For potential buyers that are waiting to see if housing prices go lower, take notice that interest rates recently rose for the first time in 5 months (average above 4%), and there is talk of further increases as the economy improves. Great article on KCM blog that includes chart which details the affect of changing prices and changing rates on monthly payments.
February 25th and February 26th
The last weekend in February is rapidly approaching and once again residents of the quiet Whidbey Island town of Langley are anticipating another weekend of mystery and mayhem. A tourist’s untimely termination is never trivial in a small town – and Langley is no exception. After 28 years of February madness it’s a safe bet that Langley will be filled with a troupe of trendy, tasteful and tattered tenants and tourists trying to solve the annual offense. Rumor is that this year gold fever is in the air.
What started out as a weekend amusement for locals in what would otherwise be a slow time of year in this Village by the Sea has become, arguably, the longest running mystery production of its kind. It has been created for more than a decade now by the aptly named Looney Productions led by Loretta Martin. The Langley Chamber of Commerce organizes this fun-filled weekend, but the local merchants, restaurants and residents all get in on the act. For two days in February the population of this small town nearly triples and everyone has a good time…come rain or shine…or snow…or wind. Nothing stops this intrepid troop.
The fun kicks off at 10AM at the Langley Chamber of Commerce located at 208 Anthes Avenue on Saturday and Sunday, February 25th and 26th. Pick up a Langley Mystery Weekend Clue Map and Entry Form. It only costs $10 per person or $25 for groups of 4 to play for two days! With the once yearly edition of The Langley Gazette and a clue map in hand and you are good to go. Pick up clues, interrogate suspects and postulate your own hypothesis (or just figure out who you think dunit!)
It’s fun for all ages. Come as a single and meet new super-sleuthing friends. Bring the family or get a bunch of friends together. Whether it’s for one day or two, make use of all those CSI, NCIS and Law and Order skills acquired over years of observation. The clues are spread out all over the city and the weekend culminates on Sunday afternoon when, ala a Miss Marple drawing room solution, I.B. Fuzz calls all the suspects together and tells the assemblage whodunit.
If you’re interested in joining in the fun and feel like combining this adventure with an Island cruise, hop on the Victoria Clipper for smooth sailing from downtown Seattle to the heart of the action in Langley’s Small Boat Harbor. Usually one of the suspects will fill you in as the ship heads north to Whidbey. There is plenty of time for sleuthing, lunching and shopping before the southerly sail back to Seattle. And if you promise to keep a secret, someone will be on board to give the solution. Best of all, you do not have to be present to win one of the many prizes that are awarded for solving the mystery…or at least trying.
Wander on Whidbey this February – check out what a wonderful town Langley can be to visit…and a wonderful place to live.
For the past year, I have been the happy recipient of the weekly Grange Food News email from Chris Williams, who is an officer of the Deer Lagoon Grange. Chris’ official title is Pomona, and like her Roman Goddess namesake, she dispenses tantalizing tidbits of information about the gardens, fruits, vegetables and local foods of Whidbey Island. I marvel and admire how much effort she must put into staying informed about the farmers and foods of our island home. Thank you Chris for the wonderful job you do producing this email.
For me, Chris’ weekly email is a delightful reminder of how special our lives are here on Whidbey, and I am constantly amazed at the diversity, commitment and passion of our island farmers and food producers as well as others throughout the Pacific NW. Here are just a few examples of the food “adventures” I have learned about from Chris’ email newsletter:
1) Sea Breeze Seafood – Many of you know that during the summer there is a seafood vendor in front of the Bayview shopping center (Sebo’s / The Goose). Chris’ newsletter provides advanced notice from the vendor on specials, pricing, etc. You can also sign up directly for their newsletter, email seabreezeseafoods@hotmail.com.
2) Tuna Run – speaking of seafood, this is special. Each year, the Grange arranges a delivery of fresh albacore tuna from Westport’s annual tuna run. You have to pre-order, and the fish is available both whole and filleted. We ordered a whole fish, and now have the most incredible tasting canned tuna in our pantry.
