Kent Anderson

SANDPOINT, IDAHO TENNIS

Sandpoint has a great tennis community! Last week we hosted the 3rd annual Sandpoint Tennis Camp and it was the best yet! Jane Rockwell (USPTA teaching pro and former Sandpoint High School coach) and Mary Jo Lambert (current Clark Fork High School coach) once again put together a 1st-class Camp.

The Sandpoint Tennis Camp started out with a Monday rainout...a rare event in the middle of July in Sandpoint. I was the scheduled guest coach for Monday along with my good friends Tom Boulay (USPTA teaching pro from Minnesota) and Kent Stadum (USPTA teaching pro from Minnesota and 5.0 National champion). As the current Sandpoint High School coach, it was my reponsibility to make sure the first two days of the camp were high impact, fun and INTENSE. This year's Camp had the strongest group of players yet...we were REALLY looking forward to some tough tennis.

Our typical sunny, warm weather returned on Tuesday and remained the entire week. The three of us "attacked" the kids with 4 1/2 hours of drills. We had five pros on four courts (Boulay, Stadum, Mary Jo, Stadum's son Peter and myself) feeding balls and relentlessly working on tennis mechanics. I thought it went very well, but I was told following the day's drills that it may have been the best day of tennis any of the kids had ever experienced. Not bad.

On Wednesday we brought in Kai Fong, Lewis & Clark College tennis coach along with three of his players to feed balls and work with the kids. ...Another four hours of high intensity tennis. This was Kai's third year here in Sandpoint and he runs a GREAT WORKOUT. The last two days consisted of match play along with singles and doubles strategy.

Sandpoint currently has no indoor courts (but they are coming) and the high school must use the City public courts for practices and matches. Given these impediments to putting together a strong tennis program here, one would think that Sandpoint would have a huge hurdle to overcome to be competitive on the State level. Not true! The incredibly strong tennis community in Sandpoint along with the commitment extended by the many pros, recreational players and high school players themselves have created one of Idaho's strongest programs. Sandpoint earned 4th place at the State Tournament in Boise in 2009 and we are looking forward to improving on that in 2010. As my old coach use to tell me, "We don't rebuild, we RELOAD!"

If you are a tennis enthusiast, you WILL NOT be disappointed with a move to Sandpoint. We have every level of player here and we have fun!

If you are a buyer or a seller in the SANDPOINT area, please send me an email at ski7b@coldwellbanker.com. I would be happy to assist you!

This is like FIGHT CLUB. I NEED to let go!

I just got done showing a property that happens to be situated next door to another great Lake Pend Oreile waterfront property that I was actually very knowledgable about. When I was done with my customer, a new potential buyer drove up and started asking me questions about that adjacent waterfront. A gift from God perhaps?

We are not setting real estate sales records here in SANDPOINT, IDAHO and suddenly I've got customers flagging me down.

I answered all of his questions and was pretty proud of my ability to really speak with authority. There are some engineering issues with the property that need to be addressed to complete a successful build and I even knew the engineers the potential client should contact. We spoke for a half hour, I met his little kid and was even able to get the little guy to stop crying. There was a definite positive energy happening.

It eventually got to the point where I suggested we write an offer and see if we could make a DEAL on the lot. $700,000 is nothing to sneeze at and, in this market, we could probably make something work. The customer was pretty savvy and said he would enjoy working with me but, in this case, he felt he should go directly to the listing agent in the hopes of negotiating the "selling commission" out of the sale price. It could save him as much as $20,000.00.

My first reaction was..."That makes sense...how do I talk him out of that thinking?" I gave him some feeble response like, "Oh, I don't think the broker would accept a 3% total commission when his agency has both sides of the sale". Then I explained that commissions are negotiable and he shouldn't worry about that too much and that he would be in great hands if I were representing him through the sale. Plus, I know the listing agent well and we could make this happen!

He eventually walked away and said he might get back to me. I'm such an IDIOT! What a weak sales pitch.

