Leavenworth Real Estate

Archive for the 'Community News' Category

Earthquake Insurance in Washington State

This is a guest post by Eric Kossian of Leavenworth Insurance. Eric sent it to me as an email and I thought it might be important info to share.

 

With the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, now is a prudent time to review the earthquake coverage you have or don’t have before we have an earthquake.

 

Your Earthquake Exposure:

 

Traditional Earthquake coverage has a very high deductible of at least 10% of your home insurance amount and is designed to provide catastrophic coverage. For example, if your home is insured for $350,000, your out of pocket earthquake deductible would be $52,500 before the 1st dollar of earthquake coverage would be paid out for damage to your home, there would be a separate deductible of $52,500 for damage to contents.

 

Your homeowner’s or landlord insurance policy does NOT include this earthquake coverage unless it is separately endorsed and extra premium is charged. From my experience, helping settle earthquake claims in the Loma Prieta earthquake in California, which was a 7.5 on the Richter scale, 98% of homes had less than $50,000 in damage. In this case, the above Earthquake coverage would never come into effect. All costs would be out of pocket. Keep in mind though, that especially in Western Washington, we could have a much larger earthquake that might be literally be 100 times as powerful, causing damage in the Seattle area like we see today in Haiti and Chile. This catastrophic damage is designed to be covered by this these high deductible policies.

 

Our Earthquake Solutions:

 

In addition to offering the high deductible earthquake endorsement we also offer a Stand Alone Earthquake policy that is designed to work with your catastrophic earthquake coverage. It will cover up to the 1st $50,000 of damage to your home and/or contents. You can choose the coverage amount and premium amount you want. Because it only has a $1000 deductible, in the event of an earthquake of 5.0 or higher –this policy would very likely be accessible by you for damage to your home or contents. This is an excellent, affordable solution that I highly recommend.

 

 

Here the key features of this policy and why I like it so much:

 

• You choose the coverage amount you want: $10,000, $25,000, or $50,000.

• Low $1,000 deductible for each and every loss.

• It pays for actual cash value (not replacement cost) for damage to your home and/or contents coverage.

• Coverage is for the direct loss caused only by earthquake including, but not limited to, structural damage to the insured’s dwelling, contents of the dwelling, and additional living expenses if the dwelling is uninhabitable.

• Covers damage resulting from earthquakes registering 5.0 + on the Richter Scale at time of initial occurrence for up to100 miles from the epicenter.

• Subsequent aftershocks, occurring more than 72 hours following the initial shock shall be treated as separate occurrences and the same conditions will prevail as were necessary to qualify for coverage of the initial loss

• May be used in addition to another earthquake policy already in force as a means to pay the larger deductible, or as a standalone policy.

You can reach Eric at leavenworthinsurance@gmail.com , 509-548-5488 or on the web at www.LeavenworthInsurance.com

*****************************************************************************************************

Leavenworth Skiers Lament Early Spring

Lake Wenatchee State Park sent out this email earlier in the week which says what we skiers had feared:

Probable end to grooming for the season . . .

Current Conditions: Nason Ridge – first 3-4k have some significant thin and/or dirty spots . . . which will continue to degrade this week. Patience with this will pay off since the remaining 15 k is in good shape! The North Park continues to offer fairly good skiing in the camp loops. The South Park and shoreline trails of the North are in poor condition with too little snow for grooming.

Note forecast this week for rain, then sun with high temps in the mid forties likely will force us to end grooming. Although Upper Nason will be in good shape, access will likely no longer be possible by snowcat.

South Park: No more grooming unless a turnaround in the weather.

Nason Ridge: Lower and Upper Nason groomed yesterday. Good conditions after first few km. Grooming probably over for season.

North Park: No more grooming unless a turnaround in the weather. Decent skiing in the upper trails.

Chiwawa See & Ski: Insufficient snow for grooming this trail due to side slope, ruts, southern exposure.

The Leavenworth Winter Sports Club has the same message on their page concerning skiing at Icicle Creek, the Leavenworth Golf Course and Leavenworth’s Ski Hill:

“We are done Grooming for the season. Thank You for sharing the winter season with the LWSC”

But there is some good news for skiers:

• Stevens Pass Nordic Center is Open Thur-Sunday with a 41″ base.
• Both Stevens Pass and Mission Ridge downhill areas are still open and Mission Ridge is reporting higher than normal snowfall.
• High snowfall at Mission Ridge means good conditions for the  Hog Loppet Ski Tour (still time to register!)

 

 

*****************************************************************************************************

Hog Loppet 2010 – Still Time to Register

As most folks know, Icicle Creek Real Estate is a proud sponsor of the 2010 Hog Loppet Ski Tour. This is an annual event put on by the Leavenworth Winter Sports Club. It is a 30 kilometer trek from Mission Ridge to Blewett Pass.

Early Bird Registration for Hog Loppet ends February 8th for the event on February 27th.  Save money and register early! As of today it looks like 218 skiers are signed up and the shuttle bus from Leavenworth is 54% full.

Allyson and Geordie had planned to ski this year, but we’ll be at an Olympic hockey game the night before in Vancouver BC. We hope to be able to make it to the official party at the Fest Halle in Leavenworth afterwords.

Lake Wenatchee Ski Report

Ski season at Lake Wenatchee is not quite here yet.

Here’s the latest from Rick Halstead, Park Manager at Lake Wenatchee State Park

Hello everyone -

We’ve taken a few calls from folks wondering what conditions are like here . . . and when might the skiing begin. Unfortunately we have no snow at this time, despite there being 30 – 40″ just 20 miles west of here at Steven’s Pass. Typically we get significant snow in mid – late December and have enough to begin grooming just in time for the holidays. You can check this link for a report which is automatically updated hourly. The gauges are located right here in the North Park.

We need at least a foot of reasonably dense snowpack before we can begin packing trails and creating a good base for grooming. A bit more is needed for grooming.

Everything is in place for another season – - grants, snowcats, operators and landowner permission. Special thanks to Longview Timber Company for their ongoing permission to groom all those great trails on Nason Ridge. They own the land – we are very grateful they open their gates for snowcats and skiers.

There has been a very significant increase in Snopark permit fees this year. A one-day parking pass is now $20; a season pass is $80 (basic Snopark pass $40 plus “Special Groomed Trails Sticker” for another $40).

Attached is a Snopark program Q&A we’ve created to help explain the program, how it is funded, and where / how permit funds are spent – and the need for the fee increase. Some of you represent businesses which sell these permits – I encourage you to print a copy to share with all staff who might sell permits, and any customers who are particularly curious . . .

Thanks for all you support,

Rick Halstead, Park Manager

Lake Wenatchee State Park

(509) 763-3101

(509) 763-1029 fax

Winter in Leavenworth

The snow has begun to fall in Leavenworth and this sign is a reminder what that means in town.

 

Snowplows need to be able to do their job to clear the streets so don’t forget to park off the street overnight. (For your benefit, I have done some “research” in this department, and yes, the Chelan County Sheriffs Department DOES issue tickets.)

The folks at LakeWenatcheeInfo.com have a good reminder about winter parking up at the lake:

“Every year there are the same reports of people parking on the traveled roadways of North Shore Drive, South Shore (Cedar Brae) and other roads….The sheriff WILL ticket vehicles parked in the roadways in ways that can impair passage of traffic and larger emergency vehicles. Providing for parking for yourself and your guests is part of being here in the winter so please don’t park in other peoples plowed areas or have the snow from your driveway dumped on your neighbors drive or property.”

As most folks know, if you don’t plow or snowblow your own driveway, the best solution is to get a seasonal contract for plowing.

I know Leavenworth Electric and Excavation (509-763-2000) handles snowplowing at Coles Corner and some neighborhoods near Lake Wenatchee.

Who else is handling residential plowing this year? Please add your favorites in the comments section.