Chance Gates' Blog

The Nevada Fight Song

HAIL to our sturdy team, loyal and true,
MARCH, march on down the field oh Silver and Blue!

We’ll give a long cheer for NEVADA’s team,
See them break through again,
Fighting for our own U of N to victory.

N – E – V – A – D – A
NEVADA!

The Law of the Jungle

“The Law of the Jungle” is a poem from Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. It is recited before each home football and basketball game in a chant led by the student section.

Now this is the Law of the Jungle — as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back –
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

The chorus is followed by a wolf’s howl played over the stadium sound system and echoed throughout the venue by the fans in attendance.

The Blue Crew

One of Nevada’s youngest traditions, the Blue Crew was a student booster organization that debuted in the 2003-04 academic year. The crew was started as a way to bring out the spirit of the Silver and Blue in current students. As many of the teams began to claim, or re-claim for some, success and glory, it become necessary for the students to organize under a single banner to show their undying support for the Pack.

The Blue Crew gets bonuses, as in a frequent flyer program. Each member presents an ID and garners points for coming to events. They get free Blue Crew T-shirts from Pepsi (the university’s soft drink supplier) and swipe cards for discounts at area stores.

Painting the “N”

Hillside letters are a common site in the Western U.S. and on the side of Peavine Peak proudly sits the “N” of Nevada. Every fall during the football season, a group of avid supporters and student make the trek up the hill to add a fresh coat of paint to the “N.”

The Fremont Cannon

The Fremont Cannon – one of college football’s largest and most expensive “trophies” – is now over 30 years old and is the prize sought after when two in-state rivals, The University of Nevada and UNLV, meet each fall in football.

Nevada’s two university football teams annually play for the right to house the mountain howitzer each season. Today’s cannon is a replica of a gun that accompanied Captain John C. Fremont on his expedition through Oregon, Nevada and California in 1843-44.

The replica cannon was reconstructed in 1970 as the gift of the Nevada Mines Division of Kennecott Copper Corporation to the students of the two campuses of the University of Nevada. It was built from engineering and technical drawings from the military archives of the United States Army.

Bill Ireland, a 1952 Nevada alumnus who was UNLV’s first football coach, deserves credit for connecting athletics boosters on each end of the state with Howard Winn, Kennecott general manager in White Pine County. Ireland, a McGill native, was able to sell Winn on the idea along with Wolf Pack boosters such as Bill Parish, a 1945 alumnus who played for the Wolf Pack in the early 1940s.

“One of the things I sold Kennecott on was that if they supported it, this would truly become a statewide trophy, including the cow counties,” said Ireland, who coached baseball and football at Nevada before a distinguished career as head football coach and later athletic director at UNLV.

The Wolf Pack won the first game between the universities in 1969, but the Rebels were the first team to capture the cannon in 1970 by a score of 42-20. The winner is allowed to paint the cannon its school colors while it has possession of it.

“It’s the most symbolic “trophy” for winning a state championship in the country and as much a part of the football tradition as the game itself,” Nevada head coach Chris Ault said. “The Fremont Cannon is such a monumental trophy that we built a spot for it when we built Cashell Fieldhouse in the 1980′s.”

Today, the cannon resides in its “home” in the renovated Cashell Football Center. A special alcove was reserved for the cannon when renovations were completed a couple of years ago. More on the Fremont Cannon.

Nevada Wolf Pack Athletics

I believe that we are here for each other, not against each other. Everything comes from an understanding that you are a gift in my life – whoever you are, whatever our differences.
John Denver

I get an awful lot of fan mail, and I read all that I can.
John Denver

I think the biggest problem in the world is that we have a generation of young people, and maybe two, who don’t think it’s going to get any better.
John Denver

I would so much like young people to have a sense of the gift that they are. Not many of them feel like that.
John Denver

Peace is a conscious choice.
John Denver

We don’t teach kids how to feel, we don’t give them the words to go by.
John Denver

We must begin to make what I call “conscious choices,” and to really recognize that we are the same. It’s from that place in my heart that I write my songs.
John Denver

The combined construction of new single-family homes and apartments in November rose 9.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000 units. Single-family starts increased 2.3%. Multifamily starts rose 25.3%. Applications for new building permits, seen as an indicator of future activity, rose 5.7% to an annual rate of 681,000 units.

Existing home sales rose 4% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.42 million units from 4.25 million units in October. The inventory of unsold homes on the market decreased to 2.58 million, a 7-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 7.7-month supply in October.

The Commerce Department announced that gross domestic product — the total output of goods and services produced in the U.S. — increased at a revised annual rate of 1.8% in the third quarter of 2011.

