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WolfTeam News

August 29, 2010

Good Attitude for Anchorage’s Rainy 2010 “Non-Summer”

Filed under: Alaska,Just for fun,Life in Anchorage,Uncategorized — Tags: , , — Dan @ 6:15 am

Anchorage totally missed out on the best part of there summer. It was a reasonable spring and early summer through June. In July it started raining and couldn’t seem to quit. Anchorage Daily News reported a new record for consecutive days of rain. It’s 30 as of my post today.

A work-mate of mine is working on approaching life with a positive attitude. Personally, I respect the effort; reading his list below, you’ll see he’s really stretching to find positive things to say. On his drive from Peters Creek, about 1/2 hour north of Anchorage, he wrote the following 35 reasons to be thankful for the rain and I want to share them

The wet ground is pushing up mushrooms!

with you.

35 things I’m grateful for on a rainy day – by Rob King

  1. We have a great roof that doesn’t leak a drop
  2. I don’t have to water the lawn
  3. The air smells clean
  4. Its not snowing
  5. I look out my office window at lush green
  6. Rain encourages me to go to the gym
  7. We have reliable cars and don’t have to walk in the rain
  8. My car has a front windshield (saw one yesterday that didn’t)
  9. Good Windshield wiper blades
  10. It discourages me from taking the day off – promotes responsible behavior
  11. Our home lot drains well
  12. Our trees are growing well
  13. Fire danger low
  14. No smoke in the air (last year we had forest fires)
  15. I don’t have nearly as much wet grass to mow as my neighbor
  16. A free fresh water rinse for the four wheelers and boats
  17. Fall rainbow fishing
  18. Bilge pumps
  19. Weather complainers are easily identified
  20. The sound of rain on the deck is soothing
  21. It’s too muddy to work in the yard
  22. Fishing spots are less crowded
  23. Good summer tires
  24.  Bugs are kept at bay
  25. Indoor plumbing
  26. Hiking in the rain is kinda cool
  27. Less people on the trails
  28. We own good rain gear
  29. I love my Muck boots
  30. Four wheeling in the mud is fun
  31. Not suffering from the effects of global warming
  32. Indoor sports
  33. Don’t have to take the kids to football practice
  34. Bad hair is acceptable
  35. A warm dry, bed and someone to share it with

Rob King

Thanks Rob.  You rock.  Thank you for setting a practical example of seeing the positive side of a rainy gray day.

August 18, 2010

The American Dream – Still Alive and Well!

Filed under: General Real Estate Industry News,Property Values,Saving Money,Uncategorized — Tags: — Dan @ 4:37 pm

In spite  of a few tough real estate years and some people who have had some real estate related problems, many Americans still value home-ownership and

Proceed with caution, but Real Estate is still favored

consider home ownership to be MORE than just a simple financial investment. 

According to a recent Fannie Mae National Housing Survey:

* Eight out of 10 Americans believe home-ownership is important to the economy.

* 64 percent think it is a good time to buy a house,

* 37 percent of Americans think housing prices will rise and 36 percent think prices will stay the same over the next 12 months.

* 60 percent believe buying a home today is harder than it was for their parents, and 68 percent believe buying a home will be even more difficult for their children.

* Seven out of 10 homeowners say they believe buying a home continues to be one of the safest investments available.

* 65 percent say they prefer owning over renting.

* 93 percent of homeowners with fixed-rate loans and predictable payments say they are more satisfied than those with other types of mortgages.

August 16, 2010

Buying Your First Home

Filed under: Just for fun — Tags: , , — Dan @ 2:41 pm

I saw this “make your own” video program.  It looked easy, cheap and fun.  It was all of those things!  This is a skit between two young people on good reasons to buy your own home!

August 11, 2010

Favorable Economic Outlook for Anchorage

Filed under: Alaska,General Real Estate Industry News — Tags: , — Dan @ 2:40 pm

Anchorage Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) released a three year economic outlook for the

Dusky day in Anchorage

Anchorage economy.  Chief executive officer, Bill Popp says Anchorage is expected to have “steady, solid growth” and the forecast offers some “cautious optimism for the business community“. 

Click here to download the full report here.

The report provides  a “big picture” of the forces shaping Anchorage’s economy and where they most likely will take us over the next several years.  The road to recovery may be a bumpy one, but the economic climate is much less turbulent in mid-2010 than it was 12 months ago.

The report says Anchorage’s population reached 290,588 in 2009, an increase of 2.4 percent over 2008.  The 2009 population increase was about twice the average annual rate of growth for the decade.  AEDC says this strong growth was dues to a surge in net migration as the economy remained relatively healthy during the deep national recession and consequently an attractive place for job seekers.  Overall, fewer Anchorage residents left the city to seek greener pastures in 2009, green pastures were hard to come by, and more people from outside the city and state to moved to Anchorage.

August 4, 2010

Anchorage Alaska Top Selling Real Estate Agent

Filed under: General Real Estate Industry News,Price & Value,Property Values,Uncategorized — Tags: , , — Dan @ 2:56 pm

What is a logical way to find a real estate agent when you have a real estate need, such as a property you want to sell or you want to find a property to purchase? 

When you want a reliable agent who do you call?

If you are in your home-town, talking to your friends or people at work is a good way to get a referral of real estate agents that others have used, but what if you want to look at property in a new community and don’t know anyone in that town?

There are several ways to approach it.  One would be to look for an agent who has listings in areas that you like.  Obviously they are working and local sellers trust them enough to list their properties with them.  If you are in the community, look for the real estate “for-sale” signs of agents who are active in the area’s you like.

Look at the agents website and check out their blog to see if you can relate to the person and identify with them.  Do they have active listings on their website?  Some agents have a lot of sold and pending listings on their site, but you don’t know how recent those sales were. 

Most agents have a page on their website that says “About Me”.  Check it out, is this someone you feel you can trust and be comfortable with?  “Google” their name and see what comes up to get a feel for who they are and how large a real estate “foot print” they have on the Internet.  The agents who have been arouund the longest aren’t “secret agents.”  Their sucess leaves tracks where they’ve been.

The most seasoned and experienced real estate professionals remain in business because they receive referrals and repeat business from satisfied past customers.  Newer agents need to constantly prospect for business while building a clientele base.  Some agents, of course, never make it to “successful agent” status because it takes a lot of work and time to earn the reputation as an agent who “delivers the goods’.

The Pareto Principal (the 80/20 rule) certainly applies to real estate agents.   80% of the business is done by 20% of the licensees.  In fact, it may even be greater in our community, where 90% of the real estate business is done by 10% of the real estate practitioners.

If you are selling or buying, you want someone that is active in th market. If the agent isn’t active, you’ll get “guesses” on your questions and not answers you can be confident in.  If the agent doesn’t know the market, how can they assist you in what would be a good offer or when a property is over-priced?

Copyright 2011 Dan Wolf, Realtor
All rights reserved.

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