According to the FHA Website here are the manufactured home guidelines required for getting a FHA loan:  A Title I loan for a manufactured home requires one of the following:A certificate label attached to the home, or A label verification letter. Obtain a label verification letter by visiting the website of the HUD approved contractor, the Institute for Building Technology and Safety (IBTS) A Title II loan requires all of the following:A certificate label or label verification letter. The placement of the home on a permanent foundation that complies with the Permanent Foundations Guide for Manufactured Housing (PFGMH). A certification from a licensed professional engineer verifying compliance with the PFGMH. The most common permanent foundation errors delaying the approval of an FHA-in... 06/10/2007

 Check out the online Video Demo of HUD and PATH's Concept Homehttp://www.pathnet.org/concepthomedemo/A Concept Home is an energy efficent, sustainable and affordable alternative: Reduce building and energy costs by cutting construction building timeand improving the overall energy efficiency of all aspects of the home. Increase the overall life expectancy of the home by increasing durability and reducing maintenance needs. Create greater flexibility in the home design to allow adapt it to the changing needs of the occupants. Reduce the overall impact of the home on the environment, including reducing job-site construction waste 06/10/2007

HUD is celebrating their first "concept" home, which is affordable, sustainable and energy efficient.  Per HUD press release:  "With the PATH Concept Home, HUD has created a blueprint for the future of the American Dream by using innovative housing technologies that support our goals of sustainability, efficiency and flexibility in an affordable home," said HUD Assistant Secretary Darlene F. Williams. "June is National Homeownership Month and we are excited to showcase a home that is affordable to purchase, maintain and renovate as families and their needs change over time."for interesting article go to:http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr07-082.cfm For Partnership for Advanced Housing Technology go to:http://www.pathnet.org/ 06/10/2007

This post about outdoor art shows the collection of the Whatcom Community College.  While the Bellingham Technical College art is mostly local, the Whatcom Community College collection is by nationally and internationally known artists.  The collection is small but growing.  It is well worth seeing.There will be two more entries in this series coming up in the next few days.  Please stay tuned.Thanks for lookingDavid Helmwww.helmhomeinspections.com 06/09/2007

Cornwall Park is one of the first parks I remember visiting when I was a child back in the 1950's. It was in my neighborhood and I went to Parkview elementary, that adjoins the park, and we were never allowed to go down into the park, except the last week of school we would get to have a picnic there. It is a forest with trails and, even back then, there was fear that a kid might go in and not come back out. There was, back in the 50's, a rumor that a skeleton the authorities could not identify had been found there -- probably true as my mother swears by that statement to this day. For a park in the city, it is a huge wooded area with old growth trees, two picnic shelters, two playgrounds, a spray pool (you could wade in it when I was young), Frisbee golf, hiking, tennis and so much mor... 06/09/2007

  Bellingham, Washington is a town that is known for its patronship of the arts.  This blog series celebrates sculpture at various venues around the town.  The first venue is the campus of Bellingham Technical College.  This school, one of the most dynamic technical schools in the country, hosts an annual welding rodeo where artists make metal sculpture.  Some are on permanent display around the campus.Th sculptural art displayed at the Bellingham Technical College is mostly by local artists.  Thanks for looking.David Helmwww.helmhomeinspections.com 06/09/2007

Elizabeth Park is Bellingham's first city park, created in 1884 and established on land donated by Henry Roeder. The park has abundant trees: walnut, chestnut and maple, plus flowering trees such as azaleas and rhododendrons. Many of the old growth trees are more than 100 years old. There is a pretty fountain, with benches around it, for solitude. The gazebo, which features music and entertainment in the summer months, is a scenic attraction. Since the park is situated in the Columbia and Eldridge neighborhoods, this old park is surrounded by older Victorian homes. My experience is that the park is not heavily used on weekdays so it is a reliable places for peace and quiet much of the time.Thanks for looking.Steven L. SmithBellingham WA home inspectorwww.kingofthehouse.com   06/09/2007

