From the Florence Oregon Real Estate Expert: Don't you Wish you were Here?

I'm sitting in my office in lovely Old Town Florence, Oregon. The office doors are wide open and a piney little breeze is wafting in. The fountain is burbling. Sweet smells from The Shed Bakery are in the air and I'm hoping that Siuslaw Coffee Roasters will roast this morning. There's a bundle of folks sitting at the sidewalk tables in front of The Beachcomber on Bay Street enjoying a sunbath and The Beachcomber's wonderful huevos rancheros. I bet they'll be back to sample the wares from the brew pub, equally yummy. Highway 101 is busy with RV'ers and ATV'ers. The Lighthouse Inn, our historic mom and pop motel which was a favorite haunt of Boris Karloff, is filling up for the 4th of July celebrations. I'll be watching for the barge to arrive from which the fireworks are set off; it anchors across the Siuslaw River at the old Glenada ferry landing. Folks bring chairs, kids, dogs and coolers and set up along the Old Town boardwalk for an old-fashioned fun-filled evening. Life is good in Paradise on the Pacific. If you want to live here, let me know. I'll even tell you where my favorite skinny dipping spot is!

Hope@HopeMacManus.net
www.oregoncoastrealestate.com

From the Florence Oregon Real Estate Expert: Florence Woman Wins International Beading Prize

The Florence, Oregon area is amazing in so many ways, not the least of which is the number and quality of artists who make their home here. Take Charmaine Pesnell. She just won the Treasures of TOHO, Emerging Artist Competition by creating an intricately beaded face of a Japanese Geisha surrounded by beaded cherry blossom branches. To see a photo of the piece and of the artist and to find out what she won, check out The Siuslaw News , June 27th issue. If your art preference leans toward watercolor, I take watercolor lessons from Pamella Vosseller and I own three pieces of Morgan Johnson's art. If it's art, it's in Florence, from microbrew beer at Wakonda Brewing--you know that's an art--to glass jewelry. You can see a few of Florence's fabulous artists The River Gallery and Backstreet Gallery in Old Town Florence, Paradise on the Pacific.

From the Florence, Oregon Real Estate Expert: Is Real Estate Taking a Dive, or Is This the North Jetty?

I've lived in Florence, Oregon for over five years and I continue to learn new things about this marvelous place every single day. Here's today's new thing: the Florence area has some great dive spots. The North Jetty dive park is used as a saltwater training site and is very popular with beginners and returning divers. You can find crab, cockles and some fish. Woahink Lake just south of Florence has been used since the 60s as a freshwater training site and is protected shallow water area for beginners. You can find many man made things, from a sunken boat and rocking horse to a mini "Kiss concert." And when you're through with these two spots, it's a short drive to Coos Bay's Sunset Bay State Park for some challenging diving. You can see kelp beds and an abundance of fish and other sea life. An hour north of Florence, Newport's South Jetty is a good place to learn how to spearfish and pick up crab.

From the Florence, Oregon Real Estate Expert: Killer Real Estate Deals!

Since we've had a big increase in folks walking into our lovely office in Florence, OR I've been thinking about what THE BEST real estate deals are right now. Here's my favorites today: a condo right above my Old Town Florence office, so you can walk to Siuslaw Coffee Roasters for a fabulous cup a joe or sit on your balcony and view the famous Siuslaw River Bridge designed by Conde McCullough in the 30's for $159,000; a great lot in one of our nicest new subdivisions, The Reserve, for $35,000; a 1638 square foot water view home in town for $247,000. All of these are "distressed" properties and may therefore be gotten for less. You don't know until you make an offer. So call me for the MLS numbers and a chat about Paradise on the Pacific, Florence, Oregon, USA.

From the Florence Oregon Real Estate Expert: We Didn't See the Ghost!

I have the most wonderful mother-in-law in the world and here's one of a million reasons why: Helen treated Cliff and me to a stay at the Heceta Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast, http://www.hecetalighthouse.com/ We actually slept in one of the last remaining Lightkeeper's Cottages on the Pacific Coast. We had the Queen Anne Room which is described this way:

Our most romantic room, fit for a queen. A four-poster bed with Austrian shears
sets the mood. View the forest and our gardens through your window. We
provide terry cloth bathrobes for the walk across the hall to the shared
European style bath. Soak in a porcelain claw foot tub and gaze at the beach below.

