What a fun idea! I remember making gingerbread houses for the holidays as a little girl.  I remember my sister's kids making them for everyone one Christmas season. I love the smell of gingerbread and of course I am one of those that loves gingerbread hmmmmmmmm. Doing some "out and about" research for the Kitsap Couny area I ran across this amazing event, you better hurry because the these book fast!  This is an extra addition to the season calender because of such high demand.   New Date Added December 20 ~ 10am - 12noon  Gingerbread House Parties at the Farm Kitchen in Poulsbo www.farmkitchen.com   12/04/2008

"Isaac's inspection revealed a serious defect in the flashing and weather-proofing of a newly constructed home, saving the owners from a potentially serious situation involving water damage.  The important side note is that 4 similar new homes had already been sold, and none of those inspectors found the flaw!  Even the Building Department inspector missed it!  The contractor was called back to fix all the homes, and they changed their blueprints to address future construction as well."  Mark Larson, John L. Scott  "You did a great job with the inspection; both Jeff and I were very impressed. When we go to purchase another rental, you will definitely be our choice for a home inspection."Shannon Wells Rachel C Brown "Dear Isaac, I just wanted to thank you again for the wonderful job you ... 11/28/2008

Authored By: Jo Soss : WestSoundLive.com   Friday, November 14th 7:00pm Bremerton Admiral Theater - The Secret of Roan Irish |  10-year-old Fiona is sent to live with her grandparents in a small fishing village in Donegal, Ireland. She soon learns the local legend that an ancestor of hers married a Selkie - a seal who can turn into a human. Movie - General Admission $7.00 Friday & Saturday, November 14th and November 15th 10:00am and 2:00pm Each Day. Poulsbo Valley Nursery - Wreath Class | How to use the Wreath Machines.  The Nursery will show you how to creat your masterpiece.  Classes are held in a greenhouse and are FREE.  You will not make your wreath at this time, but sign up to come back later and use one of the machines.  Classes are approximately 30 minutes.       Friday, Saturd... 11/13/2008

Statistics we refer to are for that part of Poulsbo encompassing the downtown core, from the head of Liberty Bay southeast to Ne-Si-Ka Bay, including parts north to Sawdust Hill Rd. The market for other parts of Poulsbo and its suburbs should have approximately similar trends. Homes in Poulsbo were selling for a YTD median sale price of about $332,663 at the end of October, down about 6.3% from a year ago and about the same as last month. Poulsbo's October median sale price was $330,000, about 2.9% lower than in October 2007. Kitsap County YTD median price has fallen 9.5% over the past year. The number of Poulsbo closed sales YTD is almost the same as a year ago, and the number of YTD pending sales is down by 24%. The large difference in pending versus closed sales reflects the closing ... 11/11/2008

Statistics we refer to are for that part of Poulsbo encompassing the downtown core, from the head of Liberty Bay southeast to Ne-Si-Ka Bay, including parts north to Sawdust Hill Rd. The market for other parts of Poulsbo and its suburbs should have approximately similar trends. Homes in Poulsbo were selling for a YTD median sale price of about $334,126 at the end of September, down about 5.9% from a year ago and down 1% from last month. Poulsbo's September median sale price was $325,900, about the same as in September 2007. Kitsap County YTD median price has fallen 8.8% over the past year.  The number of Poulsbo closed sales YTD is 1% lower than a year ago, and the number of YTD pending sales is down by 26%. The large difference in pending versus closed sales reflects the backlog of new ... 10/14/2008

Statistics we refer to are for that part of Poulsbo encompassing the downtown core, from the head of Liberty Bay southeast to Ne-Si-Ka Bay, including parts north to Sawdust Hill Rd. The market for other parts of Poulsbo and its suburbs should have approximately similar trends. Homes in Poulsbo were selling for a YTD median sale price of about $336,718 at the end of August, down about 5.3% from a year ago and down 2% from last month. Poulsbo's August median sale price was $315,000, down 10% from 2007. Kitsap County YTD median price has fallen 8.5% over the past year.  The number of Poulsbo closed sales YTD is the same as a year ago, and the number of YTD pending sales is down by 32%. The large difference in pending versus closed sales reflects the backlog of new construction pending sal... 09/15/2008

Statistics we refer to are for that part of Poulsbo encompassing the downtown core, from the head of Liberty Bay southeast to Ne-Si-Ka Bay, including parts north to Sawdust Hill Rd. The market for other parts of Poulsbo and its suburbs should have approximately similar trends. Homes in Poulsbo were selling for a YTD median sale price of about $343,363 at the end of July, down about 3.5% from a year ago and up slightly from last month. Kitsap County YTD median price has fallen 8.4% over the past year. The number of Poulsbo closed sales YTD is down 7.9% from a year ago, and the number of YTD pending sales is down by 36%. The large difference in performance of pending and closed sales reflects the backlog of new construction pending sales that are now closing. There was a drop of 28% in YT... 08/13/2008

