Construction Is Not For Wimps

For many years, I have thought that Habitat for Humanity was an organization that I wanted to get involved with, but working 10-12 hour days at my old job made it virtually impossible to do much about it other than wish for the time or the money to support the organization in a way that would be meaningful.

As a real estate agent, time is still an issue but it's more feasible than it was previously, to volunteer. So I have gotten involved with Habitat, and I'm so glad I did. I think I've mentioned before that affordable housing is a big issue with me, so I am glad to be in a position where I can help an organization I believe in work towards the goal of helping people own their own homes who otherwise wouldn't be able to.

I am working with the Site Selection/Construction committee and I am also taking the Cornerstone Training Class so that I can work as a team leader on job sites. Cornerstone Training basically provides an overview of construction techniques so that volunteers can work more effectively on job sites and also, so that they can provide leadership as needed to guide untrained volunteers as to how to perform their tasks safely and effectively.

My first day of Cornerstone Training opened my eyes up to several facts. One is, hammering a nail properly is not as easy as it looks. There is actually a right and a wrong way to do it, and all my life, I have been doing it wrong. The second thing I learned is that my fear of circular saws CAN be overcome, but I will need to work on my upper body strength if I'm ever going to be much use with one. They are heavy, and make my arms and wrist hurt. But I am still proud of myself for overcoming my fear of using one.

The third is, that working construction for 5 or 6 hours will really wipe you out if you are not used to it. I am still very sore today!

The last thing I learned is that there is a lot to know about construction, and I think it will help me in my job to have more of a ground-up understanding of how houses are built. I can already think of several things (for instance, why it matters which way you lay down a flooring joist) that I understand better now than I did before my first day of training. And the opportunity to learn about things you ordinarily might not, is one of the great things about volunteering.

What I Did On My Mexican Vacation

In short, I did as little as possible.

Last Saturday, Eric and I left for a much needed vacation in sunny Los Cabos, Mexico. We spent most of our time curled up on a lounge chair in the sun drinking pina coladas and working on our tans. Or, in my case, working on my sunburn and future skin cancer, since I don't tan. Although it was later in the season than the last time we were there, for some reason I found the weather much more agreeable.

I should mention that last time we were there we got engaged, so the place has a special significance for us. I just love it there.

In addition to vegetating on the beach, we also went into town and did a little sightseeing. Being in real estate I couldn't help but be curious about what is going on with real estate in the area. There is a new development that is going in just north of San Jose called Puerto Los Cabos. They are building the development around a new marina which has already been dug. Should be nice. As far as the town itself, I find San Jose much more charming and fun to visit, as it is less overrun with American tourists and has the small town feeling of colonial Mexico.

The other new development that is going in down in Baja, which I think is going to be pretty cool, is in the town of Loreto about 300 miles north along the Sea of Cortez from Los Cabos. It's called Loreto Bay. Loreto was a colonial Spanish town which was the original seat of the California missions, and was also the original seat of government for Baja California until the provincial government was moved to La Paz, so there is a lot of history there.

One of the things I particularly like about Loreto Bay is that it is emphasizing sustainable development both from an environment as well as an economic and social development perspective. To me, this is really important, as these developments SHOULD, ideally, promote a better quality of life for the local residents and workers as well as those who buy homes there...unfortunately, they often don't. Development in Mexico often seems to occur willy-nilly without regard for the long-term effects on the environment or on the types of jobs created.

Also, Loreto Bay is attempting to create an Urban Village type environment which will be more oriented around walking than on driving. This is in contrast to Los Cabos where American car culture has definitely been transplanted and there isn't quite the infrastructure to sustain it. Also, bad for the environment and creates more people dependendent on fossil fuels.

So that's my little Mexico Real Estate report. One thing I have noticed is that in the real estate business, you are never really "on vacation." It's more of a busman's holiday!

Food for Thought

Here in Mukilteo one of the big questions on everyone's mind centers around the Multi-Modal Transportation Hub that is being built down on our waterfront. The idea is to tie the ferry terminal, buses and our new Sounder commuter train together in one station, thereby improving the ease of commute for residents in the area.

Jay Inslee, our state representative, discussed the issue at today's Mukilteo Chamber meeting. Rep. Inslee has been a big supporter of this transportation hub, as am I, so it was interesting to hear what he had to say about it. He also talked about his Apollo Energy Bill which is a multi-pronged approach to helping break America's dependence on fossil fuels.

As Inslee said, American dependence on fossil fuels isn't just an economic issue it's also a security issue, as it makes us susceptible to the slings and arrows of whatever happens to be going on over in the Middle East. Inslee sees transportation, energy and security as intertwined and to solve any one of them, you have to solve all three.

I'm not meaning to get all political here, the point I am trying to make is that as gas prices top $3.00 a gallon I hope we will see a better, more integrated approach to energy and transportation policy as well as sustainable living. The reality of the matter is that high housing prices and quality of living issues do mean that a large proportion of the population will choose or be forced to live a long distance from work, which is not bad in and of itself. What is bad, is having those individuals make that commute in individual vehicles, which in many cases are not fuel efficient and emit large amounts of greenhouse gases.

Later on, I was asked by one of the chamber members if I thought there was a "bubble" in the real estate market. My response was that I didn't think that what we are seeing this year is a bubble bursting, at least not here in this area. We have a good hiring market and a limited amount of land to work with, so that insulates us somewhat from any real "bursting." But what I have seen is a softening of the market at least as compared with last year.

I also told her that I thought it was a good thing too, because affordability is starting to become a real issue. The kinds of rises in home prices that we have seen in recent years cannot be sustained forever or it becomes impossible for first-time buyers or those who are not wealthy to purchase a home. Which is a little bit of a self-fulfilling thing, given that home-ownership is the best way there is to build wealth--it's kind of like how you can't get a job until you've had a job!

So, a slight softening is a good thing. If the market never does anything but go up, eventually it prices out everyone but the rich. It's better in the long run to see things return to a more "sane" and businesslike environment. Better for buyers, and ultimately better for sellers too (as sellers in their turn are also buyers!)

That's all for now...it's good to be back!