Adam Bogle, the Agent In A Kilt

Kimchi stinks

agentinakilt — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 20:00:20 +0000

Well, by “Kimchi Stinks”, mean it smells pretty bad.
Not actually true when eating it. Opening a jar, taking out a small bowlful, topping it will a couple of over medium eggs, and a strip of bacon.
Then, it tastes and smells alright.

However, when making it for yourself, leaving it to ferment in a crock in your house for 4 days. Yeah, then it pretty much stinks up the whole house. So below is a picture of my first batch of kimchi for the house. I was hoping to have more jars to give away, but it really didn’t make as much as I thought.
My first gift jar went to our friend Steve who is working with Sophia. He brought me beer that he made, so I was returning the favor.

But now I need to make batch #2. Do a couple of things different to make it better. But I need a place to ferment it that doesn’t permeate the entire house.
I’m thinking maybe making a dog house that has a small heat lamp in it.
Maybe a box could be constructed with a thermostat on it and shelves.
It could be used both as a place to ferment…or turn it up higher and use it as a food drier for fruits and nuts…

Anyway…if anyone has any ideas, I’m open to suggestions.
Could earn you a jar of your very own Bogle made Kimchi.

I guess I just went off on another non-real estate tangent. However, free kimchi to whomever refers me to a friend, family member, themselves.
Just enter the coupon code “kimchi sells” in the referral box.
Works for real estate in Ashland, or Medford real estate

Cooking for the Holidays

agentinakilt — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:07:45 +0000

This is mostly a copy of an email received about a holiday dinner that was being organized. I have changed the names…and added some small pieces just to make it funnier to me. Most of this is real, and I just think it is funny.

We might have to modify some stuff for people because of food allergies but everyone seems flexible and adaptable. So bring what you like and we’ll all enjoy!

Jerry is on a limited salt and no sugar diet…
Lucy doesn’t eat bacon or red meat so we just slap a chicken breast on the grill and she eats the other stuff.
Tom doesn’t eat cow dairy but will bring his own coconut sour cream and goat cheese to doctor his food up.
Terry is allergic to gluten but he’ll bring special gluten free stuff (like pasta and bread) for himself and he has dairy intolerances too.
Diane is allergic to avocados, peanuts and shellfish.
Teresa is a vegetarian, but eats fish.
David and Sam will not eat anything that are on the GMO list and prefer everything to be 100% organic.
And I’m on the Atkins diet, so I am not eating carbs.

So we look forward to seeing everyone for the potluck..I’m sure it will be a great meal.

Now I love to cook. I cannot seem to cook for less than 15 people, so I love going to parties where I can bring food.

I put a lot of love into my cooking, and get enjoyment out of it. However, I have a feeling that if I were to cook for this group of people..I would be the only one eating the meal.

Short Sales in Southern Oregon

agentinakilt — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 21:07:43 +0000

Short Sales:The brief definition of a “short sale” is when the owner of a house owes more to the bank(s) than the house can be sold for, and therefor a sale requires the bank to release the lien for less than full value.My House is Worth Less Than I own on it. What can I do?The comforting thing to know if you are a homeowner that owes more on your loan then your house is currently worth is that you are not alone. An estimated 22% of homeowners across the country are underwater. If you can make your payment and want to stay in the house you live in, then it really is something that you might just not think about.But what do you do if you can’t make the payment…or if you need to move for some reason (job change, divorce, etc…?)Well, maybe a short sale is right for you.

I have been working with people both buying and selling short sales for a number of years now. And what I can tell you is the process is much easier to get through now than it was 3-4 years ago.

If you, or someone you know could benefit from getting out from under an underwater mortgage…let me know and I will see what I can do to help.

EMAIL ME HERE

Your contact with me will be kept strictly confidential. The professional consultation is free.

No matter how fun or depressing you may find your real estate situation at this time, it is my goal to not only provide the best advice possible, but to also make you laugh in the process.

Because a key to happiness is to be able to laugh in the bad times as well as the good times.

www.AgentInAKilt.com is the home for information on the Ashland Real Estate Market.

What everyone seems afraid to ask or….

agentinakilt — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:59:50 +0000

What everyone’s afraid to ask….OR….. The “How’s the Market” Blog

Another year has passed in the great recession that we all are going through. It has been a tough time financially for many of us.
Being a real estate professional, I still get asked how the real estate market is, although admittedly not as often as it used to be. I believe many people don’t want to hear the answer.
So I will do my best without rambling to let you know what I feel is the state of the local real estate market.

This Is The New Normal

I don’t believe we are going to be seeing any big shifts in the real estate market in the coming year(s). What you see out there right now is pretty much how I think things will stay.

My statistics show that:

Roughly the same number of houses sold last year as the prior year.
Number of houses on the market for sale (inventory) is down 24% from last year.
Median prices are staying somewhat level…slightly up in some areas, and slightly down in others
Average days on market for listings is stable at about 90 days
Distress sales (Foreclosures and Short Sales) make up close to 50% of the solds…and 25% of the active listings

What this boils down to is there are a lot of great deals out there…especially in the distressed sale market. This can be good for those who are looking to buy.

However, those looking to sell are going to continue needing to compete with the distressed properties.

For more information on the Ashland Real Estate Market, visit my website. www.AgentInAKilt.com

Search for houses currently for sale at www.RealEstate-SouthernOregon.com

Falling Taxes on Real Estate in Southern Oregon

agentinakilt — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 01:03:23 +0000

This is a reply or clarification from my standpoint on the article that came out in today’s (Oct 4, 2011) Mail Tribune as the front page story. I generally like to link to stories that I refer to, but the Mail Tribune decided that they are charging people to read the online version of their stories, and I can’t condone that decision.

The basics of the story are that property taxes should drop for 37% of Jackson County houses. I just went back over my old Blog posts, and realize that I don’t believe I have answered the question about how property taxes work in the state of Oregon.

The county computes 2 different values for a property. There is a value that is the Maximum Assessed Value (MAV), and a 2nd one that is the (theoretical) Real Market Value(RMV) . Now the RMV is generally off 90% of the time. I don’t really know how they come up with that number. The MAV however is what one pays taxes on. That value is fixed at the point in time that the house is constructed, or a major remodel is completed that significantly changes the value of the home. From that point in time, that value can only increase at 3% per year. Now while real estate was appreciating at a rate of greater than 3% a year, there became a pretty wider discrepancy between the MAV and the RMV.

Now that we have just gotten into our 5 straight year of depreciation though, the chances of a house’s RMV being lower than the MAV has become a reality. Especially for homes that were built after 2002.

I’ll give you some examples…

My home has a MAV of $143,500 and a RMV of $206,000. Now if I were to sell it today, I would get probably somewhere over $250,000. So my taxes will not be affected. My house was built in 1948, and it’s MAV will probably never be under the RMV.

On the other hand…after a quick search of the MLS, I found a house in Eagle Point that was built in 2005, sold in the last couple of months as and REO for $299,000. The county shows the MAV is $327,000 and the RMV is 395,000. The buyer of this property should be able to take their sale down to the assessors office, and have the value of that property changed. And that change should reduce their taxes by close to $300 a year or so.

Now one more example…I am in the process of selling a house at this time that has a MAV $35,000 over what the accepted sales price is. It is a lower end, first time home buyer kind of a house. Now when getting a loan on a house like this, sometimes the ratio of payments to income is close. And the difference of $30 on a monthly payment could be the difference as to whether or not a buyer could get that loan. Under the new price, the taxes on this house should decrease by close to $500 per year. A Realtor who is representing their buyer should know these figures…and if getting the loan would be achieved easier by getting the taxed assessed value to go through…that would be the kind of problem solving that is needed in today’s market.

If it isn’t required for the loan, then at the very least they should recommend to their client to take the steps necessary to reduce their taxes.

It is easy to start. The Assessors office is on the 2nd floor in the County building on Oakdale in Medford. I have managed to have a person there to talk to within a minute every time I have visited that office.

Okay…sorry for the long post…I was trying to get a lot of information across. As always, when looking for property in Jackson County, Medford and Ashland, come talk to me. One of the best reasons to have a Realtor on your side is having someone who has that knowledge base. I sometime go into teacher mode a little strong….but I can certainly help you with the process.

Back to College Time

agentinakilt — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 22:19:39 +0000

Tomorrow I take my daughter back to Eugene for her 2nd year of college (Go Ducks!)

It got me thinking about the reasons people buy and sell homes. Changes in their lives, and circumstances. For instance, being an empty nester may be a reason someone would want to sell their house, and find someplace new. If the kids are all gone, and those extra rooms are just collecting dust, it might be a reason to sell and find someplace smaller.

We frequently think about marriage, divorce, and having children as reasons for needing a new place to live. But I’m going to add getting rid of children to that list now.

Or you could just do what I am doing. I am repurposing her room into a man cave. I have a fire pit, some viking horns, some elk bones to carve into tools, a fur rug, chalk for cave drawings, a big stick to use as a club, and no bath facilities. Hope to have the place all up to man cave standards within a few smelly months.

Picking up the Guitar

agentinakilt — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 22:25:29 +0000

I keep picking up the guitar in the house. I don’t really know why.

It is an old family guitar that we have had in our possession for quite some time. One that I grew up with in the house.

My dad and brother are both accomplished guitar players, but I never really got around to playing much. A chord here, a chord there. But nothing really.

But then I picked up this guitar last week, and broke one of the strings tuning it. And for some reason it got me interested in doing something. I had to go buy strings…then I broke the Bridge pegs taking them out.

And now I have downloaded a chord app for the iPad…picked a couple of songs to learn, both of them pretty country. And the end of my fingers hurt when I type.

So you may be asking yourself what this has to do with real estate.

And the answer there is simple…….Nothing!

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone.

Adam “the guy who wears the kilt around Ashland” Bogle

Ashland Summer Not So Hot

agentinakilt — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:52:54 +0000

This has really been another mild Summer in the Rogue Valley. For an area that has normally seen a handful of 100+ degree days by now, they are nowhere to be seen.

Image by Cle0patra via Creative Commons

This is good news to many who do not like that hot weather…plus good news to keep the forest fires down, and the rivers and lakes full.

Unfortunately, Ashland Real Estate is not as hot as it could be either. Since Summer Solstice, there have been 36 sales in Ashland. There are currently 30 pending sales to go along with that.

But there is a supply of another 195 houses still on the market. With an average of about 19 houses per month selling, that has Ashland at a 10 month supply.

So to relate that back to the weather analogy.

If the normal real estate temperature at this time of the year is pushing 100 degrees, then this year we probably are looking at temps around 85 degrees. Still fairly pleasant, but definitely not hot.

Okay, enough silly weather analogies. I’m going to go out and enjoy the pleasant 85 while we’ve got it…cause you all know that fall is right around that next corner.

Cheers.

P.S. Remember…if you want to look at what houses are currently on the market you have find Ashland Real Estate Listings Here.

Sitting in the Woods

agentinakilt — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:46:50 +0000

It is beautiful up here in the Greensprings today. Sitting holding an open house for brokers at the Mountain Cabin I’ve had listed for a while.
The price has been lowered to $150,000 with possible owner terms.

So I am sitting in the sun on the south facing deck. It is slightly breezy, with pretty much only the sound of the wind through the trees. It kind sounds like there is a creek running in the distance.

I could get used to this.

Happy Summer Solstice

agentinakilt — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:15:30 +0000

Yay…it’s here. My favorite day of the year. Except this year it has been sadly anti-climactic. First, the long spring/winter weather kinda had this day sneak up on me.

Second, my family is going to a wedding this weekend in California and the past couple of weeks have been full of working hard to make sure that we can spend a few days with family in peace, without worrying about work at home.

Third, in past years we have had huge Summer Solstice parties. Starting with the house we had in Medford, where we held 4 day long parties with friend from San Diego, Portland, Eugene, Boise, Seattle all came to our house..pitched tents in the yard…..threw air mattresses on the floor in the extra rooms. We had activities planned…tiedye projects, games, bonfire, etc….

Image courtesy of Ennor via Creative Commons

When we moved to our home in Ashland, the space was no longer there for the huge party at our house, and that sadly ended. But starting in the last couple of years, we found some good camping spots and started working on the revival of the Summer Solstice party.

But given the wedding plans of this year, we were not able to get it going….but I am putting all of my friends on notice right now…NEXT YEAR. I have marked my calendar for June 20-25th. Camping at a TBD location (most likely on the Rogue River).

The first Re-Annual Bogle Summer Solstice Extravaganza.