Sold By Susan Grosten | Cedar Heights
4181 NE Cedar Heights Lane | Bainbridge Island
New Construction Waterfront Home
Just Sold by Susan Grosten
Recently I had the honor of representing clients on the purchase of this incredible new home on the waterfront of Cedar Heights Bainbridge Island, north of Rolling Bay. Sited on high-bank waterfront, the views from this home are other worldly with a feeling that you are viewing Puget Sound from the heavens above. Beyond the beautiful and busy shipping lanes are the Seattle skyline and the Cascade Mountain range.
Sunshine fills the living room through a giant wall of artfully placed windows, bringing the view in along with the warmth of the sun. Artisan details include built-ins, hardwood floors, and a stunning fireplace clad in stone and a wood mantle.
The glamorous kitchen is warm and ready for breakfast meetings, entertaining friends and family, or a quiet dinner of takeout at home. The Butler’s Pantry is sure to impress even the most serious of home chefs!
Upstairs you will find the opulent Primary Suite, complete with a gas fireplace and an en suite bath to rival any resort spa.
Finding your dream home takes more than surfing real estate sites and then calling an agent. Working with me gives you a competitive advantage to find, compete, and ultimately acquire your new home. My expertise in negotiation, the Bainbridge Island real estate market, and my professional reputation among other real estate professionals is the leverage you need in a Seller’s market. Let me help you find your new home.
Sold by Susan Grosten | Sawdust Hill
2165 NE Sawdust Hill Road | Poulsbo
Sawdust Hill Private Retreat
Just Sold by Susan Grosten
Recently I had the honor of representing clients on the purchase of an heirloom farm in the heart of rural Poulsbo Washington. Known as Rose Tree, this bucolic place was once a Rhododendron Nursery. It is a shy ten incredible acres of lush, verdant, farmland in the heart of rural Poulsbo.
Vaulted ceilings, skylights, and windows flood the home with natural light. My clients were particularly pleased with this aspect of the home. many homes in rural Kitsap do not have the openness of the outdoors. Typically they are surrounded by vast trees that are too good to be taken down.
Because this was a farm for decades, the land was cleared long ago, and no trees were taken down in the last 50+ years to make this such a lovely, open landscape.
Features like hardwood floors, built-ins, gas fireplace, cherry kitchen cabinets, fresh paint, truly make this home warm and inviting.
The detached Studio offers flex space for guests and a home office, for the way we live now.
The wrap-around deck is an expansive space for entertaining outdoors and finding respite in the rare, open farmland landscape.
Lower level Family Room is fantastic for friends and family visiting from out of town.
This incredibly beautiful, private, and stylish home met all the markers for my clients. Competition for Buyers is tough right now, in a Seller’s market. I was able to guide my clients into this home and beat the competition, using my skills as a Certified Negotiation Expert.
I love finding the right home, in the right neighborhood, for the right price, for all of my clients. If you know anyone struggling to to purchase a home, I am here to help.
Sawdust Hill Private Retreat
Kitsap County Economic Profile
Kitsap County’s Changing Economy
The Kitsap Economic Development Alliance has updated their Kitsap County Economic Profile, in partnership with Western Washington University’s Center for Economic and Business Research.
In this publication we traditionally favor accuracy over speed, so we’re mostly using 2020 data for our economic analyses, as it’s the most recent year for which we have robust, reliable information in house that can inform us across a variety of metrics we track annually.
Given that we’re living in rapidly changing times due to the pandemic, I’ll cover some of the big changes we might be seeing in the Kitsap economy from the report. I’ll also cheat a little by bringing in a bit of 2021 and other information to inform what might be happening.
Short version: While much of Kitsap’s economy has stayed the same, some big shifts might be headed our way.
Breaking Down the Numbers
We all know that Kitsap is growing. In fall, the US census reported that Kitsap’s 2020 population was 275,611. Based on census data, Kitsap grew a total of 9.7% in the decade from 2010 to 2020. As a comparison, that’s faster than the US (at 7.3%), but still 50 percent slower than the aggressive growth Washington state saw during the ‘10s (14.5%).
Now take a moment to consider that’s an entirely pre-pandemic world we’re looking at in terms of growth; the official measurement date for the census was April 1, 2020. That’s when the pandemic, and shutdowns, were affecting much of the nation. Given this, I’d put Kitsap’s population today at 279,000. It’s aggressive to say we’ve grown more than 1% since the census, but it could be even higher. Living in Kitsap is more attractive than ever due to the pandemic, remote work, and generational change.
Housing Costs Continue to Rise
We’re seeing that in the outcome of house prices. Our report notes that since 2012, median house resale prices have been rising annually in Kitsap. In 2017, median Kitsap house resale price was $320,200. Just three years later in 2020, median resale had risen to $438,000. We know this trend will continue upward, since second and third quarter of 2021 saw resale prices clocking in just above $500,000.
This isn’t exactly unique. Kitsap is behaving like the rest of the Washington economy. Increased housing prices are the norm here. But this kind of change in our housing mix, with prices up a third in three years, is big for Kitsap. This is a community that has long had pockets of affordably priced homes, a community where twentysomethings could start their home ownership path. That’s much more difficult here now. It’s not easier when it comes to apartments, either: While our updated report indicates there was a brief respite in apartment prices from 2019 ($1,458) to 2020 ($1,299), that breathing room is gone. In fall 2021 average prices for one bedroom apartments bounced back to $1,544.
These are big housing cost increases, worth doing something about. Since summer 2021 many of the conversations I’ve had with public and private employers have included as a topic the difficulty of finding housing. Regardless of whether their employees are managers or entry level, it has been challenging to find a place to live. This is a “housing affordability” issue. Once it becomes difficult for people to live where they work, that’s a situation that can be difficult to reverse gear out of by creating capacity. Bringing new housing online takes significant time, process navigation and capital. Kitsap County Economic Profile
Rising housing costs also appear to be the culprit behind making Kitsap less affordable than it used to be, from a cost of living analysis. The index we use places the average cost of living in the US at “100.” According to our research, the Kitsap’s cost of living index in 2020 was 145.8, generally considered high. While not as high as King County (158), it is significantly higher than Thurston (107) and Pierce (110). If there’s an alarm to sound here, it’s this—a year prior in 2019, Kitsap’s cost of living index sat at 109, in between those numbers. That said, take housing out, and Kitsap appears to still offer a low-cost of living in the other measured categories like groceries, transportation, and miscellaneous goods and services.
Living in Kitsap County
Those are the high level hits from the publication, some of the big changes we might be seeing that begin to take shape in our community. There’s a lot in Kitsap that hasn’t changed. The report says Kitsap residents still spend a long time commuting at 30.6 minutes—though I suspect that’s never been true this side of the water, and the longer the pandemic goes on the fewer commuters we’ll see. Federal spending continues to be significant in Kitsap, nearly $2 billion in total from the Social Security Administration ($973 million), the Department of Defense ($772 million) and the Department of Veterans Affairs ($305 million). Most communities don’t have those Defense dollar flows, and I consider it our competitive advantage as an economy.
Another thing that hasn’t changed: Olympic College remains a remarkable force for educating the community. It enrolled the most students seeking a post-secondary education with 4,230 between 2018 and 2019—five times more than the next highest, the University of Washington at 792. Not getting enough credit is Western Washington University’s Poulsbo team, which offers a four-year degree in association with Olympic College that if paired with Running Start, can cost around $15,000 in total (plus the cost of books).
Looking back on the 2020 data, it shows an interesting snapshot in time. A time when despite federal stimulus, we see people and an economy struggling. We see gross business incomes down in both Kitsap (6.5%) and statewide (4.6%). We see high unemployment (7.7%). As a community, we were in the start of the pandemic story, and didn’t know what would come next.
As more of that story played out in 2021, things got economically brighter. We lost many businesses in 2020, but many more bounced back. The labor market returned with a force called full employment. It’s worth knowing that Kitsap’s unemployment numbers have been generally in the top tier of Washington counties during the recovery. In November 2021 it was an unthinkably low 3%.
Just like we couldn’t see 2021 from 2020, we don’t know how the pandemic economic story ends. There may be pages to go, a twist or turn to come. With hope and luck, it’s the final scene and we’re reading the last few chapters. Here’s to hoping that soon, we’ll close the book.
This blog was written by Joe Morrison, KEDA Executive Director, on February 1, 2022.
12231 Sunrise Drive NE | Just Listed by Susan Grosten
12231 Sunrise Drive NE | Garden Jewel of Bainbridge Island
Welcome to 12231 Sunrise Drive NE, Bainbridge Island WA. Nestled between Fay Bainbridge Waterfront Park and Rolling Bay Garden Store you will find this charming home boasting a verdant private garden. Enter through custom wood gates to this artistic garden cottage nestled on over 1 acre with a patio and pond.
A 2019 renovation was crafted by Wenzlau Architects and brought to completion by Smallwood Construction. It includes a completely remodeled farmhouse kitchen, warm Eucalyptus wood floors throughout and open rooms to allow the garden and sunshine to fill this home.
New stairs lead to a very cool loft space – perfect for an artist studio, home office or yoga space. Providing a superior standard of living for those looking for a home that can fit their lifestyle in a small footprint, this home makes it easy to unwind and recharge.
Unique, crafted interiors re-interpret the heritage of the home, while modern environments have been designed for the way you live now.
Artistic genius in the gardens… a passion of guardianship evident at every turn including two highly coveted Little and Lewis fountains. Raised garden beds, carefully selected plantings, an open lawn, and mature trees complete the outdoor wonderland. A vision of people gathering and a lemonade lifestyle.
