Kent Anderson

Wow! Epic day today! We hit the slopes at mid morning after enjoying a cafe mocha at the "on-slope" coffee shop...(just enjoying life - no worries). The first run was a cruiser. Easy GS turns through 7-12" of fresh powder...we needed to get our ski legs under us before we tackled tougher terrain. It was snowing hard (1" per hour) so there were some adjustments to be made.

We made it succesfully down to the Great Escape high speed chair (virtually no line as per usual at Schweitzer) and proceeded to the peak. The high winds and fog were a test, but we had a plan...

Schweitzer is ranked the 3rd best "tree skiing" mountain in North America. Since there is no wind in the trees and the snow in there is, basically, virgin, we headed for the tree runs off the Sunnyside chair (a south facing slope that sees very little traffic from the visitors)...and conditions were ideal! Going up the lift the wind was at our back (comfortable and warm) and going down the wind was a non-factor since we were in the shelter of the perfectly spaced trees. It was a "Peak Experience" on a day that was probably pretty tough for many of the skiers on the mountain.

There is a lesson here: On the days when conditions are challenging, you need to know the mountain to squeeze the most out of the experience. When we finished, my client was giddy. Showing properties in the afternoon took on a whole new perspective.

As an agent, I encourage buyers to join me on the slopes for a few runs. I usually can show them a little different mountain perspective...basically, every day can be a perfect day on the mountain. It makes it way easier to invest in mountain real estate when you understand ALL the rewards...hence my motto, "BUY INTO THE SKI LIFE"

Here's a brief explanation of where residential roof trusses fail and why.

The top chords of a truss are 2x4 or 2x6 compression members & are the ones that the roof sheathing
(usually 4' x 8' panels of either OSB or plywood) is attached to.

The bottom chords are tension members and are the ones to which ceiling materials (usually sheetrock, also known as GWB) are attached.

The web members are the 2x4s that run diagonally between the top & bottom chords, & the points at which they connect are called panel points.

Almost always these framing members are not what fail when a roof collapses. What usually fails are the galvanized steel connector plates that hold various framing members together at the panel points. It is also conspicuous that a common point of connector plate failure is where the bottomm chord (a tension
member) joins the top chord (a compression member) where they rest upon the double plate of bearing walls.

Why do they fail?

Because they are subjected to a load that exceeds their structural capacity, at which point they either pull out of the framing members or they simply rip apart. The next time you see a residential trussed roof failure on TV look at the ends of the 2x4's and you will rarely see them
broken. In most instances what you will see is connector plates that have either ripped in half or torn loose from the 2x4's.

Flat roof structures common in commercial buildings such as grocery stores etc. have different issues. The trusses are usually much longer than home trusses. The top and bottom chords are almost parallel, and of a configuration that requires special on-site bracing to unify and distribute the loads especially the
tensile load on the bottom chords. It is not uncommon to trace commercial building truss failures
back to inadequate or improper on-site bracing.

A sq. ft. of water 1" deep weighs 5.2083 lbs. A sq. ft. of water 7.68" deep weighs 40 lbs. which
is the live roof load design criteria for several local municipalities.

The easiest way of determining how much the snow weighs at your house is to weigh it. Take your shovel & cut some snow on your driveway into a 12"x 12" square 12" high. Take your bathroom scale to your driveway & with shovel in hand step on it & check your weight. Then carefully lift the cubic foot of snow
with your shovel & step on the scale again. Subtract the first weight from the second & that's the weight of the snow. Then to see how much additional weight some rain might make, take a gallon jug of water, which weighs 8.333 lbs/gal. See how much of it you can gently sprinkle onto the cubic ft. of snow before it
runs through onto your shovel. After you've determined the total weight, divide by 12 to get weight per inch. Divide 40 by that weight to find the number of inches of snow that would produce a 40 p.s.f.load.

Thank you to Michael Jacobs of Hope Realty in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for this information!

Basically, I am an optimist that has fallen into a bit of a trough. 2009 looks bleak and Peter Schiff, who predicted this whole mess years ago, is predicting a continuation of our woes. The guy has been phenominally accurate.

There are some realities, however, that give me hope. ...More than half of the owners of the top 350 firms nationwide are aged 55 and older. If they haven’t started already, these owners will soon be looking for ways to cash out of their businesses and set up their retirement. These are qualified, experienced home-buyers who already understand a great deal about real estate investing. They will demand the best possible representation from the most competent of realtors. In many cases, these retirees will be looking at purchasing more than one home. There is a numbers game going on here that cannot be denied.

The reality: THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF BUYERS SHOWING UP! We just need to hone our skills and survive the winter.

I got a great Christmas gift that I plan to use as a tool to help me sell my listings and promote my business. My kids gave me a "Digital Photo Frame" that runs a continuous slideshow of photos. I'm sure they thought I would be using this to display family photos but I think it is the perfect platform to run a continuous display of the photos highlighting the properties I need to move. As customers and fellow agents wander past my desk, the slideshow is running for their enjoyment and edification...plus, they are really cool.

They come in 7" or 8" desktop models, can hold around 400 photos, have sound capabilities, in/out zoom and full function remote control.

All my best for 2009 - have fun and prosper!

We will see a new round of foreclosures by Spring of 2009 as option ARMS get recast and monthly mortgage payments skyrocket. With the continued devaluation of real estate, millions of additional homeowners will find themselves upside down. In many cases, their only option will be to walk away from their "so-called" investment.

THERE MAY BE HOPE, HOWEVER. There is a group in Minneapolis who have taken it upon themselves to help at least a few of the families facing this desperate situation:

The Hope Now hotline (888 995-HOPE).

This is a mortgage-counseling phone line backed by lenders and the federal government that currently gets about 4,000 calls a day. Hotline counselors help borrowers negotiate with banks and offer advice on refinancing options. It is yet to be shown that this will have a significant impact, but, at least these homeowners now have an advocate that is there to listen.

Hopefully this can be of assistance to some of your customers as they struggle through these difficult times. If anyone knows of other groups who are coming forward to help these families, please let me know. Thanks!