land.

For now, we’ll start with a basic bar graph since we only have one week to work with.  The charts below show the real estate activity for Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, and the Key Peninsula for the week ending January 6, 2008.  Please feel free to contact me for full information, more details, or to discuss what this all means.

A brief history of Gig Harbor

Most of the feedback that I get regarding this blog comes in one of two categories:

1. Great photos!
2. What a funny name for a website

I appreciate the love of the photos.  I have a great time taking them and have really enjoyed the submissions from my friends and readers.  I always assumed that people thought the “undressed” aspect of the name was what was funny, but I’m coming to learn that many people simply think that Gig Harbor is a funny name for a town.

Gig Harbor was given its name in 1841by Captain Charles Wilke.  During a storm he sailed his small “gig” into a little bay to find shelter, thus naming our little bay Gig Harbor.  If you’ve ever been out in the Tacoma Narrows during a storm, or even during a drastic tide change, you’d understand why Captain Wilke wanted to find shelter! 

Gig Harbor is well known for our drastic tide changes, fluctuating in mind boggling proportions at mind boggling rates daily.  There are times that I’ve been kayaking in the area and it feels like you’re on a calm lake, and then moments later you’re simply trying to keep your kayak upright, looking all around for the massive boat that just sped by creating the waves that are threatening to tip you over.  No massive speed boats, just our tides.  Hence the mascot of Gig Harbor High School…the Gig Harbor Tides.   Check out the two photos below for the difference in the waters between when the tides are changing and when the tides are stable.

I want to keep this history brief, or else I’d simply be stealing information from some other websites.  If you’d like to learn more about Gig Harbor’s fascinating history, you can visit the Gig Harbor Chamber’s site or the Gig Harbor History Museum’s site.

Seattle Seahawks? Nope…Gig Harbor Cormorants

A friend of mine sent me this picture this morning after reading my last post on the Gig Harbor Bird Watchers Club.  I figured it’d be fun to share the photo and use it as an excuse to write about the Seahawks. 

For the past week I couldn’t find one national football expert who would give the Seahawks a chance in yesterdays playoff game against the Redskins (from the other Washington).  All of ESPN’s anchors, player experts, and coach analysts, said the Redskins are both more inspired and more talented.  They all said Seattle wasn’t tested enough, their schedule was too weak.

For those of you who didn’t follow, the Seattle Seahawks (from the superior Washington) defeated the Redskins by 3 touchdowns.  May not have been a flawless game, but it was a big win none-the-less.

Now, take a look at the photo below.  Not to be confused with the Seattle Seahawks are the Gig Harbor Cormorants.  One of these birds appears to be walking on water, something many Seahawk fans think Matt Hasselbeck can do.  The Cormorants may not be as vicious as the Seahawks, they may not be as well known, but they’re beautiful birds in a beautiful place.  Maybe a good name for a local Pee-wee football team?

Gig Harbor’s best home value?

 There are hundreds of great homes for sale in Gig Harbor right now.  Real estate in the Gig Harbor area continues to sell despite what the news may try to tell you.  This particular home, listed by a partner at my Keller Williams office, may just be Gig Harbor’s best real estate value.   Built in ‘03, given some upgrades in ‘06, this nearly 2600 square foot home sits in Henderson Bay Heights, a highly sought after view neighborhood in Gig Harbor North.  This beautiful view home is listed for only $487,500!  For more details on the home, or to request a private viewing, please email me at mthomson@kw.com or call me at 253-226-7595.

Gig Harbor Bird Watchers Club

Okay, there’s not really a club that I’m aware of, but the last time I put in a post about a bird in Gig Harbor, it drew several comments so I’m naming us the unofficial Bird Watching Club of Gig Harbor.  You may remember I posted a blog asking about an odd bird I spotted in the Harbor.   Well, I was back at the same spot today watching this bird hold her wings open for several minutes (is she protecting the smaller birds in the water below her?)…

when I saw our old friend at the other end of the structure.  I don’t have a clue what any of these birds are, but they’re fun to watch!

Gig Harbor’s weather is one of 3 reasons why today is my lucky day

I knew right off the bat that today was going to be good.  I got up early to feed my 3 month old daughter and spend an hour or so with her, then I got to take my dog out for a walk on a cool, cloudy, morning.  Then I opened my emails and it became clear…today is my lucky day.

1. I got an email from the Treasurer of the United States apologizing for the delay and announcing that they have finally recovered my ATM card stocked with $7.5M!  All I needed to do was provide them with my SSN and driver’s license number to verify I am who they think I am, and I’m $7.5M richer!
2. I got an email from a relative of the Prince of Senegal informing me that he had just inherited $500,000, of which he only wants $75,000.  All he needs to do is deposit the full $500,000 in a valid US bank account and the money is his.  He chose me, of all the people in the US, to be the owner of that account.  All I have to do is give him my bank account number and some other info, and he’ll deposit the $500k in my acct, pull out his $75k, and I’m left with $425k!  That’s just shy of $8M this morning!
3. This is the only one of the 3 reasons that actually made me think I was truly fortunate.  I live in this beautiful area, with a beautiful wife and a beautiful little girl and a great dog, surrounded by great friends, supported by a great church, and I have a great job. 

Most of the questions that I get regarding Gig Harbor fall into one of two categories:

1. Is there really any affordable housing?
2. Is the weather really as bad as I’ve heard?

I’ve answered the first question (Yes!) in previous posts on this blog.  My answer to the 2nd question (NO!) can be evidenced by these photos.  Yes it rains here, but no you don’t need an ark to get around.  The rain is gentle, it’s sporadic, and the “sun breaks” (a favorite term of our local weathermen) are beautiful.  Gig Harbor’s weather is tough on some, as it is cold and wet through much of the winter and spring.  You can’t beat the weather in Gig Harbor during the summer and fall months, by the way. 

If you’re thinking of moving to the area, buy a little Gortex rain clothing and come and enjoy one of the most beautiful places you’ll ever see.