Sold by Susan Grosten | Toad Holler
13928 Toad Holler Place NE | Bainbridge Island
Toad Holler Bainbridge Island
Sometimes a home will come on the market that is so special, that you know the competition is going to be intense. I represented the buyers that will be the next family to call this house their new home.
Exceptional, inspiring, and reminiscent of a sophisticated urban loft within a country setting; the quality of materials and attention to detail is apparent in every facet of its design.
Artistic window compositions add visual style and the fill the open layout with light. Form and function throughout and every space has a purpose with flexibility.
Ideal for formal and casual entertainment indoor and out; the great room opens to a private garden in a peaceful setting.
Amenities for modern lifestyles include a main floor suite, two bonus rooms, additional guest quarters over the 676 SF garage, and generous
office space for the way we live now.
Lifestyle Changes Lead to Home Building Changes
Finding Our New Home In Our New World
The Barnaby Home
Since the initial quarantines of COVID-19 and now the aftermath of continued caution; most desirable home amenities look quite different than even 5 years ago. A home office used to be relegated to sprawling suburban homes for executives and accent spaces that almost no one used, like the old kitchen office space where Mom paid bills and organized her recipes.
The lifestyle changes that COVID-19 has born, do not seem to be going away all too soon and homebuyers are keen to find a work/life balance, at home. Flexible spaces in newer townhomes are becoming quite common in the Townhome trend, with garage level rooms that can be used as an office, guest room – or both.
During the early months of lockdown, quarantines, and sheltering in place, a survey called The America at Home Study was launched online to understand the design changes consumers would want in new communities and homes. On the heels of this research, The America at Home Study Concept Home was born, and they named it Barnaby.
The concept, design, and the forethought of looking forward to something more tangible than paint colors and open vs. closed kitchen cabinets warrants deep consideration. Does your home still serve most of your needs? Each home has comprises, but sometimes they start to add up and you might find yourself living in a functionally obsolescent situation.
If you are dreaming of a new home that better serves your lifestyle and footprint, give me a call and let’s start planning your next move.
New World New Home.
1282 Shanti Lane | Just Listed by Susan Grosten
Welcome to 1282 Shanti Lane
2 Bedrooms | 2 Full Bathrooms | 1 Half Bathroom
1659 Square Feet | MLS #1842962
This luxurious townhome lives like a stand-alone home with an attached private garage. 1282 Shanti Lane Bainbridge.
The open main floor plan blends the living room and dining area with open kitchen.
e NW
This is an easy one-story living with a half-story bonus room – perfect for a home office.
Large windows and two sets of double glass doors leading to your private yard let sunlight dance in every room.
Newly refinished hardwood floors throughout this open floor plan and no carpet.
Enjoy two private deck areas with recently enhanced landscaping.
The primary bedroom features access to a private deck, walk-in closet, and spa-like bath.
The 2nd main floor bedroom showcases built-in cabinetry and an adjacent full bath.
A short distance from in-town shops, cafes, and Seattle ferry.
1282 Shanti Lane Bainbridge
Sold by Susan Grosten | Hillview Lane NE Hansville
37838 Hillview Lane NE | Hansville WA
Hillview Lane NE Hansville
After a lot of hard work, yesterday was “Closing Day” for my clients who purchased this charming home in Hansville, WA.
Acreage, views, and a home that’s the stuff of dreams; 2.51 acres of property, decked out in mature landscaping, 4,053 square foot home with walls of windows that showcase the views of Admiralty Inlet and iconic Point No Point.
Hansville is a coastal community located at the northern tip of Kitsap County, and approximately 16 miles north of Poulsbo.
There is an abundance of wildlife viewing including whale watching at the right times and loads of bird watching. Fishermen enjoy catching salmon from the beach while taking in the views and watching the parade of marine traffic. This picturesque rural community enjoys some of the areas lowest rainfall totals, making it an ideal outdoor recreation site.
840 Strawberry Lane NW | Just Listed by Susan Grosten
Welcome to 840 Strawberry Lane NW
3 Bedrooms | 2 Bathrooms | 1268 Square Feet | MLS #1806159
Located on a quiet lane in town, this home backs up to a park and open space.
Easy care yard and south-facing light with a charming, covered porch to greet you.
Many interior upgrades have just been completed in this bright and cheery 3-bedroom home. Beautiful, refinished maple wood floors await in this open floor plan.
The kitchen showcases all new stainless appliances, full tile backsplash, and new solid surface counters.
All bedrooms are on the upper level with fresh paint and new carpet – move-in ready.
Charming homes and neighbors surround this newly updated home.
A great location; close to parks, schools, ferry, and shops. Nearby Owen’s Playground is Bainbridge Island’s first all-inclusive, barrier-free playground.
Public beach access at the end of Weaver Road – Strawberry Park!
840 Strawberry Lane NW