Gig Harbor Undressed

Gig Harbor, WA–A Photographer’s Paradise

If you’ve ever read my blog before, it should come as no surprise that I love Gig Harbor.  I love Washington, but Gig Harbor especially.  I also love photography.  Maybe because Gig Harbor is such a great place for photography has something to do with why I love it here so much.  I’m not the only photographer (and I’m certainly not the best) who has fallen in love with our area.  Here are two pictures taken in the Gig Harbor area that I was given permission to share.

My friend John Pleau captured this otter snacking on an eel in the waters off of Gig Harbor.  He’s an amazing photographer, and maintains a Gig Harbor photography blog you should check out.

I found this Gig Harbor sunrise picture on Flickr, courtesy of FunnyFence.  He has some of the most remarkable sunrise and sunset pictures you’ll ever see.  You should check out his Flickr page.

Please remember that these guys spend a lot of time and money on their photographs.  They have copyrights on their pictures and I have posted them here with permission.  Please respect their talents and enjoy the pictures but respect their copyrights.

Doggie CPR Class in Gig Harbor

Everybody who reads this blog or knows me at all knows that I love my dog.  Anybody who has ever visited Gig Harbor on a sunny day knows that Gig Harbor is a dog’s paradise, and the residents of Gig Harbor love their dogs too. 

Here is an email I got from a reader with some information on a dog CPR class that will be held in Gig Harbor.

Our Best Friend, Gig Harbor’s premier doggie day care center and boutique, will offer a canine first aid and CPR class on Saturday, June 28 from 10 a.m.-12 noon.  The instructor is Ron Quincey, a local firefighter certified by the American Red Cross as a canine first aid instructor.

Participants will receive an American Red Cross certification upon class completion.  Limited spots are available on a first-come basis at $10 per person, and preregistration is required.  For more information and to sign up, call Our Best Friend at 253-302-2831

I’ll admit that I’ve not been to this class or to the Our Best Friend Doggie Day Care in Gig Harbor, but it sounds like a great opportunity.

Gig Harbor community seeks to empower teens

I had the opportunity this morning to attend a meeting at the Gig Harbor Civic Center that was hosted by Gig Harbor Community Service Officer Lynn Mock.  About 19 folks were in attendance to discuss how we can help teens empower themselves and overcome the underage drinking and drug problem in our community.

There is a great 4-part series coming up for the youths of Gig Harbor to learn how to empower themselves.  All classes will run from 10-11am, and be followed by a FREE lunch!  What better way to get the kids of Gig Harbor together than free food?  It is requested that you RSVP for the classes.  The classes will be:

• Drug/Alcohol Prevention/Awareness-Monday June 23
• Internet Safety–Monday July 14
• Bullying–Monday July 21
• School Safety–Monday August 18

All four of these classes will then be broken down into one 2-hour class for parents that will be held Monday, August 18th from 6-8pm.  This is a great way for kids to learn to empower themselves, and for parents to get the education and support they need to encourage and protect their kids.  For more information, contact Lynn Mock at the Gig Harbor Police Department…253-853-2426 or mockl@cityofgigharbor.net

Waterfront properties in Gig Harbor

Each Monday I like to take a look at the local real estate market.  Inspired by the sunny, warm weather (and my wife, who gave me the idea), I thought I’d give you a glimpse into the world of waterfront properties in Gig Harbor.

To look at waterfront properties, I broke Gig Harbor into 3 areas: Gig Harbor (Downtown, Artondale, Horsehead Bay, Cromwell, etc), Fox Island, and Key Peninsula.  These are just salt-water waterfront homes, so lake front homes are not included.  (For a full list of lake-front homes in the area, and there are several, please contact me and I’ll be happy to get that for you).

As you can see from the chart below, there is no shortage of waterfront homes in our area.  The quality of waterfront varies greatly, however.  Some are stuck in tidal mudlands, while others are right on the open Puget Sound.  Some have a few feet of shared beach, others have hundreds of feet of private beach.  Some face west, others east.  Some are way out on the Peninsula, miles from anywhere, others are on Gig Harbor Bay.  Prices range from $174,950 to $4.8M!  There are also 11 waterfront condos (10 in Gig Harbor, 1 on Fox Island) that are currently for sale ranging from $269,950-$2M. 

I currently have one waterfront home listed for sale.  129′ of sandy beach, 1500+sf home (3bd, 1ba) on over an acre with incredible views of Vashon Island, Mt Rainier, Pt Defiance, and the Puget Sound.  At $750,000 we are well  below the median price range for waterfront houses in Gig Harbor.  For information on this house or any other waterfront homes in the area, please feel free to contact me.  It’s my job and my pleasure to help folks accomplish their goals of selling waterfront properties and help folks achieve their dreams of owning a waterfront home in Gig Harbor (or Fox Island, or Key Peninsula!).

My first Father’s Day

My first Father’s Day has come and gone.  Well, my first Father’s Day as a father.  I mean, my first Father’s Day as a father of a human.  And what a day it was.  At about 6:15 this morning, while my soon to be 9-month old daughter and my wife still slept, my soon to be 9-year old son (some call him a dog) came and woke me up. 

Sebastian and I went for our morning run jog/walk through Canterwood.  The sun was up, Seb got to swim in their pond, it was a good morning.  We then got ready to go to church at Believer’s Fellowship, and while church is fine, my little girl wasn’t too excited to be there.  She was grumpy.

After her afternoon nap, we went for a little walk through Gig Harbor.  We walk up Harborview Street, through the Autumn Crest condos, and back down to our car.  Amazing how in our little town you can go for a 3 mile walk and have incredible views of the Puget Sound, Mt Rainier, and walk through a nice forest as well.  It was great to see how many folks were out walking downtown Gig Harbor, and how many boats were sailing through the Sound.

