Southern Oregon this Appraiser's perspective

What I found was a delicious blend of Peter Pan and Robin Hood. Multistory walk ways connecting both small and large treehouses centered around a Lodge.

If you're looking for a great place for the annual family vacation, you probably should start well in advance. There are plenty of activities for youngsters and oldsters alike. Whatever your height tolerance is you'll find treehouses closer to the ground,

and those you will have to crane your neck to look up at. My favorite part - I reserve the right to change my mind once I've actually stayed in a tree house - was the mural background

on the north wall of the Lodge which looks as though it might serve as the background for some kind of theatrical production during the height of visitor season.

If you get a chance to stop in for a visit tell them the appraiser who asked if she could take some photos for her blog sent you. The receptionist's only caution when I asked her permission to photograph the treesort was "Please stay on the ground".......

After snapping my fill of photos, I wandered away leaving the Rope Swings, Ropes Course, Zip line, Horseback Riding, and Wooden Pirate Ship behind me, I noticed this reminder on the front bumper of a charging electric cart.

Halfway up the hill to Hayes Summit I could see the snow at the side of the road and here and there the little piles of slush that get left on the road until they melt or freeze. I was surprised, when I left my office in Ashland (1,890 elev.) there had been snow in the foothills (about 2,500 elev.) but nothing on the valley floor. Hayes Summit is only 1,560 ft, I wondered what the other side of the summit would have in store for me.

I was going to inspect a property on Lake Shore, in Selma. I love appraising in Selma because it usually means driving around Lake Selmac, or by the lake at least once as I inspect my comparable sales and listings.

 There had been a sale on Reeves Creek Road so on my way back toward Lake Shore Drive I took this. Often this time of year the ground has warmed up enough that by 11:30 am or so if snow has accumulated on the ground over night it has generally melted. This is what the ground about 2 miles south of this spot looked like at 10:30 am.

You can tell something about the quality of a destination by what is going on there when it isn't "the season". Last Monday the road crews were out making sure the roads were all patched up in readiness for the regulars come Summer. I say the regulars because Lake Selmac is close enough you can be there in 1 hour and 20 minutes if you live in Ashland.

You guessed it there's boating, camping, the requisite Camp Store.

AND it's pretty inexpensive if you just want to come and enjoy the cool lake water on a hot summer day.

The Illinois Valley - O'Brien, Cave Junction, Kerby, and Selma - gets its share of visitors because Highway 199 runs right through it. As you come inland from the Oregon/California Coastal cities of Brookings, and Crescent City, Cave Junction is the first real town you run into.

If you're there around lunch time you can stop at Wild River Brew Pub and Pizza for your fill of Pizza, Salad and whatever else they happen to have in the warming tray. If you're driving and aren't drinking you should try some of the BEST ROOT BEER you'll find anywhere. I think they call it Jakes Root Beer(I'll have to go back now and see what the name really is), I asked and they only serve it in house....darn. If you are drinking they have a nice handle on flavorful beers. I'm not much of a connoisseur except when it comes to dark beer, but we'll leave that topic for another time.

I bought mine yesterday and had to come back today to pick it up in my truck. I got a little lost because I thought it was closer to the fairgrounds on Hwy 199. In fact the “Discount Price” Christmas Tree Lot is on the corner of Henderson and Hwy 199. Henderson is the street after Tussey if you’re headed toward Redwood Avenue.

You’ll see the sign for Henderson’s Line Up and the White Christmas Lights before you see the street sign if the weather is like today (drizzly).

What you won’t miss after you get to the lot is the fabulous array of Noble Fir Christmas Trees. In our house – if it isn’t a Noble Fir it isn’t a Christmas Tree. Every year we sort through all the different kinds of trees that other folks like to find the best Noble Fir. Unfortunately our price range tops out at about $30 and since Nobles are more difficult to come by (they grow at a higher elevation that typically has snow on the ground this time of year) we are usually stuck with the short ones. You can see that there are still plenty of different sizes to choose from. I think this year I got one that is about 6’….for ONLY $14.99.

So when I got there today to pick up my tree the Tree Man smiled at me and said – “I could have sold your tree last night”. This is one of the things I like about Oregon; most folks don’t pull any punches. I laughed as I walked toward where I had last seen My Tree and said, “Then it’s a good thing I paid you for it, isn’t it?”

I noticed that the trees were beginning to thin out as we continued to banter back and forth about how business was. I bought my tree at about 2:30p yesterday and he told me he sold 30 trees last night alone. As a matter of fact I texted a friend today – the one who introduced me to the lot last year (Agent Andi of Redd McCarty Realtors) and she was at the lot buying a tree that very minute!!!

Let me tell you why these trees are walking off the lot in droves. They last forever!!!! At our house we have a rule that the Christmas Tree has to come down by Valentine’s Day. We initially made the rule because I was afraid that the dried out Christmas Tree would become a fire hazard. Last year I bought mine from this lot right after Thanksgiving. When we took the tree down in February this year there was hardly a needle on the floor. In other words it still wasn’t completely dried out.

Wishing for you and yours the very merriest of Holiday Seasons.

When John Mafrici of Park Place Mortgage invited me to the Rogue Valley Habitat for Humanity  stakeholder Annual Event in October at the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater in Medford, I thought it sounded like a good opportunity to start off the holiday season. Even though I'm out and about quite a bit appraising and driving the comps, I'm usually not chatting it up with other folks.

