Kent Anderson

I know it gets repetitive, but ...SCHWEITZER MOUNTAIN RESORT was absolutely over the top today! I left a very cloudy Sandpoint and headed up to the mountain (hidden in the clouds) at noon. Half way up the pass I broke through the cloud layer and burst into the indigo blue skies of Schweitzer Mountain Resort.

These are the magic days that brought me here in the first place and I was not disappointed. Skiing the front (South Bowl) was perfect but the best was still ahead.

We ventured to the back Bowls and found ourselves in a mystical paradise. Heading up Snow Ghost chair toward the peak, filtered fingers of sunlight shone in our faces through a wispy, "Tolkein-like" fog. You just don't experience this very often. As the chair headed up the the last third of the face, the fog lifted revealing the indigo skies once again. This time, however, the direct sun was hidden behind the headwall of the North Bowl and only the mysterious individual rays of the sun shone through the snow encapsulated pines (called Snow Ghosts) lining the top ridge. I am not eloquent enough to accurately describe the beauty of this scene and I didn't have my camera with...(I apologize for that) ...You will have to trust me, this will be an image that will hold in my memory forever.

So, Schweitzer did it again.

By the way, the skiing was great...hard to find powder stashes (but they were there) and soft, top-to-bottom groomers.

Just another day in Paradise.

Oh my gosh! It just doesn't stop. Sandpoint, Idaho once again finds itself getting the accolades of the national press. This time, CITY GUIDES.MSN (http://cityguides.msn.com/citylife/cityarticle.aspx?cp-documentid=16209353) has listed Sandpoint as one of the TOP TEN "WINTER WONDERLAND" cities in North America...pretty interesting group, too:

SANDPOINT, IDAHO

ASPEN, COLORADO

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

QUEBEC CITY

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA

SARANAC LAKE, NEW YORK

WHITEFISH, MONTANA

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, COLORADO

PARK CITY, UTAH

VANCOUVER, BC

Sandpoint has been praised in so many periodicals...among them, Outside Magazine, Sunset Magazine, Powder Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Nesw York Times, Ski Magazine, Skiing Magazine...the list goes on...

By the way, when I left the mountain this afternoon (1/10/09) there was another blizzard taking place. Tomorrow the skiing should be amazing!

I do love it here!

We are in the 2nd day of the warm front...lots of wind, lots of rain...a few inches of new snow on top. This isn't all bad. The snow has compacted considerably across the whole mountain compressing the potential hazards from summer brush build-up. We can now look forward to a long winter with a solid base.

Even better news for Schweitzer, this "compressing" occurred during the early week when there are fewer ski visits...so it is not impacting a lot of visitors. This weekend looks like very good conditions! I am actually thankful this January thaw has occurred. We never did get the early season heavy, water-laden snowfalls we need each year. The off-piste hazards will be considerably reduced!

So...I am going to preview a couple of new condo lisitings on the mountain and then head up the lift to test out the strange conditions today. I've got to keep my ski legs strong for the NEXT DUMP! IT IS COMING!

As we see the increase in Short sales, there are a lot of requests for BPO's. According to Idaho Real Estate License Law, it is legal for brokers, associate brokers and salespeople to give their educated opinion on the value of real property for the purpose of a prospective lisiting or sale (CMA's). IN ORDER TO TENDER A BROKER'S PRICE OPINION IN IDAHO, YOU MUST BE LICENSED AS A BROKER OR AN ASSOCIATE BROKER.

As an Associate Broker, if you receive a fee for a broker's price opinion, you must run that fee through your designated broker. If you are a salesperson and are required to provide a Broker's opinion with a short sale packet or the like, ask for your broker's assistance in preparing one.

As this real estate market continues along its tumultuous course, we are finding more agents being lured into offering price opinions for troubled properties. This is a dangerous course and the ramifications can be painful...to say nothing of the fact that properly executed BPOs can take more time than they are worth.

Bottom line: Do not subject yourself to possible disciplinary action for practicing appraisal without a license by providing a broker's price opinion when you are not licensed to do so.

There are several tips for farming and marketing that should be addressed:

1) Design a mailing that will be kept...something that the recipient will file away and look at from time to time.

2) Be thoughtful with the use of color on the mailing. You need the correct color usage to give a quality impression without being too flashy or even distasteful. I have found a black background with simple, muted contrasting colors can give an impactful, quality appearance.

3) Do not use bulk mail. First class mailings raises the bar a little...it gives the recipient the impression that you truly care.

4) Limit your mailings to 50 at a time.

5) Make a personal contact after mailing. This is the tough one! It is VERY uncomfortable for me to do this but it IS what we do...we are salespeople.

6) Farming without contact should be done every 2 weeks...Farming WITH contact should be done every 30 - 45 days.

7) IMPORTANT: Include your "team" on your mailing (title company, financing experts, etc).

Let's get out there and make some money and get our clients in the home of their dreams!