Liz Warren
Displaying blog entries 1201-1210 of 1849
We need your help! The local Mt. Hood Kiwanis Camp in Government Camp is in the running for a grant from Chase Community Giving. The Mt. Hood Kiwanis Camp is the only Portland area non profit competing in the second round for up to $500,000!
Vote between May 19 and May 25th.
Go to www.vote4camp.com to cast your vote and pass the word around!
IF I WAS A CARPENTER!
A story, written by an unknown author goes like this:
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife and family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.
The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he would build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.
When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is YOUR house - my gift to you," he said.
Life is no different. Each of us is given lumber, a hammer, some nails, and a saw - but no instructions or blueprint for our lives. If we ignore a bent nail here, a split board there, and a wall out of plumb, we may find ourselves living in a ramshackle cabin where a beautiful home might have stood. Then we step back for a good look and recognize that we were the carpenter in charge.
Build your home with pride. Use the right tools. Get the education you need. Learn from a master. Take no shortcuts. Finish it with your finest touch. Remember - the plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project."
The multiple listing service has just come out with the market stats year to date for area 153 comprised of Government Camp, Welches, Rhododendron, and Brightwood. Pending sales were down nearly 50% compared to this same month last year. Year to date we are down just over 25%. Sales might be down due to the artificial stimulus of the first time home buyer credit from last year. This pushed many buyers forward into the year creating a void of buying over the summer months.
Oddly enough I would think buyers would be rushing in to take advantage of these interest rates and the high level of selection currently available on the market.
Total sales for April 2011 in the mountain market frorm Government Camp, Rhododendron, Welches, and Brightwood totalled five this past month. These April sales included two foreclosures, two waterfront properties and one Timberline Rim home.
Opportunity knocks for great thriving business opportunity in Welches! The Welches laundromat is for sale. This business has been up and running for decades and is the only landromat in the area! All equipment is included. Great location! Asking $54,950
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COMMITTEE COMFORT!
It has been said that "a camel is a horse created by a committee." You've probably witnessed the process yourself. You put any twelve decision-makers in a room together, and they can't seem to make a decision at all. Worse yet, they create something that is comfortable to all members - a camel of their own making.
Ghandi says numbers are the "delight of the timid." At some time or another, we all want the comfort of being surrounded by others with interests common to us. Maybe it's on sales meeting day when the discussion turns into a gripe session. Maybe it's in the break room, around the proverbial "water cooler," or in a training class we've just taken. Wherever the group meets, the results are often the same - a lack of action backed up by all the reasons that justify the inaction.
Ghandi also says the glory is "in fighting alone." Look around. Do you see one or two individuals who spend little of their time with the group? Sometimes called "loners," these are usually also the over-achievers, the top producers in life and business. They know where they're going and they don't need your approval to do it. The committee says they aren't "team players."
Being human, it is certainly normal to seek the comfort of others. In the case of those few individuals described as "the Valiant in spirit," however, their strength comes from their accomplishments. In each of us, there is also that "Valiant" spirit - the part of us that wants to strike out on our own. You can do that by resigning from the committees of your life. Elect yourself President and Chairman of the Board of your own future - and make it unanimous!
Lets face it, budgets are tight and Clackamas County is one large county cutting back on expenses. Locals and visitors alike have been amazed at the transformation of Government Camp from the sleepy ski town to a bustling beautifully developed environment that it is today. Streetlights, paved sidewalks, paved and plowed streets are a couple of improvements from the urban renewal district which was formed in 1989.
At the tune of around $20,000 per year, Clackamas County had arranged to keep the sidewalks cleared and streets lit for the past five years. Now, time is up and Government Camp must find a way to pay for these amenities on their own.
Incorporation failed on the May 2010 ballot so alternative actions are sought by residents on how to pay for these items. Options include a road district or a county service district. Both have their downfalls.
Meanwhile meetings are in the works on how to solve the funding issues for these improvements. More details may be found in this Oregonian article.
One of the biggest selling properties in Government Camp over the past two years have been the Collins Lake Condo Units. Recent sales have dropped to levels 10% to 20% above their original offering prices from 2004! Most of those sales were foreclosures.
Here are two foreclosures on the market today at Collins Lake:
Today's foreclosures typically represent a 30-40% discount off today's current market value. If you are a skier and are looking for an affordable place to park your head during ski season, this might be the ticket. Government Camp's location at the base of Mt. Hood makes for quick access to Ski Bowl, Timberline and Mt. Hood Meadows with a short drive on weekends!
TIRED OF WAITING?
Have you ever wanted something special to happen in your life or desired to attract a person or outcome into your life? Maybe you laid specific plans that should have produced the desired results. Maybe you prayed that the results would occur. Perhaps you focused on the desired outcome with great intensity over an extended period of time.
What was your response when nothing happened, when there occurred not the slightest apparent movement towards your desired objective? If you became impatient, chances are good that you were too attached to the outcome. Perhaps, while you were waiting, you were also skeptical or allowed friends and associates to dampen your belief that the desired outcome would occur
Today's quotation at first glance appears to be at odds with itself. After all, there's a great chasm between "infinite" and "immediate." Yet, when you exercise infinite patience, the desired results often appear immediately, or so it seems. Patience means not being so attached to the outcome that you sit waiting minute-by-minute for the results. When you take action to achieve or strongly believe in your objective, it cannot NOT occur.
When you are detached from the outcome, you do not sit idly by waiting for the result. You continue doing other things, moving towards other outcomes. As you do, the results you sought earlier come to you of their own accord and at the appropriate time. You cannot rush them, and they often come disguised as other outcomes.
The next time you desire a specific objective, keep it to yourself. Avoid putting it out on the line for all to see and criticize. Exercise infinite patience, and know that what you desire is already on its way to you. Then, recognize its arrival with gratitude!
Tracking distressed sales on the mountain in the area from Government Camp to Brightwood shows that short sales and foreclosures make up 40-50% of our area sales over the past several months on average. Nationally, these numbers match. Here is a chart showing the short sales and foreclosure movement.
Displaying blog entries 1201-1210 of 1849
