Wasilla Real Estate News, Valley Market Real Estate

Dead Moose…Free May 9th, 2008

Categories: Alaskana

Only in Alaska would you see an ad like this one… http://anchorage.craigslist.org/zip/673017049.html.  I’m not sure that the ad is legit, or if it is legal to haul off a moose from someone’s yard.  But, it’s funny just the same.

And it’s not the only free moose on Craigslist.  April had another dead moose ad, in the sporting goods section for some reason.

This is the time of year to watch for newborn baby moose.  It’s also the time to stay away from the cow moose.  They will very aggressively defend their newborn calves.  After the calf is still hanging around a year later the cow has enough of them and tends to ignore them.  But if you mess with a newborn…watch out.

If you are planting trees in your yard this spring, you might take some thought to moose.  They love Mountain Ash, and Crab Apple trees.  I’m not sure what they won’t munch on, except evergreens.  But these big tree chompers can sure make landscaping in Alaska a challenge.  This moose in the photo was chewing on an Alder bush in my front yard just 2 weeks ago.  I haven’t seen them eat Cottonwood Trees, but who wants to plant Cottonwoods?

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

I Still Say It’s Spring in Palmer April 25th, 2008

Categories: Alaskana

Dave Johnson of Fishhook Realty questions my weather forecasting abilities in his comments on my last post officially announcing spring.  Look at them, the geese, cranes and ducks are still there under about 4 inches of fresh snow on the Palmer Experimental Farm fields.  It really is spring!

If that doesn’t mean it’s spring, I don’t know what does.  But I will admit that I’m glad I still have my studded tires on.  By the way, we are supposed to take our studded tires off by May 1.

I could barely see this flock of geese glide in for a landing through the snow.  They must be flying on instruments, no VFR for them.  I’m always impressed by the amount of migratory birds that appear each spring. I haven’t seen the swallows yet.  They usually arrive right after the cranes.  Hopefully they don’t go off course in this snow storm. 

So, buck up, this has got to be the last snow fall of the year………doesn’t it????

You have to love living in the Mat-Su Valley, we are so close to Alaska…We get to see things like these two moose munching on the willows in my front yard Tuesday morning…when it still felt like spring.

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

This Time It Really Is Spring…The Geese Have Arrived in Palmer April 20th, 2008

Categories: Alaskana

A couple weeks ago I announced that spring had come.  Since then we have had temperatures down to 10 degrees and several good sized snow storms.

So much for my weather forecasting abilities.

But now, someone else has made it official.  The geese are on the fields in Palmer. 

We look forward to the geese arriving there every spring on their way to the nesting grounds and also note the huge flocks passing through in the fall on their way south. 

Take a drive out to Palmer just by the airport to see for yourself.  It really is spring.

Written by Marty Van Diest 2 Comments »

Alaska Is Huge, And It’s Tiny April 10th, 2008

Categories: Alaskana

Alaska Is Huge

Every spring I get inquiries from people “outside” who have never been to Alaska about finding a piece of their Alaskan dream.  They want to buy a chunk of Alaska where they can have peace and privacy.  They know Alaska is big so they expect to get at least 10–100 acres of beautiful wilderness.

Of course, they also expect this to come with maintained roads, electricity, and hopefully public water and sewer as well.  It takes them awhile to come to grips with how hard to find and how expensive land is in Alaska.

Alaska IS huge, click on the top map to get a feel for just how big Alaska really is.  You could almost put one tip on New York City and the other on San Francisco. 

But less than 1% of Alaska is in private ownership.  Here is a map showing who owns Alaska.  Click on it to notice that it is actually a pie chart showing that the US Government owns most of the state. 

Alaska Is Tiny

Here are some more details on how tiny Alaska really is.

You will find that there is about as much private land in Alaska that you would find in the state of Massachusetts.  But much of that land is either remote, (you can’t drive to it), or swampy, or mountainous.  If we are talking about quality land in Alaska on which you can actually build a home, drive to, have telephone service, or farm and garden; it may be as small as the state of Rhode Island. 

You can find land in the wilderness, or on the ocean, (alaska has more than 34,000 miles of ocean front), on a river, or in the mountains.  But if you want all that and also want to drive to work in the morning you better have some big bucks. 

I can find you a piece of the Alaska wilderness for a low price.  But I can’t take you to it.  I don’t own a helicopter.

Palmer and Wasilla Are The Premier Alaska Locations

If you are looking for a real nice property that is close to all of the above, you are looking for a home in the Mat-Su Valley.  Almost any home in the Mat-Su valley is within a 20–30 minute drive of good hiking, mountain climbing, fishing, boating, hunting, skiing and more.  That is why the Wasilla and Palmer area is the bedroom community for the whole state of Alaska.

And that is why I live here and have stayed here for 40 years.  The Mat-Su Valley is the best place to live in the whole state of Alaska in my opinion.  If you are interested in a home here…send me a note by clicking on my contact link on the right.

Written by Marty Van Diest 1 Comment »

Alaska Homes Need Back-Up Heat April 4th, 2008

Categories: Alaskana, For Buyers, For Sellers

Whew!  We made it through another winter. 

 I’m officially declaring today the last day to worry about home freeze-ups this winter.

One thing that I think a lot of us Alaskans ignore is that we are extremely vulnerable to natural or man-made disasters. 

Almost all of us are tied to “the grid”.  We are dependent on the electrical grid and the natural gas distribution system. 

If we have a large scale failure in the grid the results will be disastrous.  Most of the nice new homes that I sell these days have no means to stay warm if they lose both gas and power. 

People brag to me about how their gas fireplace will keep them warm even if the power goes out.  But I have to wonder what they will do with that 5 star home when the power AND the gas disappear. 

How can that happen you ask?  One word…EARTHQUAKE… 

It seems almost inevitable that we will eventually have another large quake here.  When that happens there is a good chance that both the electrical and gas distribution systems will be down for weeks.  Can you imagine having to dig up and repair hundreds of broken gas lines throughout southcentral Alaska?  And if this happens in mid-winter the damage to homes will be huge.

We all need some way to keep our homes warm in a disaster.  You can go the cheap route…like me, and just store a barrel stove in the shed.  Or you can install a $30,000 masonry fireplace that will heat your home so efficiently that you can kiss Enstar goodbye.  Here are some good links:

• Craigslist…lots of used wood stoves that you can store in the shed, or install permanently.
• Frontier Heating Concepts…Palmer resident Andrew Good sells wood boilers.
• University site on wood heat…Lots of different ideas on how to heat with wood.
• Alaska Fireplace…Wood, Coal, and Oil stoves that run with or without electricity.
• Masonry Heater…Ned Rozelle article on masonry heaters.
• Cold Climate Housing Research Center…study on wood heaters.

Whichever route you choose…you have until mid-November to get it done.  That’s six months.

Written by Marty Van Diest 1 Comment »