New home sales rose 1.6% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 315,000 units from a revised rate of 310,000 units in October. Compared to a year ago, new home sales were up 9.8%.

The index of leading economic indicators — designed to forecast economic activity in the next three to six months — rose a strong 0.5% in November, following a 0.9% increase in October.

Orders for durable goods — items expected to last three or more years — rose $7.5 billion or 3.8% to $207 billion in November. Excluding volatile transportation-related goods, orders posted a monthly increase of 0.3%.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 4,000 to 364,000 for the week ending December 17. Continuing claims for the week ending December 10 fell by 79,000 to 3.546 million.

Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on the housing price index on December 27 and pending home sales on December 29.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has extended the temporary waiver of anti-flipping regulations through December 31, 2012.

Thanks to my friends at Prospect Mtg

Mark your favorite properties and get instant updates price changes,  new pictures and status changes.

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

Santa won’t have any trouble finding the home of the Richards family this Christmas.

The property in the Canberra suburb of Forrest in Australia is illuminated with 331,038 fairy lights making it the Guinness World Record holder for the Most Christmas Lights on a Residential Property.

David Richards, a barrister and father of three, has worked on the decorations for over four years, with the number of lights having doubled from last year.  David said: “It started four years ago with one string above the door and has really grown from there”.

David is reluctant to say how much the decorations cost, but all the money he receives from visitors goes to the charity ‘SIDS and Kids’ which he says helped his family out during a difficult period in 2002.

Despite the four year investment in the light display David said that he won’t be doing it again next year, saying he hoped to be able to donate the lights to someone else who would continue to use them to raise money for charity.

Watch video

Mark your favorite properties and get instant updates price changes,  new pictures and status changes.

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

www.nevadawolfpack.com

The Wolf Pack

The Nevada Wolf Pack, one of only two teams nationally to use the designation (North Carolina State is the other, though they use Wolfpack as one word while Nevada uses two words with a capital ‘P’), has been using the Wolf Pack designation since at least the early 1920s.

Nevada’s first athletic teams in the late 1890s and early 1900s were referred to as the Sagebrushers or even the Sage Hens after Nevada’s state flowering plant, the sagebrush. There are references in print to the ‘Sage Warriors’, although none of these names were the official mascot of Nevada’s athletic teams.

In the 1921-22 athletic season, a local writer described the spirited play of a Nevada team as a ‘pack of wolves’. The name stuck and soon almost every reference to the athletic teams was the Nevada Wolves. In 1923, the students officially designated ‘Wolves’ as the school’s mascot.

Since all teams are a group of players, the word pack followed quickly. In 1928-29, the Nevada student handbook referred to the athletic teams as Wolf Pack and two school songs were adopted, entitled ‘The Wolf Pack’ and ‘Here Comes the Wolf Pack’.

The Nevada Fight Song

HAIL to our sturdy team, loyal and true,
MARCH, march on down the field oh Silver and Blue!

Mark your favorite properties and get instant updates price changes,  new pictures and status changes.

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

Published: September 21, 2010

http://members.houselogic.com/landing/hoa-fees-122011/?nicmp=rcrim&nichn=editorial&niseg=narwr&cid=WR12212011:37679&ed_rid=1698691

Get up to speed with the most outrageous laws and homeowners association rules.

Even celebrities such as Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson can be at odds with an HOA. Here are seven crazy examples of laws and HOA rules:

1. Can’t park your car in your own driveway.

In Odessa, Fla., a resident was fined by his board for parking his pickup truck in his own driveway because it wouldn’t fit in his garage. Not our problem, the HOA basically told him before slapping him with a lawsuit. After a protracted legal battle, he has since won the right to park his car, but only after two years and $200,000 in legal fees.

2. Don’t plant too many roses.

While foreclosure is an increasingly real threat to homeowners, few expect to lose their house based on gardening infractions. But that’s exactly what happened to a Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., resident who planted too many roses on his property. After $70,000 in fees, he lost his legal battle against the HOA and ultimately lost his home to the flower debacle.

3. Indoor drying only.

As seen in a Colbert Report expose, a Bend, Oregon, resident was shocked by her HOA’s rejection of her outdoor clothesline. Her natural drying method was dubbed a hazard, and they began levying fines that totaled nearly $1,000. She eventually took down the offending line, even after the Right 2 Dry movement got behind her.

4. No mothers-in-laws allowed.

If you’re a married man in Iowa, the government grants you a special privilege: you’re allowed to bar your mother-in-law from your home. While certainly useful to men trying to ditch their spouse’s mom, this law does not extend to women.

5. Only use sanctioned paint.

What appears to be an inoffensive pale blue house has caused a stir recently in one Georgia neighborhood. Unaware of his HOA’s rules, a homeowner painted his house before having the color officially approved by his board. And with a $25 per day fee levied every day his house bares the offending hue, he’s already racked up $6,800 in fines on top of legal fees.

