Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

Two Canyon Lake neighbors are joining the KNDU-TV Coats for Kids Drive by making it easier for the rest of us to donate new or slightly used coats.  Your donation will help children in the Tri-Cities who are in need of a warm winter coat.  Sizes 5T through adult are needed.  There are two convenient drop off locations in Canyon Lakes at 3906 W. 46th or 3319 Canyon Lakes Dr.  Donations will be accepted through November 15th.  You’ll find a bin on the front porch of each home where you can leave your donation.  If you have questions, call Gloria Beauchamp at 582-3941 or Marcia Beauchamp at 582-2210.

Contributed by Sharon Sasser Warren                                                                    Your Canyon Lakes Realtor                                                                      

The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping the old ones!!                                                               **John Meynard Keynes**

Interest rates here in the Tri-cities are dropping and it’s time to consider buying a home!!  It was recently announced that financial industry lobbyists are urging the treasury Department to take steps to lower mortgage rates in an effort to stabilize the housing market.

Under the proposal, Treasury would seek to lower the rate on a 30-year mortgage to 4.5 percent. That’s about one percentage point below the current rate of 5.6 percent. Treasury would do so by purchasing mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Treasury is strongly considering the proposal and could announce a decision as early as Monday. In recent weeks, a diverse set of industry groups from real estate agents to carpet makers have called on lawmakers and the incoming administration to subsidize lower mortgage rates and beef up tax credits to help stimulate housing demand.

The National Association of Realtors has been pushing a plan under which the federal government would spend $50 billion to lower mortgage rates. It says doing so would yield about 500,000 more home sales.

The National Association of Home Builders is leading a new “Fix Housing First’ coalition to push for aid to the ailing housing sector, including a tax credit of up to $22,000 for anyone who buys a home before the end of 2009. The goal is to drive mortgage rates so low that home prices not only stop falling but begin to rebound.

While the plan, if enacted, will help anybody looking to buy or sell a home, or refinance out of an expensive mortgage, it may not help those whose credit is so damaged that banks don’t want to lend to them. It may change the number of borrowers seeking loans but it won’t change the qualifications for who gets those loans.

HAPO to hold open house at new Kennewick Location!

HAPO Community Credit Union will hold an open house and a ribbon cutting ceremony December 18th at its new location in Kennewick. The ceremony starts at 11:30 a.m. at 4851 W. Hildebrand Blvd off Highway 395.

The new branch, the third HAPO opened this year, will help credit union members living or working near the Southridge area, and those commuting from Oregon.

7 homes, winery to open their doors to the Mid-Columbia public -by Loretto J Hulse, Herald Staff Writer

Need some holiday cheer? Or perhaps some seasonal decorating ideas? The Dr. L.G. Spaulding Guild’s Christmas Home Tour will be held December 6.

Owners of 7 homes ad one winery in Kennewick and Richland will open their doors and show off priceless family treasures and family keepsakes. “They’re all very different with decor ranging from cherished antiques to red hot chili peppers to Tuscan,” said Christine Grantham, tour co-chairwoman.

I’m especially happy that we have three condos on the tour this year. That’s something I’ve been working on for a while now,” she said.  The Christmas Home Tour runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be entertainment at each home ranging from the Broadway Babes to a harpist.

Tickets and a tour book cost $15 and tickets are available at Beaver Bark & Rock, 607 Aaron Drive in Richland; Gadgets & Goodies, 5724 W Clearwater, Kennewick; and HL2 Accents, 6311 Burden Blvd, Pasco. A limited number of tickets will be available for purchase at the houses.

What a great operunity for the people of the Tri-Cities to go see how other people live.

Wordy phrases kill copy and dilute messages.

The No Bull! business blog identifies 26 such phrases and offers superior alternatives, like using:

*   “about” instead of “pertaining to”

*    “indicates” instead of “is indicative of”, and

*     “therefore” instead of “with this in mind.”

For a copy of the entire reference guide, visit: 

http://pbp.typepad.com/nobull/2008/06/26-phrases-you-should-never-use-in-writing.html