Paul Henderson, REALTOR®, Fathom Realty WA LLC, Mason County, Washington's preferred real estate Agent & Broker Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful! Attributed to Albert Schweitzer Thank you for reading and commenting on my blog post! This post was researched, authored, and photo by Paul Henderson, REALTOR®, ©2008-2022, all rights reserved. All information is deemed reliable; however it should be independently verified by the reader. Any reproduction of this blog post is prohibited without the prior written permission of the author... 05/12/2022

Cozy Mountain Retreat at Snoqualmie Pass OverviewMapsPhotosFeaturesMarket Stats *Sold* Price $625,000 Single Family Home Main Features 2 Bedrooms2 BathroomsInterior: 1,440 sqftLot: 5,227 sqftYear Built: 2005MLS #: 1874659 Location 230 N Olsen DriveSnoqualmie Pass, WA 98068 Description Cozy Mountain Retreat or Successful Short Term Vacation Rental! This Cozy 2 Bedroom, 2 Bath Chalet is just minutes away from the Summit Central Ski Resort, DruBru, Commonwealth, and I-90. Warm up by the fireplace with a mountain view after a snow day. Conifer Estates allows short and long term vacation rentals. New carpeting.     View All Available Snoqualmie Area Properties Price Your Home Here   View Our Recently Sold Homes Just Sold in Easton! Rambler on Acreage Just Sold! Exceptionally Renovated Snoqu... 12/31/2021

Just Sold! Easton Rambler on Acreage OverviewMapsPhotosFeatures   Sale Price $640,000 Single Family Home Main Features 3 Bedrooms1.75 BathroomsInterior: 1,581 sqftLot: 4.54 acre(s)Year Built: 1993MLS #: 1775720 Location 560 Iron Horse RoadEaston, WA 98925 Description Welcome to Easton Ranchettes, a recreational wonderland just an hour outside of Seattle with year round access! Nestled on 4.54 acres with pasture {perfect for horses!} and partial mountain views, this RAMBLER boasts an impressive 1,581 sqft and features 3 beds/1.75 baths, 2 car detached garage {insulated with HEAT!}, RV Carport and 2 connexes great for extra storage/workshop! Over $100k in landscaping, remodeling and upgrades done since 2018 including new furnace, hot water heater, A/C, wood stove, laminate floors, garage... 07/14/2021

I left Wenatchee, Washington for home about 2:00 pm Thursday afternoon, May 26, 2016... It was a beautiful day and I was enjoying the drive home over Blewett Pass into Cle Elum wanting to make good time and beat the rush hour traffic back in Pugetopolis where I live in Renton. Cle Elum is just about half way so I made a quick pitstop at the Safeway grocery store to pick up something cool to drink and perhaps a snack before I jumped on Interstate 90 and over Snoqualmie Pass to home.I’m trying to come to terms with my thoughts as we head into this Memorial Day weekend and now, at my age, I’m finally accepting the fact I’m just one of those guys that has to mull some things over a lot and holidays like this one come with mixed emotion. I’m doing my best to assemble some kind of sense of it... 05/30/2016

One of my favorite drives in Washington is heading east through downtown Cle Elum (about 1 1/2 hours east out of Seattle over Snoqualmie Pass on Interstate 90) to Teanaway then up the 970 to 97 and over Blewett Pass. Take a right onto State Route 2 then down through Dryden, Cashmere, Monitor, and Sunnyslope. The hillsides are beautiful and you’ll see a lot of orchards and vineyards along Highway 2 all the way into Wenatchee on the Columbia River...This evening, October 8th, I’m homeward bound over the same route and headed west back to the Puget Sound megalopolis and my home in Renton. The sun is still bright, but low in the October sky around 6 pm, as I'm driving through Swauk Prairie in this high plains area snuggled up in the Cascade Mountain Range. I’m loving the views and the long ... 10/15/2015

Halloween is upon us and it’s going to be November in a few days. I’m thinking about my Dad. As sons and dads go, we had a great relationship and as in most all relationships it had its ebb and flow and ups and downs. Today I’m remembering an evening 38 years ago. Dad was an accordionist, a very exceptional one as a matter of fact. In 1976 he was playing in Cle Elum, Washington at Cavallini’s, a local restaurant and nightclub. The Serenaders, Al Fabre and long time partner Frank Baffaro, guitar, played at Cavi’s for several years. Dad called me on a Tuesday. Frank was ill, could I sit in and play through the weekend. We hadn’t played together for several years except a few songs here or there on occasion, but I was raised on his repertoire and it was part of my DNA, even if my musical f... 10/30/2014

