Jean Elmore, GRI, e-PRO

It's Groundhog Day, the sun is shining brightly in the Yamhill Valley and. according to folklore, this means we are in for six more weeks of winter. We've had enough!! Fortunately, in the world of real estate spring officially begins in February.

Even in this economic climate the phone calls, emails and website inquiries are beginning again right on schedule.

The timing is perfect for buyers and sellers with children in school. The buyers will generally begin a home search in February, casually surfing the internet to see what's available in their target neighborhood or city. By April they have seen or inquired about a number of properties and narrowed choices to a few. Assuming a choice is made and a contract is negotiated by April 15, the sale could close just after Memorial Day since a typical escrow with a new loan takes about six weeks.

For the best chance of making it onto the buyer's short list, sellers should be cleaning those closets, washing those windows and sweeping the sidewalk. And be sure the sign in the yard is with a Realtor who can give you maximum internet exposure for the February web surfers.

And don't forget the primroses on the front porch.

A GOOD TIME TO BUY

Not ready to buy?
Prices could soon start upward.
Equity to build.

BUYER'S LAMENT

Have we hit bottom?
Can't tell 'til prices go up.
Oops missed it again

IT'S TIME TO START LOOKING

Your credit is great
Solid banks are now lending.
Rates are fantastic.

Author's Note: Now that I have had my fun and no doubt appalled many real haiku writers I can only hope that the message is clear: There won't be a better time than this to invest in real estate. In 1941 my father paid $600 for the home I grew up in and I often heard him say, "I wish I had bought every home on the street."

A GOOD TIME TO SELL

A bad time to sell?
I have buyers with money.
No good stuff to show.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Prices are holding
is our Valley's big secret.
Print news is all gloom.

MY DILEMMA

Clients are coming
but I can't show your listing.
It's not in the mix.

I've just returned from a week of enjoying the beaches and relaxed atmosphere of South Padre Island, Texas. Each year we are able to book the same room with the same view at our favorite hotel and have been watching with interest the progress of a highly-touted luxury resort condominium project in full view of our hotel balcony. Last year we noted that many of the units had been presold and expected the resort to be up and running this year and were thinking of enduring a sales pitch just to get a tour of the facilities.

We found that construction had been halted last year and is not expected to resume. The skeletal structure is now known locally as "The Leaning Tower of Padre" because the entire 26-story building has shifted at it's supports and leaning toward the northwest. Check out the photo. For reference, there is a construction crane visible to the right of the building that is perpendicular. Can you see the tilt? Articles I was able to find in the local media indicated that the structure would stay where it is until a $125 million dollar lawsuit had been settled. The beautiful landscape of the island will be blighted for some time, it seems.

Unlike Oregon where building codes are in place and subject to inspection at nearly every level of government, Texas, at least in this area, has no building codes that apply outside the city limits of each municipality. Zoning seems to be nonexistent.

While I still may be among those who occasionally grumble about the paperwork and research needed in Oregon to help clients determine if their building and development plans can be realized, I'll now have a new appreciation for those rules and regulations that prevent eyesores and unsafe building practices from being a part of our own landscape.

When I was a child I always looked forward to Saturdays. The old State Theater in Oregon City ran a Saturday Afternoon Matinee for kids, and we could have our cards punched so we could get in free every twelfth time. The program format was always the same - a full length feature, no less than four cartoons, and a serial to be continued the next week that always ended with a cliffhanger. The motion would stop with the cattle herd about to stampede over the cliff, our hero backing to the edge of a gangplank with pirates in pursuit, or the heroine tied to the railroad track . Anything to make sure we wouldn't stay home the next Saturday.

The anticipation I remember feeling then is not so different from our business clilmate now.

We seem to be waiting in some kind of suspended state for WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. Will the market go up? Down? Will the U.S. auto makers survive? Will housing prices stabilize? Will a band of friendly Indians swoop down from the hills and stop the stampeding herd? Will our hero swing to safety on a halyard or will he meet a watery end? Just like waitiing for Saturday to see the outcome we in real estate and other industries are holding our collectitve breaths in anticipation of future developments that will determine our personal and financial success or failure. The new year will bring a new President, a new congressional makeup and a fresh cabinet of experts. Things will change in one way or another for most of us over the next several months.

I find it comforting to remember those Saturday matinee serials. Of course the hero, heroine, or herd would be rescued and there would be a happy ending. We knew everything would be alright as soon as the action started again.