Hudson River Crash - A True Miracle

On Thursday, January 15th, US Airways Flight 1549 crashed into the Hudson River shortly after takeoff at La Guardia Airport in New York City. This happened after the plane's engines were hit by a flock of birds. The pilot, Chesley "Sully" Sullenbrger, heroically landed the jet, resulting in 0 fatatlies.

This crash is a reminder to all of us just how fast accidents happen and truly what a miracle it was that no one lost their life.

Read more about this event by clicking here.

Market Update

It's 10 degrees right now which is a 20 degree temperature swing in just a few hours! A regular heat wave! I got up at 3 A.M. and it was 10 below on my front porch. That makes two nights in a row below 0. I grew up hearing Will Parr on WSRW call Harry Hart and talk about how cold it was in the Belfast valley and thought they were crazy about the temperatures they would report. It was always colder in Belfast than any where else. I thought Harry's thermometer was broke. Now that I'm in the area, I've become a believer!

Real Estate...We are quickly headed back to the way Banks and Lenders used to do business 20 years ago. If you don't have a down payment, a good credit score, and a good income...you will probably be a renter! Many folks ask me... what's wrong with that? Much of the real estate related crisis and foreclosures we are experiencing we brought on ourselves. Many families were allowed to buy homes (because the loan programs were available) that did not stand a chance of making it. When the mortgage broker, realtor, and title company are betting at the closing the buyer won't make it 6 months before going into default, it not a good sign! It was just matter of time before trouble would come...payday is here! Most of the foreclosures in our area are happening because of no money down loans and doublewide financing.

It depends whichside of the fence you are on! Buyers are loving the new market. Home values are down, interest rates are at record lows, inventory levels are high meaning there are some good opportunities and excellent values out there! I had a young couple say to me, "it' about time values come down...we can now enter the market, stop renting and buy a home! We have been waiting and felt like we were priced out the market and could not afford a nicer home." Guess what...they're right and they recently bought a home $20,000 under what it would have cost 18 months ago.

Lary Lohse, mortgage broker for Midwest Mortgage called yesterday and said another one of his sources for doublewide financing pulled all loans. This has steadily been happening one by one. This gradually forces buyers to have a bigger down payment and go with a conventional type loan. We'll see how this all plays out.

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.

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"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.