It seems that a lot of discussion about inflation is being tossed around by the talking heads on all the financial channels and in the media wherever you look, listen, or read.  It’s true that whenever the government aims to solve a crisis by turning on their mighty presses and cranking out virtual mountains of money, things could get a little dicey.  Inflation is not certain but certainly looks like a reasonable scenario in this topsy turvy financial realm we exist in today.  Sometimes it might seem like we have fallen down the rabbit hole along with poor Alice and would have to agree with her assessment that everything keeps getting “curiouser and curiouser.”  There seems to be no way to avoid the impact of some degree of the ravages of the probable coming inflation.  Or is there?

 I offer you this different point of view.  It’s not a totally new one but one with which not very many people are familiar.  There is one sure way to avoid the painful effects of a deflating dollar, buy real estate.  It isn’t so much THAT you are buying a tried and true hedge against inflation but HOW you are buying it that’s important.  The key here is that the document you use to buy a house or property with, whether it be a mortgage or private contract, is your salvation.  The effect of locking your purchase price to a number of dollars at today’s value effectively stops inflation dead in its tracks. 

 I will illustrate this point by passing along a story told to me by Karl Rieche, a shrewd German gentleman who migrated to the U.S. in 1938 and worked for me until he retired.  He told the story of the deteriorating German Deutschmark which was inflating so fast that his father, a railroad engineer, had to get paid twice a day.  Karl and his siblings had to pick up that pay and run directly to the store to buy food in order to get the most for their money at that moment.  He said that the only people who benefited from such wild inflation were those people who had mortgages or contracts written years earlier on their homes.  Those debt instruments were, of course, for a set dollar amount without any consideration for future inflation.  He said that debtors were chasing down their creditors and “unmercifully” paying them off with buckets full of inflated and devalued money.  For some of us who have had our fill of our banker’s bad behavior, that picture might bring a smile to our faces.  I can feel that sensation creeping over me as I write this.   

 So, to recap; if inflation doesn’t occur then hurray, the fed has done its job and we are in sound financial waters.  However, if day follows night and inflation does rear its ugly head, be in a safe position.  Hold some gold, maybe some silver, but for sure, lever your way to financial security. Use mortgages or contracts to tie up some real estate right away before severe inflation even starts.  You’ll be glad you did.   – Mike West

    So somebody not long ago told me that I had been in the real estate business for so long here in Leavenworth that I was now the “Godfather of Leavenworth Real Estate.”  I’m not too sure about that moniker but it is true that I have been at this business for longer than anyone in the vicinity.  Prudential Mike West Real Estate has been around for over twenty five years which equals lots and lots of file drawers of closed sales.  That equals lots, lots and lots of information on properties in the Leavenworth area which runs from Cashmere to Stevens Pass.  We have become a sort of information bank for people who need to know how some property line came to be, what some parcel initially sold for, where some underground valve might be located, you name it.  A couple months ago I was able to help a client with an I. R. S. audit he was going through by pulling up the files on an old sale we had handled for him years earlier.  Actually, as I go through some of the thousands of files we have handled over the years it becomes clear to me that we have taken many different properties which were plagued with some kind of problem such as boundary line disputes, unsettled title issues, nonconforming use, platting issues, you name it, and we were able to fix those problems for the owners as a part of process of selling and closing the sale on their property.  I think of Prudential Mike West Real Estate as being like a ship sailing through troubled real estate waters and leaving in our path a wake of clean properties.  It takes more time to set things right with properties burdened by those problems which are sometimes as old as the parcel itself.  We here at Prudential Mike West Real Estate believe that fixing those problems is just a part of our job and the right way to treat our customers.  We can give you the same quality service too.  Give us a call or drop us an e-mail and let us know how we might help you achieve your real estate dreams.  The Godfather of Leavenworth Real Estate and his trusted associates are here ready and waiting to serve you.  – Mike West, Broker/Owner, Prudential Mike West Real Estate

Making energy-efficiency upgrades to a home can save you significant cash on your mortgage, but be prepared for more paperwork and a longer processing time.   By Bankrate.com

One of the best tools for making your dream home more affordable while saving on the cost of power, heating and cooling is the energy-efficient, or “green,” mortgage.

Most energy-efficient mortgage, or EEM, programs let you qualify for bigger loans than you would otherwise by folding in the additional cost of making improvements for energy efficiency or of purchasing an already energy-efficient home. Another version of the green mortgage provides discounts on loan fees or interest rates for homes that are certified as energy-efficient.

Because mortgage interest payments are tax-deductible, an energy-efficient mortgage can be a more cost-effective way to finance home-energy improvements than using a credit card, bank loan or cash, which usually offer no tax benefits.

The Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae and the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs each have some version of a green mortgage. Freddie Mac, while having no formal energy-efficient mortgage program, allows lenders to take the projected utility savings from home upgrades into account when setting the loan amount.

Qualifying for a green mortgage
There are two ways a home can qualify for a green mortgage. For existing homes, you’ll need energy-saving improvements verified by a Home Energy Rating System, or HERS, report, following an inspection by a certified home-energy rater. To find one in your area, go to the Web site of the Residential Energy Services Network, click on “Home Energy Ratings” and then select “Find a Certified Rater.” For new constructions, a builder must certify that home meets energy-efficiency guidelines. If you’re trying to find out just who is offering green mortgages in your area, I suggest checking the Web site of your state’s housing finance agency for information or contacting your state energy office. You can locate that number on the Web site for National Association of State Energy Officials. Contact me for more info at 509-860-2417 – Scott Christie, Realtor, Prudential Mike West Real Estate

Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said that the
Federal Housing Administration is going to permit its lenders to allow homeowners to use the $8,000 tax credit as a downpayment.

Donovan’s remarks came in an address to several thousand Realtors^® gathered this morning at The Real Estate Summit: Advancing the U.S. Economy, a special daylong session at the Realtors^® Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo here.

Secretary Donovan said that important changes, which the National Association of Realtors^® has been calling for, will help consumers purchase a home. “We all want to enable FHA consumers to access the home buyer tax credit funds when they close on their home loans so that the cash can be used as a downpayment,” Donovan said. According to Donovan, the FHA’s approved lenders will be permitted to “monetize” the tax credit through short-term bridge loans. This will allow eligible home buyers to access the funds immediately at the closing table.

Donovan said the Obama administration plans to further stabilize the housing market. “I do think we have some early signs hat the market overall is stabilizing,” said Donovan. “Since January we’ve seen both home sales moving up and down around a relatively stable number and we are seeing the first signs that the rapid decline in home prices is starting to abate.”Donovan said the Obama administration plans to further stabilize the housing market. “I do think we have some early signs hat the market overall is stabilizing,” said Donovan. “Since January we’ve seen both home sales moving up and down around a relatively stable number and we are seeing the first signs that the rapid decline in home prices is starting to abate.” – Scott Christie, Realtor, Prudential Mike West Real Estate

Named one of the top 10 climbing cities in the United States by Rock and Ice magazine, Leavenworth boasts several rock-climbing hot spots: Icicle Canyon, Tumwater Canyon and Peshastin Pinnacles State Park. Icicle Canyon features long multi-pitch routes up big granite walls; Peshastin’s sandstone spires, some of which rise 200 feet high, offer slightly less challenging routes and problems. – Scott Christie, Realtor, Prudential Mike West Real Estate

Within the past few months, the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has approved two American Viticultural Areas (AVA)—Lake Chelan and Snipes Mountain.  

Lake Chelan winemakers hope Washington’s newest appellation will continue to expand a reputation for world-class Rieslings and other cool-climate wines that challenge Germany, Austria and Alsace as well as highlight a surprising ability to produce quality reds. The new AVA, located 112 miles east of Seattle on the eastern side of the Cascades, already draws flocks of tourists for its spectacular scenery and outdoor activities. Now the Lake Chelan AVA designation, effective May 29, promises to lure more people to the area’s 15 wineries. The AVA, a subappellation within the Columbia Valley, is Washington’s 11th appellation. The new AVA covers the southernmost 12 miles above the shores of the 55-mile-long glacial lake. Acreages have been planted at elevations ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 feet. The main grapes are Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Viognier and Chardonnay, with some Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Pinot Noir. The TTB found that the area differs from the overlapping Columbia Valley AVA because of its volcanic pumice soils and the temperature-moderating effect of the 1,500-foot-deep lake. 

To see more about wineries in the area check out the Columbia Cascade Wines and Wineries site at  -  http://www.columbiacascadewines.com/  -Scott Christie, Realtor, Prudential Mike West Real Estate

Low financing is finally available with only 15% down and interest rates starting at only 3.75% for the new condos located in downtown Leavenworth!

For many people owning an elegant condo in Leavenworth is hard to justify because of high costs and the fear that you won’t be able to use the condo as much as needed to justify the cost.  Fortunately, fractional ownership is a great way to enter the second home market.  It works just like any other real estate transaction.  Financing is available from a local bank for 1/8 , 1/4, or 1/2 of a fraction, or for purchasing the whole condo.

Investors can buy a percentage of the condo and use it for their agreed upon weeks of the year (1/8 fraction equals 7 or 6 weeks per year).   OR you can invest in the whole condo and sell off 1/8 fractions of your condo at a later time to recoup your investment. 

The condos are managed by a professional rental management company and the 9 condos are run as an upscale hotel.  For the weeks you are not able to enjoy your condo, you can put your weeks in the rental pool and earn money on your investment. They are renting for up to $350 a night. 

You can check out rental rates and more pictures at www.destinationleavenworth.com

Fractional Ownships are becoming very popular in recreational areas such as Hawaii, Vail and other in-demand vacation hot spots. Leavenworth’s natural beauty, four seasons of recreational opportunities, and popular real estate market makes it an irresistible bargain. 

Please call Stephanie of Prudential Mike West Real Estate at  509 860-7525 if you have any questions.    scuthill@prudentialmikewest.com  -Stephanie Cuthill

When I was a kid growing up here in Leavenworth it was sometimes hard to find things to do. We had television but that was mostly just an aggravating event since we only received three channels, all by antenna and all snowy at best. On warm summer days my five siblings and I lived for the time when my dad came home from work and we got to go to the river for a swim. Sometimes after swimming we’d even stop by the creamery and get a soft ice cream cone. I think the only flavor they had was vanilla. Maybe not. Maybe it was just easier for my dad to order and there’d be fewer fights if everybody got vanilla. No matter, that was quite a treat.

Once in a while we’d take our ice cream cones for a drive which always seemed to end up by traveling up Eagle Creek Road which is about a mile north of town off Chumstick Highway. I liked traveling up that road because it was sort of exciting. The road was twisting and had some abrupt hills which gave the sensation of weightlessness as we crested them and zoomed down the other side. The best part about going up Eagle Creek Road though was the field near Walker Canyon. It was a huge alfalfa field and was always filled with a dense crop of emerald green alfalfa. Sometimes it would have been freshly mowed and the aroma was sweet, like new mown lawn, but to the tenth power. Sometimes it was in tidy wind rows, drying in preparation for baling. Sometimes the field was dotted with hundreds of bales waiting to be bucked and hauled to the barn. That field was always in some state of flux but always beautiful and interesting.

Most exciting of all though was the real probability of seeing a herd of deer enjoying the tender green alfalfa chutes. Sometimes there would be twenty or thirty of them delicately nibbling away. Sometimes there would only be a few. The bucks might still have velvety horns; the fawns might still be covered in white spots. Occasionally we would see coyotes hunting mice there or maybe they were hunting rabbits who had been lured to the aroma of the crop. That field was a part of the cycle of life for those creatures great and small, and of course for the farmer who tended it. That farmer who made hay there for so many years is gone now. His family is spread far and wide and the field is no longer farmed.

You could farm it though. Maybe you don’t need the whole thing. Maybe you just need five acres to build a home on, to let your horses graze. You could buy five acres and enjoy the amazing mountain view and the soothing sound of Eagle Creek which flows through the property year round. The property has direct access to Walker Canyon Road, a U.S Forest Service road which takes you deep into the wooded back country. From your home you could enjoy snowmobiling, mountain biking, horseback riding, you name it.

If you think you might enjoy living on the perfect property, in the perfect setting, just give us a call. We’ll take you there and you can see for yourself what makes the field at Walker Canyon so special. – Mike West

The year of 1951 was called “the year of the big snow” by many old timers.

My dad whose name was Russell West, was a snow plow driver for the Washington State Department of Transportation.  Although his given name was Russell, nobody here in Leavenworth knew him by that name but rather by “Bun”.  According to my Aunt Crystal, a Leavenworth pioneer who owned and ran the Crystal Hotel and Boarding House, now known as Mrs. Anderson’s Boarding House, his eight brothers and sisters called him “bunny rabbit” when he was little because he had snow white hair and was quick as a bunny and that nick name stuck.

One early morning, after another night of heavy snowfall, my dad and one of his best friends, Ray Whittig, were in snow plows headed up Tumwater Canyon about five minutes and several miles apart.  Dad encountered a few small slides which he was able to push back and keep going.  Just below the Tumwater dam though he came upon a slide which covered the entire road and was way more volume and weight than his truck could handle.  The radios they had in their trucks in those days were marginally functional, especially in the near vertical walls of the canyon.  He couldn’t call for more equipment so he turned around to go back to the shop and get some help.  As he headed down the road he’d just come up, he came upon an even bigger slide blocking his way.  He realized he was trapped and in the path of bad slide chutes.  Turning back around he headed back up the canyon to some safer spot only to find a new slide had covered the road between him and the original slide at the dam.  Just then a thunderous slide of heavy snow, rocks and trees came crashing down just behind him.  He was trapped and realized it would just be a matter of time before he was buried in his truck or swept into the river by the next slide. 

Dad said he thought about his friend Ray and hoped he was in better straights or even back at the shop having run into the lowest slide and maybe had turned back for help.  Unfortunately, Ray was already dead.  Apparently he had gotten out of his truck to fix something on his sander and was hit by a large slide which covered him and his truck. 

Dad pondered his options which were few and bleak.  Staying in your truck in such a situation was generally considered to be the best choice but with slides of such depth and weight and debris, he chose another option.  He knew the canyon well and figured the best way to get to some semblance of safety was up the canyon toward Coles Corner where the Squirrel Tree Restaurant is, where there was a phone to call and tell someone he was alive.  It was further, about ten miles, but he would be out of the worst slide chutes quicker than if he went down toward town. 

The entire Tumwater Canyon was strewn with huge slides which buried the road.  As he scrambled up and over each slide, “like a squirrel”, he could hear the constant crashing of new slides coming down on both sides of the river.  He kept moving but kept his eyes peeled on the cliffs above him in hopes he could scamper out of the way of the next slide and certain death. 

After a couple of hours with no word from the either man, the rest of the State crew realized there was a problem and headed up the canyon to see if they could locate them.  They soon discovered the buried truck and knew one of their comrades was also buried somewhere in that slide.  The word made it to town that a man, a state snowplow driver, was dead in a slide but no name was given. In truth, they all believed that there were two dead men in the canyon that day.   Men and equipment headed up to find and dig out the one they were certain of .

Nobody told my mom, who was about five months pregnant with me at the time.  She knew something was up though since she heard on the radio that the canyon was closed due to heavy slides, and she could only imagine the worst. 

It took my dad many hours to fight his way over the many slides and hike miles through unplowed snow to the Squirrel Tree Restaurant.  Everyone was amazed to see a man walking up the road coming from the direction of the Canyon on that snowy day.  He was drenched, extremely cold, hungry and exhausted. 

It was a day of elation and of sorrow in the small town of Leavenworth.  As is the case in most small towns, all lives in this tiny burg seemed to be inextricably woven together and all were touched in one way or another.  There was death but there was also a miracle of deliverance.  Grief and joy came together in that bitter sweet concoction which leaves the mind, the senses numbed and confused.

.

Dad worked for the State Highway Department for many more years retiring in the early 1980s.  He dodged death more times than he cared to talk about but never saw a winter that measured up, at least in his mind, to that winter of the big snow, the winter of 1951. – Mike West, Owner/Broker

Mike and his uncle

So here’s a picture of me when I was a little younger, like about fifty years younger I believe.  It must have been big news because it made the first page of the Leavenworth Echo that week.  

The man in the photo holding the deer by the horns is my Uncle Louis.  I’m the desperado with the cap pistol.  My dad and Uncle Louis were driving down Tumwater Canyon a couple miles out of Leavenworth when they came upon an impressive four point buck just strolling down the middle of the highway.  Apparently he had been stunned by a blow from an encounter with another buck or perhaps from a run in with a car.  At any rate he was rattled and didn’t seem to know or care that he was holding up traffic.  They decided to see if they could get him to safety but he just wanted to stay in the road.  When my uncle took hold of his horn he didn’t seem to mind and followed along the edge of the road like a dog on a leash. 

My dad drove to town to call the game department and get a camera.  I jumped in the car to see the excitement and, as usual, had on my holster and trusty peacemaker.  My dad clicked the picture with his Brownie box camera.  By the time Uncle Louis and the deer walked to the city limits of Leavenworth, the game department showed up and took the deer for observation. We never heard any more about him after that but I like to believe he came out of his fog and was released back into the wild.

I think about that adventure whenever I am driving up Tumwater Canyon and see any deer standing near the edge of the road.  There isn’t much water on that side of Tumwater Mountain so the deer naturally come to the river to quench their thirst.  It isn’t easy for them to cross because of fairly heavy traffic both summer and winter.  That’s one stretch where you should definitely heed the warning signs and watch for “deer crossing.” 

According to insurance statistics, most deer are hit on the road just before and after sunrise and sunset.  We should all be extra vigilant at those times.  That kind of close encounter with a deer can ruin your day indeed. 

If you do drive down Tumwater Canyon to Leavenworth and are looking for some real estate, perhaps a getaway cabin or some land to build your dream place on, give us a call.  We have an amazing array of wonderful listings to show you right now.  We’re situated on Highway 2 near the center of town right next to the U. S. Post Office.  We are the Oldest and most trusted real estate office in Leavenworth and have been in business for over twenty five years.  We will listen to your needs and desires and do our level best to find you the property or cabin that is your ideal.  Just like with Allstate, you’re in good hands with Prudential Mike West Real Estate.  –Mike West