 When I set out to find my Christmas Tree, not just any corner lot, Christmas Tree stand will do. I want an experience. I want the hot cocoa, the petting zoo, the whole nine yards. Do you feel the same way? Well then, look no further, here are the best Christmas Tree Farms in Clark County: Chelatchie Prairie Rail Road Christmas Tree Train Location: Depart from Moulton Station - 207 N Railroad Ave, Yacolt, WA 98675 Hours: Dec 2nd & 3rd, Dec 9th & 10th, Dec 16th & 17th, 9:30 AM, 12:00 PM & 2:30 PM. What Makes It Special: Train-ride along the Lewis River to find your Christmas Tree, Santa, Cocoa, Cider, Coffee & Cookies! Click here to purchase tickets before they sell out! Thorntons' Treeland Location: 7617 NE 119th St, Vancouver, WA 98662 Hours: Open Daily, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM What Makes It Special: U-Cut & Pre-Cut, Hayrides, Animals, Hot Chocolate & Coffee, Shaking & Baling. Megan's Snack Shack also has goodies available for purchase! Click here for a $2 Off Coupon. Washougal River Christmas Trees Location: 39336 NE Washougal River Rd, Washougal, WA 98671 Hours: Open Daily, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM What Makes It Special: U-Cut & Pre-Cut, 160 Acres, Friendly Pets are Welcome, Hot Chocolate & Candy Canes, Tree Drilling, Shaking & Baling, and Covered Animal Viewing Area. The Tree Wisemans
Location: 26500 NE 53rd Ave, Ridgefield, WA 98642 Hours: Weekends - 8:00 AM - Dark, Weekdays - 10:00 AM - Dark What Makes It Special: Gift Shop, Coffee, Espresso & Hot Chocolate for purchase, Free Tree Shaking, Free Candy Canes.
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 If you're anything like me, then you would agree, one of the best parts of the holidays is the food! I can easily spend hours searching online to find the perfect recipe to bring to Grandma's house every year. If my dish isn't empty by the end of the night, I always feel like it was a recipe failure. So, naturally, I have a few fan-favorite recipes that I like to make every year! I will be sharing one appetizer, one side-dish and one dessert that are proven winners! Appetizer Pigs in a Blanket Ingredients: 2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury™ refrigerated crescent dinner rolls 48 cocktail-size smoked link sausages or hot dogs (from two 14-oz packages) Directions: 1. Heat oven to 375°F. Unroll both cans of the dough; separate into 16 triangles. Cut each triangle lengthwise into 3 narrow triangles. 2. Place sausage on shortest side of each triangle. Roll up each, starting at shortest side of triangle and rolling to opposite point; place point side down on 2 ungreased cookie sheets. 3. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown, switching position of cookie sheets halfway through baking. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm. 4. Serve with mustard or Buffalo & Blue Cheese Ranch Dip (see below). Buffalo & Blue Cheese Ranch Dip Ingredients: 3/4 cup cup crumbled blue cheese 1/2 cup Buffalo wing sauce 1/2 cup ranch dressing Directions: 1. Combine all ingredients and mix. Source: https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/mini-crescent-dogs/e8abc84e-8a0e-42d6-ae7e-23b677a161ac Side-Dish Cousin Jammie's Mac & Cheese Ingredients: 1 Box Macaroni 2 Eggs 2 Cups Milk 1-1/2 Cups Sour Cream 8 Cups Cheese 1 Stick of Butter 1/2 Tablespoon Salt Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 375. 2. While the pasta cooks mix the eggs, milk, sour cream and salt together set aside. 3. When pasta is cooked drain but do not rinse. Mix the hot pasta with the cheese and butter, using the heat to start melting. 4. Once completely mixed pour in the egg mixture and cover the top with a layer of cheese for a crust. 5. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until top is browned and bubbling. Dessert
Pumpkin Pie Ingredients: 1 (15 ounce) Can Pumpkin 1 (14 ounce) Can Sweetened Condensed Milk 2 Eggs 2 Teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Seasoning 1/2 Teaspoon Salt 1 9in Unbaked Pie Crust Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 2. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. 3. Pour into pie crust and bake 15 minutes 4. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. 5. Cool and serve with lots of whipped cream! Store leftovers (yeah, right!) in the fridge.  9914 NE 67th Street Looking for a home with character and an amazing investment opportunity? This well-maintained 70's home has good bones, but is in need of cosmetic updates. A/C, Forced Air, Oversized Garage, 0.31 acre w/ lots of room for RV Parking, Newer Roof (2012), Master on the Main, and a Spacious Interior. Great location that is close to everything, while still having a private feel. 4 Bedrooms | 2.2 Bathrooms | 2106 SQ FT | $275,000 OPEN HOUSE! Tuesday, October 31st 12:00PM - 4:00PM & 5:00PM - 7:00PM  Listing provided by Suzi Dumas 606 NE 143rd St. Located in Hansen Meadows, this gorgeous home is packed with excellent features: granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, gas fireplace, dual master closets, soaking tub and more! You must see this home! 3 Bedrooms | 2.5 Bathrooms | 2597 SQ FT | $435,000 OPEN HOUSE! SAT 7/29 & SUN 7/30 10:00AM - 2:00PM  11206 NE 107th Street Lovely home with high-end finishes: Vaulted ceilings, granite countertops, and Travertine tile floors. This home is in a wonderful neighborhood, close to Prairie High School and has low maintenance landscaping. Price has been reduced by $10k as of July, 24th! 4 Bedrooms | 2.5 Bathrooms | 2865 Sq. Ft. | $389,900 OPEN HOUSE TUESDAY 7/25, WEDNESDAY 7/26 & THURSDAY 7/27 12:00PM - 5:00PM Listing Courtesy of Amanda Hoff
 1728 NW Ogden Street On a spacious corner lot with 2 master bedrooms, this well maintained Camas home is a dream. New carpets, flooring and granite counter tops have been installed. Come see this beautiful home and shoot a few hoops on the personal sports court while you are at it! 5 Bedrooms | 4 Bathrooms | 3137 SQ FT | $549,750 OPEN SATURDAY, JULY 22ND 12:00PM - 4:00PM Listing Provided by Shastine Bredlie
 Finally ready to make the transition into home ownership? That's awesome, and in this exciting time you can be turning to friends and family for an insight into the process. However, there seems to be a circulation of misinformation spreading around, so we're here to clear up a few myths.
