ISSUE 98 | DECEMBER 2019
WITH COLDWELL BANKER TOMLINSON
HUTTON PROVIDES HOME WITH HEART
Article by Cindy Hval, Reprinted with Permission from the Spokesman-Review
There’s no place like home for the holidays and for 32 children, Hutton Settlement is the place they call home. Earlier this year, I got to know four of those children.
Anthony said, “So, I kind of had a bad home when I was a baby ’cause of my mom’s friends, and she didn’t treat me right. I moved here when I was 6.”
On Oct. 31, Northwest Profiles devoted a half-hour program to the history of Hutton. The program, which aired on KSPS-TV and kicked off the show’s 33rd season, featured the four children I interviewed with McArthur.
Trinity had a similar story.
Gavin McArthur, 16, Roxy Fredericksen, 14, Anthony Buck, 8, and Trinity Kinville, 11, shared their stories of how they came to live at Hutton, and what the settlement means to them.
The abuse continued when her younger siblings arrived. “When I was 8, my mother died from an overdose. I lived with my grandma and grandpa for a year,” she said. “One day our uncle came and said, ‘I just found this great place online, and I have friends who used to work there. It’s called Hutton Settlement.’ That summer we started visiting, and we ended up moving to Cottage Two, and I’ve lived there since.”
Gavin said he and his brother were being raised by their dad. One morning when he was about 4 years old, he heard a knock at the door. “My dad opened it up and a bunch of police officers stormed in. My brother and I were scared. We ran and hid under a bunk bed. It turns out that he (Dad) was arrested for using drugs at the time. I found out later that he suffered from schizophrenia and mental illness.”
“When I was just little, our father abused me and my mother,” she said.
When asked what they’d like to say to Levi Hutton, founder of the Settlement, Roxy said, “Thank you for making this place where I can be myself and have a loving caring family. I didn’t have that before.”
After going through several foster homes, the brothers ended up at Hutton.
Trinity reflected on what she’s learned since coming to the settlement.
“I could tell right away these people are here for me — they’re trying to help me, nurture me and take care of me,” he said.
“God loves everyone,” she said. “Even when times are tough it can get better. It will get better. And even if you don’t feel like it, someone’s always there by your side.”
Roxy said her mother and father argued frequently. “It was really bad. And then one day my mom, she’s like, ‘Oh you’re not gonna be living with me anymore,’ ” Roxy said. When she was 7, she moved to Hutton and her two younger sisters soon followed.
In this season of the year when hearts yearn for home and family, the kids at Hutton Settlement are profoundly grateful for the acceptance and love they’ve found. “Hutton Settlement to me is a place to call home — a place to call family,” Gavin said.
A REALTOR’S VIEW OF REAL ESTATE IN EUROPE It’s just human nature: we all assume that everyone lives more or less as we do, that they work as we do, that they have similar goals and reach them by similar means. That’s why travel is so valuable. There is no more striking and effective way of proving those assumptions wrong than plunking ourselves down in another country and another culture and experiencing how profoundly different they are from the universe in which we operate.
simultaneously, while reserving the right to sell their property themselves. Consequently, agents have no incentive to learn anything about the properties, or to go out of their way to find a buyer. The result of this is an unreliable and inconsistent market, in which buyers and sellers approach one another warily, uncertain whether the information they are given about the condition of property or the status of credit is reliable or not.
Certainly for those of us in the real estate industry, and for members of the general public who may have been involved in a real estate transaction, a comparison with that aspect of life in Europe is like a visit to a distant planet, where assumptions as basic as oxygen and gravity have to be discarded. Returning to Spokane, we are inclined to kiss the ground out of gratitude for the laws, procedures and standards that underpin the exchange of real estate in our region. Here are the main reasons why:
THE CONCEPT OF A REALTOR. Every real estate agent in the United States is required to be licensed. While license requirements vary from state to state, all states establish standards of honesty and public service which agents are required to maintain, on pain of losing their license. Furthermore, the vast majority of agents are members of the National Association of Realtors, which holds its members to very high and very specific standards of competence and fairness. Our European counterparts are, with few exceptions, salaried bureaucrats, employed by small, highly localized storefront operators to funnel business to their employer. The idea that they should subordinate their interests to those of a buyer or seller is as foreign as dipping a croissant or a slice of Sacher Torte in ketchup.
THE MLS. If you think that the existence of the Spokane Multiple Listing Service is a humdrum minor detail, just consider Europe, where the idea of cooperation between real estate offices is in its infancy if it exists at all. Because there is no cooperation between agencies, there is no central database of information about properties that are currently available, or that have been in the past. Buyers are compelled to walk the streets looking for signs announcing “A Vendre” (“For Sale”), which may be weeks or more out of date. Furthermore, the only mechanism for determining value is that of the bazaar, in which the buyer is on his own and the successful seller is the one who shouts the loudest. THE AGENT RELATIONSHIP: Property sellers sign listing agreements with several real estate companies
By comparison, the real estate market in Spokane, which may sometimes seem untidy or cumbersome to us, is revealed as a miracle of clarity, consistency and dependability. Everyone benefits: Agents’ ability to succeed is limited only by their talent and their will to work, while Buyers and Sellers can rely on a body of law and regulation in which their interests are paramount, and which, if followed properly, offer a smooth path forward to the accomplishment of their goals. Article by Larry Lapidus, Realtor®
CHOCOLATE SOUR CREAM DROP COOKIES INGREDIENTS
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT PHIL.
