Christmas Time

What a joy it is to remember what has been done for us. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Contact me if you have any questions regarding Real Estate!

Sacramento and North Valley Staycations

The rising gas prices and airfares has given rise to stay at home (or close to home) vacations, often now called staycations. I have lived in Oroville for over 35 years and have found the area to be full of recreational activities. There are a lot of destinations in the area that would be perfect staycation destinations, especially if you are from the Sacramento area. You can leave the traffic behind, and cruise the back roads into the northern gold country.
Places you can visit include Lake Oroville. It is home to the nation’s tallest Dam. Lake Oroville has 167 miles of shoreline at capacity. Although the Lake is low at the moment, there are plenty of places to explore, fish, water ski, or camp.

You can visit Bald Rock. This is a mountain that has exposed granite rocks. You can hike around and see different rock formations such as an eagle.
Another fascinating place is Feather Falls. This is the 7th largest falls in the Nation.

There are a couple of great casinos in Oroville. Feather Falls Casino has gaming machines and table games, along with 2 sit down restaurants, a TacoBell/ Pizza Hut express, a lounge, Hotel, gas station, and KOA campground.
Gold Country Casino features a 6 story hotel/ casino, Bowling alley, Games, 2 restaurants, and a large Poker room. Both Casinos feature large theatres for great live entertainment.

For car enthusiast, you can take many beautiful drives throughout the area, including Highway 70 Scenic byway.

There are also many other lakes you can visit in our area, including Lake Almanor, Bucks Lake, Little Grass Valley Lake, Lake Collins, Lake Davis, Black Butte Lake, and New Bullards Bar Reservoir.

Do not forget the valley attractions, such as the Grey Lodge Wildlife Area, or the Oroville State Wildlife area. Both places seem to take you far away, yet you are still close to area services.

If you visit at the right time, there is a Tour of the area’s farms. They include wineries, olive oil, and citrus ranches. The Salmon Festival by the river takes place in the fall too. And in spring is the Feather Fiesta days.

There is a bounty of activities and places that you can see and do in Oroville, and if you want to be closer to the beauty full time, we invite you to stay. If so, please call or email me! You can reach me at Feather River Properties at 530-533-2141, or 530-990-7718. My email is bradly4jc@hotmail.com.

Riding For A Cause II: The update

Well, its over, It has been a couple of weeks, actually. I rode the Agony. I went 138 Miles !!!
I want to thank everybody who donated and supported the ride. Total donations was near $113,000!!
Tune in soon, I will be talking about Sacramento Area and North Valley Staycations!

Riding for A Cause

My church supports a ministry that helps kids get their lives together through the Christian Faith. It is called the Christian Encounter Ministry Ranch. It is a place where the kids live and go to school in a healthy environment.
They accept Kids who can or cannot pay the full tuition. Therefore, they must raise the money through fundraisers.
The Agony Ride is the biggest fundraiser.
The goal: People Bike, people pledge money.
This is a 24 hour bike ride. Riders go the furthest they can in that time. I will try for 100 miles. I may not make it, I may make more.
The ride is an amazing ministry of its own. It brings a lot of people together, and it shows the young people that people really do care about them. The agony ride takes place at and near Loyalton, CA. Luckily, it is a flat location with not too many hills. There are riders there, and a whole bunch of support people there too. The support people feed, water, comfort, and cheer the riders.
Please visit the CEM's website for more information.
On Friday, Saturday, and perhaps part of Sunday, I will be in agony!!
If you would like to sponsor me, please email me at bradly4jc@hotmail.com. Thank you!!

Fire Relief Donations; Where do we go from here ?

It has been a rough month for the Northern California area. There were tremendous amounts of acreage burnt. 50 or so Homes were lost in the Camp fire, and about 70 homes were lost in the Humbolt/Palermo fires. All of these people are friends and neighbors. One of our citizens lost their life in the fire, and one of our Firefighters lost their life during this terrible time.

It is important that we rally around our friends and family to help them as much as we can.
There are several ways to do this.

