Gig Harbor Undressed

My home buying story–Part 3

A few weeks ago I began writing a small 3-part series on the homes that I have owned as my primary residences.  Starting with my first home in Tacoma, then on to our move up to Gig Harbor, and culminating today with the story of our first family home in Gig Harbor.  My first home gave me a place for my dog, my second home allowed me to relocate to Gig Harbor and gave us a house that was “ours,” not “mine,” and our third (and current) home gave us the great Gig Harbor neighborhood we were looking for.

In July of ‘07, with my wife quite pregnant, we realized that we wanted a cleaner, newer, quieter home in a nice little neighborhood to bring our baby girl home to.  It wasn’t so much that there was anything wrong with our current home or neighborhood, it just wasn’t what we dreamt of when we pictured ourselves bringing our baby home for the first time.  So we began a search for a new home. 

We found the home about 4 miles away.  Located in a small cul-de-sac neighborhood, the home was perfect!  Relatively new (2003), right size (4 bedrooms, 2200+ sq ft), small neighborhood (only 8 other homes), and a great location (view of the Canterwood fishing pond, only minutes from Costco, my work, and the freeway).  We made an offer, contingent upon the sale of our home.  Sadly, the contingency expired and still no sale.  So we did what anybody would do who has fallen in love with the dream of home ownership.  We waived our contingency and risked owning two homes! 

It wasn’t comfortable, it wasn’t easy stress free, but we wanted the home.  We wanted this neighborhood.  We wanted to bring our baby home to THIS home.  So we signed on the new home.  Fortunately, 3 days after closing on our new home, we received an offer on our other home, and it was a strong offer with a quick closing date.  The home we had bought 4 years before for $189,000, we were now selling for $325,000.  We had the luxury of making our new home right for us (painting, all new floors, new appliances, building a fence, etc) while still living in our other home for a few weeks.  It was a nice, casual move for us and the dogs! 

Our new home is perfect…for us!  We set up our daughter’s room and love it.  We love the newness and cleanliness of the home.  Our neighbors are great, and the young children filling the neighborhood is exciting.  I love sitting on my deck looking out over the trees and the water.  I love my morning walks/jogs through Canterwood with Seb.  I LOVE the 3 car garage!  It’s perfect!

All 3 of my homes have been emotional purchases.  Buying and selling real estate is about more than just numbers, appreciation, and investments.  It’s about owning a home.  My first home gave me the opportunity to get a dog, my companion of the past 8 years.  Our second home gave my wife and I “our” first home, and allowed us to get into Gig Harbor.  Our current home is our family’s first home, and the neighborhood is what you’d imagine from a movie.  We have made memories in our homes, have had life-style improvements because of our homes, and have been able to move into our current home because of the appreciation of our previous homes. 

If you are dreaming of buying a home in Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, or Tacoma, don’t let the media scare you away.  Maybe it’s not the right time for you, but maybe it is.  Home inventory is high, home prices are low, and interest rates are low.  I don’t know–or care–if we’re at the “bottom” of the real estate market.  I don’t know if rates will go up or down.  I do know that banks are dropping like flies.  I do know that stocks aren’t the best investment option right now.  I do know that mortgages are getting harder to qualify for.  And above all this, I know that owning a home can help you achieve dreams.  For many, owning a home is an achieved dream. 

If buying a home in Gig Harbor is your dream, please give me a call.  I’d love to chat and see if it’s a dream I can help make come true.

Gig Harbor community icon sails away

Anywhere you see pictures of Gig Harbor, you’re bound to see a few of the same shots.  The Fishermen Memorial statue.  Mt Rainier.  The Lighthouse.  Over the past few years, the tall ship Amazing Grace has become a kind of Gig Harbor community icon.  I’ve heard that Amazing Grace is sailing south for 6 months.  What a fun trip, but our community will miss her!  Here are some great shots taken by Jim Nelson.

Join us at “4Us” Saturday!

On Saturday, September 20th, my family and I will be joining a huge crowd of folks for the “4Us” event.  Ride4Us is a 5, 25, 42, or 62 mile bike trip through Tacoma and Gig Harbor, for those of you who enjoy bicycling.  Run4Us is a 5k or 10k race through Pt Defiance along Commencement Bay for those of you who are into running.  For the rest of us, there is Walk4Us, a 5k walk through Pt Defiance.  Everybody will enjoy Fun4Us, with live music, inflatable big toys, diaper dash and toddler trot, food, go-carts, etc!  Fun, basically.

4Us benefits CareNet Pregnancy & Family Services.  Their studies have found that over 90% of women who are able to see an ultrasound of their baby choose life over abortion.  That number staggers me.  Problem is, many women can’t afford ultrasounds.  Enter CareNet.  They’ll provide them for these women.  Problem is, CareNet can’t afford enough ultrasound machines (they’re over $25k each!).  Enter 4Us.  The 4Us event is a fund raiser to help purchase ultrasound machines for CareNet so women have the opportunity to choose life.  Please understand, this isn’t a political statement I’m making nor is there any room for political debates on this post. 

If you’d like to join us for the actual event next Saturday morning, or if you’d like to donate to this cause, please visit my Donor website and look through the 4Us website while you’re there!  If you’d like to donate, but you’re not comfortable donating online, please give me a call or send me an email and we can work out an alternate method.

Encouragement for moms in the Puget Sound area

My daughter turns 1 this weekend.  I’ve learned over this past year that being a stay at home mom–being a mom in general–is one of the hardest and sometimes loneliest jobs you can have.  My wife spends nearly all day every day with our daughter.  I have a hard time spending all day everyday with myself, much less another person.  Often times they get out and play with other moms and kids, but many days (especially in the beginning) it was just the two of them.  And yet she loves it, as most moms do.

Coming up on October 10 & 11th, moms from Gig Harbor, Tacoma, and across the Puget Sound will have a chance to get some encouragement, mom tips, and much needed R & R.  The 24/7 Moms Conference will take place on the 10th and 11th at the Wesley Inn in Gig Harbor.  Event co-ordinator and keynote speaker Trisha Novotny is a pretty experienced mom herself.  In my previous life as a junior high teacher, I taught one of her daughters and if a child is a reflection of the parent then the Novotnys are pretty good parents. 

If you’re a mom in the area and would like to connect with other moms, check out the 24/7 Mom’s Conference website.  Dads, I think we can take the kiddos for a couple days to give the moms a weekend off!

Open Houses in Gig Harbor

There are some pretty interesting open houses in Gig Harbor this weekend.  No Saturday opens this week, they’re all on Sunday.  From a 6bd house right in the downtown area for only $450k, to a nice starter at $295k, to $1M+ waterfront and water view homes, we’ve got a bit of everything this weekend.  Click here for the interactive map of this weekend’s open houses, showing location, statistics, and the listing agent’s name.  As always, if you have any interest in these homes or any other homes for sale in the Gig Harbor area, I’d be happy to chat with you about my services to home buyers and home sellers. 

This photo is from Beach Drive in Port Orchard.  I like to post random pictures with my weekly open house updates.  This shot has nothing to do with this post, but it’s a cool local shot that I wanted to show off.

Family bikes from Gig Harbor to NYC

Gig Harbor residents Bob Mortimer and his family will complete an amazing journey tomorrow.  Bob, who has no legs and only 1 arm, and his family are biking from Gig Harbor to New York City, and the journey will end tomorrow afternoon.  Bob’s got an amazing one arm crank powered bike that he has used to make this journey.

I’ve only met Bob once, and it was at a garage sale at his home, so I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on this ride nor claim to have any intimate knowledge on Bob or his mission.  Once a  week I listen to a radio interview he does with the KMPS crew, but other than that I don’t know much more about his trek.

I do encourage you to look at his website and read through his blog.  It’s a pretty amazing story of Hope and Courage.

First time to the Puyallup Fair!

I don’t want to steal any thunder from Dennis Endres, but I thought I’d get one article in on the Puyallup Fair.  It wasn’t my first time there, but it was my daughter’s first time (she’s not even 1 year old yet, so that makes sense).

I’m not sure if the Puyallup is the Nation’s largest state fair or not, but it has to be close.  I mean, their website is THEFair.com, so it’s got to be pretty big, right?  I don’t know how you can take it all in in one visit, but if you live anywhere near the south sound area, you have to make the trek.  We’re not big into the rides, but if rides are your thing, The Puyallup Fair will have what you want.  They’ve got great shows too (Kid Rock was there yesterday when we attended…not my style).  My wife and I got to see Bill Cosby there a few years back.  What a treat.  We tried to see Third Day last year, but it was packed out. 

We go to the Fair for two reasons–Food and animals!  I love the food there.  The fresh baked scones with raspberry jam for $1.25!! Can’t be beat.  The BBQ beef sandwiches for $6?  Call it an experience and try to ignore the price.  My wife (and we discovered my daughter too) LOVE the animals.  From the HUGE horses to the tiny baby pigs, beef cattle, dairy cows, turkens (turkey/chicken mix I’d guess), it’s just simply fun.

I’d love to hear your favorite Puyallup Fair story.  Other than the joy on my wife and daughter’s face when they viewed the animals, my favorite time happened about 5 years ago.  I ran into 2 of my former students…as we were getting on the Ferris wheel.  Poor kids got on the Ferris wheel at a Fair in the seat next to their teacher!  I suppose that ruined their plans!  So, what’s your best Puyallup Fair memory?

I love the dahlia display, and for some reason get a kick out of the doo-doo only bins!

Alison, one of the readers of this blog, sent in this picture of her 6 year old son “Mutton Bustin’” at the Puyallup Fair!

I’m not an expert in all things Gig Harbor

As much as I’d like to be, I’m not an expert in all things Gig Harbor.  Our heritage is one example.  I love that Gig Harbor is an old fishing village, but I know very little about that.  That’s okay.  Others know A LOT about it.  I’d encourage you to visit Gig Harbor Scene, one of my new favorite blogs, written by a Gig Harbor fishing family.  You’ll learn a lot!

My home buying story–Part 2 (Moving to Gig Harbor)

Last week I began a short 3 part series outlining the 3 homes that I’ve bought and lived in personally.  Devoid of all real estate rhetoric, these stories are meant to share the how and the why of the homes that I bought.  I don’t just sell homes for a living, I actually live in a home as well.

My last story ended with me living happily in my little Tacoma home with my dog and my new wife.  The house was nice enough, but it was my house, and we thought it’d be nice to have our house.  About 1 year into our marriage, my wife and I settled on a church in Gig Harbor.  We’d come across the bridge (toll-less at the time, but only 2 lanes) each Sunday and usually a couple of other times each week.  We simply loved Gig Harbor.  The water, the downtown area, the neighborly community feel.  We wanted the life-style that Gig Harbor offered (slower than Tacoma, more of a community and less of a city), but weren’t sure we could afford it.  Besides, I was still teaching in Tacoma, and my wife was teaching in Sea-Tac.  Moving to Gig Harbor meant a commute.

So we moved anyway.  We found a great home–3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths (that’s more than 2x what we had!), a big fenced yard, a nice neighborhood close to town, big vaulted ceilings…it was a dream.  So in April of ‘03, we sold our Tacoma home and purchased our first home in Gig Harbor for $189,000.  Funny thing was, with the equity we’d made on our first home as a down payment, and the new lower interest rates, our mortgage payments actually went down! (If you’re looking for info on the new government take over of Freddie and Fannie and how that will affect mortgages, either call Bill Hannon at Prospect Mortgage 253-381-9000 or visit this blog).  We had a larger home in a better neighborhood and we were paying less. 

We lived in that home quite happily for a little over 4 years.  We added another dog to the mix, and completely took advantage of living in Gig Harbor.  My wife would run down to the waterfront from our home.  We bought kayaks and enjoyed paddling around the waters of the Puget Sound.  We grew more and more involved in our church.  In 2004, I quit teaching and began my real estate career, and my wife found a teaching job at Lighthouse Christian in Gig Harbor.  We were officially Harborites! 

In July of last year, with my wife quite pregnant, we decided to look for something larger and in a little quieter neighborhood.  That move will be part 3 of my little series.  My wife and I moved from Tacoma to Gig Harbor for the small town, close-knit community feel.  I’d love to hear any stories of your first “move-up,” or of why you moved to the town where you’re currently living.

Wollochet Bay Sunday

My family and I got to spend part of our Sunday afternoon at some friends’ home on Wollochet Bay.  Wollochet is one of Gig Harbor’s most popular places for water toys.  The water is generally calmer and a bit warmer than the surrounding Puget Sound, so it is ideal for water skiing, tubing, sailing, and (unfortunately in my opinion) jet skiing.  The high level of boat traffic makes Wollochet a bit nosier than some other waterfront options in Gig Harbor, so for those wanting to enjoy the peacefulness it may not be the right place.  For those looking to get in and enjoy the waters of Gig Harbor, Wollochet is a tough place to beat.  There are currently 19 homes listed for sale as waterfront on the Bay, ranging from a 1000sf cabin for $399,000 to waterfront estates as high as $3.1M!  There are an additional 9 homes for sale with views of Wollochet Bay, starting at $359,900.

If you’d like more information on any of these or any other Gig Harbor waterfront or water view homes (or any homes for sale in Gig Harbor for that matter), please give me a call.

Here are a few photos from our afternoon on the Bay.