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Last week was so packed with stuff I did not get a chance to write and I apologize for that. I spent two full days showing property which was really fun and exciting. I also had things like the Elk Town Meeting and the monthly Realtor's association luncheon. It was just one of those weeks. I promised to write a little about being a landlord. I can only really write from my personal experience, which has been very positive. I've had great fortune with my tenants, in both cases being single women who like to garden and keep an immaculate house. In both cases, I found that checking references and credit history were key in making sure I was getting good people. Because my tenant's live in a home on my property I am easily accessible to them and can quickly fix things that need repair. That is definitely a consideration for becoming a landlord - how far away will you be living? Will you want to make the drive on short notice? The alternative if you do live away is to hire a property management company to look after things for you. Century 21 Fort Bragg Realty offers this service out of that office. They take all the calls, take care of renting the properties and take care of maintenance. You simply pay them to do this so you aren't bothered directly. This market has made investing in real estate more viable than in many years. You can get a large part of the mortgage payment covered by the rent, depending on what you spend in your initial investment. Some of the better priced properties in the Fort Bragg area are perfect for converting to rental homes; the lower the price, though, the more you may need to invest in initial repairs and upgrades. Last weekend was the Anderson Valley Film Festival, from Friday evening through Sunday early evening. I was able to attend Sunday and really enjoyed the films - they ranged from a home video from the late '60's of the felling of a giant redwood - the infamous "one log load" on Hiatt's truck - to a wonderful film called Rivers of a Lost Coast about fly fishing on north coast rivers from the 40's through the 80's, to the National Geographic film about Mike Fay walking from Big Sur to Oregon through the redwoods. It's an annual event and a lot of fun and the films are truly amazing. This weekend is the annual Catholic church crab feed in Boonville. It is probably the largest social event of the season. Everyone who manages to score a ticket goes and there's tons of crab, salad, garlic bread, a huge raffle and plenty of wine to drink. Then the 13th sees the Anderson Valley Health Center benefit dance at the Grange in Philo. Catfish Jack and Maria Villaboy open for Dean Titus and the Coyote Cowboys. It's sure to be a lot of dancing and listening fun!!
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The biggest news around here right now is the storms. It has been wet, windy, and wild. We've had thunder, lightning, hail, a lot of rain and a lot of wind. At my home we've had over five inches when I last checked last night. Local roads have been closed due to flooding and/or rock slides (Highway 128 is still closed although they think it will open this afternoon). The Navarro, Garcia and Russian rivers have all flooded at one point. Tuesday the whole coast, from Gualala south to Fort Bragg north was without electricity. Some of those areas are still without; Mendocino got power at about 1:30pm, give or take. I had power at my house near Philo on Tuesday but woke up to darkness and cold on Wednesday; it was restored before noon, however. I haven't heard of too many accidents, but last night as I drove home I passed a jacknifed big rig (we just don't get those around here!); then the Navarro grade was covered in about two inches of hail. I questioned my ability to get home, but my little car churned ahead and we made it. As I write this it continues to pour outside. My poor dogs haven't had a decent walk since Monday - but they aren't any happier about going out in this than I am. Normally I'll hike in the rain, I have rain gear, but with the high winds I'm concerned about tree limbs falling, so I tend to stay indoors whenever possible. Real estate is a bit slow as well, with most people turning their attention to the storms and surviving those. I had one property showing that was cancelled because of the power outage. I have other clients debating whether to leave Hawaii or extend their stay - I suggested staying until all of this passes! That's what I would do. I'm still working on market analyses for several people and I still feel strongly that this year is going to be better than 2009. In light of that, I read this article from the LA Times about listing your house before the Superbowl. I think the key points are important, even though the author is talking about Chicago. Here's the link - http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-umberger10-2010jan10,0,4665647.story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I've had a couple of suggestions for topics, one of which is owning rental property. I am not an expert in this area, but I have been a landlord for the past twelve years and was a tenant for many years before that. So look for this in my next blog entry. I think it's timely - there are several properties in the area that would make great investments as rentals. For local events this weekend, there is a crab feed in Fort Bragg and the Blushin' Roulettes are playing at Lauren's in Boonville. Stay warm and dry if you can!
