Chance Gates' Blog

Apple Picking Resource Guide – go Apple picking in Carson City, Nevada!

Want a unique, fun activity for fall in the Carson City, NV area? This is where you can find Carson City area apple picking orchards, apple farms, apple festivals for Carson City and Carson City County, Nevada.

Apples are one of the easiest fruits to gather – even for little hands. Here are a few tips to get the most out of your apple picking experience:

- Apples on the outside of the tree tend to ripen first. Because there are so many varieties, color isn’t necessarily an indication of ripeness. If you’re not sure, ask.
- When going to pick your own apple picking farms, choose firm, bruise-free fruit and place it gently in your basket (just throwing them in will make them bruise and go bad more quickly).
- To increase shelf life, keep your apple haul in a cool, dry place, like a basement. Don’t wash them until you use them. Then bring on the apple pies, sauce and cider!

Some fun Carson City, Nevada Apple Picking facts:
-Apple trees take four to five years to produce their first fruit.
-There really was a Johnny Appleseed, famous for planting apple trees. His real name was John Chapman and he was born in 1774
-There are about 8000 varieties of apples around the world. Only about 100 types of apples are grown commercially in the U.S.
-After you go apple picking, amaze the kids with this trick: when you slice an apple in half, the core resembles a star

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional I encourage any questions or comments or the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted.

Contact me at  chance at ballard-company.com www.myspace/chancegates

Aces players to act as celebrity servers

For Immediate Release July 27, 2010

RENO, Nev.- Manager Brett Butler and select Reno Aces players will act as celebrity servers for a special dinner at Bugsy’s Sports Bar and Grill on Aug. 11, with all proceeds to benefit the Reno Aces Foundation, the organization announced today.

· Learn more about the
Reno Aces Foundation

Following the Aces’ 1:05 p.m. game on Aug. 11, the ballclub will host a private dinner in the Freight House District beginning at 5 p.m. Butler and several members of the team will serve dinner to participating patrons, in hopes of raising money for the Reno Aces Foundation. Beloved mascot Archie, as well as Aces Ballpark on-field MCs Austin & Tina, will join in on the festivities.

Admission into this special dinner will be just $65. For the price of admission, fans will receive dinner, drinks and a ticket to that day’s game against the Memphis Redbirds.

Dinner will consist of one-half slab of ribs, a plate of nachos, the choice of one of four premium entrees and dessert. All beer and wine will be included in the price of admission, courtesy of New West Distributing and Southern Wine and Spirits.

The event serves as the first major benefit for the newly-launched Reno Aces Foundation. All proceeds-including tips for the Aces celebrity servers-will go to the foundation, which supports youth and family initiatives throughout Northern Nevada.

Fans can RSVP beginning at 10 a.m. on Wednesday by contacting Amanda at (775) 334-7002. Space is limited, and spots are expected to fill-up very quickly.

For more information, visit www.RenoAces.com or call (775) 334-7002.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  You can email me @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

RISMEDIA, March 27, 2010—(MCT)—It’s been 16 months since Eugene and Patricia Harrison last paid the mortgage on their Perris, Calif., home. Eleven months since the notice got slapped on their front door, warning that it would be sold at auction.

A terse letter from a lawyer came eight months ago, telling them that their lender now owned the house. Three months later, the bank told them to pay up or get out by the end of the week.

Still, they remain in the yellow ranch-style home they bought seven years ago for $128,000, with its views of the San Jacinto Mountains. They’re not planning on going anywhere.

“We’re kind of on pins and needles, but who’d want to leave when you put this kind of energy into a house?” said Eugene Harrison, gesturing toward a bucolic mural of mountains, stream and flowers the couple painted on the living room wall.

Throughout the country, people continue to default on their home loans—but lenders have backed off on forced evictions, allowing many to remain in their homes, essentially rent-free.

Several factors are driving the trend, industry experts say, including government pressure on banks to modify loans and keep people in their homes. And with a glut of inventory in places like Southern California’s Inland Empire, Nevada and Arizona, lenders are loath to depress housing prices further by dumping more properties into a weak market.

