At Home With Coldwell Banker Tomlinson - July 2020

NEWSLETTER

ISSUE 105

JULY 2020

@home

WITH COLDWELL BANKER TOMLINSON

pandemic reveals spokane's hidden resource

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ost of Spokane’s wonderful qualities are apparent to anyone spending even a few days here: beautiful scenery, great recreational opportunities, terrific restaurants, excellent hotels, etc.

But there is one quality that becomes clear only to those who look more deeply into our community and its history, a quality that underpins many of our more obvious attributes: the trait of entrepreneurship that so many in our city seem to share and have shared since the city’s founding. It is entrepreneurship that led to that founding, that allowed it to rise again from the ashes of a great fire, that led to the creation of an unsurpassed stock of great housing, and that realized the impossible dream of a World’s Fair on the former site of a grimy rail yard.

It should not be surprising, then, that the current Covid-19 crisis has stimulated three enterprises in our region to respond, not retreating to a corner and waiting for the “all clear” to sound, but by buckling down, individually and collectively to invent, develop and manufacture a product that will benefit people all over the world: a reusable N95 face mask.

Traditional N95 masks (that is, masks capable of screening out at least 95% of harmful pathogens in the air) have to be disposed of after a few hours of use. This has led to disastrous shortages, dangerous patterns of re-use, amateur improvisation and the flooding of the market with criminally inadequate lookalikes.

The mask is called a CP-95, after the brilliantly innovative Coeur D’Alene company that devised it, Continuous Composites.

The company was founded in 2015 to put into action patents it holds on the technology for 3D printing with continuous fibers. While this technology is capable of producing the CP-95, it could not do so fast enough to meet the enormous demand they anticipate, so they reached out to two firms in Spokane Valley capable of producing their invention in massive

Mike Marzetta, President of Altek, Inc.

quantities. For the all-important replaceable filters, they called on True Seals LLC, a manufacturer which specializes in the production of custom gaskets, and possesses the only equipment in our area capable of producing such an exacting item in large quantities.

To produce such numbers of the mask itself in a short time, injection molding had to supplement 3D printing, and Altek, Inc., of Liberty Lake came on board with the equipment, the personnel and the expertise to do the job.

The current President of the company is Mike Marzetta, son of Allan Marzetta, who founded the company in 1980.

Al’s entrepreneurial spirit seems not to have stopped with him, as Mike and his wife, Christy, started their own company, Minds-I, to provide secondary schools throughout the country with uniquely flexible and imaginative kits for the construction of robotic devices. And where do you suppose the parts for the kits are designed and manufactured?

Where else but at Altek Inc., which will soon help to supply the globe with life-preserving masks? The vein of entrepreneurship that runs through Spokane is both long and deep. ®

covid impact: north vs west

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eal estate statistics may look dry and academic, but only if you forget that they really are not about houses and building lots and dollars, but about people: where and how they wish to live. View statistics through the lens of compassion, and they come to life. This is easier to do if you look beneath the massed averages, such as we show in our Market Snapshot feature, focus on specific areas at specific periods of time, and ask specific questions.

For example, the Covid-19 virus pandemic began to affect the Inland Empire in late March. One way to determine what sort of impact it has had on our region is to compare the behavior of some of our neighbors in the second quarter of the year to that in the first quarter as reflected in two segments of the real estate market: one in North Spokane County, and the other in West Spokane County:

Starting from the left, with Quantity Sold, it is not surprising that about six times the number of home sold on the west side are sold on the north side, since high-density residential began moving north decades before ground was broken on Fox Hollow in Medical Lake in 1995. But look at the difference that makes in the impact to the economy: the west side market declined $10,000,000 between last year and this, while the decline in the north end was a whopping $91,000,000!

has blossomed in the western part of the county, while, in the north, legal restrictions have reduced the availability of buildable land to a tiny trickle. Annual appreciation in home values of 15% is boom-town material, and can only be explained by the public’s demand for the new homes being offered on the west side by D.R. Horton, Lindsey Construction, Alderbrook Homes, Viking Homes and others.

The decline in the west would have been greater, were it not for the fact that the average sale price of a home in that area increased year over year at a rate FIVE TIMES GREATER than in the north.

The explanation for this can only be that new construction

These losses and gains both have their roots in the last column on our chart, showing a decline of almost 40% in the number of homes on the market. As long as this phenomenon continues, and no one is predicting its disappearance before the end of the year, those who navigate the real estate markets of the Inland Empire can expect to encounter choppy seas.

Ingredients 3 lbs. red potatoes, scrubbed and sliced ¼” thick 5 Red radishes (medium), thinly sliced ¼ cup capers, rinsed and drained ¼ cup baby dill pickles, minced 4 tbsps. white vinegar Salt and pepper 6 tbsps. olive oil 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard ½ cup minced scallions 3 tbsps. minced parsley

Directions

HOME RECIPES

Deluxe French Potato Salad Who needs a recipe for potato salad? Potatoes+Hard-boiled eggs+Mayo: mix and eat, right? Well, think again. Here is something special and quite different (hint: NO MAYO!).

