Wasilla Real Estate News, Valley Market Real Estate,

Palmer Alaska Wind Damage January 15th, 2010

Palmer's fierce winds ripped Welch's roof off of his home while he and his family were sleeping. (Rich Jordan/KTUU-DT)

The recent wind storm in the valley caused some damage all over the place. Airplanes on their side, hundreds of trees were broken off and roofs were damaged all over the area.

Not many were damaged as badly as this house in the photo. KTTU has a good article and video on the damage to this house. I did a little research on this home to try to find out why it was so damaged while the houses near it were relatively unscathed.

This house is in Palmer on a particularly windy street. The Matanuska River Canyon comes down straight at this neighborhood and then makes a turn to the south right here. So the wind has been funneled directly at these houses. Still, this house was built in 1985 and has weathered many stronger winds over the years. It’s possible that a few upwind trees are missing, or some other physical change in the immediate environment changed to make this year the downfall of this roof.

One thing that I noticed while watching the video is that this roof was apparently skip sheathed. That is, instead of a complete decking of plywood under the metal roofing, a 1X4 or 1X6 was nailed horizontally to the trusses and the metal was attached directly to them. The 1X4s were stapled to the trusses and the staples looked like they didn’t hold well enough and pulled out. Once one of the 1X4s worked loose and the metal peeled up it was all over.

Repaired in only 3 days

Here is the house by 1/15/2010 only 3 days since the wind stopped. That’s fast action. I would like to know the name of their insurance company.

In the future I will always be nervous about skip sheathing in windy areas.

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Wasilla Real Estate Statistics for Jan 5-11, 2010 January 13th, 2010

Categories: For Buyers

The new year started out very strong. With the first full week of the new year behind us I wanted to see how we were doing. This past week saw pending sales. The total inventory is down significantly because of all the listings that expired at the end of the year and now we see 31 more houses come off the market in the first week.

Those people who want to get in under the wire for the April 30 cutoff for the federal incentives for home buyers had better pick out their houses before the inventory shrinks too far. On the other hand, sellers may want to grab this opportunity to reach this wave of buyers and put their homes on the market a little earlier than they had planned.

		Average Price	Median Price	DOM
New	35	$254,853	$235,000	.
Total Active	648	$274,944	$239,000	165
Pending	31`	$212,054	$198,000	112
Closed	11	$214,826	$200,000	93

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Escape The Matanuska Wind January 10th, 2010

Categories: For Buyers

I thought I’d make a video today about the Matanuska Wind. This wind howls down the Matanuska River Valley in the winter. Usually we get 5-6 good wind storms a winter. These usually last several days each and there is no where to hide. Well, almost no where. The Butte area outside of Palmer usually does not get this wind and today was no different. The wind was strong everywhere EXCEPT between Clark-Wolverine Road and the Butte.

The video is 8:28 minutes long and gives you a good idea what one of our wind storms are like.

Here is a google map showing the locations mentioned on the video. The only places with no wind were Smith Road and Maud Road.

View Escape The Matanuska Wind in a larger map

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Good Deals In The Valley January 9th, 2010

Categories: For Buyers

I just got done showing homes to some first time home buyers. We saw some pretty nice deals. I was surprised at some of the nice houses out there in the lower price ranges. Here are some of the homes we turned down.

We saw a pretty ranch style home with three beds, 2 baths and a 2 car garage on 4 acres set up for horses. This house appeared to be well built by a reputable bulder and in good shape. It was a 5 star home with heat exchangers and everything.

There was a 2200 square foot home that could easily be used as a duplex. It was on a commercial lot and although it needed a little TLC it looked good for only $134,000

A two story cedar sided home tucked away on a quiet lot with a two car garage. It was in good condtion, 1600 square feet, 3 bed 2 baths and a 2 car garage for only $175,000.

These are the ones we turned down…you should see the one they are intereseted in. But I’m keeping that one quiet.

Take a look at these houses. There are some great ones here:

Check out some other listings:
$199,900 7857 W Arlie
$200,000 13901 E Moyon Ruelle
5680 Rutan
$300,000 15600 Secretariat

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437 S Gulkana Street January 5th, 2010

Categories: For Buyers, My Listings

View from the Street
437 S. Gulkana Street
$200,000

This home is absolutely one-of-a-kind! You really won’t believe it until you see it. The home was built in 1950 and hasn’t changed much since. An antique stove sits in the kitchen next to a modern refrigerator, an edition 1960’s United States map is hung in the hallway, and the small pantry still holds delicious preserves.

Location, location, location! This home sits on a quaint, tree-lined street on the edge of Palmer. It’s conveniently located within walking distance to parks, tennis courts, shopping, schools, post office, and church. You really don’t even need a car if you live here.

4 bedrooms and 2 baths fit snugly into 2400 sqft of space alongside a 2 car garage. The daylight basement doubles as a separate apartment, though the borough has it as a single-family home. The current owner is the original builder and plans to leave almost all the furniture in the home, antiques or not.

Call Marty today at (907) 232-7900 to schedule a showing or for more information. Don’t pass up this opportunity to own this beautiful, well cared-for piece of Palmer history!