Welcome to my very first column at www.BuildDextersHouse.com. It has taken one year just to get my plan in order and to launch this! For those of you who checked in once in awhile just to see if I started, thank you. I hope this site will be informative, entertaining and worth your patience. If you are viewing this site for the first time, allow me to share a little history.

My original plan was to share with you a project I am involved with in Brinnon, Washington. This unique area of Hood Canal is, in my professional opinion, undervalued and underserved. I always knew about communities running along Highway 101 and Hood Canal, having driven through them many times since my move to Seattle in 1993. However, it wasn't until we found a fixer for our best client that I truly began to understand how wonderful this area is.

My client and friend, Mario, liked the view house on Seamount Drive in Seamount Estates, the moment we showed it to him. At first it appeared this home would be a major fixer, but since renovations and flipping properties are what we do professionally, we knew better. Best of all, we were able to negotiate another $10,000 off the price just because the sellers were tired of waiting for a buyer. But this time, Mario wanted to keep the house! This was in early 2005. Today, the home has seen incredible increase in value and in summer there are quite a few of us who spend time on this property. As I mentioned, Mario is not only my best client, but we are great friends. Thanks to his largess we have access whenever he isn't using it.

In late 2005 Mario decided he wanted the view lot behind his property. It was completely covered in thick blackberry vines and brush, plus trees, layers of previous cuttings, and an unknown water source. Initially we couldn't see where the water came from due to the thickness of the ground cover. I became involved with this lot after Mario closed the deal directly with the owner.

We began by taking a chainsaw to it. This took several weekends. Then, Mario hired John LeMastor and his frontloader, for excavation. After this, the septic designer and permit process began. Meantime, I commited to buying the finished house from Mario.

Due to environmental concerns, Jefferson County and Mason County are careful about what happens around Hood Canal. And we couldn't agree more. A delay in the permit process for the lot inorder to make sure the water diversion holds, has pushed things back about a year.

This is where my story truly begins. Since we have time before anything more can be done with the Brinnon property, Jamie (my wife) and I have bought a major fixer, in Shelton, Washington. Shelton is another very secret real estate monster that is about to be let out of its cage. As I hinted earlier, Mason County, Jefferson County and certain towns within them are vastly undervalued. It is my prediction that the market is going to push west of Seattle and North of Olympia, as pricing is getting out of control along I-5 and I-405 corridors. have been extremely active for the past year in these areas, even though I am a Seattle based Realtor. I am highly confident of my market analysis, as we have benefited from home investiment in areas nobody was interested in during the 1990's, such as the Central District of Seattle, Delridge area of West Seattle, etc. I also have experience going back to the 1980's with Melrose Ave in Los Angeles and South Beach, Miami. In each of these cases, we did business when no one else would.

In the next months, I am going to share how we will earn about $60,000 profit from our recent purchase @ 624 Maple St. in Shelton. Best of all, we are going to keep the property for potential retirement! I will show you how this is even possible, given that something has to be "sold" before profit can be taken, or so you may think!

This site will also be used to feature my expertise as a RE/MAX Integrity real estate agent. I am aggressive, motivated, and I kill for my clients. Throughout this journey via the website, I know you will gain knowledge and may even wish to be added as one of my many satisfied and wealthy clients! Welathy, because our business is about making money for everyone involved with www.GeneDexterHomes.com and www.BuildDextersHouse.com.

The first photos are of the Shelton property within one month of purchase. Be sure to go to photo pages for our progress with project. We started with complete excavation of the half acre lot, framing, fencing, and general cleanup. Windows have been ordered as of January 04, 2007.

See you in February with my next newsletter!

Gene Dexter, Fearless Leader
www.BuildDextersHouse.com
www.GeneDexterHomes.com
www.TheRightAppraisal.com