Statistics we refer to are for that part of Poulsbo encompassing the downtown core, from the head of Liberty Bay southeast to Ne-Si-Ka Bay, including parts north to Sawdust Hill Rd. The market for other parts of Poulsbo and its suburbs should have approximately similar trends. Homes in Poulsbo were selling for a YTD median sale price of about $344,518 at the end of June, down about 3.1% from a year ago but up almost 6% from last month. Kitsap County YTD median price has fallen 12% over the past year.  The number of closed sales YTD is down 3.4% from a year ago, and the number of YTD pending sales is down by 39%. The large difference in performance of pending and closed sales reflects the backlog of new construction pending sales that are now closing. There was a drop of 28% in YTD close... 07/12/2008

Statistics we refer to are for that part of Poulsbo encompassing the downtown core, from the head of Liberty Bay southeast to Ne-Si-Ka Bay, including parts north to Sawdust Hill Rd. The market for other parts of Poulsbo and its suburbs should have approximately similar trends. Homes in Poulsbo were selling for a median price of about $325,372 at the end of May, down about 9.3% from a year ago. Kitsap County YTD median price has fallen 6.6% over the past year.  The number of closed sales YTD is down 6% from a year ago, and the number of YTD pending sales is down by 31%. This compares to a drop of 26% in YTD closed sales compared to a year ago for Kitsap County as a whole. That portion of currently pending sales coming from new construction presales (29 of 42) has fallen significantly, so... 06/14/2008

Statistics we refer to are for that part of Poulsbo encompassing the downtown core, from the head of Liberty Bay southeast to Ne-Si-Ka Bay, including parts north to Sawdust Hill Rd. The market for other parts of Poulsbo and its suburbs should have approximately similar trends. Homes in Poulsbo were selling for a median price of about $345,268 at the end of April, down about 3.2% from a year ago. Kitsap County median prices have fallen 5.3% over the past year. The number of closed sales YTD has is the same as last year, and the number of YTD pending sales fell by 16%. This compares to a drop of 25% in YTD closed sales compared to a year ago for Kitsap County as a whole. A large portion of the currently pending sales is from presales at one moderately priced new construction development -... 05/15/2008

Statistics I refer to are for that part of Poulsbo encompassing the downtown core, from the head of Liberty Bay southeast to Ne-Si-Ka Bay, including parts north to Sawdust Hill Rd. The market for other parts of Poulsbo and its suburbs should have approximately similar trends. Homes in Poulsbo were selling for a median price of about $349,006 at the end of March, down about 7.2% from a year ago. Kitsap County median prices have fallen 5.3% over the past year. The number of closed sales YTD has fallen 3% compared to last year (a sharp decrease from last month's plus 23%), and the number of YTD pending sales has increased 7%. This compares to a drop of 26% since a year ago for Kitsap County as a whole. A large portion of the currently pending sales is from presales at one moderately priced... 04/05/2008

Statistics we refer to are for that part of Poulsbo encompassing the downtown core, from the head of Liberty Bay southeast to Ne-Si-Ka Bay, including parts north to Sawdust Hill Rd. The market for other parts of Poulsbo and its suburbs should have approximately similar trends. Homes in Poulsbo were selling for a median price of about $343,513 at the end of February, down about 4% from a year ago. Kitsap County median prices have fallen 6% over the past year. The number of closed sales YTD has risen 23% compared to last year, and the number of YTD pending sales has increased 26%. This compares to a drop of 19% since a year ago for Kitsap County as a whole. A large portion of the currently pending sales is from presales at one moderately priced new construction development - homes that ne... 03/09/2008

In the early morning hours of May 30, 2006, a very popular local eating establishment in Poulsbo WA was gutted by fire. When the landmark restaurant, Mitzel's, went up in smoke, area residents lost a dining tradition they have enjoyed for over 20 years. Fast forward to 2008, and the grand opening of "Taprock Northwest Grill." Recently, I offered my son, Ben, and his friend, Josh, a lunchtime reprieve from their house-building efforts, and treated them both to a meal at the new Taprock Northwest Grill. As is usually typical of newly opened restaurants, the place was packed with plenty of local business people and assorted patron patiently awaiting a seat. The hired help was extremely friendly and gracious throughout our meal. On several occasions, the Manager, Steve Hancock, came up and ... 02/16/2008

So much has been happening in my life lately, it makes me dizzy just thinking about it! My oldest son, Ben, proposed to his girlfriend over the Christmas Holidays, and the wedding is planned for June 14th. Ben recently started a new job in construction. Along with his good friend, Josh, they're building a house up in North Kitsap, off Gunderson Road. The house is for Josh's Dad, a local commercial builder. I thought it would be fun to chronicle their progress through a series of articles. So, without further adieu, the Ben and Josh Story! Laying a Good Foundation.....                                      .....Here's Ben the Builder!      ....and here's Josh on the Job!                             .....Men at Work!                   Boys like playing with Big Trucks! 02/16/2008

Please keep in mind that it's the first month of a new year, so the year-to-date numbers may be quite variable compared to last month. Statistics we refer to are for that part of Poulsbo encompassing the downtown core, from the head of Liberty Bay southeast to Ne-Si-Ka Bay, including parts north to Sawdust Hill Rd. The market for other parts of Poulsbo and its suburbs should have approximately similar trends. Homes in Poulsbo were selling for a median price of about $349,500 at the end of January, down about 4% from a year ago. Kitsap County median prices fell less than 1% over the past year. The number of closed sales YTD has fallen 29% compared to last year, and the number of YTD pending sales has increased 17%. This compares to a drop of 24% since a year ago for Kitsap County as a wh... 02/07/2008

Homes in Poulsbo were selling for a median price of about $355,000 at the end of December, up about 1.4% from a year ago. Kitsap County median prices were up 6% over the past year. The number of closed sales YTD has increased 13% compared to last year, and the number of YTD pending sales has increased 31%, though a large portion of that increase is from presales of one moderately priced new construction development - homes that never appeared as active listings. The Poulsbo listing inventory (118) has risen by 17% compared to a year ago. The inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 6.6 months. Calculating inventory turnover in this manner is artificially low since a number of the new construction homes closing did not show as active listings. O... 01/09/2008

Over the years, whenever we've moved, one of the first things I've done is to scope out the closest and best sources for fresh sushi. Imagine my difficulty when we moved to Lawrence, Kansas?!?! It wasn't until just before we left that a sushi bar/Japanese restaurant finally came to the area. Go figure! When we first arrived here in Silverdale, Washington, I naturally assumed that there would be a plethora (thank you, Three Amigos!) of sushi bars and Japanese restaurants, given our close proximity to the ocean. NOT!   To read more about finding the illusive fresh sushi here on the Kitsap Peninsula, go to SOUNDBITEBLOG.   ~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~     o     ~ Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing empowerment and relentless representation f... 12/12/2006

One of the challenges of relocating to a new area is finding the best places for shopping. Locating good grocery stores is usually not too difficult. Most of the major food chains have stores within the limits of most towns and cities. It's finding those really exemplary and unique markets, the ones that cater to the more discerning, high-end shopper, and have every conceivable foodstuff possible, that tend to be rather daunting.Fortunately, for us here on the Kitsap Peninsula in scenic Washington, we have Central Market in Poulsbo.Owned & operated by a local independent retail grocery company, and founded in 1957, Town & Country Markets, Inc., along with President Larry Nakata at the helm, currently operate six stores in the Puget Sound area.Central Market opened in Poulsbo in 1995, an... 12/06/2006

One of the challenges when relocating to a new area is finding all the best places to shop, especially for furniture. Northwest Design Center, located along Hwy. 305 in Poulsbo, Washington, is the brainchild of local business entrepreneur, Constance Swanlund. Along with Marketing Manager, Frank Portello, the center offers an extensive selection of the most exquisite furnishings for the discerning buyer, and a wide range of designer services. Their current facility has over 30,000 square feet of quality home furnishings, accessories, an interior design studio, and the Cafe' Divano coffee shop.The showroom features Traditional, Classic, and Asian style pieces. Specialty rooms display wall art, lamps, mirrors, Asian antiques, and garden furnishings. A "Walk-Through" gallery helps to give b... 12/05/2006

Welcome once again to ActiveRain, the cutting-edge clearinghouse for current resources on all things real estate. My name is Rich Jacobson, a licensed professional real estate agent in Silverdale, out on the Kitsap Peninsula in scenic Washington State. This is the eighth installment in an on-going series of posts dedicated to helping 1st Time Home Buyers successfully achieve their home purchasing goals. We have been identifying and discussing, in chronological order, key events in the home buying process. In our last time together, we talked about the key ingredients to making a well-drafted offer in a post entitled, "Make Them an Offer They Can't Refuse!" Today's topic is: "Home Inspection" or "Home Alone?"   So, by this point, your offer has been accepted and you're under contract wit... 11/30/2006