Janna Rankin Scharf - Realtor Coeur d'Alene and North Idaho Homes

I'd like to pass on what I think is a WONDERFUL resource for all homeowners, as well as prospective homeowners! It's a FREE new consumer guide. I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of GREAT information, a lot of questions answered, and some really good advice.

Mortgage Fraud and Foreclosure is a new manual that has just been published by Idaho's Attorney General Lawrence Wasden. In a press release today, Wasden said, "Idaho has certainly not been immune from the nationwide mortgage problems, and we have seen far too many foreclosures in our state. We have also seen a number of deceptive mortgage rescue scams that offer false hope in order to cheat Idahoans out of their homes. We've written this booklet to help Idahoans avoid these scams, take appropriate steps to avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes."

The 34 page manual is available for reading online, or downloading and printing, at the Attorney General's website. If you have any questions or want additional information on any real estate issue, please don't hesitate to give me a call. If you are in a tough spot, don't be paralized by fear, there may be something we can do.

Janna Rankin Scharf, GRI, CSP, CLHMS, provides a superior level of real estate services to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com to search for homes in the Coeur d'Alene MLS for anywhere in Northern Idaho.

Janna Rankin Scharf, Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, 208.651.9700 NorthIdahoJanna@gmail.com

I have recently had several people outside of our area ask me to describe what there is do do here in Coeur d'Alene and North Idaho. So here it is, Things to Do in Coeur d'Alene. Where do I start?

In Kootenai County alone there are 87 parks and campgrounds, biking and hiking trails, swimming, fishing, golfing, hunting, tennis, horseback riding, softball, ski resorts, amusement parks and, always, magnificent scenery everywhere you turn.

Dining & Shopping

There is lots of great shopping variety in Coeur d'Alene. The Silver Lake Mall, four large antique malls, the Coeur d'Alene Resort Plaza Shops, a vibrant downtown shopping area, the new Riverstone District and numerous national retailers provide shoppers with anything they could be looking for.

Area menus boasts everything from award winning chefs to sidewalk hot dog vendors. Regional fare might include huckleberry pancakes, Idaho potato pizza, Idaho trout or Priest river buffalo steak. Cap your day with a Northwest microbrew, a selection from a world renowned wine cellar or a visit to one of our many charming coffee shops.

Arts & Culture

Performing and visual arts add to the texture of our community tapestry. Coeur d'Alene is home to three theaters that provide community productions and professional troupe performances. Thousands of visitors turn out for annual events such as Art Walk, Art from the Heart, mARTi Gras, Julyamsh Pow Wow, concerts in City Park and Riverstone. Artists and galleries present the finest in sculpture, blown glass, painting, jewelry and hand-crafted furniture.

The Coeur d'Alene Arts and Culture Alliance works with non-profit, volunteers,and professional arts organizations to create an artistic lifestyle in North Idaho.

Snowboarding & Skiing

There are three ski resorts in the area. You can head north to Schweitzer Mountain resort. Stella is the name of Schweitzer's 6-passenger high-speed chair lift that will transport you across 2,500 acres and 58 runs. Also an easy drive is Silver Mountain in Kellogg, to the East. It has two peaks, 50 runs and 2,200 feet of vertical fun. It also features the world's longest, single staged gondola. Lookout Pass Ski Area area in Mullan is nearby with 23 named runs on 540 skiable acres and a vertical drop of 1,150 feet. It also contains two glade areas and acres of tree skiing.

The Lake

Lake Coeur d'Alene has earned the reputation as one of the world's most beautiful lakes. Enjoy the friendly atmosphere of City Beach, Sanders Beach or along the river at the dike road behind North Idaho College. Plunge into water activities like waterskiing, fishing, jet skiing, kayaking, boat cruises, river floating, parasailing, boat cruises and seaplane rides!

Golf

The spectacular scenery of North Idaho golf courses rivals that found anywhere in the world. There are 18 regional courses in gorgeous settings that accommodate any skill level. Coeur d'Alene lake features the world's only floating green. In a recent Golf Digest, three North Idaho golf courses were named to the list of top courses in the state.

Amusement Parks

Silverwood, the Northwest's largest theme park, lies just 15 minutes north of Coeur d'Alene. It contains over 60 rides and attractions, three roller coasters, boulder Beach waterpark, river raft ride, and a steam locomotive. There are activities for kids of all ages. There are also several family fun centers around the area for adventure, including Wild Waters, North Idaho's premiere water slide theme park, and Triple Play & Raptor Reef Indoor Water Park, the northwest's newest and largest family fun center.

