I am sending you this email to alert you of recent break-ins that have occurred on vacation rentals in the Lake Wenatchee and Plain area. There have been several break-ins on vacation rentals since March 2010.

The specific areas that have been hit are as follows – Pine Tree Rd (off of Chiwawa Loop), Beaver Valley Rd and Telemark (off of North Shore Rd.) There have been a total of 5 break-ins according to Deputy Brad Norton of Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.

It appears they are targeting vacation rentals and at this time they do not have any suspects and are urging vacation rental owners and 2nd home owners take measured precautions and do frequent checks on their vacation rentals / 2nd homes. It is hard for them to figure out when the break-ins are accruing when the home was last cleaned or inspected days or even weeks before the break-in was discovered.

After speaking with Deputy Norton it is obvious there is a need for security patrol with all the 2nd homes and vacation rentals in the area but unfortunately there are currently no affordable security patrol options in the area. There are a couple of security companies out of Wenatchee but because of the commute the patrol costs don’t make since for owners.

Leavenworth Property Services, LLC offers $25.00 courtesy checks for the accounts they service but since they are primarily a vacation rental service company that offers services such as Hot tub service, Maid Service, Window Cleaning and Concierge services they can only offer courtesy patrol checks to their direct owners who use their services because of Washington State security patrol license requirements. We also offer a monthly program that offers biweekly checks and weekly checks and include security warning signs we place on the rental. In the future we plan on retaining our security patrol license so we can help protect your homes but at this time we can’t offer it to everyone.

In the mean time we have taken the time to work with some owners and with discussions with Deputy Norton we concluded that owners can benefit a lot from do the following to protect there homes -

1) Make sure you don’t have your address on your website. (NOT even your street name). Criminals can take just the street name with a photo of your house and drive the street looking for it. Now we know that using the availability calendars is a must but with your street name, address and knowing when your rental is vacant by looking at your online calendar is a recipe for disaster.

2) Invest in warning security signs. You can buy them off the internet for cheap and they will deter the bad guys. Criminals want easy targets and if they think there is even the slightest chance you have a security system or surveillance cameras they will skip your house and move to the next. Make sure you buy big visible signs not just the little ADT security signs. Get a big warning sign. If you need help finding a good sign just give us a call and we will give you options. For as small fee we can even take it out and hang it up for you if you need us to.

3) For owners who use Leavenworth Property Services, LLC services you can put language on your site stating that we do frequent patrols to the units. Now only the owners who actually use our courtesy check services should do this because you don’t want to put this on your site if you don’t actually have this service. This will deter the bad guys from putting you on their hit list. It will also deter your guest from getting to crazy if they think there is a chance we may drive by and catch them in the act;)

Well that’s it for now. I will keep you posted with any updates in regards to the break-ins. Feel free to give me a call if you have any questions.

John Burpee

Owner/Operation Manager

Leavenworth Vacation Property Services, LLC Phone – 509-293-9587

Email – Info@LeavenworthPropertyServices.com

Darel Ansley at People’s Bank in Wenatchee writes:

If you are involved in any purchases requiring flood insurance, there are currently no policies being issued, and these transactions cannot close without flood insurance.

As you may have heard, the National Flood Insurance Program’s authorization from Congress expired March 28, which means they cannot issue any new flood insurance policies until their authorization is restored sometime after Congress returns to work. They have a hearing scheduled for April 21st , and sometime after that will be able to vote on re-storing flood insurance. (I guess Congress was too busy with another issue the last few months so they didn’t get to this one before their recess). Your client can get a flood insurance quote, but closing will be delayed until NFIP gets their approval from Congress and can then start issuing coverage.

Luckily, Erik Kossian of Leavenworth Insurance followed up with his own update.

Flood Insurance: If you are involved in any purchases requiring flood insurance, there are currently no  National Flood Policies being issued, but some insurance companies still are writing their own flood insurance.

As you may have heard, the National Flood Insurance Program’s authorization from Congress expired March 28, which means they cannot issue any new flood insurance policies until their authorization is restored sometime after Congress returns to work. They have a hearing scheduled for April 21st , and sometime after that will be able to vote on re-storing flood insurance

However, we may be able to help!

I have flood available for many but not all flood zones through regular insurance companies (not insured by the federal national flood program.)

My policy covers residential dwellings for the perils of earthquake, landslide, and flood, all in one policy. The highest limit available is $12.5 million.

Here are the Coverage Details:

• Coverage includes the following limits as a percentage of the dwelling value:

Other Structures 10% (may be increased)

Personal Property 20% (may be increased)

Additional Living Expense or Loss of Rents 10% (may be increased)

• Replacement Cost on both dwelling and contents

• Deductibles are based on a percentage of the highest coverage limit: 5%, 10%, or 20%

(i.e. if the highest coverage is the Dwelling at $250,000, a 5% deductible would equal $12,500)

• 80% Co-Insurance

• 4% Inflation Guard

Optional Coverages:

• Since “Other Structures” does NOT include docks, bulkheads, piers and retaining walls, coverage may be available via endorsement; submit to your underwriter with details: limit, construction material, and exposure

• Earthquake or other peril may be excluded to avoid duplicate coverage

Other Notes:

• Any type of construction

• Dwelling does not have to be retrofitted

• No age restrictions

• Condo Owner coverage available

• Coverage is not available in all Flood Zones, especially high risk of flood.

• Underwriting is conducted on a per location basis; no use of generic maps

• Cannot be vacant for more than 90 consecutive days

• Low minimum premiums

• 24-hour in-house quoting turn around

• Financing, Direct Bill, and Mortgage Bill are available

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.

Photo from Seattle Municipal Archives

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

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

An Early Spring in Leavenworth

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 Ski Tour

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.