This is What We Call a Buyer’s Market!
December 13, 2008
This Month in Real Estate - November 2008 - YouTube
“This Month in Real Estate” is presented by two real estate experts, Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan. Dave Jenks is Vice President of Research and Development at Keller Williams Realty and Dave Jenks is Vice President of Publishing and Executive Editor at Keller Williams Realty. Both have authored such books at The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor and their most recent book, Shift.
If you have been thinking about buying “your perfect cabin in the mountains” but have found it a little too comfortable “sititng on the fence” this YouTube video, by respected real estate authorities, may very well be the push you need to make you think about making a move.
Lake Tahoe is #1 Ski Destination Booked on Orbitz
November 11, 2008
| TRAVEL & RESORTS - Resort Info & Directory | |
| Written by Peter Kray / SkiPressWorld.com | |
| Wednesday, 29 October 2008 09:05 | |
North Lake Tahoe (Ski Press)-Lake Tahoe is the most popular ski destination in the U.S. for hotel and 
vacation packages booked by travelers at Orbitz.com for travel between November 1, 2008 and April 30, 2009 (as of October 14).
This is the second consecutive year that Lake Tahoe has received top honors by travelers at Orbitz.com, as it was the number one destination for travel between November 20, 2007 and May 1, 2008.
“Orbitz is one of the largest online travel websites in the world,” said Director of Tourism Andy Chapman of the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association (NLTRA). “To be ranked as the site’s most popular ski destination in the country for the last two years is tremendous. Our own numbers echo Orbitz’s findings; despite the challenging economy, visitors are still traveling to North Lake Tahoe for the upcoming ski season and many are booking early especially for the busy holiday season.”
North Lake Tahoe has enjoyed a long-term relationship with Orbitz according to NLTRA Leisure Sales Manager Jeremy Jacobson, who regularly educates Orbitz staff about the destination and how it differentiates from the competition. Orbitz offers a host of North Lake Tahoe inventory for the budget conscious to the high-end traveler both on and off the mountain, as well as lakeside. North Lake Tahoe also provides Orbitz with a season-long Interchangeable Lift Ticket, which Orbitz users can purchase, giving them the flexibility to ski or ride any of North Tahoe’s seven ski resorts, representing a combined 12,000 acres, on any given day.
SUNSET Magazine - TRUCKEE Ranked Top Ten Places to Live
August 23, 2008
TOP TEN DREAM TOWNS
EASTSOUND, WA:
Eclectic island refuge Plunk a Cape Cod village at the end of a Norwegian fjord, tractor-beam this picturesque mash-up to an island 80 miles northwest of Seattle, and you’ve got Eastsound. This one-time agricultural port town is the largest settlement on Orcas Island. That’s not saying much - Orcas, the second most populous of Washington’s San Juan Islands, has only 5,000 residents.
Even at Main Street and North Beach Road, the town’s busiest intersection, you’ll look in vain for a stoplight, chain store, or flashing neon sign.
What you will find within Eastsound’s five-block centre ville is a vibrantly eclectic, even eccentric, assortment of restaurants, boutiques, and, most of all, people - from graying hippie homesteaders and youthful organic farmers to well-heeled urban refugees, Carhartt-clad contractors, retirees, school kids, and artists of all stripes.
Oh, yeah: You’ll also find pinch-me views of East Sound (the inlet that nearly splits horseshoe-shaped Orcas Island in half), Buck Mountain, and Mt. Constitution - at 2,400 feet, the highest point in the San Juans.
Even in summer, when tourists and part-time residents double the island’s population, the vibe in Eastsound is small-town mellow.
Natives and visitors alike stroll into Darvill’s Bookstore to pick up a newspaper and shoot the breeze, then amble across the street for coffee at the Sunflower Café. Eastsound is all about fusion - old, young, left, right, trucker, cyclist, vegan, carnivore. What binds these contrasting elements into a vital community is a shared love for this glorious blue-green landscape, where sea, mountains, forests, and sky come together. The place is a little inconvenient to get to, but its proudly independent residents wouldn’t have it any other way. -Craig Canine
MAKE A VISIT MAKE A MOVE
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA: A historic mission town set among rolling hills halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, SLO buzzes with undergraduate energy, thanks to California Polytechnic State University. Edna Valley wine country is a few minutes south, and the coast is 10 minutes west by car or, as many in this relentlessly fit community prefer, 30 minutes by bike. And the climate? Well, let’s see, how do you describe a place that’s as ideal for people as it is for wine grapes? Where the annual average monthly highs range all the way from 62° to 74° ? Oh, that’s right: Perfect. SLO is a town of 44,359 people who live outdoors, whether on the trail that winds through the oak forests and meadows on Bishop Peak or along the shaded downtown banks of its restored creek. Some of its best neighborhoods - where the streets are lined by a mix of Queen Annes and Spanish bungalows - sit within a few blocks of the back patio at the local coffee-house classic, Linnaea’s Cafe, or the eclectic offerings of the Palm Theatre, the only solar-powered picture show in the country. And all year long, Thursday’s evening farmers’ market sends the scent of barbecued tri-tip (and a soundtrack of live blues) across the tidy urban landscape. -Matthew Jaffe
MAKE A VISIT San Luis Obispo is 12 miles inland from the coast on U.S. 101, 190 miles north of Los Angeles and 230 miles south of San Francisco. Amtrak’s Coast Starlight and Pacific Surfliner both stop here (800/872-7245). The local airport is served by American Eagle, Delta Connection, United Express, and U.S. Air-ways, with direct connections to and from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City. Staying the night? Consider Petit Soleil Bed et Breakfast (from $159; 805/549-0321); it’s charming and near downtown. More info at: Visitslo. MAKE A MOVE If you’re thinking about living the SLO life, figure on a median home price of $655,323 (2007). As for jobs, Cal Poly is the city’s biggest employer - but the county is the third-largest wine-grape producer in California. For local news, try the free weekly, New Times or the city’s daily newspaper, The Tribune.
CRESTED BUTTE, CO: Unpretentious and personable, CB is a locals’ town, buzzing with young families, powder hounds drawn to Crested Butte Ski Resort, elite athletes, and big-city refugees. Everybody rides bikes here. This, arguably, is the place where mountain biking was born 30 years ago, and two-wheelers are everywhere: vintage cruisers, circa 1970, adorned with glittery handlebar streamers and bells, left unlocked in tidy, trusting rows outside Camp 4 Coffee; rusty Schwinns propped up on kickstands in front of Izzy’s deli; mud-splattered, full-suspension steeds rolling up Elk Avenue after a blissful beating on the infamous 401 single-track. A recent proposal to begin mining molybdenum (a key element in steelmaking) just outside town on Mt. Emmons has drawn the ire of many residents, who came here for the scenery and wilderness access, if not the jobs. There’s plenty to do besides free-wheeling. Cast for brown trout on the fast-flowing Taylor River, explore nearby Strand Hill on horseback, or scope out downtown’s cheerfully redone Victorians and sweet local boutiques like Beyond and Casa Bella (CB prides itself on having only two chain stores and zero stoplights). But the ultimate souvenir is your own refurbished cruiser bike, complete with a miniature Colorado vanity plate that reads eat my dust. -Katie Arnold
MAKE A VISIT Crested Butte is 28 miles north of Gunnison, on State 135. United Express flies daily from Denver to Gunnison airport, and Alpine Express will shuttle you north (800/822-4844). A good choice for an overnight stay is The Ruby of Crested Butte B&B (from $169; ( 800/390-1338). The Visitor Center (Sixth St./State 135 at Elk Ave; 800/545-4505) is a great one-stop source for maps and info. MAKE A MOVE The median home price in 2007 was $815,000, but local agents say prices are rising. Along with real estate and tourism, telecommuting is big here. Go to skicb.com to check out live CB webcams. Best local scuttlebutt: The Crested Butte News. BOZEMAN, MT, pop. 38,000, $299,000 HOMER, AK, pop. 5,400, $244,902 OJAI, CA, pop. 7,800, $799,000 PRESCOTT, AZ, POP. 43,000 $246,938 SANDPOINT, ID, pop. 7,647 $249,000 SISTERS, OR, pop. 1,700 $415,000 TRUCKEE, CA, pop. 16,000 $539,000 All median home prices are based on 2007 data
Go for the perfect vacation. Or the perfect rest of your life. |
