Debbie's Blog & Ramblings

Lender REFUSES to give a payoff!

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:38:35 -0600

Yes, this letter is real.

December 4, 2009

Dear JP Morgan Chase –

I have enclosed some documentation and I hope someone can help me. I represent a homeowner who wishes to sell their home. We have an accepted offer. Payoff amount was requested November 6, and several times since.

A notice of default was filed November 25 - over two weeks after the first request for payoff (several times, we were told you never received the request). Are you just trying to run up the bill?

The title company was told that if they called again, they would “go to the bottom of the pile”. Money to pay the loan has been at the title company for weeks. This is NOT a short sale!

Fortunately, this is a cash buyer. If there were a new mortgage involved, this deal would have crashed and burned weeks ago. It still might though, because the buyer isn’t going to wait forever.

In the meantime, your company has called one of my colleagues to proceed with foreclosure. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to collect the full amount due on this mortgage.

Respectfully,

Debbie White, Broker

We all need to report every abuse we see from the financial institutions! I am also assisting my clients in filing a complaint with the OCC. Any suggestions from my fellow "rainers" would be most welcome at this point. I'm about to lose the deal, the seller their credit, the buyer their home. There's no good reason for this.

Nobody should go hungry.

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:19:38 -0600

I get cranky when I’m hungry. I don’t mean just a little grouchy either. I mean I become unreasonable, and it can turn me into a very unkind person.

Because of this, I have a theory. If everybody had enough healthy food to eat, the world would become a nicer place.

When my boys were small, we had some pretty serious struggles. At times, I had a difficult time making sure all the bills were paid, day care was paid for, fuel in the car (or bus fare) and for a time, that I had enough money to keep two babies in diapers. I also had to make sure my children were properly clothed – especially during those long, wet and cold Alaskan winters. We had to buy food as well, and boys, especially growing boys, never seem to stop eating. They also run in packs – when you have a houseful of kids, they all get hungry and will eat the cardboard boxes when there is no more cereal!

Southeast Alaska has been very generous to me over the last 10 years and I’ve always tried to give back when I could. Last week, our community held a food drive for the Southeast Alaska Food Bank. I was out of town when advertising sponsorships were available. I really felt bad that I wasn’t participating. So, I jumped into my truck and made a little shopping trip.

My receipt was over 8 feet long. I didn’t really think about that except I was interviewed by every radio station promoting the event. Several businesses were bringing in large donations… Guess I got a little carried away. When they finally finished weighing the donation from Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate, the total was over 800 pounds! Great timing for our city manager, pictured here “behind bars”! He made his goal early and was released...

I think next year, we will try for 1000 pounds. That was a lot of fun!

Active Rain at NAR - I want to go to RAINCAMP!

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:45:37 -0600

Today I finally got to meet one of the AR guys! At NAR, I got to meet Brad Andersohn and John Occhi !!

Hopefully, I will remember to post the photo when I get home to Juneau, Alaska!

The convention and trade show have been awesome.

One of our speakers was Dr. Condoleeza Rice, who was amazing!

Time to get ready to go see Reba!

Bye... more to follow later :-)

Yippee! I'm home, and I remembered!

GoDaddy.com - YOU ARE FIRED!

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:47:59 -0500

If I suggested you use GoDaddy.com for your email, I'm sorry.

They SUCK.

There is nothing else I can say about it.

First, they blocked all YAHOO Groups.

Now they have blocked the largest ISP in Alaska.

They don't like fancy email signatures.

They don't like HTML in emails.

They don't like links in emails.

If you use your email for business, stay away from GoDaddy.

Juneau Tax Assessments are NOT Appraisals!

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:36:47 -0500

One of my clients recently wrote to me, telling me that someone who was interested in his home left him a voice mail stating that the lenders, buyers and sellers in our area were "in a twit" over our new tax assessments, which just came out. The person who left the message for him is a friend interested in his house, but wanting to make an offer considerably under asking price. Below is an email I sent to him:

At my invitation, the CBJ assessor was a guest speaker at our monthly board luncheon yesterday. As president of the local board, I schedule timely and relevant guest speakers to make the meetings more interesting. I've spoken to several people about this and I would hardly describe anyone's attitude as "in a twit".

The previous assessor pretty much had the "raise it until they complain" attitude and that is part of what got us where we are. In addition, Alaska is a non-disclosure state. That means people are not obligated to tell the assessor's office what they bought or sold a property for. The only time anybody ever complains is when their taxes are too high. There was a lively discussion about the non-disclosure part, as the last place Robin worked, when you sold a property, there was a form you had to fill out in order to record the sale, notifying the public of the purchase price. Of course, that would never happen in Alaska. People are too independent and privacy is fiercely guarded here.

From a lending standpoint, the tax assessment only affects property taxes. When a buyer is pre-qualified for a purchase price, the payment amount must include the property taxes. I would think lower taxes would be a good thing!

Somehow people in Juneau get the idea their tax assessment is an appraisal and it certainly isn't. The only things that affect a home's assessed value are neighborhood, lot size, and square footage. The structures are then depreciated for age. While supposedly it should be near the value of the property and in fact by statute is supposed to be within 6% of true market value as of January 1, it just doesn't happen. It hasn't happened in the past, and it will take considerable manpower and a few years for the assessor's office to completely get everything that's wrong fixed. They are years behind on neighborhood canvassing.

The neighborhood canvassing is to evaluate the maintenance and upgrades from the exterior. For example, you could have two homes, same size, same age, side-by-side, built by the same builder. When you come back 20 years later, one is a run-down shack and the other has a new roof, nice landscaping, upgraded windows, an addition - things like that. Obviously they both have a different value now. Since the assessor's office is supposed to do neighborhood canvassing every five years, they would usually catch these things relatively quickly. They did area 1 this year (Thane, Downtown, West Juneau) and it had been 12 years since a complete canvassing had been done. Some went up, some went down. Files at the permit center were checked, and those additions were caught and added to the assessments. The permit center and the assessor's office do not currently have an efficient way of sharing information. Sometimes the assessor's office catches an addition that wasn't permitted!

