Orcas Island Real Estate 2011

Orcas Island Real Estate is a real BARGAIN these days!

Here on Orcas, we have begun to see the returning of the light!  I have already been working in my garden, and my tulips are up 7 inches in places, the small buds are appearing on the lilacs and roses. Spring is around the corner!

According to the NWMLS,  San Juan County has the highest median price homes in all of  Washington State at $402,000.   In 2010, there were a total of 46 homes sold on Orcas Island for a  combined dollar volume of $26,512.421. Average market time was 242 days and average sales price was 91% of asking price. (keep in mind, this may be after price reductions)

Land for sale on Orcas Island often comes with Madronas!

There were 26 parcels of land that sold. Prices ranged from $98,500 to a $1,350,000 waterfront parcel in Foster Point.
Total sales on Orcas are up from the low of 59 sales in 2009 to 72 Sales in 2010. This is roughly half the volume of sales that we saw in '06, but the number of sales are obviously increasing.  

Buck Bay, Olga, Orcas Island WA Waterfront Property

Our inventory is strong with lots of homes in the $300-$500K range. It's a good time to buy with interest rates below 4%, giving you lots of buying power, if you qualify. Lenders are much more stringent than in the past, and "no documentation" loans are no longer an option. There are however, some sellers offering owner financing, so don't give up even if you don't look perfect on paper.

You may wonder if the median price is so high still if there are any bargains to be found and the answer is YES!

Take a look at these great buys.

Waterfront Home, 3/2 with sandy beach and good rental income reduced from $1.4M to $859K!

Inland home 1/1 with small view now $109K

Five Lots possible with this old charmer - $245K

Five Inland Acres for $103K! 

Sunset over Deer Harbor, Orcas Island

Our lives continue to be busy with the farm and the family. We have a new little grand-daughter, Penelope Rose Benson, daughter of my son Leif and his wife Serra. Leif and Serra live here on Orcas and Leif is the co-owner of A-1 Autoworks on Mount Baker Road. We feel so fortunate to have all our five grandchildren on Orcas!

May 2011 be a wonderful year for you, filled with happiness and prosperity,

Kate and Ken Wood
Owner/Broker
OrcasDreams-Island Properties

Orcas Island Real Estate Sales Increase First Quarter of 2010

More activity in the Orcas Island Real Estate Market the first quarter of 2010 than the previous year.

Despite the increase in 2010 over 2009 numbers, our sales continute to be very few and far between. This cannot be credited to the terrible winter weather; it was one of the mildest on record.  The lack of selection for buyers to choose from isn’t the reason as we have an ample number of listings in every category.  The interest rates are not the culprit as they are attractively low, although loans are demanding better qualified borrowers.  With all of these factors off the “table”, why is it that buyers are not taking advantage of the great purchasing opportunities currently available on Orcas Island?   Either buyers are not convinced that our pricing has reached the bottom and that real estate here is a good future investment, or the nation wide financial crisis has resulted in too much fear to act.

Year   '01      '02     '03     '04      '05      '06      '07       '08      '09


Sales 105    108    136     183    177    148     118      88       59


$Vol    27M    36M    51M    61M   74M   77M   72M    50M    26M

When the economic news improves enough for a buyer to feel comfortable purchasing property, sellers will also feel much more comfortable and will instantly act accordingly by increasing their prices. During the first quarter, the primary real estate markets in Seattle and Bellevue appear to be stabilizing and have increased volume of 64% and 93% respectively, over the first quarter in 2009.  We tend to mirror those markets with a lag time as the majority of our buyers originate from western Washington.

FACT: Many homes are now selling for far less than the cost of materials and labor; below their current tax assessment and in some cases, below what the owner paid. 

FACT: There is a good supply of Inventory and some motivated sellers.

FACT: Orcas Island is one of a kind - People will always be drawn to it's beauty and charm.

                      Real estate has always been cyclical and will always be so.

                                    Do you know where this photo was taken?

Is the Island calling your name?

To see what is currently available go to: www.orcasdreams.com

Or Email kate@orcasdreams.com
                 

 

Orcas Island Real Estate Steals and Deals!

                                           Deer Harbor, Orcas Island in the Evening

We have some very motivated sellers on some of listings here at OrcasDreams - Island Properties. We have been very successful in selling our listings during this slow down in the market. No great secret - mostly just great prices. With the consenus that the market has hit the bottom and is now recovering, now is the time to act!

                                               Sailing in Westsound on Orcas Island


Why live on Orcas Island? For one it is stunningly beautiful! The air quality is the very best you can find in the US. The waters surrounding Orcas Island are sheltered and perfect for kayaking, fishing, small boats and sailing. About 1/3 of the Island is in Parkland and Conservation land. There is fabulous hiking, pristine lakes for swimming and recreating, and the community is well educated, the pace is slower and well, folks are kind.

                                              Jersey cows at Coffelt's Farm on Orcas

If you want to be more connected to nature, and are tired of racing from one thing to another, if you love to garden, if you enjoy slow food, if you are looking for a new lifestyle or thinking of retiring.  Check out Orcas Island. It's one of a kind!

Green Built Craftsman Cottage - Sunny and on Two Acres Now: $425.500

Home With Hanger for Your Plane - Neat as a Pin with Beautiful Gardens! $539,000

Pastoral 5+ Acres with Beautiful Pond  - Sunset Views and in Victorian Valley $337,000

Small Farm with 1910 Fixer  - Two Bedroom Stucco Home in need of love and attention on Three very fertile Acres! $289,000

Coupeville Cottage - Walk to the Waterfront Downtown from this old fashioned home with beautiful gardens in a quiet area. $199,000

Sunny Lot in lovely Eagle Lake - Share in 283 Acres of Wild Beaches and Wooded Uplands, Ponds and Hiking Trails. $119,000

One Acre Lot in Doe Bay- Water and drainfield, this one is a very easy to build site, OK for Yurt/Camping now: $112,000

Most Affordable Home on Orcas- Owner Financing possible on this modest single wide on very pretty lot in town. $125,000

If you too have been hearing that we have hit the bottom, in fact hit the bottom last summer, and you are thinking of a new lifestyle - check out the San Juan Islands.

To see what is currently available go to: www.orcasdreams.com

Or Email kate@orcasdreams.com
                  

Orcas Island and the San Juan Island Sales History

Here is the latest scoop on sales in the San Juan Islands, which includes Orcas, San Juan Island, Lopez Island and Shaw.  The chart above shows how prices have changed since 2002, peaked in 2007 and fell in 2009. Now at last in Seattle we are seeing the market stabilizing and actually showing small increases. In the past, the Orcas Island Real Estate Market has followed the Seattle Market.

F

If you are considering selling property on the San Juan's this chart tells you just how far you need to plan ahead. What it does not say is how much the properties that actually sold had to drop their price.

Innman News - reported the following today:

"SAN FRANCISCO -- The financial crisis is over and the economy is growing at a fast enough clip that the Federal Reserve and other policymakers have already fallen behind the curve in preventing the next asset bubble, economist Ken Rosen said today.
Rosen, the chairman of the University of California, Berkeley's Fisher Center for Real Estate, acknowledged that most economists are still more worried about deflation than inflation."

If you too have been hearing that we have hit the bottom, in fact hit the bottom last summer, and you are thinking of a new lifestyle - check out the San Juan Islands.

To see what is currently available go to: www.orcasdreams.com

Or Email kate@orcasdreams.com

Plan to make your dreams come true!

Ferry Served Island verses non-Ferry Served Islands

I am often asked about the small out islands that seem to have such great deals. What is it like to live there/ vacation there? Often people don't realize that there is NO ferry to Crane and the other small Islands. Some don't realize that there isn't a bridge. We are an archipelago of 172 Islands, but only four are ferry served.

