ISSUE 111
NEWSLETTER
JANUARY 2021
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WITH COLDWELL BANKER TOMLINSON
Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery: Sadly, but Vitally Important to Spokane A Personal Appeal by Sara Throckmorton, Coldwell Banker Tomlinson
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recently had the opportunity to work on staff at The Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery at 2230 E Sprague Ave in Spokane. To say I was given a heaping dose of perspective would be an understatement. For those of you who are not familiar with it, The Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery exists as a resource for families to prevent neglect and abuse for overwhelmed parents. They recently built a new facility so they could avoid turning away any of the tragically increasing number of children and families who need the care they provide. Their website provides a frank and disturbing look at their origins: "Vanessa Behan was founded in 1987 in memory of Vanessa Behan, who died from child abuse injuries at the age of two. The cause of death was a ruptured bowel caused by a blow to her abdomen. An autopsy revealed that during her short life, Vanessa had suffered many previous injuries, including a fractured arm, head trauma from having her hair pulled and twisted, a fractured skull and cigarette burns. The tragedy of Vanessa’s death outraged and saddened the Spokane community. A handful of people initiated a grassroots effort to create a safe place where parents could bring their children any time they are having
difficulty providing them with safe and nurturing care. Since then, Vanessa Behan has impacted the lives of more than 103,000 children and their families." What do they do? Vanessa Behan prevents child abuse and neglect in our city by offering 24-hour child care for infants and children under the age of seven, parent education, crisis counseling for parents, referrals to other community agencies, and emergency supplies such as diapers and wipes. Did you know it costs nearly $1,000 to diaper a child in their first year of life? Many of the families using the nursery live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $8,000 per year. Child abuse in our community is much more prevalent than most people know. A zip code in Spokane exhibits the highest incidence of child abuse in Washington State. Every day, 18 children are reported abused or neglected in our community. I encourage you, if you are interested in learning more about Vanessa Behan, to reach out to Keith O’Brien, Development Director, or a member of his staff (Tel: 509-340-0482. E-mail: keith@vanessabehan.org). Rather than relying on government funds, since opening, Vanessa Behan has been 100% privately funded and fueled by our community.
Some New Definitions for Your Dictionary of Real Estate
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s we all know, 2020 has changed the way we are learning, living and working. The real estate industry is no exception, and many of the changes our industry has undergone are here to stay. However, as with everything new, there is much misunderstanding and confusion about the digital offerings that real estate professionals are using across the country. Here, then, is a set of clear definitions to help you understand how technology is helping your agent provide valuable assistance to buyers and sellers. Virtual Tours These are high-quality still photographs and/or videos that showcase the best features of a property being marketed by a real estate broker. In one form or another, they have been used for many years, both on such public websites as Zillow.com and Realtor.com, on websites offered by individual brokers, and more recently on social media. A recent advance are the “360 degree” photographic tours created with Matterport’s proprietary process, which provide the interactive experience of walking through a home at will. Thus, the buyer finds it possible to sense the interrelation of a home’s various parts. Virtual Private Showings These personal showings are live, one-on-one viewings for a single prospective buyer. Agents are able to connect with clients over real-time video calls via apps like Zoom, FaceTime and Skype while walking and talking through properties. One of the nice things about private showings is that the authorized person in the home can open cabinets, look under sinks, open closets….look at anything and everything that might be overlooked or
inaccessible on a recorded video. Virtual Showings allow the buyer to participate actively, but it is necessary that both agent and client have access to the same video app and that both are ready to go at the appointed time. Virtual Open Houses As you would expect from a traditional open house, this type of virtual property marketing has the benefit of allowing many prospective buyers to view a property during the appointed time. These live events use such popular websites as Facebook and YouTube to allow people anywhere in the world to ask questions of the broker, and to benefit from the questions asked by others. This virtual accessibility allows out-of-town buyers to purchase, even if they are not physically present, as well as local residents who are freed of concerns about social distancing. The methods of marketing and of shopping for real estate have certainly changed, for the better and for the foreseeable future. At Coldwell Banker Tomlinson, we have embraced these changes, because they benefit our clients tremendously, whether they be Buyers or Sellers of real property. Don’t be afraid to use live streaming opportunities to connect and ask questions! Don’t be afraid to request a personal virtual tour; it is a great way to get a personal walk-through without other individuals on the call. And don’t be afraid of the technology. There is no replacement for speaking with a live person, and now, thanks to programs like Zoom, FaceTime, Facebook and others, we can do that from anywhere and at any time.
HOME RECIPES
Peanut Butter Treats for Dogs and People Too! INSTRUCTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, oats and baking powder in a large bowl. Mix the milk, peanut butter and molasses until smooth, add to dry ingredients. Knead dough with hands. It will be very stiff. Roll out to Âź inch thick and cut into any shape or size treat based on the size of the dog. 2. Bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Turn off oven and leave in oven until cool, if crispy treats are preferred. If the dog or the human prefers chewy treats, remove from the oven after 20 minutes and allow to cool on counter or cookie rack.
Ingredients 3 cups whole wheat flour 1 1/2 cup milk 1 1/4 cup peanut butter 2 tsp baking powder 1 Tbsp molasses
Spokane Housing Market: A 30,000 Foot view at This Moment
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he past year has been fraught with a number of issues that have affected the residential real estate market in many ways. The forces that have aligned this unusual year have basically created a housing shortage. The Spokane and CDA area had been seeing high in-migration prior to 2020 and also low new housing production as evidenced by low rental vacancy rates and a low inventory of homes for sale. When the pandemic became official and businesses related to housing were closed, the supply of building materials and building itself were interrupted for a time. Simultaneously, people who had been relying on the office as a place to work found that they could work anywhere. Since most large metro housing markets have remained healthy and strong, the option of selling from a large market and moving to a smaller market like ours has remained achievable. Now, mix in extremely low interest rates, more in-migration and fewer local residents
moving away, and you get a high concentration of demand in the Spokane market. Since the demand is high, the rising cost of building new housing has been offset by buyers who have no financial restrictions and can pay higher prices for new homes. As new homes are selling at record prices, those homes become benchmarks to all existing housing, encouraging home sellers to raise their asking prices, only to find that competing buyers bid those prices even higher. Incredibly, the high sales velocities are reflecting market acceptance, as homes are selling in numbers similar to 2006-07, which was the height of the housing market prior to the Great Recession. Our region, with its affordability, access to recreation and excellent quality of life is very attractive to a great number of people, and as long as the larger markets remain stable, the cost of mortgages low, and the incentive strong for local residents to stay, we will see values rise. Article by Neil Johnson
Coldwell Banker Tomlinson 4102 S Regal St, Suite 201 Spokane, WA 99223
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ISSUE 111 | JANUARY 2021 ©2021 Coldwell Banker Tomlinson. All rights reserved. Each office is independently owned and operated. If you currently have an Agent assisting you with the purchase or sale of property, this is not a solicitation for business.
SPOKANE REAL ESTATE MARKET STATISTICS – Market update december 2020 snapshot Average Sales Price
Current Listing Inventory
Average Days On Market
$337,961
236
16
Up 17.1%
Down 60.4%
Down 38.5%
Median Sales Price
Closed Sales
Annual Residential Sales
$315,000
727
8,127
Up 22.8%
Up 6.7%
Up 2.8%
December 2020, as compared to December 2019. The information in this report is compiled from a report given by the Spokane Association of REALTORS® and to the best of our knowledge is accurate and current.
CONTACT ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS OR FOR DETAILED MARKET INFORMATION.