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Leavenworth, WA Real Estate News

By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
Forest fires are an unfortunate part of life on among the Ponderosa Pine forests east of the Cascades.   We have a lot of clients and friends who live outside the area so we thought it would be good to put together  a short report on the 2013 Leavenworth forest fires. As I write this, the Eagle Fire is burning in Leavenworth’s Eagle Creek drainage near Bjork and Van Creeks. As of this morning, the fire is approximately 1500 acres in size. Eagle Creek road is now closed to traffic and evacuation notices are in place. Firefighting resources fighting these fires include over 300 firefighters – 9 hand crews, 5 helicopters, including one heavy helicopter used for dipping water. Other resources being used are two dozers and 9 engines. The most updated info can be found on the government websi...
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
Thinking about deciding not to re-list with them and changing Leavenworth realtors? This time of  year in Leavenworth we talk to a number of homeowners throughout the Leavenworth and Lake  Wenatchee area who are considering putting their house on the market to sell.  Some need to sell, while others are still trying to decide if the time is right. One group we particularly enjoy helping is those home sellers who have tried in the past to sell their house with another agent but without success.   Known in the real estate business as ”expired listings”  these are homeowners looking for better advice and a change in direction. Check out our recent article on our real estate blog: Changing Leavenworth Realtors One home seller emailed us after we published this post and said "Geordie, you mus...
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
 When it comes to buying vacation home in sunny Leavenworth, lots of home buyers have dreams of buying a house on acreage. For some, having an acre or five is just about breathing room or privacy. For others, it’s about having room for a vegetable garden or perhaps a few chickens.  Lots of folks contact us when they are thinking about buying a Leavenworth house on acreage and are hoping for a small house or a fixer upper on a large parcel.  For the most part, that’s not really what’s for sale. I studied the sales of all Leavenworth houses that sold in 2012 that sat on at least 1 acre or more. I excluded those waterfront properties along the Wenatchee and Chiwawa Rivers as well as Lake Wenatchee. To find out the results, click through to the article on our Leavenworth real estate blog: B...
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
I'm always suprised how little effort some agents put into preparing a home for sale. The moment that a home comes on the market (or MLS) is the most important time for the listing. I always work with sellers and if necessary a stager or interior designer to get a house looking it's best prior to a photo shoot. And yes, every house gets professional photos. Does it really make a difference? This cute 3 bedroom home near Lake Wenatchee was on the market for 17 months with numerous price reductions with another agent. We dropped the price a trivial amount, but took the time to prepare the home for sale. The result? Two offers within 9 days and the home is now under contract! Sometimes I ask a lot of my sellers when it comes to preparing their home. Believe me, it is worth it.
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
I love being able to get my listing clients good press and it's even better when it's in national or regional media. In 2007, I was interviewed by the NY Times for an article about Leavenworth vacation homes and was lucky enough to get my website and a listing in the article. Today, a condo at Kahler Glen I have listed for sale was mentioned in an article on MSN Real Estate about ski properties. How very exciting for both me and my client.   http://realestate.msn.com/ski-in-ski-out-real-estate#10
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
Leavenworth always has lots to offer when it comes to winter fun. We posted a nice long list of things to choose from on our January events calendar. There should be something for everyone. fireworks ski races chili cook off Robert Burns Supper classical piano concert
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
In November 2012  8 houses and 3 condos sold in the Leavenworth area. Click here to read our report or click here if you want to read our October report We try and publish a report every month so that you can see what homes are REALLY selling for since there is often a huge disconnect between the asking prices and the actually sales prices in Leavenworth.  
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
Home prices in Leavenworth continued to trend down in 2012 but the number of homes sold in the past year is much improved. Lower prices and fantastic interest rates for home buyers brought a more closings in 2012 than in any year since 2007. Check out all the numbers in our end of year review on our Leavenworth real estate blog: 2012 Leavenworth home prices
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
I haven't heard the final attendance numbers yet, but last night's Banff Mountain Film Festival event in Leavenworth was a fantastic success. Thanks so much to everyone who came, the event volunteers and the staff of the Leavenworth Winter Sports Club. This is our 3rd year of being the title sponsors for the event and the second year in the Leavenworth Festhalle. It's amazing to me that it took so long for the event to come to a mountain town like Leavenworth. The Banff Films are such a good event for our town filled with climbers, skiers, cyclist and boaters.
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
We get clients and friends asking us all the time: Has the Leavenworth Real Estate Market Recovered?   Since the market is fluid and dynamic it really depends on what time periods we are comparing.   Many people who ask about the “real estate recovery” want to know about home prices. Sellers want to know what their home is worth and buyers want to know if it is a good time to buy.   The question I am more interested in, is WHY? or perhaps.. WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT?   In the most recent post on our Leavenworth real estate blog I look at the history of "supply and demand" in the Leavenworth real estate market from 2006-2012.   Click here to learn if the Leavenworth real estate market has recovered .