Finally, allowing borrowers to stay in their homes helps protect the bank’s investment as it negotiates with the homeowners, said Gary Kirshner, a spokesman for Chase bank, a major lender. “If the person’s in the property, there’s less chance for vandalism, and they’re probably maintaining the house,” he said.

Economists say the situation won’t last forever, but in the meantime the “amnesty” may allow at least some homeowners to regain their financial footing and avoid eviction.

In the Inland Empire, an estimated 100,000 homeowners are living rent-free, according to economist John Husing, who based that number on the difference between loan delinquencies and foreclosures. Industry experts say it’s difficult to say how many families are in that situation nationally because only banks know for sure how many customers have stopped paying entirely.

But Rick Sharga of Irvine, Calif., data tracker RealtyTrac notes that the number of loans in which the borrower hasn’t made a payment in 90 days or more but is not in foreclosure is at 5.1% nationally, a record high. And yet the number of foreclosures last year was 2.9 million, below the 3.2 million that RealtyTrac economists predicted.

More evidence is provided by another firm, ForeclosureRadar, which says it now takes an average of 229 days for a bank to foreclose on a home in California after sending a notice of default, up from 146 days in August 2008.

“For some reason, banks are being more lenient with homeowners who are behind on their loans,” Sharga said. “Whether it’s a strategy to try and slow down the volume of foreclosures or simply a matter of the banks being able to keep up with volume is something that banks only know for sure.”

Lenders say the trend reflects their efforts to work with borrowers to modify loans to avoid foreclosure. Bank of America “continues to exhaust every possible option to qualify customers for modification or other solutions,” spokeswoman Jumana Bauwens said.

Some lenders are making it a policy to partner with delinquent borrowers. Citibank said this month that it would let borrowers on the brink of foreclosure stay at their homes for six months, whether or not they make payments, if they turn over their property deed. Such policies may partly reflect the fact that lenders can’t keep up with all the foreclosures, some say. “The mortgage lenders are so backlogged that some people are able to slip through the cracks,” said Kathryn Davis, a real estate agent at America’s Real Estate Advocates in Corona.

That was apparently the case for the Harrisons, who were told at various times that their house had been sold, that it belonged to someone else and that it was empty. “It’s been frustrating,” said Eugene Harrison.

The Harrisons missed their first payment in October 2008, shortly after Patricia Harrison lost her job as a healthcare aide and her husband’s part-time towing work dried up. They said they applied for a loan modification but were told that they couldn’t receive one until they were three months behind on their payments. So they stopped paying.

In April 2009, they received a notice warning them that their property “may be sold at a public sale,” and in July, they were told their house was a bank-owned property.

The bank sent a notice by FedEx in October demanding $3,000, and when the Harrisons called to discuss this notice, they were told they had four days to vacate the house.

Panicked, they arranged to stay with family in New Mexico and started packing their things, filling their garage with boxes of books, camping equipment and art. But no one came to kick them out. “We were afraid to leave the house, afraid the sheriff was going to come,” said Patricia.

After contacting consumer advocates about their situation, the Harrisons decided to stay put. Soon after, two men in a white pickup truck showed up at the house and peeped in the windows, telling the Harrisons that they thought the house was abandoned. The Harrisons suspected they were planning to move in themselves and chased them away.

As they wade through the red tape, the Harrisons can’t imagine abandoning a house where they’ve left their mark in the goldenrod and potpourri rose walls, the new fixtures and stenciling in the bathrooms, the fruit trees planted in the yard.

Although the Harrisons’ future is uncertain, industry observers agree that the rent-free life can’t last forever. As home values climb, banks will find it financially advantageous to foreclose on delinquent borrowers and sell their properties.

“In many cases, particularly in California, people owe a boatload of payments, and no bank is going to forgive that,” said Guy Cecala, editor of Inside Mortgage Finance, a trade publication.

In Diamond Bar, the Fraguere family is finally moving on after living rent-free for 18 months. Job loss and other setbacks prevented them from paying their mortgage, but they say they didn’t hear anything from the bank until a real estate agent showed up at their door last month saying she was going to sell their house.

