Mazama Pocket Gopher - the latest

Today, REALTORS heard from the litigation specialist, Heather Burgess of Phillips Burgess PLLC about the latest on the Mazama pocket gopher.  You may believe this creature on the Federal Endangered Species doesn't affect you but if you live in Thurston County, the likelihood is great.

[UPDATED] Changes to Thurston County Screening for Mazama Pocket Gophers for 2015; Current County HCP Timeline

On June 25, 2015, Thurston County published its gopher review process for permitting in 2015.  It follows USFWS’s recommended approach. 

A.            Gopher Screening Process for 2015

The County recommends that applicants submit their applications “right away.”  The County’s announcement suggests that some properties will have two visits while others will have up to three.  The process, as detailed, will consist of an in-office review, followed by up to five visits to some properties. 

During the in-office review, the County will check the application against existing maps.  The County will look for any prior gopher occupancy on the property, any gopher occupancy within 600 feet of the property regardless of ownership, whether gopher soils are on the property, whether gopher soils are within 300 feet of the property regardless of ownership, and whether the property has forest cover or woody shrubs exceeding 30%.  The County will exclude properties west of Black River, on Steamboat Island, properties submerged 30 days in a row since October 2014, properties “covered with” impervious surfaces, or properties that “consist of” steep slopes or landslide hazard areas.

The County will use a revised list of soils, adding approximately 50,370 acres to the soil types identified last year.  Neither the County nor USFWS has provided a public list identifying which soils are now considered to constitute gopher soils and the low, medium, or high classification maps or lists.

The second step is an on-property assessment.  During this stage, County and USFWS staff will visit the property and look for gophers, prairie plants, forest canopy, woody shrubs, mima mounds, and gopher soils.  If a property has heavy vegetation, the property owner may be asked to mow it prior to a second assessment before proceeding to the third step.

The third step is site visits.  Depending on the mapped soil type, there may be two to three site visits.  In some cases, the County and USFWS may consider the on-property assessment the first visit.  The County and USFWS biologists will visit the property between June and October, when gopher mound detection is most likely.  Unlike the beginning of last year, when landowners needed to hire an expert, this year the County and USFWS will provide the biologists for these visits, and will not charge the applicant for the visits.  The County and USFWS will continue to provide a biologist until a certification system is developed for private consultants.  However, applicants will now be dependent on the timing and workload of the County and USFWS staff.

The site visits will be on a first come first served basis, depending on when the permit application was submitted and the number of applications still pending from last year. 

A property that has “low” gopher quality soils and is more than 600 feet from the nearest mapped gopher site will receive two site visits, 30 days apart. The County and USFWS have not identified which soils are low quality, but USFWS staff said that the majority of the soils in Thurston County are low quality for gophers.  These properties must have their first site visit by Wednesday, September 30 to have their second site visit by October 30, 2015.

Every other property will receive three visits, 30 days apart.  At least one visit must occur in September or October.  These properties must have their first site visit by August 28, to have their third site visit by October 30, 2015.

Depending on the results of the site visits, 60-90 days after the first site visit (depending on whether two or three visits are needed), the permit applicant will either have the County continue the regular permitting process, or will be told that they need to work directly with USFWS or wait for Thurston County’s HCP.  The proposed timeline for the HCP is discussed below.

The survey window is June – October, and depending on workload, the County should provide public notice of the final cutoff date for applications sometime in July.

As proposed, the process does not permit an applicant to submit their own information from an expert biologist or consultant, provide information on the mapped soil types or distance to nearest occupied gopher, or explain how the distances will be mapped (property line to property line or proposed activity location to gopher mound).   The process will also require vested permits to be reviewed by USFWS.

We agree with the County’s recommendation that applicants submit their applications as soon as possible this season.  Because the survey process is first come first served, staff time is limited, and some sites could require five visits (assessment followed by mowing, followed by three visits 30 days apart), properties which receive their first assessment visit on the first day of the survey season (June 1) will not proceed to the County’s regular permitting process until mid-September, assuming that staff are available to visit their property on the 31st day of each stage and a second assessment visit (after mowing) isn’t required.  Because the County is also proposing to make the results good for only one year, or until October 31, 2016, this could limit construction options.

As discussed below, the current HCP timeline has been extended by six months since the May briefing.  Currently, if there are no further delays in the development of the HCP or EIS, the County expects the Incidental Take Permit to be issued in the spring of 2017.  This means that permit applications next year will also be subject to some review process because the HCP will not be in place before the 2016 survey season begins.  

Property owners from last year, this year, or next year who are told that they need to wait for the County HCP will now be required to wait until at least the spring of 2017.  Although USFWS also suggests that those owners can submit their own individual HCPs, currently, none of the approximately 15-17 under development have even been published in the Federal Register. Based on last year’s applications, USFWS anticipates about 10% of properties will continue to fall into this category.

B.            County HCP Timeline

On May 13, the County Commissioners received a staff briefing on the HCP timeline.  Staff recommended that the Commissioners hire Confluence and sign a Memorandum of Understanding at a future meeting.

The proposed HCP timeline has since been revised.  Currently, the County’s timeline is:

• Unknown (previously summer 2015):  Complete draft of HCP
• Unknown (previously November 2015):  Complete draft of joint NEPA/SEPA EIS
• Fall 2016 (previously January 2016):  Begin public review of HCP
• Unknown (previously July 2016):  NEPA/SEPA decision
• Unknown (previously summer 2016):  County adoption
• Spring 2017 (previously summer/fall 2016):  USFWS review and ITP issuance

In May, USFWS reported that 15-17 applicants are working on individual HCPs.  However, despite the extensive public discussion prior to the listing, no HCPs have yet been issued for prairie species anywhere in Thurston County and no notices of pending HCPs have been published in the Federal Register.

For questions on land use issues or the Endangered Species Act, please contact Heather Burgess or Martha Wehling.

This article was provided by the Philiips Burgess PLLC website at http://www.phillipsburgesslaw.com/blog/updated-changes-thurston-county-screening-mazama-pocket-gophers-2015-current-county-hcp

Additional articles and information can be found here:

Olympia Master Builders: http://issuu.com/olympiamasterbuilders/docs/omb_january_february_2016_chalk_lin/1

Business Examiner: http://www.businessexaminer.com/blog/November-2015/Thurston-County-under-fire-for-handling-of-Mazama-pocket-gopher/

We are YOUR Washington REALTORS

Sell Yourself as a For Sale By Owner to Save Some Money? In Theory, Maybe

Some people groan at the thought of a REALTOR telling you not to sell your OWN HOME. Some Realtors have a reputation of being as classy as the stereotypical used car salesman- and many believe that Realtors are paid thousands of dollars just to stick a sign in your yard.

Consider this...do you cut your own hair? Do you diagnose your own illnesses? Do you cook your own gourmet meals? Do you defend yourself in a court of law? All of these things you can do without professional assistance. However, you get what you pay for. Most of the time, trouble is all you get in the end- and it always seems to cost twice as much as if you had done it right in the first place!

Well, selling your own home is no different. In fact, it can be much scarier than that free home hair cut on picture day!

All joking aside, your home is probably the biggest investment you will ever make. A mistake in selling your home could cost you far more than hiring a professional will ever cost.

A few points to consider:

o Liability- We live in a culture where people bring law suits at the drop of a hat...can you afford to take on that possibility? A misunderstood statement or a problem not disclosed can lead to big problems. Not only do you open yourself up to litigation, agents do not want to bring their buyers to you. Why? Because you are a liability to them and their clients.

o Safety- Do you want to open your house up to just anyone? Agents track who is in your home, when, and for how long. They vet potential buyers before those clients enter your house.

o Cost- By the time you spend your money advertising and sell your home you may have incurred more cost than an agent's fee. A couple of balloons, an ad in the paper, and some free punch and cookies is NOT going to get it done.

o Exposure- An agent can reach far more people than you can. The networks available to an agent are tremendous. Not being listed in MLS shrinks the pool of potential buyers by several orders of magnitude.

o Time on the Market- If your agent is honest with you on price and how to prep your home, it will sit on the market for a fraction of the time it will take you to sell your home. Next time watch how long the home without an agent sits on the market vs a house that has Real Estate Agent representation. Also consider that a home that is on the market too long is generally perceived to have something wrong with it.

o Correct Pricing- Can you really separate your emotions and price your house properly? Do you think you can price your home not to cheat yourself or drive away prospects? The amount Mr. Johnson across the street sold his house for does not necessarily mean that you will get the same price...and who is to say that he told you the actual selling price? Even worse, sites like zillow.com can often estimate wildly inaccurate prices for homes.

o Ability- Do you have the ability and time to answer every phone call and every knock on the door? Can you leave work to show your home to an out of town buyer at 10:30 am on a Tuesday?

