The Grants Pass Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is moving!  The Grants Pass DMV has been trying to renegotiate their lease at their current F Street location, but to no avail.  As a result, the Grants Pass DMV is relocating its office effective March 1, 2010.  The new office will be located on Northeast Beacon Street in a shopping center across from Fred Meyer's in Grants Pass.  DMV Office hours will remain the same.   If you are considering a move to Grants Pass Oregon, and would like relocation information, give us a call.  We would be delighted to assist you in finding just the right property in Southern Oregon!  01/09/2010

6.5 Earthquake on the Northern California Coast Today!  I was sitting in my real estate office in Grants Pass Oregon chatting with a colleague today, when I noticed a little angel decoration on top of a filing cabinet started to shake.  I told my fellow agent; "look at that angel shaking, I wonder what is causing that?"  We looked at the air vent just above it, wondering if that was the cause.  After approx. 15 seconds, my friend said; "maybe it's an earthquake."  Just then, the building started to shake. I have lived in  Southern Oregon for 10+ years and I haven't felt a single earthquake.  But I do know what to expect, as I grew up in Southern California and have lived through a number of very strong quakes there.  When the building shook today, I immediately ran for a doorway (I thin... 01/09/2010

This Just Doesn't Happen In Grants Pass Oregon!  Here is a picture of a cup of hot coffee sitting on a sheet of ice in a Byrneville pool.  The photo was submitted by Angie Baker for NorthEscambia.com.  Angie Baker said; "I sat my hot coffee cup onto the frozen water of the pool and was able to take a photo without the cup even falling through." (According to Angie, the dark objects at the bottom of the pool are leaves). I wondered where Byrneville was so I Googled it.  It's hard to believe that we are talking about Byrneville, Florida!  You just wouldn't see this kind of thing happen in Grants Pass Oregon!  Enjoy the climate, it's a great time to buy a home in Grants Pass, Oregon. 01/09/2010

Here are the latest Grants Pass Southern Oregon Real Estate Statistics for December 2009. 851 - Active Residential Listings 87 - Homes Sold 34 - Listings Pending 122 - Average Days on Market $217,689. - Average Sold Price Statistics provided courtesy of Real Estate Cafe.  Source of information is Southern Oregon MLS - Monthly NAR Statistical Report.  Information herein has not been verified and is not guaranteed. Click Here for more information regarding Grants Pass Southern Oregon Real Estate 01/06/2010

Homes For Sale in Grants Pass and Rogue River Oregon - December 2009 The following results for the month of December 2009 for Grants Pass and Rogue River were compiled from records of single-family residential homes listed with the Southern Oregon Multiple Listing Service. This inventory may be misleading when you consider all of those people who have either withdrawn their homes temporarily from the market and/or all those who are waiting until the market gets stronger before they attempt to list their Home For Sale. December 2009 Grants Pass and Rogue River Real Estate Statistics Number of Homes Sold: 69  Number of Homes Actively on the MLS: 652 87 Are Short Sales 46 Are Foreclosures 70 Are New Listings for December   *The Number of Homes that are Actively on the MLS are Located in th... 01/06/2010

Gallagher Performs in  Grants Pass, Oregon - January 22, 2010. Here are some Frequently Asked Questions about Gallagher: What is Gallagher's first name?  He is referred to as Gallagher. Does Gallagher have a fan club?  Gallagher does not have an official fan club, but all fan letters should be sent to:Sold Out Shows13833 Wellington TraceUnit E-4 PMB 303Wellington, FL 33414 Where does Gallagher get all of his material?  Gallagher writes all of his own material. Is Gallagher coming to my town anytime in the near future?  You can find Gallagher's tour schedule here. Please refer to this schedule for all upcoming dates, as it is continuously updated. Can I purchase Gallagher tickets online?  Sold Out Shows (Gallagher's company) does not sell Gallagher's concert tickets through his website o... 01/06/2010

Jump Off Joe Creek - Grants Pass, Oregon There are some interesting names given to landmarks in Southern Oregon.  Take Jump Off Joe Creek for instance.  I've heard of " Jump Off Joe" at the coast near Newport, Oregon, but just north of Grants Pass, Oregon is "Jump Off Joe Creek." Named for Joe McLoughlin, the son of Dr. John McLoughlin who had a major role in the first settling of Portland.  Dr. John had been with Hudson's Bay Fur Company and the main street; (McLoughlin Boulevard) that runs through Oregon's first Capital, Oregon City, is named after him, as well as numerous other buildings and landmarks. I digress; son Joe was hunting game for his camp on the banks of a small stream, one of the hundreds that flow into the Rogue River.  Somehow darkness caught him before he got back to ... 01/05/2010