The lobby was packed for a rainy night - one of the first of the season - and I got signed in and headed for the food. Helena Darling fine catering provided a splendid array of spreads and breads and savories to keep me busy while I gandered at the rest of the "stakeholders". I decided Lemonade would be the wisest choice for beverage given the nature of the affair, and was pleasantly surprised at the nicely tangy, not too sweet offering. While I schmoozed I learned about ReStore a new and used Building Materials facility where 100% of the net profits support Habitat for Humanity. If you're anything like me - the Hardware Store is "my store" - you too can do your part and support Habitat for Humanity by purchasing new and used building and home materials at bargain prices.

Eventually we were ushered into the auditorium to watch and listen to the playlet depicting the life of one family as they apply for, are selected, and help build their Habitat for Humanity home. As an appraiser I've seen my share of substandard housing, and get excited about making sure homes for everyone are safe and habitable - not just a moldly, poorly insulated, rat infested roof over ones head.

I say all of this to say that the topper of the evening for me was the Helena Darling dessert table as I headed out the door. Among the miriad pastries and gooey sweets were small squarish cups of ....pear milkshake, or smoothie. It was so good I couldn't stop at one and ran home to try my hand at my own miserable rendition (I'm thinking Helena didn't use Tofu in her blend). A gourmet chef I am not, but my tastebuds know a good thing when they come in contact with it, and believe you me I have an eye out for the next opportunity to sample of this caterer's fare.

50+ of us loaded onto the two school buses headed for our first stop on the Ashland Green and Solar Home Tour sponsored in part by the City of Ashland. We had 5 homes to view in as many hours. From the schedule it looked like there would be a wide range of applications to look at and I was excited.

The first home was an Earth Advantage and LEED certified home built by Dorris Construction and designed by Carlos Delgado and implemented a full array of green and sustainable components. The 2-story with basement executive view home started with a fully insulated slab foundation, Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) walls, and was topped off by Structural Insulated Roof Panels (SIPs), and a 2.2kW grid connect solar system as supplemental power. High efficiency Energy Star electronics, appliances and lighting throughout, a drain back solar water heater and tankless gas water heater backup, along with a demand controlled hot water recirculation system make this home a Net Zero when it comes to its energy usage.

Sanford Design and Renovation are making their mark -as demonstrated by the next home - with simple and affordable Energy Star and Earth Advantage certified homes. The hydronically heated slab along with ductless heating and air conditioning by All About Air

allows the typical market participant to be a part of energy conservation without any extra effort. The Listing Broker knows much more about how you can finished this home just the way you like it. Email Emily Zook now and ask her for a link to the listing. This was one of two houses on the tour that employed advanced framing techniques which in this case optimized the effects of recycled fiberglass insulation and air sealing details.

The next house on the tour was impressive because of the story that went along with the solar power and hot water retrofit. The owner had an option a couple of years ago to either invest money in bonds or into a solar power and hot water upgrade in her home. You guessed it, she chose to invest in her home. By her account she has lowered her monthly utility bill by ¾ and will continue to enjoy the tax credits for another 4 or 5 years. She admitted that this simple change in lifestyle has caused her to want to see how low she can get her power bill. The solar system by Electron Connection, Inc includes a single storage tank with both a heat exchanger and back-up electric element in it installed in an under stair closet.

The 20 panel 3.8kW grid can be remotely monitored and provides information about power generated and power used. Additionally the homeowner installed a low water use landscape and irrigation system that even supplies a healthy vegetable patch.

Our next stop was the N. Mountain Park in Ashland where a representative from the Oregon Department of Energy provided pamphlets about Energy Tax Credits available through the state of Oregon for both businesses and residents. Who knew that the cost of heating an average home with a geothermal Heat Pump is 6 times cheaper than with a 65% efficient Propane furnace!!

For the most part I think of energy conservation as "not using" what I don't need, but the next example on the tour demonstrated the act of conserving by right-sizing the home for the use. Did you know that the average American home today is 2,500 square feet? That’s twice what the typical home was in the 1980’s.

This one bedroom, one bath dwelling designed by Anna Bjernfalk is an Earth Advantage and Energy Star certified home with an insulated concrete slab floor and kiln-dried pre-fabricated walls by Pacific Wall Systems to minimize waste. A ductless HVAC system and a basic bathroom fan on a timer are combined to provide more than adequate ventilation for a 672 square foot home with 50+ people inside. Landscape with limited turf and pervious hardscapes finish off this neat and tidy package.

Our final tour stop gave me a greater appreciation for the City of Ashland. This craftsman style straw bale home was constructed inside the historic district of downtown Ashland. It fits comfortably into the surrounding neighborhood of 2-story circa 1910 to 1920’s homes.

John David Duffie designed this gem around a Tulikivi soapstone stove with non-load bearing locally sourced barley straw bales on a hybrid convective air slab (solar slab) foundation. The science behind this house is incredible, but more impressive was being in it. The dual flush toilets were my favorite after years of “Yellow mellow, Brown down” toileting. I have to say though I was also impressed by the picture of the wastewater heat recovery system that captures heat from the shower waste water to pre-heat the water going into the tankless gas water heater.

I came away from the tour a better appraiser. Not because defending a comparison of roof vented cooling to ductless HVAC is going to be any easier, but because I recognized that ultimately it is the lifestyle choice that is valued by the green / sustainable market participant, not necessarily the individual components.