Ruminations on what might have been

Legendary investor Peter Lynch's guiding principle has always been "invest in what you know." In other words, if you use Tide, buy Proctor and Gamble. If you use Rubbermaid, buy Newell.

When it comes to computers, I am a longtime Apple man. Although I had a Leading Edge 286 PC in the early '90s, I have used Macs since 1997. Even before Steve Jobs' return to the company, I found them easier to use.

If I had used Lynch's thinking and bought 100 shares of Apple stock this day in 1997, it would have set me back $403. Those same shares today would be worth $60,110. If I had spent $1,000 on Apple stock, I would now have $149,156.

Excuse me while I pour myself a drink.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=AAPL&a=02&b=19&c=1997&d=02&e=19&f=2012&g=d&z=66&y=3762

Idaho Falls indoor trampoline center opens

iJump owner Jacob Lundquist and his son Ezra. Lundquist and his wife, Natalie, have opened an indoor fun center with nearly 6,000 square feet of trampolines and foam.

iJump, an indoor trampoline center with close to 6,000 square feet of bounce, opened this evening at 6. The address is 2670 E. 14th North, which means you turn off Hitt Road at Majestic Auto Body and proceed east for about 1/4 mile.

Owners Jacob and Natalie Lundquist got the idea for the business from similar places in the West, and wanted to run a business where kids and families could have fun and enjoy physical activity. iJump features a Wee Jump area, a dodge ball court, an open jump area and foam pits. There is a mezzanaine area for birthday parties and an eating area.

Everyone must have a signed waiver to jump. Those under 18 must have their parents sign and complete the waiver and those over 18 must have current ID with them.

To visit the Facebook page, go to https://www.facebook.com/ijumpidaho. They will be giving away free jumps when they hit 1,000 likes.

The regular Web address is http://www.ijumpidaho.com. For more information, call (208) 881-5108

AmeriTel begins rebranding Ammon, Idaho Falls hotels

The new lettering at Ammon's La Quinta Inn was half-finished Friday at lunchtime. The Boise-based AmeriTel chain is rebranding most of the hotels it owns. While the Teton Spectrum hotel is now a La Quinta, the Lindsay Boulevard hotel will become a Hampton Inn next month.

The new signs went up Thursday and today, and the AmeriTel Inn at the Teton Spectrum in Ammon is now a La Quinta Inn. In mid-April, the AmeriTel on Lindsay Boulevard will become a Hampton Inn.

This doesn't mean AmeriTel has left the business. "We still own the hotels," said Chuck Everett, the Boise-based chain's vice president for operations. "We needed to reinvest in the properties, and we decided the best way to leverage the reinvestment costs was to rebrand the properties. It's increasingly difficult these days to operate as an independent hotelier."

The Lindsay Boulevard hotel opened in June 1996 and the Ammon hotel opened in May 2000. Since then, the local environment has become increasingly competitive, especially since the openings of the Fairfield Inn and the Hilton Garden Inn.

The conversions have been in the works for two years, and are part of a company-wide rebranding. The Ameritel in Twin Falls recently became a La Quinta Inn and the hotel at the Boise Spectrum will be a Hampton Inn & Suites by May. By this summer, the only AmeriTels left will be in Pocatello, Coeur d'Alene and Boise.

La Quinta and Hampton Inn are both owned by the Blackstone Group, but operate independently.

Given the Hampton Inn already on Channing Way, the Ammon AmeriTel couldn't be rebranded a Hampton Inn. There are a lot of considerations that go into rebranding and remodeling a hotel, Everett said. The other main thing is whether a franchise can be fit into an existing property.

To convert the Lindsay Boulevard hotel into a Hampton Inn & Suites, which they would have liked, it would require a two-story lobby and tearing out rooms to generate more suites. Nevertheless, the look and feel of the Hampton Inn on Lindsay Boulevard is going to be completely different from the AmeriTel, Everett said.

REAL ESTATE SNAPSHOT | FEB. 2012

Bonneville County

Active listings in January-February 2012 were 309 compared to 270 in 2011.
 
There were 143 closings compared to 107 the previous year.

Median price of sold homes was $123,125 in compared to $145,125 in 2011.

There were 149 new properties under contract in February 2012, up 21% from February 2011.

Year-to-date closings were 33.6% above January-February 2011.

Median price of sold homes was 17.8% below January-February 2011.
                                        
                        2007          2008          2009          2010          2011          2012 
UNITS SOLD               242            169            108            103            107            143
MEDIAN PRICE          $146,700   $160,450   $152,225   $144,750   $145,125   $123,125
NEW LISTINGS           273            318            342            427            270           309
DAYS ON MARKET    101            102            125            109            114           133  

Source: Snake River MLS

Ball Ventures hires new asset manager

Tahri Molifua

Tahri Molifua has joined Ball Ventures as an asset manager. He was most recently with The Richman Group, a large, privately held multi-family residential property owner. As an associate, he performed acquisition and property management for the company's Orange County team.

He attended Brigham Young University - Idaho,  where he majored in communications, then went on to study at Cornell University, where he received an MPS Real Estate degree. He returns to Idaho with his wife, Kehaulani, and their three children.