As I sit here contemplating how many people we are cooking for and what we are going to make for Thanksgiving, I have realized that the holiday spirit I usually enjoy doesn’t seem to making an appearance.  With everything going on such as the economy, the horrible real estate market and never-ending pile of bills it seems as though the zest of the holidays has been gobbled up.  Well that is enough!!  It is time to focus on what we still have in this country, pull ourselves up and kick ourselves in the ass.  The holiday’s are a time for getting together with friends and family.  What better way to save some money than to invite everyone to share in thanks all together.  Laughter is most assuredly to break out and it is a lot less expensive for everyone when each person can contribute.  There are so many things that we can enjoy during Thanksgiving and Christmas that don’t cost any money!  Lets bring back some of the traditions that are good for the heart…….caroling….I don’t see anyone doing that anymore and it is so fun.  Stringing popcorn for Christmas decorations……an awesome, inexpensive way to spend fun time with your kids and avoid paying a ridiculous amount on store decorations.  Home made presents such as cookies, fudge, hats, gloves……all of these can be done fairly inexpensively and done in groups which adds to the enjoyment.  And….you may possibly learn a new hobby.  It has been proven that crocheting actually can relieve stress and lord knows we have a lot of that to go around.  So join with me in reviving some of the spirit and traditions that made the holidays what they should be.  Come on Seattle, Lynnwood, Edmonds, Everett, Mukilteo, Bothell……everybody.  Let’s throw a big group party in a park somewhere and wake the holiday spirit up!!

November 8th and 9th the Lynnwood Convention Center will play host to the Alive! Expo.  This two day event helps show people how they can live better and longer!

The public has been invited to learn about natural health and wellness during the Third Annual ALIVE! Expo Nov. 8 and 9 at the event’s new venue in the Lynnwood Convention Center.
This year’s “clean and green living” fair will feature informative lectures from prominent health industry experts, fitness, yoga and cooking demonstrations and classes, complimentary message and reiki treatments, as well as hundreds of professionals representing nutrition and environmentally green companies that will be on hand to offer information and products. 
Read the full article about the Alive! Expo in the Snohomish County Business Journal

What I find very interesting is that in prior years this event has been held in Seattle, but in a demonstration of Lynnwood’s growing importance as a business center, they moved it to the Lynnwood Convention Center citing the easy access into and out of the facility as a major reason.  I quote from the article about the Alive! Expo:

Siewert-Towns said people unfamiliar with the area complained the city’s one-way streets and ongoing construction made the (Seattle Center) too difficult to find.
“The Lynnwood center may not be the favorite event space when it comes to our vendors, but it’s going to become a favorite with consumers because of how easy it is to find and get in and out of,” she said. “It’s only 12 miles north of Seattle, so it will cost people less to drive to Lynnwood from Seattle than it does just to park in Seattle.”

I encourage everyone to drop by the Lynnwood Convention Center on the 8th or 9th to check out the Alive! Expo.  Admission is free with the donation of two non-perishable food items which is great because our food banks need all the help they can get this year!

This is an utter outrage that the courts have not taken any action against the workers that sent a monkey through a cage cleaning machine, or the company that employs them.  Claiming that they sent the monkey through the machine is pure insanity!

EVERETT — An Everett District Court judge this morning ruled against an animal-rights advocate who sought to file a citizen’s complaint against three former employees of an Everett animal-testing lab who allegedly sent a monkey through a cage washer, scalding the animal to death.

Judge Roger Fisher said a jury likely couldn’t reach a guilty verdict in the case if it were to go to trial. Fisher refused to overrule Snohomish County prosecutors and the Everett city attorney’s office, which didn’t find sufficient evidence to file charges in the case.  FULL ARTICLE

I urge you to send a letter, email or call Judge Roger Fisher and let him know that not pursuing some level of punishment for these people is unacceptable.  It isn’t his decision to decide if a jury would find these people guilty or not!  Take a minute and do something about this because if we don’t then obviously no one will!

Judge Roger Fisher - 425-388-3331
3000 Rockefeller Ave. M/S 508
Everett, WA 98201-4046

Apparently the judge doesn’t have his own email address, so here is the email address for Linda Diemert, Division Supervisor  linda.diemert@co.snohomish.wa.us

Please take just a minute and let then know that this isn’t what you want to see happen!

In my search for good deals I found a 23 unit rental property in Aberdeen and one of my investment real estate buyers was interested enough to warrant me taking a road trip to check it out.   Not to miss out on a good road trip, I drug my husband along to check out the condition of the property.  He is a painting and remodeling contractor, and owner of DDIY Home Renewal so he gets roped into looking at properties with me quite often.  Since that left no one at home to watch the monkey, we took our daughter Morgan along for the ride.  I am very thankful for those portable DVD players!

The drive was great and we made good time from Lynnwood down I-5 and arrived in Aberdeen with time to kill.  Luckily we found a cute little pastry shop called My Sisters Bakery just down the street from the property we were looking at.  As I understand it, they had just opened that morning and is run by two sisters.   Everything looked delicious so we bought a couple of Eclairs to munch on while we waited until our appointment to see the rental property.

The time finally came to take a look at the rental property we had come to see and it was every bit as impressive as we had expected!  A turn of the century apartment building, it was in a little bit of rough shape in the looks department, needs extensive painting and a little maintenance, but looked to be structurally sound.  It is slightly sad to see a building put together with thick pieces of wood, Fir flooring everywhere, and just great craftsmanship throughout because buildings these days, new buildings, don’t come close to that level of quality.

Continue reading this post…

Just last year, I remember the staff at my daughters pre-school asking us not to bring any more clothing donations as they were full to the brim.  Now,…..the shelves appear to be empty.  Despite all of our efforts as parents, it seems as though the current economic crisis is now starting to affect our little ones.  Recently, I came across an article on the KIRO TV website stating the severity of the current lack of donations for children’s clothing…..and winter is coming.  So please take some time to go back through your closets and make sure there aren’t any clothing articles that may be of use to some children in need.  Your children are not going to shrink back into them and there are some people out there that could really use the help.  Believe it or not, focusing on helping others can sometimes soothe the feelings of need in ourselves.

Ok…..so we’ve dumped billions of dollars into the bank in hopes of stimulating the economy and have now promised to buy up bank stocks in order create stability.  I thought this was supposed to make the banks willing to lend more money?  Anyone else confused as to why there has been a sudden major increase in interest rates?  As a Lynnwood, Washington real estate agent and loan officer I am dumbfounded as to why these lenders can’t figure out that they are again stalling the market.  I thought the whole point of this “bail-out” was to get money moving and get the banks willing to lend.  It seems that in response to being “bailed-out” the banks are hording their money even more by causing the consumers with good credit, cash and/or equity to put the brakes on full blast and bring their refinances and home purchases to a screeching halt.  The fact is there is no reason for the high rates that the lenders are dishing out.  There are no questionable loans being made anymore.  Consequently, the people they are alienating are good, solid consumers.  Saying that the value of the dollar is behind the rate increase also doesn’t fly.  The fact is it was a Global rate cut which actually helped the value of the dollar stay more solid and infact increase against certain markets.  Talk about slapping good consumers in the face just one more time.

Is the $700 million dollar bailout going to work?  Very interesting question and the answers vary from analyst to analyst.  In my opinion, there are way too many wild cards to fully predict the outcome at this time.  So, the government is going to buy up all the “bad” mortgages and now the banks will have money to lend.  The problem is……that doesn’t mean the bank are going to.  It is very possible that they will just sit on their new found cash, keep the consumer requirements so high that no one can get a loan and the credit crunch will continue on it’s current path.  It would have been nice to see some sort of regulation requiring the banks that are benefiting from the bail out to guarantee that they would start extending credit and start relaxing some of the ridiculous guidelines that have been put in place.  The government managed to look after the needs of people making arrows, but somehow those of us in need of a mortgage still got left out to pasture.  Now…..I’m not saying that they need to start lending to the consumers with horrible credit, but there are a lot of people out there with good credit that are being denied mortgages for no other reason then they don’t have an 800 score.  Also, what about the Mortgage Insurance companies?  Recently, I had a client lose their refi because the Mortgage Insurance company has guidelines even tighter than the lender.  In fact, the lender approved the loan, but the mortgage insurance company denied it even though my client’s credit scores were above 700.  That was a lovely day…..let me tell ya.  So, it looks as though there is still some “wait and see” to go through before any clear-cut answer will be made apparent.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Recently the words of “golden parachute” and “executive severance” have been common place in the media.  In regards to  outrageous WAMU severance packages, the following is what has been reported:

The WaMu executive with the biggest termination package is Stephen Rotella, president and chief operating officer, who is entitled under his current employment agreement to a cash severance of $12.7 million if he is terminated or quits with “good reason.”

Meanwhile, CFO Thomas Casey would receive a cash severance of $6.3 million if he is fired or quits with good reason.   More….

In addition to the above executives,  Fishman, the recently hired CEO of WAMU is reported to be receiving approximately $19.1 million dollars which includes a $7.5 million dollar signing bonus for…..and you guessed it……only 3 weeks of employment.  Personally, I don’t know how these WAMU executives can look at themselves in the mirror.  They will be taking vacations to the Bahamas for making some of the worst financial decisions in banking history while employees of WAMU are receiving a lovely pink slip and swift kick in the rear-end to help them out the door.  Now, in all fairness, Mr. Fishman really didn’t have the time to prevent the downfall of this Seattle based banking giant.  However, it would be nice to see him decline a portion of this ridiculous “golden parachute” considering the length of his employment.  Even better, to see him and the other two ya-whoo’s hand over portions to some of the employees who have lost their retirement due to the sell off.  But……that is just my opinion.

Once again we are headed into the courtroom to determine whether or not grant programs such as Nehemiah Program should be permissible. In my opinion, the government needs to leave the grant programs alone! If borrowing or being given money from a family member is acceptable, then why not from a legitimate grant agency? I understand that the lenders are looking for a buyer “stability”, but borrowing a down payment from a family member does not show any more stability than borrowing it from an agency. However, eliminating the programs does in fact in any of the whole group of buyers who would otherwise be able to purchase a home. In addition, what do you say to people who don’t have family to lean on? Too bad, so sad, you’re out of luck as to mark. I am so tired of loan programs action can help people being eliminated! The lenders are continuing to create their own worst scenarios by taking away the average person’s ability to purchase or refinance your current home. It is great government is trying to encourage the lenders to cooperate with new guidelines, but unfortunately they cannot force them to do so. So here we are, waiting and watching, as the real estate market has continued its slide.

Jacquie Cliff - The Amazon Negotiator
Let me lead you through the Real Estate Jungle!Real Estate Agent, Loan Officer and Accredited Buyers Representative serving:
Lynnwood, Bothell, Mill Creek, Seattle, Bellevue, Marysville, Mountlake Terrace, Edmonds, Everett, Snohomish, Kirkland and the surrounding areas!
Call me with any of your real estate questions at 425-773-3149 or email me at Jacquie@jacquiecliff.com anytime!

Copyright © 2008 By Jacqueline A. Cliff, All Rights Reserved.
‘Why does the government hate and Nehemiah program?’

Tags: financing, Nehemiah, governtment, loans

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21602 9th Ave SE #A101
Bothell, Wa
$329,950

• 3 Bedrooms
• 3 Baths
• 2 Master Bedrooms
• ~1545 Square Feet
• Fireplace
• Patio
• Attached Garage
• Easy Access to I-405

Don’t miss out on seeing this affordable North Bothell Town-Home.
Call now to make your appointment to tour this property!

Call 425-773-3149 or e-mail Jacquie@jacquiecliff.com now for your appointment to see this property!
Listed with Re/Max Champions
Listing #: 28127432

Copyright © 2008 By Jacqueline A. Cliff, All Rights Reserved.
New Listing! North Bothell Town-Home for $329,950!