Bishop Appraiser Blog

Neal McCoy to headline Mule Days 2011 Concert

Neal McCoy, one-of-a-kind country singer and consummate live performer, will headline the 2011 Bishop Mule Days concert.

McCoy, whose hits include such country radio staples as Wink, The Shake, No Doubt About It and the good-time Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On,  is no stranger to Bishop Mule Days, having headlined once before in 2002.

In the 20 years since he released his first hit single, McCoy has released 11 albums, charted 25 singles and covered thousand of miles touring in the U.S and abroad.

Most recently McCoy has tirelessly contributed his time and talents to our nation's service men and women by performing in 13 USO tours.

The Mule Days concert will be held Thursday, May 26th, 7 p.m. in the Mike Boothe Memorial Arena, Tri-County Fairgrounds.

Tickets for the concert and all Mule Days events go on sale Tuesday, Feb. 1st, 8:30 a.m. at the Bishop Mule Days Office, 1141 N. Main St., Bishop. Concert tickets are $42 for Reserved Grandstand seats and $37 for General Admission.

For additional information about the concert, call the Mule Days Office at (760) 872-4263. For more information about Neal McCoy, visit nealmccoy.com.

The 2011 Bishop Mule Days concert is presented by Justin Boots and Tony Lama, co-sponsored by KIBS-FM, 100.7.

4th of July Events in Bishop California 2010

Sunday, July 4th

FHA Loan Checklist                                      

Before you start the FHA loan process, be prepared to provide some information to your loan officer. Have it ready now to save time later.

• Address to your place of residence (past two years)
• Social Security numbers
• Names and location of your employers (past two years)
• Gross monthly salary at your current job(s)
• Pertinent information for all checking and savings accounts
• Pertinent information for all open loans
• Complete information for other real estate you own
• Approximate value of all personal property
• Certificate of Eligibility and DD-214 (for veterans only)
• Current check stubs and your W-2 forms (past two years)
• Personal tax returns (past two years), current income statement and business balance sheet for self-employed individuals

In addition, you will need to pay for a credit report and appraisal of the property.

 “Spot” Appraisal Program

Bishop Appraisal would like to remind real estate agents, sellers, and buyers to overcome one of the most common hurdles in a purchase transaction, PRICING THE HOME CORRECTLY.  

Chris Lehman at Bishop Appraisal will conduct a “Spot” appraisal on a sellers’ property prior to, or during a listing to assure a fast and hassle free purchase transaction.  Typically the appraisal is completed once a contract is accepted and the buyers’ lender requests an official appraisal.  

A spot appraisal, however, will provide you a fair market value of your home prior to the signing of the purchase agreement. Having an accurate valuation of your home before a contract is drawn up will increase your chances of selling the home quickly without just giving it away and help to decrease the amount of time the home sits on the market. 

"Anyone" can order an appraisal on just about any property "Not just the banks".  Before you buy or sell your home, consult a professional appraiser. Get an unbias opinion, this could save you thousands of dollars.  

Bishop Appraisal 760-920-9920 

4 FHA APPRAISER TIPS FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS 

It's a common misconception, but in fact, the FHA is not a lender. Nor does the FHA give people money to buy a home or set interest rates on home loans. Rather, the FHA, or Federal Housing Administration, is a federal government agency that offers mortgage insurance on loans originated by lenders that are approved by the agency. This insurance protects the lender in case the borrower defaults on the loan.

Here are just just 4 important items that an FHA appraiser is looking for on the home appraisal inspection.

• Inadequate access/egress from bedrooms to exterior of home.

• Leaking or worn out roofs. The leaking part is self explanatory. Fha guidelines state that a composition shingle roof can be re-roofed 3 times. A roof can have a total of 2 layers of shingles not 3. Prior to the application of the third layer of shingles, the existing 2 layers must be removed.      

• Evidence of structural problems (i.e. foundation damage caused by excessive settlement).

Benton resident ID’d as bank robbery suspect
Tuesday, 06 April 2010
By Mike Bodine
Register Staff
4-3-2010

Steven Craig Wiswell, 49, of Benton, is the lead suspect in the Chase Bank robbery that occurred at 6 p.m. March 17 in Bishop. Wiswell is described as a white male, stocky build, between 5’8” and 5’11” with blue eyes and brown hair.
Wiswell is still at large and considered armed and dangerous. He has two pistols registered to his name, a 9mm and .44 magnum, is believed to be in possession of deadly hallow-point bullets and, according to law enforcement, has suicidal tendencies.
Wiswell was last seen at the Paiute Palace Casino just hours after the robbery, and a week later a suicide note was found at his residence on Clark Ranch Road in Benton. There are no other reports of his whereabouts.
The BPD issued an arrest warrant Friday morning for Wiswell, who has reportedly told friends that he wanted to “rob a bank, or a casino, and go out in a blaze of glory.”
During a press conference held Friday, Bishop Police Chief Kathleen Sheehan told reporters that Wiswell has made several suicidal comments to friends in the past, with the latest being a “suicide by cop” scenario.
During the press conference, Sheehan not only released the name of the suspect, she also explained how he was identified and gave some insight into Wiswell himself, how he committed the crime and what he might do next.
Sheehan said that the BPD had followed several leads about possible suspects including Wiswell, “and the case started building.”

Read more...

How I Did It: Dave McCoy, Mammoth Mountain

From a rope tow to a world-class resort.

At 93, Dave McCoy seems as sturdy as the mountain on which he built his life and fortune. McCoy founded California's Mammoth Mountain ski resort, if founded adequately describes extraordinary feats of engineering performed on a shoestring in ferocious weather at elevations of more than 11,000 feet. One of the country's top ski resorts, Mammoth covers 3,500 acres and employs 2,600 people during ski season. In 2005, McCoy and other investors sold a majority stake in the resort to Starwood Capital Group in a deal that valued Mammoth at $365 million. McCoy's retirement, like his career, is taking place mostly outdoors, in the snow and under the sun.

As told to Leigh Buchanan

I was born in 1915 and spent the first few years in El Segundo, California. When I was 6, my dad quit his job at Standard Oil and got into the paving business, helping to build some of California's main highways. My mother and I traveled around with him. If he was working near a town, we'd rent a house. If the location was more remote, we'd stay in tent camps. I didn't stay in any one school more than a few months.

In 1928, my mother took me to visit friends in Independence, on the eastern side of the Sierras. I'd never seen anything like it. I loved the snow: I started dreaming about it. I said, "This is where I am going to spend my life."

When I was in eighth grade, my folks separated. It was during the Depression, and so my mom and I got on a Greyhound bus and went to meet my father's parents in Wilkeson, Washington. We got acquainted, and she left me there. I stuck around for two and a half months, but I didn't like the rain, so I took my knapsack and headed back to California. I rode with the bums on the trains, ate at their campfires at night, and listened to their stories. It was the best possible education.

I kept hitchhiking between Washington and California. When I wasn't in school, I'd take jobs on pig farms or picking fruit. I made my first pair of skis in high school shop class. After graduation, I hitchhiked back to Independence and got a job at Jim's Place, a restaurant where my mom was working. I waited tables, washed dishes, and cleaned up after it closed. That's where I met Roma -- she and her friends were cheerleaders who came in one day. She meant everything to me then. Still does. We've been married 67 years. Six children. Eighteen grandchildren. Twenty great-grandchildren.

Skiing was getting really popular, and some friends and I built portable rope tows on the north side of Mammoth Mountain. I wasn't thinking about business. I did it because it was fun.

I wanted to set up a rope tow on McGee Mountain, which was right on the highway and had good snowfall. I needed to buy parts, so I went to a bank and asked for a loan of $85, using my motorcycle as collateral. The bank manager turned me down, because he didn't think I looked responsible. But Roma was his secretary, and she said, "If you don't give him the loan, I'm quitting." She ended up quitting anyway after we got married.

I got a job as a hydrographer with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, measuring snow in the winter so they could predict how much water would be available in the spring and summer. Some days I would ski 50 miles for work.

On weekends, we would set up rope tows and let people use them for free. I was still working for the water department; Roma and I barely had enough money for food. So one day I asked Roma to put out a cigarette box and get skiers to donate whatever they could. We made $15 that first day -- a lot of money for the time.

The Forest Service asked for bids to develop Mammoth into a ski area. I took a piece of paper and drew three lines, which were for chairlifts. That was the business plan. They gave me a permit that let me put lifts wherever I wanted in a 40- or 50-mile area of the Eastern Sierras.

This was right after World War II, and I was able to buy four military amphibious-type vehicles -- called Weasels -- at auction. We'd load people into them, and others would hang on to ropes coming off the back, and we'd haul them over the snow to the tows. Everyone would be singing and laughing and having a good time.

I wanted a chairlift, but the banks wouldn't lend me the money. Then Walter Martignoni of United Tramway offered me one of three lifts he had built. I told him I didn't have any money, and he said, "You can give it to me when you get it working." Then I said, "I don't even have money for installation." He said, "I'll help you with that." He was a man of his word.

We built the ski lodge in '53. People would just show up here and work for free, because they loved the place as much as I did. I got most of my ideas from the employees and from the public. I'd stand in line with skiers at the lifts, and they'd tell me what they wanted.

We kept reinvesting profits -- adding lifts and expanding the lodge. In 1965, I decided to go to the top of the mountain. You couldn't use a chairlift, because it was too exposed to the elements; I needed a gondola. I bought one from a Swiss company: millions of dollars and we just shook hands. The gondola started at 9,000 feet and went up to 11,050 feet.

In 1991, we had to lay off 150 people, because we had six years of very light snow. Instead of keeping all the best people, I looked at the people that were really able to take care of themselves and let them go first. It worked out, because they ended up doing greater things than they had been doing. It may not have been wise, but that's the way it is with me.

I acquired property in the town of Mammoth Lakes and practically gave it away to people who wanted to come and build a motel or a restaurant or whatever. Our family helped start the hospital and the fire department and the schools. Now we've built a college.

I enjoyed running the business as long as we could do the planning and the building and permits were easy to get. But it got to where there were too many regulations and politicians telling you how to do things. All that got in my hair. I managed to make it to 2005, then I sold.

My hobby now is taking pictures: wildflowers and mountains, rocks and trees. I still ride a motorcycle. I had my knees replaced five months ago, so I hope I'll be skiing again this year.

There's no way to understand my life unless you see where I've spent it. When it's clear and calm on the mountain, there's no more beautiful place in the world.

Bryce Duffy

MOUNTAIN MAN: Dave McCoy put up his motorcycle as collateral for a bank loan. He needed $85 to build his first ski tow.

California property owners are assessed on an annual basis (you usually receive your property assessment between July and September) for the new Fiscal Year, but you still have an opportunity to appeal between July 2nd and November 30th. Visit our other website at: www.mammothlakesapraisal.com for details on the Appeals Process. Look at the Assessment Appeals tab for questions and answers.

Keep in mind, “you get what you pay for” Many advanced-fee firms will file your claim for an “up front” fee. Here is the problem… These organizations collect the fee and either file your claim and disappear, or they file your claim and accept a “token” reduction. They have no incentive to fight for a reduced value since they’ve already been paid. Never pay any firm in advance to reduce your assessment!

I have an Income Property, how does this affect the appeal?

You may absolutely file an appeal on your own behalf…. The problem is: Many property owners are called to attend the Appeals hearing and are either ill-prepared, or completely intimidated by the proceedings. The Appeals hearing may require valuation support such as; Sales Comparison, Regression Analysis, Cost and Paired Sales Analysis, etc. Matthew Lehman Appraisal, Inc. is always prepared to address all issues.

I don’t want to do anything right now…..I just want to “think about it” Your hesitation is understood & appreciated. Kindly save our letter in a place where you keep your most important documents. Keep in mind your final day to file an appeal is November 30, 2009.