Mass appraisal is a completely different thing from fee appraisal. Fee appraisal is specific to each property. Mass appraisal is a completely different animal and does not define what a specific property is worth. The assessor doesn't know what your house looks like on the inside, and it is NOT an appraisal!

Close call – AVALANCHE!

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 01:01:56 -0600

Today I had a home inspection at 10AM on Douglas Island. I was almost directly across the channel from another listing that I needed to visit. The seller is pulling the home off the market so he can do some upgrades. Since we rent our lockboxes, I was going to go pick mine up and turn it into the MLS.

Our home inspection was completed at 12:30. So, off to Thane Road I go... until my phone rings.

An old friend wanted to see two of my listings. One was on Douglas Island, and the other was on the mainland in Mountainside Estates. I didn't go out Thane Road. When I got home, this was on the front page of the online version of our local newspaper:

The residents of Thane Road will likely be cut off from town for at least a few days while they blast to make sure no more snow will come down and clear the roadway. It is estimated the snow is 18 feet deep and 300 feet wide. As far as we know, nobody was driving on the road.

Thanks, Daria! You might have saved my life! The slide happened at about 1:00PM. I would have been driving through this area, or on the other side, if she hadn't called.

Caribou - Healthy, tasty alternative

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:44:12 -0600

My husband got to go caribou hunting this winter for the first time in his life, and for the first time since we have been married I have an ample supply of this wonderful meat in the freezer. It had been several years since I had a freezer with more than one or two packages of caribou meat, and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it.

I've always preferred fresh, wild meat and seafood to the stuff in stores. It just seems like it's healthier and with all the food recalls in the news, it probably is. Wild game doesn't have antibiotics and hormones in it. The animals eat what nature intended for them to eat.

What I don't like is a real "gamey" taste to the meat. That's probably one of the best things about caribou. Caribou meat is lean, and doesn't have the marbling you find in beef. At first, that may sound as though the meat will be tough, but amazingly it is as tender as veal (or so I've heard... I will not eat veal.) I read somewhere it is because the meat is so finely grained.

With all game, you do not want to have fat on your meat. Preferably it should all be removed during processing. I like to trim off all visible fat before cooking game meat.

Caribou meat is extremely healthy. Nutritionists call caribou a nutrient-dense food. Caribou meat is low in fat but high in protein. See the comparison below, per 100gram (approximately 3.5 ounces) portion:

FAT Protein IRON

Caribou 1 gram 38 grams 6.2 mg

Beef 23 grams 17 grams 3.0 mg

Veal 12 grams 19 grams 2.5 mg

Chicken 13 grams 20 grams 1.0 mg

Pork 45 grams 12 grams 2.0 mg

Lamb 28 grams 16 grams 2.0 mg

The same meat portion roasted only has 167 calories, no carbohydrates, and no sugars and is very low in cholesterol. The different cuts of meat lend themselves to a variety of cooking methods. Steaks are best cooked fairly hot and fast, yet served rare to medium rare. Roasts can cook low and slow and are good everywhere from medium rare to well done (overcooking can make the meat tough though). Ground meat is exceptionally good in any dish you would use ground beef. The stews are excellent, and chunks of caribou are as good as the best beef on skewers with vegetables too.

I think he needs to go caribou hunting every year. Here's a photo of my babe and his "boo".

They got me... a MEME

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:14:10 -0600

My thanks or maybe congratulations go to Susan Emo. I thought I could fly under the radar forever, but someone finally caught up to me with this "meme" thing. According to the rules, I'm supposed to tell you a few things you might not know about me. I've always considered myself to be pretty transparent, so I had to dig deep to find things you might not know (and avoid those skeletons in my closet!).

1. My parents wasted spent a lot of money on private school for me. They were not sure the public schools would know what to do with a 5 year old who read encyclopedias and high school textbooks for fun. Ironically, I am a high school dropout. Everything I learned, I taught myself, or learned from the school of hard knocks.

2. When I was little, we had an elephant in our front yard for several days. Yes, a real elephant. My father had transported a baby elephant from Portland to Spokane and the pen wasn't ready when he got there. A few years later, the Kiwanis Club was doing a fundraiser at the zoo and I spoiled it by announcing to everyone that Toro didn't like peanuts!

3. One of my favorite hobbies is scuba diving. I've only been diving in the tropics (Fiji & Mexico) but someday I'd like to get cold-water and dry suit certified so I can dive here in Alaska.

4. I'm an avid gardener and hope to get my property landscaped before I die.

5. My pets include a dog, 2 cats and fish. I'm setting up a new aquarium for my koi. I'm thankful my house is built slab-on-grade because it's a 300 gallon tank.

6. When I was 19, a broker suggested I consider real estate as a career. I didn't listen until I was past 30. If I only knew then what I knew now.

THE RULES: (as passed along to me...)

Create a blog post with a link to the person who so happily tagged you for a MEME. See above.
List all of these rules in your post. Feel free to cut and paste this.
Share 7 things that others may not know about you. Do or have I HAD a life outside of real estate?
Identify 7 other ActiveRain members to tag for a MEME, and provide links to their blogs in your own MEME post.
Contact each of the tagged members and let them know that you were indeed fast enough to catch them and that you did indeed tag them...no matter how much they say you missed them!
No schoolyard rules in this MEME, nope you gotta do it if you are tagged. (I hear the MEME police are out in force, rounding up folks who ignore this "invitation")
Post a link to your MEME in the comments of this post - the one in which you were publicly tagged!)
Include your post in the MEME's Group.

I'm temporarilly parking this until I pick SEVEN others to victimize tag.

Here they are:

John Cooper, Integrity Real Estate Inspections because I can, I will and he will comply :)

Joddie Roberts, Spokane since I was born there - that's where the elephant was

Taunya Fagan since she's in Bozeman, the town that stole my first-born son

Shawn Davis - since us girls with guns could rule the world

Ryan Tollefson - Because he's another Alaskan and he's with Prudential

Dustin Nulf - Another Prudential affiliate who's finding his voice in blogging

and last, but not least....

Leolinda Bowers of Surprise, AZ for having an interesting name and an interesting sounding town!

3 AM, House is a mess, and I couldn't be happier!

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 06:13:05 -0600

Tonight I must have had at least 15, if not closer to 20, teenagers and young adults in my house. The last ones that are leaving just did and a few strays are about on couches, floors and extra bedrooms. For one of these parties, it was pretty mild. We've had as many as 25 young guests in the past. I used to keep track by counting all the shoes!

There are soda cans and paper plates everywhere. The dishwasher is running for the second or third time tonight and I'll need to spend at least another 15 minutes just on the kitchen. I'll probably have some help tomorrow from a few of the guys, but it will take a while to get the house back to normal.

No alcohol was involved, with the exception of the rum & coke I'm having now that everyone is gone or asleep. At one point, it was so loud, my dear husband took refuge in the master bedroom walk in closet because we both have to work tomorrow and he was exhausted.

So, why am I so happy? I knew where all the kids were, and I had a general idea of what they were doing. Mostly playing "Halo" or some other multi-player game although a few may have been watching a movie. We keep a few old TV's around for these occasions. Guests bring extra game consoles, controllers, music, and much of the food. I spend a lot of time talking with my sons' friends and getting to know them. A few even visit me while my older is away at college.

It was LOUD, and there was definitely a lot of foul language that I tried hard to ignore.

I think if more parents would learn to tolerate the occasional messy house and lack of sleep, the world could be a better place. It sure beats having them out drinking, or doing who knows what on a winter Saturday night. Some of these kids (and yes, even at 20, they are kids) don't have an adult in their live they can sit and talk with. Nobody needed it this time, but all of them know that my door is open if they need me. In this day and age, everybody needs that.

Saving money with babies and baby steps

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 01:24:03 -0600

When my boys were really small, I was living paycheck to paycheck - sometimes it seemed more like hand to mouth. I decided to save up money for a vacation, without going into debt. There was no way anybody was going to give me a credit card anyway.

I tell you this story because for some people it might help you save up for a down payment on a home. In this tight credit market, you MUST have a down payment, some money towards closing costs, and some money in reserves.

Here are a few of the things I did to save money.

1. I used coupons, lots of coupons, but learned quickly I was only "saving" if it was something I would use anyway (that's another blog someday). When I got home from the store, I would add up my savings from the coupons, and put that money in a coffee can. Eventually it went into a special savings account. Because I didn't use cash, I usually had to write the check for the "before coupon" amount on the bill.

2. One of the stores in town offers these stickers, called "Price Smashers". When you buy groceries, you get a sticker for each dollar spent. When you fill out a card with Price Smashers, you get 50 cents off special purchases. The money saved was also put in the coffee can or the savings account.

3. When I wrote a check, I always wrote it in the register rounded up to the next dollar. I did not have a computer then and I wasn't really good about reconciling my bank statements regularly. Honestly, I only started this to make sure I didn't bounce a check. My mother taught me this trick because eventually you get a cushion that helps in an emergency. Eventually this was a habit and once I started watching my finances more closely, this money would also be put into savings. Since I'd been doing this for several months before I opened the savings account, I was surprised there was over $350 in my "cushion". Granted, it took days to reconcile, but it was there, and it was mine.

4. I saved my change, even though I rarely had cash to carry. Sometimes I did have to use the quarters for laundry, but nickels, dimes and pennies were always saved. Unless I was desperate, I didn't use change in the store. After a year, I had almost $200 in small change.

5. Any money found when doing laundry went into the savings account. This was especially hard one time around my birthday when I found a $20 bill, but it went there anyway.

6. I got a small raise from my job. It was pretty insignificant, but the difference was automatically transferred from my checking account to savings so I wouldn't be tempted to spend it.

7. All cash birthday gifts, rebates, even a penny lying on the street was treated as "found money". All found money - money you were not expecting - goes into savings.

8. My savings account was moved into a separate bank so it wasn't so easy for me to spend. I made this decision once it was over $500.

When my boys were 4 and 5, I took them on a trip to Seattle. Keep in mind, we have to fly to Seattle. We stayed in a hotel part of the time, and stayed with my brother the rest. We rented a car and we even ate in a few restaurants - not fancy restaurants, but I was travelling with little kids anyway. We spent 3 days at Seattle Center and visited the top of the Space Needle. We also visited several museums and art galleries and spent a day at the Seattle Aquarium. When I came home, there was no dreading the bills from our vacation. The rent and utilities were paid, we had money for groceries and gas, and we all had a good time.

Imagine - I saved $4000 between 1991 and 1993. If I'd have saved another year, I would have had the down payment on my first home. At that time, the average starter home price in Juneau was $80,000.

I hope someone can learn from my experience and my mistakes. If there is enough interest in this subject, I will post more ideas on saving money.

Well, I've done it. Big news for Southeast Alaska Real Estate

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:29:03 -0600

The package left yesterday. Every signature in place. Every "i" dotted, and every "t" crossed.

Southeast Alaska Real Estate will soon be "Prudential Southeast Alaska"

There was a lot of soul searching in choosing a franchise. At the last moment, I even wondered if I should.

So, if you are thinking about a career in real estate in Southeast Alaska, you now have another choice of brokerage. I'd love to show you why I think Prudential Southeast Alaska would be the best choice.

