Bloggerrodeo!

First thing this morning, I wake up to the national news on the radio, blaring out more alarming news in the housing market: "Housing Slump Takes A Turn For The Worst!", "Median Prices Fall To Levels We Have Not Seen In Ten Years!", blah-de-blah-de-blah.

I could (and will at a later date when I'm not pressed for time) pull up some local stats, but for the present moment I am just going to stick my finger straight up into the air and say, "Waitasecond - I don't think so!" to all this media hype.

Why? Because:

a) All real estate is local. I truly do feel for people having anything to do with real estate in other parts of the country, where prices are indeed falling as quickly as they rose the past few years. But our situation in the Pacific Northwest is different. We have a much more robust housing market here.

b) I'm suddenly seeing "SOLD" strips on signs all over the place.

c) I had 14 people at my Open House yesterday - yeah!

d) I actually had multiple offers on a property that was PRICED CORRECTLY FOR THE MARKET last week.

e) In our office, I am seeing lots more contracts being written, lots more showings scheduled, conference rooms filled with buyers and sellers. 

Yes, interest rates are in flux, but heck, they are still LOW, people. And prices are leveling out for the most part.

Like I said, there's no scientific substance to this particular "market analysis", just my feelings and observations.  But I just wanted to let you know that the sky is not falling!

The Salvadorean Bakery first opened its doors in White Center roughly 10 years ago.  I discovered it when I came back home for vacation from living abroad in Japan.  I used to bring my Japanese language books to study there for hours so that I wouldn't get rusty when I returned to Japan. Hanging out there made me feel right at home, with the delicious array of aromas from the kitchen and the mix of Spanish music including cumbias, baladas, merengue and salsa that was always playing in the background.  I had longed for this type of place in Japan.

When I come to the Salvadorean Bakery I always order the Platanos Fritos con Frijoles y Crema(Fried Plantains with Beans and Sour Cream). It is heavenly, that's all I can say.  I also love their pupusas, which I can only describe as a type of Salvadorean tortilla filled with either cheese, pork or chicken, and served with curtido, which is a spicy pickled cabbage mix.  I also love the pan frances with beans and Mexican cheese; and their chicken soup is the best I've ever had. There's so much there I haven't tried yet because I can't stop ordering the platanos fritos.

Of course their main gig is as a bakery.  They have an unbelievable assortment of baked goods there. Probably most famous are the pastel de tres leches, and their empanadas, among other things.   They now sell all kinds of Latin American food products so that you can go home and try making some of these foods.  As for me, I bought some corn husks, so I'm going to try to make tamales de elote, which is a sweet corn tamale, usually served with sour cream(they also serve these at the Salvadorean Bakery).  I'll let you know how they turn out! 

I was perusing the City of Burien website today when I saw that there was going to be a meeting this coming Monday regarding the design for the new Burien Library. it is expected to be completed in early 2009, and is being built in conjunction with the new Burien City Hall, which will keep the costs of construction, materials, taxes, etc down for us taxpayers in Highline.

(Tangent alert!) For that reason alone, you gotta love Burien.   Ever since I moved my business here from Seattle, my taxes are considerably less and the paperwork is a breeze!

The new, 32,000 square foot library will of course be much larger than the current library, and will share some space with City Hall.  As with all newly constructed or renovated King County libraries, green standards will be adhered to; while it is extremely expensive to build to the highest of green standards, the new library will be built to be environmentally friendly and cost effective.  

The building permit should be issued any day now.  I believe that the old library will house the new Highline Senior Center.  

Interested in attending the meeting? Here are the details:

Public Meeting:
New Burien Library
Monday, February 25, 7pm
Burien Library
14700 Sixth Avenue SW
Burien, WA 98166

Our family has been hosting exchange students for about nine years now.  My husband and I started hosting summer groups back when we were first married.  We had so much fun with them! When we bought our home in 1999 we began to host long term exchange students, students who were here for 9 months to a year or more.  It has been such a rewarding experience, especially for our 6 year-old son.

We enjoy having students stay in our home for many reasons.  Number one, it's great fun for our son, who is an only child and quite social. We usually have students from Japan, so since his father is from Japan it gives my son a chance to interact with someone from that culture.  Secondly, we just enjoy having another person in our home to interact with and share experiences.  We tend to be homebodies, so having a student with us inspires us as a family to go out and do more things together, such as day trips, festivals and other activities.  Finally, we treasure the friendship that endures long after the student has returned to Japan. We have had them come back later to visit us and stay in our home; we have also gone to Japan to visit them. 

One of our students actually got married eventually and stayed in Seattle, so we get to see her every once in a while.  She had stayed with us while I was pregnant with our son.  She was very friendly and talkative, and always kept me company.  We would cook meals together, do crafts, wash dishes together and chat.  The day she moved out it broke my heart because I just knew that I would miss her so much. So you know how happy I was when she chose to stay in Seattle. 

Our new student is named Mina. I just picked her up from the airport yesterday morning. She is a sweet, friendly girl who wants to study film making. She's into skulls, from what I can tell; when she came yesterday she was wearing a pink t-shirt with a fuzzy skull on it, some suede boots with pink skulls, and a metallic pink skull wallet.  She brought my son a happi coat as a present, he is wearing it in the picture. Hopefully she will like living in our home with us, as we already like her very much. 