The missing piece. Metal Plate Connected Wood Trusses.        Cle Elum Home Inspections   It is very important when during a home inspection to try to traverse the attic space if possible, and it is require by Washington State Home Inspection Standards when we are able to do so. But often this is very difficult in truss design roof structures. With a 4:12 pitch or less and blown in insulation often it is not really possible to fully traverse the attic space or get much past the access hatch.     So on a recent home inspection I can across a situation. We had a HVAC air handler installed in the attic space. This is nice because I get a platform to view the attic from. To install air handler, whomever the installer was, had to cut a truss to install the unit. The number one rule with “Tru... 10/12/2014

Are you now a fan? A little light on the subject.                  Kittitas Real Estate Inspections   As always it seems I run into certain items on a home inspection in groups.   This item is a fairly common one, switching out a light for a fan (without a light). This maybe okay, catch word… maybe, but you may have now just created another issue. It is required that each habitable room (bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms, dens etc…) needs to have a switched light source. This can be achieved by a switched light fixture or a receptacle that can control a lamp (with exceptions for baths and kitchens). You can also use a motion sensor to achieve this requirement with some conditions.   By code this requirement goes back to the mid 70’s. But was in practice much earlier than that.  If the ro... 08/09/2014

Lights, Cameras, Energy Code Requirements for lighting! Kittitas County Home Inspection   2012 Washington State Energy Code (WSEC) now requires that the 75% of your lighting be what is defined as high-efficacy lamps. This is for both interior and exterior lighting. There is no separate requirements for exterior lighting.                                                                                           ( Incandescent, CFL, LED )   What are high-efficacy lamps?   HIGH-EFFICACY LAMPS. Compact fluorescent lamps, T-8 or smaller diameter linear fluorescent lamps, or lamps with a minimum efficacy of: 1. 60 lumens per watt for lamps over 40 watts; 2. 50 lumens per watt for lamps over 15 watts to 40 watts; and 3. 40 lumens per watt for lamps 15 watts or less.   Now when it comes to this ... 03/30/2014

On my way back to Seattle from Yakima Thursday I needed a break and pulled into Ellensburg for a timeout. As a fan of CWU (Central Washington State University) I took a little memorial drive around the campus and stopped in at the local (been there forever) Dairy Queen. I’m sitting in the corner eating my cheeseburger fries and sipping a Pepsi thinking about the past few days in Yakima and enjoying the stream of college kids coming in for an afternoon treat.  Isn't it ironic I find myself here just now, the old guy in the room who happens to be the dude who's work is all about the evolving social media environment, but my iPhone is in my pocket. I spent the last few days talking to clients that were mostly my age and some were more than skittish about adopting social media platforms as ... 10/05/2013

        Double lot in privately owned Kachess Village! Drainfield installed and water & power to site. Kachese Village perks include lake access, boat launch, club house and snow plowing of main road. This parcel backs up to USFS. Snowmobile friendly with access to trails or hike, bike, snow shoe & ski. Only one hour from Seattle.      $75,000    81 & 82 Winter Park Lane    Acres: 0.26   View More Photos » View More Details » For More Information, Contact: Melissa Kiser Phone: (509) 668-8800   NCWhomes.com 06/23/2013

Bootleggers and Boondoggles- Stealing electricity Kittitas Home Inspection Services   Desperate times will make some take desperate actions.   I was on an inspection a little while back. The homeowner was being evicted for unpaid mortgage. This was a bit of a special case because the note was being held by the previous owners on a private contract.   I was brought in to make an assessment of the current condition of the property since the note holder was from out of town.   The current resident had resorted to camping in the home, literally. But that is another story.     The big issue here was that the meter had been compromised and bypassed.  Electricity theft is an ongoing problem for all electricity providers. If caught this is punishable by jail time, a fine or both in the United S... 05/14/2013

What has been going on in market for Cle Elum, Roslyn, Easton and other Upper Kittitas County communities? The weather is good, solots of new listings are showing up. Here is what has been happening: Active properties - 16 new properties on market - Average price: $468,950 (http://search.tellusre.com/idx/12777/results.php?stp=basic&pt=sfr&showField=countyField&county%5B%5D=793&ba=0&add=7&srt=ASC&start=0&per=10) Cancelled listings - 1 listing was cancelled - Price of $239,900 Pending - 3 sales pending final closing. An average of 197 days on market - Average price $242,600 Pending Inspection - 4 with an average of 362 days on market - Average price: $352,175 Pending short sales - 1 with 82 days on market - Price: $54,950 Sold - 4 sales closed this week, with an average of 194 days on mar... 03/29/2013

