Cowlitz News and Real Estate

I like to take this special day to introduce to you guys and wish a Happy Birthday to the most incredible, amazing, beautiful and dearest woman of my life, my wife Martha. Today is her Birthday and since I don't believe I let her know enough (on a daily basis) how much I love and cherish her, I want to take this opportunity to publicly let her know.

I know that I don't say it enough but want her to know that I love her dearly. I want to thank her for sticking with me through out our 15 years of bad times and good times, I'm very grateful that our marriage has been a great one for the most part thanks to her understanding, willingness to listen, compromise and her unconditional love.

I want to let her know that I thank god everyday for giving me the blessing to have her in my life for the past 15 years, for being a great mother to our three wonderful children and for her unconditional support through out the years. Thank You! Thank Your! Thank You!  I love you with all my hart and I look forward to our next 80 years together.

 

Have a great and Happy Birthday Babe!

 

Venancio Gonzalez a GRI, e-PRO Realtor®, with Windermere Real Estate Allen & Associates, serving the Cowlitz County real estate market. gonzaleq@windermere.com (360) 751 4001.

West Longview Christmas Lights

Do to the bad weather conditions for the last week or so, we as a family have opted to mainly stay a home and out of the cold except for few times walking down the street for some down the hill sled action. Couple night ago, the kids and I decided to challenge bad road conditions and drive around our West Longview neighborhood and enjoy some great lighted homes with Christmas lights. It was a lot of snow on the streets but the drive wasn't bad, of course having a four wheel drive and being very careful helps a lot. Here are some of the photos we took, enjoy!

Visit our West Longview real estate page for more information and links about the neighborhood.

Venancio Gonzalez a GRI, e-PRO Realtor®, with Windermere Real Estate Allen & Associates serving the Cowlitz County communities. gonzalezq@windermere.com or (360) 751 4001.

What is a Home Warranty and why do I need one?

It is an office policy that we let our clients (home buyers and sellers) knows that a home warranty is available for them to purchase, is up to them whether to buy it or not. During this conversation many of them have ask what is a home warranty and why do I need one? A home warranty is a service contract available for home buyers and sellers that will cover costly repair or will replace most frequent breakdowns of home system components and appliances regardless of age make or model.

The price and what is cover depends on the service plan, a basic plan cost around $300 and will cover items like, Electrical System, Heating System, Plumbing System, Water Heaters, Ceiling Fans, Range, Garbage Disposal, Dishwasher, among others or coverage can be expanded to cover items like; Air Condition Systems, Washer & Dryers, Pool, Spa, Garage Door Opener, Well Pump and others.

Whether someone needs one or not depends on each individual needs. I know few people that bought the service and use it saving from hundreds to thousands of dollars, one of them got their air conditioner unit (heat pump) replaced saving over $4,000, the other two got some electrical work done, one of them saved about $400 and the other one saved almost $1,000. You do the math. For more information regarding home warranties visit American Home Shield website.

Contact Cowlitz County real estate agent, Venancio Gonzalez a GRI, E-PRO Realtor®, with Windermere Real Estate Allen & Associates, 360 751 4001, to list your home or purchase a home.

The numbers for the Cowlitz County real estate market for the month of November 2008.

As usually happens every year for Winter the market slows down, this year is not the exception, as you'll see below the number for November 2008 are down. This report will give you an insight of how the Cowlitz County real estate market is doing and also will give an inside look at average and medium prices, average days on the market and what price range is more competitive and what price range is moving (selling) faster. Previous months reports October, September and August.

  

Cowlitz County real estate numbers for Single Family Residential homes for November 2008

Cowlitz County homes - Current Active Listings at the end of November 2008

Number - 703

Medium Price - $228,500

Average Price - $278,148

Average Days on Market - 136

Cowlitz County Homes - Under Contract (Pending) at the end of November 2008

Number - (Way down) only 26

Medium Price - $158,750

Average Price - $200,584

Average Days on Market - 123

Cowlitz County Homes - Sold on the month of November 2008

Number - 46

Medium Price - $185,000

Average Price - $200,518

Average Day on Market - 127

Most Competitive Price Range - $200,000 thru $249,999

Actives Listings at this price range - 117

Most Active Price Range - $200,000 thru $249,999

Actives - 117

Pending - 4

Sold - 12

Contact Cowlitz County real estate agent, Venancio Gonzalez a GRI, E-PRO Realtor®, with Windermere Real Estate Allen & Associates, 360 751 4001, to list your home or purchase a home.

Cowlitz County Foreclosure Market Review

The Cowlitz County list of foreclosure homes slowly continuous to grow each month. I have been tracking the foreclosure market since the beginning of the year and even though these homes sell quickly the list keeps growing monthly, it seem that for every home that sells two new ones come on the market. At the beginning of the year there were about 29 foreclosure home in Cowlitz County, the number grew to 36 in April, to 48 August and currently we have 59 foreclosure home on the Cowlitz market.

Since foreclosure homes typically sell for less than market value this provides great opportunities for many local buyers to get a more home for their money. Search all Cowlitz County foreclosures homes.

For question about foreclosures contact Cowlitz County real estate agent, Venancio Gonzalez a GRI, E-PRO Realtor®, with Windermere Real Estate Allen & Associates at 360 751 4001 or by e-mail.

Cowlitz County photos!

Explore some of the wonderful sceneries and natural resources Cowlitz County has to offer.

Beautiful views of Silver Lake and Hiatoric Mount St. Helens.

View of Cowlitz beautiful landscape

Photo of Cowlitz County natural surrounding

Image of Historic Down Town Longview's Civic Center Cicle and squire bridge

View of the Columbia River, Lewis and Clark Bridge, Mount St. Helens in back and surrounding hill.

A one time Cowlitz County was consider the "Timber Capital of the World.

A glimpse look at Cowlitz green landscaping and wild life.

To see more pohtos and learn more about Cowlitz County visit the following posts, Cowlitz County - Washington or Southwest Washington Mount St. Helens

Cowlitz County real estate agent, Venancio Gonzalez a GRI, E-PRO Realtor®, with Windermere Real Estate Allen & Associates, 360 751 4001.

Is It Online Home Search Good Strategy?

My guess is that all depends on what websites you are using to do your search. I have some clients and potential clients called me very excited about a home that they found online only to find out that the home already have been sold not only days before but in some instances for weeks. I know that now days the internet is the greatest tool to use to find any kind of information including homes for sale, so online home search is a great strategy but just make sure the site you are using it is a trusted easy to use with up-to-date information website.

There are some websites out there that we want avoid, those with very outdated information that only get updated once in a while but in the other hand there are some good sites that get updated frequently. Or you can use a great site like http://www.seeonlinehomes.net/ that provides the most recent available homes for sale, this website automatically sweep listings from the Multiple Listing Service every 20 minutes and has the capability of e-mailing you every new listing that meet your criteria, so don't forget to sign up for it.

Or to Schdule an appointme for a personal consultation contact your Cowlitz County real estate professional Venancio Gonzalez a GRI, E-PRO Realtor®, with Windermere Real Estate Allen & Associates, by e-mail or at 360 751 4001.