Chance Gates' Blog

A world without nuclear weapons would be less stable and more dangerous for all of us.
Margaret Thatcher

Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.
Margaret Thatcher

Democratic nations must try to find ways to starve the terrorist and the hijacker of the oxygen of publicity on which they depend.
Margaret Thatcher

Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.
Margaret Thatcher

Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.
Margaret Thatcher

I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.
Margaret Thatcher

I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near.
Margaret Thatcher

I don’t mind how much my Ministers talk, so long as they do what I say.
Margaret Thatcher

I love argument, I love debate. I don’t expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that’s not their job.
Margaret Thatcher

I owe nothing to Women’s Lib.
Margaret Thatcher

I seem to smell the stench of appeasement in the air.
Margaret Thatcher

I usually make up my mind about a man in ten seconds, and I very rarely change it.
Margaret Thatcher

From Mike Janela in New York, USA http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com

One of America’s greatest sports traditions is “Bowl Season” – that wonderful time each year marking the end of the American college football season end. More than 30 games match some of the nation’s best and most prestigious programs in battles to end their years on high notes.

Of all the bowls played, one of the most prestigious is the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, which this year sees the No. 3 Oklahoma State Cowboys take on the No. 4-ranked Stanford Cardinal, as part of the Bowl Championship Series. But while many eyes will turn to the game itself on Jan. 2 in Glendale, Arizona, USA, the spotlight on this game starting shining back on 16 December, when I adjudicated an attempt for the “most people to make an American football field goal in six hours” at the Tostitos Fiesta in the Square celebration.

With temperatures low, winds high, and former football stars in abundance, participants from around the world lined up in the middle of Times Square in New York to attempt their chance at history in the temporary football field assembled by Tostitos.

Requiring 100 different people to successfully make a field goal of at least 20 yards, the Fiesta in the Square saw a total of 181 different participants put one through the uprights and into Guinness World Records lore.

What struck me most while adjudicating the event was the wide range of participation. An event like this truly brought a huge variety of people together, running the gamut from foreigners to locals and football professionals to those who had never even put toe to pigskin before.

Former football stars who attempted (and all converted) field goals included Jim Kelly, Eddie George, Antonio Pierce, Rodney Peete, and Bill and Martin Gramatica. Other participants included visiting tourists from Turkey, Australia, Mexico, and the UK. In total, 965 attempts were made by countless hundreds of people throughout the day, with the aforementioned 181 finding success.

The teamwork resulted in more than just a Guinness World Records achievement, too. As a result of the final record total, Tostitos donated $200,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters charity. This was aided in part by Big Brothers Big Sisters advocate and entertainment personality Nick Lachey stepping up and drilling a successful field goal of his own.

In all, a great exhibition was put on for sport, for charity, and, of course, for record-breaking history. The Fiesta Bowl itself already has a lot to live up to!

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.

It turns out the bite of a wolf is mightier than the sting of a yellow jacket. University of Nevada mascot “Wolfie Jr.” is howling in celebration after capping off an undefeated season by knocking off Georgia Tech’s “Buzz” in the championship of the 10th annual Capital One Mascot Challenge. With the win he gets his claws on the $20,000 prize for his school’s mascot program.

A first-time participant, “Wolfie Jr.” had an undefeated regular season, scrapping past other irritable beasts including ferocious tigers, terrifying beavers and freaky-looking frogs. After advancing to the playoffs and making it through two rounds of single-elimination he entered the championship match against “Buzz” of Georgia Tech. Fans cast votes at www.CapitalOneBowl.com, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/MascotChallenge and via text voting throughout the 16-week program. Both mascots making the finals had an undefeated record and boasted some of the highest vote totals to date, making it one of the most anticipated match-ups ever in the animal kingdom.

“We are proud of what our students and community accomplished for `Wolfie Jr.’ and the University of Nevada,” said Dr. Marc Johnson, president of the University of Nevada. “Our campus has an extraordinary amount of spirit and pride and we’re pleased to showcase it on a national level.”

A record 45 million votes were cast during the season-long competition.

“This year’s competition was intense and each Mascot and school put up a ferocious fight,” said Marc Mentry, Senior Vice President of Advertising and Sponsorships at Capital One. “In the end, `Wolfie Jr.’ proved to be too tough.”

The entire 2011 Capital One All-America Mascot Team included:

Wilbur T. Wildcat of University of Arizona
Sparty of Michigan State University
Aubie of Auburn University
Mike the Tiger of Louisiana State University
Testudo of the University of Maryland
Wolfie Jr. of the University of Nevada
Hairy Dawg of the University of Georgia
Boomer of the University of Oklahoma
Brutus Buckeye of The Ohio State University
Big Blue of Old Dominion University
The Duck of the University of Oregon
Benny Beaver of Oregon State University
Buzz of Georgia Tech
SuperFrog of TCU
Cy of Iowa State
Big Red of Western Kentucky University

For school mascots who are not on the All-America team, the Capital One Mascot Challenge also includes an annual “write-in” campaign at the program web site, www.CapitalOneBowl.com. The write-in winner this year is “Herbie Husker” of the University of Nebraska, who formerly won the 2005 Capital One Mascot Challenge title. He earns $1,000 toward the University of Nebraska mascot program and a position on the 2012 Capital One All-America Mascot Team, pending an official nomination from his school. Nebraska earned an invitation to the Capital One Bowl game and “Herbie Husker” will be in attendance in Orlando to cheer on his team and meet national champion, “Wolfie Jr.”

“Wolfie Jr.” is joining an elite group of mascots that have held the Capital One National Mascot of the Year title over the past 10 years. Past winners include: “Monty” of University of Montana (2002, 2004), “Cocky” of University of South Carolina (2003), “Herbie Husker” of University of Nebraska (2005), “Butch T. Cougar” of Washington State University (2006), “Zippy” of University of Akron (2007), “Cy” of Iowa State University (2008), “Bearcat” of University of Cincinnati (2009) and defending champion “Big Blue” of Old Dominion University (2010). Throughout the college football season, fans have enjoyed viewing custom videos created for each mascot portraying their entertaining back stories. Fans can continue watching these videos at: www.CapitalOneBowl.com and www.Facebook.com/MascotChallenge.

Nevada Wolf Pack Athletics

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.

Market Report Commentary

Summary
– “November sales are up 22% over last year and year-to-date unit sales have exceeded 2010 by 10%,” said Kevin Sigstad,
2011 president-elect of the Reno/Sparks Association of REALTORS and a REALTOR with Re/Max Premier Properties. “We have also seen relative stable prices for the past seven months. These are positive indicators for the residential housing market.”

Median Sales Price
– November 2011 median price was up less than 1% to $149,506 compared to $149,000 in October 2011.
– Median price is defined as the mid-point, where, for the time period identified, the price for one-half of the sales are higher and
one-half are lower.

Price per Square Foot Solds
– Price per square foot is at $88.30.
– Price per square foot by area groups, as provided in the Detailed Report, is a good way to compare similar homes for current
value.

Number of Units Sold
– November ended the month with 488 sold transactions, down 1% from the prior month.
– Sales are up 22.3% from the same period last year. November 2011 is the second month of comparing year-over-year figures
without the influence of tax incentives.

Average Days on Market
– The average days on market are 146 days, slightly down from October 2011.

Days on Market (DOM) by Special Conditions
– Short sales continue to influence the average days on market at 222 DOM.
– Properties with no special conditions, and Other are comparatively close at 117 and 113 DOM respectively.
– REO properties average days on market remain level at 96.

New Listings
– 499 new listings were taken in November compared to 516 in October, a 3.3% decrease and an 8% decrease from November
2010.

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 PROJECTS THAT ARE MOST URGENTLY NEEDED BY OUR SILVER SPRINGS COMMUNITY ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. Commercial mall containing a national brand grocery store, pharmacy bank, family
restaurant and retail stores is greatly needed by our community.
2. Solar farm: We have many acres of available land for the
production of energy.
3. Wind farm: Silver Springs is known as one of the most affluent areas
of wind in the USA and would like to attract investors for wind farm development to
produce energy.
4. Train terminal for commercial and public use to stop
centrally in Silver Springs, Nevada.
5. Defense Training Facility: Silver Springs has many secluded
open areas suited for the development of a special defense training campus.
6. Amphitheater with seating and stage for public performances
and events, including farmers markets/flea markets/craft booths and exhibitions near
the intersection of Hwy 95A and Hwy 50.
7. Job Center to provide a building for job training classrooms
and job recruitment. This could act as teaching facility if equipped with classrooms
and computers.
8. The development of Lake Lahontan shoreline with commercial
outlets, services for outdoor recreation and boat storage. This is a state run park so any business would have to be off site.
9. Community Center and Convention Center with indoor events
stage, meeting rooms, possibly Boys and Girls Club room, areas for indoor and outdoor
events. Possibly a public pool, commercial kitchen, boce ball court and outdoor
courtyards. Possibly just a one room movie theater as in #11 below.
10. Hotel accommodations along highway 95A or 50 with family style
restaurant.
11. Movie theater as well as old school open-air theater for mild
seasons.
12. Mixed use housing built around community gardens.
13. Old Western Town experience built like a village setting with
real retail stores (souvenir), a bank (hopefully Wells Fargo for the stagecoach logo), a
blacksmith shop, a old time saloon, and a restaurant with a hotel façade and tickets
to see gun fighters on certain days.
14. Provide a link to commercial property and land available for
sale here (from local realtors). Hopefully, all can work together and cooperate to get
the growth moving in Silver Springs, Nevada
15. Also Events that need to be developed to attract tourism:
a. Kite Flying competitions- create an event in open area of SS
by contacting the National Kite association.
b. Have model airplane contests at the airport just before or just after the Lyon county
Fly in.
c. Food Festival like Stew competition, or micro beer brewing as
a yearly event-advertised as a competition with prizes.
d. Lake festival with boating competitions in summer and ice
snow-mobiles in winter- can we get an EPA grant to clean lake and put in catfish
for fishing competitions?
e. Art competition, Trash Art: Invite artists to pick up desert
trash and turn it into sculptures to be used for target practice. We would clean our
area, provide art and entertainment.
Contact the Chamber of commerce for land availability and details for possible
investments in Silver Springs. Telephone: 775-5774336.
Other local contacts for showing potential investors
the design renderings and project ideas we have. Our contact info here: Jean at
wolfladyjj@aol.com  or Mojra at mojra@arkablue.com

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.

From the Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors

Greater Reno/Sparks Area 100

Status of Pending

– Active Pending – Short Sales represent 61.2% of the total active pendings; Active Pending Loan equals 17.7%; Pending No-show

represents 16.2%; Active Pending call 4.5%; and Active Pending House less than 1%.

Current Months Supply of Inventory (Unsold Inventory ÷ Sales per Month)

– As of October 30, there was 6.5 months of unsold inventory based on the October sales rate.

Historical Months Supply of Inventory

– Historical Months Supply of Inventory show that October MSI is down to 6.5 months compared to September 2011 at 6, and down 25% from

October 2010.

– Eight of the past twelve months, the market has been what is defined as balanced. In the past 24 months, the market has remained as

primarily a buyer’s market.

– The National Association of REALTORS® describes a balanced market as between 5 and 7 months supply.

– Unsold inventory includes Active Pendings. This method of reporting months supply of inventory follows the industry standard of including

all pending sales remaining in active status in the active inventory.

Conclusion

– October unit sales at 483 are the fourth highest unit sales for a October in history. This number outpaces October 2010 sales by 15%.

October 2010 was the final month of the tax- incentivized period. This is the first month where the year-over-year comparison is not

influenced by the tax credit incentives. Going forward, we will be comparing the year-over-year sales period without the artificial influence of

a tax credit.

– Year-to-date 2011 unit sales (4,862) numbers are up 8% over 2010 unit sales (4,478). We are optimistic that the sales number will outpace

2010.

– October’s median price of $148,500 was down less than 1% from September. The median price has traded in the 4% range for the past six

months. Sales at under $150,000 represented 50% of the total sales for the month. With this trend, it’s understandable why there is

downward pressure on the median price.

– Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year fixed rate loan dropped to 4.07%, compared to 4.11% last month. This is the lowest rate reported

since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971. Sources report that mortgage interest rates should gradually rise from today’s record lows

and reach 4.5 percent by the middle of 2012.

– A qualified homebuyer purchasing a home priced at $150,000 with a 3 ½% down payment, at 4.07% interest rate will have a monthly

payment of approximately $700.00 principal and interest.

– According to Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist, “Housing affordability conditions, based on the relationship between median home

prices, mortgage interest rates, and median family income, have been at a record high this year. Very favorable affordability conditions will

dominate next year as well, which will probably be the second best year on record dating back to 1970. If credit restrictions ease, there is

optimism that it will open the door for more home buyers to take advantage of current opportunities.”

– We continue to monitor the impact on the market due to recent passage of Nevada law requiring more stringent documentation required of

banks in order to perform foreclosures in a timely manner. We may not see any impact on inventory levels as a result of the stringent

requirements on the banks until December. If the banks are able to adapt to the new requirements, we anticipate sales activity will keep

pace with inventory coming on the market.

Members of the Reno/Sparks Association of REALTORS® are authorized to reproduce

and redistribute this copyrighted report. No other reprint or distribution of this report is

granted unless specifically approved in writing by the Reno/Sparks Association of

Realtors, 5650 Riggins Court, Reno, NV 89502 or email to info@rsar.net.

Data Sourced from NNRMLS. Created by NLS under license for RSAR.

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.

How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man.
Johnny Cash

I start a lot more songs than I finish, because I realize when I get into them, they’re no good. I don’t throw them away, I just put them away, store them, get them out of sight.
Johnny Cash

It’s like a novelist writing far out things. If it makes a point and makes sense, then people like to read that. But if it’s off in left field and goes over the edge, you lose it. The same with musical talent, I think.
Johnny Cash

My father was a man of love. He always loved me to death. He worked hard in the fields, but my father never hit me. Never. I don’t ever remember a really cross, unkind word from my father.
Johnny Cash

Sometimes I am two people. Johnny is the nice one. Cash causes all the trouble. They fight.
Johnny Cash

Success is having to worry about every damn thing in the world, except money.
Johnny Cash

That was the big thing when I was growing up, singing on the radio. The extent of my dream was to sing on the radio station in Memphis. Even when I got out of the Air Force in 1954, I came right back to Memphis and started knocking on doors at the radio station.
Johnny Cash

When I record somebody else’s song, I have to make it my own or it doesn’t feel right. I’ll say to myself, I wrote this and he doesn’t know it!
Johnny Cash

You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.
Johnny Cash

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2011/11/world%27s-longest-fruit-snack-record-set-in-canada/

Several hundred Canadian children tasted a 100% edible Guinness World Record in the form of the world’s longest fruit snack last month.

The 91.44 meter (300 ft) long fruit snack, created by Sun-Rype Products Ltd of Kelowna, British Columbia, was unrolled and measured along the length of a football field at the local Parkinson Recreation Centre in Kelowna.

Unrolling of the 14 kg fruit snack required a specially constructed mechanical cart that required three operators to ensure the snack was laid correctly.

Having announced that measurements had been confirmed and all other guidelines were correctly followed, a Guinness World Records adjudicator invited all children present to taste the strawberry treat to ensure it met the final record guideline of being edible.

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.

As the holidays approach, Its that time of year to think of the perfect gift for that special someone.  How do you buy something great for that person who has everything?

Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Finally Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

What is  your favorite gift  to support your local community?