Off and Running Real Estate

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Twenty things to do in (and around) Eugene during the Dog Days of SummerShare
From our Facebook Page
1. Get delicious frozen yogurt at Vanilla Jill’s
2. Take in a concert at the The Cuthbert Amphitheater
3. Enjoy a beer on the patio at the Ninkasi Tasting Room
4. Stroll along the Willamette River
5. Hike Skinner’s Butte
6. Have a picnic in the park, any park!
7. Sample the food carts at Kesey Square
8 Paddle a canoe on the millrace
9. Take a swim at Amazon Pool
10. Taste some wine at King Estates Winery
11. Catch a ball game at PK Park
12. Buy lemonade from a kid’s lemonade stand
13. Experience the Scandinavian Festival in Junction City (August 12-15, 2010)
14. Enjoy a scoop (or two) of ice cream at Prince Pucklers
15. Sit on the patio at McMenamins North Bank for 2 or 3 or 4 hours
16. Listen for the Ice Cream Man
17. Pick up something to wear/eat/drink/admire or use at the Saturday Market
18. Get some farm-fresh, local produce at from the Farmers Market
19. Conquer Spencer’s Butte
20. Play in the fountain at EWEB

Off and Running has three pairs of 3-day passes for this great event! Click HERE to share your favorite thing about Art and the Vineyard, and you could be there as our guest!

The 2010 Art and the Vineyard Festival takes place July 2, 3 and 4th at Alton Baker Park in Eugene. From its inception as a small art auction and wine-tasting event, Art and the Vineyard has grown into the premier art and wine festival in the Southern Willamette Valley. The festival, which is the principal fundraiser for the Maude Kerns Art Center, attracts over 25,000 visitors annually. Monies raised from the festival help fund the Art Center’s year-round exhibitions and art classes in all media for children, teens, and adults.

The “Art” in Art and the Vineyard is represented by paintings, prints, photographs, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, wall hangings, and wearable art created by over 150 artists in the Artists’ Marketplace. It includes the garden furniture, ceramics, gates and arbors, and outdoor sculpture by the 30 plus artists in Art For Your Garden, where artwork is enhanced by the flowers and foliage of native plants. And there’s also art to be enjoyed at the Specialty Booths as well as artist demonstrations throughout the festival.

The Wineries area at Art and the Vineyard gives wine connoisseurs and novices alike the chance to sample the best the Willamette Valley and beyond has to offer. And to complement the wine are dishes from many nations available in the International Food Court.

Art and the Vineyard is a festival with multi-generational appeal. The Youth Art Arena gives the younger crowd the chance to enjoy art-making activities and displays provided by a variety of community organizations. The Youth Stage provides entertainment - - music, theatre, dance, storytelling, and more - - all four days of the festival.

It’s not only the visual arts that give Art and the Vineyard its special flavor. Main Stage Music plays a big part in the weekend’s festivities. This year’s event again brings in regionally recognized talent.

Off and Running congratulates the over 8000 participants in this year’s Eugene Marathon and thank the coordinators and volunteers who made it an outstanding event. It was certainly the best ever! Just another great thing about living in Eugene!

Click HERE to see the piece from KEZI news.

Now’s the Time to Buy a Home

Prices are near bottom, rates are cheap and there are plenty of houses to choose from.
By Pat Mertz Esswein, Associate Editor ~ Kiplinger
This spring, opportunity is knocking hard for home buyers. Aside from the soon-to-expire tax credit worth as much as $8,000 (you must have a contract by April 30 and close the deal by June 30), affordability has returned to pre-boom levels and mortgage money is cheap, with the 30-year fixed rate hovering around 5%.

Before you leap, you’ll have to weigh the risk of further price declines in your market. The median price for single-family homes is $163,600, according to the National Association of Realtors — about what it was in 2002. Fiserv Lending Solutions, a research company in Cambridge, Mass., forecasts that it will fall another 6.4% in 2010. But the price trend varies a lot by city. For example, prices in Washington, D.C., could fall another 12%, while prices are predicted to rise 1% in Pittsburgh, Pa. The biggest predictors of further price declines in most markets are joblessness and distressed sales. More foreclosures and short sales (properties sold with the lender’s okay for less than what’s owed on the mortgage) are coming, but they’ll ease their way onto the market instead of hitting it like a bomb.

Click HERE to read the rest of the article

http://offandrunningrealestate.idxco.com/i/4326/market_movers_February