Well, there are many predictions out there about the real estate market, just like the weather predictions, 2012 predictions, is it a boy or a girl predictions? Who do you believe, who do you listen to?

I do not have a crystal ball and no one I know has one either…. I do like to look at statistics and share with you so that you make up your own predictions about when to buy, if to buy, when to sell and if to sell…. Should I wait to buy? Should I wait to sell?

Here I am, just sharing the information which is available to me as a Realtor from the Local MLS. You make up your own mind where you think the Real Estate Market is going… Some  look at the past to make choices about the present moment and/or  to predict the future… Does the past repeat itself? It is up to you…

Yes, the inventory declined by 4% July 2010 vs June 2010. We had 50,782 active listings in January 2010 so the inventory is higher compare to January by 21%. For the year, we are up 21% in active inventory.

Pending Listings which are waiting to close are up 1% comparing June 2010 vs July 2010.  Year to date, pending listings +2%.

Sold Listings which are closed transactions are down 26% comparing June 2010 vs July 2010.  Since we had record high month in June 2010 due to First Time Home Buyer’s Tax Credit.  Year to date, sold listings are up 30%.

Current Economic forecast is labeled as “modest” by The Federal Reserve’s board of governors last week.  It is a slow slog, we are recovering… The news can be discouraging if one gets guided by it…

I say consult a Realtor about  your specific situation and know your options…

Sebnem Oden, Realtor

206 619 3652

sebnem.oden@exprealty.com

www.ProKeyRE.com

Woodinville is a great destination for anyone who loves fun-filled, romantic or relaxing getaways. It is a high spirited business community where Woodinville Business Owners collaborate to make their community as fertile as the soil in Woodinville.

Today, Woodinville is a destination for many visitors. Woodinville residents are a strong community of people who love and preserve their home town proudly.

Here are some exciting reasons to visit Woodinville, one of the best places to live in the Pacific Northwest.

1. Woodinville Wine Country is home of 50+ wineries including Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia Winery, conveniently located just a short trip from Downtown Seattle. Several wineries offer daily tours and wine tasting. Wineries are friendly and welcoming to all visitors. Some of them are also available for private, by appointment only tours and they can be reserved for special occasions.
2. Château Ste Michelle’s Summer Concerts You may shake hands with stars like Crosby, Stills & Nash, BB King, Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band, James Taylor, Chris Isaak, Lyle Lovett, Smokey Robinson, Gipsy Kings, Chicago who sung at Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Summer  previous Concerts.
3. Redhook Brewery Woodinville is home of Redhook Brewery. Founded in 1981 in Seattle in an old transmission shop, in 1982, the first Redhook Ale was poured. The original Ale was inspired after spicy Belgian Ales. Most beer drinkers get confused and surprised by the flavor of Redhook Ales… Great place to stop for a tour and taste…
4. Sammamish River Trail connects to Burke-Gilman Trail; 10.9 mile long recreational trial, Bothell to Marymoor Park, one may bike, walk dogs, roller blade, or run from Seattle to Woodinville.
5. Willows Lodge is a welcoming, calming and comfortable grounds, just gives taste of richness to one’s life experience for as a  day visit, business meetings, spa visit, wine and dining, weddings and many more…
6. Herbfarm Restaurant, unique menus showcasing the exceptional foods and wines of the Pacific Northwest. It a must visit… Always booked out days, so call ahead of time.
7. Molbak’s Garden Center offers incredible range of flowers, plants, decorating ideas, events…. Such an inspirational place to have fabulous ideas for home and garden
8. Woodinville Heritage Center is dedicated to preserve.    The Society’s mission is to acquire, preserve and perpetuate the artifacts and history of the greater Woodinville area. The Woodinville Heritage Society holds general meetings at Brittany Park Retirement Center on the 3rd Saturday of January, March, May, July, September and November at 10:00am.
9. Woodinville’s Jerry Wilmot Park lies along the 10-mile Sammamish River Trail that connects Blyth Park in Bothell to Marymoor Park in Redmond. Just over a mile south of downtown Woodinville, the Sammamish trail connects with the half-mile Woodinville Valley Trail that will take you across the Sammamish River to the wineries and brewery.
10. Woodinville Farmer’s Market
11. is located at the Carol Edwards Center, NE 175^th Street and 133^rd Avenue NE,
12. The market is open 9am to 3pm every Saturday from May 1st to October 9th, 2010. Great      place to hang out to speak to local neighbors, farmers and new friends… Market’s motto is “Eat local, eat fresh, eat well!!”

