Springfield, OR

Herrick Farms, a great place for fresh produce

I love this time of year in Oregon. There is nothing better than fresh sweet corn on the cob and fresh field ripened tomatoes. Add a bit of cantaloupe and peaches for desert and you are in heaven.

There are several places in and around the Eugene/Springfield area to get your fresh produce. The most advertised and well known are Thistledown Farms and Lone Pine Farms (no not loan pine).

It is a long drive from Thurston to get to either of them and still quite a jaunt to get to Johnson Farms off of Game Farm Road. But, it is just a little way down to road to get to Herrick Farms in Walterville. Just head out 126 toward the mountains and right after you cross the McKenzie River, look for Herrick Farms on the left.

The have great produce all through the summer into the fall. The great taste of Bodacious Corn or Hermiston Melons is a summer treat. See you at the Farm.

OK, I have been thinking about this for some time. The only thing stopping me was I wasn't sure how to start it. I also didn't know exactly how to end it. As a matter of fact, I wasn't exactly sure what to put in the middle either. But, other than that, I knew exactly how I wanted it to go.

I want to discuss finding your BLISS. I want to talk about what makes you happy. I want you to look at things a bit differently and not be down because of what is happening around you. I know this is a stressful time in the Real Estate business, but we can make it through it. I had it all written an hour ago, finally got my thoughts together and my computer decided to reset itself. All gone. Hopefully, this will even be better than the original.

First of all, let me explain that I have had my share of hardships and down times in my life. The worst happened this past year when my wife of 35 years, Elaine, passed away. She was my motivation and it was a huge change in my life when that happened. Elaine, as we told everyone, was my first wife, and I was her last husband. That is one of the reasons that I became a grandfather at 32 and a great grandfather at 54.

Now, to begin with, nothing can MAKE you happy. Nothing can MAKE you sad. You decide how you are going to feel. Feelings are not right or wrong, they just are. You decide how to respond to stimuli and happenings. Right now, the stimuli of the mortgage business is pretty negative. I have even heard that there are some areas of the country that has had a slow down in Real Estate sales. I know that is very hard to believe, but I have heard stories.

So, what is the result of your BLISS? You notice, I didn't ask what caused your BLISS, I asked the result of it. We make our own decisions as to how we feel and if we are actually finding what we are looking for, don't we?

There really isn't much that makes me feel better than helping someone purchase their first home and that contributes to my BLISS. But I actually find my BLISS in several ways. Here are some of the ways I celebrate my BLISS. I am going to add some of the ways my wife did also.

Grandchildren are God's way of rewarding us for not killing our children when they were young. Great grandchildren are interest on that.

I managed to purchase a Mustang convertible for Elaine a few months before she passed away. She loved it and I received tremendous pleasure from her enjoyment.

Vacations are excellent ways to enjoy joint BLISS. We loved Mazatlan and I have such fond memories of Mexico.

Fishing (well catching actually) is so much fun and relaxing. I normally do catch and release, but I really like eating salmon.

My wife celebrated her BLISS with gardening. Now, as a farm boy from Salem, I had enough of this when I was growing up, but again I enjoyed her pride in her garden.

I also celebrate the accomplishments of my children. My daughter is a registered nurse and my son retired as a Chief Petty Officer from the Navy. Wow!

Watching my son drive a NASCAR at 142 miles per hour was a real trip. I would have been interested, but they didn't have a big enough window to get me in and out of.

You can choose your friends, but family you are stuck with. In this area, I feel pretty good. I have lost my parents but both my older brother and sister are still around and we talk often. This is my sister's anniversary photo. They have been married over 50 years and neither one has killed the other, yet. Must have been some BLISS in there somewhere.

I used to ride a motorcycle (until the car hit me), but my memories of cruising around Guam with my wife will continue to add to my BLISS.

Finally, I want to discuss unconditional love. I know that humans talk about unconditional love and are capable of it from time to time. However, when you want unconditional love, I recommend a dog. No matter what, they love you for who you are no matter what is happening to you at the moment.

Well, this is pretty long and rambling, but I hope it is useful to someone. Please feel free to add things that bring you BLISS. Include photos.

The Jasper Extension, renamed the Bob Straub Parkway, should be done this fall when connection is made with Jasper Road.

As an Oregon native and knowing who Bob Straub was (Governor 1975 - 1979), I am quite surprised that anything is named after him, except for a small rest area somewhere remote. If you search Bob Straub, you won't come up with much on him, which is pretty appropriate for a real do nothing governor. To be honest, if you search Robert Straub, you get more, but he was still a pretty ineffective governor in a pretty long line of ineffective governors.