1. THE FIRST STEP IS SEARCHING FOR A HOME You know the saying, "Don't put the cart before the horse," well that's important to remember when it comes to buying a home. You don't want to start looking for a house until you have gotten to sit down with a lender and discuss what the bank will qualify you for. If you fall in love with a house that's $250,000 and come to find out you're only qualified for $200,000 you can get your hopes crushed and waste a lot of time. Don't start the process on the wrong foot and make sure the numbers line up. 2. YOU DON'T NEED A REAL ESTATE AGENT For starts, when buying a home, 99% of the time the buyer's agent gets paid by the sellers. That random 1% can be for odd circumstances. So you're getting to use the services of a real estate agent for free. Having a real estate agent on your side means you'll get to see homes that aren't as readily available on public searches, you avoid outdated listings and scammers (there are lots of them), and you have protection when it comes to navigating the legalities of contracts and buying a home. Why wouldn't you want an awesome negotiator working to ensure you get the best from the transaction? For FREE! 3. YOU CAN'T BUY A HOME WITH BAD CREDIT Fortunately for some, this is a myth. Lenders and banks come by the hundreds of thousands and all though there are a few loan options, a lot of lenders can work with credit scores down to the low to mid 500's. Get in touch with an agent to help you connect with the right lender who can help you potentially approved. There is a lot of factors that go into approvals, but your credit doesn't have to be a sore thumb during the process. However, you will be doing yourself a favor if you connect with a credit repair specialist to at least get those numbers in the 600's. A better score will lower you interest rate. 4. YOUR DOWN PAYMENT HAS TO BE 20% Think you have to sell an arm and a leg to buy a home? Not at all! An FHA loan only requires 3.5% while a conventional only requires 5%. There are a lot of programs that can potentially help you with down payment assistance or be 0% down mortgage. USDA and VA loans are the most popular 0% down programs. If you qualify, this can take a big chunk off the amount of cash you have to bring to the closing table. 5. DOWN PAYMENTS ARE THE ONLY UPFRONT COST This is one of the biggest misconceptions. There is a lot of cost that goes into buying a home, and that includes upfront costs. One of the mandatory ones are a termite and appraisal. If you are getting a mortgage, the home will have to appraise and get a letter stating there are no termites in the home. Termite can range between $25-$75 dollars. An appraisal can range from $300-$700 dollars. Aside from your down payment, you then have to pay for closing costs. And NO, they are not the same thing. Closing costs can range anywhere between 3-6% of the purchase price. In certain markets, this can be negotiated for sellers to cover by rolling into the offer price, but whether that decision is smart to do or not when it comes to landing your dream home will need to be discussed with your agent. Now that you have some knowledge to get the process started, get in touch with an agent who will help you get through the process as smoothly as possible.  When it comes to small town festivals, Harvest Days is my favorite! I may be slightly biased, since I live in Battle Ground, but nonetheless, it is always a hoot! Harvest Days has a ton going on this year, but in this blog post, I feature the three things I am most excited for!
AND MUCH MORE! See the below list for all of the Harvest Days 2017 Events  What are you most excited for at Harvest Days? Hope to see you there!  2506 NE 80th Street Equipped with upgraded kitchen, bathrooms, new carpet and fresh paint, this charming ranch is a must see! The home sits on a spacious flag lot making it an extremely safe location! 3 Bedrooms | 2 Bathrooms | 1505 Sq. Ft. | $315,000 OPEN SATURDAY, JULY 8TH 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM
 The market is hot, hot, hot! With interest rates at an all time low for buyers, the market has turned into a feeding frenzy, and home sales are skyrocketing in prices. In such a high demand, seller's market, homes are selling for record breaking prices, which means more money in your pocket. If you have been considering selling your home, doing so in today's market will bring you a larger sales price. Don't wait for the market to shift when interest rates begin to start going up again. The National Association of Realtors has gathered data to predict a strong 6 months of sales throughout the United States. And with such a large group of buyers hunting for homes during the summer months, you have a great potential to sell your home quickly, and move on to bigger and better things sooner.  This is also a great buying opportunity if you are wanting to transition into a new home. Low interest rates equate to more savings. You could potentially end up getting a bigger home for the same monthly payment cost when you buy your next property. And with such a hot market, there are more homes for sale, which means you can find the right one.
If you have not already spoken with an agent, get in touch with one to get a complimentary CMA. See if the numbers work out for you and/or your family, and if moving is something you want to do. Whether you are re-sizing, or moving to a different state, your agent can get the numbers in order to make sure it's in your best interest to transition in today's market. Don't wait and lose tens of thousands of dollars in your sale price! |