If you are an experienced agent looking to relocate to my area, I'd love the opportunity to meet with you and discuss your upcoming move.

Now, it's time to order new signs!

Serving Southeast Alaska since 1999

Only the label has changed - still the same great service!

Check out our listings at http://www.isellalaska.com

On my own and all alone – Part Four

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 01:34:34 -0500

Part One: http://activerain.com/blogsview/645303/On-my-own-and

Part Two: http://activerain.com/blogsview/645405/On-my-own-and

Part Three: http://activerain.com/blogsview/645422/On-my-own-and

I'm opening my own office! I can finally talk about it. No more hiding - no more sneaking around making plans. Everything is right on the table. While it's earlier than I planned, it's kind of a relief.

My broker at RE/MAX, Larry Telfer, has displayed an unusual level of professionalism when he decided that in order to live my dream, I needed to part ways with his office.

Thursday things really hadn't quite sunk in. I kept checking the MLS. I still had access. I kept looking at my license on the wall. I kept counting my listings. I was waiting for a shoe to drop. Finally I had to talk to Larry and see where all this was going to go.

"This is going so much smoother than I expected. I'm almost feeling guilty but it's too late to change my mind. This has been so pleasant, but we need to get down to brass tacks".

"What do you mean?" asked Larry.

"I have 23 active listings, and 9 pending files"

"When you get your broker license, you'll still have 23 active listings, provided they sign up with you. I'm not calling them, and I'm not trying to take them. As for your pending files, we may have to work something out to have someone here assist, but you can participate in them to the fullest extent allowed by law".

Now I truly am speechless. Chocked up, and my eyes fill up with tears. This man is being so kind. After all, the broker owns the listings. Larry must know my clients are loyal and most have already told me they will not list with anybody else should this happen earlier than planned.

The mutual admiration society continues. Larry gave me advice on setting up my bookkeeping system, my bank accounts, and even gave me some supplies to last until my shipment comes in. We waited until my last closing Friday to do the paperwork. I raced to the post office and sent everything to Anchorage by Express Mail. Hopefully it will be at the Real Estate Commission on Monday and they will process my paperwork quickly.

In the meantime, I hope everyone understands why I'm not answering calls or emails. Things will kick into high gear next week!

On my own and all alone - Part Three

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:36:18 -0500

Part One: http://activerain.com/blogsview/645303/On-my-own-and

Part Two: http://activerain.com/blogsview/645405/On-my-own-and

So, five days to clean out my desk. My poor husband is probably having a nervous breakdown running his fishing charter right after getting off the plane. I run a few errands and head back into the office. Of course, the tension is in the air, and every gives me a blank stare and goes silent I walk in the door.

After quietly packing a few boxes, I just cannot stand it another moment. I go to Larry's office and ask if he has a moment, and he does.

"That went a little different than I expected. I've got to tell you a few things. I respect you more now than I did when I got out of bed this morning. I've learned a lot from you in the last six years, and I want you to know that our relationship means a lot to me. When I left my last office, it wasn't like that."

He says: "I am going to really miss you around here. You are easy to talk to. But I am looking forward to seeing you at the broker's meetings because I think you will bring a lot to the table. I don't want this to be a negative experience for you, and I hope we will always continue to be able to work together".

WOW. I'm almost speechless. (That doesn't happen very often!)

We talk a while, and I want to let him know a few of the things I've learned from him.

I've only witnessed Larry losing his temper four times. I've been told it has happened more than that, but it's a pretty rare occurrence. What I've learned is that when you don't do it every day, people stand up and take notice when you do. If you scream and shout and make everything a drama, people eventually go numb and don't even pay attention. I hate drama. That's why God didn't give me girls.

Another thing I've learned... one time that anger was directed at me. I fell apart, and I didn't even try to defend myself I was so shocked and surprised. I struggled with emotion for quite some time, and after about an hour, decided to go home. I was going to think about it overnight and approach him in the morning - if I came back at all. However, in that period of time, he'd learned what had really happened was not what he'd thought had happened, and was sitting quietly in thought. I didn't know and was trying to leave. His voice cracked when he said my name, and he asked me to come into the office. I closed the door, looked at my hands and tried not to cry. He told me what he'd learned. He spoke softly, earnestly, and his voice was so gentle and humble. He was also sitting there, struggling with his own emotion. He asked me if I would forgive him, please. Something was in his eye. I continued to look at my hands, quietly said "It's okay" and he said, "No it's not", and I said let's both just forget. We did.

It takes a big man to say he's sorry, and they'd better be pretty convincing for me to believe them.

I'm going to miss working with Larry, but bigger dreams lie ahead!

On my own and all alone Part Two

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:53:07 -0500

So, I last left you with a very brief description of the last time I switched brokerages...

Larry asks me if I have time at 2:15 to chat. I don't then, but I did "now". So we did it right then. I knew what was coming - I think I'd expected it even sooner. I just want to get it over with. He asks me to close the door and sit down. I do.

"I have two questions for you, and I hope you answer them honestly"

1. " I know you hope to have a brokerage someday. I've heard someday is coming up. Is it true that you are looking to do this in the near future?"

I smile somewhat embarrassed and say, "I'd hoped I wouldn't me making this move until late October with a grand opening November 1, but yes, it is the works"

2. "Have you attempted to recruit any of my agents?"

"I do not feel what I've done should be construed as soliciting the agents at RE/MAX. I have discussed my ideas for office policy, training, and my own thoughts on how I want to run a brokerage. If it was construed as recruitment, it was not the intention."

Of course, now I'm almost shaking. I respect this man, and I've worked with him for about six years. We've always been able to talk, and even when we disagree, it is always done with respect. In some ways, he is my mentor. I think I'm about to lose a friend.

Larry continues: "Of course you realize, I am going to have to ask you to leave RE/MAX and clean out your office. Do you think you can do that by Monday?"

