After a week in the Olympics, I couldn't wait to check out the Master Builders' Association's fall remodeled homes tour. Yesterday, I checked out a few Eastside homes on the tour -- one in Sammamish and two in Bellevue.

My husband and I just finished a two-bathroom remodel (well, we didn't actually do it; a contractor did), and I couldn't wait to compare our new baths to those on the tour. Plus -- and don't tell my husband this -- I'd like to remodel our kitchen, so I was scouting for ideas.

Anyway, the remodels on the tour were amazing -- not even close to what we did; comparing them would be like comparing a Honda to a Rolls. So instead, let me tell you what I saw. (I'd love to show you photos, but photography was not allowed inside the private homes.)

I won't be blogging this week because I'm chaperoning a week-long field trip in the wild (yes, all week in nature -- are you jealous?) with my daughter's class.

But don't be shy -- talk among yourselves. There's been enough going on to keep you busy here. I'll happily weigh in next week and tell you whether you're wrong. Maybe I'll check in this weekend if I've recovered from my chaperoning duty. Yeah, right.

Enjoy the week!

Cindy

After a week of financial whiplash, I almost didn't have the energy to think about mortgage lending. But when Home Street Bank called to say it had seen a "pretty good spike" in mortgage activity in the past couple weeks, I perked up a bit.

Dave Meyer, who supervises the bank's loan officers in the region, said the number of mortgage applications -- including new loans and refinancings -- have jumped about 30 percent since Labor Day.

"It's welcome activity after a quiet end of the summer," Meyer said.

Refinance applications make up 40 to 45 percent of the total applications, he said; typically, they make up 30 to 35 percent of the total. There have been fewer requests for jumbo loans, Meyer said, and more applications for FHA loans because they require lower down payments and have higher loan limits.

After Labor Day, a jump in home purchases is not uncommon, Meyer said, but the size of the recent increase is. He suspects that HomeStreet is not the only bank seeing more mortgage activity.

"I think this is a trend," he said. "Doing loans is more difficult with all the changes taking place, but there is money out there."

With Washington Mutual trying to save itself, its borrowers may wonder what happens to any loans they have there. The answer: basically nothing. Here's a rundown from a story today:

Mortgages and other loans from WaMu would not be called in or otherwise affected by a change in control of the bank. For a calculator of FDIC insurance and other information, go to www.myfdicinsurance.gov.

In the event of a purchase or government takeover of WaMu, depositors would see changes down the road.

If another bank bought WaMu, account numbers for checking and savings accrounts and credit and debit cards might change, but it would take months. Customers would get plenty of notice.

If the government were to take over, WaMu customers' deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. up to $100,000 for each depositor and up to $250,000 for money (but not securities) in certain retirement accounts.

On the heels of yesterday's report by the National Association of Home Builders (the market is bad, but builders feel a bit better about it this month than they did last month) comes today's news from the U.S. Commerce Department that home building is down.

This scene look familiar? You've probably seen a few platted developments that are ready and waiting for builders. And you probably haven't seen a lot of actual building going on.

The Associated Press

Where outside the U.S. can you buy a 2,200-square-foot, four-bedroom, 2.5-bath house for about the same price as you can in Tacoma ($338,750)?

Aruba, of course, where the average price of a house with said characteristics is $334,250.

No jokes, please. But I will allow one snarky comment, from a colleague who said, "Oh, yeah, because I always think of Tacoma and Aruba at the same time."

A news release that announced Coldwell Banker's annual Home Price Comparison Index, released this week, says Tacoma's price also is comparable to the prices in Anchorage and in Richmond, Va.

The index compares prices of 2,200-square-foot, four-bedroom, 2.5-bath homes in 315 U.S. markets and several in Canada and overseas. I like it because it compares similar homes in different places. You can't really do an apples-to-apples comparison of median-priced homes in La Jolla (San Diego), Calif. -- the most expensive in the Coldwell Banker index -- and oh, Sioux City, Iowa -- the least expensive in the index. They wouldn't be at all alike. One would be surrounded by palm trees and have a view of the Pacific Ocean. The other would be surrounded by, well, corn and have a view of, um, corn.

When the Northwest Multiple Listing Service released August home-sales numbers Tuesday, it alluded several times to that oft-repeated line that makes some people laugh: "It's a great time to buy."

When I started tracking three new listings in the spring, I wondered how long I would be watching. Well, the answer is 116 days.

Two free four-hour workshops scheduled this month and next are aimed at helping homeowners avoid mortgage default and foreclosure.

Justin Wilcox, who experimented with a reverse auction to sell his two-story Bothell house, received an offer over the weekend., He's made a counteroffer and says he and the prospective buyers are "negotiating a couple of points."

At noon tomorrow, Barbara Alsheikh of the King County Tax Advisor office, will answer questions about property valuations and the assessment-appeals process. If you have a question, click here to post it or go to www.seattletimes.com/realestate and click on the Q&A logo at the top of the page.

In the meantime, check out this blog thread on Redfin.com about assessments and appeals.