We then picked up some meat from Harbor Greens (teriyaki tri-tip for $5.99/lb!) and had ourselves a nice little BBQ.  The only downer to the day is that the Mariners lost, but that’s becoming so common place it’s almost not even disappointing anymore.  I hope your Father’s Day was as good as mine!

Watching Daddy BBQ

New law meant to protect homeowners…doesn’t

Washington, like 17 other states, has just passed a law that is designed to protect homeowners who may be in some financial difficulties from scam artists trying to take their home and their equity.  Problem is, Washington is the only one of the 18 states to forget to exempt real estate agents from becoming “Distressed Home Consultants.”  What does this mean?  Many agents, and many brokerages, are no longer able to assist home owners in selling their homes to help them with their financial situation.  In addition, many home buyers, who have hired a real estate agent to represent them through the process, have lost their representation as a result of this law which requires real estate agents to represent the best interests of the seller.  That’s right, if you as a home buyer hire a real estate agent to help you purchase a home, and that home is defined as “distressed” due to the seller’s financial situation, the agent you hired is now legally obligated to represent the seller and not you.  Still think it’s not important to vote?  Our legislature dropped the ball–badly–on this one. 

Click here to read a letter from our Attorney General giving a little insight into the new law.

Give dad a tour of the house you WANT to buy him!

It’s Father’s Day weekend.  Your dad loves Gig Harbor and wants a house on the water.  You can’t afford that, but you can drive him around and tour the homes that you would buy him if you could.  There are only 5 homes open this weekend, but they are some nice ones.  Click on the map below to open the interactive Gig Harbor/Fox Island open house map (3 of the 5 open houses are on Fox Island).  Move your cursor over any of the pushpins for open house information.

This information is taken from the NWMLS and is reliable but not guaranteed.  I’ve been made aware of other houses that are being held open in the area, but unless the listing agent advertises them as open on the MLS, I am unable to post them here.

School’s out, so what’s a kid to do in Gig Harbor?

Summer is here…kind of.  School has let out in much of the area, and kids are excited, teachers are relieved, and parents are fear-struck.  What to do in Gig Harbor now that school’s out?  Here are just a few ideas.  If you’ve got others, I’d love to hear about them (after all, it’s a community blog, and it only works if the community gets involved).

Summertime Fun in Gig Harbor, Washington

1.  Enroll your student in a kayaking day camp.  Gig Harbor Rent-a-Boat is hosting a summer day camp for kids in Gig Harbor to learn how to safely and efficiently paddle around our beautiful waters.  This camp is for 9-14 year olds, and runs between $220 and $250.  Click here to get full details on the Rent-a-Boat website.

2.  Gig Harbor has some of the most gorgeous beaches in the Pacific Northwest, and the beaches are just crawling with sea-life.  You and your kids can explore the Gig Harbor beaches and wildlife through the Harbor Wild Watch.  Take a guided walk along the beaches at low tide and learn about all of the ways that we can care for our sea-creatures.   A great hands-on experience.  Visit the Harbor Wild Watch website for full details.

3.  Hey, back to #1, did I mention boating?  Why not bring the whole family down to Gig Harbor’s downtown and rent a boat?  Visit the Gig Harbor Rent-a-Boat website for full details.  My wife and I took her sister around on a rent-a-boat and had a blast last summer.

4.  Next week only (June 18-20th), the Tacoma Narrows Airport will be home to some of the most amazing WWII aircraft around.  For $12 adults, and $6 kids, you can come and view these airplanes.  Want to see Gig Harbor by air?  Want to ride in a WWII airplane?  For anywhere from $325-$3200 (depending on the plane and your seat) you can get a ride around Gig Harbor, Fox Island, and the Puget Sound in a WWII aircraft!  Call 1-800-568-8924 for more details.

5.  Visit the Tall Ship Festival in Tacoma.  Running from 10am-8pm, July 3rd-7th, the waters off of Gig Harbor and Tacoma will be swarming with amazing restored tall ships.  Fun and festivities during the whole week.  Visit the Tall Ship Festival website for more information.

6.  Take your kids to the YMCA.  We just finished our daughter’s first level of swim lessons (she’s only 8 months and loves the pool!).  Swim lessons were free with our membership.  Basketball, pickleball, volleyball, swimming, and more are available at the Gig Harbor YMCA.  Visit their website for membership information.

Don’t forget that there’s the new movie theater and Border’s bookstore in the Gig Harbor Uptown Center, great places to walk, and lots of parks in Gig Harbor as well (I’ll be featuring these in future blogs).  I’d love to hear other ideas to keep Gig Harbor’s kids busy this summer.

Ummm…summer’s underway?

Well, the Annual Gig Harbor Maritime Gig Festival has come and gone, and several hundred if not thousands of folks enjoyed the weekend festivities.  There was a 5k run, a pancake breakfast, a parade, tons of booths, politicians saying vote for me, the blessing of the fishing fleet, and tons of other fun things.  Cool, wet weather didn’t seem to dampen the festivities at all.  Other than the Maritime festival, there’s no other indicators that summer is anywhere near.  Oh well.  Enjoy the pictures from Gig Harbor’s big weekend.

Gig Harbor commercial fishermen encourage the crowd to buy local fish.

For more pictures of the Maritime parade, you can view my Flickr site.

Gig Harbor Home Sale Prices

For my Monday look at the Gig Harbor real estate market, I thought I’d show you a chart showing how many homes/condos have sold and in what price ranges.  These are single family homes and condos in the Gig Harbor and Fox Island areas.  No multi-family homes are counted, and Key Peninsula is also not included.

DOM is the average days that a house was on the market.  This information is from the NWMLS and is reliable but not guaranteed.   If you’d like information on home sales in another South Sound region, please let me know.