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We had a wet and windy couple of days - wonderful to get all of that rain. My mom keeps track of what we get at my place and she said we had two inches over the rainy period! There was also some thunder and lightning, which always is exciting. We are expecting a few dry days and then apparently a series of storms are headed our way - let's hope for a lot more rain. There is a lot of optimism right now amongst many of the Realtors I have been speaking with lately. Everyone is noticing more foot traffic and calls on properties are increasing. I have had several people express interest in looking at properties and have had several new buyers walk in the door during my floor time shifts. People are also deciding the time is right to sell; I think sellers are finally understanding the overly high prices of the past few years aren't coming back any time soon and that they need to get on with their lives and that often means selling and moving away. There's a lot of local events happening this weekend. In Anderson Valley Saturday is the Anderson Valley Senior Center's Crab Feed; for $25 you can have all the crab you want to eat! Elk is hosting it's first English Country Dance; Casper hosts these monthly and Elk is hoping to get it started down there as well. English Country Dance is the type of dancing seen in movies made from Jane Austen novels; I've never done it myself but I'm planning to be there Saturday evening to give it a try. There's other events, such as the last weekend of a play, some farmers markets and so on. There's always something to do. I started writing this early this morning - and am just getting back to it after having someone walk in the office and ask to see three properties - so I take that as proof that things are looking up!
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This week, probably like most of you, was "back to work" week. It was a pleasant break from Christmas through New Year's but it felt really good to get back into the swing of things again. So far the new year has started well and busy. I've had people walk in the office, always a good sign, people calling for comparative market analysis (more on this in a minute) and people calling to set up time to look at properties. I frequently get asked what a comparative market analysis (CMA) is. I often get asked to do them even though those doing the asking don't know that's what they are asking for. Often I'm asked to do an "appraisal" of a property, sometimes for tax purposes, sometimes just because someone wants to know what their property is worth in today's market. Let me be clear here - an appraisal is a formal opinion of value from a professional appraiser. A CMA is a real estate agent's opinion of what a property will sell for in the current market. If you get a formal appraisal you will pay the professional for her or his opinion. If you ask me to do a CMA I will not charge you. The two do not always agree and only the formal appraisal is used by lenders. What is it that I will do and what am I looking for? I will want to tour your property and will ask you a lot of questions. If you have a home on the property I will want to take a look at everything, just as a potential buyer would. I'll want to know when you bought it, what you paid for it, what improvements you've made, what makes the property special - do you have an Ozone-ator, a hot tub, a pool, a spa, solar panels, etc. What are the views? What are the neighbors like? I might take some photographs to jog my memory when I do my comparisons; also, if you've asked me to list your property for sale and I'm trying to help you set the asking (listing) price, I'll probably want to go ahead and take all of my photos that day so I can input it all into the MLS as soon as we're ready to go. The next step is for me to go back to my office and look up comparative properties. I'll look for current properties for sale, properties that have sold (ideally in the past six months, but given how slow things have been, I might go back a year or so), and properties that have expired from the market. I look at active listings to see what people are asking for similar properties right now. I look at expired listings because this tells me what is too much to ask - most properties that don't sell are overpriced. Finally, the best indicator of what a property is worth is what someone was willing to pay to buy a similar property and the sold comparatives will hold the greatest weight in my comparison of value. Once all of this is done I will prepare a written report indicating what I found and stating a price or a price range that I would list the property for sale at. At this point, the information can satisfy curiousity, satisfy an accountant or help the owner set an asking price to get the property sold. If you are curious what your property price your property is currently marketable at, please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm happy to visit you and help answer these questions - even if you aren't planning to list your property for sale right now. It's good experience for me and I enjoy the work. On a side note, there is a Mendocino Trail Symposium this weekend sponsored by the Mendocino Land Trust. There are several hikes, a water tour (kayaks), a bike ride and a horseback ride in the morning, followed by an open house from noon to 5pm at Larsen Hall. The open house includes several speakers on various aspects of local trails and it's followed by a social gathering at the North Coast Brewery at 5pm. The link to this is http://www.mendocinolandtrust.org/?Coastal_Trail:Mendocino_Trail_Symposium. I am planning to participate in the 9:30am to 11:30am walk around the former Georgia-Pacific Mill Site. It should be fun and interesting - I hope to see you there!