3) Making Whid-Bee Friendly – David Neel of Island Apiaries is developing a program starting in January 2012 to take people through the hands on process of getting started with honey bees. At the end of the series, all participants will own a functioning bee hive with an established queen, drones and workers. He also is working on flower seed distribution so that everybody can grow bee-friendly flowers. Choosing the right plants to get a long continuous flowering season will help both native bees and honey bees, which are important pollinators of our food producing plants.
4) Foraging for Seaweed – Slow Food of Whidbey Island is planning a major seaweed foraging event at Fort Ebey. You can only forage seaweed there from April 15 to May 15th only. You will need a shellfish and seaweed license, which you can get from any hardware store. The hands-on foraging event will cost $35 to be followed by a cooking class and seafood meal at a kitchen venue to be arranged, for another $35.
This is very small sampling of the wonderful events and information available from the Grange. Email Chris at cwilliam@whidbey.com to receive the newsletter, and of course, please consider becoming a member of the Deer Lagoon Grange.
Recently Whidbey Island Realtors received an email from the Whidbey Island Board of Realtors alerting us to a new ordinance regarding Ebey’s Reserve. 
Here’s an excerpt from a letter from Island County, the Town of Coupeville and the Manager of Ebey’s Reserve that was addressed to all “Whidbey Island Real Estate Professionals.”
On 10/3/2011 the Board of Island County Commissioners adopted the new Unified Code and Design Guidelines for all development within Ebey’s Reserve. The Code and Guidelines become effective 1/1/2012.
The code requirements include a new Disclosure Statement that applies to the sale, lease or offer to sell or lease any property within Ebey’s Reserve.
My first thought was “No problem, we will just add that to the list of seller disclosures we normally insure are available for our listings.” So I decided to write down how many seller disclosures a homeowner might be required to prepare for a buyer of their property. I stopped at 9, but am sure if I thought a bit longer I could come up with 1 or 2 more.
So you may be asking yourself, “What does this have to do with using a local realtor?” Well of the 9 legally required disclosures, 7 of them are based on local knowledge and information.
Using the example above about Ebey’s Reserve, many off island agents would not even know a property is in Ebey’s Reserve, and even if they did, what is the likelihood they know of the upcoming requirement to disclosure that fact? It is not that they are unskilled. They are simply unaware. Why? Because this is knowledge that local realtors learn from experience, from each other and from their managers and owners. Real estate agents from out of the area do not have the benefit of those opportunities, nor will they.
Unfortunately what your broker/realtor does NOT know can impact you negatively.
So do yourself a favor. If you are going to buy or sell real estate, use a competent, experienced local realtor. It is the best insurance you can obtain to be sure you are well served and well protected.
The Seattle Times has a good article on the FHA financing rules changes for condominiums that take effect on November 2nd, 2011. These rules may make FHA loans more difficult to obtain for some condominiums.
FHA financing can enable borrowers to get loans with less downpayment (as little as 3.5%), and are kinder to applicants with lower credit scores, then conventional mortgage loans (usually require 20% down payment.)
Because of the smaller down payments and that it goes easier on people with low credit scores, about one-third of homebuyers are getting FHA loans this year.
If you are interested in buying a condominium, it is a good idea to investigate the following rule changes in addition to reviewing the resale certificate, review of board meeting minutes, and conducting physical inspections.
• “Spot approvals” are eliminated, and now the entire project has to meet FHA approval before a borrower can get an FHA-insured loan.
• A maximum of 30 percent of the condo project’s units can have FHA-insured mortgages. There was no such limitation previously.
• Before the FHA will insure a mortgage on a condo, at least half the units must have already been sold. Again, there was no such limitation previously.
See full article for more information: Seattle Times Article
Dear Gardeners and would be Gardeners,
This is a magical time of year; we put not very attractive lumps in the ground and in a few months beautiful flowers come out. We split up overgrown perennials and the following spring they are comely and in good proportion. We plant little seeds in the dead looking grass and they come up lush and green when the weather warms again. We tie up stragglers from vines and lightly trim back shrubs that can experience broken branches from the autumn winds and they look nice when the leaves start to sprout. We go after those late summer weeds so that they set fewer new ones to pull when spring comes.