While I am beating myself up I keep berating myself with, "Don't worry about commisssions Mr. Buyer! We'll just offer a price you can live with and let the agents worry about commissions!!!" LET THE AGENTS NEGOTIATE. I CAN GET YOU THIS PROPERTY!

He could show up again. He has my card. I'm pretty experienced with this stuff, I can't believe I was so far off my mark.

LIFE GOES ON ...

Sandpoint is ROCKIN' again this summer. It seems like the 4th is the real kick-off each year.

I am sitting up at SCHWEITZER MOUNTAIN in the COLDWELL BANKER RESORT REALTY office enjoying the beautiful weather while dozens of SANDPOINT locals wander by mingling with the hundreds of tourists who have shown up to enjoy this incredible weather (sunny, 80 degrees with low humidity). It doesn't hurt that, yet, another wedding is on tap for this afternoon at the top of the Great Escape chairlift. That makes for quite an eclectic scene. Hikers, mountain bikers, bridesmaids...I love it!

(Look close...you can still see some snow up on the Ridge)

(Chair lift rides all summer up to the top of the Great Escape Lift.)

This morning was the annual 4th of July Parade in Downtown Sandpoint, combined with the Saturday Farmer's Market. The town was cordoned off as the parade marched through our streets...American flags waving proudly at every corner.

The Farmers' Market is ever popular with organic, fresh produce combined with crafts of all kinds and the ever-present live music. Today, Brother Music, was entertaining the crowd with slide guitar and wonderful Robert Johnson inspired blues. Last night, legendary, Jesse Colin Young performed in downtown Sandpoint at the Panida Theater and Monday Kracker shows up at the same venue. I would call this pretty "big-time" entertainment. Music and entertainment abound year-around in SANDPOINT, but summers are always special.

The 4th of July, traditionally kicks off the Summer Sandpoint Real Estate Blitz (as I call it). It is hard for visitors to resist the beauty of this area if they are lucky enough to find themselves here in North Idaho, and we always see a burst of real estate activity...both in the Sandpoint Valley and up here on the mountain. One would think winter is the time for SCHWEITZER ski-condo sales but that is not really the case. Moving in can be problematic in the Winter here at Schweitzer, as one can imagine at this altitude, making Summer the reasonable time to buy.

Enjoy your 4th of July! In honor of Independance Day, I leave you with these thoughts from JFK in 1946 at age 29:

"The American character has been not only religious, idealistic, and patriotic, but because of these it has been essentially individual.

The right of the individual against the State has ever been one of our most cherished political principles.

The American Constitution has set down for all men to see the essentially Christian and American principle that there are certain rights held by every man which no government and no majority, however powerful, can deny.

Conceived in Grecian thought, strengthened by Christian morality, and stamped indelibly into American political philosophy, the right of the individual against the State is the keystone of our Constitution. Each man is free.

He is free in thought.

He is free in expression.

He is free in worship.

To us, who have been reared in the American tradition, these rights have become part of our very being. They have become so much a part of our being that most of us are prone to feel that they are rights universally recognized and universally exercised. But the sad fact is that this is not true. They were dearly won for us only a few short centuries ago and they were dearly preserved for us in the days just past. And there are large sections of the world today where these rights are denied as a matter of philosophy and as a matter of government.

We cannot assume that the struggle is ended. It is never-ending.

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. It was the price yesterday. It is the price today, and it will ever be the price.

The characteristics of the American people have ever been a deep sense of religion, a deep sense of idealism, a deep sense of patriotism, and a deep sense of individualism.

Let us not blink the fact that the days which lie ahead of us are bitter ones.

May God grant that, at some distant date, on this day, and on this platform, the orator may be able to say that these are still the great qualities of the American character and that they have prevailed."

I am working with a few clients here in SANDPOINT, IDAHO who find themselves in the, all too, familiar plight of being upside-down on their mortgages and not knowing where to turn. This has been the recurring theme of our economic crisis for the past six years and one of the major stumbling blocks to a housing recovery.

Making homes affordable, especially with current homeowners, remains the hurdle that our nation needs to address. Fannie Mae does have a program out there (the Home Affordable Modification Program) that takes a stab at helping these homeowners and, while this has been discussed often on AR, it is important to keep the information out there in hopes that this program gets adequately utilized. There are some hoops to jump through, to be sure, but it is certainly worth the effort to explore the options.

The Home Affordable Modification Program provides tools to mortgage lenders and homeowners coping with financial hardship and declining home prices. Home Affordable Refinance includes new refinancing flexibilities for homeowners whose loans are owned by Fannie Mae. Key features include:

• Borrowers refinancing an existing Fannie Mae loan are not be required to buy new or additional mortgage insurance if the loan at the time of the refinance is more than 80 percent of a home's value. In addition, Fannie Mae can refinance loans up to 105 percent of a home's value. This could allow a homeowner to take advantage of lower interest rates that reduce monthly payments, or refinance into a more sustainable mortgage.
• Brokers using Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter® platform will be able to process an application to refinance any existing Fannie Mae loan, allowing for greater lender origination capacity and easier refinancing for borrowers.

What Borrowers Need to Know:

• To qualify, your mortgage loan must be owned by Fannie Mae.
• You must have a solid payment history on your existing mortgage. (This can be negotiated if the homeowner has made a concerted and verifiable attempt to make timely payments)
• The expanded refinance flexibility ends in June 2010.

Home Affordable Modification

Loan servicers participating in the program may reduce interest rates, lengthen the payment time frame or take other steps, such as principal forbearance, to bring the monthly payments down to as low as 31 percent of the borrower's gross (pre-tax) income.

What Borrowers Need to Know:

Certain eligibility requirements, including attesting to a financial hardship, may apply.

• To modify a loan, it must be for your primary residence.
• The amount you owe on your mortgage must be less than or equal to $729,750.
• The program is for mortgages originated prior to January 1, 2009.

Borrowers can find out if their loan is owned by Fannie Mae in one of two ways:

• Call your current mortgage lender or,
• Contact Fannie Mae. Call 1-800-7FANNIE or visit http://www.fanniemae.com/homeaffordable.

I spent 15 hours at the FORD IRONMAN COEUR D'ALENE TRIATHLON on Sunday. (As a spectator...my son was a FINISHER and is now an IRONMAN!). The human spirit is alive & well! I am in complete awe. From the moment I arrived at the beach to watch the the swim portion of the event (2.4 miles) until the end of the triathlon I was fighting back tears of pure emotion.

The spectacle of seeing 3,500 participants waiting on the Lake Coeur d'Alene beach to begin the torturous swim in 56 degree water is almost indescribable. These are people like you and me who have taken on the task to become bigger than life. They have decided to do something that is almost impossible. To watch them succeed gives me goose bumps even as I write this...2.4 MILE SWIM - 112 MILE BIKE - 26.2 MILE RUN...Are you serious? ...But it is not just about the participants.

There were 6,500 volunteers helping to make the event a world-class affair. From kayakers and scuba divers in the water watching every swimmer as they struggled through the icy water to the thousands of aid station helpers and transition team assistants along the bike and running courses... this was truly a massive team effort. When you experience the "super-human" effort it takes to complete an event like this, you just want to be a part of it in some way. Somehow you want the "mojo" of these participants to rub off on you.

Let us not forget the spectators. Tens of thousands of people turned out to be a part of this. Fans screaming and ringing cowbells all along the course, urging the participants on as they fought against all odds to complete the ordeal. I could not have asked for a more inspiring day.

Why do I live in North Idaho? You cannot find a more active, inspired, motivated and caring people than I have found here. Life in North Idaho...life in Sandpoint...total participation. You just feel more alive here.

Prices have not dropped here like they have in the rest of the country. ...and why should they? Whatever the price, to live here is worth it. I am inspired. Thank you to everyone involved in this great event and a BIG THANK YOU to my son who trained and trained and trained and FINISHED this monster race. Like the announcer broadcast at the finish line, "BRIGGS ANDERSON, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!"