Bring the potatoes and 4 quarts of water to a simmer in a large pot and cook until tender. Drain. Gently toss the warm potatoes with 3 tbsps. vinegar, ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the remaining vegetables with the 3 tbsps. vinegar, the oil, mustard, ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp. pepper. When the potatoes have chilled, stir in the other ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.

home systems: Small Scale Projects with High Impact

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reviously, we have discussed some of the forgotten things that can be done to maintain some of the existing components of a property. Here are some ideas for small DIY projects that can improve a property’s look and value without breaking the bank. Select one or two projects a month to keep the financial impact bearable and not consume all your free time.

1. Update plumbing fixtures: new sink features can help give an updated look without an extensive remodel 2. Fresh paint on walls or doors: easy to do and cost effective 3. Window replacement: not all windows need to be replaced at once

4. Refresh and change up the surfaces of a room: carpet, flooring, countertops 5. Install new exterior door hardware: have all exterior locks keyed the same at time of purchase to add convenience 6. Install outdoor lighting: outdoor string lights on the patio or deck; pre-programmed sets can be used for all seasons 7. Add storage to the entry: a small scale table with a lower shelf for drop-zone items 8. Boost the backyard hardscapes with an outdoor patio made from cement pavers: add plant pots and outdoor seating 9. Update cabinet hardware: simple, metallic hardware – most hardware has standard center to center screw spacing 10. Install dimmers on lights in the dining room 11. Have a long wall with a door opening? Consider adding a sliding barn door 12. Replace an appliance 13. Replace interior doors: upgrade with solid-core doors Article by Dale Smith, Realtor®

Coldwell Banker Tomlinson 4102 S Regal St, Suite 201 Spokane, WA 99223

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ISSUE 105 | JULY 2020 ©2020 Coldwell Banker Tomlinson. All rights reserved. Each office is independently owned and operated. If you currently have an Agent assisting you with the purchase or sale of property, this is not a solicitation for business.

SPOKANE REAL ESTATE MARKET STATISTICS – Market update Residential Sold in Period

supply and demand 2nd quarter 2020 spokane, wa Number of listings on market on day of report includes Contingent. Report includes all Residential, Site Built, Condo and MH w/Land in Spokane County.

Information pu;;ed on 7/9/2020

0$79,999 $80,00099,999 $100,000- 119,999 $120,000- 139,999 $140,000- 159,999 $160,000- 179,999 $180,000 - 199,999 $200,000 - 219,999 $220,000 - 239,999 $240,000 - 259,999 $260,000 - 279,999 $280,000 - 299,999 $300,000 - 319,999 $320,000 - 339,999 $340,000 - 359,999 $360,000 - 379,999 $380,000 - 399,000 $400,000 - 419,999 $420,000 - 439,999 $440,000 - 459,999 $460,000 - 479,999 $480,000 - 499,999 $500,000 - 519,999 $520,000 - 539,999 $540,000 - 559,999 $560,000 - 579,999 $580,000 - 599,999 $600,000 - 619,999 $620,000 - 639,999 $640,000 - 659,999 $660,000 - 679,999 $680,000 - 699,999 $700,000 - 749,999 $750,000 - 799,999 $800,000 - 849,999 $850,000 - 899,999 $900,000 - 949,999 $950,000 - 999,999 1000000 TOTAL

13 21 37 66 93 163 201 224 253 280 296 240 225 243 167 147 122 91 89 61 41 39 33 22 32 21 18 12 7 16 10 4 12 3 4 4 2 1 4 3,333

Residential Residential Months of Active Listed in Inventory Listings Period 7/9/20 4 7 0 4 7 15 22 10 19 22 12 29 20 39 32 34 34 33 40 32 22 28 12 14 20 5 15 3 7 6 4 7 8 8 1 4 3 4 14 588

16 24 48 73 91 187 249 256 323 339 353 339 264 336 247 212 219 131 150 116 78 94 62 57 66 33 38 14 19 21 20 16 30 18 7 14 6 8 24 4,593

1.8 2 0 0.36 2.2 0.54 0.65 0.26 0.45 0.47 0.24 0.72 0.53 0.96 1.1 1.4 1.67 2.2 2.7 3.1 3.2 4.3 2.2 3.8 3.7 1.4 5 1.5 6.3 2.3 2.4 10.6 4 16 1.5 6.1 9.1 25 21.2 1.1

DOM for Closed Sales 27 34 21 19 23 15 13 15 12 12 17 14 20 27 28 23 31 18 31 22 33 24 32 33 27 27 32 71 36 49 10 183 63 33 21 93 32 9 50 20

While the figures on this chart are accurate, they do not begin to suggest the emotional reality of a real estate market such as the one in which we currently find ourselves. Just suppose you were one of six hundred people invited to a party. On the way into the party venue, you see a sign that reads: “Recommended Occupancy: 100 persons.” Then, after cramming yourself into the back of the room, you learn that the food and drinks are all on tables in the front; how would you feel? In fact, you would feel exactly as today’s buyers and sellers feel upon confronting an inventory that is onesixth the size it should be for a normal, balanced market.

Back at the hellish party, wouldn’t it be a relief if, while you were wondering how you were going to cope, someone tapped you on the shoulder and said, “You know, I go to these parties all the time…..every day, in fact. If you need some help in getting to the front of the room before the Swedish meatballs are all gone, it would be my pleasure to assist you”? In this most challenging of real estate markets, in which not meatballs, but your financial and spiritual well being are at stake, your Coldwell Banker Tomlinson broker stands ready to guide you home.

Article by Larry Lapidus, Realtor®

CONTACT ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS OR FOR DETAILED MARKET INFORMATION.