Sandy Fraguere wasn’t surprised that it had taken the bank so long to ask them to move. “I don’t think they really knew what was going on or who was there,” she said.

Next stop for the Fragueres is a hotel, where they plan to stay for two weeks until their apartment in Chino Hills is ready for them to move in. Their dogs are being boarded and their belongings stored until they can retrieve them someday. The Fragueres have started saying goodbye to their neighbors, adding yet another empty house to a block that has already seen two other families forced to pack up and leave.

(c) 2010, Los Angeles Times.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  You can email me @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

In February of 2010, the President announced additional help for homeowners living in areas deemed “hardest hit” by the fallout of the housing crisis. A new $1.5 billion funding initiative called the FHA Hardest-Hit Fund provides money for housing finance agencies or FHAs in Nevada, Michigan, California, Florida and Arizona.

The Hardest-Hit Fund was created to offer  “relief in direct proportion to the scale of each state’s housing challenges.” In plain English, that means housing finance agencies in the affected states will get government money based on the scale of declining home values, unemployment figures and the number of delinquent mortgages.

What does all this mean for someone with an FHA loan who is in danger of default and foreclosure? If you live in one of the affected states, when you go to your lender to negotiate forbearance, an altered payment schedule or other options designed to prevent foreclosure, the bank has more financial incentive from the government to help the borrower. The FHA Hardest-Hit program gives lenders in these five states more flexibility to create programs designed to prevent a mortgage from going into default or foreclosure including:

• Loan modification
• Mortgage forbearance
• Principal reduction for borrowers who are over-leveraged
• Loan principal reduction for borrowers with “severe negative equity”
  It’s very important to note that the Treasury Department has not mandated an across-the-board set of measures that must be taken with this funding; all programs a lender initiates with Hardest-Hit funds must be evaluated to insure it’s in compliance with rules put in place through the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. Your lender may choose to design an anti-foreclosure program not offered in other areas, or one that has features similar programs lack—as long as the program is in compliance with federal law.One such type of relief suggested by the creators of the FHA Hardest-Hit program as an “acceptable transaction” is the unemployment program concept. This could be offered in the form of some assistance to qualified FHA borrowers who are currently unemployed and in danger of foreclosure on their FHA home loan. Another type of relief considered an acceptable transaction is second lien reduction where the second lien is either modified or reduced. Is your FHA loan eligible? At press time there doesn’t seem to be specific guidance that includes or excludes FHA mortgage holders–check with your lender to see if there are plans to create a relief program with FHA Hardest-Hit funds that could include your FHA home loan.

  Under the new Hardest-Hit guidelines, lenders who create programs to help individual homeowners must target residences with unpaid principal equal to or less than the Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac conforming limit (up to $729,750 for single-unit homes, more for multi-unit buildings).

  If you are in danger of default or foreclosure in Nevada, Michigan, California, Florida and Arizona, ask your loan officer if your FHA home loan could benefit through the Hardest-Hit program. If your lender is still putting together a program to help individual homeowners, you may be able to work out an arrangement in the meantime to put off foreclosure or default until the lender’s relief program is approved. Don’t wait until the last moment to act—if you are struggling financially you may be able to save your home in the meantime simply by asking your lender for help.

From www.fha.com

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  You can email me @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

Construction of the $3 billion, 675-mile Ruby Pipeline, which has more than 350 miles of natural gas pipe running across three northern Nevada counties, is expected to employ more than 500 out-of work equipment operators from Operating Engineers Local No. 3 in Reno, says Steve Ingersoll, district representative.

More than 1,000 operators total are expected to work the Nevada section, which traverses Elko, Humboldt and Washoe counties. The job comes as a huge boon to northern Nevada equipment operators, many of whom have been out of work so long that their unemployment benefits and health insurance have expired, Ingersoll says.

“It’s probably four months worth of steady high-dollar wages and good hours,” he says. “It will be huge.”

Members of the Operating Engineers Local No. 3 will clear brush for right-of-way access, dig the trench for the underground pipe, run side booms to set pipe, and backfill once the pipe is welded in place.