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
We are once again proud to announce that IcicleCreekHomes.com is the title sponsor of the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour as it comes to Leavenworth again this year. The Banff Mountain Film Festival, a program of The Banff Centre, is the largest, and one of the most prestigious, mountain festivals in the world. Hot on the heels of the festival held every fall in Banff, Alberta, the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour hits the road. As in recent years the Banff Film Festival Leavenworth films will be shown at the Leavenworth Festhalle on November 20th, 2012 Read more about the Banff Film Fest in Leavenworth
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
We were pretty excited to share with you the news that a record number of Leavenworth homes closed in July. It turns out that August wasn’t too shabby either. Fourteen homes sold in August which is pretty amazing compared to almost any month but July of 2012. How do these numbers compare to recent records for home sales in Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee? These two months were incredible. Read more about our record number of sales over on our blog
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
In Leavenworth, 12 homes and 2 condos sold in the month of August. (Plus another two homes in Peshastin) This was another fantastic month following our record month in July. Every month we put together a report that details which homes sold, for how much, and other details like the original listing price. Check out our: August Leavenworth Sold Homes Report August Cashmere WA Sold Homes Report      
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
Leavenworth condo sales were some of the biggest disappointments of the recent housing bust. In Leavenworth, this was the one sector that had massive overbuilding. In 2012, we are starting to see some recovery in sales activity, though prices remain low. We have a new post on our blog breaking it all down...   Read all about the recent Leavenworth Condo Sales here
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
More homes have sold in Leavenworth than in any other single month since 2007. Eighteen ,  yes 18!!!!  houses sold this July which is a truly astounding number. As I have noted in the past ten is the magic number of home sales for Leavenworth in my book. Any month with ten or more sales is a strong month! But we all know that one month of strong sales isn’t everything. It’s great that we have had record July homes sales in Leavenworth but we don’t want to sacrifice July and then have weak August numbers. I’d feel a whole lot better about the health of the market if we could string three months together of ten or more sales.
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
Leavenworth home prices for Spring 2012 have seen some improvement and are an indication that the worst is probably behind us. However, we should remember that home prices are but just a single indicator of market health.   The number of homes sold or “volume” remains low. I would consider 25-30 homes sold in a quarter a good indication of a healthy market.  Another indicator is supply. Right now there are approximately 200 homes for sale in the Leavenworth market. With so many homes to choose from, it certainly remains a buyer’s market.   Click here to read our full report and see graphs: Leavenworth Home Prices Q2 2012
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
Since Windermere no longer has a staffed office in Leavenworth, people sometimes ask us if we are at a disadvantage to the other companies who are located in downtown Leavenworth.    Turns out that having a fancy office isn't what matters most.   What probably matters most is who sells the most Leavenworth houses.   Windermere might not have as many listings or signs in yards, but we consistently sell more houses in Leavenworth and Peshastin than other companies.  Our two person team, Icicle Creek Homes, even does pretty well compared to some of the local offices.   Check out this chart that shows which companies are selling houses in Leavenworth   Thanks for your business and your support – it means the world to us.
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
Every seller we talk to in the Leavenworth market wants a real estate agent who will be aggressive about selling their home or property. That makes sense to us.  Year in and year out we have clients come to us and ask us to list their home because they have tried other agents in the past and been disappointed with the results. Call us crazy, but we decided to give away some of our “super secret” recipe for success. Pricing is Paramount Putting the right price on a property is the most important thing you can do.  No amount of marketing magic can solve a mispriced home.  We routinely see homes in Leavenworth that are priced $100,000 more than the market value. Sometimes it’s much worse than that. Without Great Photos, Your House is Invisible A photo is worth a thousand words. In the Leav...
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By Geordie Romer, Serving Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and Plain
(Windermere Real Estate / NCW)
People ask all the time what it’s like living in Leavenworth Washington. One of the real pleasures about living in amall town like Leavenworth is how safe it is with very little crime and a great sense of community. Yesterday, I met with some new homeowners and heard a story about the consequences of leaving your door unlocked in Leavenworth. Click here to read what happened.. it's a great story about life in Leavenworth  
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By Donald Hester, NCW Home Inspections, LLC
(NCW Home Inspections, LLC)
Sometimes you just have to love your job! Leavenworth Home Inspection ServiceHere is a shot I took from a rooftop from yesterday’s home inspection.               Sometime you just have to enjoy having the “Birdseye” view of the world.This is look back at the Enchantments in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state. This is a popular hiking area (Wash. Trails Asso.- The Enchantment lakes) in the Leavenworth area. I have made this journey myself but it has been a few years. Tis distance lends enchantment to the view, and robes the mountain in its azure hue. Thomas Campbell   NCW Home Inspections, LLC  is a Licensed Washington State Home Inspection service located in Wenatchee Washington serving Chelan County, Douglas County, Kittitas County, Okanogan County and Grant County Washington an...
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