Outdoor Activities

North Idaho's plentiful waterways offer great canoeing, kayaking, rafting, and power boating opportunities. With over 50 boater access sites there are lots of places to get on the water. Bicyclists of all skills and abilities will find trails to ride. The maintained and scenic Centennial Trail will take you all the way from the Washington border to the east end of Lake Coeur d'alene. Other maintained trails are the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, and the Route of Hiawatha. Area ski resorts have incorporated rugged mountain biking trails.

The outdoor adventure has access to world-class fishing and hunting. the St. Joe and Coeur d'Alene Rivers provide outstanding fishing opportunities for native cutthroat trout, and the lakes yeild everything from pan fish to tryphy bass, trout and salmon. Trophy elk, deer and other big game abound in North Idaho. Outfitters are available to take you hunting or fishing, or explore thousands of acres of lakes, streams and National Forests on your own. Avid wildlife watchers can see the scores of migrating bald eagles that flock to Lake Coeur d'Alene to feed on Kokanee salmon each spring.

Janna Rankin Scharf, GRI, CSP, CLHMS
Associate Broker
Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty
(208)651-9700

NorthIdahoJanna@gmail.com
www.JannaScharf.com

Word on the street today is that Capitol West Appraisers, based in Boise, has filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court in Seattle against Countrywide Financial, claiming the lender used intimidating tactics to obtain favorable reports.

The lawsuit claims Countrywide forced appraisers to use improper methods designed to benefit the lender and punished by blacklisting those who didn't play by those rules. The actions of the giant home mortgage lender caused damage to thousands of appraisers nationwide and distorted real estate prices in the marketplace.

Apparently, Countrywide was asking appraisers to come with higher values to match loan amounts and Capitol West appraisers didn't believe the homes were worth that much. Lawyers for Capitol West Appraisers contend the group suffered business losses of up to $8,000 per month because they refused to play by Countrywide's rules and were blacklisted. They are hoping for class-action status because there are so many appraisers who have been similarly injured for adhering to ethical business practices.

This is one scenario of the fraud that is THE major contributing factor in our current mortgage and economic mess. I'd be surprised if there is a real estate professional out there that didn't personally run into someone who was encouraging or committing or looking the other way during fraudulent transactions and activities during the heyday several years ago.

As a listing agent I personally held up a closing for 3 weeks by refusing to sign a settlement statement that specified that a lot trade was a cash down payment. Sitting at the closing table with the buyers, sellers and lender, I pointed out the fact that they were calling a lot trade a $400,000 cash down payment, and I wasn't going to sign it. It was Loan Fraud 101. It would be an understatement to say that they were all upset. Three weeks later, at our third attempt, we closed. It took that long for the buyer to figure out how to structure the deal so that it could be accurately reflected on the HUD. On another transaction I represented buyers who were using a lender that wanted to commit loan fraud and actually told me "everyone's doing it." NO! Everyone's NOT doing it!

I suspect as time goes by we will see more and more fallout like this lawsuit by Capital West Appraisers. Because everyone WASN'T doing it. Unfortunately, enough people WERE doing it that we are all going to pay a heavy cost for years to come.

IDAHO may be best known for its potatoes - it produces, after all, a third of all the potatoes in the United States. But its economy is increasingly being driven by technology and green manufacturing companies, big and small. A great article in New York Times reports that some 70% of Idaho's economy is high technology. Who knew? Here under the tall timbers in North Idaho, where we are closer to Seattle than we are to Boise, I haven't seen many signs of EITHER potatoes or technology....

Yet it was the potato, in a way, that started Idaho on a path to high technology industry. In 1978, the late Jack Simplot, founder of the J.R. Simplot Company, developer of Idaho russet potatoes and of freeze-dried French fries for McDonald's, invested in a start-up called Micron Technology, a maker of semiconductors.

Micron now has more than 20,000 employees and close to $6 billion in annual revenues. (Micron is not immune to the turmoil in global economic markets. It announced last week that it would lay off more than 3,000 employees in the next two years because of a glut in microchips.)

Idaho farmers have been backing technological start-ups ever since. Gerald R. Thompson, for example, said he raised $2 million from farmers near Boise in 2006 to start a company, Sky Detective. The company combines global positioning satellite technology with cellular phone technology from Qualcomm to produce a device capable of tracking people and cargoes anywhere in the world.

Facinating article!

Janna Rankin Scharf, GRI, CSP, CLHMS
Associate Broker
Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty
(208)651-9700
NorthIdahoJanna@gmail.com
www.JannaScharf.com