All posts by Ben

Real Estate

Coronavirus Leads to Worst Home Sales in a Decade | realtor.com®

Existing-home sales hit their lowest level in a decade as the coronavirus pandemic continued to play havoc on the housing market.

Sales of previously lived-in homes plummeted 17.2%, to just 4.33 million transactions in April compared with a year ago, according to the seasonally adjusted numbers in a recent report from the National Association of Realtors®. They were down 17.8% from March as much of the country stayed home to help stem the spread of COVID-19.

“Sales are at the worst level in about a decade. But all things considered, it really could’ve been worse,” says realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “It’s not surprising given that everyone’s staying home.”

With nearly 39 million folks filing for unemployment since the crisis began two months ago and many parts of the country still prohibiting in-person showings, May and June could also be rough months for the housing market, she predicts.

Source: Coronavirus Leads to Worst Home Sales in a Decade | realtor.com®

We’re still super busy in Mohave County. It’s startling to see the number of sales, and the number of new homes being constructed.

Odds & Ends, Off Grid Living, Prepping

Opting Out & A Memorial Day Weekend Message

Virtually nothing in America’s top-down financial and political realms is actually transparent, accountable, authentic or honest.

Opting out will increasingly be the best (or only) choice for tens of millions of people globally. Opting out means leaving the complicated, costly and now unaffordable / unbearable life you’ve been living for a new way of life that is radically less complex, less costly and less deranging.

Continue reading Opting Out & A Memorial Day Weekend Message →

Real Estate

Biggest Real Estate Investors Hoarding Cash

The world’s biggest real estate investors are sitting on piles of cash, preparing for once-in-a-lifetime opportunities created by the pandemic.

With economies around the world sputtering, commercial real estate prices are expected to come down. How much they’ll fall is the key question. Sellers are currently willing to concede discounts of around 5%, while bidders are hoping for about 20% off pre-pandemic prices, said Charles Hewlett, managing director at Rclco Real Estate Advisors. That estimated gap, which is likely wider in specific cases, has put a freeze on deals.

“The mantra for anything that hasn’t gotten started is: delay, defer and, in many cases, renegotiate,” Hewlett said. “If I’m going to have vintage May 2020 on my books, I want to be able to demonstrate to my investors that I got an exceptionally good deal.”

The volume of deals in Europe plunged 65% in April from a year earlier, according to Leahy. U.S. and Asian markets faced similar drops.

Source: Real estate buyers loaded with cash wait for sellers to crack – Daily News

Land, Odds & Ends

BLM Offices Moving West to Grand Junction

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has a long and proud history of serving the nation by responsibly managing land and resources for the use and enjoyment of the American people.

The BLM is responsible for managing public lands for a variety of uses such as energy and mineral development, livestock grazing, recreation, and timber harvesting while ensuring natural, cultural, and historic resources are maintained for present and future generations.

Today, more than 99 percent* of those lands and programs are located in the Western half of the United States. The BLM is relocating its headquarters functions and other supporting offices to the American West. This move will benefit the public we serve as well as the bureau and our employees.  Moving the people who make critical decisions about the lands and programs we manage will help provide a greater on-the-ground understanding and will also foster better partnerships with communities and organizations there.

The BLM Headquarters move west means that most of the positions currently located in Washington, DC, will move to a new location.

Source: Headquarters Move West | Bureau of Land Management

Gardening, Off Grid Living, Prepping

The Sun has been Ominously Quiet

At a time when the world is already being hit with major crisis after major crisis, our sun is behaving in ways that we have never seen before.

For as long as records have been kept, the sun has never been quieter than it has been in 2019 and 2020, and as you will see below we are being warned that we have now entered “a very deep solar minimum”.

Unfortunately, other very deep solar minimums throughout history have corresponded with brutally cold temperatures and horrific global famines, and of course this new solar minimum comes at a time when the United Nations is already warning that we are on the verge of “biblical” famines around the world.  So we better hope that the sun wakes up soon, because the alternative is almost too horrifying to talk about.

Without the sun, life on Earth could not exist, and so the fact that it is behaving so weirdly right now should be big news.

Source: The Sun “Has Gone Into Lockdown”, And This Strange Behavior Could Make Global Food Shortages Much Worse

Now, more than ever it seems like a good time to store a little more, and above all try to “stay away from crowds” as Uncle Remus says.

The pandemic this year has shown just how vulnerable our “just in time” delivery systems are. With literally tons of food being thrown away because of logistical issues, and the potential shortage of meat due to the concentration among just a few large factory farms, relying on supplies being available in tighter times such as these is just foolish.

FEMA says everyone should have three days of food & water, but as we’re only nine meals away from anarchy, one surely ought to try and have a little more.

Where to start? There are many good articles about preparing on a budget. Whether it’s a pandemic, a solar minimum, or even just an old fashioned hurricane, better to have more and not need it, than to want in an emergency. Start today – Ben

Arizona

Grand Canyon National Park Increasing Access to South Rim

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Following guidance from the White House, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state and local public health authorities, Grand Canyon National Park is increasing recreational access to selected South Rim viewpoints.

The National Park Service (NPS) is working servicewide with federal, state, and local public health authorities to closely monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and using a phased approach to increase access on a park-by-park basis.

  • Grand Canyon National Park’s South Rim South Entrance will reopen May 15-18 for incoming traffic from 6-10 a.m. with limited day use access to:
  • The viewpoints at Pipe Creek Vista, Twin Overlooks, Duck on a Rock, Thor’s Hammer, No Name Point and Navajo Point along East Desert View Drive. Vehicles will be directed to turn around at Navajo Point.
  • The picnic areas east of Yaki Road, Thor’s Hammer and Buggeln Picnic area.
  • The restroom facilities located by the South Entrance Grand Canyon National Park sign, picnic area east of Yaki Road, and Buggeln picnic area.

With public health in mind, the following facilities and areas remain closed to visitors at this time:

  • South Rim’s east entrance and Desert View area.
  • The Rim Trail, Greenway Trail system, inner canyon and all hiking trails.
  • Grand Canyon Village.
  • Center Road west from the South Entrance Road intersection; South Entrance Road north of Desert View Drive intersection; Yaki Point Road, Rowe Well Road and the USFS 310 Road.
  • The Colorado River, North Rim and Tuweep area.

Commercial services within the park remain closed. Visitors exploring the South Rim should plan to be self-sufficient, bringing enough food and water during their trip as well as hand sanitizer.

Park entrance fees are currently waived. The park also recommends arriving no later than 9-9:30 a.m. in case of traffic backups entering the park. Once visitors enter the park, they can stay throughout the day; however, there are not overnight accommodations available.

“This initial reopening phase will increase access to our public lands in a responsible way by offering the main feature of the park for the public, the view of the canyon, while reducing the potential exposure of COVID-19 to our nearly 2,500 residents,” said Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Ed Keable.

Source: Grand Canyon National Park is beginning to increase access to South Rim Viewpoints – Grand Canyon National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

Arizona, History

The Aztec Cattle Company & the Hashknife Outfit – Legends of America

In 1884, the Aztec Land and Cattle Company of Boston began operations in Arizona with its headquarters situated across the Little Colorado River from the site of Saint Joseph (now Joseph City.)

The third-largest cattle company in North America, the organization was better known as the Hashknife Outfit because their brand resembled the old hash knives used by chuckwagon cooks. The next year, the Aztec Company transferred its headquarters to Holbrook, Arizona and in 1886, they purchased one million acres of former railroad land from the Atlantic and Pacific for 50 cents an acre. The ranch claimed a range that stretched some  650 miles, from the New Mexico border to just south of Flagstaff.

The company then bought the Hashknife brand and some 33,000 head of cattle and 2,000 horses from the Continental Cattle Company in Texas, which was going broke because of drought. When the stock arrived by rail, they were let off the train at stops all across northern Arizona. Along with the cattle and the brand, also came a number of original Hashknife cowboys.

Source: The Aztec Cattle Company & the Hashknife Outfit – Legends of America

Click on the link to read more.

Gardening

Complete Guide to Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Tomatillos

Bright red juicy tomatoes get all the attention. Even people who wouldn’t call themselves gardeners have grown them. I’d go so far as to say that the tomato is the most popular garden vegetable. But for some reason, we don’t seem to give as much love to the tomatillo.

I’ll confess, I prefer this tangy paper-wrapped fruit because I think it makes the best salsa. As a lover of Mexican cuisine, the tomatillo is a must-have in my garden. I think you should be growing tomatillos in yours as well, whether you love salsa or not. Sometimes called husk tomatoes, these fruits are more resistant to disease and have a dense interior with a bright, vegetal flavor. You can use them in tons of recipes, and they can even go in some dishes that tomatoes couldn’t handle.

Source: Growing Tomatillos: The Complete Guide to Plant, Grow, and Harvest Tomatillos

This is our first year with tomatillos in the garden. They seem pretty happy so far, and we look forward to this new item. We purchased the purple tomatillo from our good friends at Baker Creek Heirloom seeds. Click on the link for very detailed and helpful post.

Real Estate

Home Prices Still Rising in the Pandemic

Home sellers can take heart. Despite the fervent wishes of buyers, home prices are ticking up during this coronavirus crisis—instead of down. In a surprise, the median home list price rose 1.6% annually in the week ending April 25 compared with the same week a year ago, according to the most recent national data from realtor.com® looking at the 99 largest metropolitan areas.

Real estate experts have been predicting that price growth would level off or even dip, as prices had been up only 0.3% year over year in the previous week and just 0.8% in the week prior to that. That was a stark contrast to just a few months ago, when prices were rising by more than 4% annually before the coronavirus pandemic essentially put the U.S. on lockdown.

Source: Despite the Coronavirus, Home Prices Are Still Rising—for Now | realtor.com®

Meanwhile, residential sales in the Lake Havasu-Kingman-Bullhead City markets continue to be very strong, and the builders are all busy.

Land sales in Yucca have been very strong this year, and at this pace it will be the best year in many. Summer will tell the tale, but it seems that everyone suddenly needs more space these days. We have plenty of sunshine and wide open vistas to accommodate you all!

They aren’t making any more of the land though, so get your piece while it’s the most affordable in the last 25 years. – Ben