The Guide Meridian/Cordata Neighborhood is one of the fastest growing and most popular areas of the city.  It was annexed to Bellingham in the 1990s The Cordata portion of the neighborhood was originally developed as a suburban business park, with greenbelts and tree-lined streets. Over time, the area has changed to include a significant residential  and condominium component. It is also a major retail neighborhood including Bellis Fair Mall and several other smaller shopping centers with many national chain stores including Walmart, Costco, Best Buy, Home Depot and lots of smaller stores as well. There are plenty of restaurants and hotels here as wellThe Whatcom Community College campus is centrally located in the neighborhood, and brings lots of students to the apartments and condo's ... 06/09/2007

On the Lake Louise Rd. route out to Sudden Valley one can notice an unmarked small parking lot on the left.  This is parking for the trailhead at Stimson Family Nature Reserve.  The core of this reserve was donated to the Whatcom Land Trust in the year 2000 in memory of Edward and Catharine Stimson by their seven children.  The Reserve consists of the 138 acre Lake Louise Natural Resources Conservation Area, 196 acres owned by Whatcom Land Trust and 34 acres jointly owned by the City of Bellingham and Whatcom County.  The Reserve is managed by the Whatcom County Parks Department and is held in permanent Stewardship by the Whatcom Land Trust.There are several miles of trail, gaining and losing elevation through old forest, around the natural lake and in some younger forest.  The Stimson ... 06/09/2007

Bellingham Washington There is a reason thousands of people flock to Bellingham Washington each year. This jewel of the northwest is located 78 miles north of Seattle, 60 miles south of Vancouver, and rests along the waterfront of Bellingham Bay. The tree-lined streets of the city are threaded with art, music, and culture. The backdrop of the city scene is the great outdoors, which is why many people choose Bellingham as a place to live or visit. There are many interesting destinations within the city providing a unique place to explore. Bellingham is an experience in its own right, no matter where you go in town or how you get there. The city is home to historic Fairhaven, Chuckanut ridge, Lake Whatcom, Whatcom Community College, and Western Washington University. Transportation into t... 06/08/2007

Lake Padden Park has to be one of the busiest parks in all of Whatcom County. If you can name it, it takes place at Lake Padden. The lake is noted for its trail, all the way around the lake, and it is a favorite for hikers, bikers and walking and exercise groups. Wildlife is nearby and a few years back, one night, a beaver chewed down, and left on the main trail, a number of trees. Bald eagles will be seen as well. The park is suitable for boating (no noisy motors), swimming, picnicking, fishing and like any regional park in the active Pacific Northwest, there are areas for baseball, softball, tennis and other outdoor sports. There is also a golf course, one of the most popular and affordable in the county.   Trails and hiking   GolfSwimming Thanks for looking.Steven L. Smithwww.kingoft... 06/07/2007

This is a continuation of my blog on Bellingham, Washington historic homes.  Most of these are in one of the oldest neighborhoods in Bellingham.  The neighborhood is very desirable, and has seen major appreciation in values over the last several years.                                                                                                                 Again, as before, you can see that all these beautiful homes have been well maintained and have retained there original character.www.helmhomeinspections.com 06/07/2007

This historic home deserves more mention primarily because it is one of the finest examples locally of the genre called Craftsman.  It is fully restored, on the national and state registers of historic homes and is a local resource, being part of the Whatcom County Park System.  The home was built by the son of one of the original Bellingham Bay settlers. Captain Henry Roeder established the first sawmill on the bay in 1852 to provide lumber to rebuild San Francisco after the big fire of 1852.  His son Victor (owner of the home, born in 1861) started construction in 1903.  The home was completed in 1908.  Imagine the cost today of a home building project that takes 5 years. The length of time is primarily because Victor wanted the home to be of highest quality, and used highest quality ... 06/07/2007

Hi all.  I've read a number of blogs concerning historic home renovation, and the pitfalls of buying them to flip.  Bellingham has an association of historic home owners.  They do a tour every year.  The homes I'm showing in this blog are not on a tour, not for sale.  They are a representative look at what people here are doing.  Local people see the ownership of historic homes as both a privilege and a responsibility.  They are, for the most part, meticulous about keeping them maintained.                                                                                                                            As you can see, all of these homes are well maintained. www.helmhomeinspections.com 06/07/2007

There have been a few reports lately describing Bellingham WA as one of the most over priced areas in the state of Washington.  Problems with this statement is that these calculations are done by bean counters located far outside the state of Washington let alone the Bellingham area.  These calculations are normally done by looking at the average home price in Bellingham of $322,000 and comparing to the population, average incomes, and job growth.  Bellingham has one of the highest job growth rates in the state of Washington.  The population is steadily growing. The problem we have or at least the problem with these calculations is that our average income is lower.  This is not because there is no good paying jobs in our community.  By reviewing our population demographics its much easi... 06/06/2007

I recently...ummm... was talking to aaaahhh realtor on the ahhh phone, and ummm, he was ahhh trying to ahhh, ask me  ummm ahhh a question. So....he ahhh had to ummmm figure...ahhhhh something ummmm out! I thought I was going to loose it and I think he got mad when I started finishing his sentances. Why is it alot of Realtors think they are great communicators when they aren't...one way to find out is to join a local Toastmasters club...You can visit for free the first 3 times to just check it out. I have asked a few people to come to a meeting and sometimes they say they don't have time or don't need to....YES! they do...that is why I brought it up. This is a customer service position...wouldn't it be in your best interest to practice talking in front of people...I am sure we all get ne... 06/05/2007

The Columbia Neighborhood is one of the city's oldest neighborhoods. The overwhelming majority of homes within this neighborhood are single family sitting on narrow tree-lined streets with mature landscaping and large old trees.. The southernmost portion of the neighborhood, near the bay is identified as the Eldridge Historical District, it contains many large, historically significant homes recognized by the Eldridge Historical Society. Many of these turn of the centuty homes bear plaques with the names of original owners and years the homes were built near their front doors. The northern portion of the neighborhood has wider streets and newer developments built in the 1950's  The Columbia Neighborhood has Elizabeth Park, a valued community asset offering lots of big old shade trees, a... 06/05/2007

Whatcom county currently has 1692 active homes for sale.  We are in what the real estate industry calls a buyers market.  There are more homes on the market then there is buyers.  This gives buyers the advantage in negotiating and forces homes prices down.  In may there were 268 homes sold in Whatcom county which means if no more homes were added to the inventory it would take 6.3 months to eliminate sell all available homes.  Luckily for sellers lots of homes are still selling the difference is only the homes that are priced correctly and marketed aggressively are getting sold.  For more information on how to aggressively market a home in the Bellingham Washington area please contact one of the Home4Invesment Team's Bellingham Real Estate Agents! 06/05/2007

In today's Bellingham real estate market does the color of your sign matter?  Does going with one of the top 4 companies matter (Keller Williams, Windermere, Remax, John L Scott, Etc...) ? NO!!!! When picking the realtor that is going to list your home, what really matters?  The truth is that you can get the best agent or the worse agent at any brokerage.  Real Estate agents are independent contractors for the broker.  The amount of knowledge, experience, and marketing vary from brokerage to brokerage. When picking a real estate agent in Bellingham Washington or anywhere in the united states you need to know these stats Over 80% of buyers use the internet for there home search Google represents a majority of the web traffic Just because your real estate agent has a website does not mean... 06/05/2007

Non-conformity can work to the advantage or disadvantage of the owner of the non-conforming property.A house that has not been well maintained but is in a neighborhood of well kept homes will benefit from the overall good impression created by the neighborhood and its desirability.  This is an example of the principle of progression.  A House that has been meticulously maintained in a neighborhood of homes in a state of disrepair will suffer from the generally unfavorable impression created.  This is an example of the principle of regression.       06/04/2007