For many, a Fairbanks condo is the perfect choice for buyers who want to own their own home but don't have the time or inclination to deal with mowing laws, shoveling sidewalks and the continual upkeep a traditional single family home requires. Buyers are fortunate to have a large pool of condo listings on the market. Prices range from an affordable $87,000 for a one bedroom one bath unit near the University of Alaska Fairbanks to $360,000 for a new 3 bedroom 2 bath unit in a gated community. Most Fairbanks condo's are low rise or townhouse style; A plan to build a high rise in the downtown area has been stalled for quite some time due to funding issues. Association fees range from a low of $200+/- to a high of $500+ per month. Certainly not all, but most condo associations cover heat,... 02/08/2008

According to a CNN report 56 people have now lost their lives what has been called the deadliest tornado disaster in more than 20 years. Imagine for a second the apprehevise relief at having survived such a disaster only to find your world turned literally upside down. View an interactive CNN.com map of where the tornados touched down. Your help is very much needed. I urge you to do what you can... extend your caring hands to our southern friends in need. It's been said that the south is world renowned for its hospitality. Let's show the folks affected by the tornados that the south doesn't have the market cornered on hospitality. It is in times like these that the best of America proudly rises to the ocassion. You Can Help! Volunteers, food, blood and money are always needed. The link... 02/07/2008

Today is a big day for the folks seeking to claim the Oval office in November. 42% of the delegates needed to win the nomination are up for grabs today. Welcome to Super Tuesday. Republican Primary - Voting for all districts will take place today. Voting times will be open between 4:30PM - 8:30PM at all location. For more information please go to AlaskaRepublicans.com or call the state party office at 907.276.4467. Disctict 7 - Seventh Day Adventist Church 1811 Farmers Loop Road Fairbanks, Alaska District 8 - Pikes Landing 1850 Hoselton Road Fairbanks, Alaska University of Alaska Wood Student Center Fairbanks, Alaska Districts 9 & 10 - Gavora Mall 250 3rd Street Fairbanks, Alaska District 11 - North Pole Youth Center 2936 Badger Road North Pole, Alaska Democratic Primary - Voting for a... 02/04/2008

Fairbanks Real Estate - University West Spotlight - University West University West is an established mixed use neighborhood located in West Fairbanks. Bordered by the Mitchell Expressway/Parks Highway to the north, Chena Pump Road to the west, Chena Small Tracts to the south and the Chena River to the east, University West is an easy commute to the heart of Fairbanks. Originally platted in the early 1970's University West has become one of Fairbanks most popular subdivisions. Despite being relatively densely populated, the developers did have the vision to set aside numerous greenbelts throughout the area to help give the area a more natural feel. University West is a short 5 minute commute to the University of Alaska and downtown Fairbanks, 10 minutes to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital a... 02/04/2008

Fairbanks real estate activity picked up a bit this week; sales are up 62% over last week. We've also seen an increase in the total dollar amount of sales, up 74.9% from last week. The good news continues when we look at the average sales price which rose 7.6 % to $239,030. Now the less than stellar news. The average days on the market is still climbing. This week the average days on the market reached a high of 174. This is significant in that the current days on the market represent a 200% increase in marketing time in just one month. The absorption rate for Fairbanks real estate is also climbing. At 11.04 months we've seen a 130% increase since mid-November. Fairbanks 0-150 = 10.4 Months 150-250 = 7.73 Months 250-350 = 6.1 Months 350+ = 39 Months North Pole 0-150 = 20 Months 150-250... 02/02/2008

Well, I made it through most of the day today feeling pretty good. One accepted offer this afternoon and possibly another one tomorrow. No complaints there. As I sit down at the computer an email comes through from a friend linking to a ContraCostaTimes.com article. Apparently the Berkeley City Council has passed a resolution telling the US Marines that their recruiting station "is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to say, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders." As if that wasn't bad enough, the liberal wackjobs granted the even wackier Code Pink group a designated parking space in front of the recruiting station and a free sound permit for protesting. You have got to be kidding me, right? No offense to my fellow California Realtors, but what in the name of al... 01/31/2008

Time to get serious... In yet another timely post by Poinciana's finest, Broker Bryant clues us in to what some of his readers are saying regarding NAR's "It's a great time to buy" campaign. If you haven't read his blog click on over and have a gander. TLW has issued a challenge of sorts to counter NAR"s sunshine-pushing position with a dose of reality. Well, here it is. While I realize the importance of a positive attitude I believe it's critical to not let hype override reality. Take NAR's campaign, for example. It may very well be a good time for some people in some markets to buy. In other markets, perhaps not so much. Beyond and paramount to local market performance there are the individual sellers and buyers circumstances to consider. The problem with such blanket generalizations... 01/30/2008