Doesn't that sound like the perfect room? And it was. The sunset was unbelievably fabulous. A sliver of a moon hung in the perfect spot to the south of the lighthouse. I took a million photos and plan to paint the scene--I'm a beginning watercolorist. Not the least remarkable about our stay was the seven course breakfast. How do I sing its praises? No words could possibly capture the palate-stimulating extravaganza that I experienced. You'll just have to go there yourself. Oh, I almost forgot! We'd heard that the Lighthouse Keeper's Cottage is haunted. In fact there's a book full of guest comments from those who have seen "them" and written about "them." Maybe the moon wasn't right, maybe the wine I'd had wasn't strong enough, but I didn't see one ghost, didn't smell one ghost, there wasn't even any ghostly fog that night. Must mean that I'll have to return under more auspicious circumstances!

Once you've fallen totally in love with the Central Oregon Coast, come see me and I'll regale you with the Best Place to Skinny Dip and the Best Place to Picnic Under a Waterfall. And I can always tell you about real estate in Florence, Oregon. Because there's lots more to explore in this amazing area. So much that you'll want to live right here in Paradise on the Pacific.

You can search all property in Oregon at http://www.oregonflorencerealestate.com/, or email me at hope@hopemacmanus.net. Ghost inquiries welcome!

It's a Great Time to Buy: Mortgage Rates Remain at Historic Lows

MORTGAGE RATES FLAT THIS WEEK THANKS MAINLY TO ACTIONS BY TREASURY AND THE FED

McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.82 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 21, 2009, down from last week when it averaged 4.86 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.98 percent.
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.50 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.52 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.55 percent.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 4.79 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.82 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 5.61 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.82 percent this week with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.71 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.24 percent.

(Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total cost of obtaining the mortgage.)

"Long-term fixed-rate mortgage rates have remained below 5.0 percent for the past 10 weeks as the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve (Fed) act to keep interest rates low through security purchases," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "The Treasury purchased $136 billion in mortgage-backed securities through April and the Fed bought $740 billion through mid-May. In addition, the Fed purchased $115 billion in Treasury bonds since March of this year.

"Housing construction continued to decline, as total starts fell to the lowest level since the Census Bureau began its monthly series in January 1959. While single-family construction appears to be near or at a bottom, multi-unit construction continued to recede. Reflecting the apparent stabilization in single-family construction levels, homebuilder confidence rose in May to the highest level since September 2008 and represented the first back-to-back up tick since February 2008."

Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation's residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and more than five million renters.

DEFINITIONS
Commitment Rate is the interest rate a lender would charge to lend mortgage money to a qualified borrower exclusive of the fees and points required by the lender. This commitment rate applies only to conventional financing on conforming mortgages with loan-to-value rates of 80 percent or less.

ARM Index - is the One-year Treasury
Loan to Value Ratio (LTV) is the ratio of the loan amount of a mortgage loan to the lower of the appraisal value or purchase price of the property securing the loan.
Origination Fees and Discount Points are the total charged by the lender at settlement. One point equals one percent of the loan amount.
Margin is a fixed amount added to the underlying index to establish the fully indexed rate for an ARM.

Weighted Averages for the Primary Mortgage Market Survey have been adjusted as of October 16, 2008. The new weights use the dollar volume of conventional mortgage originations within the 1-unit Freddie Mac loan limit as reported under Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) for 2007.

What's It Doing on the Oregon Coast

Memorial Day weekend is a great time to visit the Oregon Coast and this weekend's weather is going to be a stunner: sunny sunny sunny. Florence's famous native rhododendrons around which the Rhododendron Festival was founded 103 years ago were not quite in full bloom for that festival last weekend. This weekend, they'll be out in all their blazing pink glory. Though with Florence's development over the past five years, native rhodys have become less prevalent, there are certainly areas where they are prominent. One of my favorite areas for viewing is around our lakes to the south of the Siuslaw River Bridge, especially around Honeyman Park, the site of Cleawox Lake, and around Woahink Lake. If you've not taken the flat leisurely walk around Cleawox Lake, you've got a real treat in store for you. Our dog, Maeve, loves that trail too. Cleawox Lake is a top spot for fishing--no big motors allowed--kayaking, swimming, canoeing, picnicing, and hiking over the massive dunes to the beach. South of the Siuslaw River Bridge, especially east of highway 101 is a sought-after area to live. Lots are typically an acre or more and best of all, this area is protected from the coast's summer wind thus allowing people to garden to their hearts content, even growing large vegetable gardens. There, depending on the particular microclimate, temperatures can actually exceed 80 degrees during the summer. If you think you want to live where the temperatures get that warm, you need the help of an expert in the Florence area's microclimates. Guess who that would be: me! So for the latest in the weather, good real estate deals, and where the best skinny dipping spot is, just email me. I'm your neighborhood expert.