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2009 is winding down, as is the first decade of the 21st century. I'm not sure I'm sorry to see the end of this decade - we had 9/11, the Iraq war, the housing boom and even greater bust and now what they're calling on 60 Minutes, the Long Recession. I think it's time for some change and some positive growth on all levels. I do have a good feeling about this next year. I sense people's spirits are up, we're all looking forward and wanting something positive in our lives. I think people are going to move to make that happen; if we expect good things then good things will happen. My broker has asked each of us to come up with a business plan for the coming year. I'm going to get started on mine a bit later today and I'm excited about doing it. I read somewhere that a study was done of a group of students graduating from a university; they were asked what they planned to do with their lives. Fifty years later researchers followed up with this same group and they found that those in the group who had written down their plans had acheived them and more, while those who hadn't were still working toward their goals. So I'm anxious to put my goals in writing and to share them with my broker, who will help provide accountability for those plans. Real estate has been quiet over these past weeks. Today there have actually been a few people stopping by the office asking, which is a good sign. I also have a few clients who will be making the trip to the coast over the next few weeks, taking advantage of the lower prices this market has brought. There aren't too many new places on the market this past week but there is one more bank owned property up in Fort Bragg, this one in the mid-range; this is the next segment of foreclosures we're likely to see - not the lowest end, but the step above. I hope everyone has a safe, happy, abundant and prosperous New Year!
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This is just a short entry this week to wish everyone a Merry Christmas if you're celebrating that and a very enjoyable week no matter what you are up to. My family celebrates Christmas and we'll gather at my brother's on the Eve for dinner and presents with my two nephews. I took an art class earlier this year and so I've made most of my gifts - picture frames, book marks and so on. I also made a lot of jelly from the leftover Zin grapes and I baked some absolutely delicious persimmon bread (Google James Beard's persimmon bread and you'll find the site with the recipe). I wanted to share the following video from another Realtor in our Fort Bragg office: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6Z4goUXGmE It's the sweetest lighted boat parade. I hope you all enjoy it. Wishing you many blessings and much joy!
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I just sent out my monthly newsletter (if you don't already receive this, please drop me an email at anne@annefashauer.com) and in that I covered the foreclosure process, mostly as it relates to buying a bank owned property. One subject that came up there that I want to talk a bit about here is the appraisal process. What we've been seeing in the past two years, as prices have continued to fall, is a reluctance on the part of sellers to bring their asking price in line with the current market. Everyone has a hard time swallowing the "loss" of up to half the perceived value of a home. What everyone needs to keep in mind that the value of the home is only what someone is willing to pay for it. If you have owned your home for ten years or more then even in today's market you home is still worth significantly more than what you originally paid for it. Only if you bought your home when prices were high and are trying to sell now are you really going to lose money - really lose it. Otherwise your "loss" is only on paper. Value is also going to be reflected in the appraisal. Let's say you get a nice offer on your home at or near your asking price. The prospective buyers need to get a loan to pay for 80% of the purchase. The lender will require that the property be appraised and will only lend up to that amount. If the offer is more than the appraised amount, you could see the end of your sale right then. At that point you can negotiate with the buyer to purchase at the appraised price; you can also ask for a second appraisal and hope that comes in higher than the first one. Someone will have to pay for this second appraisal and that can be negotiated between the buyer and seller. My point is to think about this before you price the home to go on the market. Make sure you are getting a good CMA (comparative market analysis) from your agent and pay attention to what she or he has to say about the current market. Afterall, this is what this person does to make a living, what they pay attention to day in and out, and it's their expertise that you want on your side. You may not like what you hear - who wants to know their home isn't worth what it was two years ago? - but try to listen objectively if you can. Putting the right price on your home is going to get it sold quicker and with less dilemmas than overpricing it and is going to help ensure it appraises just fine. There are local sing-alongs in both Elk and Boonville and I believe the Greenwood Community Center in Elk is going to have another pizza day the last Saturday of the month. I went to that last month and it was a lot of fun. There were so many good pizzas coming out of that oven! Everyone brings dough and toppings, you make up the pizza, it goes in the oven and in about three minutes it's done. Everyone slices up their pizzas into thin slices so everyone can have a taste. The only down side was filling up before all of the pizzas finished being made! I encourage anyone interested to bring their dough and toppings to the next event. Yum! Until next week, stay dry and don't overdose on shopping!
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It has been a busy few days and I'm sorry to be a few days late in posting to my blog. I've got so many things to talk about I'm not sure where to start! First, the new home buyer and "move up" buyer tax credits. These are really good incentives for purchasing a home right now. Both have been extended to the end of April 2010. Some people think that because the government extended this once they will do it again but word in the industry is that they won't - because that will defeat the whole purpose of the incentive. The government wants you to buy a house and help stimulate the economy. If you hold out thinking you have all the time in the world, this won't work. So if you are at all considering buying, start looking now so you can be buying before the April 30th deadline. I have a lot more detailed information on both credits - for instance, you don't have to have never owned a home to qualify for the first time buyer credit - just not in the past three years. And to qualify for the "move up" credit you don't actually have to be moving up - you can buy a smaller home. You do have to occupy the new home as your primary residence, but you can keep your existing home and rent it out if you want - you don't have to sell it unless you wish to. The amounts of the two credits are up to $8,000 for the first time buyer and up to $6,500 for the "move up" buyer. The Boonville Big Band was excellent last Saturday night in Boonville. There were a lot of people; my friend and I got there about 7:30pm and we ended up sitting at the bar and eating dinner - not a table was to be had! The Big Band supports three singers now - Mitchell Holman, Patrice Kaohi and Sharon Garner - and they all sound great. There were lots of swing dancers and it looked like everyone had a good time - I know I did. My first escrow is closing tomorrow! I can't tell you how exciting this is and what a great experience the whole process has been. My buyers, first time home owners, are very excited as well - and they'll be able to get into their first home in time for Christmas. One area of real estate I learned about was the REO market. REO stands for Real Estate Owned and that's what they call it when the bank owns the property. The property that is closing was a foreclosure and the whole experience is quite a bit different than a regular sale. From the beginning it is all about time and being prepared. I'm going to be sending out my December newsletter as well this week and that is going to be my topic, so check that out for tips and information about buying a home in foreclosure. If you aren't on my email newsletter list, sign up via my website - just go to the contact me portion and send me an email and I'll include you in that. I hope everyone is staying warm with this very cold weather we've been experiencing. I broke the ice on my horses' water trough this morning and it was nearly 3/4 of an inch thick! BRRRR. I also hope you're getting all of your holiday preparations underway and doing so successfully. I might be doing some baking this coming week. I was given a bucket of persimmons and I think I'll be making some cookies and bread out of them. Yum! Until next week - ciao!
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Hard to believe Thanksgiving 2009 has come and gone and here it is December 1st! The day started out cool (47 degrees near Philo) but beautiful. The coast was quite nice, but now at 2pm the fog has come in and we look like Mendocino again. Things seem to be happening again with real estate. Several of the agents in my office have escrows right now and everyone is busy. It's a good feeling after the months of idleness. I really like what I do but I feel the best when I'm actually doing it! I've been listening to several podcasts about the economy as well as reading weekly news bulletins from the California Association of Realtor's; most seem to think we are hitting the bottom of the recession now, possibly even on the beginning of the upward swing. That's encouraging. There are more foreclosures on the radar and jobs haven't stablized, but most areas are ready to absorb more inventory and the lower prices have certainly helped first time buyers. One podcast I really enjoyed was from the Commonwealth Club of California and the speaker was Gary Schlossberg and the program was The Big Picture: What Happened and What's Ahead. If you go to www.commonwealthclub.org you can find his recording in the archives. This weekend there are a couple of exciting events I want to share. Friday and Saturday are performances called Great Feets; they are a contemporary dance troupe that includes aerial silks, trapeze and gymnastics in their dance. They were part of the circus I went to a couple months back and they were very good and I'm looking forward to seeing them again. Saturday night is also the Boonville Big Band at Lauren's Restaurant in Boonville. Always great music and fun and dancing for all. There are also crafts sales all over the place on Saturday - Boonville, Elk and Ukiah for three, but Mendocino has some as well. I want to also give an early head's up about the Soroptomist's of Mendocino's Bingo Bash, which will be held at the end of February next year. It's a very fun evening with a sit down dinner and several bingo games and thousands of dollars in prizes. The money goes to various causes that the Soroptomist's support; last year a good portion of the money went for the funding of *** cancer screenings and other health costs during the month of October at the Coast Clinics. Tickets go fast, so if you want to be included in the invitation list, please let me know right away. I hope you enjoy the rest of your week. I don't know about any of you, but other than for the kids, I'm trying not to do too much shopping this year. I'm working on some art projects, I did some canning earlier in the year and I'm finding gently used books as gifts. It feels good to do this and not just spend a lot of money for things people may or may not even want. Until next week - cheers!
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I found a good article that explains this tax credit and have attached it here. I'll write again later this week but wanted to get this out right away.
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This morning when I took my dogs out all the fields in front of my house were frosty; my thoughts were that yes, I guess Thanksgiving really is next week and Christmas will be right behind that. It was pretty cold too, about 40 degrees in the sun. I guess my basil is done for good now. This weekend, Sunday, is the Greenwood Community Center's first Snow Goose Global Thanksgiving celebration. It starts at 1pm with a potluck and will end at sundown with a special ceremony where we send out peace and harmony to the whole world. It should be a very special day and I hope you are able to make it to Elk for this occasion. Real estate continues to be quiet and probably will stay that way throughout the holiday season. At our last staff meeting my broker showed us a graph of housing sales trends collected over a number of years by Century 21. Traditionally the holidays are very quiet and then we see a spike in January, then it gets quiet again with another spike at the beginning of the summer months. So if you are thinking of listing your property, January might be a good time to catch those buyers! Our Realtor's Association dinner was this past Monday night and it turned out very nice. The food, provided by the Little River Inn (we held the event at their Abalone Room), was delicious. Everyone enjoyed the raffle prizes and we had lots of bids on the silent and live auctions. I think we made less than last year, but given that there have been very few escrows this year, I am very pleased with what we did make (the final numbers aren't in yet) and I think our chosen charities, Project Sanctuary and the Mendocino Coast Children's Fund, will be pleased as well. My brother is going to BBQ our turkey this year. I am almost not sure what to do with all of that oven space - my coworker says "Pies!" I have found a yummy sounding stuffing using Panettone on the Food Network site - I'll let you know what I think of it. I wanted something using dried fruit and this sounds like it fits the bill. I hope you all have a wonderful and filling Thanksgiving. I'm going to take the week off from writing next week, so look for another post here the week after Thanksgiving - I'll let you know then how good the stuffing turned out!
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I'm a bit late writing a blog post for this week - I sent out my monthly newsletter and that took the usual time slot for my blog writing. I wanted to write something even if it's a bit short this week. I want to plug my friend John Fry who has an exhibit of his photography at the Mosswood Cafe in Boonville. John's work is very beautiful and worth seeing. I can also plug Mosswood - they are my favorite coffee shop anywhere and I love their lattes! I hope you can make some time to stop by for a cuppa and check out John's work when you're on your way through town. I've been invited to Local Licks Live at Cotton Auditorium tonight. Local Licks Live is a benefit concert for the coastal schools and it features local artists in concert. Cotton Auditorium is a gorgeous venue, recently restored, and worth a visit in it's own right. If you get a chance to go out tonight, maybe I'll see you there! Finally, I thought I'd include this insert from Market Matters Weekly, the weekly newsletter I receive from the California Association of Realtors(R). This is about the recently signed extension of the home buyer's credit: News Flash Homeowners win big with extension and expansion of federal tax credit The U.S. House of Representatives today voted 403 to 12 to extend and expand the home buyer tax credit. The bill passed the U.S. Senate late yesterday and now will go to President Obama for his signature, where it is expected to be signed this week. The tax credit will be extended through April 30, 2010, with a 60-day extension if a binding contract is in place prior to the deadline. First-time home buyers will continue to receive a tax credit of up to $8,000, while existing homeowners will receive a credit of up to $6,500. Existing homeowners will be eligible for the $6,500 if they have lived in their current residences for at least five years. The bill also will increase the qualifying income limits from $75,000 for single tax filers and $150,000 for joint filers to $125,000 and $225,000, respectively. The purchase price of the home is capped at $800,000. Under additional provisions in the bill, taxpayers can claim the credit on purchases completed in 2010 on their 2009 income tax returns. The bill maintains the provision that home buyers do not have to repay the credit, provided the home remains their primary residence for 36 months after purchase, and waives this requirement for active duty military personnel who move due to a military order. For weeks, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (C.A.R and its members have urged Congress and the U.S. Senate to extend and expand this crucial piece of legislation. Nationwide, more than 1.4 million first-time home buyers were given the opportunity to become homeowners as a result of the Federal Tax Credit for First-time Home Buyers. According to C.A.R. research, nearly 40 percent of first-time home buyers surveyed said they would not have purchased a home without the federal tax credit, and approximately 70 percent said the tax credit was "the most important" or a "very important" factor in their decision to buy a home. I hope you have a great weekend!
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I hope everyone had a happy Halloween and didn't overdo the candy! It seemed like everywhere I went there was candy - and I admit that I ate my share. I spent the evening with friends in Mendocino and that was very nice - lots of children in costumes running about, laughing and having a good time. I went to the street fair that Frankie's sponsored - that was also a lot of fun; live music, acrobats on the silks and the trapeze, and my favorite, the fire dancers. This was also the week that my vineyard was harvested; it was pretty nerve wracking, determing when to harvest, would the sugars be high enough, had the rot taken hold, but it turned out fabulously - 14.25 tons at 25.5 brix. Everyone was happy! I went out yesterday afternoon and gleaned enough grapes still left on the vines to make a batch of yummy grape jelly. I think I will make at least one more batch, maybe two, if I can get back out there before they either get rained on or continue to rot. The honey bees are loving the few grapes left out there - I don't remember seeing so many bees; I think they are taking advantage and stocking up for winter themselves. Real estate continues to seem to be moving in the right direction. I opened an escrow this week, proof that there are buyers out there for the right place at the right price. And price continues to be the issue. The largest segment of buyers are the first time buyers, with some investment buyers out there as well. First time buyers are looking for what will fit their budget, usually the lower end, and thanks to the $8,000 first time buyer credit, we are seeing a lot more of these buyers. Investors are looking for something they can buy and rent out and make the payments and eventually see a return on. I am finally noticing that sellers are coming back to reality and are pricing their homes so that they can be sold; this is our market, today, not what happened two or three years ago. I have been working as part of the committee for our annual Realtor's officer installation dinner this year. I have been so amazed and grateful to so many people and businesses who have generously donated to our fundraiser. As part of the dinner we hold a raffle, a live auction and a silent auction; this year the money will benefit Project Sanctuary and the Mendocino Coast Children's Fund. We keep hearing how bad things are out there and yet during this lean period people are wonderfully generous and continue to think about others who have even less. This has been a truly inspiring experience. I hope you get a chance to enjoy our beautiful fall weather these last few days before winter decides to move in for the season.
