Thankful Thursday!

I am thankful today for amazing clients! I do believe I have the world's most wonderful clients. Not only do they do all they need to do to help the contract flow smoothly, but they are gracious and kind. Truly a gift! So today I say thank you to all of them and share a beautiful gift given to me by one of them.

For testimonials from my clients please see the testimonial page on my website at www.dodykettler.com

Our office studies the market in depth each month. Last month's information was just finalized and the results were looking very good. Just a tab bit more inventory along with a jump in closing and pendings keeps it a nicely balanced market here in the Valley, at least in the $250,000 and under price range. We have a large inventory of upper end homes at approximately 15 months. So, if you are listings your upper end home, be prepared to be patient and price it to sell. Also, if you are a seller in this market, be prepared for offers that include a large amount of closing cost assistance to the buyer. I am seeing closing costs assistance requests as high as $8000 right now. Everything is negotiable, but be prepared for those kind of things in the offers.

COMING SOON: Home Buyer Seminar hosted by myself and Stephanie Gamble, of Prudential Jack White Vista Real Estate MatSu! More details soon.

Tuesday's Reflections

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day in Alaska. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and since I had to be in Anchorage for a few hours I decided to drive near Rabbit Creek on the Seward, basically across the highway from Potter's Marsh, to see if I could get a good view of Mt. Redoubt. Well, as you can see here...I did! I did not have my good camera with me but decided to try a few photos anyway. We head to Homer on Monday so maybe I can get some really good shots of it down there! Heck we are going to be fishing out in the water in front of it! Hope it doesn't erupt while we are down there.

If you are going to sell your house this summer, now is the time to get it on the market. Take this weekend to get it clean, decluttered and ready to show and then get it listed. We are pending houses as quickly as we are getting new houses listed, which keeps the market balanced. As soon as that balances gets out of whack, things will change. Great time to buy...super interest rates, great homes available, rebates and tax credits. Call Dody Kettler at 232-7331 or email me at dkettler@prualaska.com or go to my website at www.dodykettler.com

I would love to assist you!

Monday, Sweet Monday

Well, we start another week here in Alaska. Spring break up is in full gear.

Folks are bidding winter goodbye in various ways in late April and early May.

1. Extreme Skiing Championships are being held near Valdez, which gets a lot of snow during the winter.


2. At the ski resort of Girdwood near Anchorage, skiiers dressed outrageously compete in a season-ending event that requires them try to ski across a large puddle at the foot of a slope.

3. Migrating birds attract folks to Homer for the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival and migrating whales lure them to the Whale Festival in Kodiak in May.

4. It is a blast to see snow machines and 4-wheelers all out on the same day. The snow machiners are trying to get a last weekend blast in and the 4-wheeler riders just can't wait any longer!

5. People come to 'check out' their favorite fishing hole. Even though the fish are at least a month and a half away, it just makes you feel good to be at the fishing hole.

6. People are wearing SHORTS! When it hits 45 degrees in Alaska everyone thinks it is time to wear shorts. I understand short sleeves as I have already been wearing those too, but I am just not Alaskan enough to start wearing shorts in this weather.

7. DAYLIGHT prevails! It is 5:30am as I am writing this and it is already starting to get light. Last night when I went to bed at 10pm, it was still light! Soon we will have 19 1/2 hours of daylight!

May is still early spring in much of Alaska. Snow may still appear in forecasts on the North Slope and at higher elevations elsewhere, including in Denali National Park. In Anchorage, the lilacs don't blossom until early June.

April and may can be beautiful months as far as weather is concerned, but they are not beautiful as far as the trees, grass and highways are concerned. All that snow melts and leaves us with this huge, brown/grey ugliness that just isn't like Alaska. All the trash that is under the snow comes out and if you haven't shoveled dog poop for the winter...LOOK OUT! In fact this week when the snow melted in our yard we uncovered huge piles of MOOSE POOP!

Spring has also sprung on home listings! Each day we see more and more houses hit the market. Between that and great interest rates it is certainly the time to think about buying. If you are a first time home buyer, someone ready to move up, someone looking to downsize or even someone looking for a second home or rental property...it is time to get serious. It will be interesting to see how the interest rates hold over the summer! 4.75% can't last too long.

If you need assistance in buying or selling your home or land I would love to do just that. Just contact me at my website www.dodykettler.com or email me at dkettler@prualaska.com.

BLOG Friday

Today I am co-teaching a class on social media. My section will be BLOGS. What is a BLOG:

BLOG - weB LOGA BLOG refers to a private webpage which is published by either an individual or a group of individuals. BLOGS are commonly personal journals/diaries and are used to comment on all sorts of topics depending on the interests of the blogger (author).