Ingersoll says workers from northeastern Nevada, California and Utah also will be put to work on the project.

“It’s a huge boost to the operating engineers here and throughout our jurisdiction,” he says. “We will be able to contact a lot of other areas that are feeling the same lack of work and offer them some employment on this project.”

At peak the pipeline is expected to put approximately 4,500 workers total in the field, says Richard Wheatley, media relations manager for pipeline builder El Paso Corp. of Houston.

In addition to the pipeline, two compressor stations are proposed to be built in Nevada, one about 20 to 30 miles north of Elko, and another northwest of Winnemucca in the Desert Valley area. Compression stations are integral to keep gas moving throughout the length of the pipeline.

El Paso will use the pipeline to deliver natural gas to California customers or to supplement existing gas supplies in the Pacific Northwest. El Paso also will be able to deliver gas to new customers along the length of the Ruby route and soon will begin touting the availability of gas to potential northern Nevada customers.

The pipeline can move 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, and El Paso has commitments for 1.1 billion cubic feet.

“We have been in discussion with small communities in northern Nevada and continue to market gas,” Wheatley says. “We not only will provide gas for committed gas customers and shippers, but we also have the ability to provide for gas off-takes for potential customers that might need natural gas, such as industrial users or utility companies.”

El Paso already has secured nearly a dozen 10- to 15-year contracts with customers and shippers, Wheatley says. Securing those customer commitments was the first main hurdle for El Paso to overcome, and in June 2008 the company announced it had secured enough customers to advance the project.

Another hurdle was securing an equity partner, and El Paso recently announced that Global Infrastructure Partners will provide up to $700 million in capital for a 50 percent stake in the project.

El Paso still seeks approximately $1.5 billion in outside funding, Wheatley says. Currently, the company is absorbing 100 percent of the capital funding needed for the Ruby project.

Four companies have been hired to build the pipeline:

• U.S. Pipeline, of Houston

• Associated Pipeline Contractors Inc. of Houston

• Precision Pipeline LLC of Eau Clair, Wisconsin

• Rockford Corp. of Hillsboro, Ore.

Precision Pipeline will perform most of the pipeline construction in Nevada, and U.S Pipeline and Rockford Corp. will build small portions of the Nevada work near the state borders.

El Paso has split construction of the pipeline into approximately seven major segments, or pipeline spreads, with each spread employing between 600 to 700 workers.

El Paso also will build a camp to house workers 10 miles east of the California border near the ghost town of Vya in northern Washoe County. Teton Buildings of Wyoming will construct the facility of modular buildings that will include spaces for trailers and RVs.

Wheatley says the camp will include a mess hall, recreation and medical facilities.

“It will be a self-contained camp,” he says.

Once the pipeline is built El Paso will remediate the camp area, Wheatley adds.

El Paso still is working through permitting for the project, a process ongoing since January of 2008. The company expects to begin construction in May or June and have the pipeline delivering gas by March 2011. The pipeline will be underground except where it rises above ground at compression stations.

First-year annual tax revenues from pipeline are estimated at $45.5 million, with $2.5 million first-year sales tax for Washoe County. Pam Borda, executive director of the Elko County Economic Diversification Authority, says construction of the pipeline and subsequent sales tax on food, lodging and fuel could make significant impact on county revenues and possibly alleviate any future budget cuts in the region.

“The economic impact easily could be into the millions and millions of dollars,” Borda says.

Charlie Myers, Elko County commission chair, says that the nearly 900 to 1,000 workers that are expected to work in Elko County throughout the construction could bring as much as $18 million to the county in food, lodging, fuel and entertainment.

“We are not hurting as as bad as the rest of state, but we still are down, and any economic boost is welcomed,” Myers says.

SIDEBAR

Where the pipeline will go in Nevada

The 675-mile Ruby Pipeline starts in Opal, Wyo., crosses northern Utah and enters Elko County. After traveling across Elko County, the pipeline crosses into Humboldt County near Winnemucca. The pipeline continues on through northern Washoe County before heading in a northwesterly direction into Oregon, where it terminates at Malin.

Compressor stations (right) will be built near Elko and Winnemucca. At Malin, pipeline builder El Paso Corp. will build a small lateral pipeline to transport gas to the existing Gas Transmission Northwest line, which runs from the British Columbia-Idaho border to the California-Oregon border. That connection allows El Paso to ship natural gas south into California for Pacific Gas and Electric customers, or north for use in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.
 http://www.nnbw.com/ArticleRead.aspx?sto…

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions or comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted on this blog.  I can be reached by email at:   chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

The addition of a new Super Walmart in North Valleys, along with another long-planned retail center, will boost retail offerings to the tens of thousands of residents north of Reno who have had to drive farther into town to shop.

Walmart will begin construction in the first quarter of 2011 on a 150,000-square-foot store, its sixth Super Walmart in the Truckee Meadows, says Delia Garcia, senior manager of public affairs and government relations.

The new store on Sky Vista Way will serve residents of North Valleys, Lemmon, Golden and Sun valleys, Stead, Red Rock, Cold Springs, and the California towns of Portola, Quincy, Graeagle, Herlong and Doyle.

The store also redraws service areas for Walmart shoppers in those communities, many of whom shop at the company’s Northtowne Lane store for general merchandise, or its Seventh Street Supercenter in west Reno.

“In this part of Nevada, folks are underserved for groceries and general merchandise, and this gives Walmart an opportunity to serve customers closer to home and reach more customers,” Garcia says.

The North Valley’s Walmart, which has yet to go to bid, should be open by the end of 2011, Garcia adds. Walmart expects to employ about 300 full- and part-time workers at the store, and hiring will start about three months before the store opens.

Jobseekers can apply online at job-center kiosks at existing Walmart locations. In addition to the 16.5-acre site being readied for Walmart, an investment group is preparing three acres of addition retail space in the area, says Kelly Bland, senior vice president of the retail properties group with NAI Alliance.

Depending on interest, the space could be developed into individual pads or line-shop space, Bland says. The high-volume traffic generated by Walmart makes a perfect fit for mid-size anchor tenants such as Kohl’s, Ross, or Office Depot, he adds.

“The dynamic is changing. Walmart is a wider draw than the immediate neighborhoods, and any type of tenant that will be there will be very well received,” Bland says. “Walmart will be able to draw more people into that center than the other three (centers in the area) are attracting right now.”

Despite high vacancy rates throughout submarkets in Reno and Sparks, Bland says retailers and residents have been clamoring for additional shopping choices in the North Valleys for a long time.

“Walmart has been looking at North Valleys for several years, and we finally were able to work out a deal with them that made sense for everybody. They have been wanting to open up out there for a while now.”

After more than two years of delay, construction of the 33,000-square-foot Three Flags Center between Lemmon and Golden valleys also is expected to break ground next week, says Brendan Egan, co-owner of 6 Development with partner Jack Dolan.

The development company already has leases signed with Dollar Tree, Big-O Tires and an independently branded sports bar, and 6 Development is in final negotiations with a national fast-food franchise. The Three Flags Center will open to 100 percent occupancy — a rarity for any retail center in northern Nevada.

“On a brand-new project that is pretty good,” Egan says. “That speaks to the quality of the North Valleys. The tenants we are dealing with have wanted to be in that area for two years now and think it is a great location. It has been an underserved market for a long time.”

Ken Mattison, vice president with the retail division of Grubb & Ellis NCG, says the North Valleys will experience the region’s next big explosion of new housing similar to that in Spanish Springs/Sparks in the early part of the decade.

There are 12,000 houses mapped for construction in the greater North Valley’s area, Mattison says. The current population is about 40,000. “It’s only been two years since you could get your oil changed there,” Mattison says.

“There is no major clothery, no family restaurant. There are huge needs up there. Vacancy is very slim in North Valleys, and the reason is that demand is good.”

Dennis Banks Construction is readying two other sites in the area, one at the corners of Silver Lake Boulevard and Red Rock Road, the other at North Hills Boulevard and Golden Valley Road.

Each site will be prepped for approximately 10,000 to 14,000 square feet of retail development. Grubb and Ellis will handle leasing at the sites.
 http://www.nnbw.com/ArticleRead.aspx?sto…

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions or comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted on this blog.  I can be reached by email at:   chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

March 26 to 28

Reno Livestock Event Center

This year the circus times for Reno are:
Friday March 26th at 7 pm
Saturday March 27th at 11 am, 3 pm, & 7 pm
Sunday March 28th at 1 pm & 5 pm

The Annual Shrine Circus is one of the largest fund-raising events sponsored by the Shriners. The Shrine Circus provides a quality, fun-filled, family experience with proceeds going to a great cause—the good work of Shriners in your community. Whether you’re buying tickets or advertising in our souvenir program, your support is greatly appreciated.

Shriners are part of the system that operates 22 hospitals, all with one objective:  To provide the very best medical care for children under 18 years of age, free of charge to the patient.  Our burns hospitals are second to none.  Boston , Cincinnati , Galveston and of course Northern California in Sacramento .  The level of expertise is so high burned children in northern Nevada and much of California will be flown directly to Sacramento regardless of the geographical point of injury.

Shriners belong to an international fraternity of approximately 450,000 members throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Panama. Founded in 1872, the Shrine is best known for its unique parades, its distinctive red fez, and its official philanthropy, children’s hospitals.

Kerak has of course several Shrine Clubs.  A Club is the Temple away from home.  As far south as Bishop and east to Elko.  4½ hours in each direction.  There are also Shrine Units.  Crescent Club, Golf Club, Winnemucca Tin Lizzies, Honda Hotshots, The Arabian Band, Stagecraft, Greeters, Klowns, Patrol Provost Marshalls, Karavaners and of course the Wrecking Crew.  These are all the guys you see in their chosen regalia enjoying participation in the many parades we attend.

Read more at www.kerakshrine.com

As a Reno/Sparks real estate consultant I encourage any question or comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any on the articles I post.  I can be reached at  

As the WAC tournament starts this week I feel this would be a great time to take a break from Reno/Sparks real estate and talk about the Nevada Wolf Pack. With two big wins to finish the regular season the Nevada Wolf  Pack secure the second seed in the WAC tournament.  The WAC Tournament starts March 10 and is being played in Reno this year.  The Nevada Wolf Pack is 15-1 at home this year with their only loss to Utah the Number 1 seed.

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Courtesy: Nevada
http://nevadawolfpack.com
The 2010 WAC Tournament is set for March 10-13 at Nevada’s Lawlor Events Center.

Link: WAC Tournament Information

The WAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament has returned to Reno for 2010.

The University of Nevada and the Reno Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority will play host to the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments at the 11,536-seat Lawlor Events Center on March 10-13, 2010.

Ticket Information
All-session and single-season tickets as well as a Nevada 3-Pack (same seat for all three Nevada men’s games) are atill available and on sale now. Click here for ticket information or call the Wolf Pack Ticket Office – 775-348-PACK (7225).

WAC Whiteout
Fans holding a ticket for the WAC Tournament can pick up a free One Community, One Pack t-shirt starting on Monday, March 8 at Fuddruckers in Sparks or Silver and Blue Outfitters at Meadowood Mall in Reno. Fans are encouraged to wear those shirts to Nevada’s men’s quarterfinals game with Idaho on Thursday at 6 p.m. to create a WAC Whiteout.

WAC Tournament Ticket Pricing

All Session Passes:

Can be purchased at Legacy Hall Only. Includes all games played for both Men and Women.

• $195 – Lower Bowl
• $145 – Upper Bowl Center
• $110 – Upper Bowl Corner/End

Nevada 3– Pack:

Can be purchased online and at Lawlor Events Center. (Legacy Hall will not be selling the Nevada 3-Pack)
All 3 games Nevada could be playing in. Same seat for every game.

