Summertime is the traditional time to get out and enjoy the great outdoors. Here in Cedar City we are situation next to some of the most beautiful mountains imaginable. Of course that is just our humble opinion. I just want to add my voice to the throngs of other voices in wishing everyone that chooses to enjoy the outdoors to do so responsibly!

That means watching your fire use. We have all seen the devastation in California and other places due to fires that have burned out of control. Currently we are so dry that the Forest Service has relegated fires into approved fire pits only. Even if you are using an approved fire pit make sure that you are safe. Keep a bucket of water or dirt nearby to throw on any fire that might start to get away. Make sure that your fire is cold to the touch before leaving it unattended. No one wants anyone else to suffer through a wildfire that could have been prevented. Be safe, but just as importantly, be responsible! Have a great weekend!

Here in Utah we have our Pioneer Days Celebrations upcoming. In Salt Lake City the event is called the Days of '47. Here in Cedar City on July 24th we will have a parade on Main Street between 400 South and 200 North at 10AM. There will be activities at the Main Street City Park following the Parade. The Main Street Park is located at the corner of 200 North and Main. The parade is a lot of fun as church groups and neighborhoods build floats and have other entries for the parade. It is a great small town parade.

The Pioneer Days Celebration is akin to other States' Founders Days. It commemorates the entry of the Pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. Most small cities and towns will have similar celebrations to Cedar City's. It is great fun, there won't be fireworks, so I have been told. There is a firework ban in Cedar City. They can be set off at both high schools and at the Bicentennial Park.

It is a great thing to come and be a part of! Come on up and see us. While you're here don't forget that now is a great time to buy property in Cedar City. If you're looking to invest, looking to move, or looking for that second home now is the time!

July 15th brings back the Neil Simon Fetsival here in Cedar City. It is a wonderful tribute one of our nations great playrights!

Several of the plays will be presented for your enjoyment. This festival runs concurrently with the Utah Shakespearean Festival. It is a great opportunity to enjoy productions of two different playrights! For more information and tickets check out www.simonfest.org.

If you are thinking of coming and visiting, it is just another of the great things to do this summer here in Cedar City. While you are up here checking out the great plays, look into just what a great place Cedar City is to relocate to! Give us a call.

This week we have a couple of great family friendly events in Cedar City. Starting tomorrow the 9th and running to the 12th is the annual Midsummer Renaissance Faire at the Main Street Park, 200 North Main Street. This is the 11th year of this fair that coincides with the Utah Shakespearean Festival. There will be booths and games. Various vendors will be there selling their wares. Some participants will be dressed up in period costumes. It is a great family fun time with free admission to the Faire.

Coinciding with the weekend portion of the Midsummers Renaissance Faire is the July Jamboree and Cruise In. This will be Friday and Saturday July 11th and 12th. Come and see the classic and vintage cars more booths and more vendors. There will be music and more fun! It also has free admission and is fun for the entire family.

So if you don't have plans this weekend come up and see us! It will be a lot of fun!

This week is the opening week of the Summer Season of the Utah Shakespearean Festival. On Thursday, June 19th, the season opens with Cyrano de Bergerac. This is a former Tony award winning festival, and has always recieved fantastic reviews. Tickets range from $22- $60 per person, but there are a lot of fun things to do in conjuction with the Festival, like the Greenshow. This is a free pre-play entertaining show designed to prepare theatre goers for the show.

There are many other things to do, for more information, please check it out at www.bard.org. While you're up here enjoying this remarkable show, please check out the surrounding area. This is truly a great place to live or have a second home. We look forward to seeing you!

Tonight I watched part of game 2 of NBA Finals, the Celtics looked to have it well in hand with nearly a 20 point lead with around 7 minutes to play. I thought that the game was over, and began doing other things. I was shocked about a half an hour later to read the score that the Lakers had come back and had actually gotten the game down to 2 points before ultimately losing 108 to 102.

I believe that sports can be a microcosm of life. It is only when we think that it is over that it is over. I am sure that in reading the internet recap of the game had the Lakers had more time, they may have won the game. My point isn't to wait until you are too far down to come back, but rather to not give up. Things may be awful today, yet by Thursday they may be going great. We also need to prepare for the opposite, things may be great today, but rotten tomorrow. It's just life!

I really think what I am trying to say is that as long as we keep hustling and adapting, but most of all keep going, eventually we will achieve what it is that we want. We won't win everytime, but we will win often enough to live a rich an rewarding life! Have a Great Week!

Well it must be that time of year again. The Utah Summer Games have started here in Cedar City, some of the preliminary events such as pickleball began yesterday. The Games will run through June 22nd, the Opening Ceremonies are a week away being June 12. Todays events include Cowboy action shooting and Ultimate Frisbee.

Also this weekend beginning yesterday is the American Family Fest including concerts by the Hughes Brothers all the way from Branson! There will be booths and games for everyone in the family along with workshops and other entertainment. I have not been able to attend the family fest yet, it rained last night, so I didn't try last night and am working currently. Maybe tomorrow night we will be free enough to spend an hour and check it out.

Like most other markets in the US, we have a lot of great homes here just waiting for someone to buy them. We would love to show them to anyone that is planning on attending either of these great events early in June. Don't forget the Shakespearean Festival is just around the corner. Like I mentioned earlier, if you are planning on attending any of these activities and are thinking of a vacation home or relocation home, call us, we would love to earn your business!

For Further information: utahsummergames.org; americanfamilyfest.org; bard.org

The other day I posted a blog about a CD that one of the local mortgage brokers put in our box at the office. It is by Steve Harney, I listened to it, and was really impressed. He focused on getting the buyers off the fence and into a closing. I mentioned that the market has risen much more than it has fallen if you look at 5 years instead of just the last 18 months.

Another interesting statistic that he quoted was a study that Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) did on the cash in vs return of cash in. They studied over 5000 loans. The average amount of cash into a purchase of a home was a little less than 20%. In five years the average return of that "investment" or cash in of a down payment was 135%. After 10 years the return on the cash in or investment was 301%. After 15 years that return was a whopping 490%.

He said to focus on what their investment amount rather than the depreciation that we have seen in the past 18 months. Granted his focus on this study was to be used to entice the investor back into the market. I was blown away by these statistics. Who wouldn't want nearly a 500% return on investment after 15 years!

As I mentioned I really liked his approach to try and get those people off the fence and into a house, whether they are investors or whatever. I also loved this thought about Wealthy people: they fall into 3 groups a)they own real estate b) they own real estate that has oil flowing out of it c) they are computer "geeks" that have created software or a company like Google or Microsoft!

Occasionaly our box at the office gets something that is very useful. Yesterday was such a day, we had from one of the local Mortgage Brokers offices. It was a CD and a Brochure from Steve Harney the Realtor and Trainer from New York. While I have been a little too busy to get through the CD, the brochure has some really interesting points to help get buyers off the fence in this market.

He noted that nationally home prices our down 10.9% over the past few month. What was interesting is the fact that in the past 3-5 years homes have gone up much more than that. He used Miami as an example, before it dropped 15% it had peaked at an 83% increase in prices. That is still a great return on investment if the investment had been held.

He points out that we need to know what our peak percentage was over the rate that homes have dropped in your market. He also points out that the actual cost of a home is the price plus the interest rate of the mortgage. So even if homes in your area were to continue to decline up to another 8% in the next six months, but interest rates go up just 1%, that home is more expensive six months from now than it is right now.

This was information that I thought was extremely helpful to us in our local market, I hope that this may help someone out there.

It's starting to warm back up. I thought that we were supposed to be concerned with global warming! It has been great March weather for most of this month. I keep looking at the calendar to remind myself that it is May that is drawing to a close. I am not making light of evironmental issues, just making a feeble attempt at humor.

This seem to be heading in the right direction in the real estate market here in Cedar City. An agent in our office listed a house here in Cedar City for a really good deal. It hit the MLS on the 23rd and there are already multiple offers on it. Darcy and I were going to show it this evening to some clients, we were supposedly the 6th group to preview the property this afternoon. So when houses are priced well, there is interest and a lot of it.

We have started to see some investors begin to come back to look at buying rental properties, this is a very good sign. If things can continue in this vein, we are on our way back. I know that it won't happen next week or month, I am hoping for a steady climb, not the elevator ride that we saw a couple of years ago. Whether you are looking to relocate, retire, or just invest, give us a call. We would love to earn your business!