If you have any other favorites in Woodinville, please email me and let others know… Check out properties for sale at www.ProKeyRE.com

Sebnem Oden, Realtor

206 619 3652

Purple Cafe and Wine Bar in Kirkland

Purple could be a mindset, it could be a way of life.  If I didn’t have anything else to do than explore area wines and eat wonderful food, I might be there every day for lunch, meet a bunch of people there for happy hour, and then have a late supper with some wine tasting as a backdrop for an intimate get together with old friends (or new ones, lucky in that in this line of work we meet fantastic new people all the time in the form of clients, some of whom definitely enjoy wine and conversation).  Since there are a few hundred other things on my dance card on a weekly basis I am somewhat more conservative in my attendance at this “must stop” local superstar, but I do try to get there whenever the occasion permits.  The one in Woodinville was my first visit and therefore my first love, but recently made it a point to stop in at the Purple in Kirkland and loved it as much.  In fact the friendly and attentive manager and waitstaff made the experience far more than a simple lunch stop, not to mention the delicious dishes we tried.  Although I refrained from a wine tasting as I was going to do a virtual tour later, the wine selection is as great as the one in Woodinville.  Must admit with all the competition at Pike Place Market (and nearby Wild Ginger which is on my Best Ever list) as competition I have not yet gotten over to the one in Seattle, but it’s definitely in my plans when the chance occurs.  Make it a point to go if you love wine and great cooking, you won’t be sorry and you will find yourself, like me, going back whenever you get a chance.

Lunch at Purple

Lunch was just wonderful, salmon penne pasta and a fantastic pizza

daily featured local wines for tasting at Purple

New Light Rail

The Central Link Light Rail began operating from the Seattle Downtown to the Seatac Airport and back last year, in 2009.  On July 17, 2009 there was a preview ride, with a video!  Central Link uses 35 train cars and is 15.6 miles in length.

The University Link span of the project began construction in 2009 and will be completed in 2016.  This part of the project is a 3.15 mile run through two tunnels bored from Downtown running through Capitol Hill to the University of Washington.  This will provide transportation (by 2030) for 70,000 riders per day to the U and Husky Stadium.  Click here for an airiel view of the UW station.

There is also an exciting East Link option, although not scheduled to start construction until 2013 or 2014.  This will run under I-5, a stop on Mercer Island, through Bellevue, through Overlake Station near the large Bellevue border Microsoft campus, and end in downtown Redmond.

A Northlink project is scheduled to run from the U District, at Brooklyn Station, through Roosevelt Station, through Northgate Station, and hence all the way to Lynnwood.   This schedule for construction is currently being developed.

Love this Ride the Light Rail Time Lapse from YouTube!

This park is a hidden jewel which, once discoverd, will not fail to get onto your list of permanat favorite places

to take the kids.  There are a variety of different areas and activites available here including hiking and swimming in Lake Washington.  Today I concentrated on the Castle Playground which has an almost infinite variety of climbing stations and wonderful castlelike structures for active and fantasy play.

A bit of history… St. Edwards State Park was once a school for priests that was donated to the Catholic Church by a local bishop.  Later a school for boys, lessening use led to some of the area being sold to the state as a park.  This is the largest undeveloped area on Lake Washington and has a variety of hiking trails leading down to the lake.

Climb trees, picnic at the many tables, run around the huge fields, hike, even bird watch.

let me know if this was useful to you!

Edy Kizaki
206-249-2914
edy@seattlepowersearch.com
www.seattlecentric.com

As seen above chart, Residential active listings units dropped 20.55% from 8707 units in 2008 to 6918 units in December 2009 while Pending Residential units increased 55.10%, as Dec 09 pending listings were 1413 units compare to 911 units in December 2008.  There is a huge increase in sold units at 57.37%, 1462 units closed in 2009 vs 929 units in 2008.  Snohomish County Sold Residential unit increase is at 89.02% when compared to 2008.

As seen above chart, Median Price declined all across for Active, Pending and Sold Listings.  For December 09 sold median price was $380,000, dropped 6% compare to Dec 2008 while year to date Median price dropped further to 11.62%.

As seen above chart, the other important indicator to watch is “Days on the market” (DOM). There isn’t a significant difference, as little as 1.19% for Dec 09 and 6.85% for the year.

Over all, Inventory of homes dropping while sold home units are increasing. December 2009 Market Trend is showing a promising future for buyers and sellers. Yes, values are declining as there is activity out there…..

If you would like more personalized information for your area, please contact me via emailSebnem.oden@exprealty.com or visiting my website www.ProKeyRE.com

Wishing you a prosperous real estate future….

Downtown Kirkland opens its doors to romantic couples, their friends and family for a very special event on Valentine’s Day 2010.  Special Celebration will be held on Valentine’s Day February 14th 2010 in Historic Hall in the heart of Kirkland, WA

Couples will hold their wedding, renewal of vows or commitment ceremonies. The event is held by www.KirklandWeddings.com is a membership organization of Kirkland based business’ collaboration. Kirkland based companies provide product and services to support weddings so couples may save money for Honeymoon and Reception. Local Kirkland Restaurants are available for Reception celebrations. Make sure to book in advance!

All participants must register before Feb 1^st, 2010 and are offered $350 package. Ceremonies will be held on Sunday, February 14^th 2010 for 24 hours on each hour of the day.  Marriage license must be obtained by each couple from State of Washington and submitted to KirklandWeddings.com before February 5^th, 2010

Below are the services included in the package:

• Seating for up to 30 guests with the use of Heritage Hall in Kirkland, WA
• Decorations and fresh flowers
• Ceremony Text available
• Service of the Wedding officiate
• Traditional Wedding Music
• On-site Wedding Coordinator
• Bride’s fresh flower bouquet
• 30 minutes of professional photographer’s time
• One photo 5×7 and other pictures are available to purchase

Here are several more details to be aware of:

• Music could be provided if the musicians are available. Early registry could be helpful to reserve the musician.
• Witnesses could be provided upon request.

To get more information an details of the event, please contact www.KirklandWeddings.com

There may be more variety at the Seattle Zoo but certainly there is a lot to do at the smaller Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah.  For kids who love to see unusual animals, explore wildlife facts, and especially see their favorite tiger or reindeer, it’s a winner.  The  location is good too, even though it’s admittedly out from the city of Seattle a half hour or more.  For families coming from Seattle a trip could be coordinated with going to a honey shop or farm stand to get fresh produce and see a farm atmosphere (I’ll blog about local farms that invite visitors later this week).

For kids living more locally, this is a great resource as, if you get a family membership, you have a park with animals and other fun elements that you can visit again and again.  As the novelty of running around looking at the animals wears off a bit the animal track library, the mini lectures, and the “Cougar Encounter” “Lemur Encounter” “The World of Wallabies” and “Tiger Encounter” start to draw attention.  The “Fountain of Tomorrow” will be a must-stop every time, and can become a wonderful tradition (take a moment and contemplate your hoped for tomorrows,  then make a wish).  Here is a photo album from our trip to the Cougar Mountain Zoo this year, please send me some if you have any nice photos I can add!  It’s edy.kizaki@exprealty.com.

Click here to go to my Picassa photo album of our Cougar Mountain Zoo visit.

So how do we make it practical and attractive not only to spend the $ up front for long term savings, but to include the more than 100 million homes and offices we already have in the new technologies that result in these long-term savings? Looks like the plan is in place. Economically it makes sense to retrofit. Almost all older buildings could use improvements that pay for themselves and cut their power consumption in half. The loans to do it would be paid by the savings in energy. The programs to support these upgrades are starting to appear. Ideally, homeowners and small businesses could call a toll-free number and find out what local resources and loans are available to start their retrofit process in a cost effective way. Many local communities have started to develop this resources so check locally whereever you are and find out if your city provides the consumer information service to get started.

Here in Seattle, Seattle City Light has announced that it’s proud to be one of the first four Utilities in the country which is working with Microsoft in an innovative consumer support program. They are providing consumers an online application (FREE!) that helps them track their energy usage and then get personalized recommendations for improved energy efficiency! You can (and I am definitely going to, so I’ll report back) sign up to be one of the first customers to use the product! (Microsoft Hohm for Seattle.)

The activity taking place at the highest levels of government are already moving us toward lower public building utility bills. Often the second-biggest government expense after saleries, Obama’s first economic recovery packaged included retrofitting public buildings. This will help get into place worker training and factories which make energy-efficient windows, furnaces, insulation, as well as air conditioning. Local and state government energy bills will be much lower and will be able to repay the loans with their savings. Good to know!