Wow. Five days to clean out my desk. And ten minutes until I pick up my husband at the airport.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

I'm not sure what to tell Chris when I pick him up a few minutes later. He's not quick to forgive and never forgets, and when I left my first brokerage after 3 years, it was a gut wrenching experience. First, I was deeply hurt. I cried for three days, even after I'd made up my mind where I was going and that it was the right move. Months later, I reached the anger portion of my grief. It took months to rebuild my business, and I was pretty cranky throughout the process. While it had worked out to my advantage over the long haul, it wasn't an easy process.

I don't think he really heard me when I told him it was going to be different this time.

On my own and all alone - Part One

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:38:46 -0500

It's been no secret to those that really know me that I've been planning to open my own office for a long time. I've had my Associate Broker license since 2002. I have set ideas about how to run a brokerage, and I really want to give other agents the opportunity to learn and appreciate what a career in real estate has to offer.

For various reasons, it got put off. While my children were growing up, I was just too busy being a mother. As they left for college and to live their lives, various causes crept in to take my time and energy. Eventually, that yearning started really burning me up inside, and I started to explore my options.

Since March, I've read four different franchise offering agreements. It was a real eye-opener in some ways, but surely dry reading in others. I began bouncing my ideas around, first within my own head, and then slowly opening my circle to those I trusted. I got a lot of great feedback over the last several months, and slowly my plan began to take place.

Over time, I started to open up that tight circle, and trust a few more people. My ideas had refined and grown into solid plans. Eventually, I eliminated three of the franchise agreements, and settled into one. I still haven't signed that agreement but I should be within a few weeks.

So, everything was going fine until... someone told my broker.

The last time I switched brokerages it was not a pretty scene. My broker called me into his office at 9:45 and told me to have my desk cleaned out before the end of the business day. My keys were confiscated on the spot, and my MLS privileges were suspended immediately. The broker had contacted my sellers and made appointments, or tried to, to have them sign new listings.

It's much different this time, which makes me wonder... am I doing the right thing?

My birthday, beautiful day, part two

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Tue, 20 May 2008 22:18:56 -0500

Yesterday I told you about part one of my birthday adventures. I'd lost a nice fish, learned a bit about running the boat, and then we were approached by the United States Coast Guard Patrol boat.

My husband is accustomed to this procedure, but I'll admit I was a little intimidated. They asked a lot of questions about the boat, checked the registration, and asked for my husband's identification. They didn't actually come on board, since it's a small boat, but the announcement "Your vessel is being boarded by the United States Coast Guard" was about as comfortable to me as presenting my passport in strange country for the first time.

I later learned that with the charter fishing boats, the inspection takes about one hour because the checklist is much more intensive than with a pleasure craft. I wonder how the clients, who are paying big bucks to go fishing, feel about this. If they complain and get a refund, the charter captain is out a lot of money and with fuel prices, there isn't a lot of profit in charter fishing anyway. They say they'll only get you once per season, but they won't do inspections at the dock.

But that's another rant. We passed inspection with ONE exception. Since the boat has an actual gas tank in the hull instead of portable red tanks, we were supposed to have a marine certified fire extinguisher on board. It was labeled as a "terminatable offence". We were about to be escorted back to the harbor. By the way, that was their terminology, not mine. I love it when the government makes up words.

The little boat is a little overpowered and there is no speed limit on the water. By the time they caught up with us, we had a fire extinguisher AND a full tank of gas. Well, kind of. They didn't follow us all the way back because they decided to check another boat just leaving. I've got to admit, leading them on a high speed chase was fun!

So... back to the fishing grounds we go. On the way, I saw humpback whales, seals and when we started fishing a porpoise came really close to the boat! I saw his eyes and his "smile".

It wasn't long before the downrigger line started screaming again. My husband says "You've got a really big fish on there!" I say, "No, I don't, I have that seal over there!" The seal I pointed to took a quick dive, stripping a hundred yards of line from my reel, then pops up, let's out a squeal, and shows me a flasher hanging from his chin.

I let the professional take over while I handled the boat. Even though we were in neutral the boat wanted to drift a little too close to the rocks. My sweetie managed to get the flasher back but I have a feeling that seal will not be biting any more herring.

After all that excitement, we decided to head home. Chris dropped me off at Tee Harbor and I walked home while he took the boat back to Auke Bay and drove. By the time he made it home, I was showered and changed and even had on makeup, ready to go out to dinner since I blew my chance at fresh King Salmon. We had a great time, and on the way home, I took this photo with my new i-phone.

My birthday, beautiful day, part one

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Tue, 20 May 2008 01:32:57 -0500

My husband kept asking me what I wanted for my birthday. All I really wanted was to go fishing.

We went in the "little boat", an 18 foot Almar that was just equipped with 4-cycle motors. For those of you that don't know much about small engines, the old 2-cycle motors rattle, make a lot of smoke, and roar like a chain saw. A 4-cycle motor purrs quietly like a kitten with very little exhaust, more like a car engine. You can even talk on a cell phone while sitting right by the motor!

When we bought the little boat, my husband and his father said that perhaps I could learn to run that boat and be able to use it when the big boat was not available. That was about five years ago. While we flirted with the "lessons" now and then, I really didn't get to operate it much.

I even made notes. Step by step, from checking fuel, to untying the lines, to the rules of the harbor.

What a beautiful day. Sunshine, very little wind, and almost flat calm water. Chris showed me how the easy steer bracket mounted from the larger motor to the smaller one so that we could steer with the wheel instead of by sitting on the stern. SWEET!

Lines go into the water. One gets a downrigger and the other is a flat line. The herring are cut expertly by my husband, the charter boat captain. We talk about the equipment on the boat, the shoreline, water depth, the weather which is outstanding. Hardly a word about work or teenagers - pure bliss!