During these cold winter months I love to make Chai. Not the kind that comes in a carton that you buy at Safeway.  No, I like to brew Chai using whole spices and water in a percolator. I especially like making Chai for Brokers Opens and Public Open houses.  The Chai smells divine and gives off a feeling of comfort and warmth in just about any home, and you also have a delicious beverage to offer visitors.

Here are the steps for making your own home-brewed Chai.  You'll need:

1. Whole spice Chai, which you can get by going to (shameless plug alert!) www.threetreetea.com;

2. A kitchen;

3. A percolator;

4. Your choice of sweetener;

5. Milk.

What you do:

Fill percolator with water to fill line.  In percolator basket add 4 - 5 tablespoons of loose Chai. Put basket inside percolator and cover with lid. Boil on high for at least 30 minutes, until the Chai has a somewhat dark color.  Keep simmering chai as long as you like.  The longer it simmers the stronger it gets.

Serve with sweetener and milk/half & half if desired. 

Chai goes well with all kinds of sweets, so don't forget those. 

Enjoy!

But did your fun have to involve me? Was it really necessary for you, whoever you are, to uproot every single sign on the street and toss them about like garbage?  

You see, I've had enough trouble trying to sell this house without you getting in my way, you dreadful little vandals. If you like to pull things out of the ground so much, why don't you come over to my house and do some weeding?  Oh, wait, that's probably too productive of an activity for you.

Thank goodness for the nice neighbor who not only called to tell me what had happened, but who also offered to let me borrow her post hole digger to fix the signs.  Otherwise it would cost me money for a sign call, but I suppose I could have split that with the other agent who had two signs uprooted.

I suppose that annoying things like this need to happen so that the good of humanity can come through; in this case it was in the form of a good neighbor who cares about what happens on her street.

By the way, my sign is the same one that was hit and knocked down by a ricocheting raccoon on Halloween.  I'm just having no luck keeping this sign up at all!

When my office mate Kerry told me that she had listed a 3800 square foot home in the Hazel Valley/Evergreen area of Burien, I was intrigued. I haven't been into too many homes of that size in this area. So when I went into the house last Tuesday I was very pleasantly surprised.

From the outside the home looks like a typical 50's home, and has nice landscaping in front. But when you go inside and down a few steps, you're greeted by a giant stone wall(not a fireplace, just a stone wall with places to put plants!). There are actually two separate upstairs "wings", if you will. One is above the kitchen/laundry and is accessible by a stairway off of the kitchen. There is a bathroom, large bedroom and a fun hidden cubby space that would be a great child's play area.

The other stairway up is by the front door, and it leads to 3 more very large bedrooms. The master has a huge deck, the coolest closet with built-ins everywhere, and the continental bathroom is beyond, with the bathtub placed right in the middle of the room.

Everything in this home is period '50's, and impeccably maintained. The main floor also has a huge living room, dining room and large den with bathroom, fireplace and wet bar, and also has sliders to the patio. Going downstairs from the kitchen you'll find a large room with dark walls and red carpet, the perfect man cave. The staircase pictured above is impressive, and the tile area below is set up for some sort of water feature.

This is the coolest house I've seen in a while. The best part about this house is that it's for sale!! Asking price is $450,000, which is pretty good for all this square footage and character, plus a 2 car garage to boot. Want more info? Shoot me an e-mail if interested. By the way, Kerry gave me permission to introduce her listing to y'all since it's in 98146. Somebody please buy it and love it!

White Center's only donut shop, Seattle Donut & Deli, is located in a tiny strip mall on 15th Ave. S.W. and 100th St. I went in there for the first time a couple of weeks ago to grab a quick bite to eat.  This is definitely a hang-out for a lot of people, many from the Camodian community. The place was busy as can be so I knew I was onto something good. 

Luckily there was one booth available, way in the back of the store...a good spot for secret picture-taking. I ordered a sandwich on French roll bread, with ham, cilantro, mayo, tomato, (I said, "No, thank you" to the jalapenos) and my favorite part, pickled daikon(japanese radish) and carrots.  It was delicious. And at $2.99, you can't beat it. Afterwards, I ordered a cruller, a chocolate sprinkled donut and a couple of glazed donuts to take home to my husband and son. Those were also very good.  The other day my friend and I had the Maple Old-Fashioned there, and oh my GOSH it was just divine. I keep thinking about it. 

They also have all kinds of interesting beverages, including the iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk, and bubble tea. If you're in the area, give Seattle Donut & Deli a try sometime. 

Would you like to live within blocks of downtown Burien? This 3 bedroom condo is in a super-convenient location. Walk to almost everything! Best priced 3 bedroom condo in this area.  This comfortable and spacious 1280 sq ft condo features master suite with 3/4 bath. There's another full bath upstairs, and a half bath downstairs. All appliances stay, including the brand new JENAIR range.  Wood burning fireplace for cozy winter nights, and a 1-car garage with loft storage and access to attic space.

You will love the huge, awesome patio with a covering for almost year round BBQ's. The patio is also surrounded by tall fences for maximum privacy. And, believe it or not, there are ELEVEN closets and storage areas in this unit! Conveniently located close to airport, libraries, parks, hospitals, schools, freeways and bus lines. HOD's are $312 which include water, sewer, garbage, earthquake insurance and cable! This condo is the perfect trifecta - plenty of room, excellent location and fabulous price. Don't delay! MLS# 28009947, ONLY $229,950!!