Localism: Utah

First snow of the season in Cedar City

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:26:23 -0500

Today we got the first snow of the year here in Cedar City. Needless to say, I am not quite ready for snow just yet. It isn't that we got a lot of snow, it is just enogh to cover the lawn and make the roads wet. It is the thought of having snow this early, I know that it is only aobut 4 weeks early, but I just am not ready to give up on the warm weather.

That is enough whining, but it is good to have something other than the market or the economy to whine about! Have a great rest of the weekend!

Sarah Palin's Body Language And Why It Should Worry You

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:08:18 -0500

Kathlyn and Gay Hendricks

Posted October 10, 2008 | 09:25 AM (EST)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathlyn-and-gay-hendricks/body-politics-sarah-palin_b_132785.html

Body Politics: Sarah Palin's Body Language And Why It Should Worry You

we've been asked many times to comment on Sarah Palin's mannerisms. Her Body-Talk is not as blatant as her running mate, probably because she has a background as a performer in beauty pageants and television. She has learned to conceal the smirks and clenches that play so openly across the countenance of John McCain.

In our work we call body language the Five Flags, because there are five major ways human beings react when they're not speaking the authentic truth. Twitches and jaw-clenches are examples of Flag #1, Body-Flags. To understand Sarah Palin, though, you need to understand Flags #2 and #3, Voice-Flags and Attitude-Flags. The English word 'personality' comes from two Latin words, per and sona, "through sound." The Romans knew that the personality comes through in the tone of voice and other vocal aspects.

From thirty-five years of clinical experience, we can tell you a lot about Sarah Palin's real personality and why it makes many people even more nervous that John McCain's.

Attitude-Flag #1: The Aggressive Confidence Of The Con-Person

Sarah Palin has mastered one fundamental requirement of a Republican president: she can smile and look you directly in the eye while telling an outrageous lie.

At least when John McCain lies, his body screams his discomfort by putting on an eye-catching display of twitches, phony smiles and robot moves. McCain's body language is so strange that it's easily observable; he appears to be operated by a puppeteer who is a couple of triple-espressos over the line. That's a good thing, though.

We'd much rather have a presidential candidate who reads like a comic book when he's lying than one who conceals those whoppers under a grin and a wink. Sarah Palin belts out her deceptions and distractions with a radiant confidence we usually only see in sociopaths and infomercial pitch-persons. The last public figure we saw who could grin and lie with that kind of sunny confidence was O. J. Simpson.

Voice-Flag #1: The Exaggerated Folksiness Of The Huckster

Our partisan colors may peek through subtly from time to time, but we do our best to be non-partisan lie-catchers. We cringed when Bill Clinton did his famous "I did not have sex..." line. We immediately looked at each other and said "uh-oh," because his body language let us know loud and clear that he did indeed have sex with "that woman." About ten minutes after Clinton's declaration, our phone started ringing from producers of talk shows wanting us to comment on Clinton's body language. They knew they'd seen something, but they couldn't figure out exactly what.

More recently, we cringed when we heard Sarah Palin start using more of those pseudo-folksy expressions such as "You betcha" and "doggone-it." She was droppin' so many g's on-stage at last week's debate that the janitorial staff may have had to work over-time pickin' 'em up, by gum. The last eight years have taught us all a sobering lesson: you don't have to be smart to be the President of the United States!!

However, we hope that America is smart enough to see Palin's exaggerated folksiness for what it is, a cheap trick to cozy up to us so they can sell us four more years of Bush Lite. We hope America will hear those "You betchas" and send Mc Cain/Palin a message right back: Just because you pretend to be dumb and folksy, you don't automatically get to live in the White House.

Voice-Flag #2: The Metallic Shriek Of The Fear-Monger

To emphasize certain points, Sarah Palin takes her voice up the tone scale to a metallic shriek. This tone will be familiar to many of us: it's the voice your mother employed as a last resort to get you out of bed when you were a teenager. It's designed to scare you, to rake fingernails across your inner chalkboard. She often uses this voice when she first takes the stage at a rally. It works quite well there, because it cuts like a knife and jolts any of the faithful who might be dozing to sit up in their seats. We hope Americans are not so sleepy as to vote in favor of hearing this tone of voice for four years.

Here's the bottom line: The McCain/Palin campaign strategy is based entirely on stirring up fear. It's a classic way to distract people from thinking about real issues and to cover up the lack of any real solutions. Their thinking goes like this:

•If we can get people scared that Obama might secretly be a Muslim or a terrorist, maybe we can get them not to think about the real issues.

•If we can get people scared that Rev. Wright might turn the inaugural benediction into an anti-American rant, maybe we can get them to believe America's economic problems are just something cooked up by the elite media as a way to play "Gotcha" on poor Sarah and John.

•If we can scare people into thinking Barack HUSSEIN Obama is going to put Louis Farrakhan in charge of the annual White House Easter egg hunt, maybe people won't notice that we have absolutely no solutions to the real problems they face.

Barack Obama has so far opted to run a positive campaign based on hope and thoughtful solutions. It's our fervent desire that he continue to do so, because it's about time we turned our national attention to positive possibilities. Over the past eight years we've had enough fear-mongering to last a lifetime.

Mortgages are available in Cedar City right now with no down and low down

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:41:15 -0500

We are all reading the newspapers. Right? The news is definately benefiting the newspapers! Inspiring fear sells papers. We start to wonder, as we read, if mortgage funds are still available to buy homes. The answer is a resounding, "yes!" Don't believe all you read. Iron County has great loan programs available for qualified buyers now.

In Cedar City, UT, if you have reasonable credit, there are mortgage loans available for you to choose from that require nothing down and also that only require 3% down. Call Janet's team at 435-865-1019 for more details. You can get pre-approved up front and lock in your rate.

We'll help save your dream of homeownership even in this time of difficult news. Call to day for your free list of homes in your price range, or search the MLS on my website at www.homesincedarcity.com. Then call and let us know which homes you'd like us to show you. Look forward to walking through the door as owners of your new home.

Prices, over time, go up. I believe yours will, too! I have probably made more money on my real estate investments than any other source of income, and I'd like to help you do the same.

We are selling homes, and people are taking advantage of the flexible loan programs, historically low interest rates, bargain prices and gorgeous selection of homes. Please join in and feel the exhilerating joy, warmth and prestige of owning your own home!

Janet Naisbitt-Bagley, Associate Broker, ABR, CRS, ERS, GRI, ERA Realty Center, 800-934-3742

What is your purpose in Real Estate?

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:42:35 -0500

Have you ever wondered what your purpose in Real Estate is? Is it to chauffer clients around and look at other people's houses? Is it to become wealthy? Is it just because you love the hours, and it is really hard to get fired?

I don't know, at times I question my own purpose for being in Real Estate. I have always liked to look at houses and buildings, to see how well they were constructed, and what design features I like. I don't know whether that is a by product of growing up with my father who was a carpenter, or if is just some innate thing that I like.

Several years ago, myself and a group of my friends went to Mesa Verde National Park. It is gorgeous! It is some of the most amazing vista and sites of ruins that I have ever seen. I found myself, after realizing just how beautiful the setting was, focusing on the construction of the ruins. I was amazed that these indigenous people, the Anazasi, were able to construct large buildings without the use of iron tools. What also amazed me was the straightness of the walls and how square the corners were.

I don't know if that is normal, I don't know if I am sure what normal is! What I do know is that I came away impressed by the level of skill of these ancient builders. I think the point of my wandering story is that is what I still remember most vividly of that trip, was the skill with which these ruins were constructed. Which brings me back to my purpose for being in Real Estate.

I am sure that my fascination with building, and the draw of a great opportunity to become wealthy were the initial desires that drew me to being a Realtor. I am glad that those things drew me to this profession! They have become so secondary to what has kept me going through these difficult times, but they did bring me in.

What keeps me going, I think is the priviledge that I have to help people earn and live the American Dream. Everyone that has been there knows the feeling when you see the joy in a young couple's eyes as they find the house that they have been dreaming about. The one with a nice yard so that the children will have a safe place to play. Many have seen the satisfaction in a retired couple's smile when they see that same look on the face's of that young couple that want's to buy and take care of the home where the older couple raiseed their family and have so many memories. There is also a touch of remorse in the seller's eyes when they realize that there are so many wonderful memories and experiences that have taken place within the walls of that home.

It is also the feeling of satisfaction, that we as Realtors get when at the end of that difficult transaction, the client offers you a gift, maybe just a simple card or plate of cookies, and says, thank you, we could never have bought this house without you. In the final analysis, I think that what keeps me and most of the other agents that I talk to going, is the feeling that they have when they have done everything that they could think of to get that house sold, or the deal completed. You know that feeling, you got the client the best deal possible, and they have been able to achieve what they had desired.

Someone much wiser than me has said,(that is what I write when I don't know who to attribute quote) just take care of the customer needs and the money will be taken care of. Just some thoughts about what drives me. So What drives you?

Have a Great Weekend

Happenings in Cedar City

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:55:48 -0500

There ia a "Grand Blast Ceremony" planned on October 23rd to comommorate the reopening mining at the Iron Bull Mining and Milling facility west of Cedar City. This is a great economic boost to the area, the mines which were last mined in 1996, once provided the economic backbone for the entire county. The entire story can be found at: www.cedarcity.org/DocumentView.asp?DID=465.

This is an exciting economic boone to our county and our industry as this operation will begin to employ more people as the operation comes online. As mentioned in the article the mining company has contracts in place to ship the ore to China. This stability and the influx of higher paying jobs can only help the housing industry here locally. We are excited that the profitability of the local iron ore is such to bring back this much needed industry!