Hackney House Blog

Hackney's Houses

Upswing: Perception is Reality

September 16th, 2009 4:28 PM

From the NWMLS...

Here's more evidence that housing is turning around. Forbes magazine identified 161 of the country's largest metro areas where sales activity has increased compared to 2008, and where foreclosure sales as a percentage of total sales, are low.

The magazine considers these markets as on the road to recovery.

Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Lincoln, Neb.
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Salem, Ore.
San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Bremerton, Wash.
Denver, Colo.
Redding, Calif.
Santa Barbara, Calif.
San Jose, Calif.

For the first time in five years, existing-home sales have increased for four months in a row, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million units in July from a level of 4.89 million in June. Sales are 5.0 percent above the 4.99 million-unit pace in July 2008. The last time sales rose for four consecutive months was in June 2004, and the last time sales were higher than a year earlier was November 2005.

Despite all of the bad news in the media about homeownership and mortgages, most Americans still believe buying a home is a great investment, according to a new study commissioned by Bankrate.com.

Among the findings from the study:

- 92 percent say that a home is a good investment for the future.
- 48 percent worry about losing or being unable to afford their homes.

Posted by Sean Hackney on September 16th, 2009 4:28 PMPost a Comment (0)

Bellingham gets another honor...

September 28th, 2009 2:34 PM

This time it is National Geographic's list of Top Adventure Towns!

http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/weekend-getaways/washington/bellingham-travel

When I moved here 20 years ago to go to school I had no idea where Bellingham was, but it didn't take me long to figure out this was a great place to call HOME.

Posted by Sean Hackney on September 28th, 2009 2:34 PMPost a Comment (0)

Benefit Event this Friday...Sherman Alexie, David James Duncan, & Jefferey Foucault

September 23rd, 2009 9:25 AM

You're invited to attend a very special Bellingham event...

Salmon Worship: Is it Wrong?

An Evening of Stories and Music with writers David James Duncan, Sherman Alexie and singer/songwriter Jeffery Foucault

to benefit the 'Liam Wood Fly Fishers and River Guardians'

DATE: September 25, '09 at 7 pm at the Western Washington University Performing Arts Center (Bellingham, WA).

TICKETS: $15- ($10 for students) advanced purchase encouraged, event expected to sell out

tickets can be purchased online through the WWU box office (http://www.tickets.wwu.edu/) and are also availabe at Village Books in Fairhaven and the Community (B'ham) Food Co-op

For more information and history about the 'Liam Wood Fly Fishers and River Guardians' see these various links:

http://shuksanrods.wordpress.com/2009/06/10/fly-fishing-school-honors-pipeline-victim/

http://shuksanrods.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/liam-wood-fly-fishing-and-river-guardian-program/

http://faculty.wwu.edu/leobode/Classes/Flyfishing/FlyWeb/Frontdoor2006.htm

http://www.montanawatershed.org/Pages/Programs/LiamWood.html

For more information about writers Sherman Alexie and David James Duncan, and singer/songwriter Jeffery Foucault...."Google"!

“A Pacific Northwest without wild salmon might as well be Crawford, Texas. So on September 25th we're going to preserve the Northwest's Northwest and keep Crawford in Crawford. How? A salmon Indian and national treasure (Sherman Alexie), a living bard and national treasure (Jeffrey Foucault), and a fly fishing reprobate (me) are going to sing the praises of salmon and their creeks, rivers, and seas in honor of a young man and a school (Liam Wood and the Liam Wood Fly Fishers and River Guardians) who share our love for the same. As for the program, Sherman and Jeffrey and me are gonna dig a redd. We're gonna get folks in touch with their Inner Alevin. We're gonna prove the existence of ocean gods. We're gonna start a may fly hatch and cast Crippled Emergers. We're gonna troll hootchies. We're gonna draw conclusions about the resemblance between Humanity and Salmonity. We're gonna cast the damn line clear off the reel. We're gonna catch something. I hope everybody can come catch it with us.”

– David James Duncan

Posted by Sean Hackney on September 23rd, 2009 9:25 AMPost a Comment (0)