1. Be a friend. Some people are grieving the loss of their possessions. Although it is not the ultimate loss, it can be a emotional and trying time. Please take time to listen to your friends.

2. Donate to Charities. The Red Cross, and the Salvation Army are great places to begin. The following is from the Chico Enterprise Record. A link to their site is here:

This is not a complete list. I have not verified the organizations here. It is important to give to charities you feel comfortable about!

American Red Cross: Checks can be made to American Red Cross, and mailed to 1398 Ridgewood Drive, Chico, CA, 95973. Credit card donations can also be made by calling the Chico office at 891-0885.

Salvation Army: Donations are being taken by the Salvation Army inside the Family Resource Center, 6449 Skyway, Paradise. The center is open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Wednesday. 872-1534. In Chico, the Salvation Army at 700 Broadway is a drop-off point for money and items. 342-2199.

Checks can be mailed to the nonprofit North Valley Community Foundation in Chico. Donors can choose to contribute to Humboldt Fire Victims' Fund for victims, Humboldt Fire Disaster Response Fund for nonprofits responding to fire; and the North Valley Animal Disaster Group Fund for that organization. Checks can be sent directly to NVCF, 3120 Cohasset Road Suite 8, Chico, CA, 95973, charged by credit card online at www.nvcf.org or call 891-1150.

North Valley Animal Disaster Group, P.O. Box 441, Chico, CA, 95927, 895-0000.

The nonprofit Paradise Disaster Relief Fund is accepting donations to support fire victims and disaster response organizations. Check should be made out to Paradise Community Foundation Disaster Relief Fund, and can be mailed to P.O. Box 2095, Paradise, CA, 95967 or dropped off at the Paradise Community Foundation, 6249 Skyway. 876-8033 or www.paradisecommunityfoundation.com

Clothing, bedding pickup/donations

Furniture and household appliances are available through MacDonald Realty in Paradise. Call 877-0110 for pick-up or drop-off information.
The Salvation Army inside the Family Resource Center 6449 Skyway, Paradise, is open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Wednesday. 872-1534. In Chico, the Salvation Army, 700 Broadway, is a drop-off point for money and items. 342-2199. For furniture donations, contact the Salvation Army truck pickup line at 342-2087.
The business is also offering free storage space to Ophir Fire victims. 533-9900.

Business services

Displaced customers should contact AT&T for information about services such as call forwarding, voice mail, message center, and the installation of a phone line free for 30 days. Information is available at 1-888-338-3291.
Allstate Insurance Corp. customers can defer insurance payments for 30 days. Customers should call 1-800-255-7828 or visit www.allstate.com
Customers of Tri Counties Bank or Butte Community Bank should contact their banks about deferring loan payments and emergency loans. Tri Counties, 1-800-922-8742. Butte, 1-888-842-8883.

Youth programs

Children from 5 to 12 years old from families affected by the Paradise and Oroville fires can attend the Oroville YMCA day camp. Contact Celeste Silva, 533-9622.

Fraud

The most common fraud that occurs in the aftermath of a disaster involved price gouging, offers of debris removal, and charitable solicitations.
Property owners are warned about unlicensed building contractors who may be approaching homeowners about repair and rebuilding work. If the job is over $500, the contractor must be licensed. The Butte County District Attorney's office has a hotline number for reporting fraud: 1-866-323-7283 or on the Web site www.buttecounty.net/da
In addition, the California State Contractors Licensing Board has a list of licensed contractors available at www.cslb.ca.gov or 1-800-321-2752. It is also taking complaints about possible fraud.
Also, the California Department of Insurance is taking complaints regarding insurance claims and fraud at 1-800-927-4357.

You should also check with your congregation about donating.

Again, this list is far from complete. I have not verified all these programs. It is important to give to charities you feel comfortable about giving to!!!

3. Go to your friends and help them out directly. You can either help them with daily chores, or provide them with meals. I would not recommend that you help with clean up, but if you decide to help clean up, Do only the work you can do. There are a lot of hazardous debris in the homes and in the ashes, so be careful, and when in doubt, call in a professional.

4. Prayer works. If you feel inclined to, give out a little prayer for the citizens of the areas affected.

Destination Oroville

When Oroville dam was created, the people of Oroville assumed that we would become the destination place for a good portion of California. There were a few subdivisions made in anticipation of great throngs of people who were bound to want to live by the Lake.
Unfortunately, there were not the great numbers some had hoped for. And the powers that were behind the huge dam did not fulfill all of their promises. So, although we had a lot of visitors, Oroville was not bringing in tourist close to our potential.
Now, we seem to have a little buzz within the community with lots of projects completed and in the works that will bring more tourist in. Most of these projects are located near and next to the beautiful Feather River that runs through Oroville.
The biggest so far has been Riverview Park. It is a large area fit for leisurely strolls or large gatherings. This park includes a water spray fountain that children and some adults find fun in running through the water spray. there is also a children's rock climbing area, a sand play area, and for the children in all of us, a beach on the river, bike trails, a disk golf coarse, and a fitness coarse. There are also large shelters for picnics and events.
The new Centennial Park is located near downtown and has a beautiful arbor and walkways between flower beds full of native and beautiful plants. There is an overlook above the river perfect for viewing or an outdoor concert. The park is located next to the new antique tool museum, the Municipal Auditorium, and the Chinese temple.
For a more reflective view, a new veterans memorial is now underway just north of the Veterans hall. It will be a great place to honor and remember those Americans who gave their lives for our freedom.
Back down river is a fairly new Skateboard/bike park that attracts quite a few of our talented kids. This place was built to satisfy the kids by letting bikes and skaters in the park at the same time, without getting in the way of each other! Since then, other cities has followed the ideas born in this park.
Up the river is a small nature center. This is a great place for learning about the native natural resources in the Oroville area.
Coming soon is a Gateway project near highway 70 which will include a visitor center, chamber of Commerce, and hotel. All of this will be connected to the river.
There are preliminary plans for a white water park just up the river from downtown. This is already designed with water pressure already in place. The funds for this park is also very close to being in place.
Finally, bringing all of this together is a swath of public land next to the river with a bike, pedestrian path along the whole route.
With the projects already in place, and the ones to come, Oroville should be a great destination for people to come to, and maybe stay!

Investors

Investors are coming back in the market in Oroville. It is still a great time to buy, and I do not think we will see the type of flipping that occured 2 years ago for a very long time. However, I can see that prices will stabilize, and perhaps start rising by the end of this year. Rentals in Oroville are still in demand, which is what started the last drive up in homes in the Oroville area.

Dont forget the interest rates are low, and there is a ton of inventory for buying. This makes the perfect market to buy a first home, or rentals homes to rent and sell in the future.

As a Seller, be patient with Your Real Estate agent, as they are doing their best to sell your homes. If you need to sell now, price it right, for most other markets are in the same boat, so if you need to buy again, you should get a good deal as a buyer!

The best time to sell a home is in the bad times if you price it right and have patience. When you buy and sell in a depressed market, your selling fees are usually less, and when you get your new home, your taxes would be less too(in States like CA).

So, if you are thinking of buying or selling a home, there is no better time than the present!

2008 Oroville Real Estate

Real Estate in the Lake Oroville Real Estate market should see more buyers than last year. We have inventory, rates *are low, and the economy is going strong! So this year should be a busy year for us here.
As I look out our office window, I see a retail/professional building under construction across the street.
There are other projects underway, such as the new Mexican restaurant on Oro Dam Blvd., a new hotel on Oro Dam Blvd., the Mission Square phase 2 retail, professional office space on 5th Ave., Applebees on Feather River Blvd., Doctors offices, Dental office, and real Estate office on Oro Dam Blvd., an unknown building on Table Mt. Blvd., a new Valero gas and food mart on Table Mt. Blvd. New homes going up, and many existing commercial buildings are being renovated.
Things are really hopping!
For more information about Oroville and Real Estate, contact me, or Feather River Properties.
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* we are not affiliated with Granite Loan Center. They are just one of the fine Lenders in our area!