Missoula, MT

Missoula Real Estate Market Update - August 1, 2009

During the month of July, Missoula saw a dip in the median home price on homes that were sold during the month. For the year, however, that decrease is low. In the Missoula real estate market the median price is down only about 1% as compared to other areas of the country that saw a significant drop in home prices.

There is a lot for buyers to choose from on the market currently which does indicate a buyer's market. Active listings are up about 25% at the end of August compared to the end of January. And foreclosures account for about 14% of that market (compared to 50% and higher in some of the most distressed markets).

There are reasons for optimism that the Missoula real estate market has stabilized including an increase in sales activity during the month of August and the early part of September, including increased calls and showing.

Residential Market Activity in the Missoula Urban Area
(residential, AND residential with acreage)

Missoula Urban Area - Month of July

Year	# of Sales	Median Price	Avg Days on Market
2009	101	$223,900	113
2008	110	$235,190	107
2007	141	$222,500	97
2006	145	$212,000	84
2005	148	$184,675	98
2004	135	$185,000	90

Missoula Urban Area - YTD - January 1 through July 31, 2009

Year	# of Sales	Median Price	Avg Days on Market
2009	480	$215,000	125
2008	577	$218,000	116
2007	733	$215,000	120
2006	860	$205,000	105
2005	770	$186,000	110
2004	664	$178,000	103

Sales represent properties that have transferred and the transaction has closed. It is the best reliable indicator of what prices the real estate market will bear.

Source: Missoula Organization of Realtors (R) Market information solely from listings entered into the MOR Regional Multiple Listing Service. Therefore, figures may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.

For questions on the Missoula or Western Montana Real Estate Market, contact Access Realty at 406-822-SOLD (7653) or visit us online at www.AccessRealty.net.

Forbes Magazine Ranks Missoula as One of North America's Top 10 Trout Towns!

Forbes just released its list of the Top 10 Trout Towns in North America - Missoula, Montana is on that list.

According to government statistics, some 11 million anglers in the U.S. and Canada search for that moment of beauty every year - fly fishing. President Obama joined the ranks recently when he fished for trout in Montana.

Forbes Magazine states:

Missoula is a laid-back college town with a serious trout-fishing addiction. Anglers can fish the bouldery Blackfoot (A River Runs Through It author Norman Maclean's home river) and the cottonwood-lined Bitteroot, both of which empty into the Clark Fork, named after explorer, William Clark, which has 300 miles of fishable water.

Missoula Montana (MT) is an amazing place to live and work. We are in a deep valley with three rivers the Clark Fork River, the Blackfoot River, and the Bitterroot River flowing through most of the County. Needless to say, Missoula is an outdoor enthusiast's paradise!

Missoula County is home to approximately 95,000 people in several welcoming communities. Communities include Missoula - the County Seat, Lolo, Frenchtown, Huson, East Missoula, and Bonner.

According to Kingfisher, one of Missoula's top Fly Shops,

In Missoula, Over 80% of our fishing is with dryflies. Montana has more miles of wild trout rivers than any other state in the lower 48 . . . by far! It's also true that the vast majority of these rivers just happen to be in the western part of the state.

Missoula has the reputation within the state of being the "banana belt" of Montana. This is because we have much milder winters than the majority of Montana, and a MUCH longer dryfly season than anywhere else in the country. Fish Missoula and see why it's the Crown Jewel of the Rockies!

Also Read - A River Runs Through It, Missoula Montana

For more information on Missoula's Rivers, visit Riverfront Montana. Are you thinking about a Western Montana Fly Fishing Property? Contact Montana River Front Real Estate Specialists Kevin & Monica Ray of Access Realty at 406-207-1185 or Search All Missoula Area Listings for Free.

Missoula, MT - August 25, 2009 – Goomzee, a leading provider of text-message marketing solutions for real estate professionals, announced today one of its latest innovations for marketing professionals, drag and drop photo organizing. This functionality is available within its web-based campaign management software that its customers use to publish and manage text message marketing campaigns. The new functionality will allow any user to reorganize photos and captions in seconds right from their web browser with a simple drag and drop interface.

Sales professionals realize that photos are essential when marketing any product or service today, and real estate marketing is no exception. Recognizing this need several years ago, Goomzee introduced its patent-pending technology, Mobile Virtual Tours. According to the company, users can upload photos from their computer or from any website, and the system generates a multi-photo slideshow that can be delivered to mobile devices as a single message, saving consumers from expensive messages or annoying ‘blasts’ of multiple messages. When photos are automatically retrieved from MLS data feeds, the need for users to reorder photos, and their captions, was recognized so the company introduced the ability to reorder photos with a simple drag and drop interface.

“We continue to push the envelope when it comes to innovation that improves our customers’ businesses. In the past year we have led the industry with innovations such as our exclusive Auto Responder, interACT lead follow up system, Dashboard with printable reporting and interactive charting, and now with our Drag & Drop photo reordering technology,” claims Mike Sparr, Goomzee’s founder and CEO. “REALTOR associations, MLS’s, and enterprise clients continue to choose Goomzee over others, noting that our products and company offer more depth in technology, responsiveness and industry expertise than any they evaluate. We always strive to be the best at what we do and the industry has certainly noticed. I’m grateful for our wonderful clients nationwide who’ve helped us make this possible; rest assured, our commitment to innovation and quality continues.”

Drag and drop interfaces are common with desktop software but they are now becoming more popular within web applications. As web browser technology advances, the line between desktop applications and web-based applications blurs, exposing users to a richer online user experience. Goomzee’s adoption of these emerging web standards is yet another example of what users come to expect from leading web-based technology solutions.

About Goomzee
Founded in 2003, Goomzee Corporation is a leading national real estate marketing and technology solutions provider. The company’s core technology is specifically designed to connect buyers and sellers. Clients look to Goomzee for global expertise in mobile and web-based technology solutions. For more information about Goomzee, visit http://www.goomzee.com .

Contact:

Goomzee Corporation
Mike Sparr, CEO
406-542-9955
mike@goomzee.com
http://www.goomzee.com

As you may know, the holdings of Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions have recently been re-branded as LPS Real Estate Group. Some individuals in the industry instantly labeled the move as a “Fire Sale”, but in reality the situation is really nothing more than a simple name change. Well, maybe I shouldn’t have spoken so quickly. “Simple” is misleading, as the advent of LPS has caused a bit of confusion among Real Estate agents and RE tech vendors alike, many of which work with FNRES-now-LPS on a daily basis.

With this confusion in mind, I set out to decipher the Rubix cube that is LPS’ corporate history. Thankfully, several timelines made my job quite easy; here are my findings:

It all started when Fidelity National Financial (FNF) acquired Chicago Title and Trust Co. in 2000. Finalized on March 20^th, the acquisition set FNF up to host a “leading market share in excess of 30%”. A worthy feat, no doubt, but Fidelity neglected to rest on its laurels. In 2001, a merger with VISTAinfo spawned Fidelity’s Mortgage Information Services (MIS) branch. MIS promptly announced joint ownership of a leading national real estate database with LexisNexis (a global business information provider), and followed up with what FNF deemed the “best in industry” MLS system and IDX framing solution. MIS rounded off the year with an acquisition of HomeSeekers’ XMLSweb™ division, a move which carried over into 2002 with MIS’s follow-up acquisition of ISDI and FNF’s acquisition of Eastern Software’s Empower.

Unbeknownst to many, Fidelity National Financial had big, big plans for 2003. While all of the action listed above was going on, ALLTEL Information Systems had been quietly chugging along, processing roughly 20 million loans in the late ‘90s and slowly but surely acquiring underwriters, data systems, and mortgage software. 2003 broke the seal on a new era for the loan community as FNF acquired ALLTEL’s financial services division and renamed it Fidelity Information Services. With their loan processing powerhouse in place, FIS was now in a position to make a series of corporate acquisitions that stretched for the next three years. The list includes such software companies as Hamilton & Sullivan Ltd., Kordoba GmbH & Co., Aurum Technology, Certegy, and Sanchez Computer Associates.

By the end of 2006, Fidelity’s MSP mortgage platform was processing over 28 million loans, had become a publicly traded company, had been named the #1 bank technology firm in America, and had also been named to the S&P 500 index. FNRES was fast becoming the “go-to” name for loans, financial technology, and MLS software. FIS launched their Loan Portfolio Solutions division in 2007, and a year later went live with Lender Processing Services as a publicly traded company. LPS then formed the LPS Real Estate Group to monitor FNRES’ real estate related holdings. This is how the company stands today, a thriving, complex financial powerhouse.

I hope this synopsis clears up confusion for some of you. Like many in the industry, we here at Goomzee were thrown for quite a loop when we began hearing buzz about LPS. Now that we have the names straight, we look forward to working with the LPS Real Estate Group.

Missoula Montana Free Wi-Fi Wireless Internet Locations in the Garden City

Missoula MT has many locations with free public Wi-Fi Wireless Internet access points around the city. Local businesses are starting to realize that Missoulians want their internet and they want it Free!