So there you have it. A personal/public journal of things you are interested in that include comments from others. It is not only fun but sometimes informative. It can be written, include pictures, be made up of all pictures...absolutely whatever you choose to make it.

I hope you enjoy my BLOG and I certainly have a blast writing it.

Another thing I enjoy is real estate! LOL I have been very busy lately and hope to stay that way. Interest rates are still great, new houses hitting the market and beautiful weather to be out house shopping makes house hunting a great experience right now. Contact me if you need any assistance! www.dodykettler.com or dkettler@Prualaska.com

Tuesday Takes Flight

Well, today my son leaves for Baja to kayak around some islands and study marine biology. He is so excited. If any of you know my son you know he often has long hair and a full beard (has since he was 15 LOL), but yesterday a friend's mother cut his hair short and shaved off his beard. We think he will be much cooler in Baja without all that hair! He is used to the COLD weather, so this should be quite an experience for him and his group.

Tuesday brings lower interest rates of 4.75 for 30 year conventional! If you have been thinking of buying a home, today might be the day! Lots of good houses hitting the market. Call, email or link to me through my website today... www.dodykettler.com
or dkettler@prualaska.com

Monday Morning...dreaming of fishing!

This was last year near the beginning of the Silver Salmon season. Fishing at Jim Creek early in the morning can be like this, or a beautiful sunny view of the Knik Glacier! Either way, it doesn't get much better than the fishing at Jim Creek. Given a bad rap by some, I have found it to be a family place with older folks and young kids all catching their limit of salmon most mornings.

I love to fish and I love to sell real estate. Interest rate remain low, inventory is still balanced! Time to get out there and purchase your dream home! Contact me if I can be of any assistance to you! www.dodykettler.com or dkettler@prualaska.com

Wednesday's Wobblers

My favorite car wash in Alaska since I can watch the ducks while I wait in line. The ducks know it is their spot since it is clearly written on the sign! Beautiful male and female mallards often drink the melting ice during spring break up. Another wonderful sign of spring in Alaska!

More houses than ducks hitting the market right now. Great options out there for buyers with tremendously low interest rates and rebates and tax credits to boot! If you need assistance, I would love to be the REALTOR who assists you! Just go to www.dodykettler.com or email me at dkettler@prualaska.com.

Tuesday's Sunlight!

Spring is here and today we have 14 hours of blessed sunlight! We are on our way to a long, sunny summer (can you hear the optimism in my words?)

Here is a great link explaining the long summer days in Alaska!

Those long days give buyers and sellers more view time on their properties. If you are ready to work with a realtor who takes advantage of these long summer days, contact me at http://www.dodykettler.com/ or email me at dkettler@prualaska.com I would love to assist you.

Monday Message

What is the Monday Message? It is the 'message' I got this weekend from talking to lots of wonderful folks at the MatSu Homebuilders Home Show. That message was pretty clear! It has been a long winter and it is turning in to a beautiful Spring. Folks are out and ready for summer and looking UP! Everyone I spoke to were enjoying themselves, had lots of questions about real estate, seemed encouraged and were thankful Alaska's real estate market remains balanced for the time being. It it a privilege to live in a state with people like ours. I think there is something uniquely different about 'Alaska Folk' and that makes me smile every day!

So, whether you are from Alaska or looking from the 'outside' and want to see Alaska life for yourself, I can assist you in buying or selling your Alaska dream home. This week I will be looking at raw land to determine if we have seen a decline in prices since last year. It is a great time to get your lot or acreage and build a beautiful new home. Most builders are building 5*plus energy rated homes which qualify for the AHFC's $7500 rebate. That, along with super interest rates and the $8000 tax credit means it is a great time to buy! Call me, email me or link to my website for more information. www.dodykettler.com

'Know the Realities...Find the Dreams'

Friday's Fun

http://www.groundtruthtrekking.org/blog/

You have to check out this blog! Amazing videos of Mt. Redoubt eruptions and a great explanation of the lightening in the eruptions.

Thanks Jerry for twittering thing link!

Wednesday's Website of the Week

Today's website of the week is:

http://www.alaskarealestate.com/index.asp

This is our local Multiple Listing Service. You can use this service to look up any listing in Alaska. Of course you can go to http://www.dodykettler.com/ and do the same thing (and I hope you will), but this gives you options to fit your needs. Make sure to set up an account and log in to the MLS system so you can save and change your searches.

If you need assistance with the MLS search or searching from my website, please don't hesitate to email me at dkettler@prualaska.com or call my cell phone at (907)232-7331. I would love to assist you!