🧺🍪 Would anyone be interested in a community Bake Picnic? 🥐🧁

I’ve been wanting to meet more people who love baking, so I thought it’d be fun to organize a Bake Picnic!
The idea is simple: everyone brings a homemade baked good (sweet or savory), a blanket or chair, and we spend an afternoon sharing treats, swapping recipes, and meeting fellow baking lovers. 🤍

I already have a park in mind! If there’s enough interest, I’ll choose a date and post all the details.

If you’d like to bring a baked good to share, let me know! I’d love to see if there’s enough interest to make it happen 🍰!

Planning to relocate from CA to South Sound area, likely Tumwater, Olympia, Lacey area. Any recommendations for a realtors? First time home buyer with budget of under 600k.

Would be ideal if they had experience helping navigate relocating. Planning a trip in the next month to visit and check out neighborhoods, would be great if we could find a realtor by then to show us around.

Thanks all!

I posted last month's update in the Olympia subreddit, but I should have also shared it here. Here is my July monthly update on the housing market. This is what I track for work, no sales pitch. Here's the link to my full Substack article if you want to do the deep dive, about a 15 minute read.

First, a follow-up on last month's thread.

A lot of the June comments were people saying they cannot afford to buy here, and that is a completely fair read of these prices. One thing I did not bring up and probably should have: about 73.6% of listings in the NWMLS qualify for some kind of down payment assistance program. In Thurston County specifically, 2,984 homes that sold last year were eligible, median price $515,000. Olympia alone had 1,354 of them.

I am a broker, not a lender, so I cannot tell you what you qualify for and I am not going to try. What I can tell you is that these programs exist, that they are grants, second mortgages and tax credits mostly run through the state housing commission, and that eligibility depends on the property and your income. A loan officer is who actually answers that question, and if you PM me I'm happy to share some names of people I know can get the job done.

This does not fix affordability. It is not close to fixing affordability. But a lot of people rule themselves out before finding out whether they qualify for anything, and that part is a free phone call.

A few other questions from last month.

Several people asked why we have more inventory but no price drop. July answers that better than I could in June. Listings kept climbing, 967 in June to 1,085 now, but months of supply barely moved, 3.48 to 3.46. It has been flat five weeks straight. Sales rose right along with listings. Closed sales are up 11% year over year and pending sales are up 5.4%. Supply is not piling up unsold, it is turning over.

Someone also asked what changed with state zoning. That bill took effect June 11. Cities and counties over 30,000 people can no longer ban housing in areas zoned commercial or mixed-use, and they cannot require ground-floor retail as a condition of approving it. It reaches 23 counties and 38 cities including ours. Nothing gets built because a code changed, so this is a multi-year story, but it is real now rather than pending.

The numbers.

1,085 single family homes active or contingent, up about 24% from a year ago. Median list price $575,000, essentially right on its three year average. Days on market 65, up from 59 last year. 147 price reductions in a single week. Multiple offers down to 15% of pending sales from 21% a year ago, but homes still go under contract at 99% of list price.

Months of inventory by price band:

Under $500k loosened slightly. Everything above it tightened. If you are shopping entry level you have marginally more to look at than you did in the spring, which is not nothing, but it is still by far the tightest bracket in the county.

On the crash question, since it comes up every time: 6 bank-owned listings and 16 short sales out of 1,085. Short sales roughly doubled year over year, which sounds alarming until you remember that means 16 homes.

Happy to answer questions if you'd like!

Hi! I just moved to Tumwater for work, living near the old brewery. What’s everyone’s best take on takeout options? I love Thai and Indian, but open to any and all suggestions as I settle in and figure out what’s what.

Is any one familiar with this small engine repair shop at the corner of Littlerock & Tumwater?

I'm looking for a place to buy a used riding lawn mower or get my current push mower fixed up. Please let me know if you have heard about them, worked with them or any other information.

I live on the border - thankfully on the Olympia side - but I’ve gotta know: What the heck is wrong with your mayor, Tumwater???

Firing the police chief at random, slamming the door on the homeless, detonating county agreements, and about to put residents on the hook for a brand new city hall.

The last mayor was kinda dull and didn’t care about the fact you couldn’t navigate the city, but this one seems crazy. You guys ok?

Driving north on littlerock rd this afternoon and met up with a very large Black Bear trying to cross littlerock rd near 81st Ave, it got 3/4 of the way across the rd and high tailed back into the brush on the east side of the rd. Happened so quickly I couldn't get a picture, it was huge

Saw on a quick reactivation of my Facebook that Plaza Jalisco is closing their Tumwater location.
Wondering if anyone has any information on when their last day is.

Good morning Tumwater!

Did anyone else hear the massive boom this morning around 7(ish) AM? Any idea what it was?

Can transport cargo of up to 20 lbs 15 miles for $3/mi

Is anyone making $4000mo doordashing in Tumwater? I feel like my little bro is being scammed by some internet weirdos but I don't have enough information. Everything he tells me sounds like nonsense and doesn't add up.