Blend together until fluffy: • ½ cup softened sweet butter • 1 ½ cup brown sugar (packed) • 2 Eggs • 1 tsp vanilla
Phil is a great guy with lots of energy. He would love to have a special someone to go on hikes with and just to generally hang out with. #2019-9209
Then….stir in 1 cup sour cream, until fully blended.
KEIJI.
In a separate bowl, combine: • 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour • ½ cups cocoa • 1 tsp soda • ½ tsp salt Like cookies? You’ve probably eaten plenty of them, and feel as though you have a pretty good idea of just how good a cookie can be. Think again! If you haven’t been served these chocolate cookies, you haven’t gotten close to the pinnacle of delicious cookieness.
INSTRUCTIONS
Add the blended dry ingredients, ½ cup at a time, to the “wet” ingredients until smooth. Do not over-beat! Then, blend in 1 cup chopped walnuts. Drop rounded tblsps of this mixture onto a greased baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between portions. Bake for ten minutes in an oven pre-heated to 375 degrees. Just try to keep yourself from gobbling up the results!
Keiji is a gorgeous fluffy cat from his whiskers down to his fluffy tail. We can visualize him playing with cat toys and then cuddling up for a nap in a friendly lap. #2019-13888
Interested in adopting or donating? Call SCRAPS Today! 509.477.2532
NOW TRENDING: MELTING OUTDOOR ICE – PRESERVE YOUR CONCRETE & YARD! Just remember: NEVER USE SALT OR SODIUM-BASED PRODUCTS! Concrete is porous and one needs to be mindful of that when melting ice. Good alternatives are:
Melting of ice on walkways & drives is an age-old problem. What to do with what remains when you are done shoveling, or with the results of freezing rain? Simple physics will take over if the surface is exposed to the sun. Otherwise, you can use a variety of safe, effective ice-melting products.
it can melt ice at lower temperatures. It is a good choice. MAGNESIUM CHLORIDE Routinely ranked as the best ice melt for concrete on the market. Unlike other ice melts, magnesium chloride can safely be used in heavily vegetated areas. Besides this, it is not corrosive. Magnesium chloride’s minimal working temperature is -13 degrees. This means that it’s almost as effective as calcium chloride.
CALCIUM CHLORIDE Independent testing of commonly used deicers has shown that calcium chloride is the least harmful to concrete (excluding Sodium Acetate and Calcium Magnesium Acetate) after 500 freeze/thaw cycles. Incidentally, liquid calcium chloride is used to decrease the set time of CALCIUM MAGNESIUM ACETATE (CMA) concrete in the winter. Often regarded as the best ice melt for concrete. CMA is made up of acetic POTASSIUM CHLORIDE acid, which is the main component Not a skin irritant & does not harm of vinegar, and dolomitic lime. The vegetation. It only melts ice when compound doesn’t harm animal & the air temperature is above 15 F, but plant life at all. when combined with other chemicals
Article by Dale Smith, Realtor®
Coldwell Banker Tomlinson 4102 S Regal St, Suite 201 Spokane, WA 99223
@HOME WITH
ISSUE 98 | DECEMBER 2019 ©2019 Coldwell Banker Tomlinson. All rights reserved. Each office is independently owned and operated. If you currently have an Agent assisting you with the purchase or sale of property, this is not a solicitation for business.
SPOKANE REAL ESTATE MARKET STATISTICS
2018 2019 71 57 55 48 62 50 2019 was 44 $279,749 compared to November The average closed price55for November 59 53 45 40 not represent home values) 2018 when the average price was $264,102. (Does 53 45 35 36 53 39 30 31 52 31 2019 was 28 $265,000 compared to November The median closed price35 for November 37 was $240,000. 35 31not represent home values) 2018 when the53median price (Does 54 43 33 29 55 44 35 23 Closed sales of 56 single family 42 homes36on less than 21 one acre including condos for November 2019 59 total 615 45compared39to November 26 2018 when the total was 666. 60 49 44 2016
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
2017
AVERAGE PRICE UP 5.9% MEDIAN PRICE UP 10.4% SALES DOWN 7.7%
INVENTORY STEADY
Current inventory, as of this report totals 757 properties which represents a 1.2 months supply. NOTE 1: Inventory does not include CTG-Inspection. As an example - Inventory, including CTG-Inspection (now Pend-Inspection) would total 1,208 properties, a 1.2 months supply. NOTE 2: Using the old method inventory is up 14.8% as of this report (1,208 compared to 1,052 last year at this time).
DAYS ON MARKET JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
2016
71
62
59
53
53
52
53
54
55
56
59
60
2017
57
55
53
45
39
35
37
43
44
42
45
49
2018
55
50
45
35
30
31
35
33
35
36
39
44
2019
48
44
40
36
31
28
31
29
23
21
26
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*
MARKET UPDATE A review of Spokane’s real estate market for 2019 shows the normal ups and downs of sales and prices, but one element is constant: low inventory, i.e. inadequate supply to meet our demand. Peering into 2020, I see more of the same. Couple that with historically low vacancy rates in the rental market, positive population growth (apparently over 1.5% per annum), and no increase in permit activity, and you are led inevitably to expect another year like this one, but with higher prices. The combination of boomers moving here to retire and strong job growth will insulate our area from any nationwide recession, such as some are predicting. Article by Neil Johnson, Partner
*
Information comes from the SAR’s Monthly Activity Report which looks at single family residential/site built properties on less than one acre and condominiums.
CONTACT ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS OR FOR DETAILED MARKET INFORMATION.