Posted by Chase Craig on April 28, 2011 at 4:23 am
Hi there! Welcome to www.chasecraig.com. This blog is updated regularly with timely information regarding the Boise Real Estate Market, Real Estate Industry changes and anything that might help to educate you as a buyer, seller or just someone trying to improve your credit score. As you navigate this blog, please remember that you can ask me anything at any time by click the "Ask Chase" link at the top of the site.
Kuna Idaho is getting a new Elementary School – Silver Trail Elementary
Kuna’s Silver Trail Elementary School is set to open in fall of 2011.
The following information is courtesy of the Kuna School District and can be found at news.kunaschools.org
“Welcome to Silver Trail Elementary School. Silver trail is a brand new school, opening up in the fall of 2011, located in the Kuna School District just south of Meridian, Idaho. Silver Trail was named after the route the miners took from Silver City when they had to haul their ore to Boise by wagon. That route became known as the Silver Trail.
Silver Trail will operate under the model of the Professional Learning Community from Richard and Rebecca DuFour. This model uses total collaboration by stakeholders to answer these driving questions in order to increase student achievement for all kids.
1. What knowledge, skills, and disposition must each student acquire as a result of this course, grade level, and/or unit of instruction?
2. What evidence will we gather to monitor student learning on a timely basis?
3. How will we provide students with additional time and support in a timely, directive, and systematic way when they experience difficulty in their learning?
4. How will we enrich the learning of students who are already proficient?
5. How can we use our SMART goals and evidence of student learning to inform and improve our practice?
The staff for Silver Trail has been established for the 2011-2012 school year. If you would like to fill out a teacher request form you can pick them up at Teed Elementary School starting April 18th or by filling out our on-line form (Click here to access the Silver Trail Teacher Request Form). They are due back into the office at Teed by April 29. Please read and fill out the entire form. The staff at Silver Trail is as follows:
| Kindergarten |
1st Grade |
2nd Grade |
3rd Grade |
| Kim Thayer |
Melody Davis |
Katie Stimpson |
Dana Miller |
| Kelsey Atkins |
Brenda Dunstan |
Pat Oliver |
Kelly Adams |
|
Emily Thornton |
Melissa Nielsen |
Beth (Suter) Greenwood |
|
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| 4th Grade |
5th Grade |
6th Grade |
Specials |
| Tami Christensen |
Lori Boggetti |
Tami Evanow |
Shana Kerbs – P.E. |
| Ashleigh Jensen |
Kim Birkinbine |
Kim (Riggs) Dugan |
Sarah Edvalson – Music |
|
|
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Stella Ivy – Library |
|
|
|
|
Ancillary
Ken LilienKamp – Principal
Laurel Dunstan – Office Manager
Angie Berheim – Office Aide
Lisa Driesel – Resource Room Teacher
Karen Wallin – Resource Room Aide
Tracy Housh – Extended Resource Room Teacher
Linda Sherrod – ERR Aide
Wanda Miller – ERR Aide
Heidi Wood – ERR Aide
We are extremely excited about the new adventure that lies ahead of all of us and we look forward to meeting and working with you to make the students at Silver Trail reach their highest potential.
Silver Trail Elementary Construction Update:
Once Silver Trail is complete, it will ease enrollment pressure on Reed and Crimson Point Elementary schools. Each of these schools were built with an enrollment cap of 600 students. Currently Reed has about 720 and Crimson Point is at 690. Kuna School District firmly believes in delivering a quality education and that level of education cannot be met by over-crowding the classrooms.
Background
- Project Manager – Layne Saxton
- Superintendent of Schools – Jay W. Hummel
- Architect – Leatham-Krohn-Van Ocker
- Civil Engineer – The Land Group
- Structural Engineer – AHJ Engineers, P.C.
- Mechanical Engineer – Musgrove Engineering
- Electrical Engineer – E2CO
- General Contractor – Petra Inc.
- Groundbreaking – August 3, 2010
- Completion – July, 2011
- Estimated Cost – $5,747,000″
Kuna Elementary School Boundaries as of April 27th, 2011.
Chase Craig
Boise MLS Search
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Posted by Chase Craig on April 27, 2011 at 5:58 pm
Nampa Idaho and Canyon County 2010 Real Estate Statistics
Take a look at the slide showing the total number of homes sold in Canyon County for 2010. Just like the increase of homes old in Ada County, Canyon County followed the same trend last year during the months of March and June. These are historically good months for real estate in the Nampa area, but the main reason for the spike in sales might be due to the tax credit offered last year. Total closed sales for 2010 in Canyon County is 2,998. This is an increase of 415 homes sold over 2009.
The average sold price in Canyon County for 2010 was $105,224. This is a decrease of just over $20,000 from the average sold price of $125,309 for 2009.
The average days on market were 83 for 2010 in Canyon County. The average days on market in 2009 was 89 so homes were selling faster in 2010 then in 2009. You have probably heard a lot of negative news about listing your home and this market being impossible to sell a home in. Homes are moving quickly in this market at less than 3 months on the market on average. The key is pricing your home properly.
The Skinny:
To sum all of this information up for you, homes are still selling and they are selling fast. It is absolutely still a buyers market but the depletion of supply in Ada and Canyon County is leading us into more of balance between what is considered a Buyer’s market and Seller’s market. Stay tuned for more information on how this data is trending for 2011.
Chase Craig
Boise Real Estate Agent
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Posted by Chase Craig on April 27, 2011 at 3:47 pm
The graphs above show the statistics for Ada County real estate in 2010.
The first showcases the total number of homes sold in Ada County by month in 2010. Note the increase in homes sold last year in Ada County between the months of March and June. These are historically good months for real estate in the Boise area, but the main reason for the spike in sales might be due to the tax credit offered last year. Total closed sales for 2010 in Ada County is 6,091.
The second graph which depicts the average sold price of homes in Ada County is interesting as well. You can actually see a dip in the sales prices for the same months between March and June. This information helps to back up the increase in sales for tax credit buyers which were mainly first time home buyers. First time home buyers are typically purchasing homes at a lower sales price then seasoned home buyers in Boise. The average sales price for Ada County in 2010 is $184,612.
The last graph covers the average days on market for homes in Ada County. As you can see the number is relatively consistent throughout the year with the average days on market for the entire year in Ada County being 83 days.
Tomorrow I’ll recap where we sit at today and how those numbers compare to last year.
Chase Craig
Boise Idaho Real Estate
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Posted by Chase Craig on April 25, 2011 at 3:57 pm
How green is Idaho?
According to www.huffintongpost.com, we are ranked in the top 10 greenest states. Idaho is ranked 8th on their list to be exact.
“Population: 1,545,801 (39th)
GDP: $54 Billion (42nd)
Toxic Waste: 4,808 Tons (9th)
Carbon Footprint: 16.2 Million Metric Tons (4th)
Alternative Energy: 84.5% (1st)
Idaho generates the greatest relative amount of renewable energy in the country, with 84.5% of all energy coming from alternative sources. “The Gem State” also ranks fifth for producing geothermal energy thanks to its unique terrain, and sixth for conventional hydroelectric power, thanks to the Snake River Plain and the state’s smaller rivers. Furthermore, the state has the fourth lowest rate of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion. This is largely the result of the state’s extensive use of renewable energy. ”
See the full list at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/22/greenest-states-us-top-10_n_852683.html
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Posted by Chase Craig on April 23, 2011 at 10:14 pm
Boise Lawn Care
With many homes in the Boise area having access to pressurized irrigation, it’s important that you know when to water your lawn and how often. Numerous Boise home owners think of pressurized irrigation as an unlimited source of water. I hear, “I already paid for it, I might as well use it.”. While it is true that you did pay for it, it doesn’t mean that you should over use it to get your “monies” worth. In fact, that might end up costing you more money in the long run.
Over watering your lawn can lead to many issues including the following:
- Lawn Fungus
- Lack of depth for grass roots
- Water in your crawl space
- The need for more water then necessary
Best time to water your Boise lawn?
When is the best time to water your Boise lawn? It is always best to water your lawn in the early morning between 4a-5a. Early morning watering is advantageous because you have minimal evaporation taking place, higher humidity and lawn dew also help to get the maximum water to your lawn. Watering earlier in the morning also allows the lawn to dry out completely before night fall, which will help prevent many lawn diseases that thrive in dark and moist areas.
How long should my water cycles be?
It is best to water your lawn deeply to encourage deep root growth. Frequent shallow watering can lead to greater weed germination and shorter grass root depth. A lawn with a shorter root depth is more susceptible to disease and drought. To achieve a deep watering, you want the water to penetrate between 6-8″ to promote optimal root growth. With the soil in the Boise area being predominately clay, it can take 1″ of water to reach a 4-5″ depth. You can determine how long your watering system takes to produce 1″ of water by placing equal sized buckets or cans across your lawn and watering for 20 minutes. Measure the amount in the bucket and you can determine whether you need more or less on your watering cycle. One thing to note is that you want to avoid water run-off. If you need to water for a 30 minute cycle, but after 15 minutes you are already having water run off to the street or sidewalk, you may need to water in two cycles of 15 minutes with a 10 minute break in between to allow the water to better penetrate the soil.
Another way to determine how far your watering is reaching is to dig a small hole in your yard and see where the soil is moist to. Some Boise natives push a skinny screw driver into the soil to determine whether they are getting enough water or not. A screwdriver should have no problem penetrating soil that was just watered. If you can’t get the screw driver in the ground easily the desired depth, you may need to increase your water time.
How often should you water your Boise Lawn?
Now that you have all of this “free water”, how often should you be using it? I recommend watering your lawn only when it needs it. I know what your thinking right now, “yeah no sh*t!”. Please allow me to elaborate on that one. In order to promote the best root growth for your lawn, you want to train your lawn to be less dependent upon frequent watering. Around this time of the year, the middle of April, provide a deep water cycle and then watch your lawn closely afterwords. As your lawn starts to turn a blueish/grayish tint, provide another watering cycle. You will find that it will typically be after 2-4 days of the initial watering. Set your sprinkler timer up for that particular cycle and you should be good for a month or so until the weather gets warmer. You may find that in April you are only watering once or twice a week, while in May you are watering 2-3 times a week and at the peak of Summer in July and August you are 4-7 times per week. It’s ok to adjust your sprinkler system from time to time but please note that your lawn will not turn from yellow to green over night. Try not to change your sprinkler times too often as your lawn will have trouble adapting the eradicate watering schedule.
A couple of things to note:
- If your lawn is already looking good, you probably wouldn’t be reading this anyways, don’t change anything!
- If it is the middle of summer and you have been giving your lawn short and frequent watering, try not to change that either. Minimizing your lawns water intake after you have already conditioned it to receive water in a certain way can be really bad!
- Most lawns only have a few “problem” areas where there *might* be under watering. Try to take care of those areas by hand. One mistake that many people do is to up the water for the entire lawn when there is only a small area that needs extra water. If you do that, you might turn your small problem into a big one.
- Just because it is yellow or brown doesn’t mean that it is not getting enough water. Check with our local plant experts at Zamzows, you can bring a patch of your lawn in for them to identify the problem. It might be bill bugs or some other type of disease.
I hope you enjoyed this guide to Boise lawn care! If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know. If you liked this or found it helpful, please share this with your friends!
Best,
Chase Craig
Boise Real Estate Agent
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