It’s well and good to learn from a lecture. But rarely is a lecture life-changing.

Washington is called the evergreen state. We love our trees, the great outdoors and our planet. We are a hardy people. And we have two universities (colleges) that are in the top 10 for sustainable practices and learning.

The University of Washington is ranked number 1 in the country. Every building completed since 2006 has earned LEED Gold. All appliances bought are Energy Star rated. And the hydro-powered campus runs 3 farms, an extensive recycling program, and the conservation-research hotbed Pack Forest. The university is located on a fresh water lake in Seattle that had problems with algae bloom from residential sewage run-off.  The city of Seattle, like many cities with overburdened treatment centers, encouraged the University to reduce water use on campus. As an incentive, the city offered a rebate of $120 per water fixture that the university replace with new water saving equipment. So they retrofitted their plumbing to save water, conserve energy and be “green.”

Forty percent of UW’s food budget is spent on local items, according to the green report card. They use mostly cage free eggs and natural milk. The school composts their food waste, which keeps it out of the landfills. The Bothell campus uses goats to control weeds on their grounds.

All campus community members participating in the U-PASS program receive unlimited public transit passes and discounts on carpool permits and the car-sharing program. Student government runs a nonprofit bike repair shop, and 88 percent of students and 62 percent of employees commute via environmentally preferable means.

The Evergreen State College is ranked number 9 nationally. This non-traditional college breaks the mold in so many ways. Our middle son attended this college to obtain his Bachelor of Science degree and he received graduate level education with exceptional professors.

The Evergreen State College, in Olympia, Washington, aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2020. Though it’s campus is currently one-third coal powered, students pay a self-imposed fee of $1 each academic quarter to buy renewable energy credits to offset the college’s electricity consumption.

Evergreen’s Organic Farm is located on a 5 acre section of campus. The plot includes the farmhouse, Demeter’s Gardens, Community Gardens, the Biodiesel facility, the compost facility, the workroom, tool shed, greenhouses and the 38,000 square foot production area of the Organic Farm.  The Organic Farm crew works all year round to plan, plant, maintain and harvest the various crops grown.  The Compost Facility is used to turn farm waste into compost for fertilizing the production area of the farm.  During the growing season the Organic Farm’s produce is sold at the Organic Farm Stand on Red Square at Evergreen, at The Organic Farm during business hours and through our Community Supported Agriculture Program.  Excess produce and plant starts are donated to the Thurston County Food Bank.

The school has an extensive composting project as well as a comprehensive recycling program.

According to The Evergreen State Paper Policy, it  is committed to using environmentally benign products and technologies whenever possible.

Ride Share and alternative forms of transportation are part of Evergreen’s sustainability. Student fees pay for and allow all students at Evergreen to ride the bus in and around Olympia and Thurston County an unlimited number of times each quarter by showing their student ID. By registering in a database of Evergreen commuters, the ride share program allows students, faculty and staff to match their schedules with people who live close by and facilitates contact to set up new carpools.

Ban the Bottle is a campus-wide initiative to raise awareness in The Evergreen State College community about the negative impacts of plastic bottles on social, environmental and economical health as well as alternative, safer options for drinking water. The long-term goal of this initiative is to discontinue the purchase of plastic bottled water on campus and provide re-useable water canteens and to install bottle fill stations across campus.  Evergreen has switched all of their disposable ware to compostable products. They have also eliminated trays, saving countless gallons of water. The school supports local farmers and producers, using organic whenever possible.

Students can opt to live in the sustainability house,  made up of a community of students committed to a living an environmentally conscious, socially just, and sustainable lifestyle. Residents of the Sustainability House complete 5 hours of sustainability-related service each month to the campus and house community.

The lessons students learn from these sustainable practices will be carried throughout their lives and potentially impact the world.

Seattle Area Real Estate

The owner was joking with me, and I totally agree, that he can’t understand why anyone would buy a new baseball glove when they could get a used one.  Right?  They are hard to use till they are worn in, and here someone else has gone to all that trouble for you already, and you even get it for less than new.  It’s like having an older brother.

Beau, the owner, puts tips for buying a variety of used equipment on his website.  With a baseball mitt, he explains, size matters, so try on several till you get the right fit.  Buying a football, pour a little water (spit also works) on the nipple to see if it fizzles…that means an air leak.  Or for used camping gear, always put some weight in the pack you’re looking at, to see whether it fits right when loaded, as it will fit much differently empty.  The list goes on and on, and it’s a place to really learn a lot, compare, talk about what you need and how you’re going to use it.  And in harmony with the Green image of Seattle in general, there’s a discussion on the site too about what to do with old sports equipment once the industry has moved on and the models have changed so much for the better that the old equipment is obsolete.  Used skiis and other pieces can be, it seems, made into shelves, and the site will explain how.  Check with Beau at the shop for a more complete discussion of your options.

Another great thing about 2nd Base?  It’s got a long and facinating history in Seattle. The owner will be glad to fill you in on the history behind the photos displayed on the walls. His father, uncle, aunt, and several family members and friends had a long and interesting history in the city, and it seems you can almost see shadows, maybe in black and white like old movies, running along the ceiling busy with lives that now lie in the past.  Come for the deals, stay for the stories, come back because it’s always worth it to drop by and see what’s old that’s new today.

A good example of how well this works is Recycled Cycles in the U District, right down on the edge of the Lake, near Agua Verde Cafe & Paddle Club.  With a great sense of humor (“a good bike lock can help keep your day from going seriously downhill.”) like most of Seattle, this shop near the U has great used bikes and heaps of personality.  Very knowledgable staff both help you to get what you need and blog about the bike scene, competitions, and matters of interest to the bike community here.  You can also sell or consign your bike here.  As well as used and reconditioned bikes, they do sell new ones, and a full array of all the biking equipment you can imagine!

Hot tip from the blog:  Too much front brake can lead to FGD Syndrome (face-ground disagreement syndrome).  Don’t stop by depending all on your front brakes, folks.  Instead, use both brakes equally and “marvel at the control you get.”  OK, I will.  In fact I’m planning to bring my bike down here this week (it’s a mountain bike but it’ll work to go to Golden Gardens Beach Park, and after all there is a pretty steep slope on the way home) and have it put back into riding condition.

And then I’m going to stop off at Agua Verde and have a plate of delicious dorado tacos (grilled mahi mahi, shreded cabbage and creamy avocado sauce)… come with me if you can get away.  We can even go rent a kayak for an hour if the weather is nice, or sign up for the Sushi Kayak Tour on July 19.

One of the most delightful things about Seattle is the abundance of nature surrounding us.  Although this is a large metropolitan city, I appreciate the fact that you can escape to nature at any time.  Big or large, we have parks situated in every neighborhood and convenient access to rivers, lakes, and vast ocean.  However, with the rapid development and higher cost of real estate, many Seattleites resorted to condos and townhomes that did not leave much space for those with green thumbs.  So, when I noticed community gardens or patches popping up everywhere, I wasn’t surprised at all.

Community gardens are simply a piece of land gardened by a group of people.  The neat thing about them is that not only it provides a mean for people to garden and produce fresh produce, it also promotes sense of community, healthier urban environment, and pride of ownership.  People can experience both the joy of growing and being in touch with the source of their food.

In Seattle, the city began the non-profit organization P-Patch Trust 35 years ago.  According to the City of Seattle website, the organization acquires, builds and protects community gardens in Seattle.  Most of the supplies are provided at the sites, such as water and tools.  Your responsibility as a community gardener is to care for your plot.

Interesting facts about P-Patch:

- The “P” originally stood for “Picardo”, after the family who owned Picardo Farm, part of which became the original P-Patch.

-The P-Patch program only allows organic farming techniques to be used on these plots.

-The P-Patch community gardeners give back to the city by supplying 7 to 10 tons of produce to Seattle food banks each year.

-You are not allowed to sell what you grow, only share it or donate it.

As the broadening interest in organic food source and gardening increases, you will see the demand for community gardens increase.  The city currently has 55 patches in the city but most of them do have a waiting list.  If you are interested in starting your own Community Patch or for more information, check out City of Seattle website!

Community Patch in Seattle Neighborhoods

Seattle Farmers Markets are a local tradition, and each neighborhood has one with a little bit of it’s own special character.  Here is the all-inclusive list of the markets.  You don’t have to limit yourself to one because many of them are on different days of the week.  Two of my favorites are the Fremont Sunday Market and the Ballard Sunday Market, and of course the Granddaddy of them all, Pike Place Market itself.

BALLARD: Sundays 10-3 year round, 5300 Ballard Ave NW

BELLTOWN:  Thursdays 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. July to Sept, 2901 Western Ave

BROADWAY:  Sundays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. May to December, Broadway & Pine

COLUMBIA CITY:  Wednesdays 3 p.m. to 7  p.m. April to October, 37th Ave S & S Edmunds

GEORGETOWN:  Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June to October, 6000 Airport Way S

LAKE CITY:  Thursdays 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. June to October, NE 125th & 28th Ave NE

MADRONA:  Fridays 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. May to September, 1126 MLK S

MAGNOLIA:  Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June to October, 33rd Ave W & W Smith St

PHINNEY:  Fridays 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. June to October, 67th & Phinney Ave N

PIKE PLACE MARKET:  Mon-Sat 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sun 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. year round, 1st & Pike

QUEEN ANNE:  Thursdays 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. June to October, W Crockett St & Queen Anne Ave

U DISTRICT:  Saturdays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. year round, University Way & NE 50th

WALLINGFORD:  Wednesdays 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. June to Sept, 1815 N. 45th St

WEST SEATTLE:  Sundays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. year round, 44th Ave SW & SW Alaska

Below are some photos taken at the Fremont Sunday Market.  Come and shop, enjoy, taste, listen, people watch, and I guarantee you’ll be back!

Half Price Books has several advantages, besides the fun of the treasure hunt, wandering the shelves (if you like old book stores or even flea markets, you’ll love it here!).  First, they take all the books you bring, and offer you a price.  My understanding is it’s 10-15% of cover value of the ones they intend to sell, vs. about 20% at a regular used book store.  But they take all the others too, and donate or even recycle them.  And once I took what turned out to be a rare book in and they informed me of it and looked up a fair price.  Nice.  For me, it’s a lot better than taking my bagfull to a regular bookstore because I am basically weeding my library, anything they give me is good toward a purchase which I’m sure to have made while they are looking at what I brought in, and I don’t have to haul any books away.  This is an alternative to donating that bag of old books.

Second, there is a clearing-house aspect to the shop, you run into so much.  They are not so picky as to take only newer titles or best sellers, so you get a chance to see a lot of history and older things that still have a lot of value.  I have picked up some really good titles on Seattle real estate too!  And on Northwest history, Seattle history, local aspects.  You’ll find the Lion’s club photo history of Green Lake or whatever it is, sometimes these are invaluable.  If you have older software, you can find the manual to go with it!  Etc.  On the other hand, they don’t keep multiple selections of one title much so there is a wider variety on the shelves.

Third, it offers new, discount and used DVDs, videos, CDs, as well as old records, whatever media you’re looking for.  And calendars, notebooks, craft kits in book format, greeting cards and stationary, little toys, puzzles, software, computer games, and for Christmas I got several of my favorite couples a hot stone massage kit that went over big time!  All of these things are at ridiculously low cost compared to the pumped up pricing in the high-end, high-rent, high-cost-advertising mainstream stores.  For which, no argument from me, there is a good and necessary place.  But live dangerously, spend less, help save the world!  Try Half Price Books and let me know what you think, maybe even find something great there for Father’s Day.

There are Half Price Books conveniently located around the Seattle area:

Bellevue Crossroads Store
Everett Mall Store
Lynnwood James Village Store
Redmond Town Center Store
Seattle Capitol Hill Store
Seattle U District Store
Tacoma Rainier Place Store
Tukwila Parkway Square Store

First, a daily happy hour both from 3 to 6 and from 9 to 11.  Truly happy, all bar menu items are half off, and margarita and other pizzas are $6.  Bottles of wine, red white or rose, are $14, and beer is $3.

Handmade pasta prepared daily.  Antipasti like Carpaccio di manzo con barbaforte, “natural Washington beef carpaccio, parmagiano and grated horseradish”, or Focaccia al rosmarino, “wood fired garlic and rosemary focaccia” or Lumache al burro, “baked escargot with organic butter, herbs and garlic.” to name just a few.  Ensalate like Latuga, nocciole, e caprino, “butter lettuce, goat cheese, and toasted hazelnuts” or Pasta i fagioli, “pasta, beans and parmigiano.”  and you’ll have to believe me, that is just a smattering of the lunch menu, and it only gets better!

The atmosphere is smooth and warm, with a winsome little bistro tune winding it’s way around the focal bar and the fun paintings hung horizontally on the ceiling, blandly gazing down at the diners enjoying the masterpieces parading out from the kitchen.  According to many people, this is food heaven, and if you still have any doubts, read the amazing meals described in the Seattle Times article.  Other reviews are disappointed in the service or food, so it’s up to you, maybe try happy hour and see what you think!  I’m certainly going to drag a few friends along next time to get lots of opinions, not to mention get to taste and share lots of the extremely modern and stylish dishes on this Italian menu!

If you are the parent of a college kid,  you might want to take a minute to think about real estate investing.  You’re already spending a ton of money sending the kid to school, “investing” in his or her future, so why not hedge your bets on an investment that might actually pay you back someday?  Think about it- you’ve got at least four years of living expenses to pay for on top of the tuition. You can either throw it away paying for a tiny, overpriced dorm or some dumpy, overpriced rental, OR you can take that money and put it toward something that has a future. Like real estate.  Let me explain…

I went to Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, so I will use that area as an example, though the numbers would likely look quite similar in just about any college town. Rates per person at Western’s dorms run roughly $500 (3 kids in a room) to $800+ (single occupancy) per month, NOT including food expenses.  Rental rates anywhere near campus run about $400-600 a month per room, depending on the number of rooms.  Studios and 1-bedrooms are commonly $700-900/month, whereas you might find a decent  3-bedroom for $1400.   Let’s be conservative and say it’s about $600/month on average, per room. Over 4 years (48 months) that’s almost $30,000(!) that you will NEVER get back.  As Everett Dirksen famously said,“ A billion here, a billion there…pretty soon you’re talking about real money!”

Consider this:  Right now, you can buy a 1-bedroom, 600 square foot condo, built in 2006, less than a half-mile from Western Washington University, for $120k.  With 20% down at 6% interest, the monthly payment, which includes taxes, insurance, and HOA dues (W/S/G) comes to about $825, leaving only electricity and cable for expenses.  Sounds like kind of a lot, doesn’t it? Let’s take a closer look.

• Similar units in this building are currently renting for between $725 and $800.

• You can write off some (maybe  all) of your interest payments , giving you roughly 25% back at tax time, depending on your bracket, making the effective monthly expense closer to $600. Make sure to talk to your accountant about this and other creative write-offs you might find…

• As an owner, your monthly expenses remain fixed over time.  According to a colleague who studies rent growth in the area, rents near Western have increased at an average of about 6% per year, over the past 5 years.  Assuming that trend were to continue, the monthly rent on that same unit would go up  to almost $900-$1000 by the 4th year of your student’s education. Over 4 years, that would cost you between $38000-$42000 in rent! Gone, flushed….never to be seen again…

• Don’t forget about appreciation! Even in these tough times, most analysts are expecting the market to have corrected itself in the next couple of years, meaning there is a good chance the value of your investment will begin to increase during the 4-5 years that your student will live there. That’s right, you might even MAKE money on this thing! Worst case, you can always hang onto it to make sure the kid doesn’t try to move back in with you after college…

This is just one example, of course.  There  are several other condo opportunities I can point you toward.  There are also houses and duplexes, etc… The numbers can look even better if you buy something with more rooms. Then, you can collect $500-$700/month of OTHER PEOPLE’S money! That ‘s the best kind of money, after all…

If you’d like to look more seriously at this type of investment, keep in mind that there are all kinds of different programs available, requiring anywhere from 3.5% to 20% down.  You can buy as an investment property, as a second home for yourself, or possibly as a first home for the kid. Each of these options has it’s own credit and income requirements, as well as unique tax implications.  Again, I would suggest consulting your accountant, as well as a mortgage professional, to make sure you understand clearly these particular details. You can talk to me if you want to know where to find these properties.

Thanks for reading! Please leave comments or suggestions below, e-mail me at rob.leroy@exprealty.com, or call me at 206.883.6668 …and yes, you CAN hire me as your real estate agent!

Rob LeRoy is a Seattle real estate agent and social media marketing coach with eXp Realty.

Classic Craftsman house in Mount Baker

Seattle is known for an early 20th-century American architecture called Craftsman.  People who visit our city notice the abundance of Craftsman houses & bungalows and note that these aren’t quite so common (or exist at all!) in their own home towns.  Considering the weather in the NW and our history in lumber and fishing industries, it’s an architectural response to Seattle’s rainy season and blue collar roots.

Bungalow in Genesee

The term “bungalow” refers to the size of many Craftsman homes we may see in parts of West Seattle, Wallingford, Fremont, or Genesee and some still have original built-in benches, ironing board closets and bookshelves.  Larger – more formal – Craftsman houses  can be found in Queen Anne, Leschi, Capitol Hill and Mount Baker with deep eaves, asymmetrical facades and wide street-facing gables.  Generally, the structural, siding and interior element is wood and the floorplans are similar, but still irregular from home to home.  In Seattle’s in-demand neighborhoods, a solid Craftsman house will range upward from $699,000 and a Craftsman bungalow upward from $450,000, with some exceptions.

Marybeth Cicirello * 206.214.6556 * marybeth.cicirello@exprealty.com * Downtown Seattle Real Estate

Seattle Neighborhood market data is unique to each...

As of April 25, 2010, the statistic is that a median single-family home in “The Seattle Market” is $392,731.00 and I can say confidently right now, there is no move-in ready 3-bedroom house on Montlake, Capitol Hill, Mount Baker or Queen Anne for this price.  But in Maple Leaf?  Yes this price point will buy a house and yard, maybe a nice 2-bedroom mid-century home.  In West Seattle?  Yes definitely in some micro-neighborhoods in West Seattle this is possible.  In Beacon Hill?  Yes again, a mid-century or Craftsman bungalow at $392,731.00 is definitely possible.  So for buyers, it quickly becomes clear what neighborhoods your price point allows and this makes your search constructive and efficient.  And for sellers, be the best option in a certain bracket within your neighborhood, because even in this economy, we still see multiple offer situations if you’re priced right.  Buyers know a good residence when they see it!

Marybeth Cicirello * 206.214.6556 * marybeth.cicirello@exprealty.com * Downtown Seattle Real Estate