Here is a list of Wi-Fi Wireless Internet Locations in Missoula, MT

Missoula Free Wi-Fi Locations at Coffee Houses & Restaurants, and Bars

1.) Break Espresso - One of Missoula's best local coffee shops, Break Espresso is located in downtown Missoula on at 432 North Higgins, Missoula, MT Phone: 728-7300.

2.) Food for Thought - A college favorite, located across from the University of Montana campus on the corner of Arthur and Daly - 540 Daly Ave, Missoula, MT Phone: 721-6033

3.) Liquid Plant - Located in downtown Missoula at 223 N. Higgins, Ave., Missoula, MT Phone: 541-4541.

4.) Butterfly Herbs - Missoula's favorite herb store with a great coffee house in the back, also in downtown Missoula at 232 North Higgins, Missoula, MT Phone: 728-8780

5.) Sean Kelly's Public House - a popular downtown Missoula pub and restaurant, one of my favorite places for lunch! Located at 130 West Pine Street, Missoula, MT Phone: 542-1471

6.) Tropical Smoothie Cafe - My favorite place for smoothies in Missoula, located at 1300 South Reserve Street, Missoula, MT Phone: 543-1141

7.) Taco Del Sol - Located in downtown Missoula at 422 North Higgins Ave., Missoula, MT Phone: 327-8929

8.) The Press Box Bar & Restaurant - Near the University of Montana footbridge, 835 E. Broadway Street, Missoula, MT Phone: 721-1212.

9.) The Oxford - One of Missoula's historic bars, the Oxford also has a diner and Keno/Poker. Located in downtown Missoula at 337 North Higgins, Missoula, MT Phone: 549-0117. Open 24 hours.

10.) Fuddruckers - Located at 2805 North Reserve Street, Missoula, MT Phone: 721-4577

11.) Subway in Southgate Mall - 2901 Brooks Street, Missoula, MT Phone: 542-7771.

12.) Muralt's Travel Plaza - Located at 8800 Truck Stop Road, Missoula - off Interstate-90 and Highway 93, Phone: 728-4700. Open 24 hours.

13.) City Brew Coffee - Located at 400 West Broadway, Missoula, MT Phone: 721-3600.

14.) Denny's Restaurant - Located across from Southgate Mall at 2922 Brooks Street, Missoula, MT Phone: 549-2191. Open 24 hours.

15.) Perkins - Located at 2275 North Reserve Street, Missoula, MT Phone: 543-3330. Open 24 hours.

16.) Worden's Market - Located in downtown Missoula at 451 North Higgins, Missoula, MT Phone: 549-1293

17.) Hardback Cafe at Hastings Bookstore - 2501 Brooks Street, Missoula, MT Phone: 542-1077.

18.) Finnegan's located near the University of Montana at 700 East Broadway, Missoula, MT Phone: 542-2752. Open 24 hours.

19.) Dairy Queen - at 3753 North Reserve, Missoula MT Phone: 728-5950

20.) Flanagan's Motors - great to use when you're getting you're oil changed! Located at 1776 Stephens, Missoula MT Phone: 721-1381

21.) Flipper's Casino - Open 24-hours, downtown Missoula at 125 S. 3rd St. West, Missoula, MT 59801 Phone: 721-4895

Missoula Free Wi-Fi Public Locations & Retail Stores

1.) Missoula Public Library - 301 East Main Street, Missoula, MT Phone: 721-2665

2.) Caras Park - located in downtown Missoula along the Clark Fork River at 131 South Higgins Avenue.

3.) Barnes & Noble - located at 2640 North Reserve St., Missoula, MT Phone: 721-0009

4.) Safeway - 3801 S. Reserve Street, Missoula, MT 59801 Phone: 406-251-3311

5.) Safeway - 610 W. Broadway St., Missoula, MT 59802 Phone: 406-549-5429

Missoula Free Wi-Fi Locations - Hotels

1.) Courtyard by Marriot, located at 4559 N Reserve Street, Missoula, MT Phone: 549-5260

2.) Ruby's Inn - Lobby & Meeting Center Only - 4825 North Reserve, Missoula, MT Phone: 721-0990

3.) Econo Lodge - 4953 N Reserve St., Missoula, MT Phone: 542-7550

4.) La Quinta - 5059 N Reserve St., Missoula, MT Phone: 549-9000

5.) Val-U Inn - 3001 Brooks St., Missoula, MT Phone: 721-9600

6.) Jim & Mary's RV Park - 9800 Highway 93 North, Missoula, MT 549-4416

7.) Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park - 200 South Pattee Street, Missoula, MT 532-2053

Missoula Free Wi-Fi Locations - Laundramats

1.) Sparkle Laundry - Located at 812 South Higgins, Missoula, MT 721-5146

DID WE MISS ANY? If so, just send us an email and we'll add to the list!