Archive for March, 2008

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03

Ciscoe at Peninsula Gardens in Gig Harbor

Posted by Matt Thomson 2 Comments »

I’m definitely not a green thumb.  About the only thing I can consistently keep green is the moss in my yard.  One of the advantages of living in Gig Harbor is our climate pretty much grows things on its own.  I have rhododendrons, roses, lavender, and other plants that I either don’t know their names or can’t spell and pronounce them that seem to grow year after year, regardless of my ignorance.  And blackberries?  I’ve got gorgeous, plump, sweet blackberries all around me and I don’t have to do a thing!

Many of you are more serious about gardening, however, and may be looking for a place to get some answers.  Gig Harbor's Peninsula GardensFor the first time in my 11 years here, I visited Peninsula Gardens this weekend.  I didn’t go there to find plants or answers to my mole problems, I went there to see Ciscoe.  If you’ve never experienced Gardening with Ciscoe, I encourage you to click on the video below.  You can’t help but laugh and become enthused about plants when you watch this guy.

Ciscoe was at Peninsula Gardens doing a live radio broadcast and seminar for local gardeners.  Not being a gardener myself, but just thinking Ciscoe is a great personality, I stopped by to take a visit.  Peninsula Gardens is HUGE.  I had no idea of how big of a nursery it was.  Every plant, gardening tool, water feature, statues, anything you want for your garden was there, as well as an Espresso and sandwich shop…you gotta love the Northwest! 

Ciscoe in Gig HarborI wasn’t able to talk with Ciscoe as the crowd was pretty good sized and they were actually charging to ask questions, so I didn’t learn anything other than how big Peninsula Gardens is.  So if you’re looking for gardening tips, this blog is the wrong place to visit.  Try visiting Ciscoe’s website.  You’ll find a lot more answers there than I could ever even make up.  If you’re looking for a fun pick-me-up and you’ve never seen Ciscoe on TV, take a look at the video below.  You’ll learn a cool trick for composting your food and yard scraps here in the Northwest and get a good laugh as well!

Gardening with Ciscoe

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03

Gig Harbor Real Estate Market–Weekly Review

Posted by Matt Thomson No Comments »

Every Monday I like to take a close look at the real estate trends in Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, and the Key Peninsula.  I track the home sale and home listing numbers weekly and truly enjoy looking for trends and indicators in our local real estate market.

Looking at the following graphs it’s not too hard to see what the Gig Harbor real estate market is doing.  You can see week by week more and more homes being listed.  At the same time, the number of homes that are pending sales is also increasing, but at a much slower rate, thus our home inventory continues to climb. 

New homes on the market each week

Total homes for sale

Total homes with sales pending

The numbers tell the story here.  More and more homes continue to be listed for sale in Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, and the surrounding areas, and the sales, while still rising, are not keeping up.  What is confusing to me is that we keep hearing that this is a ”buyer’s market,” yet where are the buyers?  If you are considering a move to Gig Harbor, now’s a great time to start looking.  If you’re thinking that things haven’t bottomed out yet, you’re probably right.  It doesn’t hurt to start looking now, and if you find the home of your dreams, make an offer!

For full reports or questions about the Gig Harbor real estate market, please give me a call or shoot me an email.