E.T. Meets ET, Silent Sunday E.T. (Elsie Tabit) meets ET.  While going for a walk in the hills behind Roslyn Washington (The town used to film Northern Exposure) a while back we came across this incredible rock.  The rock formations in the area  come in all sorts of unusual shapes, but this one almost left us speechless.  What would you say to a 15 foot tall alien that you met in the woods? 02/09/2013

Lights, Camera, Action- Bathroom lighting Cle Elum Home InspectionI love Master Bathrooms. They are usually spacious and have some nicer amenities. But one thing I have learned doing home inspections that no matter how nice a home is there are some of the same old things that may go on.People get an idea in their head and they want it. Lighting is an important part of a home and creates some very nice moods. The problem is there are rules to be considered.Here is a perfect example.                                          We have a jetted tub and a nice lighting fixture above. The only problem is that this is not allowed.The electrical code states- “No part of chain, cable, or cord, suspended lights, track lights, or ceiling paddle fans can be located within 3 feet horizontally and 8 fe... 01/27/2013

Color Matters- Electrical Wiring                                    Wenatchee and Cle Elum Home InspectionOne thing I find on home inspections is that wires are not properly identified. This can be a safety hazard because colors in wiring carry a certain designation. If a conductor is missed colored it could be mistaken for a hot conductor when it is a neutral or more important a neutral (grounded conductor) when it really is a hot conductor. The NEC (National Electrical Code) requires that white or grey be used for the neutral power conductor (grounded conductor) and bare copper, green, or green with yellow stripe for the protective ground (grounding conductor). So you can use all other colors except these for the power/hot conductors.                             Here we have an exampl... 12/20/2012

Winters Magic and Keeping warm- Heat Pumps Leavenworth and Cle Elum Home Inspection ServicesWell winter finally has settle into the Wenatchee Valley. One thing that as home inspectors inspecting components that will be in snow country we should be looking for is how the heat pump is set up. As the temperatures drop heat pumps will start to frost up as part of normal operation. The heat pump will then go through their defrosting mode to rid the unit of this frost. This will create water that needs to be able to drain away from the unit, if this is not properly accounted for will create an issue for the heat pump.                                       Heat pumps need to be elevated off the ground to allow the water during the defrost cycle to flow away from the unit. Snow build up even at... 12/16/2012

Jumping Jack Flash it’s a gas! Wenatchee and Kittitas Home Inspection ServicesWell I really do not know how many jumping jacks I am doing when I am entering an attic space during a home inspection.I find attic inspections are maybe the most restrictive areas of the home for a thorough inspection. With the premise of do no harm to the home I have to always weigh doing my best for my client versus being very careful not to damage any ceilings, wiring, ducting and insulation.This is where in older homes I usually actually can do a much better attic inspection. They tend to not be built with truss systems or usually do not have a great amount of insulation to worry about compressing.But like all areas a thorough examination of the home is what the aim is.Here is another example of why going... 12/13/2012

The condition when looking at induction?  Wenatchee and Cle Elum Home Inspection ServicesAs home inspectors we get so to see many items related to the “American Life Style”. Most of us will develop a general “norm” for our inspection area.As a home inspector I will test appliances, such as kitchen and laundry appliances, to ensure that they activate and run them for a short period time. For me this is more about if the circuits and water supplies are working. I do look at general condition and function though.The main issue for me, as a home inspector, is that many times I may not be able to know if the appliance is working optimally or as it should because I will not be putting it through a test long enough, as if I was cooking or washing clothes. This is one of the limitations of the ... 12/11/2012

Hidden boxes- Camera captured. Cle Elum and Kittitas Home InspectionsAs I have stated before sometimes the camera is the home inspector’s best tool.Here is another example of this handy tool. I have a habit of sticking my camera in places I cannot see or easily access.This was a wall with a cavity above with floor framing and conduits. I reached up and stuck my camera up there and take a few pictures.When I return back to the office and start preparing my report I go through my pictures and review my home inspection again. Many times I will see something that I did not see or notice while on the inspection.Here we have a junction box that was hidden in the ceiling. This is a no-no in wiring practices. All junction boxes have to be accessible. There is good reason for this. These are the... 10/04/2012