The Real Estate Blog by Cari McGee

This is an ‘all good news’ post.  Jobs for our area, evidence of money still being spent, a bunch of stories that indicate that the Tri-Cities is one of the best spots to be in during this economic storm.

Areva has something for us, afterall.

People are remodeling their homes instead of buying a new one (not great news for me, but I’m still happy about it).

Jobs to the left of me, jobs to the right of me…

Enjoy your week - make it a good one!

I had a GREAT week - well, kind of.  As you might recall, last Sunday was my 17th wedding anniversary.  Not long after I wrote last weeks’ post, hubby took a nap due to the flu he had contracted (so no romantic dinner out), and daughter was hit by a horrific ear infection which necessitated a trip to Urgent Care and then followed a frantic call from my son who insisted that a trip to Urgent Care shouldn’t take “more than an HOUR, Mom!!!  It’s URGENT, so it’s fast, right?”.

Tuesday was good, well, the dinner I had was good.  Hubby and I always order take out from Outback on Election night and watch the returns.  Very few of the candidates and measures that I voted for were elected or passed, so that was depressing, too.

Let’s see…so what was great about the week that was?  Ummm…well, there were some good links, I guess…

Record voter turnout for Benton and Franklin counties is good news - you all know I get teary when I see democracy in action.

On Friday, I had a great time, and learned a TON at Learn About Web, which is scheduled to become an annual event.

And these posts here and here, were good news, about tourism here.

And ABC announced LOST is returning in January of 2009, which is a month earlier than I had hoped for! LOST is a great show and rivals Mad Men as the best show EVER.

That’s all for now.  It wasn’t THAT great of a week, I guess!

Rossi lost his bid to become the Governor of the state of Washington.  The majority of people over on this side of the state voted for him.

I watched his concession speech earlier today, and he said he’s got to find a job now that enables him to be home for dinner with his wife and four kids.  I have an idea, Mr. Rossi -take this guy’s job!  The Department of Energy chief of cleanup for Hanford is resigning.  Rossi was going to clean up Olympia, can a nuclear waste site be THAT different?  I think not.

Pluses -

1) he’d be on the side of the state where people who like his politics would surround him

2) he’d be able to afford a FANTASTIC house, as our median sales price is far lower than the west side

3) he’d be home for dinner all the time as no commute here is longer than 30 minutes unless you deliberately choose to live far away

4) we’ve got 300 days of sunshine

Minuses -

1) …hmmm, can’t think of anything…oh, the nearest Nordstrom and Krispy Kreme are two hours away in Spokane.  But that’s okay, we have the Internet for the clothes-shopping and Spudnuts for donut-lovers.

So, make that Minuses, because they’re aren’t any, and we’re golden!

C’mon, Dino - move on over.  We’d love to have you!

A twist today on my weekly re-cap post.  Today my beloved husband and I have been married for 17 years.  I’ll probably drive the kids crazy by dragging out the VHS tape of the wedding and reception and forcing them to sit through another viewing.

But, in honor of 17 years of marriage, I’m including this montage of the couples from When Harry Met Sally.  My all time favorite line is “….I knew, I knew the way you know about a good melon…”

Here’s to seventeen years again, and again, and again. I love you, Matt McGee!

Tempers started to flair a week ago, when the Tri-City Herald published this article entitled Home Buying Getting Harder in the Tri-Cities.  Within hours my colleagues were calling me  - “Did you SEE that article?” and “What were they thinking?” or “How can they DO that?”. Great questions because the couple spotlighted in the article are the exception, rather than the rule.

…if that wasn’t hurdle enough, the Meads also went “through the wringer” trying to get a VA loan, even though they had steady jobs, savings and credit ratings in the mid to high 700s, said Jennifer Mead, 23, who works for a real estate agent.

“We actually had to delay closing twice” because lenders still were verifying their information, the Kennewick woman said.

A lender I work with was so angry about the story that his face was STILL red on Monday, two days after reading it.  He said it’s not that difficult, especially if the person/people applying for the loan have the qualifications listed above (regular income, good credit and some money in the bank).

SOME underwriters, after years of basically handing over the money with a smile, have turned 180 degrees away from that practice and now verify everything to the nth degree.  That CAN delay closing, so no one argues with that.  However, to focus on one couple who seem to have everything going for them and play up their difficulty in getting a loan is an erroneous angle to take.