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EXCITING NEWS!

BPO Automation Group, LLC has just completed the sale of its software, Order Central, to the firm of Order Capture, Inc. This change will result in the ability of each firm to focus solely on one product. For BPOA the sole product will be its very successful AutoFill software. For OCI, the sole focus will be on enhancing the capability of Order Central software by adding new tasks to its capture capability and improvements to the software itself. The staff of Order Capture, Inc. includes Steve Lorimer, BPOA's former part-owner/Sales Manager, and the original Order Central development team with some added members.

The pricing, cancellation and refund policies, along with the software tasks and most of its capabilities have not changed, thus the software you have experienced at BPOA will continue to reliably capture orders for you. But, you will need to sign up for your credit card billing at Order Capture.com and download the slightly revised software.

All BPOA customers, upon transition over to Order Capture, Inc. will continue with their pricing plan that has been in effect at BPOA. This pricing will continue at Order Capture, Inc. Moving over to Order Capture, Inc. from BPO Automation Group is easy and should only take a few minutes. You should do it as soon as possible to avoid future disruption of service. If you have any questions or concerns about this move, please don't hesitate to contact either Steve at: support@ordercapture.com or support@bpo-automation.com.

Here is how to enjoy a quick and easy transition to Order Capture, Inc:

1. Go to www.ordercapture.com and browse for awhile, then click on the ‘Start Today’ tab. When prompted for the license key that you have had assigned to you at the BPO Automation Group there are two choices:

   * Click on the ‘Key Look Up’ tab and enter your name and email address. This link will provide your license key quickly and easily so that it can be copy and pasted into the license key prompt.

   * You can go to the Settings tab within Order Central to see your license key. It is a long code that looks like ABCD-EFGH-IJKL-MNOP-QRST-UVWX-YZTA. This would have also been emailed to you when you first signed up for Order Central with BPO Automation Group.

2. Select whether you are primarily a BPO agent or appraiser and click Submit. You will be directed to a secure billing screen for entry of your credit card information. For security reasons, we are unable to transfer your credit card information automatically from BPO Automation to Order Capture, Inc.

3. Upon completion of the billing information, go back to the Start Today tab and click, DOWNLOAD. If you need any help installing Order Central 2.0, please refer to the Installation Guide at: http://ordercapture.com/support/installation-guide/. Follow the directions and your software will be downloaded quickly for your use.

4. Order Central for BPO Automation Group is in version 1.0. At Order Capture, Inc., we have updated Order Central to 2.0 and added some improvements that are mostly behind the scenes. To continue using Order Central, you must install Order Central 2.0. Your account at BPOA will be terminated on June 15th, so be sure to transition over prior to then. Your current version of Order Central will not automatically update to 2.0.

5. Again, if you need any help installing Order Central 2.0, please refer to the Installation Guide.

6. Once you've installed Order Central 2.0, the first time you run it, you will be asked to enter the email address you used to sign up and the password you entered.

7. You should now uninstall Order Central 1.0.

We have taken steps to insure that double billing will not occur during the switch-over from BPOA to OCI. If you see anything that appears incorrect on your next billing statements, please know that you will be issued a refund for any duplicate billings, if any, that are found.

You should find Order Central 2.0 to be very familiar and won't require any relearning. Most enhancements we've made are under the hood. We want to make sure current BPO Automation Group customers are able to transition smoothly before we introduce new features.

Thank you,

Nicole Ocean and Steve Lorimer

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A quick summary:

2012 finished strong ending up 8.8% over 2011 when measuring by average Price Per Sq. Ft. and 11.7 % when measuring by average sale price. There are reports of 15% so I want to clarify that my reports are based on the following:

Residential Single Family Residences under 1 acre in Bend

I exclude the following from the report: Townhomes, Condos, all manufactured homes, lot size over an acre.

Number of sales is up by 17.5% and home size is on the rise again. See table 1

Average sale price as a percentage of original list price remains strong at 95%.

Sale price as a percentage of current list price remains strong at 98.3%. Table 2

There are 7 charts total and 2 tables. Each designed to give a unique perspective of our market. Charts 3 6 and 7 show the most drastic change in my mind but I’ll let you judge them for yourself.

http://www.centralorproperty.com/Central,ORTrends.html

Unless something drastic happens which seems to be increasingly possible these days and if current inventory trends continue, expect 2013 to be another strong year for Real Estate in Bend as the rest of the story continues to be the shrinking supply of inventory… Speaking of which, we’ll take a look at inventory trends next report.

Below is a quick summary. Certainly take a look at the charts to see the trends and historical data to put it all into context.

FYI: last report all trends were up except for number of sales 3rd quarter over 2nd quarter

View charts and tables attached to see more detailed reports

Price/sq ft

4th Quarter 2012 over 4th Quarter 2011: UP                  

4th Quarter 2012 over 3rd Quarter 2012  Even                  

2012 YTD over 2011.                                    UP

Home Size

4th Quarter 2012 over 4th Quarter 2011:  UP

4th Quarter 2012 over 3rd Quarter 2012:  UP

Number of Sales

4th Quarter 2012 over 4th Quarter 2011:    UP           

4th Quarter 2012 over 3rd Quarter 2012:   Down              

Many sources quote Median sale price and/or average sale price. View the tables to see how these values can paint a different picture of the market.

View charts and tables to see other market measures:

http://www.centralorproperty.com/Central,ORTrends.html

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List-to-sold ratios dove into negative territory in December. December List-to-sold ratios tend to be the lowest of the year anyway but this is the first time since starting this project in 2007 we have witnessed a monthly average in negative territory.

    Admittedly one month out of over sixty is but a blip on the radar screen. Even so it is a pretty big drop along a very long downward trend.  

Chart 1 shows the long downward trend over several years and the dive to negative territory very well. Chart 2 depicts the gradual downward shift from year to year that has been occurring since 2009.

        In years past, we typically see list to sold ratios begin an upward trend in January, leading to inventory build in spring however, the long-term trend is down so unless something drastic happens, expect inventory in the next month or two to either increase as it does seasonally but at a much lower pace or maybe, just maybe it will continue its downward slide.

    Upward pressure on sale prices has a pretty strong hold for the time being. Speaking of sale prices, I’ll have final results for 2012 complete in about a week.

See list to Sold Charts inventory charts and price trend charts:

http://www.centralorproperty.com/Central,ORTrends.html

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List to Sold Ratios Continue to Improve

Made some changes to the charts to make it easier to see trends as well as changes in variation; change is definitely apparent.

List to sold ratios continue their long-term decline. Down in 2012 from 2011; down the last 3 months as we near the fourth quarter a time when, since 2007 (except 2009) they drop even further.  2012 has already seen the lowest list to sold ratios since the beginning of this project in 2007. If the 4th quarter trend repeats expect even lower ratios and consequently lower inventory levels in the months to come in central Oregon.

Getting back on my variation soap box again, variation has drastically decreased as well, meaning our little Real Estate process here in Central Oregon is getting closer and closer to some semblance of predictability, at least for now anyway J

I completed the July Sales data but didn’t report it. If you have time, wander over to the website and check it out. July sales were pretty impressive.  I don’t usually get real excited about monthly reporting because they can be so see-saw; instead we have strong looking upward trend.

The table shows a strong 3rd quarter for appreciation so far in average, median and price/ sq ft price measures.

For a more comprehensive understanding of our market see additional charts and tables covering inventory, sale and list prices etc.:

http://www.centralorproperty.com/Central,ORTrends.html

Also now on:

http://centralorhomesales.com/inventory.asp

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Central Kentucky--Market Holding Up NIcely

Central Kentucky--Market Holding Up NIcelyThe media has tried everything to put a negative spin on our local market, but even so I have been as busy as ever. Buyers are looking forever though and more time is needed to cultivate relationships.Out-of-state buyers are flooding into Central Kentucky and searching for deals on farms and land. The 2010 Equestrian Games are bringing some of these buyers and they are permanently relocating from everywhere. This is the first time in history that the games have been held outside of Europe, which I believe is really a big deal. Kentucky is such a "horse friendly" state and tons of revenue is generated from thoroughbred racing to horse shows at local county fairs. Most of the state parks have trails for riding and you can take riding lessons almost anywhere now. There is a breeding incentive fund offered to horse breeders which redirects sales tax collected on stallion stud fees back to the horsmen who support Kentucky's signature industry. Kentucky just loves horses and of course UK basketball!Most of the out-of-state buyers have property or farms to sell elsewhere and there are a few I have been working with for over a year or more. I stay in touch with them no less than weekly, if only sending a short note to say hi and ask if there has been any activity on their property. Seems like most of them are coming from a very down market, such as Florida, Michigan, California and New Hampshire with their price ranges being above $500,000 to $2,000,000.People involved with horses have always fascinated me, they are a breed that for the most part are down-to-earth and love to stay busy. We have four horses, three being Quarter Horse Paints and one is an old Arabian. They are just "yard pets" and are not riden, but having them to take care of makes me feel warm and fuzzy. They wait at the gate in the mornings so they can get an apple or some sweet feed, but since they are so fat they can't run up the hill, their treats are limited. There is always a boss and ours is Bandi and she likes to keep the other three away from anyone that is going to feed or pet them. She is just plain "bossy".If you plan on visiting Kentucky or are just curious, you need to check out the Kentucky Tourism website. You can visit all the race track sites, find out about events and festivals, see some awesome horse pictures, download a visitors brochure and much more. Of course, if you do visit you are going to want to move here and I am a great tour guide and can find you the right home or farm! Visit my website www.melindaearlywine.com and even though I am in Kentucky and not Kansas I think you will like the spin it has. It is fairly new, so I still need to do some tweaking, but it is already getting some good activity.Everyone have a great day and come visit Kentucky soon!
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"Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you're willing to pay the price." - Vince LombardiIt is no secret that we all are working harder than ever, and the question remains: Is it Worth it?Of course, and throughout this re-invention periord to some degree, we will all learn how to plant our gardens and do more than survive, but to succede and flourish!There are many buyers that are jumping on the train, and realizing it is time to find their home before the whistle blows here in Central Florida. Albeit, not all short-sales and foreclosures are on the track, but when our buyers are educated, they grow to understand the process and the time that is expected. The end result at the closing table is an amazing purchase price and a great home to serve their family for many of their celebrations.I have been welcoming the oncoming challenges, but have equally began realizing my need to celebrate time away with my family!Needless to say, we are all counting our many blessings on a daily basis - and that is not all so bad!-Laura-Leigh Wood, GRI / ABRSpecializing in Central FL Residential Real Estate
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