Then it hit. That beautiful sound of the screaming reel every woman loves to hear. (Okay, guys love it too) Deceptively, the fish played gently, making me think that perhaps it was a "shaker", or an undersized King Salmon under 28 inches. We played around in the magic tug of war for about 10 minutes. I'd gain a little, the fish would gain - the back and forth that makes fishing so fun.

Just as my husband went to net the fish, the battle ended. I'd tugged too hard or maybe tightened the drag too much or maybe I didn't set the hook right, but I had the classic "Unauthorized release of a legal King Salmon". I'd lost my fish. My husband, being the sweetheart that he is, announced that it was MY birthday fish to catch, or NOT.

Well, I lost the fish, but the day wasn't over. Just as I started to relax, along came the Coast Guard.

793 Kilowatts – down from 1851 Kilowatts! It wasn’t as hard as I thought.

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Sat, 17 May 2008 10:31:02 -0500

If you live in Juneau, you know about our energy crisis unless you live under a rock. On April 16, at about 4:00 AM there was a series of avalanches that took out over 1.5 miles of power line and several towers, cutting Juneau off from the hydroelectric plant that powers the community.

As a result, the entire capital city of Alaska and our 30,000 residents have been running on diesel fuel. It was estimated that it would take 100,000 gallons per day to keep the lights and heat on. Due to drastic conservation by members of the community, we have been burning half the projected amount.

Of course, much of that conservation was due to the fact that we are experiencing an increase of almost 500 percent in our per kilowatt rate. We will be paying nearly 55 cents/KW for the next few months while repairs are made.

For most of us, this is going to hurt and for many it will be a budget breaker - especially young families with children and the elderly. When your average bill is $100 it will be $500. Our average bill is $200 so that would have made our bills $1000. That was simply not acceptable.

My husband and I are fortunate to live in an energy efficient home that doesn't have electric heat, but we've taken steps to conserve diesel too because that is over $4.00 per gallon. The heat is turned down and so is the water heater.

You wouldn't know it from the history, but really, we were lazy about electricity. We kept our hot tub at 105 degrees all the time. It wasn't uncommon to leave lights on when nobody was in the house, or sometimes even in the room.

Necessity forces conservation. I've got a landscape plan I'd rather spend money on!

Here's what we've done so far, reducing our consumption by over 50%

•1. Obviously the hot tub is turned off. I miss it and so does my husband but there's no way it's worth $1000 per month!

•2. We are very careful to only use lights we need, and in some ways have even changed our habits to work with the increasing daylight hours. We have more compact fluorescent bulbs than we used to and try to use those lights that are equipped with them.

•3. I unplugged everything not in use. The electric ovens are only used once a week or so and are now turned off at the breaker box. The microwave has an LED display so I didn't need two.

•4. Instead of using the automatic feature of my coffeepot, I plug it in each morning to make coffee, and unplug it as soon as the coffee is done. I have the kind with the insulated carafe so it stays warm for several hours.

•5. The instant hot water dispenser under the sink has been unplugged.

•6. We use our propane cook top or the propane BBQ much more often. Baking is a serious luxury.

•7. I try to get to the dishwasher before the cycle is complete in order to air dry the dishes. Many times I just hand wash the dishes, but the jury seems to be out on which is more efficient.

•8. We adjusted the aerator on our septic system to come on and off periodically instead of running constantly.

•9. I let my hair dry naturally and rarely roll or curl it now. I'm lucky to have some natural curl in my hair, but when it's only 40 degrees outside it is no fun to leave with a wet head!

•10. I use our high efficiency washer to wash clothes, mostly in cold or warm water, and hang them on a rack or hangars to dry. At first I hated this. Crunchy towels, stiff clothes and misshapen socks and undergarments did not appeal to our family at all. An older friend taught me a little trick that has really helped! After the clothes are dry, put them in the dryer for just a few minutes. The action of the dryer knocks down the scratchy and rough spots. You don't even need a heated setting to do this.

There is still so much more we could do, but we to give up TIVO and we still aren't fully trained to turn off our computers completely. We are not giving up our 55 gallon aquarium which fortunately isn't heated. We are delaying the setup of a 300 gallon aquarium though!

It is my hope that someone reading this can reduce their own bills as well. We will keep you posted on our family's efforts and continue to be thankful this happened in April instead of January.

Ketchikan's Bridge to Somewhere

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 02:19:45 -0500

When I go to Haines next weekend, I've got to meet Roger Maynard. For a fresh new look at issues in Alaska, I invite you to visit his website: http://www.rogermaynard.net . It is with Roger's explicit permission I bring you the following.

I'm sure you've all read about the supposed boondoggle of the "Bridge to Nowhere". Many of us within the state understand the real story. We've all discussed it at one time or another, but I've got to admit, Roger's got me beat when it comes to telling this story!

Alaska: Ketchikan's Bridge to Somewhere

Posted on April 5, 2008 by rogermaynard

Once again Ketchikan's Gravina Access Project is in the news. Ten years ago we thought the bridge was expensive; now estimates are approaching $398 million. There are plenty of arguments pro and con-especially considering the price tag, but it's time to lose the misleading label, "Bridge to Nowhere."

News media pundits have described Ketchikan's Gravina Access project as a bridge from Ketchikan to an island with only a few dozen residents, but that's not an accurate picture. Each year over 500,000 people travel between Ketchikan and its international airport on Gravina Island. With no roads and limited boat service, the Ketchikan International Airport is the only way in and out of the city for most folks.