A report out today says that nationwide, sales of new homes dropped to a 12 year low in December, ending the worst sales year since records began in 1963. The report, issued by Shobhana Chandra of Bloomberg News, says that despite builder’s reduction in inventory, they failed to keep pace with the decline in sales. The price of new home fell to 11.3% from one year ago to an average of $219,200. Sales are off 26%, the most since records began in 1963. As the saying goes, "All Real Estate Is Local." National trends notwithstanding, local factors such as supply and demand, location, proximity to desired schools and employment, utilities, etc. predominately drive the housing market. How does the national trend compare to the local Fairbanks real estate market? Comparing December 2007 sales... 01/28/2008

Located 26 miles east of Fairbanks, Chena River State Recreation Area is a 254,000 acre park and one of the jewels of Interior Alaska. Whether you're into camping, hiking, rock climbing, canoeing, rafting, 4 wheeling, skiing, ice fishing, dog mushing or wildlife viewing, you can find it all a hour and a half drive from Fairbanks. Chena River State Recreation Area contains 3 maintained campgrounds, Rosehip, Tors Trail and Red Squirrel Campgrounds located at Mile 27, 39.5 and 42.8, respectively. These are all dry camp sites designed to accommodate everything from tent campers to larger motor homes. Although no power or dump stations are available, each campsite is level with easy access and has a picnic table, fire rings and public restrooms. Both Rosehip and Tors Trail are on or adjacen... 01/24/2008

Well, it looks as though we hit a new low this week. Total sales volume slipped 29.1% over last week. Climbing this week is our average days on the market, which spiked more than 78% to 170 days. The absorption rate is also up this week 56.9% to 10.8 months. This represents a 125% increase since the second week in November. The average selling price is up this week to $233,483. Although we've see some short term volatility, the overall trend is still positive. View additional market reports on our website. # of Homes Sold Click to Enlarge Average Sales Price Click to Enlarge Average Days on Market Click to Enlarge Current Active Properties Click to Enlarge Jesse & Kathy Clifton, better known as 'The Spouses' are full time Realtors serving Fairbanks Alaska buyers and sellers. They speci... 01/22/2008

As a kid I was never really fond of roller coasters. I had this irrational fear that at any given curve in the track we would just keep going forward and plunge off into a dark abyss. It probably didn't help that my cousin would always sit beside me and scream "WE'RE GONNA CRASH." Come to think of it I never really liked him that much either. As I've aged I've come to like roller coasters less and less, especially where financial markets are concerned. That, however, is exactly what we are experiencing lately and it looks like this morning is not going to be an exception. So far the DOW has been rocking and rolling this morning dropping from 12,900 to 11,880 and now back to 11,969. It seems the market isn't exactly happy with the FED's emergency rate cut decision. Given the market volat... 01/22/2008

2008 BAH Rates Fort Wainwright & Eielson Air Force Base Are you using your BAH benefits to your best advantage? If you're in base housing or renting off base, you should consider using your BAH to build equity while you're stationed in Alaska. The average price of a new/newer single family home in North Pole is $232,400. Factoring in local property taxes and hazard insurance would bring your mortgage payment to $1,680+/-. Why not let Uncle Sam make your mortgage payment for you? Assuming a modest growth of 3% per annum, at the end of your tour, your home would be worth approximately $260,000; an equity increase of almost $28,000. That's money that would have remained in Uncle Sam's coffers been used to pay your landlords mortgage. Put your BAH benefits to work for you. With a higher th... 01/20/2008

Mr. & Mrs. Fairbanks Home Buyer I appreciate your telephone call today. Of all the Realtors in Fairbanks, I appreciate that you liked our website enough to call this us morning about buying a new home. Before we put our coats on and start looking at houses, it might be a good idea to sit down for a few minutes and go over what you're looking for, discuss the process, market activity, representation, costs, etc. What? You've already got a list of houses you want to see? Well, great. Yes, I agree, the home search feature on our website is very handy. I'm glad you found it easy to use. Would Monday morning be a good time to meet? Oh, you were hoping to see them this afternoon. Hmmm, I don't think I can make that happen. You see, before we start looking at houses, I need to know things abo... 01/19/2008

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow Ok, just for the record I haven't totally lost my marbles. I know right where I left them. :) Last night around 8:00 the boss and I noticed that it had started to snow. By the time we woke up this morning there was snow everywhere. Mother Nature dropped 10.5" on us last night. Ah, the beauty of new fallen snow. Now, where are the keys to the snowmachine. I'm going to play... as soon as I finish the driveway, that is. The Scene of Our Driveway This AM - 10.5" of Snow. Gotta love it! Click Photo's To Enlarge Jesse & Kathy Clifton, better known as 'The Spouses' are full time Realtors serving Fairbanks Alaska buyers and sellers. They specialize in residential real estate; new and existing construction as well as undeveloped land in Fairbanks, North Pol... 01/17/2008