• $15 discount from buying the 3 games separate.
• $150 – Lower Bowl (limited availability)
• $90 – Upper Bowl Center
• $60 – Upper Bowl Corner/End

Single – Session Tickets (session and game information):

Can be purchased by calling 348-PACK option #1, online and at Lawlor Events Center. (Legacy Hall will not be selling individual tickets)

• $55 – Lower Bowl Tickets (limited availability)
• $35 – Upper Bowl Center
• $25 – Upper Bowl Corner/End
• $20 – Upper Corner/End for All WAC Students (with valid ID), Youth 3-12, Seniors 65 and older and Active Military with Military ID. ($5 discount) A $10 discount available for the following groups: All Government, State, County and City workers including the City of Reno, City of Sparks, Washoe County, and the Washoe County School District, Nevada Alumni Association among others.

Group Tickets:

(15 tickets or more) Not available day of game, only available for first game Nevada plays in.

• $15 – Group Tickets of 15 or more (regular price $25) available in upper corners and end seats.
• Can be purchased in advance through Meredith Montoya 682-6905  mmontoya at unr.edu or in person at Lawlor Events Center 10-5 M-F 10-2 Sat.

Women’s Sessions:

• $15 – General Admission
• $10 – for All WAC Students (with valid ID), Youth 3-12, Seniors 65 and older, Active Military with Military ID, * employees listed above. ($5 Discount, available in advance or day of game Lawlor Events Center only.)
• $10 – Group Tickets of 15 or more (regular price $15) Can be purchased in advance through Meredith Montoya 682-6905  mmontoya at unr.edu or in person at Lawlor Events Center 10-5 M-F 10-2 Sat. Not available day of game.

2010 WAC Basketball Tournament – Men’s Bracket (download)

Thursday, March 11 (Quarterfinals)
Game 1 (Session 3) – #8 Boise State vs. #1 Utah State	12:00 pm PST
Game 2 (Session 3) – #5 Fresno State vs. #4 Louisiana Tech	2:30 pm PST
Game 3 (Session 4) – #7 Idaho vs. #2 Nevada	6:00 pm PST
Game 4 (Session 4) – #6 San Jose State vs. #3 New Mexico State	8:30 pm PST
Friday, March 12 (Semifinals)
Game 5 (Session 6) – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2	6:00 pm PST
Game 6 (Session 6) – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4	8:30 pm PST
Saturday, March 13 (Finals)
Game 7 – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6	7:00 pm PST

2010 WAC Basketball Tournament – Women’s Bracket (download)

Wednesday, March 10 (Quarterfinals)
Game 1 (Session 1) – #8 Hawai’i vs. #1 Fresno State	12:00 pm PST
Game 2 (Session 1) – #5 New Mexico State vs. #4 Idaho	2:30 pm PST
Game 3 (Session 2) – #6 Boise State vs. #3 Nevada	6:00 pm PST
Game 4 (Session 2) – #7 Utah State vs. #2 Louisiana Tech	8:30 pm PST
Friday, March 12 (Semifinals)
Game 5 (Session 5) – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2	12:00 pm PST
Game 6 (Session 5) – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4	2:30 pm PST
Saturday, March 13 (Finals)
Game 7 (Session 7) – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6	1:00 pm PST

 http://www.nevadawolfpack.com/ViewArticl…

Where as national new home sales may be suffering the local Reno-Sparks Association of Realtors reports that 346 home sales closed in Washoe County.  This is a 49% increase in real estate transaction from the same month a year earlier.    http://chancegates.com/2010/02/27/new-ho… This completely contradicts the national new home sales entry   This is a great reason why when searching for answer on real estate that a person should watch the local markets not the national ones.

I’m not a big basketball fan except for March Madness.   In college basketball, I love the fact a that you actually have a playoff and a real championship game.  This year I believe the Wolf Pack will be headed to the NIT again.  The only way the Reno/Sparks area will have the boys in the NCAA Tournament is if they get the automatic bid.  From what I here Louisiana Tech will be the favorite for that.  Sorry Utah and New Mexico fans.  However The “Pack” should have a good showing as they spread the floor well and can score from multiple points.   The biggest advantage for Nevada is the 2010 Wac tournament will be right here in Reno: March 10-12.  This will be a great time to take a day off from real estate and take the wife to a game.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions or comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted.  I can be reached by email at  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates