A Pictures Worth a Thousand Words... Spokane Clock Tower - Winter 2011    Photo taken by my cousin, Katie Simmons, while she was visiting. Free MLS Property Search at:  www.SellingNorthIdaho.com Contact:   Pam Jank, Realtor, ABR, GRI, CRS, RSPS, PPSPreviews Property SpecialistWeb:  Coeur d'Alene Idaho Homes for Saleemail to:pamjank@hotmail.comPhone:  208-661-2282Fax:  208-772-628 Toll Free:  800-829-2555 EXT.1275COLDWELL BANKER SCHNEIDMILLER REALTY1924 Northwest Blvd, Coeur d'Alene, ID  838314 Your North Idaho Real Estate Pro - Pam Jank 01/30/2011

February 2011 No money Down Home Loan.  FHA - The Good Rewards Program through Idaho Housing.  2nd mortgage is available for the down payment.  Buyer only has to bring $500 to the transaction (can be a gift from family member) Income limits apply since it's through IHA. Minimum credit score is 700 - best rate is with credit scores above 720 Fixed 30 year loan program - NO balloon payment, ARM, rate adjustment, etc. Borrowers must contribute $500 towards the transaction of their own funds (can be gift funds from a family member) Borrowers can't have more than 3 month payments in liquid assets at the time of closing as this loan is based on need. Borrower must take IHA's First Time homebuyer class (this can be done online for $50 per person) If you are interested in this type of loan and ... 01/28/2011

Coeur d'Alene Idaho Homes for Sale.   The Downtown Coeur d'Alene  Music Walk Begins today. January 28th, 2011 to April, 2011 Every 4th Friday from January to April you can stroll through beautiful downtown Coeur d'Alene and enjoy live music performances from some of our local favorites! Visit supporting restaurants, shops,businesses and galleries with your friends and family! This is a free event!  So, come and join us! 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.Click here for more information Stroll leisurely in and out of downtown restaurants, galleries, and wine bars to sample the wonderful variety of music that North Idaho has to offer Free MLS Property Search at:  www.SellingNorthIdaho.com Contact:   Pam Jank, Realtor, ABR, GRI, CRS, RSPS, PPSPreviews Property SpecialistWeb:  Coeur d'Alene Idaho Homes for Sa... 01/28/2011

Coeur d'Alene Idaho Waterfront Homes for sale.  This little deer was caught in the melting ice at our cabin in North Idaho.  After several hours of struggling he finally broke free and made it to shore.   It was scarry for awhile! Not sure why he tried to cross in all that broken ice and slush but I'm shure he'll think twice before he tries it again! It's amazing how they can survive freezing temperatures for that long.   Free MLS Property Search at:  www.SellingNorthIdaho.com Contact:   Pam Jank, Realtor, ABR, GRI, CRS, RSPS, PPSPreviews Property SpecialistWeb:  Coeur d'Alene Idaho Homes for Saleemail to:pamjank@hotmail.comPhone:  208-661-2282Fax:  208-772-628 Toll Free:  800-829-2555 EXT.1275COLDWELL BANKER SCHNEIDMILLER REALTY1924 Northwest Blvd, Coeur d'Alene, ID  838314 Your North ... 01/25/2011

 Coeur d'Alene Idaho Homes for Sale. It is not unusual to have the question "How much does it cost to build a home" directed at me.   I wish there was a simple answer.   However, it is far from simple. Let's start with the type Floor Plan your home will have.    Do you want a Rancher (one-level home), Rancher with a Basement (one-level home with basement), Rancher with a daylight walk-out basement (1-or more walls are not in earth), Rancher with a Bonus room above the garage, Rancher with a bonus room above garage and a basement or daylight basement? Do you want a 2-story home ( a home with the square footage equally distributed on each of the 2-levels) a 2-story with a Basement, 2-story with a daylight walk-out, 2-story with a bonus room above garage, 2-story with bonus room above the ... 01/24/2011

Janna Rankin Scharf, GRI, CLHMS, SFR - Coeur d'Alene Idaho Real Estate Agent Thursday I showed property as several inches of new snow fell, covering a thick sheet of ice that had formed on roads and driveways after several days of deep cold.  I had a spectacular near miss, with an astonished client in my car, as we slid down a long, steep and curving driveway.  I don't credit my driving skills as much as I credit the skid control performance abilities in my Porsche Cayenne.  We missed the trees, fence, and everything else, as we slid perfectly, with zero traction, around the curves and landed right in the middle of the road - as opposed to off the road and down the hill on the other side!  Stunned is an understatement! Friday, the rains fell, and I showed property in 3 inches of sloppy ... 01/24/2011

Click here for all waterfront homes for sale on Coeur d'Alene Lake.It's that time of year we like to take a look at the final statistics for home sales for the previous year.  This report deals specifically with waterfront homes for sale on beautiful Coeur d'Alene Lake in 2010.  Coeur d'Alene Lake is the back yard to some of the most beautiful homes to be found anywhere.  Let's see how they fared on the local real estate market.ACTIVE as of 12/31/2010There were 55 Coeur d'Alene Lake waterfront homes on the market on December 31, 2010.  Their list prices range from $250,000 to $7,995.000 with an average price of $1,348,878. The list price per square foot of the waterfront homes on the market range from $133.33 to $4,800 with an average list price per square foot of $554,72.Days on Market... 01/23/2011

A favorite pass time in Coeur d'Alene this time of year is eagle watching at Higgins Point on Coeur d'Alene Lake.  Bald eagles congregate to feed on kokanee salmon that have come to this area of the lake to spawn.  Wildlife biologists have counted a record number of eagles this year, reporting a record high of 254 eagles on December 23, 2010.  This compares to 104 at the same time last year.  What an incredible sight, literally HUNDREDS of Bald Eagles soaring and swooping down to snatch a salmon from the water!  Higgins Point, on the east end of Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive, is the popular spot to watch, admire and photograph the magnificent birds of prey in action.  This photo was snapped late this afternoon, just before sunset.  Three tired eagles, stuffed with salmon, ready to call it a ... 01/09/2011

Coeur d'Alene foreclosure homes For the latest list on Coeur d'Alene foreclosure deals click here. Search all deals between 75K and 500K. Including: Single Family Residential Manufactured Vacant Land Farm & Ranch If you didn't see what you are looking for call me and I will set you up on a personalized drip from the Multiple Listing Service.   01/05/2011

Janna Rankin Scharf, GRI, CLHMS, SFR, CSP - North Idaho Janna Real Estate Blog With the dawning of a new year, I thought it would be fun, as well as informative, to look over my blog statistics for 2010. I produced 259 blog posts on my North Idaho Janna Real Estate Blog in 2010! In February my fingers were flying across my keyboard as I posted the most in any month - 47.  I was in a friendly horse race with an agent in southern Idaho who was threatening my number one ActiveRain spot at the top of the Idaho leader board.  He never did catch me in points, and eventually gave up.  Phew! December was by FAR my slowest blogging month, with only 8 posts.  It was a busy month, both in business and holiday activity.  My blogging slowed to a snail's pace.  There are, after all, only 24 hours in ... 01/02/2011

Janna Rankin Scharf, GRI, CLHMS, SFR, CSP - Member,  Coeur d'Alene Multiple Listing Service A check of the Coeur d'Alene Multiple Listing Service Hot Sheet on any given day will show that there were expired listings, as well as those that sold, pended, were withdrawn or canceled.  The expired count will usually soar at the end of a month from the normal few to perhaps several dozen.  But this morning I was stunned to see a whopping 831 listings expired on the last day of 2010!  This translates to a 15% decrease in the number of available listings in the Coeur d'Alene MLS while we were sleeping last night! What does this mean for you? If you are a seller with your home currently on the market, this is good news in that there will NEVER be less competition for buyers over the course of th... 01/01/2011

Janna Rankin Scharf, GRI, CLHMS, SFR - Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Realtor I enjoy posting success stories as they occur.  Happy endings.  We read so much doom and gloom about the real estate market, it's nice to hear of things that go right!  I decided not to let the month slip away without sharing my December Coeur d'Alene Idaho Real Estate Success Stories! The first closing I had this month was a happy ending to the search for a beautiful parcel of waterfront property on Lake Coeur d'Alene.  My clients currently live in Indonesia and wanted to take advantage of the incredible Buyers Market to score a site for their future waterfront retirement home.  It was a lot of fun, researching and visiting properties for them, by land and by sea.  We Skyped and we worked around a 14 hour time differen... 12/31/2010

Remember October of 1981?   The Fixed Rate Mortage was 18.45%.   Makes our current 4% rates look pretty amazing, doesn't it! Check out the past 39 years of Monthly Average Commitment Rates & Points On 30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgages ( Since 1971)   2010    Rate Pts  January 5.03 0.7 February 4.99 0.7 March 4.97 0.7 April 5.10 0.7 May 4.89 0.7 June 4.74 0.7 July 4.56 0.7 August 4.43 0.7 September 4.35 0.7  October 4.23 0.8 November 4.30 0.8  December     Annual Average         2009  2008  2007  2006  2005    Rate Pts  Rate Pts  Rate  Pts  Rate  Pts  Rate  Pts  January 5.05 0.7 5.76 0.4 6.22 0.4 6.15 0.5 5.71 0.7 February 5.13 0.7 5.92 0.5 6.29 0.4 6.25 0.6 5.63 0.7 March 5.00 0.7 5.97 0.5 6.16 0.4 6.32 0.6 5.93 0.7 April 4.81 0.7 5.92 0.4 6.18 0.5 6.51 0.6 5.86 0.6 May 4.86 0.7 6.04 0.5 6.2... 12/20/2010

Janna Rankin Scharf, GRI, CLHMS, SFR - Coeur d'Alene Idaho Realtor Saturday was a snowy wonderland as I set out to take care of a few tasks at my office.  It was absolutely lovely as the fluffy flakes fell softly on a landscape already heavy with snow. I took my camera along and snapped some photos as I ran errands.  I came across the mail carrier in the Fort Grounds, living up to his motto and trudging through the snow banks to make door to door deliveries.  What fun, as I got closer I recognized him as our Keller Williams mailman! From Coeur d'Alene City Beach to Honeysuckle Beach on Hayden Lake, and all points in between, the snowy scenery was spectacular.  It's beginning to look like Christmas, all around the town! 11/28/2010

Janna Rankin Scharf, GRI, CLHMS, SFR - Coeur d'Alene Idaho Waterfront Homes SOLD Statistics On this snowy Thanksgiving weekend I find myself doing a little work at my office.  Since it involved looking up some Coeur d'Alene waterfront property sales stats, I thought I would go ahead and post them here for you all to see.  This link will remain active for 30 days. My search goes back to the end of a beautiful Coeur d'Alene summer, beginning on 9/1/10 through today's date, 11/27/2010.  Keep in mind that always, these statistical reports include only sales recorded through the Coeur d'Alene Multiple Listing Service.  The winner, or the body of water with the most waterfront homes that SOLD during the fall, is Hayden lake, with a total of nine.  As I searched through the details of those ho... 11/27/2010

Statistical Report of Spokane River Waterfront Homes For Sale Click this link to view all Spokane River waterfront homes for sale.  As of today there are 62 homes actively listed for sale with Spokane River water frontage.  The number will continue to decline as we get into the cold and snow of winter. My last update on the numbers of waterfront homes for sale and sold on the Spokane River was almost 3 months ago, August 20, 2010.  I was curious to see how this niche of our waterfront market fared through the fall.The Coeur d'Alene MLS statistical report for sales on the Spokane River show just 3 more closed sales, for a year to date total of 10.  I happen to know there was at least one more closed sale that will not be reflected in the MLS stats.  It was a private sale I brokered outsi... 11/14/2010

My dad, Ron Rankin, had a vision to build a veterans memorial plaza between the old courthouse and the new administrative building in Coeur d'Alene.  Dad was elected Kootenai County Commissioner in 1996, and served two terms from January 1997 through January 2003. Dad began to raise money from private individuals for the three flagpoles and dedicatory stone. In 1998 the 8-ton black marble "Killed In Action" monument was placed in the plaza. Over the next few years the 13 wall panels of battle scenes from history, and the Hall of Heroes/Medal of Valor recipients and Purple Heart Honor Roll were added. Dad considered this memorial to veterans as his legacy. To this day, no public money has been used for the memorials, including the 14th marble wall panel honoring those who have and contin... 11/11/2010

Some of my happiest childhood memories involve huge piles of leaves under the ancient poplar trees that framed our house at 9th and Sherman.  They're all gone now, our home and those trees.  But each fall as the leaves pile up around town they live on in my memories. The city's annual leaf pick-up program has begun. Residents are asked to rake their leaves and pine needles into the streets, about a foot out from the gutter line to allow for water drainage.  Please do not put bagged leaves, branches, rubble or refuse in the street.  There is no cost to you. City crews will be moving fast, beginning south of Sherman and working their way north.  Once an area has been cleared they won't return, so if you're too late you're just out of luck.  City crews are unable to provide an exact schedu... 11/08/2010

Janna Rankin Scharf, GRI, CLHMS, SFR - Realtor in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho This week my business took me south along the east side of Coeur d'Alene Lake.  I had an errand to run for some buyer clients who are in the process of purchasing their dream Coeur d'Alene waterfront property.  The property is on Powderhorn Bay, about 45 minutes south of Coeur d'Alene, just a few miles north of Harrison.  My route took me south along the eastern shore of Coeur d'Alene Lake, along Hwy. 97, which just happens to be designated as the Lake Coeur d'Alene Scenic Byway.  I had my camera along and decided to snap some photos of the beautiful sights that unfolded before me as I drove.  It was a bright and warm Indian Summer day, unusually mild for November in North Idaho.  Autumn in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho - it ... 11/06/2010

Janna Rankin Scharf, GRI, CLHMS, SFR - Coeur d'Alene Idaho Real Estate I had the opportunity yesterday, November 3rd, to be out and about, taking care of clients on and around spectacular Coeur d'Alene Lake.  What a magnificent, glorious autumn day it was!  The foliage was blazing in bright reds and golds.  The lake was sparkling in the sunlight, a brilliant turquoise.  Here is a sneak preview of the slide show I will compile as soon as I get a chance.  City Beach, on Coeur d'Alene Lake in Downtown Coeur d'Alene, was deserted except for a lone guitarist, strumming and singing to the wind.  What a delightful scene it was!  11/04/2010