o Hassle- You will have to deal with the questions, the knocks on the door, the phone calls, and people wanting to walk through your home. You will have to deal with the termite inspector, the mortgage evaluator, the home inspector, the people buying your home... and that is not even counting your part of the move!

o Negotiations- Do you have enough emotional control to know how best to evaluate a buyers offer and then respond to buyer contingencies, timetables for appraisals, inspections, financing and much more? Will you be able to diplomatically ask for money if an offer is too low, without alienating a potential buyer?

o Buyers- The majority of motivated buyers use an agent. They are looking to make a quick transaction and they are not going to waste time driving around looking for a "For Sale by Owner" sign. And let's face it, agents are not going to show your house, either. You are on your own.

o Tribal knowledge- Do you know who the honest lawyers are? How about the home inspector? Do you know what their rates are for their services? Can they be trusted, and will they perform for you? You probably don't know the answers... and guess what... they know you don't, too! Many will offer services at a low quality standard and then charge you at higher than normal rates. They know you won't be back.

o Peace of Mind- Do you really know all the forms, inspections, regulations, and laws concerning property transactions in your area? How about tax liabilities? Are you using a FSBO website as a reference? Your buddy that got lucky selling his house? What if you miss something? Are they coming to your aid when it all goes wrong?

When considering the idea of selling your own home, seriously ask yourself if you are willing to deal with all of the points that I have made, because as a "For Sale by Owner" you will have to deal with all of it. Why not hire a professional to help? Why not call me today: Anya Myer 360.870.5191.

 

 

 

 

Lydia Taylor, http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Lydia_Taylor

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Ensure Healthy Price Gains

Prices are increasing quickly, though that may not always be the most healthy development for the economy. Also, banks may soon loosen overly strict requirements, but a choke point remains in new-home construction.

The housing recovery is surpassing most expectations. Rising demand and many years of sluggish new-home construction have forced home prices to rise at a near double-digit pace in many parts of the country. The latest surveys from the National Association of REALTORS®, which looked at foot traffic at open houses and inquiries from potential sellers to real estate agents, continued to point toward too many buyers chasing too few sellers. Home prices should continue to rise this year and likely next year as well.

Fast-rising home values are clearly good for home owners, but price increases that are far in excess of income growth are not good for buyers and not a healthy development for the economy. However, it’s important to keep in mind that demand is moving ahead in spite of the stringent lending standards still in place. Fully one-third of buyers are using cash.

Consider what demand would look like if underwriting restrictions were dialed back to a more reasonable level. That’s finally a possibility for two reasons: Banks are sitting on piles of cash, and the quality of recently underwritten mortgages has been high. These conditions could persuade banks to start easing overly strict requirements. The additional demand in a more “normal” lending environment potentially would mean even faster price growth. The only way to tame excessive price jumps is for more inventory to reach the market. Investors could help here by selling properties ahead of their intended schedule to take advantage of rising prices.

The choke point today is from the slow recovery in new-home construction. Housing starts in March finally crossed the 1 million mark for the first time in five years. But 1.5 million new housing units are needed annually to keep home-price gains at a healthy, long-term level of around 3 percent to 5 percent a year. That balance seems unlikely this year as we will continue to see demand outstrip supply, fueling exorbitant price increases in some places.

PER realtor.og MAY 2013 | BY LAWRENCE YUN

Demand Soars as Homes Are Selling Faster

In February, homes were on the market for a median of 98 days—that’s down from 123 days in February 2011.

615 Clark St, Tumwater WA 98512 - we sold this home in just 5 days!

Homes are selling faster as buyer demand picks up, leaving a very low supply of homes left for sale, according to the latest February MLS data figures from Realtor.com. Homes in February sold faster than in any February since 2007, according to the site.

In some markets, homes are spending even less than a month listed for sale, most notably in places like California. 

For example, in Oakland, Calif., homes spent a median number of 14 days on the market in February before they were either sold or removed from the market for other reasons, according to the Realtor.com data. Sacramento’s median number of days on the market was 21. A total of eight metros in the top 10 for fastest selling times were in California, with only Denver (median 28 days) and Seattle (median 33 days) rounding out the list. 

The median number of days on the market was also less than two months in places such as Phoenix, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Dallas, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.

With home sales picking up pace, buyers and sellers are less likely to see price reductions on homes and to see more multiple offer situations, Curt Beardsley, vice president with Move, which operates Realtor.com told USA Today.

Data Courtesy of DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS