Leavenworth Real Estate

Archive for the 'Leavenworth Cabins' Category

MEMORIES OF OUR CABIN AT THE LAKE

 

 

Geordie and I help a lot of customers find a cabin get-away. These clients are seeking a place to be in nature, to get away from their cell phones and computers, and to spend more time with their family. I come from a cabin culture. When I was growing up, our family had a cabin on a lake in western Ontario. This area created many fond memories and helped shape my love of the outdoors. Here are some of those memories.

 

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The sun shines its last rays across the water as it slips down below the opposite tree lined shore. The sky holds the orange color in a softly fading glow. The water turns from yellow to orange and finally to an inky black. The haunting call of a loon echoes across the lake. The crickets start their nightly symphony and the mosquitoes begin their evening feast. A typical night at Echo Bay on Lake of the Woods, Ontario.

 

 

My family owned a small cabin on this shore. My dad bought a forested lot with his cousin, Rick, when he was 20 years old in 1967. The waterfront lot was .89 of an acre with a steep drop off to the lake. After clearing a spot, the young men bought the lumber in Winnipeg, and hauled it out to the lake on a Thursday night. On Friday they started transporting the lumber in their 15′ tin boat across three bays to the lot since there was no road. A fellow at the landing took pity on them and lent them his barge allowing the rest of the lumber to be carried over in one load. The following week the two men with the help of Rick’s dad, framed, sided, and roofed the 20′x24′ structure. The cabin was born.

 

 

Initially, the cabin was a rough structure with one big room. My dad cooked and heated the cabin on a coal & wood stove. Later propane was brought out and a stove, fridge, and lights were added. Over the years the interior configuration of the cabin changed, ending up with two bedrooms and an L-shaped living room/dining room/kitchen.

 

 

My first trip to the cabin was Aug 1978 when I was 2 months old. From then on, I made the 2 ½ hour journey from Winnipeg every weekend from May long weekend till Sept. long weekend.

 

My dad’s best friends had cabins on either side of ours, and their kids were roughly the same age as me. This provided fellow participants in all our adventures and schemes. Namely made up water games or catching frogs to put in the moat around our sand castles.

 

 

The lake was a place of firsts.

 

 

First time blueberry picking. The blueberries never seemed to get above a certain level in my ALL detergent bucket, but my belly was always full and my lips purple.

 

 

First time water skiing. After a few turns around the bay, I felt confident enough to try dropping a ski which I tried repeatedly for an hour. The only thing I succeeded in was falling repeatedly and giving myself such a stiff neck the next day I couldn’t move it.

 

 

First time watching the northern lights dance across the night sky. I can still picture the faint glow of the dying sun and the green whisps of light gently pulsating overhead.

 

 

The first time paddling a canoe with my dad.

 

 

The lake was a magic place that occupies a special corner in my mind. A brief thought recalls the wind in my face as we speed in the boat towards the cabin or the smell of the morning forest.

 

My memories are all of family time spent together. No television, no phone, and in the beginning no electricity. Just us hanging out on the dock, taking boat rides, playing games and having campfires.

Kahler Glen Avalanche Destroys Home

A home at the Kahler Glen golf course near Lake Wenatchee was hit by an avalanche yesterday and carried 150 yards off its foundation according to the Wenatchee World. According to Lake Wenatchee sources, the home was located on Pelton Place which sits above Miracle Mile Road.

 

KIRO TV has the best photos of the avalanche damage and the home. They reported that a mandatory evacuation was in place for 15 nearby homes, due to avalanche danger and a buried propane tank that appeared to be leaking.

 

It doesn’t appear that anyone was in the home, but that it was a vacation rental that was scheduled to be occupied this weekend. A two person cleaning crew had been in the home earlier in the day. It sounds like a second home was also damaged by the avalanche.

 

The condos at Kahler Glen are outside of an area that might be effected by avalanches. However, Pelton Place, where this home was located, is on a steep slope backed by land owned by a large timber company. Local news media seem surprised by this avalanche, but last spring, a home on this road was hit by a giant mudslide doing tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage.

 

According to the Northwest Avalanche Center this is the seventh significant avalanche incident this winter. The NWAC had predicted high avalanche danger for Thursday and warned travellers to avoid backcountry areas.

Lake Wenatchee Real Estate

Real Estate at Lake Wenatchee and Fish Lake has really taken off in the last decade. Lake Wenatchee’s popularity comes from the wealth of recreational opportunities (boating, fishing, wind surfing, hiking, snowmobiling, skiing, golfing) and it’s proximity to the Seattle area.

 

I wrote about Fish Lake real estate in a previous post, so this article will be mostly about Lake Wenatchee.

 

There are two roads that skirt Lake Wenatchee and serve as separate neighborhoods. Cedar Brae (aka South Shore
road) runs along the South Shore. It starts at the South entrance of Lake Wenatchee State Park and passes Kahler Glen Golf Club. At the other end of the road is Camp Zanika Lache, a Campfire Camp, a number of cabins on leased Forest Service land, and a trail to Hidden Lake. On the north side of the lake, North Shore Drive runs from the Lake Wenatchee Highway near the YMCA camp to near the White River road near the former site of the Cougar Inn. The north shore of Lake Wenatchee is often preferred because it faces South and gets more sunshine in the short days of winter. The West end of the lake is mostly U.S. Forest Service and the East end is the mouth of the Wenatchee River and Lake Wenatchee State Park.

 

 

Lake Wenatchee Real Estate 2007

 

 

In 2006, there were 7 sales on Lake Wenatchee listed on the North Central Washington MLS. These are lakefront properties, not properties with access to the lake or across the street from the lake, but actual lakefront. 1 was a cabin on leased land, 2 were tear down houses, and 3 were lakefront homes and one was a building lot.

 

 

The tear downs averaged $490,000 while the lot sold for $822,000. The tear downs were on similar size small lots on the North Shore (.17 and .12 acres) with 52 and 40 feet of lakefront. The lot was also on North Shore, but was .55 acres and had 100 frontage feet on the lake.

 

The three houses averaged 2400 square feet in size and sold for an average of $1.1 million. All three houses were on the North Shore and on lots smaller than a 1/4 acre. Two of the homes had 100 feet of lakefront, while the largest house had only 50 feet.

 

In 2007, 2 lakefront homes on Lake Wenatchee have sold so far. These homes are smaller (average of 1500 square feet) and had an average selling price of $910,000. One home was on Cedar Brae and though larger, much newer and on a lot 3 times bigger, sold for less money. This is the only South Shore listing that has sold in two years and it appears that the market does favor the North Shore by a large margin.

 

Currently one home is pending at $750,000 for a rustic cabin 1392 square feet in size. A much smaller house of 800 square feet is available for $770,000. Both are on 1/2 acre lots on the South Shore.

 

There are still a number of cabins on Lake Wenatchee that sit on leased land owned by the U.S. Forest Service. These cabins sell for under $200,000. It seems like a great deal except that you don’t own the land. The USFS does and they make you pay them a lease. Those leases are currently for 10 or 20 years and may go up drastically, they are supposed to be set at 5% of the value of the land, though current leases seem to be a few thousand a year. (If the lot value in private hands is $500,000 then the lease is $25,000 a year.) The Forest Service may also cancel the lease and ask you to remove your cabin. Then you are left with nothing. Ask your lender if they will loan on a property like this, I doubt many will because of the risks involved.

 

 

Searching for Lake Wenatchee property

The search tools that consumers have at their disposal are poor at finding waterfront property in Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee. This is especially true for local Leavenworth sites like http://www.lakewenatcheehomes.com/ or my competitors at Leavenworth Properties and Lake Wenatchee Properties. This is a function of the IDX program available to us at this time. The mapping isn’t as useful, but http://www.windermere.com/ does allow consumers to search for waterfront listings.

 

If you want to see current Lake Wenatchee waterfront homes click here or for waterfront lots click here or email me at any time and I will send you a list of the current available properties.

Update March 2008

The search function has now been updated for the Lake Wenatchee Real Estate site. You can now search easily for waterfront properties on by categories that include lakes, rivers and creeks.

Leavenworth Home Tour – This Weekend!

Windermere Real Estate in Leavenworth is holding an open house event with about a dozen homes throughout the Leavenworth, Plain, and Lake Wenatchee area.

 

Homes on the tour range from small cabins to larger homes on the Wenatchee River. Prices range from under $200,000 to over $800,000.

 

We will be hosting this event from 12-3 on Saturday. Maps will be available at our office on Highway 2 in downtown Leavenworth and at each of the homes on the tour.

 

 

Three drawings for dinner at Leavenworth’s newest restaurant – South – will be held. Enter the drawing at each of the homes you visit. Increase your chances and visit them all!

 

Click here to see some of the Leavenworth Homes on tour.

Fish Lake Real Estate

In an earlier post on Active Rain, I introduced you to Fish Lake just outside of Plain and Leavenworth, WA. This post is specifically about the real estate opportunities that can be found on Fish Lake.

 

Fish Lake is a smaller and more intimate lake than Lake Wenatchee. It is also mostly bordered by U.S. Forest Service land. The amount of private waterfront is very limited and even homes near the lake are hard to come by.

 

This is the last waterfront home sold on Fish Lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I sold it in May of 2005 for $470,000. In general, real estate in the Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee area has been appreciating at 15 to 20% a year. Considering it has been two years since a home on Fish Lake has been available, I think the appreciation here has probably been higher. I usually tell buyers looking for a home on Lake Wenatchee to plan on spending at least $1 million. I don’t think Fish Lake has quite reached that mark, but it isn’t far off.

 

These two houses sold in the past year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neither of these homes were located on the lake, but both were within walking distance. The home on top sold in May of 2006 for $350,000. The other home sold in March of 2007 for $375,000.

 

If you are looking for a home on or near Fish Lake I have two obvious pieces of advice. Be patient and be prepared to pay a premium for waterfront.

 

If you have a home or lot to sell on Fish Lake or even nearby, you are sitting on some very valuable real estate. Please don’t hesitate to contact me for current market analysis.