Dasmarka Real Estate

Millions of veterans and service personnel are eligible to participate in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Home Loan Guarantee Program, which in most cases requires no down payment. VA loans can be used to buy a home, build a home, improve a home or to refinance an existing loan. After issuing a certificate of eligibility to the vet, the VA guarantees the loan to the lender up to $203,000. VA loans frequently offer lower interest rates than ordinarily available with other kinds of loans. To qualify for a loan, the first step is to apply for a Certificate of Eligibility (complete Form 26-1880). Call (800) 827-1000 for more information about VA programs. homeloans.va.gov.

South County inches higher2005-04-07
by Clayton Park
Journal Business Editor
Home prices last month soared to a new record high on the Eastside of $400,000 -- up $50,000 from last year -- while prices in southeast King County remained significantly higher than a year ago.
The Eastside tied with Vashon Island for the highest median price for homes and condos sold last month in King County.
Area real estate agents are reporting bidding wars for homes, particularly for those that are more affordably priced or near major employment hubs.
One older "fixer'' house in Kirkland received 11 offers last week, with the winning bid nearly $40,000 more than the seller's asking price, which was in the $250,000 range, said Ken Bacon, managing broker for the Redmond office of Windermere Real Estate.
The median price for homes and condominiums sold on the Eastside last month rose to $400,000, up from $381,000 in February and $349,990 in March 2004, according to a new report issued Wednesday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
The median price of homes and condos sold in southeast King County last month was $259,900, down a sliver from $259,950 in February but up nearly 9 percent over the median price of $238,970 in March 2004.
The median price for closed transactions in Seattle last month was $355,000, up from $334,000 in February and $311,200 a year ago. Southwest King County had the lowest median price of any area in the county: $244,700, up from $234,950 in February and $212,750 a year ago.
Countywide, the median price of homes and condos sold last month skyrocketed to $324,950, shattering the previous record -- February's median price of $309,950. The countywide median price a year ago was $280,000.
The Kirkland-based Northwest Multiple Listing Service tracks sales of homes and condos on a monthly basis throughout most of Western Washington.
The median price means that an equal number of homes and condos sold for higher and for less than that amount.
J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate, reported this week that March was the "best month ever'' in terms of home sales conducted by agents of the 74-year-old Bellevue company.
Scott attributed the record sales to local job growth, a shortage of available homes, relatively low interest rates, and a "historically active housing market'' during this time of year.
Of the 1,304 homes and condos sold on the Eastside last month, the area east of Lake Sammamish had the highest number of closed transactions: 320.
"That's affordability,'' said Bacon of the reason why demand in that area is so high.
Bacon said condo sales have been on the rise in the past year, now accounting for roughly one-third of all sales conducted by agents in his office, "which was never the case before.''
Compared with the average price of single-family homes on the Eastside, condos are "more affordable,'' newer and as a rule in better condition than comparably priced single-family homes, and in most cases "closer to where (buyers) need to commute,'' Bacon said.
Despite the high prices for homes and condos overall on the Eastside, there are still some single-family homes with asking prices in the $200,000 to $300,000 range, but "they're going to be fixers'' -- older homes badly in need of updating, Bacon said.
Those thinking of bidding for an affordably priced fixer home need to "act fast'' and be prepared to compete against multiple bidders, including professional home remodelers, Bacon said.
"We're seeing a surge in contractors buying older, fixer homes,'' he said.
Of the 782 homes and condos sold in Southeast King County last month, the Kent area had the most of any area within that submarket: 196.
As of the end of March, the pending number of sales of homes and condos totaled 1,530 on the Eastside and 988 in Southeast King County. The Eastside had 1,602 new listings, while Southeast King County had 1,020.
The average number of days that homes and condos sold last month were on the market was 53 for the Eastside, compared with 66 a year ago, and 48 in Southeast King County, compared with 68 a year ago.

