Well, the weathermen and women finally got it right. After quite a bit of back and forth between “It’ll snow” and “Oops, we were kidding about snow”, we’ve had a few good fronts come through and the Treasure Valley is now a little winter wonderland.
While we are almost never prone to the storms of the Midwest or back east with their everyone owns a snow blower, get buried under 6 feet of snow issues, we do enjoy four distinct seasons and winter is finally here. Last night we saw about 4 inches fall in the valley. Unfortunately its the dry, hard to do anything with but shovel off your driveway variety. This past weekend, Saturday night I believe, we got an inch or two of good, slightly wet snow. Perfect for snowmen/snowballs and sledding.
Also up after a late start, the local ski resorts in McCall, Boise, and Sun Valley are all operational, at least partially. If the forcast for the rest of the week holds true (snow possible or likely each day) then we should have everything fully operational and ready to really enjoy all the winter sport activities available here in Idaho.
It’s been a rough holiday travel season for many with delays, flight cancellations and many people being stranded and forced to camp out in airport lobbies. My own brother-in-law had to walk 5 miles through snow & storm to catch a train after his bus broke down to get to the airport. He missed his flight and got to spend the night on the floor. Hopefully though, everyone will make it to where they are going and enjoy a warm holiday with good food and drink with family and friends.
Have a safe and happy holiday all and a very prosperous 2009.
It’s not exactly real estate related but I stumbled across this again today and thought that it was worth sharing. This time of year brings about stress and worry like no other and combined with the constant news of global economic uncertianty… well we all need to keep as much perspective as possible.
“There are two things about which you should never worry. First, you should never worry about the things which you cannot change. If you can’t change them, worry is certainly most foolish and useless. Second, you shouldn’t worry about things you can change. If you can change them, then taking action will accomplish far more than wasting your energies in worry. More often than not, worrying about something does more danger than the thing itself. Give worry its rightful place — out of your life.”
– Anonymous –
While the news of the economy continues its long track record of being, well, bad… there is a silver lining for those well qualified buyers that still need to make a home purchase. Interest rates are FANTASTIC! Looking at the rate sheet for today 30 year fixed rates are 5.25% with FHA 30 year fixed at just 5.5%. Be my guest to compare today’s rates with information back to the early 70’s courtesy of Freddie Mac.
It was just announced that we have apparently been in a recession since last December. How this could have taken us a year to realize is a bit of a mystery to me, but speculation continues to run amok regarding the length and depth of our current economic predicament. I have heard 2009, but 2010 seems like a more realistic number. We could start to see a recovery, or at least a leveling out in the new year but even financial guru’s seem to be just throwing numbers around in the hopes of getting something to stick on target.
Bottom line when it comes to housing, at least regarding owner occupied property, you need a roof over head and there are some incredible and what would have been unimaginable deals just 12 months ago on the market right now. In the long term, real estate continues to be an outstanding investment in building future wealth. We are in a downturn now, obviously. But I think it’s clear that there will be a recovery. If history is any indication and the cycles of the past continue to influence the future we will come out of this on the other side in a better place.