Southern Oregon's Telephone Service will be changing effective January 10, 2010.  All local Southern Oregon calls will need to include the area code and the phone number when placing a call.  The reason for the change is Oregon is preparing to add its fourth area code, 458.  The new area code will be overlaid on the existing 541 area code, so callers will have to add the area code to all their calls.  People who only dial seven digits as of next Sunday will not be able to make the connection. Long-distance calls within the 541 area code will still need to have the prefix 1 before the area code.  State regulators and telephone company officials hope the transformation will go as smoothly as it did when Portland and northwest Oregon overlaid the 971 area code over the 503 area code.  New ... 01/03/2010

Things are Great!  Thank You For Asking! - Part II Now that my last blog dealt with the uncomfortably negative side of human nature, now I will set out to make a genuine and outward positive effect on my surroundings. This will be a great year for real estate!  I really feel that we can affect our environment in a very positive way by projecting positive vibes!  When asked how things are going, the answer is; FANTASTIC! For a while this last year it seemed as though our news media had hired some salespeople to edit their broadcasts -- Things coming from our national media grew very positive and guess what?  Things got better -- I think a bunch of P.R. people all started speaking positively about the same time and it worked.  Things kept getting better. Like I've always known, if you thi... 01/03/2010

Oregon Senate Bill 739 - Testing Wells for Arsenic.  There is a new Oregon law relating to the testing of wells for arsenic (ORS 448.271) as of January 1, 2010.  The Oregon law is amended as follows:  (1) In any transaction for the sale or exchange of real estate that includes a well that supplies ground water for domestic purposes, the seller of the real estate shall, upon accepting an offer to purchase that real estate, have the well tested for  arsenic, nitrates and total coliform bacteria. The Department of Human Services also may require additional tests for specific contaminants in an area of ground water concern or ground water management area specific areas of public health concern.  The seller shall submit the results of the tests required under this section to the department a... 01/02/2010

Things are Great!  Why Do You Ask? - Part I I'm writing this blog in two parts, as the thoughts tie in, but I wish to keep the negative and the positive apart. Let's start with the negative --  When someone asks you, "How's business?" are they really expecting a positive response, or hoping for a negative one? I know it's hard for many people to understand, but I've made a lifelong study of people, and I can assure you that many of those who ask about our business, or our well-being, are actually unaware that inwardly they are anticipating and wishing for a reaction that we are not doing well!  That things are not all that great. This does not mean that they are bad people at heart -- This is human nature. When things are going poorly for someone and they cannot see light at the end of ... 01/02/2010

January Garden Calendar - Southern Oregon Gardening BasicsBring a little sunshine to your door with a blooming plant. Hardy primroses in a low planter add color and scent. Camellias with daisy-like blooms are sure to bring a smile. Choose one that meets the sun/shade conditions at your front door. Leave snow on plants unless it is heavy and wet and bending or breaking branches. Snow will protect your evergreen plants from low temperatures. Think of it as an igloo for your shrubbery. Kitchen and OrchardThe best selection of seeds is available now. Get the best variety by checking Oregon State University Extension's seed lists. Call the Master Gardeners on Tuesday or Thursday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. or search online at http://extension.oregonstate.edu for information on seed choices, p... 01/01/2010

Happy New Year from Grants Pass - Southern Oregon! May the Lord bless youand keep you:The Lord make His face to shine upon you,and be gracious unto you:The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,and give you peace.~ Numbers 6:24-26 ~ To my Family, Friends, and Clients ~ May You Have a Blessed and Happy New Year! 12/31/2009

Top 10 Stories in the Past 10 Years - Southern Oregon.  Readers of an informal Mail Tribune online poll chose what is foremost on everyone's minds - the recession - as the biggest story since the year 2000 began, followed closely by a helicopter crash in 2008 that killed seven Grayback Forestry workers from Southern Oregon. As the sun sets on 2009, here are Top 10 Southern Oregon stories of the past decade that garnered the most votes from Southern Oregon Mail Tribune readers: 1. Recession hits home. Jackson County companies shutter, hundreds lose their jobs and more than 1,700 homes are foreclosed on since the recession begins in December 2007. Unemployment tops 13.9 percent in March 2009. Also in the last year, Panel Products and Boise Cascade shut down their plywood plants in White C... 12/31/2009

New Year's Resolution? Should I or not?  Over my many years, I have found that making a New Year's Resolution is a lot like setting a sales performance goal, but with a major difference. In the marketing business, I have always set monthly goals for production.  To be successful in selling, goals normally must be set for shorter terms.  This enables one to quickly recognize when we have not achieved our goal and can quickly re-group and re-set our goal for the next month and get back on target.  Like quitting smoking; it is a short "one day at a time" goal. The problem I see with a "New Year's Resolution" is that if it is a meaningful goal, how does one know when they are on target and what checks and balances do we have? If as a Realtor®, I resolve to work harder (easy for me, since I ... 12/31/2009

December 31st - A Look Back In History History shows the following happened on December 31st. ¶  1776  Rhode Island establishes wages for carpenters at 70 cents a day. ¶  1783  All Northern states ban slavery. ¶  1857  Ottawa is chosen at the capital of Canada by Queen Victoria. ¶  1862  The Union ironclad "Monitor" was sand of North Carolina. ¶  1879  Thomas Edison demonstrates the first incandescent lamp. ¶  1914  The New York Yankees were purchased by Jacob Ruppert for $460,000. ¶  1924  Hubble announced the existence of other galaxies. ¶  1943  Frank Sinatra performed at the Paramount theater in New York City. ¶  1967  Greenbay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys. ¶  1991  This was the last day of the USSR. ¶  1999  The Panama Canal was given to Panama. 12/31/2009

December 30th - A Look Back In History History shows the following happened on December 30th.  ¶  1649 The U.S. made the first treaty with the Ute Indians, "One of Peace and Amity." ¶  1809 It became forbidden to wear masks at balls in Boston, MA.  ¶  1855 The newly occupied Oregon Statehouse was completely destroyed by fire.  ¶ 1918  John E Hoover decided to be called J. Edgar Hoover. ¶  1939  The electronic television was patented. ¶  1940  California's first freeway opened. ¶  1970  Paul McCartney sues to dissolve The Beatles. ¶  1973  The Minnesota Vikings beat the Dallas Cowboys 27-10 in the NFC championship game. ¶  1993  The Vatican recognizes Israel as a state. ¶  2006  Saddam Hussein was hanged in Baghdad. ¶  2008  Oregon State wins the Holiday Bowl over Oklahoma State 42 to 31... 12/29/2009

Power Outage In Grants Pass, Oregon Not that the beauty and wild country of Oregon would let one forget, but sometimes when we think of our being so sophisticated, we are reminded of just how close to nature we really are. Last month I reported on a Power Outage in an area of our city that was caused by a beaver. Saturday, a squirrel got into a power substation and did enough damage to interrupt power for about 8,000 of us for most of the day.  Thank goodness the Power Outage did not last overnight, because it was quite cold. It's great to live in a place where the only terrorists we have to worry about are the fuzzy guys! Come to Oregon! 12/29/2009

December 29th - A Look Back In History History shows the following happened on December 29th.  ¶  1852 Emma Snodgrass was arrested in Boston for wearing pants. ¶  1862 The bowling ball was invented. ¶  1938  Construction on the Lake Washington floating bridge began. ¶  1940  For the first time, Germany dropped bombs on London during World War II. ¶  1947  A ship with Jewish immigrants was driven away from Palestine. ¶  1965  "Thunderball" premieres in the United States. ¶  1967  Star Trek's"The Trouble With Tribbles" airs. ¶  1972  Life magazine ceases publication. ¶  1975  11 people were killed and 75 wounded by a terrorist bomb at Laguardia Airport in New York. ¶  1982  Bear Bryant ended his career with Alabama after 323 wins. ¶  2006 Oregon State wins the Sun Bowl over Missouri 39 to... 12/29/2009

A Simple Guide to Get You on the Road Again in 2010'.  For most of us, 2009' presented some unexpected twists and turns.  And, in some cases, many of us were hoping for a few U-turns, wishing we could go back and right some wrong turns we have taken in our journey of life.  But, keeping with the old saying; "Hindsight is 20/20," perhaps there is something we can learn from the rocky roads we have traveled this year. To reach your destination in 2010, it might be a good idea to carry along a road map or navigational system to guide your way.  There's nothing worse than wasting precious time and energy trying to find your way on the highway to success without the proper tools to help get you there.  Avoiding confusing signs and traffic jams will make your trip much more pleasant and stre... 12/27/2009