Gig Harbor Undressed

Bank owned luxury home in Canterwood

Not even the most high end of neighborhoods in Gig Harbor can avoid the foreclosure bug.  We have recently listed a fantastic, brand new luxury home in the Canterwood Golf and Country Club, one of Gig Harbor’s most sought after neighborhoods.  Originally listed for $979,000, the bank is now offering this home for $799,000!

This is an artistic design by RC Barrett construction.  The grand entry flows into a great room with massive fireplace, Brazilian cherry hardwoods, and attention to detail at every turn. 5 bedrooms including 2 masters on main floor and 4.5 bathrooms in this 3991 square foot home.  Upper level includes a Media Center/Bonus room.   The detail extends all the way to the exterior with amazing multi-colored stone and a matching stamped driveway. 

Bank owned deals aren’t limited to fixer uppers.  If you’re looking for a screaming deal on a brand new luxury home in a gated community with 24/7 security, give me a call.  This home is worth touring!

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Crime in Gig Harbor

While crime rates in Gig Harbor seem to be getting in the news  (from residential jewelery heists to major copper thefts from our kids’ play fields)  this crime map  shows that crime in Gig Harbor actually declined 11% in ‘09 from ‘08.  Below is a helpful post that I found on a San Diego Real Estate blog that gives some good tips on how to prevent your home from showing up on the map!

THINGS YOUR BURGLAR WON’T TELL YOU
 
1. Of course I look familiar. I was here just last week cleaning your carpets, painting your shutters, or delivering your new refrigerator.

2. Hey, thanks for letting me use the bathroom when I was working in your yard last week. While I was in there, I unlatched the back window to make my return a little easier.

3. Love those flowers. That tells me you have taste … and taste means there are nice things inside. Those yard toys your kids leave out always make me wonder what type of gaming system they have.

4. Yes, I really do look for newspapers piled up on the driveway. And I might leave a pizza flyer in your front door to see how long it takes you to remove it.

5. If it snows while you’re out of town, get a neighbor to create car and foot tracks into the house. Virgin drifts in the driveway are a dead giveaway.

6. If decorative glass is part of your front entrance, don’t let your alarm company install the control pad where I can see if it’s set. That makes it too easy.

7. A good security company alarms the window over the sink. And the windows on the second floor, which often access the master bedroom-and your jewelry. It’s not a bad idea to put motion detectors up there too.

8. It’s raining, you’re fumbling with your umbrella, and you forget to lock your door-understandable. But understand this: I don’t take a day off because of bad weather.

9. I always knock first. If you answer, I’ll ask for directions somewhere or offer to clean your gutters. (Don’t take me up on it.)

10. Do you really think I won’t look in your sock drawer? I always check dresser drawers, the bedside table, and the medicine cabinet.

11. Here’s a helpful hint: I almost never go into kids’ rooms.

12.. You’re right: I won’t have enough time to break into that safe where you keep your valuables. But if it’s not bolted down, I’ll take it with me.

13. A loud TV or radio can be a better deterrent than the best alarm system. If you’re reluctant to leave your TV on while you’re out of town, you can buy a $35 device that works on a timer and simulates the flickering glow of a real television. (Find it at faketv.com.)

8 MORE THINGS A BURGLAR WON’T TELL YOU:

1. Sometimes, I carry a clipboard. Sometimes, I dress like a lawn guy and carry a rake. I do my best to never, ever look like a crook.

2. The two things I hate most: loud dogs and nosy neighbors.

3. I’ll break a window to get in, even if it makes a little noise.. If your neighbor hears one loud sound, he’ll stop what he’s doing and wait to hear it again.  If he doesn’t hear it again, he’ll just go back to what he was doing. It’s human nature.

4. I’m not complaining, but why would you pay all that money for a fancy alarm system and leave your house without setting it?

5. I love looking in your windows. I’m looking for signs that you’re home, and for flat screen TVs or gaming systems I’d like. I’ll drive or walk through your neighborhood at night, before you close the blinds, just to pick my targets.

6. Avoid announcing your vacation on your Facebook page. It’s easier than you think to look up your address.

7. To you, leaving that window open just a crack during the day is a way to let in a little fresh air. To me, it’s an invitation.

8. If you don’t answer when I knock, I try the door. Occasionally, I hit the jackpot and walk right in.

Sources: Convicted burglars in North Carolina, Oregon, California, and Kentucky; security consultant Chris McGoey, who runs crimedoctor.com; and Richard T. Wright, a criminology professor at the University of Missouri-St.. Louis, who interviewed 105 burglars for his book Burglars on the Job.

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Does Gig Harbor really have this many estates?

Looking around at real estate in Gig Harbor, you’ll see the name “Estates” used quite frequently.  According to the Google dictionary, an estate (as pertaining to housing) is: “extensive landed property (especially in the country) retained by the owner for his own use; “the family owned a large estate on Long Island” or “An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property …”

Neither of those definitions seems to describe Gig Harbor to me, but we have Horseshoe Lake Estates, Palmer Lake Estates, Whiteman Cove Estates, Rolling Hills Estates, Sea Cliff Estates, Fairway Estates, Glen Cove Estates, Point Evans Estates, Henderson Bay Estates, Ray Nash Estates, Estates at Gig Harbor, Arletta Estates, Kopachuck Ridge Estates, North Crescent Lake Estates, Sea Fox Estates, Cedarwood Estates, Bridgewood Estates, Colvos View Estates…you get the picture.  Some of these homes are valued at or near (or even over) $1M, sitting on large lots with great views.  Others are priced under $100k, sitting on .25acre lots. 

Gig Harbor is divided into hundreds of small neighborhoods, each with their own names.  With our goofy street numbering system it’s almost a necessity.  I’m curious.  What are your favorite Gig Harbor neighborhood names?  Your least favorite?  Which ones seem to fit the neighborhood and which ones make you scratch your head?  Does “Estates” tacked on to the end draw your attention? 

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Interested in knowing about crime in Gig Harbor?

Many folks, when moving to Gig Harbor, want to know about the crime rate in Gig Harbor.  The Gig Harbor Police Department has a great service where you can pinpoint a specific address and learn about all of the crimes that have happened within a small radius of that home.  The Gig Harbor Crime Mapping page is a fantastic resource to learn where the safest areas in Gig Harbor are, and any problem spots as well.

Gig Harbor is one of the safest areas in the state to live, and the majority of crimes tend to be home or vehicle thefts.  If you want any information or statistics on the crime rate in Gig Harbor, check out the GHPD website to get all of the facts.   I typed in “Southport” to find crime information on a home I recently listed for sale…not a single crime reported year to date!

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GHPD hosts Neighborhood Watch meetings

Safety is one of the main criteria that I hear from people looking to relocate to Gig Harbor.  Washington is a fairly safe state, and Gig Harbor is definately a safe community, but we’re not immune to crime.  One of the reasons that we tend to have such a safe city is the great work that our police department does in educating the citizens of Gig Harbor.  Another reason for our safety is the strong community involvement in Gig Harbor. 

Those two factors are joining in a series of upcoming Safe Street meetings hosted by the GHPD and Safe Streets of Pierce County.  If you are interested in learning more about how to set up neighborhood watches in your community, you’ll want to attend one of these meetings.  Here’s a summary from the notice I received:

On every fourth Tuesday of the month, Safe Streets conducts Block Watch organizing training for members of the community who want to start up or strengthen a Block Watch, Neighborhood Watch or Business Watch group in their neighborhood. Community members acquire tools and skills and learn techniques for setting up meetings such as:
§ recruiting members for their group

§ setting agendas

§ developing goals and work plans

§ identifying and documenting problems

§ motivating the group

§ staying focused

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Custom home site in Gig Harbor

All of the best investors know that “down” markets such as we’re currently in are the times to grab opportunities.  Warren Buffet is commonly quoted as saying, “When others are greedy, be fearful.  But when others are fearful, be greedy.”  Fear has slowed our real estate market considerably.  So how do you “get greedy” and take advantage of it? 

I group land into 3 broad categories…vacant land in Gig Harbor is buildable, nothing on it, not developed.  Raw land is just that, the dirt in Gig Harbor that isn’t developed and may never be.  And finally there’s building sites.  Vacant land where the work has been done and it’s ready to build.  This opportunity is for a great building lot!

Here’s one opportunity.  I’ve just listed a rare, gorgeous building lot in Gig Harbor.  Those of you who live in the Harbor know that level home sites are rare.  This one is 1.46 level acres, about 2 miles from downtown Gig Harbor and about 1 mile from Gig Harbor High School and Discovery Elementary School.  This lot is the last street that the Peninsula School District will bus kids from; any closer and you get to walk!  Imagine what you could do with nearly 1 1/2 level acres.  How large would your yard be?  Would you put in a sports court, a patio with a hot tub, the play house your kids have dreamed of? 

The seller of this lot is a custom home builder in Gig Harbor, who is planning on building his own home on the adjoining parcel.  He’d be happy to build your dream home on this lot for sale, or you can bring your own builder.  My seller will gladly build your plans, or you can use his plans.  A private well is already drilled just for your home, and a 4-bedroom septic is approved.  How great would it be to have a new construction home in Gig Harbor built to suit your needs?  You pick the floor plan, you choose the features, a brand new house on acreage close to town!  The seller is interested in sharing a gated entry for the two homes as well!

This lot neighbors two of Gig Harbor’s premier gated communities, Millbrooke and Rosedale Ridge, so you get the close neighborhood feel that is so highly desired in Gig Harbor, but you get the peace and privacy of acreage too.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “I could’ve bought that…” or “I wish we’d have bought…”  Take advantage of our market of opportunity and make this custom new home site yours for only $194,950.  Call me or email me for more information.

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Community in Gig Harbor

I love living in Gig Harbor.  Washington as a state is a pretty great place, but Gig Harbor in particular is my kind of place.  In a society where individualism has taken over, and greed and selfish motives seem to guide decisions, Gig Harbor is striving to create, foster, and encourage community.   This weekend is a perfect example.

Yesterday around 4pm, my family and I headed downtown to participate in the Gig Harbor Trick or Treat event.  Over 1000 others joined us.  The GHPD shut down Harborview Drive (our version of Main St or State St), and the residents and shop owners loaded up buckets of candy and other goodies.  With the sun shining, temps just below 60, the fall leaves more colorful than I remember, and the still water of Gig Harbor Bay, I can’t imagine a more enjoyable setting to bring so many families together.  While all this was taking place, the Gig Harbor Uptown Center was also holding a trick or treat event.

After leaving downtown, we headed up the hill to the Believer’s Fellowship Harvest Party, where 100’s more people were on hand to experience games, a giant slide, a jump house, and more teeth-rotting candy!  Many of the same folks we saw downtown we saw again at the Harvest Party, some of whom attend the church, many of whom do not.  On the way home from the party, we drove past the high school stadium, which was packed with folks watching Peninsula High’s football team beat Franklin Pierce 45-39. 

This morning we’re getting excited to head downtown again where again portions of the road will be shut down to make room for the 2nd Annual Chum Festival.  The Gig Harbor Commercial Fishermen will be educating folks on the needs of protecting our salmon and salmon waters, and there’ll be kayak races, chum burgers, booths and games for the kids. That’s today from 10am-4pm.  During that same time, GHHS will be hosting the annual Ski Swap.  We won’t be headed there, but another great opportunity for community gatherings.

I love living in a place that is intentional about getting the community together.  I love that Gig Harbor feels like a small town, even as it continues to grow.  I love Gig Harbor!

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Point Fosdick View Home

I’ve just listed a magnificent view home at 19 Point Fosdick Dr NW.  Pt Fosdick is at the far southeast corner of Gig Harbor, and is unquestionably one of our area’s most desired neighborhoods.  This home offers sweeping views of the Puget Sound and Fox Island, and allows you to watch the sunrise over Mount Rainier and the sunset over the Olympic Mountain range.  It’s rare that a home in Gig Harbor offers such expansive views.  Even more rare is the price…over 3200 square feet of wonderful flow for only $625,000.  That’s about $15/sf below the competition!

If you know of anybody who is interested in buying a view home in Gig Harbor’s Point Fosdick neighborhood, please pass this information on to them or have them contact me directly.  Check out the home’s details, I’m sure you’ll be impressed!

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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.

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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.

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