By SHANNON DININNY
The Associated Press
SEATTLE — It was very much a long shot.
When vintner David Lake suggested planting a new variety of red wine grapes on a steep hillside at central Washington's Red Willow Vineyard in the late 1980s, it seemed like a risky move.
White wines had dominated the state's wine industry for years, and while the sturdy Rhone variety with hints of blackberries, black currants and roasted coffee seemed like a perfect match for the state's diverse soils and climate, grape growers were unsure it could survive a harsh winter.
After the deep freeze of 1996, growers knew they had struck wine gold with syrah.
Nearly a decade later, the number of acres planted tops 3,000 — about 10 percent of the state's more than 30,000 acres devoted to wine grapes, and syrah ranks among the top three reds in the state, behind cabernet sauvignon and merlot.
"Syrah is one of the great grapes of the world, it's one of the great three — cabernet, syrah and pinot noir," said Lake, the director of winemaking for Columbia Winery who recently marked 25 years in Washington state winemaking. "A lot of great European varieties haven't necessarily found a home in the New World, such as sangiovese. But some have really been rediscovered in the last 30 years or so."
Those include syrah, a grape that ripens fairly early, is hardier than merlot and tends to produce wines that develop more quickly in the fermenting process — a point that is especially favorable for a region where new wineries are opening their doors almost monthly.
Washington is the nation's No. 2 wine producer behind California, with an industry valued at $2.4 billion, according to the Washington Wine Commission, a promotional state agency financed with fees on member wineries and growers. The state is home to more than 300 wineries and 300 wine grape growers who harvested 100,500 tons of grapes last year.
The harvest was down from the record crop of 111,700 tons a year earlier, but 2004 could have been far worse because of a severe winter freeze. New vineyard acres coming into production helped balance out the losses.
At Lake Chelan's Tsillan Cellars, one-third of the roughly 40 acres planted are syrah. The acreage may not change, but the wine itself will evolve as vintners experiment, winemaker Katy Perry said.
Syrah grapes are more susceptible to cultural practices, such as water management, trellising of vines and methods to alleviate sunburn, she said. Those techniques, along with cool evening temperatures and the micro-climates of individual vineyards, create subtle nuances.
After years as a vintner for other wineries, Perry has decided to strike out on her own. Tildio Winery opens April 16, and one of its primary varieties will be syrah.
"A lot of different varieties are being planted and I think everybody is throwing their hand in at trying syrah, at least a little," Perry said. "It's going to be fantastic."
Syrah currently makes up about 25 percent of the production for Columbia Winery, one of the state's larger wineries. That could increase to as much as 40 percent in the future, said Lake, who has dreamed of experimenting with the variety since a visit to France's Rhone wine region.
Consumers first want to know a winery can make a four-square, substantial wine, Lake told an audience Saturday at a Taste Washington wine event in Seattle. Then vintners can perhaps back off a bit to create a wine with more finesse.
Growers and vintners in Idaho and British Columbia also are taking note and beginning to produce great syrah.
"Now, with the climate going through a warming phase, syrah seems very well able to thrive," Lake said. "It all really depends on the style you want to make. It's a very versatile variety for us, and although it hasn't yet won the acclaim of our cabernet, I believe it has a bright future."

Sometimes you just need a nice weekend a way from the kids. We found a wonderful bed and breakfast located in Gig Harbor. Our hosts Greg & Lalaine Wong were such a delight. We enjoyed the delicious breakfast that was prepared for us as seen in the photo with my wonderful wife Mercedes (left) Good friend Dayna (middle) and myself.
Aloha Beachside Bed & Breakfast captures the spirit and experience Hawaiian hospitality at it's finest. Staying in Wailele room. It feature a queen-sized feather bed, full bath, and a bayside balcony to enjoy the sights and sounds of Puget Sound.
Soaking in the hot tub, quick work out in the exercise room or relaxing in the sauna is a wonderful way to guarantee a good night's rest.
Be sure to set a little time aside to enjoy life with your friends and family.

Now you’ve found the house you want, how much should you offer to pay for it? This can be a tricky puzzle, because there are no carved-in-stone guidelines. Some homes are overpriced, while others are a "real steal" at the full asking price. Here are some tips:

Ask your agent for comparables
To determine a fair purchase offer, ask your agent to prepare a written comparative market analysis showing the sales prices of similar neighborhood homes that sold recently and the asking prices of comparable homes currently on the market.
Compare the details
To calculate your best offer, compare the features of the home that interests you with the features of similar homes that have sold recently in the same neighborhood.