For those who are still having trouble picturing the transportation issue in this popular-but-isolated Alaskan city, let's use your home town as an example. Use your imagination:

First, dig a moat around the International Airport near your town. Make that moat about a quarter to a half mile wide with varying terrain on both sides. Put ships in the moat-ships on which your community depends for its existence; ships tall enough to require a 200-foot clearance to pass under any bridge.
Put one ferry on the moat that makes a round trip to the airport every thirty minutes. Charge each passenger 5 dollars to walk onto the ferry and ride one way; much more if they want to take their vehicles. The ferry is small, often filled to capacity, with minimal room for passengers to sit during the 7 or 8 minute ride across the moat.
Make folks walk from the ferry to the airport terminal, uphill, on a concrete sidewalk (no escalator) that is sheltered from frequent wind and driving rain by a plexiglass roof and windscreen on one side. Most people carry their own bags regardless of size or number, age or infirmity, unless they want to pay a private "airporter" service for assistance.
Now place your community emergency services on the side of the moat AWAY from the airport, except for one or two crash trucks and one or two firemen. In an emergency, additional ambulance personnel, firemen, rescuers, policemen and bomb technicians will all have to wait for the little ferry in order to respond to any emergency at the airport. All of your airport employees will ride the little ferry to work, and home again at the end of the day.
Put a small parking lot near the ferry terminal on the city side of the moat, where folks can park while they stand in the rain and wait for the ferry.

Now that you've customized your airport to provide the same level of service as the Ketchikan International Airport, let's modify your town:

Erase all of the roads leading into or out of your town. That's right, they don't exist. Your only way out is by ferry or air. You will likely find yourself flying several times a year.
Surround your town with water and mountains, leaving little room for expansion or small industry of any kind.
Add a statewide ferry system-a few 350-foot vessels that will carry up to 499 passengers. Let these boats stop in your town several times each week, usually at inconvenient hours; only once a week does a boat connect to Seattle, a 3-day trip each way. Make them comparatively expensive to ride.
Finally, take another look at the small island on which the airport sits. It is quite large-95 square miles-with large areas of gentle terrain and room for some small industries, warehouses, shipping companies, boat marinas, recreational opportunities, parks, and some top-notch waterfront residential property.

Now that you have the picture, we can start discussing the proposed bridge. There is plenty to talk about in terms of costs, benefits, economics and aesthetics. Some folks are in favor of the project; some are against-but let's stick to the facts.

This is clearly a bridge to "somewhere." It's time to lose the politically inspired, misleading and insulting title, "Bridge to Nowhere."

Just goes to show you cannot judge a story with a sound bite!

Energy savings – some easy targets

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 23:49:12 -0500

Everyone in Juneau is trying to find ways to reduce their energy costs. A catastrophic avalanche took out over a mile and a half of power line from our hydroelectric plant and cut off Alaska's capital city. Everything is operating on huge generators. It's estimated to take 100,000 gallons of diesel every day to keep things running. In turn, our rates are soaring to an estimated 50 cents per kilowatt hour.

Needless to say, every little bit helps. If we all conserve enough, maybe we won't need to ship in so much fuel. After all, it takes a lot of time to find that kind of supply and get it here, and it isn't cheap!

Here are some examples of what our family has done so far:

• Obviously, turn off lights when we aren't in the room. I was surprised at how I automatically reach for that light switch when I enter a room. Sometimes it isn't even dark! Part of that reflex may be because we are just coming out of winter when it was dark all the time.

• We switched out some of the more commonly used lights for compact fluorescents. We'd purchased these but never had gotten around to installing them. Talk about money lying around! HINT: I've been told that many of these have a warrantee. The catch is, you need to keep the receipt and the packaging and take them to the place you bought them!

• Close off the rooms you are not using. We are recent empty-nesters. There are a few rooms in the house that are rarely used. Surprisingly, I found electrical devices plugged in. Phone chargers with no phones attached, lamps, alarm clocks, televisions, and even a stereo that was ON but with the volume turned down!

• After cleaning these rooms, I turned down the heat and closed the doors. Since then, I came to realize that I have less carpet to vacuum (Now there's an idea - an excuse to vacuum less!)

All this was on the first day. I've tried to improve a few other habits, but it takes a while to break routines. Baby steps, baby steps, and one day at a time!

Feel free to share your ideas!

More on the Juneau Alaska energy emergency

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:05:50 -0500

Anybody who lives in Juneau or has been following the story knows our community is in crisis. To catch anybody else up to speed, Wednesday morning at about 4:00 there was a massive avalanche that destroyed over a mile and a half of power line and several towers just a few miles north of our hydroelectric plant which is 40 miles south of downtown.

Our electrical rates are expected to increase from about 11 cents per kilowatt hour to at least 50 cents per kilowatt hour and stay that way until everything can be repaired, which could take months.

Our community has asked the state of Alaska to declare a state of emergency and has requested funding to get us through this crisis. In the meantime, while we are operating on diesel, everyone is being asked to do their part to conserve energy. At normal levels of consumption it is expected that AEL&P will need 100,000 gallons of diesel to keep the city running - DAILY.

Last January, we had our highest electrical usage month with 2742 kilowatts used. That bill was $275.39. Since then, both of our sons have moved on, so our usage is considerably less. This most recent bill shows total kilowatts used as 1412 and a bill of $173.28.

This morning while setting up an online profile at our electrical utility, I needed a meter reading from a bill that hadn't shown up yet. I learned our usage climbed up a little to 1851 kilowatt hours for the last billing period. Ouch. We've got some work to do in this household!

Over the next several days, I will be studying electrical usage and passing along the tips from our family so that others may conserve as well. Stay tuned!

It's official - well almost. State of Emergency in Juneau

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:58:39 -0500

If you didn't already know, Juneau Alaska is having a huge problem. Our electricity is generated 40 miles south of town at a hydro-electric plant. Yesterday, at about 4:00 AM there was a huge avalanche, over a mile and a half wide. This took down our power and the city is currently running on diesel generators. We don't even have enough fuel in town to keep this up for long, and we are thousands of miles away from a refinery. Everyone is being asked to conserve as much as possible. There is more information in my blog.