6. No service dog for the hearing impaired.

A Fort Collins, Colo., HOA fined a hearing-impaired resident for keeping Pookee, her Pomeranian service dog. The HOA even threatened to put a lien on the property. All this despite the fact that Fair Housing Act requires condo and home owner associations to make reasonable accommodations in their procedures and rules to allow a person with disability to reside in a unit. This includes allowing service animals.

Have an issue related to service animal? Contact your local HUD office or local or state human rights agency.

7. Don’t use ‘inconsistent’ shingles.

As if it wasn’t tragedy enough when a plane fell out of the sky destroying a Sanford, Fla., man’s home, his HOA then challenged his rebuilding efforts. It threatened litigation because the shingles and elevation in his new house’s plans didn’t match his neighbors’.

Bending the rules

If you fight the law, you may lose. But there are ways to work with the restrictions of a HOA and still get your way. The first line of defense is to make sure you understand the HOA or condo association rules before you purchase the property.

If, after you move in, you’d like your home’s appearance to differ from that of your neighbors, you’ll need to submit a “variance” form of request. This request can be accepted or rejected at the board’s will, so it’s good to alert them early in your planning process. One tip to gain HOA support? Understand the challenges and perspective of HOAs, follow the rules to a tee, and offer to help them gain community support for their initiatives. Maybe even run for office. If you can’t beat ‘em, you might as well join ‘em.

What’s the strangest local government or HOA rule you’ve ever heard of?

Mark your favorite properties and get instant updates price changes,  new pictures and status changes.

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted composite index of mortgage applications for the week ending December 2 rose 12.8%. Refinancing applications increased 15.3%. Purchase volume rose 8.3%.

Factory orders fell 0.4% in October to a seasonally adjusted $450.03 billion, following a revised 0.1% decrease in September. Excluding the volatile transportation sector, orders rose 0.2% in October.

The Institute for Supply Management reported that the monthly composite index of non-manufacturing activity fell slightly to 52 in November from 52.9 in October. A reading above 50 signals expansion. It was the 24th straight month of expansion in the services sector.

Retail sales fell 2.3% for the week ending December 3, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs index. On a year-over-year basis, retailers saw sales increase 3.8%.

Wholesalers increased their inventories 1.6% to $470.2 billion in October. This followed a revised 0.2% rise in September. Sales at the wholesale level rose 0.9% to $406 billion in October. On a year-over-year basis, sales were 13.1% higher since October 2010.

The trade deficit decreased to $43.5 billion in October from an upwardly revised $44.2 billion in September. Exports fell 0.8% to $179.2 billion. Imports decreased 1% to $222.6 billion.

The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for December’s preliminary reading rose to 67.7 from 64.1 in November. It was the fourth monthly gain in a row for the index.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 23,000 to 381,000 for the week ending December 3. Continuing claims for the week ending November 26 fell by 174,000 to 3.583 million, the lowest level since September 2008.

Thanks to my friends at Prospect Mtg

Mark your favorite properties and get instant updates price changes,  new pictures and status changes.

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted composite index of mortgage applications for the week ending December 2 rose 12.8%. Refinancing applications increased 15.3%. Purchase volume rose 8.3%.

Factory orders fell 0.4% in October to a seasonally adjusted $450.03 billion, following a revised 0.1% decrease in September. Excluding the volatile transportation sector, orders rose 0.2% in October.

The Institute for Supply Management reported that the monthly composite index of non-manufacturing activity fell slightly to 52 in November from 52.9 in October. A reading above 50 signals expansion. It was the 24th straight month of expansion in the services sector.

Retail sales fell 2.3% for the week ending December 3, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs index. On a year-over-year basis, retailers saw sales increase 3.8%.

Wholesalers increased their inventories 1.6% to $470.2 billion in October. This followed a revised 0.2% rise in September. Sales at the wholesale level rose 0.9% to $406 billion in October. On a year-over-year basis, sales were 13.1% higher since October 2010.

The trade deficit decreased to $43.5 billion in October from an upwardly revised $44.2 billion in September. Exports fell 0.8% to $179.2 billion. Imports decreased 1% to $222.6 billion.

The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for December’s preliminary reading rose to 67.7 from 64.1 in November. It was the fourth monthly gain in a row for the index.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 23,000 to 381,000 for the week ending December 3. Continuing claims for the week ending November 26 fell by 174,000 to 3.583 million, the lowest level since September 2008.

Thanks to my friends at Prospect Mtg

Mark your favorite properties and get instant updates price changes,  new pictures and status changes.

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.