Springtime in Vancouver, any flowers blooming yet? (Ridgefield: how much, house)

[MtnSurfer]

Now that it's officially spring, I'm wondering if you're seeing any early flowers budding or blooming yet?

I read somewhere that Oregon is having their tulip festival this week.

Here in Monterey we're seeing a few early blooms. But we took a recent drive to SoCal to check out their super bloom. It's quite spectacular right now. And we're still getting lots of rain. I wonder what this year will look like for WA? We've really enjoyed spring there before from the coast to the mountains.

Here's a recent shot from down south.




Derek

[Jane917]

I am flying from Portland to LAX on Tuesday to connect to a flight to Puerto Vallarta. I am hoping we can see the super bloom from the air. I am a CA native (southern CA) and have never seen anything like the pictures I am seeing posted. Here in Clark County the daffodils and crocuses are brightening up the gardens. Our heather is the most beautiful it has ever been....maybe thanks to our gardener. The rhodies are all budded out, and I hope for blooms when we return. It won’t be long until the trees have their leaves.

Did you buy a house?

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by Jane917

I am flying from Portland to LAX on Tuesday to connect to a flight to Puerto Vallarta. I am hoping we can see the super bloom from the air. I am a CA native (southern CA) and have never seen anything like the pictures I am seeing posted. Here in Clark County the daffodils and crocuses are brightening up the gardens. Our heather is the most beautiful it has ever been....maybe thanks to our gardener. The rhodies are all budded out, and I hope for blooms when we return. It won’t be long until the trees have their leaves.

Did you buy a house?

Hi Jane. Yes, SoCal folks are saying this is one of the largest blooms ever. The small town of Lake Elsinore was overwhelmed with visitors. The major said he's never seen anything like it. Apparently, it is even visible in space. The orange glow is super bright.

Regarding a house, we did make an offer on one and are still working out the details with the builder - New Tradition. We should hear more on it this week.

Enjoy your trip down south.

Derek

[texasdiver]

Here in Vancouver the earliest flowering trees which are the pink flowering plums are starting to bloom. also the tulips and daffodils. In another week the chanticleer pears which are planted along many streets will be blooming and things will start greening up fast.

[Jane917]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

Hi Jane. Yes, SoCal folks are saying this is one of the largest blooms ever. The small town of Lake Elsinore was overwhelmed with visitors. The major said he's never seen anything like it. Apparently, it is even visible in space. The orange glow is super bright.

Regarding a house, we did make an offer on one and are still working out the details with the builder - New Tradition. We should hear more on it this week.

Enjoy your trip down south.

Derek

Derek, I still have many friends and family in So CA. They send me tons of pictures. We were in Palm Springs just before all the rains they got. Wish we had waited a few weeks to see all the blooms, though I am glad we missed the rains and floods by a week.

Glad to hear you made an offer. We have several New Traditions homes in Ridgefield. Hope you navigate sanely thru the negotiation process. Four years ago we were able to make lots of requests on our newly built home, but now homes are selling so fast in Ridgefield that I am not sure how much wiggle room there is here.

Jane

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by Jane917

Derek, I still have many friends and family in So CA. They send me tons of pictures. We were in Palm Springs just before all the rains they got. Wish we had waited a few weeks to see all the blooms, though I am glad we missed the rains and floods by a week.

Glad to hear you made an offer. We have several New Traditions homes in Ridgefield. Hope you navigate sanely thru the negotiation process. Four years ago we were able to make lots of requests on our newly built home, but now homes are selling so fast in Ridgefield that I am not sure how much wiggle room there is here.

Jane

The desert super bloom looks equally amazing from the photos I've seen. With so much rain this winter some are saying the water reached seeds lying dormant for decades.

Even though the RE market cooled during the winter it is really picking up steam now. There was another house we were interested in and it ended up receiving multiple offers within a couple of days. The crazy part was it wasn't even in that great of an area - just a really nice house. One of the guys interested in it was talking about getting a school boundary exception for his daughter who attends Union High in the Evergreen school district where he teaches. But he wasn't sure they would grant that exception once out of district. Apparently some districts are getting stricter due to budget cuts.

I think there are lots of folks watching and waiting right now like we were trying to get into the schools districts they like before next fall. It sounds like Ridgefield is really picking up steam as well. We definitely got the sense that the builders are feeling bullish. Most do not want to negotiate because of it. The Lennar home we liked fell through because of their unwillingness to budge on anything! It was 'my way or the highway' with them. New Tradition is a bit more flexible and least more friendly to deal with. So this one might work out for us. We'll see...

Derek

[Jane917]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

The desert super bloom looks equally amazing from the photos I've seen. With so much rain this winter some are saying the water reached seeds lying dormant for decades.

Even though the RE market cooled during the winter it is really picking up steam now. There was another house we were interested in and it ended up receiving multiple offers within a couple of days. The crazy part was it wasn't even in that great of an area - just a really nice house. One of the guys interested in it was talking about getting a school boundary exception for his daughter who attends Union High in the Evergreen school district where he teaches. But he wasn't sure they would grant that exception once out of district. Apparently some districts are getting stricter due to budget cuts.

I think there are lots of folks watching and waiting right now like we were trying to get into the schools districts they like before next fall. It sounds like Ridgefield is really picking up steam as well. We definitely got the sense that the builders are feeling bullish. Most do not want to negotiate because of it. The Lennar home we liked fell through because of their unwillingness to budge on anything! It was 'my way or the highway' with them. New Tradition is a bit more flexible and least more friendly to deal with. So this one might work out for us. We'll see...

Derek

With all the budget cutting going on, and talk of reducing staff, I would be surprised if many exceptions between districts will be granted. Texasdiver would be better informed to comment about what is going on in the Evergreen district. 7

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by Jane917

With all the budget cutting going on, and talk of reducing staff, I would be surprised if many exceptions between districts will be granted. Texasdiver would be better informed to comment about what is going on in the Evergreen district. 7

Yes, he's actually helped us out with some great advice. We're now targeting a home within a district we like. So if things works out we won't have to do anything else.

Derek

[silibran]

What is blooming right now today? Purple plum trees, daffodils, crocus, forsythia, and pusxy willows. I have seen one rhododendron blooming so far.

I have a pic of my violet bed three years ago as it was just coming into bloom. This year my violets are about three weeks behind that picture.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Jane917

With all the budget cutting going on, and talk of reducing staff, I would be surprised if many exceptions between districts will be granted. Texasdiver would be better informed to comment about what is going on in the Evergreen district. 7

It may be the opposite since transfer students bring the state $$ with them. So it is a quick and painless way for schools to beef up their budget.

It's usually more of a capacity question. If they can bring in extra students without hiring additional teachers they usually do it for the $$. But there is a threshold that will eventually trigger the need to hire another teacher and that's where they usually stop. So it is very much grade dependent. If all the 2nd grade teachers are at max class size they may close for new transfers but if they have lots of extra space in 3rd grade without hiring another teacher then they may accept and want 3rd grade transfers.

The other issue is school capacity. Some schools are already bursting at the seams. So I doubt Ridgefield, for example, is taking many transfers because they are already so overcrowded they don't know where to put all the students they already have.

But there are always exceptions and deals. I was a fly on the wall in a school administrative office once when the principal was trying to ship one of his students to another district and agreeing to take one of theirs in exchange. He was just speed dialing around to his different principal buddies trying to cut a deal. Sometimes kids just get completely crosswise at a school and need a fresh start so the school will pull strings to find a place for them in another district or schoo. Mostly that's a HS thing I suspect.