Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 1981)
In focus Dick Marsyla: A man whose happiness is reflected by his profession By Laura Henkes ■r the Print I Dick Marsyla smiled with the self-assurance of one who Blows that his profession is anonymous with his goals, his ■ere sts, and his personal hap less. | “I like teaching because it ■ves me personal satisfaction— Specially teaching real estate. You have students approx- ■ately one year. Then they take the exam, and you see the ■suits of your efforts. They are able to apply the information Bey have learned,” Marsyla Bid. I Marsyla was working on his masters degree at Washington State University two years ago when he ac- ctpted his full-time position as real estate instructor at CCC. “I really like my job here,” he said. “The students are great--the administration is great. I think we do an even better job than some of the four-year institutions. Here the instructors have the time, and they want to^help the Hidents.” I Through the years, Mar cia has built up extensive ex- perience which has, no doubt, contributed to his growing ryutation as a quality instruc ts. I In planning for a second career prior to his retirement from the Navy, (20 years of service) he started taking real ■ate classes and selling real estate part-time in the various places he was stationed which include Rhode Island, Texas, California, and Bermuda. He gained supervisory experience as Master Chief in command of 750 people and teaching ex perience as an educational supervisor during a significant portion of his enlistment. After his retirement, he and his wife of 25 years (who is also a licensed real estate agent) moved to Bellingham, Washington, where he con tinued his studies and eventual ly became part-owner of a real estate office after receiving his. associate broker’s license. Prior to teaching at CCC, he had also taught part time at the community college level and also had his own pre-license real estate school. In addition to teaching real estate full time, Marsyla also serves on the Oregon Real Estate Advisory Committee. One of his important duties as a member of the advisory com mittee is his participation in a special committee which screens the test questions used for the state exam. The advisory committee, he explained, is very active in Oregon. They are also involv ed in putting together seminars and offering continuing educa tion clases. • When asked of his philosophy of life in general, Marsyla revealed an attitude that he displays in the. classroom. “Enjoy it as you go, and maintain your sense of humor. Without that, it is pretty difficult.” Eventually, Marsyla’s goal will be to “retire on the water”-a house or a small grocery store and condo, pro- Ceramics-more than a craft for La Lone By Lynn Griffith and Dave Hayden Of the Print ■ Slowly she presses her hand against the clay. Gradual ly,« with each touch, she develops the mound of potter’s clay. ■ For Kay La Lone the sculpting and potting of clay is more than a craft. To her it’s a profession she can use to com- municate with and a medium in which to work and become ab sorbed. J As a paraprofessional at the College, La Lone oversees cejamic labs. She helps students develop their ceramic potting techniques. She also mixes oxides for the glazing of peatery and sets up the kiln before the pots are fired. ■ La Lone became involved in art and ceramics very early in life. “My mother taught school anf did a great deal of art,” La Lone said, “Because of her in terest I became involved. Later, in high school, her interests in art intensified. Kay Rosser, La Lone’s high school art teacher, was instrumental in the development of her art fascination. “The most impor tant thing she did was to tell me what was good and what was bad,” La Lone said. “She made me realize the talent I had and developed it. She became my friend. She still teaches like that. I suppose I shouldn’t say this, but I use to get so involved in art that I cut classes to work on it.” This past week La Lone has had a pottery showing in the College library. Many of the pieces on display were thrown while she was doing demonstrations for Richard’s Mug MilHatNoid^^ Wednesday, November 18, 1981 bably in his native state of Washington. “If there was just me,” Marsyla commented, “I would live on a boat, but my wife gets seasick. She has to have a home to go to, so we are trying to combine both our desires so we will both be happy. Just like anything else, you have to make some compromises.” Following are some of the major questions which were addressed by THE PRINT reporter Laura Henkes in her interview with Dick Marsyla regar ding real estate and future economic trends: P: Considering the current housing market, why should someone take real estate classes or get their license at this time? M: What a lot of people fail to see is that this is a good time to prepare themselves, and then they will be ready for it when the market changes. They can put their license on an inactive status and keep the registration up. (In Oregon, successful completion of three classes-Real Estate Practice, Real Estate Law, and Real Estate Finance, and passing grades on the state exam are required for a person to obtain, their license as a real estate salesperson.) P: What does the future hold for real estate? M: The 1980’s are sup posed to be one of the best markets we will' have had in business. The market—the buyers are there—the sellers are there. If we could just finance them. However, subdividers and contractors are going to build smaller homes (approx imately 1,100 sq. ft.) as they did in the 50’s. We can’t afford modemhousing. Not only did the size of homes increase, but the extras such as the hot tubs and Jenn Air’s also increased--and the consumers want them. The tendency is for young people to look for instant gratification when they see what Mom and Dad have ..They go out there to buy, and there is no way they can do it. Other trends in real estate would include more con dominiums, reductions in some of the requirements for subdivi sions (street widths, etc.), and an increase in manufactured housing (mobile homes). Pressure will be exerted on local governments to permit development of manufactured home subdivisions. The trend photo by Jay Graham Real Estate Instructor-Dick Marsyla will be toward buying a lot in a subdivision so you don’t have that high space rental. P: Will the cost of housing significantly decrease? M: The cost of homes will hot significantly come down except for isolated areas that would suffer a drop-because the demand is there, regardless of financing. Metropolitan Portland is not true of the entire U;S. The Southwest is still doing a very good business. So much of our economy is tied to the lumber industry. If we could have diversified sooner (such as electronics), it would have helped. We’ve got to be optimistic. We have had periods like this in our history and real estate has always come around, and I am sure it will this time. P: What about financing? What changes will we see there? M: There will be a reduc tion in long-term amortized loans-the 30-year fixed mon thly payment loan. Loans will possibly be tied to some type of index, and the interest rates would fluctuate up and down. How can you plan your house payments, though, with dif ferences ranging from 12 to 18 percent? The savings and loans have the option of using these types of mortgages now. In a significant portion of loans now, there is private financing, and there will be a trend in this direction until the rates come back down to 12-13 percent, if they come back down that rar. This is not the first time in ou\ history that we have had high; interest rates. One mortgage that we showed in class dated January 7, 1896, had an in; terest rate of 12 percent/ P: When do you think there will be a significant change in the interest rates? M: We are seeing some changes now, People I have talked with seem to think the prime would be down, to around 16 percent early 1982, which would permit real estate loans' at 14 or 14-5 percent. Then in the mid-quarters, down to 13.5 percent. Some people think that buyers would enter the market at 13 percents P: What about savings and loans? M: There is no doubt about it. They are having tremendous problems. You will probably see mergers and eventually there will not be distinguishing factors between commercial banks and savings and loans as they will both be full-service institutions. The overhead on the savings and loans is too high to compete with larger institutions. P: What is the most im portant thing a student could learn from the study of real estate that he could use in his own life? M: Be cautious. The In troduction to Real Estate class gives a general overview of everything but doesn’t make you an expert at anything. It gives you enough to make you dangerous. There is something in this class for everyone whether they want to get into sales or deal on their own. It is my favorite class, and I think the students really learn a/lot. Often, people think of real estate and only think of a real. estate salesperson-^and that is just one area. If I Were a young person, I would really consider property management or ap praisal. Both take expertise, but once you get there, they are very, rewarding. P: What do you feel it takes to-be successful in real estate? M: First of all, you have to be motivated. In sales, it is not an eight-hour day; and you are going to have to be able to budget your personal finances because it is all in commissions. You are going to have to be somewhat aggressive and per sistent. As a private investor, you would need knowledge and motivation; but you may have problems—tenant Xrelations, maintenance problems. If you have a sense of humor with the above traits and the education you can probably be quite suc cessful in real estate. page 9
