Rentals

 Been wondering what is going on by the Safeway across from Umqua Bank?  Take a read below! 

Lennar Multifamily Communities has announced leasing plans for Atlas, its new 344-unit apartment home community on Northwest Gilman Boulevard.

Pre-leasing for Atlas will begin this month, with the first move-ins slated for June.

Janie Prill-Gonzalez, a regional property manager for Lennar Multifamily, said leasing prices start at $1,350 a month for a studio apartment; $1,500 a month for a one-bedroom; $1,775 a month for a one-bedroom with den; $2,189 for a two-bedroom; and $2,480 for a two-bedroom with den.

You? Buy a home? If that prospect sounds as unlikely as your becoming the next U.S. president—well, this campaign season has shown us that anything can happen.

Sure, amassing the funds and slogging through the necessary paperwork for your own piece of the real estate pie can be daunting, especially if you’re a less-than-stellar loan candidate. Still, if you just assume there’s no way you could buy a home, without doing any research, you could be missing out.

Here are some oft-cited reasons people don’t buy a home, and the reality checks showing why they shouldn’t give up hope.

Reason No. 1: ‘I don’t have enough money for a down payment’

This is probably the most common justification for not making the leap into homeownership.

The South Sound real estate market showed no signs of a seasonal slowdown in December as sales once again jumped by a double-digit margin in Pierce and Thurston counties. And the lack of inventory continues to drive the market, according to Northwest Multiple Listing Service data released Wednesday.

Pierce County months of inventory — the amount of time it would take to exhaust the number of single-family residences for sale — fell below two months to end the year at 1.78 months. In Thurston County, it was 2.4 months. A healthy supply of single-family residences that doesn’t favor either the buyer or seller is thought to be around six months.

But with little to choose from, combined with buyer demand (mortgage interest rates are still low and the

Make your nomination today!

May 20 is the deadline to nominate projects, plans and programs for the VISION 2040 Awards, a program of the Puget Sound Regional Council. Any individual, business, agency, organization or jurisdiction may submit a nomination.

The awards recognize projects, programs or plans in King, Kitsap, Pierce or Snohomish counties that help achieve the region's growth, economic, and transportation strategy. The projects may be developed in the public or private sectors, or through public/private partnerships.

PSRC said examples of programs and plans include comprehensive or subarea plans, economic development plans, design guidelines, outreach/education efforts, transportation demand management programs, and other similar

Tehaleh in Bonney Lake makes the list

Home sales in the top 50 master-planned communities during 2015 jumped 14 percent from the volume reported for 2014, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting. The 23,263 sales in the latest report accounted for an estimated 4.7 percent of all new home sales nationally and marked the highest volume in the six years the masterplan list has been compiled.

Commenting on their findings, the consultants from the John Burns team credited "historically low mortgage rates, solid job growth, low levels of resale competition and outstanding execution by the developers" as factors that drove demand. 

One community in Washington state, Tehaleh, made the list. The 271 sales it experienced earned that project 46th