Why choose a ferry served Island? I know you're looking for solitude, for quiet, to be far from the maddening crowd. I understand! But how far do you want to be from buying butter for your baked potatoes? And how do you feel about carrrying everything from your small boat to your island home, perhaps a half mile or more? Have you considered that EVERYTHING you need to do a project, or furnish your home will have to be barged in? Waldron has a school, but only one road, and no commercial establishments. Lots of organic gardening and a small shuttle from Deer Harbor. On Crane you'd need your own boat, no school, no store.  Most people find Island living with the ferries gives them enough privacy.Yes, we have a moat!

If resale is a concern to you at all I would suggest sticking to the 3 major islands; Orcas, San Juan and Lopez.  My husband Ken has worked (built houses) on Decatur and Blakely, both non-ferry served islands. The resale out there takes at least 4 times as long as ANYTHING on Orcas. Development costs are so high on the out islands the cost savings on the land is largely eaten up. Shaw is just as expensive as Orcas and has a VERY slow selling market, though not as bad as the out islands.

  

If you too have been hearing that we have hit the bottom, in fact hit the bottom last summer, and you are thinking of a new lifestyle - check out the San Juan Islands.

To see what is currently available go to: www.orcasdreams.com

Or Email kate@orcasdreams.com
                     

My Client Got a Loan Modified!!

I feel like celebrating!  One of our clients just got his loan modified for his home on Orcas Island- just about cut in half - to an amount that he can actually afford. He has never been well, but the downturn in our economy and the devaluation of his land was the final straw. I did not know what would happen to him.

This client, like so many fellow Americans has always worked to pay his bills, and made a real estate investment which should of made him some money based on his work on the property. Instead it looked like it might result in his becoming homeless..and bankrupt.  But today, he called and he got a modification! I could not be happier!

There are some hidden downsides to getting help from your lender. Of course the 9 months to a year fighting with them to help you is the first and most obvious nightmare. But what many people don't know is that as soon as you ask for help your credit is affected. It can drop your credit score as much as 100 points according to MSNBC news, as soon as you ask for help EVEN if you have managed to pay your bills on time! So don't be surprised if your credit card companies start notifying you that your line of credit has been slashed to 10% of what it was formerly.


"Why should people's credit be hurt even worse when they're trying to do the right thing?" said Eileen Anderson, senior vice president at Community Development Corp. of Long Island, a housing counseling group in New York.

And many homeowners are angry that a program designed to help carries such a penalty, said Kathy Conley, a housing counselor with GreenPath Inc., a nonprofit group in Farmington Hills, Mich.

"It's a feeling of being duped," she said.

Credit score issues are an unexpected consequence of the program that has been plagued with problems and disappointing results since its launch last year. Only about 170,000 homeowners had completed the process as of February. Hundreds of thousands more are still in limbo, but one lucky homeowner will sleep better tonight.

89 Parkwood Drive, Eastsound WA 98245

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Green Built Home on Orcas Island  
JUST REDUCED TO $448,500!!

Are you looking for a Sustainable Lifestyle? What to live in or near a small town with a caring community, where folks visit while sipping lattes in front of locally owned coffee shops? Are you wanting something different than the big malls and stoplights, hours spent in your car rushing from place to place?  Are you a nature lover, and does nature nuture your soul? Do you long for a quiet place to call your own, walks in the park, kayaking calm waters, sailing on those long days of summer with your skin tight and salty from the sun and water. Are you ready to slow down and smell the roses? 

The Kitchen is the Heart of the Home. European style kitchen offers high end stainless appliances, quiet energy effecient dishwasher, Commercial gas range, butcher block counter tops and bamboo floors. 

Kitchen opens to the Great Room and Sunny Southern Deck

 Natural Light throughout this Home!

Window Pop-Out

Corner fireplace adds warmth on cool days.

  French Doors open to Deck creating a natural flow to the out of doors.

 The Master Suite has vaulted ceilings, windows on three sides, and a door to the garden. 

Arbor is built from trees grown on the property.

Located on TWO FULL ACRES this property has great sun and good privacy.

View across the side yard toward neighbors horse barn. 

Currently offered at $456,500. 

Call OrcasDreams-island Properties

360-376-6396

Or

EMAIL ME!