In other words, there is no end to what one can do for the garden in the fall. In truth, anything you can do in the waning days of summer and on into frost will make next year’s garden more attractive and less work.
We are so fortunate here in the Northwest as we can grow anything short of the most tropical of plants (and we’ve been known to try a few of those!). Personally, unless you have a greenhouse, I think the denizens of the tropics are best living in the tropics. We have such an enormous variety of plants that do well here with even a modest amount of care that it would be difficult to run out of plants that thrive in our very temperate climate.
Every now and again we will have a cold year and some of the borderline material, which we have gotten away with as we expand the reaches of our plant zone, will suffer and perish in the exceptional cold. But it is not often and we merrily site greenery that would more naturally grow in an area like coastal southern California and watch it adapt and grow in our piney woods.
So, as the weather cools and the leaves start to turn to their wonderful autumnal hues, get on your gardening gloves, let the inside slide for a while and work on the garden. Think about those things that need to be planted in the fall so that they will come up in the spring and those things that like to have the dormancy of winter to put on root growth so that they can support lush beauty when the warm weather comes again.
We have lots of help available in our communities to provide information and assistance. Just ask around and you’ll get to know many interesting and interested people. There are also many good books and magazines with information on all aspects of gardening from flower boxes to vegetable gardens.
Happy gardening!
September 21st – 25th :: 11th Annual DjangoFest Northwest in Langley :: This international Gypsy Jazz festival includes workshops led by some of the genre’s biggest names! The DjangoFest is the premier showcase of Gypsy Jazz in North America with performers coming from as far away as Madrid and Tel Aviv! wicaonline.com
September 24th & 25th :: Whidbey Island Kite Festival :: Come see the mass ascension of colorful kites at 12:30 each day followed by the Teddy Bear drop at 1:00. Sport kite competition, too! whidbeykites.com
September 24th :: Children’s Day at South Whidbey Sports Fields :: Bouncy houses, clowns and all sorts of fun stuff for kids. Celebrate children and all their creativity with interactive booths full of fun information and things to do. Lunch, too! SWparks.org
September 24th :: Annual Tour de Whidbey :: This bike tour of Whidbey is a major fundraiser for Whidbey General Hospital. Bikers have a choice of 10, 50 or 100 mile rides. The 50 and 100-mile rides start and end at Greenbank Farm. The 10-mile ride is an easy one especially designed for families with young children and it starts in Coupeville. WhidbeyGen.org
Wonderful Whidbey Island truly has something for everyone. It is a great community whether you come for weekend getaways or you call the island home!
3rd annual Make a Difference! Foundation Fundraiser. All proceeds benefit the Windermere Foundation, benefiting local families in need on Whidbey Island! Tickets at Windermere Coupeville and Oak Harbor, and OH Chamber of Commerce. It’s great fun for a great cause!
There’s much to do on Whidbey as we head into fall. Check out the following events that are high on my list!
Good Cheer Garden 3rd Annual Harvest Party & Music Fest - Saturday, September 10th – 10am to 4pm :: This is Good Cheer’s way of thanking the community for all their support during the past year – Live music performances all day, kid’s activities, a secret ingredient cook-off, gardening workshops and raffle prizes – Come celebrate all Good Cheer does to help those in need in our community. Info: goodcheer.org
6th Annual Whidbey Island Farm Tour – September 17th & 18th :: This tour showcases 18 local farms; everything from alpacas to zucchini. Help support our local growers. whidbeyfarmtour.com for details.
Farm Tour Harvest Dinner at Greenbank Farm – Saturday, September 17th – 5:30pm :: An autumn menu of delicious local foods will be served with both meat and vegetarian main course choices catered by Whidbey Pies Café and featuring Three Sisters meats. The proceeds from this dinner benefit the Farm Tour and Greenbank Farm. Tickets are limited – contact Greenbank Farm for details: www.greenbankfarm.net
