Kathy Judy

I am really realizing over and over again this spring how local our business is. The market can vary by 10 miles. In our little rural onion growing area there are not that many repos right now. There may be more later but now it is just a normal slow year. We like to think of ourselves as all citified but in reality our economy is based on the agriculture that goes on. That and the retail that comes from being near a big market (Boise) and not having sales tax. We have a good cheap workforce here and that helps too.

So we didn't see the huge appreciation in the market and we haven't seen the huge drops either. We have seen the slowness with the general shrinkage of credit and uneasiness about jobs. There are layoffs and hour reductions but people are hanging in there making do until it gets better.

And it is. In areas that aren't as affected by the slowdown in the nationwide economy buyers want houses and they are looking. Our area has a lot of retirees because we have good access to medical care and our living costs are less. Many of these buyers and sellers have government retirements that are steady and not vulnerable to the markets. The medical care area is another where there are good jobs and people are as secure in them as anyone can be.

The point of all this is that I am grateful to be here and have the business I do. Real estate sales in Eastern Oregon and SW Idaho aren't that great but they aren't that bad either.

I just went through all the lisitngs in Ontario Nyssa Vale Oregon plus Fruitland and Payette Idaho for a client. She wanted to know all the repos. Out of 358 lisitngs (I didn't count manufactured in parks) there were only 8 repos on the market. That's right just 8. I am shocked. I know there's more coming because we're all doing BPOs for them. Just 25 miles away in Caldwell Nampa Boise area the story is much different. The economy doesn't seem any better here but we've never had the low lows or the high highs. We have lay-offs and uncertainty here but I think a lot of people have been able to hang onto their houses because their payments were about what they'd pay for rent anyway and they are willing to make the lifestyle sacrifices necessary to keep their houses (second or third jobs, go nowhere do nothing, don't buy stuff).

It's always good to do a reality check. Knowing how things REALLY are gives validity and true value to our advice to our clients. I need to remember that.

What an interesting client - we won the repo bidding war. I've driven the 31 miles to Homedale 3 times with him now. It's been fun because we share similar politcial views something that RARELY happens in this very conservative area. I have unintentionally been very current in my real estate business with him. Because it was comfortable and warm and pleasant we went to Homedale's MoxieJava coffeehouse to sign papers several times. Isn't that just where we are supposed to operate in the "you don't really need an office" age? It is also a bistro named Cafe Leku which I understand is Basque for meeting place. Homedale has a lot of Basque descent folks as does our whole area. The other half of the building is occupied by a real estate agency who I understand owns the building - that might account for the good vibe!

I showed a series of repos and one hideous non repo to a client yesterday. We were looking all over the are from Homedale Idaho to Masing, Caldwell and then Parma. I was REALLY impressed with the very nice homes that can be purchased in CALDWELL IDAHO. Our favorite was a late forties bungalow with nice sized rooms - hardwood floors and a full studded in basement for 52900!!! It was in a decent neighborhood and had a good feel to it. Several of the houses (including our favorite) were obviously flip houses that didn't - so fixtures cabinetry paint had all been done! These incredible bargains will end just as the rapid erroneous appreciation ended.

Now just for fun I'll describe the non repo. It was 345 s ft on each level. Main floor was kitchen small bedroom and living room. Down a treacherous set of steps was the basement with the bath and sort of bedroom. It had a nice yard so someone had lived in what had to have been some kind of milk house that had been converted. It was priced in the 50's and even in a good market should never have been more than 35. The only reason we looked at it was it's location.

One of the benefits of living in the Intermountain West is the ability to get away fast! One hour in any direction from my home in Ontario Oregon and you are in the mountains! However that's not where we went Sunday. We were only a half hour from home.

We took our 4 wheeler and went looking for Love Reservoir. We'd heard it mentioned for years knew vaguely where it was and had often talked about going there.

We Google mapped it earlier. It is south of Huntington Oregon in the desert along the ORegon Trail. The area has lots of "roads" think Baja lol. These serve as ways for the ranchers to get to the fences to fix them and to put food and salt blocks out for the cattle. We went for about 8 miles of absolute solitude - that's priceless right there. We came upon the reservoir and were attempting to drive around it, we were going along a fenceline and suddenly the earth opened up. There was a 50-75 foot deep chasm with rushing water and two waterfalls! I'm sure spring is the only time the waterfalls will be that strong, it was spectacular. The water was being diverted from elsewhere and the stream bed had also been changed. Interesting and we're researching why right now.

We both felt refreshed and restored. It doesn't take a big whoopteedoo to have fun - outdoor recreation's availability is one big reason people locate here. There are only 36000 people in my whole county! But if you want the city shopping and cultural happenings Boise is only 50 minutes away!