Although the Fairbanks Alaska real estate market isn't blazing, we're still moving forward. Total market volume jumped slightly this week to $2.99 Million while our average sales price dropped slightly to $199,845. The good news is that the days on the market dropped 11% to 100 days. The absorption rate also fell this week to 7.29 months; a slight drop from last week but still significantly higher than the first half of 2007. In even better news, the average 30 year fixed mortgage rate fell to 5.500% this week with the 15 year fixed rate falling to an average 4.875%. FHA/VA rates have been holding steady at 5.500%. I know from talking with many of you, the uncertainty in the market keeps you from moving ahead with your plans to buy a home. That's certainly understandable. If your goal ... 01/16/2008

Welcome To Eielson Air Force Base North Pole, Alaska Welcome to North Pole, Alaska; the home of Santa Claus and Eielson Air Force Base. The 354th Fighter Wing is the host unit at Eielson and supports operations, maintenance, and medical functions of the Pacific. Eielson is also home to Alaska's Air National Guard 168th Refueling Wing, the 353rd Combat Training Squadron, Arctic Survival School, Detachment 1, 210th Rescue Squadron, Detachment 632 OSI and Detachment 460, the Air Force Technical Applications Center. Located 26 miles southeast of Fairbanks (9 miles southeast of North Pole), Eielson began life as a Satellite of Ladd Field, currently Fort Wainwright Army Post. Construction began in 1943 with the completion of two runways, each 6,625 feet long. Closed temporarily at the end of... 01/15/2008

The 9th Army Band, stationed at Fort Wainwright, has an upcoming concern performance on February 02, 2008 at the Noel Wien Library. Tuba Player MSG Roger Ridenour leads the ensemble that features 1SG James Thaxter and SFC Andrew Phelps on trumpet, SGT Dale McSwain on horn, and SGT Vincent Lawyer on trombone. 9th Army Band Sample Performance. Request a performance of the 9th Army Band at a military function (PDF) or a civic performance. If you haven't heard the Band perform, you should make time to come hear them play. They truly do a magnificent job. Following this performance, the 9th Army Band will perform on February 23rd at Fur Rendezvous Parade in Anchorage, April 11th at the Red Cross Ball here in Faibanks and May 21st at the IDEA Graduation, also in Fairbanks. Jesse & Kathy Clif... 01/15/2008

Celebrating The Pioneer Spirit Pioneer Park is a 44 acre park dedicated to preserving and showcasing life in Interior Alaska. Created in 1967 for the Alaska Centennial Expo, marking 100 years since the Alaska purchase. Park attractions include: ◊ Gold Rush Town: A collection of 29 historical cabins and Gold Rush era houses including the former home of Judge James Wickersham, the Original First Presbyterian Church (The first Church built in Fairbanks: 1904) as well as Georgia Lee's house, which is rumored to have been a house of ill repute. ◊ Palace Saloon & Chena Hotel: Built in 1906, the saloon survived a fire that ravaged downtown Fairbanks and was later moved to Pioneer Park in '67. ◊ Riverboat S.S. Nenana: A National Historic Landmark, the S.S. Nenana plied Alaskan waters deliverin... 01/13/2008

Not that long ago I posed a blog about the wolves that had been hanging around our area. Well, it looks like they're back. Two residents at 9.5 Mile Chena Hot Springs Road spotted the wolves in their driveways. The first report was of two very large black wolves; the second sighting was only one. One, however, is quite enough. Please be diligent when letting your pets out or when you're outside. Although the wolves haven't shown any aggression toward humans, they have shown that they aren't afraid of us. The last sightings in early December had several in a driveway refusing to move even for a vehicle. It wouldn't take much to provoke an attack, which is something no one wants to see happen. If you have any questions or want to report a sighting, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game c... 01/09/2008

If you haven't already done so, it's time to file for your 2008 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend. Application booklets have started to hit resident mailboxes, but if you want to qualify for early deposit, you must file your applicaton with the Department of Revenue Permanent Fund Division online. To qualify for a PFD, you must have been an Alaska resident for the entire calendar year preceding the date you apply for the dividend and you must intend to remain an Alaska resident indefinitely at the time you apply. CLICK HERE TO APPLY FOR YOUR 2008 PFD Payment schedule * October 2, 2008 - Early Bird Direct Deposit * October 16, 2008 - Direct Deposit * November 14, 2008 - Check mailed (10-14 days for delivery) The Alaska Permanent Fund was established in 1976 shortly after oil began flowing ... 01/09/2008