Fertilizing flowering plants — perennials, annuals and roses — always makes the list of April tasks. But with a summer drought anticipated in the region, water conservation is a first priority, so I recommend fertilizing less than in a year with more normal weather. More fertilizer means more growth, which requires more water to maintain.
Perennial plants such as peonies, summer-blooming lilies and daylilies, Shasta daisies, and columbine — all the flowers you'd like for a bouquet in the house — will thrive nicely on one moderate fertilizing during April. If you did it in March, the flowers will not need it again. I use a kelp-based fertilizer with a 6-8-8- ratio and apply it only once a year. If the soil has been well-amended with compost and a fertile mulch — one derived from animal manure — you could skip the spring perennial fertilization altogether this year.
Rose care
For roses, fertilize after pruning, as many of you have already done in March, and then in June after the first set of blooms, instead of the monthly dose that is often recommended.
Fertilizers with organic sources of ingredients — those derived from living materials like cottonseed and kelp — supply nutrients slowly and help with steady rather than too-fast growth.
Chemical fertilizers with lots of nitrogen shove the plant into hasty leaf production, which is just the opposite of what's desirable in dry seasons. Use soaker hoses or other efficient methods to water roses.
What to trim, deadhead
Shearing plants fits into the April schedule as well. Hedge-trimmers, hand-powered or electric, work well on bloomed-out spring ground covers such as white candytuft (Iberis sempervirens) or ground-cover phlox (Phlox subulata).
Removing the flowers, but allowing the foliage beneath to stay intact, will help the plant produce fresh foliage that looks attractive all summer. Shearing also works on herbs that went through winter with ragged flowers or foliage.
Trim sage, rosemary, lavender and artemisia to shape. For years I've used a pair of sheep shears that wandered into the garden tools somehow, giving me the spring impression of shearing woollies as well as bloomers.
Caring for rhodies
Rhododendrons and azaleas will roar into bloom this month, and their faded flowers bring up the question: Do I deadhead these things, or not?
Gardeners at the Washington Park Arboretum grow thousands of rhododendrons, many of them far too large for removing the spent flowers. They bloom on without flower deadheading. If the rhododendron is very small, such as the 1-foot 'Blue Diamond', it will generally drop flowers just the way all azaleas do. So if it's too tall to reach or covered in tiny self-cleaning flowers, no action is needed.
But when the plant shines prominently in the landscape, most gardeners take the old flowers off to improve the beauty of the plant. Some research indicates that the shrubs flower better in the following year if they aren't throwing energy into making seeds. The choice is yours.
Rhododendrons certainly look sleeker in the landscape when they aren't daubed with brown seed heads. Deadheading is difficult to do with gloves on, so expect sticky hands from the sap.
Round up thirsty plants
Flowers requiring ample summer moisture — calla lilies, primroses, filipendulas, astilbes and Japanese iris — should be grouped and given their own soaker hose or other irrigation.
What to plant
Besides being a good time to tidy up the yard, April is also the time to start work on a vegetable garden. "The Maritime Northwest Garden Guide: Planning Calendar for Year-Round Organic Gardening," (Seattle Tilth, 2000), suggests the following vegetables for planting this month: radishes, carrots, beets, broccoli, onion sets (for small salad onions), spinach, bok choi, snow peas, sugar peas and potatoes (from seed potatoes).
Vegetables to start indoors for late May transplant when the soil warms include these heat seekers: tomatoes, squash and basil.

Kevin Harvick's team has learned the hard way about the new qualifying/impoundment rules for 2005.

The new qualifying/impoundment rules for 2005 have bitten one team already. The Richard Childress-owned GM Goodwrench Chevy qualified in the top 5 at Las Vegas but was sent to the rear of the field because crew chief Todd Berrier installed an illegal fuel cell in the car that was rigged to appear filled to 22-gallon capacity while actually holding just five gallons. With less fuel, they were able to move more weight to the front of the car to improve handling. In the past, teams could qualify with the fuel load of their choice. Not so anymore.

"It wasn't a points event. It was a qualifying event," Berrier said. "When you get caught with something, if you had to play it over again you'd probably play it a little bit different, but that's my nature, it's how I've always addressed things."

The reasoning for trying to slip one by NASCAR is confusing in that Harvick’s team is guaranteed a starting spot by virtue of being in the top 35 in owners points.

Berrier appealed his four-race suspension, but the suspension was upheld. Harvick, however, overcame the loss of Berrier and won the Food City 500 at Bristol last week.