The Assembly will hold an Special Assembly Meeting

TONIGHT - Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 5:00 p.m.

in the Assembly Chambers.

The purpose of this meeting is to ratify the City Manager's Declaration

of a Local Disaster Emergency.

The regularly scheduled Assembly Finance Committee previously

scheduled for 5:00 p.m. tonight in the Chambers will take place

immediately following the Special Assembly meeting.

For additional information, please contact

Special Projects Officer Maria Gladziszewski at 586-0218.

Photo by Mike Laudert / Alaska Electric Light & Power Co.

Time to ratchet things down... more on the energy crisis in Juneau.

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:27:10 -0500

This is basically a continuation of my earlier post, which you can find here: http://activerain.com/blogsview/471789/Honey-Turn-something-OFF .

For those of you who don't know yet, Juneau is serviced by a hydro-electric plant south of Juneau. This morning around 4AM there was a catastrophic avalanche that took out over a mile of power line and several substations.

Juneau is now operating on diesel generators. We are also a few thousand miles from the closest refinery. It takes weeks to get a fuel shipment here. It's possible the community will run out of fuel completely before another shipment arrives. Everyone has been asked to do their part in reducing the demand.

So we've shut down almost everything we don't consider necessary. The empty rooms have their doors closed and nothing plugged in. Tomorrow I will clean out our second freezer and unplug it. My husband and I agreed we will indulge ourselves with the hot tub for another day before we shut everything down because we need to be able to monitor it while we drain it completely.

We discussed having dinner by candlelight from now on, or at least until this crisis is behind us. When the oven is on, it will be used for more than one item at a time (throw potatoes in there if nothing else).

He's even opened up to the idea of a few solar panels on the roof, although this is a rain forest and it's kind of dark and dreary most of the time.

One of my clients has promised to send me some energy saving tips, but for now, we are just turning off those things we can live without. It feels strange to think that eventually we may be camping in our own home. If you have energy saving tips that don't involve tearing the house apart or replacing appliances, we are listening!

Thank God this didn't happen in winter. We are probably more able to adapt than the single parent working 2 or 3 jobs just to put food on the table, but it's a little frightening.

A 500% increase in rate per kilowatt hour will hopefully be countered by a significant decrease in use. If I can keep our dollar output equal, I will accomplish my goals.

Honey, Turn something OFF!

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:07:57 -0500

50 cents per kilowatt hour.

I'm reminded of a comedy skit where a father is described, standing by the electric meter, watching it twirl around and around. I think when I get home, I'm going to make sure to use my hot tub because certainly we will be draining everything and shutting it down in the next few days. Here's what is in the local news:

UPDATE : Juneau loses Snettisham power for extended period, avalanche to blame
Juneau has been choked off from its chief supply of electricity by an avalanche.

Gayle Wood of Alaska Electric Light and Power says it happened at about four this morning.

She says it was hardly noticed, except by Thane Road residents, because of diesel generation they had running at the time and low load demands at that hour.

She says it was a massive avalanche about three miles from the Snettisham power house that took out about a mile and a hour of transmission line. That includes damage to four to five towers, she says.

Wood says the community will be virtually reliant on diesel generated power for two to three months with the exception of power that can be generated through the Gold Creek, Salmon Creek and Annex Creek facilities.

The electric utility official says customers can expect to see some very high bills.

Residential rates were at 11 cents per kilowatt hour.

Wood initially estimated it would go to 30 to 35 cents, but has since revised that figure to 50 cents and adds that's a conservative figure.

Since the area is very unstable, Wood says they don't expect to start repairs for two to three weeks since they need to wait for avalanche danger to subside. She describes the terrain in the area as very steep. At this point, they're trying to assess the damage from the air.

Wood calls it the worst disaster they've ever had on the Snettisham line. She used the word "catastrophic" and called it "a hard hit."

Wood stressed the importance of conservation during this time. Right now, she says they're trying to figure out how to secure enough diesel to handle this kind of long term need.

Ferry System finally scores a home run with Jim Beedle

Debbie White (Prudential Southeast Alaska Real Estate) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:24:32 -0500

Like most small towns, Juneau has a short list of family names well known throughout the community. Ones of those surnames is "Beedle". Everybody knows at least one. Many of us know several.

Jim Beedle works hard, and has for many years, in various positions throughout the Alaska Marine Highway system. These boats are at times the only link to the outside world from our rural villages, most of which can only be accessed by boat or small plane.

High up positions within state government are appointed positions. No qualifications other than a friend in the right place seems to be required. These jobs pay extremely well and the benefits are top rate. As long as the boss still likes you, the job is yours... as well as a healthy paycheck... until the next administration.

For many years, our Alaska Marine Highway System has been run primarily by "outsiders" who have little knowledge or experience in running such a complicated transportation system. The last appointee had only taken one ride on the ferry system, many years ago.

The Alaska Marine Highway System is part of the Federal Highway System and as such, receives federal highway monies. In addition, Alaskan pay hefty fares for themselves and their vehicles. In many areas, it is the only way to travel, especially with a vehicle. Many towns and villages are serviced by the AMHS and over the last several years, administration has been very political, turning one town against the other.

Finally, the state of Alaska has wised up, and hired Jim to run the system. He has worked in vaious capacities throughout the ferry system since 1975. He's the kind of man who isn't going to ask someone to do a job he isn't willing to do himself. This is a welcome change from prior managers.

Many people say there is no place to go but up. Employee morale and customer satisfaction is at an all time low within the AMHS. The schedules have disrupted sports teams, school events, commerce and personal pleasure trips. The aging ferry fleet is unreliable. Demands upon the system have stretched to capacity.

Jim, you have a really tough road to hoe in your new position, but we know you are up to the task. If anybody can fix this broken system, it's Jim Beedle.