Flagstaff Blog - Real Estate and All Things Flagstaff: May 2008

Flagstaff Real Estate and Community News records my thoughts for the general public and my clients about living and selling real estate in beautiful Flagstaff, Arizona. Here's last week's collection of blog posts:

Regarding the Flagstaff City Elections:

• Flagstaff Record Turnout Predicted
• Flagstaff Voters Choose Change and Experience

Regarding the Flagstaff real estate market:

• The market is becoming more competitive for buyers in at least some price categories
• Now Is the Time to Buy A Flagstaff Home
• Flagstaff fairs better than many real estate markets - read with caution!

Regarding National Real Estate News:

• Senate Advances Housing Bill

About Living in Flagstaff:

• Memorial Day Weekend in Flagstaff!

Some general thoughts (and linking back to Active Rain):

• Recollections of the Meaning of Memorial Day from Flagstaff AZ

Now on to a new week!

For Flagstaff real estate, contact Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties!

Perhaps I've been a bit too over-confident about my physical fitness this afternoon. I just signed up to walk up the Snow Bowl Road on August 16 in the Flagstaff event "Climb to Conquer Cancer".

 Climb to Conquer Cancer is a noncompetitive walk to raise awareness and dollars to fight cancer. Actually, I am excited to announce that I am supporting the American Cancer Society's fight against cancer by participating in this fundraising campaign along with others at RE/MAX Peak Properties. Our team, of course, is called RE/MAX Peak Climbers.

Please visit my personal fund-raising web site to learn more about this campaign and to donate to Climb to Conquer.  All contributions support the American Cancer Society's efforts to fund groundbreaking cancer research, provide up-to-date cancer information and education, advocate for public health policies that benefit the community, and offer services that improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

Thank you in advance for any support you can provide!

Here's a winter view of the mountain I'll be climbing on August 16. The peak is over 12,000 feet. We'll "just" go to the ski lift area at about 9000 feet.

The Senate Banking Committee voted Tuesday to approve of a plan to allow the federal government to insure up to $300 billion in refinanced loans for homeowners in financial distress. Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) worked together on the bipartisan bill designed bring stability to the housing market and help stem the rising rate of foreclosures. The Banking committee voted Tuesday to pass the Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008.

Major features in the housing package passed earlier this month by the U.S. House of Representatives are included in the Senate bill, including reforms to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and as well as the FHA's foreclosure prevention measure.

On Monday, President Bush reiterated his plan to veto any legislation that provides a "bailout" for homeowners in foreclosure. Once the full Senate considers the bill, there will need to be a House-Senate conference committee resolution of any technical differences in the bills before the final package is forwarded to the President for consideration. Stay turned.

Here's some more background on the proposed legislation and the conflict between Congress and the President that may hold it up.

NAR Press Release on the subject.

For Flagstaff real estate, contact Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties

Love 'um or hate them, we can't live without computers. Mine froze Thursday afternoon. There went the resolution in my last blog. It was all I could do, scrambing with borrowed desktops, to keep up with escrows, responding to critical email, and advise my team about selling homes. No investigation of You-Tube.  No blogging.

Thank goodness for internet-based programs like our MLS system and Top Producer, as well as our office server system which allowed me access to my files from another computer.

Luckily, I know a great guy, and IT grad who works at Northern Arizona University and was willing to give me his Thursday night, Friday lunch, and Saturday morning. And now I'm up and running again. But three days behind..... (My advice: don't install Service Pack 3 on a computer with low disk space available.) Thanks, James!

Public service annoucement: if you are a City of Flagstaff resident, NOW is the time to return your ballot to the Elections office! Tomorrow is the deadline.

Here is a summary of the public transportation issues you'll find on the Flagstaff City Election ballot.

I say this so often, but thanks to my team, we ran service for our clients uninterrupted during my crash -- Go Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties!

Meanwhile, I've got a full day with two new listings on tap for my attention, a board meeting at noon, and an inspection notice to resolve. Off to work! I'll get back to You Tube and Active Rain later in the week!

Testing this slideshow option (SmugMug):

903 Curling Smoke, Flagstaff AZ

Now, how do I get it into You Tube?

Is it possible to load a Power Point Presentation to You Tube?

Here are a couple of related Active Rain posts that help on this topic, but don't quite answer my questions:

Chuck Willman, Top Ten Sources for Video Bloggers

Rob Graham, Create a Slide Show for Your Blog -- I think his PhotoBucket works better than my SmugMug for this purpose.... What do you think?

I'm new to podcasting -- I just got an ipod at the end of last year. I've only purchased a few things, but there is all sorts of great free stuff. My favorite thing is the ability to time-transfer my favorite National Public Radio programs. I love The Diane Rhem Show! Today, her panel had a great discussion of the gridlock that is blocking the mortgage relief bill. I wanted to share it with my blog readers and I knew there was a way to insert a podcast into my other blog, I just hadn't done it.

The difficult part is finding the actual podcast address. I don't think I can describe how to do it well enough to give instructions here, but if you want to try it yourself, the key is fiddling around with the "properties" shown when you right-click on the podcast link. As I get more "expert" at this, I will try to supplement this post.

If you'd like to read about the status of the mortgage relief bill, and listen to the podcast, visit my other blog, Fix for the Subprime Mortgage Mess? Short summary -- don't hold your breath expecting this to become law.

By the way, I can't find anything on Realtor.org about NAR's position on this bill. Perhaps it's too controversial for them?  There is a position paper on regulation of mortgages (they support it), but nothing on the so-called bailout bill. If I'm missing it, let me know -- I'm an avid watcher on REPAC positions since I mostly disagree with them.

Meanwhile, if you have a need for a Flagstaff real estate agent, contact us: Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties.

The good news is that blogging brings business. The bad news is that I then have no time for blogging. I've got lots of great ideas, but finding the time to get them on paper (so to speak) and also take care of my 13 listings, 6 closings in May, and still have a life in beautiful Flagstaff has become a problem.

By the way, if you're looking for fun in Flagstaff this weekend, here is the link to Flagstaff things to do. (Heritage Square in downtown Flagstaff -- pictured on the right --would be an interesting place to hang out if you found nothing else on that list. There is sure to be music and people-watching, and it's surrounded by great restaurants and shops.)

I'm resisting the impluse to hire someone to blog for me because it's my thoughts and expertise that seem to be attracting people. So, I just need to impose more discipline on my schedule. 

Here's my resolution:  Blog, Blog, Blog! And then, there is my other blog -- same problem.

For Flagstaff real estate, contact Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties.