Be Your Own "Weather Channel"

There was an interesting article in Rurallife magazine that addressed predicting the weather. I found it very timely with some recent years' unusual weather. Following are the links to the two pages which include the article and chart.

Page 1
Page 2

Maybe now we can all become a little better at knowing what the weather will be!

The Christmas Gift

I read this and thought of our family, friends and clients....

The Christmas Gift of Knowing You
The Christmas season fills our hearts with joy;
Bright, happy days bring special kinds of pleasure.
We're wrapped in the excitement of it all,
The sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes we treasure.

Yet when we have some quiet time to think
About our finest blessings all year through,
We focus on our family and our friends,
And appreciate the gift of knowing you!

By Joanna Fuchs

This Sunday marks the anniversary of the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. That attack, as you know, spurred President Franklin D. Roosevelt to send the United States into World War II.

It is a sad reminder of the past and of our amazing soldiers that lost their lives.

Noah Today!

A good friend shared this link with me.....it makes us think about how much different the world is today!

Noah Today

Nashville

My wife Karen's mom & dad Bill & Hazel Gustin just celebrated their 50th wedding anniverary in late October! This past weekend the four of us took off to see The Grand Ole Opry and stay at The Opryland Hotel. I'm not able to get out of the office very often so for me it was a breath of fresh air! The Hotel is a must see...simply incredible! The Rockettes were performing and we got tickets to the show. The girls liked it! The Grand Ole Opry was held at the Ryman downtown Nashville! A blend of old country music and modern artist were featured. A good time was had by all! We toured Studio B on Music Row were over 30,000 songs have been recorded including half of Elvis Presley's recorded songs. That was a great field trip!

Vote!

Why Every Vote Counts:

WallBuilders.com has a Voter Guide that emphasizes moral, religious and constitutional heritage.

Line Fence Law

Ohio legislators recently passed a new line fence law that was based upon the recommendations of a Farm Bureau task force. The law overhauled a century-old fence statute that many farmers found unworkable.

If you have more questions, Ohio Farm Bureau has developed a complete breakdown of the new line fence law. For a copy, visit www.ofbf.org and click on "Featured Links" or call 614-246-8231.

Fall Festival of the Leaves

This weekend Bainbridge will host the 41st annual celebration - Fall Festival of the Leaves! With music and entertainment, food, arts & crafts, flea market areas, contests, rides, and much more, this festival is sure to have something for everyone. Please support our local events!

Read more in the The Highland County Press.

Birthday Party

On Friday, September 26th, our Projects Manager, Mary had a birthday....the big 3-0! Our team celebrated with an office party. We enjoyed pizza, chips and chocolate (yes, chocolate! Mary's favorite!) birthday cake with ice cream.

"

"We know we're getting old when the only thing we want for our birthday is not to be reminded of it." Author Unknown

No such luck for Mary - we wouldn't let her forget!

Hurricane Ike

Higland County experienced it's first ever hurricane and his name was Ike! We still have power outages in the county and minor to extensive damage. Brett at Nationwide Insurance just informed me that they have 40,000 possible claims across the State. Cincinati still has thousands with no power and homes ripped up. High winds began to blow last Sunday afternoon and became fierce. The amazing thing was that the sun was shining and no rain! We personally lost shingles off the office, broke our company sign beyond repair and lifted up a section of barn roof that I have not repaired yet. I may add hurricane straps to it! Our prayers are for the families in the area that are suffering the most. Don't tell me a huricance can't hit Ohio!

Remembering September 11th

We remember.

Jeff Holbrook Memorial

The Highland County Fair is in full swing and it is a hot one! Temperatures in the 90's all week! That has not affected the die hard fair goer. Labor Day was a large turnout and we had the Wharton building full of people as we gave away 1500 free ice creams! It hit the spot on a very hot day! We also picked up several good buyer and seller leads!

The Jeff Holbrook Memorial was recently finished and on display in front of the Dairy Barn. It put a lump in my throat. Jeff was a man who loved the Fair and especially the Dairy area! I knew Jeff most of my life since I was a dairy kid myself. My memories of Jeff were of him consistantly beating me in classes, showmanship, you name it. When he finished his showing career, I then was consistantly beat by his sister! A man respected and held in the highest regard by all! In my opinion...all generations of the Holbrook family are 1st class!

School District Report Cards Released

Lynchburg-Clay school district has received an "excellent" rating from the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) on its district report card. Three other districts, Hillsboro City, Fairfield Local and Bright Local have all received "effective" ratings. These ratings are produced annually by the ODE based on the progress the schools have made on four measures, adequate yearly progress (AYP), performance index, state indicators and value added. Information about district report cards can be found at the ODE website, type in "district report cards" in the search box.

School district information is important when making a home buying decision. As an added benefit, we include the school district report card in our Homebooks for all of the homes we have for sale. To view available homes, click here.

Highland County Fair

The Highland County Fair is coming up on August 31 through September 6, 2008! Livestock starts to arrive on Saturday August 30, 2008! There will be plenty of entertainment such as Blue Steel, Angie Evans, Savana Jack, Jimmy Wayne and more! Don't forget about the motorcycle thrill show, demolition derby and tractor pulls! The new 100 x 120 ft. rabbit and poultry barn near the camping area has wider walkways and more room for the 4-H and FFA members to get their animals in and out of cages!

Monday is Senior Citizens Day and the Dickey Group Realtors will be giving away ice cream at their booth in the Warton building! Also stop by for free daily giveaways and door prizes! Hope to see you there!

To read more about livestock arrival times click here!

To read more about the new rabbit and poultry barn click here!

2008 Olympics

The 2008 Olympic Games will soon be underway! The torch has already made it to Beijing, marking the anticipation of the centuries old tradition of the Games. The sacred flame arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, August 5 at 4:20 p.m. for the last leg of the 2008 Torch Relay before the official start of the Games. The sacred flame will tour China's capital city from August 6-8.

Resources about the Olympics can be found at the official website as well as NBC's website.

Go team USA!

The Last Lecture

I recently attended a real estate conference in which the book, The Last Lecture, was a recommended read. I am currently reading this book written by Randy Pausch, a computer-science professer from Carnegie Mellon University. Randy died Friday, July 25th from pancreatic cancer.

His story has been shared with the world by many including The Wall Street Journal. His goal was to provide his message to those who remain. While I am still reading his book, I cannot fully evaluate its impact on my life....I just know that it will have one.

To find out more in The Wall Street Journal about this inspiring story, click here and type in Randy Pausch.

To view The Last Lecture, click here.

Homebuyer Tax Credit

H.R. 3221, the “Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008,” passed the House on July 23, 2008, by a vote of 272-152. On Saturday, July 26, 2008, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 72-13. The President signed the bill on July 30, 2008. The bill includes the following provisions:

Homebuyer Tax Credit - a $7500 tax credit that would be would be available for any qualified purchase between April 8, 2008 and June 30, 2009. The credit is repayable over 15 years (making it, in effect, an interest free loan).

Click here to read more! Please call The Dickey Group if we can help you in purchasing a home!

State Fence Law Mended

The governor recently signed a measure that overhauls the old line fence statute in Ohio. The previous law had been in place for over a century and desperately needed revision.

Previously, the law stated that adjoining landowners must equally share the cost of building and maintaining fences that divided their properties. With many different situations in place, township trustees really had no fair way to enforce this law. The law now states that for existing fences, adjoining landowners are now responsible for "equitable" rather than equal share of their upkeep. To determine fair shares, the law gives specific criteria that should be considered such as the number and type of livestock, topography, bodies of water, vegetation and the risk of trespassing.

Also, landowners that have disputes can go directly to common pleas court and have their case settled through binding arbitration.

To read more, click here.

Rocky Fork Lake Remains Popular Summer Destination!

Camp managers at Rocky Fork Lake have seen a steady number of reservations for boating and camping this summer! People continue to take advantage of all Rocky Fork lake has to offer! The park offers swimming, golf, camping, fishing, boating and more.

Visit the Rocky Fork Lake website to learn more.

Click here to read more!

Rocky Fork Lake Campground Listed #1

In a recent article in the Times Gazette it was reported that Rocky Fork Campground is listed as number one out of all Ohio state parks.This designation was given based upon the many activities that are available at the park. There 45 full-service camp sites. Free WiFi, refreshments, boating, swimming, fishing, hiking and bird watching provide many opportunities for campers. The park hosts Thunder in the Hills, a car show and craft displays. So much to do!

For more information contact the camp office at 937-393-3210 or visit www.RockyForkLake.com! Read entire article by clicking here.

DHL Leaving Town!

Rumors are flying that the overnight freight company DHL may be leaving Wilmington. Phone calls are coming into our office daily wanting to know how this may affect the future real estate market. Here's my thoughts: If DHL leaves our area, a significant down pressure on home values will be created. My counsel is that if you have been planning to make move, now will probably be better to sell than later. With approx. 6000 employees facing job loss, approx. 2500 of which live in Highland County, it is unknown at this time how many homes will be entering the market to be sold. Inventory levels will most likely significantly increase forcing prices downward as families compete for a smaller pool of buyers. If you do not need to sell and plan on staying in the area for many years to come, don't worry about DHL. If my house goes up in value, so does yours, if your house goes down in value, so does mine. Whatever happens, we're all in it together! This is home!

Memorial Day

This Memorial Day, we say Thank You to those who have died in our nation's service. We remember.

Southern Ohio Travel Guide

With gas prices on the rise and family budgets tightening, many families may look for vacation spots a little closer to home and less costly. Brown Publishing who owns our local newspaper, just put out a magazine called TRIP - Southern Ohio Travel Guide. I thought it was well done, informative, giving many options for the family to have a good time in an affordable, close to home manner! If you haven't saw one, check it out! They are around town, available at the Times Gazette newspaper office, or see me!

Celebrating 100 years

The real estate industry has a rich history that will celebrate a monumental anniversary this month. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) turns 100 years old! With a century of change behind us, we have seen many positive influences to the business of real estate. These changes have included a Code of Ethics, creation of a MLS system, promotion of healthy competition, and more equitable, affordable and accessible home ownership.

The recent issue of the Realtor magazine showcases the many people that have impacted the many events throughout the past 100 years of the NAR. Click here to read more. To read another article click here.

What Jeff says about:

Hillsboro Gets A New Road!

According to Highland County Engineer Dean Otworth, Hobart Drive will extend by approximately 7100 feet to reach St. Rt. 73. Unanimously approved by the Highland County Commissioners. The read more click here.

Pay Less Property Tax

If you believe your property value has decreased since the market has been adjusting...so should your property taxes! To check out how to pay less property tax click here. USA Weekend has an article half way down the page.

Is the Real Estate Market as Bad as the Media Says?

The National Association of Realtors has reported that sales of existing homes rose by 2.9 percent in February. Economists were caught by surprise as they had been expecting another decline. To read more click here.

Seven Caves is now Cave Canyon Nature Preserve

We live in a wonderful area! A great article about our 7 Caves now known as Cave Canyon Nature Preserve was featured in our local newspaper. Breath-taking beauty, awesome scenery, cliffs and canyons, 23 caves, and rare plant life can be found minutes East of Hillsboro! Take the family and check it out! To read more and contact information, click here.

State of the Highland County Market

When someone asks me how is the real estate market, let me answer the question this way. It's not as bad as the media would indicate! Locally in the Highland County, houses are selling! Interest rates are at record lows and great loan programs are available, which means that if you are going to borrow money do it now! You can buy more house for the money now than 10 years ago! Inventory levels are high which means there are plenty of quality homes to pick from and some really great deals to be had! Listen to a video by a Realtor friend of mine Sam Miller, in the Mt. Vernon area. Click here.

Repossessed Homes

Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward states in a local article that a steep rise in Highland County foreclosures and sheriff sales beginning in 2001 when an average of 75 sheriff sales per year increased to more than 200. The count for 2007 was 366 new sales. To read more click here.

Ohio adds military status as new protected class

A new law, recently signed by Gov. Strickland will provide greater protections and benefits to members of the Armed Forces beginning March 24, 2008. To read more click Here.
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Highs and Lows

The Cincinnati Business Courier has written an excellent article stating that the greater Cincinnati area which includes us in their statistics now stands as one of the financially safest places to live. The greater Cincinnati area ranks in the lowest risk category for housing price declines, with a prediction of a less than 5% chance that home prices will slide below their current levels by 2010.

Click here for the full story as featured in the Business Courier. To find out more about Highland County real estate statistics visit our website.

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Highland County Treasurer Announces New Tax Bill for '08

The treasurer's office is responsible for the printing, mailing, and collecting of taxes set by the county auditor's office. And, Fenner says, your upcoming tax bill will have a brand-new look.

The new bills are very from what has been sent in the past. Now, you'll not only be able to see the county, but also the township, school, JVS, MRDD, health and mental-health departments, and the appraised value. You'll also see the Homestead reduction and any special assessment.

To read this full article by Corinne Gompf, click HERE.