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Gig Harbor, WA Real Estate News

By Matt Thomson, Helping you find success through real estate
(Fathom Realty Colorado)
Small towns are fun.  Gig Harbor is a small town.  Therefore Gig Harbor is fun.  One of the fun events that you'll find in Gig Harbor this summer is the Gig Harbor Concert in the Park series.  Various local artists set up under the pagoda (I think that's what it is) in Skansie Brothers Park right on the downtown waterfront and put on a free concert.  It's a pretty fun deal.  You can't beat the view, and the music is usually pretty good too. Click here for scheduled performers and more information on the concerts in Gig Harbor. Photo courtesy of the Butner Family on Flickr.
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By Matt Thomson, Helping you find success through real estate
(Fathom Realty Colorado)
Sometimes blogs don't need words...come enjoy Gig Harbor, Washington. Photo courtesy of LaVeta Jude and Flickr.  Posted here with written permission.
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By Matt Thomson, Helping you find success through real estate
(Fathom Realty Colorado)
There are several open houses in the Gig Harbor and Fox Island area this weekend.  With temps expected to hit 90, why don't you hop into your air-conditioned car and tour some great area homes?  I've added one home (#5 on the map) that is a bit out of the area because it's right next to a home I have listed for sale.  If you're looking for a large, new home just minutes from Long Lake recreation area and less than 15 minutes from the Gig Harbor North area, you should check out the SouthLake Ridge neighborhood.  You get way more home for way less money and lower taxes!  The home I have listed there even has views of Mt Rainier and the Olympic Mountains!  Click on the map below for open house details, including date and time, price, and the listing agents' info. The info contained here is...
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By Matt Thomson, Helping you find success through real estate
(Fathom Realty Colorado)
I'm happy now.  I love softball.   I'm not sure what it is that I love so much, but I just love playing.  Yesterday was the first game of the season for our team, the Believer's Fellowship Harborites.  At 6:15pm, we gathered at Harbor Ridge Middle School underneath a glorious sun filled sky.  You know that picture you always see of Gig Harbor, the one with the boats on the harbor and Mt Rainier in the background?  That's the view from Harbor Ridge.  With temps in the 70's our team met up with the folks from United Methodist Church.  They can hit.  They can hit far.  They did hit far.  At the end of 1 1/2 innings, we were down 8-0 thanks to 3 balls that they hit over the trees that make up the outfield fence.  I was ready to bench our pitcher, Phil Hoffman (owner of Phil's Landscaping in...
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By Matt Thomson, Helping you find success through real estate
(Fathom Realty Colorado)
There are some really nice homes for sale in Gig Harbor, and many of them are open for viewing this weekend.  A few that I'd recommend are a nicely remodeled waterfront home for only $494,000 (#7 on the map).  Well worth seeing if you're looking for a fun waterfront get away.  There's also a really cool "Green-built" home right in the downtown Gig Harbor area (#8 on the map).  If nothing else, it's fun to see how energy efficient and environmentally friendly a home can be.  You may also want to check out the great new construction homes just behind the North Crescent Lake neighborhood (#13 on the map).  I think you'll like the unique floor plans of these homes. Click on the map below to see home details, open house date and time, and the listing agent of the home.  This information is f...
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By Chris Dowd
(Windermere Gig Harbor)
Today was Community Service Day for Windermere Real Estate. We always try to choose a project that will benefit our community. This year we chose the "Grange". A historical building in the Artondale area. This building is over 80 years old, and we took on the grueling task of painting it. I think the building will stay up now (physically) because of our efforts.What is a grange? Who knows...... All I remember is that my parents voted there when I was young. And what an experience that was....you sat in this stenchy old building with chairs lining the walls (still the same inside now) and you moved over a chair at a time whenever someone finished voting. When it was my mom's turn she would go behind this SCARY curtain and leave me outside wondering if she was going to be eatin' by some S...
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By Chris Dowd
(Windermere Gig Harbor)
  The "new" Harbor Ridge Middle School sits on a bluff high above downtown Gig Harbor. The spoiled students enjoy amazing picture post card views of Gig Harbor and Mt. Rainier. When I was a kid this was Goodman Middle School home of the Roadrunners. Before that it was the only high school in Gig Harbor. It was named after Mrs. Goodman, an original Gig Harbor teacher. My mom used to ride with Mrs. goodman in her Model T early to school to stoke the fire before classes started. Mrs. Goodman was about 90 and my mom was 5! By the time I attended Goodman I was compared to my parents by the very same teachers for being "louder, busier..." you get the idea. When I graduated from 8th grade I received my grandmothers high school ring 50 years prior (to the day!). I also have my great-grandmother...
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By Matt Thomson, Helping you find success through real estate
(Fathom Realty Colorado)
My first Father's Day has come and gone.  Well, my first Father's Day as a father.  I mean, my first Father's Day as a father of a human.  And what a day it was.  At about 6:15 this morning, while my soon to be 9-month old daughter and my wife still slept, my soon to be 9-year old son (some call him a dog) came and woke me up.  Sebastian and I went for our morning run jog/walk through Canterwood.  The sun was up, Seb got to swim in their pond, it was a good morning.  We then got ready to go to church at Believer's Fellowship, and while church is fine, my little girl wasn't too excited to be there.  She was grumpy. After her afternoon nap, we went for a little walk through Gig Harbor.  We walk up Harborview Street, through the Autumn Crest condos, and back down to our car.  Amazing how i...
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By Matt Thomson, Helping you find success through real estate
(Fathom Realty Colorado)
It's Father's Day weekend.  Your dad loves Gig Harbor and wants a house on the water.  You can't afford that, but you can drive him around and tour the homes that you would buy him if you could.  There are only 5 homes open this weekend, but they are some nice ones.  Click on the map below to open the interactive Gig Harbor/Fox Island open house map (3 of the 5 open houses are on Fox Island).  Move your cursor over any of the pushpins for open house information. This information is taken from the NWMLS and is reliable but not guaranteed.  I've been made aware of other houses that are being held open in the area, but unless the listing agent advertises them as open on the MLS, I am unable to post them here.
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By Matt Thomson, Helping you find success through real estate
(Fathom Realty Colorado)
Summer is here...kind of.  School has let out in much of the area, and kids are excited, teachers are relieved, and parents are fear-struck.  What to do in Gig Harbor now that school's out?  Here are just a few ideas.  If you've got others, I'd love to hear about them (after all, it's a community blog, and it only works if the community gets involved). Summertime Fun in Gig Harbor, Washington 1.  Enroll your student in a kayaking day camp.  Gig Harbor Rent-a-Boat is hosting a summer day camp for kids in Gig Harbor to learn how to safely and efficiently paddle around our beautiful waters.  This camp is for 9-14 year olds, and runs between $220 and $250.  Click here to get full details on the Rent-a-Boat website.   2.  Gig Harbor has some of the most gorgeous beaches in the Pacific Northw...
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By Matt Thomson, Helping you find success through real estate
(Fathom Realty Colorado)
Maybe it's the weather.  Maybe it's the fact that we'll all be at this weekend's Maritime Gig Festival.  Whatever the reason, there are only 7 open houses in Gig Harbor this weekend.  Click on the map below for a list of the opens.  Put your cursor over the pushpins to get the homes' information, date and time of the open, and name of the listing agent.  As always, if you're interested in these or any other homes for sale in the Gig Harbor, Fox Island, or other Puget Sound regions, I'm more than happy to talk with you about the services that I can provide to home buyers. This information is taken from the NWMLS and is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
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By Matt Thomson, Helping you find success through real estate
(Fathom Realty Colorado)
In my pre-real estate life I taught math to 11 and 12 year olds.  I always told them that you can use math and statistics to paint pretty much any picture you want.  That holds true in real estate.  Looking at the Gig Harbor home sales for May, I can either paint a rosy picture of our market or make it look oh so bleak. May saw 44 homes and condos sell in Gig Harbor and Fox Island, that's up 9 from April!  Yeah!  That's down 39 from May of ‘07.  Oooh.  Our median sales price for May was $416,250, by far amongst the highest in Pierce County...YEAH!  In May of ‘07 our median sales price was $485,000...Ooooh.  Numbers are what they are.  Bottom line is that homes that are priced well are still selling relatively quickly (median days on market for this past month was only 87...YEAH!).  All ...
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By Dave Spencer, Gig Harbor Real Estate
(Premier South Sound Real Estate)
A great National Historic Landmark visited Gig Harbor this week. Adventuress is an amazing schooner that was built in Maine for the purpose of hunting whales in Alaska. Later she worked as a pilot boat in San Fransico, then during World War II joined the United States Coast Guard protecting San Fransico Bay. About 1960, she was brought to Seattle and today is operatated by the non-profit organization Sound Experience as a platform for environmental education about Puget Sound.    Summer in Downtown Gig Harbor is like being at a boat show every day. There's wonderful parks with pubic docks and viewing decks-- This deepwater harbor is a favorite Northwest boating destination and  there's no telling what you'll see or who you'll meet. Here's another example: Puffin landed at the Jerish Par...
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By Matt Thomson, Helping you find success through real estate
(Fathom Realty Colorado)
Gig Harbor, WA, is a doggy's paradise.  Trails, beaches, parks, and lots of folks who love to walk their dogs.  There are a few pet stores in town, my favorite being Green Cottage Pets.  A new pet store has just opened right next door to my Thursday night date spot, El Pueblito.  FC's Pawprints is a new doggy store that is really fun to visit.  Lots of dog treats, accessories, clothes, etc.  I see it as a nice compliment to Green Cottage.  There are lots of fun things to view at FC's Pawprints.  It's a really nice, clean, flowing store which makes shopping easy.                               The doggy bakery is fun to see, too.  Guess what Sebastian's favorite part of Gig Harbor's newest pet store is?                    
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By Matt Thomson, Helping you find success through real estate
(Fathom Realty Colorado)
Each week I post an interactive map showing all of the open houses that will be available in Gig Harbor and Fox Island.  Click on the map below to activate the map.  Put your cursor over any pushpin to see house statistics and the real estate agent who has the house listed for sale.  If you see any houses that interest you, I'd be happy to discuss with you my services as a buyer's agent.  The information on these homes is taken from the NWMLS and is reliable but not guaranteed.
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By Dave Spencer, Gig Harbor Real Estate
(Premier South Sound Real Estate)
Go with the flow. It was golden nugget. Some of the best advice I was to receive in the next 40 years or so and it was hidden in the last paragraph of a book on sailboat racing. It went something like this; "...and most importantly never forget, on the course as well as life's endeavors-- Go with the flow". Well I'm sure that book helped my sailing abilities. But I also remember (you never forget the really big mistakes) being put-off by the passiveness of that statement. Probably some ex-hippie interjecting his philosophy of life where it doesn't belong-- or so I thought. At age 12 I was going to conquer the race course and then move on to anything else I desired to succeed at... (Never mind the book was written by one of the fiercest competitors ever to sail). Much later as I struggle...
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By Scott Cowan
(RE/MAX Professionals)
Do You Want to Buy a Home but You Don't Have the Down payment? Are you tired of renting? Do you want to own your own home but have not saved up the traditional down payment? There are programs available to buyers today that will help you buy a home! Today we will spotlight the Nehemiah Program and how it can help you with your down payment. The Nehemiah Program is the largest privately funded down payment assistance program. The program provides gift funds to qualified homebuyers who purchase homes using FHA financing or conventional loans that allow gift funds. The funds provided to homebuyers are an actual gift with no repayment required. There is no 2nd. mortgage. There are no income limitations and no location restrictions. There is a processing fee that is charged and it can be pa...
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By Dave Spencer, Gig Harbor Real Estate
(Premier South Sound Real Estate)
Summer is coming and you're (once again) on the waterfront real estate hunt. What- you say? It looks like every beachfront house in Gig Harbor is over a million bucks now? Don't overlook the Key Peninsula-- It's just not that far out anymore! In fact, the farthest point past Purdy is only about 20 minutes away. And much of the prime waterfront is less than half that drive. How does it compare in quality to Gig Harbor waterfront? Well I thought you'd never ask! Answer: In many ways KP waterfront real estate is far superior... THE VIEWS are monstrous. Surrounded by world-class mountains and wide open water, KP brags some of the "largest" views in Western Washington.  THE BEACHES? See above photo. How many like that have you seen on (the entire) Puget Sound? PARCEL SIZE? Waterfront acreag...
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By Dave Spencer, Gig Harbor Real Estate
(Premier South Sound Real Estate)
Spring has arrivied in Gig Harbor! Sailboats zig-zag among fishing boats gearing up for a new season. Rhodies are bursting with colorful flowers and these proud parents will have a big job on their hands for the next few months. Raising dozens of fluffy youngsters in Downtown Gig Harbor among dogs, cats, big fish-- even Bald Eagles would be a daunting task.
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By Matt Thomson, Helping you find success through real estate
(Fathom Realty Colorado)
My wife left me today.  Not forever, but she and my baby flew down to California to spend time with her family.  But it was a catchy title, right?  So I'm stuck here trying to remember what I did before I had a wife and a baby.  I love being alone, so I thought I'd welcome this break, but it's weird.  So I thought I'd take a trip to The Narrows Park on the south east end of Gig Harbor.  My dog and I used to go there often.  It felt like it was our own private beach, because there was hardly anybody ever there.  It's a dilemma for me...this blog is supposed to introduce you to the great things Gig Harbor offers, but the more folks who learn about places like Narrows Park, the less likely I am to have it to myself.       Today was a pretty good day.  There were people scattered here and t...
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