Posted By: Ryan Martin, e-Pro®, Realtor® - 360-319-0040

Windermere Whatcom County Real Estate  | Bellingham Real Estate

There is clearly a lot of negative press nationally and for good reason. A few months ago the national lending market suffered a hit with the announcement of American Home Mortgage filing bankruptcy. American Home Mortgage was one of the largest sub prime lenders. This led to a big lending scare and caused most lenders to tighten up their lending guidelines.

The other big national headline has been the rise in foreclosures. Many of the adjustable rate mortgages that were taken out in the boom years of 2004 and 2005 will be adjusting to variable rates next year. This will widely affect national real estate market because there is going to be a big increase in inventory.  

Why am I so confident that Whatcom County’s real estate market will recover in spring of 2008? The two biggest factors that will hold back the national real estate market will have a much smaller impact on Whatcom County. The tightening of lending guidelines will reduce the total number of home buyers in Whatcom County, but I don’t feel that will be too damaging to the market. Due to the recent rise of the Canadian Dollar proportionate to the US Dollar, we have been seeing more Canadians choosing to purchase vacation homes across the border in Whatcom County. I think that the Canadian buyers will help offset some of the lending impact.

The second nation real estate factor is the foreclosure issue. It is a fact that the number of foreclosures are going to increase at a national level. It is not a fact that the number of foreclosures are going to increase locally. A large portion of the adjustable rate mortgage holders are people that bought real estate on speculation. Whatcom County’s real estate market is not built from speculation. People chose to live in Whatcom County because they enjoy what the area has to offer.  Local residents enjoy the outdoor life of Whatcom County. Visit the Whatcom County Chamber of Commerce and you will see an amazing list cultural and outdoor activities.

I am not suggesting that Whatcom County’s real estate market is going to boom in 2008 as it did in 2004 and 2005, but I do predict that we will see an increase on home values over the course of the year. The real estate market in Whatcom County is primed for a good year. There are a healthy number of homes on the market and interest rates are under 6%. Now is a great time to buy real estate in Whatcom County.

Posted By: Ryan Martin, e-Pro®, Realtor® - 360-319-0040

Windermere Whatcom County Real Estate  | Bellingham Real Estate

Many Whatcom County citizens received letters in the mail from the Whatcom County Tax Assessor at the end of this November. The Whatcom County Assessors Office reevaluates the assessed value of all properties within the county every 4 years. Due to the recent jump in real estate prices over the last 4 years, many property owners are being hit with some pretty heavy property tax increases.

I was contacted 2 days ago by some clients that own a property that had an assessed value increased of 300%. With our local real estate market flattening over the last year, they did not understand the reason for such a sharp tax increase. I am sure that my clients are not alone in feeling an unjust tax increase. My clients asked me what they can do about the increasing assessed value of their property.

If you feel that the assessed value of your property increased too much, you need to do something about it right away. The Whatcom County Assessor’s Office has an appeal process, but the timeline is very short. You only have 30 days within receiving your “Official Valuation Change Notice” to appeal the assessed value of your property. If you have immediate questions about the process call the Whatcom County Assessor’s Office at 360-676-6790 or 360-398-1310.

If you would like to petition for a hearing before the Whatcom County Board of Equalization, you must use the Department of Revenue approved forms. Below is a link to download the Taxpayer Petition Form.

Whatcom County Tax Payer Petition Form

Posted by Ryan Martin

For those of you interested in purchasing rental homes in Whatcom County, you need to be in tune with the local rental rates. When determining  if a rental home will create cash flow you need to know if the current rent is at, below or above the current market rate. Windermere Property Management recently put together statistics for market rents in Whatcom County. The current rents are below.

Bellingham Rental Rates 

In Bellingham  3 - 5 Bed - 2 Bath homes with a garage are currently renting for  $1,200 - $1,350. Older homes that are dated tend to rent closer to $1,100 - $1,200.  For college rentals and homes near the WWU campus, rents are typically dictated by the number of bedrooms. The current rental rate per bedroom near WWU is $350 - $400. The current vacancy rate in Bellingham is between 3% - 5%. Vacancy rates for rental homes near the WWU Campus are even lower. The highest rent that Windermere Property Management current gets for any rental home in Bellingham is $3,000.

Ferndale Rental Rates

In Ferndale 3 - 5 Bed - 2 Bath homes with a garage are currently renting for  $1,200 - $1,300. Older homes that are dated tend to rent closer to $900 - $1,100. Ferndale has a different type of rental market than Bellingham because there is no University or college nearby. Occasionally students will commute from Ferndale to Bellingham, but this is uncommon. Because there is less of a demand for rentals in Ferndale, we tend to see a higher vacancy rate and slightly lower rents. However, Ferndale is still a popular location and homes do rent well in and near the City of Ferndale.

Blaine and Lynden Rental Rates

Blaine and Lynden have similar rental rates to Ferndale. Both cities are much smaller than Bellingham and therefore have less of a demand for rentals. Blaine does tend to have a lower vacancy rate than Lynden.

What is the Best Rental Investment in Whatcom County? 

Bellingham is the best location in Whatcom County to purchase a rental home at this time. You should expect to put 20% down or more to cover your debt service. You will end up paying a premium price for a rental homes near the WWU campus, but these often end up being the best investments. Most students will need their parents to co-sign the lease, which will provide you will additional security. Rental homes near the WWU campus are also very easy to rent and typically have a 0% vacancy rate.

Posted by Ryan Martin

Getting back to this real estate blog, I will be keeping all of my posts on this blog relevant to real estate in Whatcom County. If you would like to read some of my other blogs, I will be listing them on the Blogroll below. My office is located Fairhaven (which is the “old town” of Bellingham for those you do not know the area), so a lot of my information will pertain to Bellingham but I will cover all of Whatcom County. I work for Windermere Real Estate/Whatcom, Inc. which is the largest real estate brokerage in Whatcom County. With 5 offices located across the county, I be sharing a lot of unique information about what is happening in our little real estate world in Whatcom County.

I look forward to hear from readers, so never hesitate to voice your opinion.

Thanks for Reading,

Ryan