….Lots of new listings. Some really nice properties for Copperwest this last month. (14th Street, 215 E 3rd street 102 Pine in White Salmon)I’m really happy with the traction of my office, though the business seems to have broken away from me, and towards my crew (sniff) I couldn’t be happier.

It seems the sweet spot right now is under $300, and down to the low $200 range. There are some really comfortable homes in that range, and when you are looking to simplify, well…..that price range looks really great.

The number one issue from a home features standpoint this month was a garage. It’s no longer for the toys, however. It’s for the downsizing. I’ve seen fewer, and fewer garages with motorcycles and jetskis, and more and more with furniture from a previous home.

….And that is what it is. Even with that, peoples moods are leavening, even as they are simplifying everything. I have to say, this last few weeks have been refreshing, working with clients, who may have had a set back or two, but are getting organized and simplified, and actually, have a great plan moving forward….. Inspirational, really.

…If only the appraisers were so kind. I’m uncertain how we could enact so much reform in the mortgage market, and now end up with worse appraisers than before. We have had an absolutely impossible time these last months with appraisers, and it’s getting worse, not better. Appraisers complaining that they didn’t want to actually “drive out and physically inspect” the property because it was too far from their home. True story. Isn’t that what an appraiser is supposed to do?!

There’s been some great articles recently on the mortgage crisis, the evolving CW of listing and selling property, as well as a couple of just flat out barn burners about the craziness of the NINJA Loan folks who, thank goodness are mostly all gone, but unfortunately, have left quite a mess behind….Alot of those links are on Copperwest’s FB page. There’s a bunch of great reads. Go check it out.

Our foreclosure market has seemed to have calmed down a touch too….or perhaps I’m too busy to track it anymore. Showings are up (Though across a very narrow group of Realtors BTW) Sales are not, but the Buyer’s are stacking up and just this week, properties have disappeared, prompting more than one angry phone call, and the thought was had, though not uttered, about snoozing and losing…..

But it’s still not a recovery.

I’m editing and showing property a lot more off my iPad, and it’s much much more than at toy. I’m editing this in pages from a moving automobile, and before I get home, I’ll have it posted to the web.
I’m not sure I can unplug anymore, given that tight response times and insane amounts of realtime posting and data retrieval are now a hallmark of an attentive broker. When it gets this easy and seamless (check out iDisk on the apple platform….whoa) it’s really tempting to never unplug… Now if only that speed will result in some slack line…..oh well.