Spotted this guy out and about; he surprised me on the way back from the garden to the house. I was close then, but didn’t have the camera with me. Did manage to catch a shot before he disappeared under a bush.
All posts by Ben
Real Estate Listings Plummet in April – NAR
April is usually one of the busiest months for the housing market, as the spring home-buying season is well underway. Not this year. The novel coronavirus has dealt the real estate market a series of blows, starting with sidelining both buyers and sellers and worsening the already severe housing shortage.
The number of homes that went on the market plummeted in April compared with the previous year. New listings were down 44.1% nationally, according to realtor.com®’s Monthly Housing Trends Report. That affected the overall number of homes for sale, which was down by about 189,000 listings, representing about a 15.3% drop in housing inventory in April compared with the prior year.
Source: Number of Home Listings Plummeted in April as Coronavirus Took Its Toll | realtor.com®
And we’re busier than in years… Ben
Spring Colorado River Runoff Low Since April
A dry April caused the expected spring-summer runoff into Lake Powell to plunge dramatically, with the water-flow forecast down the Colorado River declining as much in one month as Tucson Water customers use in 10 years.
May’s monthly runoff prediction for the April-through-July period was 65% of average, or 4.6 million acre-feet. That’s 1 million acre-feet less than the April forecast predicted. Tucson Water customers typically use close to 100,000 acre-feet a year. While low runoff this year is highly unlikely to trigger the river’s first major shortage as soon as 2021, it raises the possibility of one in 2022.
A shortage would fall particularly hard on Central Arizona farmers. Flows of water into Powell that would be low enough to cause a shortage in 2022 are likely to occur about 10% of the time, said the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s most recent study of its reservoir operations, published in mid-April.
Warm Temps to Continue
Another round of heat will build in the desert in the Southwest and Southern California by midweek. Temperatures will once again be in the 90s for parts of southern California while triple digits will be likely in the desert from Palm Springs to Las Vegas to Phoenix. Daily record highs are likely on Wednesday and Thursday for portions of the region.
Source: Record breaking heat in continues in parts of the Southwest – ABC News
Gardening Popular During Pandemic
As the coronavirus pandemic shook the country this spring, grocery stores quickly sold out of essentials and produce departments were emptied. Fearing food shortages, and afraid to expose themselves to other shoppers in the store, many following orders to stay at home came up with the same idea: pandemic gardens.
It happened to be spring planting season as shelter-in-place orders came down in the U.S. Even people unfamiliar with gardening began placing orders for seeds and those selling them saw exponential spikes in business.
“Not in any recorded history have there been sales at these levels, certainly in the last 20 years,” Dave Thompson, director of sales and operations at organic seed company Seeds of Change in Rancho Dominguez, California, tells PEOPLE. “This is so unprecedented. We’re doing the best we can. You can’t capture all of this business.”
How is Your Long Term Storage Food Holding Up? Test it!
During my recent move, I was drawing down some stocked items. One of the things we decided to consume and restock post move, was a bunch of Spam that I had acquired from 2011 to 2014. My wife, who rarely allows me in the kitchen, had never taken an interest in the preps I had stocked, so the Spam didn’t rotate. This gave us a nice test of how well Spam stayed on a shelf in long term storage.
The Spam had been stored in our basement, which was temperature controlled, so it wasn’t subjected to years of wild temperature fluctuations, but it had been sitting on the shelf for 5 to 8 years. Our basement in that house was also dry. There was no point in moving the Spam rather than using it and replacing it after the move.
If you are getting to where you have a decent inventory of food, you might want to sample things that you bought to see if they are what you expected. We also are rebuilding our “deep pantry”.
Source: Testing Old Storage Food – Beans, Bullets, Bandages & You
One authors’ experience with a variety of long term storage foods. If you’re going to be ready for the long term, one important thing is to rotate and test your foodstuffs regularly.
Lowest Mortgage Rates Ever
There is at least one bright spot for home buyers, sellers, and owners amid the economic mayhem brought on by the novel coronavirus. Mortgage interest rates have fallen to a new record low, a boon to homeowners who may want to refinance and save money, and buyers (if anyone feels like buying a home right now).
Rates have been on a wild ride since this crisis began, and the average for a 30-year fixed-rate hit 3.23% for the week ending April 30, according to Freddie Mac. That’s the lowest it’s been since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971. The average rate was 4.14% a year ago.
The drop may not seem all that substantial, as it’s not even a full percentage point. But the lower rate will save borrowers $132 a month for a $320,000 home (the national median home price) if they made a 20% down payment. That’s $1,584 a year—which adds up over the life of that 30-year loan.
Source: Mortgage Rates Hit New All-Time Lows—and They May Fall More | realtor.com®
Real Estate Update April 2020
We started off April, very concerned about the coronavirus, and here at the end of the month, we’re still concerned, but ever more hopeful as it appears that the lockdown will probably do more damage than the virus. Only time will tell, but we sure have all been stunned at the rapid change to every aspect of our lives, and not just here, but world wide.
Real estate has continued at a brisk pace in Mohave County with some slowing in residential sales, but overall still very strong. I believe that once our economy is opened from its’ current strangled state that we’ll see a surge of pent up demand, especially from southern California.
Meanwhile, suddenly Yucca Arizona land is a hot item. We’ve seen a big uptick in land sales from everyone who actively works here. For the first time in many years, we are seeing the inventory begin to clear a bit, and finally some price appreciation. One can only hope…
It makes sense to me, as I feel a sense of security here on 40 acres that I wouldn’t have in a locked down city. While its somewhat tedious to have virtually no personal social contact, it’s pleasant here, and I don’t feel boxed in at all. The garden keeps every spare moment occupied (and sometimes the guitar does too!)
Solar power is liberating from the grid. Decentralization allows one to adjust to changing conditions whether it be cloudy days, extra power needs for the hot days etc. It’s challenging to adjust your lifestyle to your power production, but having redundant systems brings a peace of mind that being dependent on government or utility companies can never give.
Besides the natural beauty that we experience here on a daily basis, there’s the knowing that my neighbors and friends here are for the most part, very independent and self sufficient. Many are far more prepared than us, but more importantly, helpful and supportive.
April is ending on a hot note, and by hot, I mean the actual temperature. We’re seeing an early heat wave going from pleasant 70s to warm 90s virtually overnight. Yucca will see 100 degrees this week. Often, the hot weather signals a big slowdown in land activity. We’ll see if this year is different. – Ben
How to Build an Inexpensive Greenhouse
Came across this. We’re suddenly more interested in shade as the temps have been in the 90s. A search for diy greenhouse yields many ideas for recycling old windows, or this one which budget, but effective.
How to build a small, cheap and easy greenhouse. Includes Material List for 28 foot by 15 foot greenhouse, sorry, with pvc, the greenhouse has to be small.
Spring 2020 Wildflower Time
It’s springtime at the ranch, and every day is dawning earlier, the flowers are bursting forth everywhere, and it’s my favorite time of the year. (Allergies not withstanding.)
Here’s a few from past years. The Joshua trees didn’t flower this year. I’m not sure what the cycle is, but some years the flowers are fabulous, other years they are sparse to non existent.
