Halloween in Omaha

Looking for some scary good fun in Omaha this Halloween?

Try Scary Acres. It has a haunted master's castle, the house on the hill and now haunted woods. Click here for the list of attractions and videos of their commercial and attractions.

As I've written about before, Vala's Pumpkin Patch is a great place to visit with the kids. It has a magic show, black light miniature golf, animals to pet, the Pumpkin Chunkin' Cannon, corn maze, rides and more.

The Henry Doorly Zoo has its annual Spooktacular going on over the weekends in October. Admission charge includes a hot dog dinner, visits with the Animal Ambassadors, trick or treating with commercial partners and more.

If you have small kids, the Children's Museum has some great activities, too. Check out the Dinosaurs: Dawn of the Ice Age exhibit with moving and roaring dinosaurs. The Cobweb Castle is a kid-friendly castle.

Know of any other activities going on? Please comment and share with us!

Humidifier Guidelines

Humidifiers can be a big help. The general rule of thumb is to have them off in the summer and on in the winter. If you have a humidifier, here is a chart to help you with the settings:

Outside Temp	Recommended Setting
-20 ° F	15
-10 ° F	20
0 ° F	25
+10 ° F	30
+20 ° F	35
Above 20 ° F	40

Market Stats for September 2011

Curious about how the market is doing over last year?   Here are the stats for September 2011 vs. September 2010.

	2010	2011
Active Current Listings	5,916	5,423
Avg List Price	$181,781	$181,610
Days on the Market	69	69
List to Sales Price Ratio	97%	95%
Number of Sales YTD	7,776	7,607

As you can see, the number of houses on the market has gone down. The asking price is lower, the time on the market is no different and the actual price received as a percent of the list price is lower. The market has slowed down some over this time last year

Compared to last month, we have fewer houses on the market and they are going for more money, though they stayed on the market fewer days and still sold for 95% of the asking price.

If you would like to see a graph covering a longer time frame of the market, check out my website to see the last year.   If you have any questions or would like a market analysis of your home, please feel free to contact us.

Halloween at Vala's

Now that school has started and the leaves are turning we begin to think about Halloween. And who doesn't love a good time at Halloween? Around Omaha, we have a great place to go for family fun at Halloween -- Vala's Pumpkin Patch!

Located just outside town off Highway 370 and I-80, Vala's is 212 acres of fun rides, games, snack shacks, petting zoo and more. We have taken our kids every year to spend a day there. We have to make at least one run of the Pigtucky Derby, see the pumpkin-smashing dragon, catch a magic show, sling apples, watch them shoot a pumpkin a mile and so much more.

Our son Isaac poses next to the pumpkin-smashing dragon

Our daughter Stephanie readies her apple while trying to sink the pirate ship.

Vala's has so much for kids to do -- pedal carts, train rides (costs extra), air blisters to jump on, mazes, G-rated haunted houses, petting zoo, black light miniature golf and so much more.

The giant slide is always a hit with the kids. Just one of the many things for kids to do!

You can find out about some of their activities and an interactive map of the grounds here.   You can click here for directions to Vala's.   You can find out more about ticket prices here.   If you have a Boy Scout or Girl Scout in the family, ask them about discount days.