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Last week I had another birthday! I ended up spending part of the day with friends and their horses, which was very nice. I took a two hour lesson, with my friend Floriane, with a wonderful trainer named John St. Ryan. His methods are simple and clear and it was wonderful to watch my horse respond so quickly. The idea is to do very little - small movements, little noise - and train the horse to listen to subtle cues. Have you ever seen people make a horse do all sorts of different moves and yet you cannot pick out the riders' movements? That's where this type of riding can lead. I also had a group of friends over this weekend which was quite lovely. Another aspect of living in this area is the community that develops. The group was made up of a variety of people - a winemaker, an ag teacher, a contractor, a timber faller, two writers, a few other real estate agents and some of my horsey friends. We shared good food and lovely local wines and lots of conversation. This weekend is Halloween! Elk is again doing the family event at the Greenwood Community Center - an early bird dinner of hamburgers and local veggies, trick-or-treating, a parade of costumes and candy sharing. It should be a fun time. In Mendocino Frankie's is hosting the 2nd Annual Halloween Street Party. If you didn't get a chance to go to the Circus you'll get another chance to see some of the same performers. I personally like the Inspyred Fyre and Light performers - something about the spinning fire entrances me. I'm going to be there - hope you can make it as well. Things looked up for me personally with real estate this week - I've written an offer for some first time buyers on a nice home! We're all very excited and I hope this dream of home ownership for them comes true. There appears to be some evidence that we'll see some bank owned properties in the Mendocino Village; if you would like to see these when they come on the market let me know and I'll email you the listing. Until next week, get out there with the ghouls and goblins and have a good time!
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This past weekend I went to the circus! What a fun and amazing time I had. There are so many talented people here in our area. We were treated to all ages on the silks, performing amazing feats of strength and agility, fire dancers (using light, not fire indoors!), mimes (my friend's two boys, quite talented), live music and a unique dance performance that included not one but two women on the trapeze. It was our or Cirque du Soleil-like experience. This was the third annual FLY fundraiser, a joint fundraising effort for the Ft. Bragg schools and MECCA (Mendocino Circus performers - Ok, I can't remember what the acronym was exactly for). We were also treated to quite a bit of rain over the past week. The dust, and hopefully, the fire danger appears past for another year. I only got caught out once, while walking the dogs, and all of us got soaked to the skin. The grass is starting to green again, making this another of my favorite times of the year. My horses are happily munching every little sprig they can. The market continues to feel like a corner is being turned; we have people walking in - even on the rainiest day last week I had people looking in the window and stopping by to ask about property for sale. There's no doubt that prices have continued to fall; it appears that homes in and around Boonville have probably lost a further $100,000 in the past six months, in my opinion. The Valley was one of the areas to be slower to lose value so this correction was due. Mendocino hasn't fallen as much but sales there continue to stagnate, so we may start to see sellers tired of waiting and putting more realistic prices on their properties. I do get asked about current interest rates and today's rates from Century 21 Mortgage for a standard, conforming, 30 year loan are as follows: Closest to 2 points* 4.750 Closest to 1 point* 5.000 Closest to 0 points* 5.250 *Points include both origination fee and discount points. If you want more information on the rates drop me an email and I'll be happy to forward the whole rate sheet to you - I get the sheet daily from Century 21 Mortgage. What's next on the local events calendar? November sees the Wine and Crab Days here in and around Mendocino. Halloween is only a couple weeks away - and if you want a pumpkin we'll be giving them away this coming Saturday at the Mendocino office. Elk has a small celebration for the children both before and after the trick or treating - check out www.elkweb.org for more information. The Greenwood Community Center is also planning to take part in the Peace Thanksgiving this year, the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving Day; again, more information can be found at ElkWeb, and as we get closer I'll include more information here. As always, I hope you are enjoying the beautiful fall weather and that you'll make it to one of our local events soon. Until next week, wishing you the best!
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