However, the extension of I-105 through Thurston (Springfield) connects with Jasper Road while opening up a substantial portion of Thurston to development. Springfield is a growth community and is looking for ways to expand and develop. The extension will effectively connect Hwy 58 and Springfield.

The new 3-lane road will be constructed between South 57th and Jasper Road in southeast Springfield. Lane County is providing approximately $5 million from the County Road Fund for the project and the City of Springfield is providing the other $300,000.

The parkway is being constructed primarily through vacant land and will connect to Jasper Road near Brand S Road. The new roadway will provide an arterial link between Highway 58 and Main Street and will open the Natron area of Springfield for future development. It will also help alleviate the heavy truck traffic on Jasper Road, that has been classified a safety zone.

I live in the area and want to know why the second phase of the construction, which is complete, isn't open yet?

Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend, Springfield, OR, is the newest, most state of the art hospital in Oregon. It has to be the newest, because it doesn't open until tomorrow. The staff has been working to get everything ready for the opening, including doing dry runs to transfer patients.

There will be an explosion of ambulance and helicopter traffic tomorrow as the approximately 200 patients are moved from the current hospital location in the University District of Eugene to the Gateway area of Springfield.

As part of the construction, Pioneer Parkway in Springfield was extended to the RiverBend location. It has the distinction of having one of the few roundabouts in Lane County, and the only one that is two lanes each direction.

"The move day plan allows for moving up to 300 patients over 10 hours, although the hospital has attempted to decrease its census by stopping elective surgeries so a more likely number is 150 to 200 patients," said Jill Hoggard Green, chief operating officer and administrator of Sacred Heart at RiverBend.

The hospital will have large, comfortable private rooms, many with outstanding views. There will also be in-room sleeping accommodations, so a family member can be close by for support.

The medical center is named after a bend in the McKenzie River that adjoins the property, hence "RiverBend." They have worked to keep the beauty of RiverBend through architecture and landscaping. It is set on 181 acres and blends the best of hospitality and health care design to create a place that promotes healing and wellness.

In the City of Eugene, it is called HAP. In the City of Springfield, it is called SHOP. Both of them are programs to help low to moderate income purchasers get into their first home. The State of Oregon operates a similiar program called PAL for outside of Eugene/Springfield but it is out of money, again. Outside the Eugene/Springfield urban growth boundry, the USDA Farm Home Economic Development loans are available to 100% financing.

Eugene HAP, homeowner assistance program, and the Springfield home ownership program, are designed to help first time home buyers with the down payment and closing costs in their purchase. Each offer up to a $10,000 interest free, payment free second mortgage for this purpose. The loan is accepted by FHA as a viable method of obtaining down payment money and is also accepted on some conforming products.

Prospective SHOP and HAP recipients are required to complete The ABC's of Homebuying seminar. The course is designed to help you decide if buying a home is right for you and to understand the home buying process. The class is presented by NEDCO (Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation)and taught by experienced volunteers. The class is generally scheduled for one Saturday each month. Please check out my previous blog for details about NEDCO.

Basically, the rules are pretty simple. First, the buyer must qualify based on income, currently from $31,100 to $58,600, depending on family size. Next, you must be pre-approved for a loan program that will accept this program for down payment and closing cost assistance. They most often work best with an FHA loan, but I have also used it with a VA loan. The conventional loans are a bit harder, but can be done if the credit is good.

Then, find the house that suits you. If you need a Realtor, I am more than happy to recommend one. There are housing requirements. For instance, it must be owner occupied or vacant, unless you are renting it. The program funding these loans does not want to force current renters out on the street. Both SHOP & HAP have funds at this time, but that is subject to change as the funds are used. The link to the Springfield program is: http://www.ci.springfield.or.us/dsd/Housing/shop.start.htm. Please note the list of lenders is dramatically out of date. A lot of the lenders on the list don't exist any longer. We, Alpine Mortgage Planning, are approved to work with both programs.

Buying a home is a major step in anyone's life. That is one of the reasons that both programs require the ABC's of Homebuying seminar. It is a great program for anyone to partake, even if you aren't applying for one of these loans. The link for the Eugene HAP is: http://www.eugene-or.gov/portal/server.pt?space=CommunityPage&control=SetCommunity&CommunityID=229&PageID=525

These programs are funded with money from HUD and are excellent ways to help first time home buyers. With the elimination (probable) of the Down Payment Assistance (DPA) programs, we need to find every way possible to help our new buyers in this market place.

One interesting side note, with both programs, if the buyers has a non occupant co-buyer on an FHA loan, the co-buyer can help the buyer qualify (income) for the primary loan but that income is not counted for qualifying for the secondary loan. Additionally, all household income is counted when determining if someone qualifies for the no interest loan. There are, as always, some exceptions. I am always here to answer questions.