Denver's Real Estate Market Is #1 A Housing Recovery

Denver is number one best choice in the nation with the key requirements for a healthy home sales growth. The key factors that Denver has are:

* Job Growth * Growing Population * City With Good Weather * Lots of First-Time Buyers * No Overbuilding of Condominiums or Office Space * Vibrant Downtown Where People Do Not Need A Car * Well Educated Population * Had A Large Number of Foreclosures Early On - will start recovery soonest

Watch this video that explains requirements of a recovering housing market that was featured on NBC's Today Show saying, "Everything about Denver is pointing Up, Up, Up!"

Is Your Air Conditioning Blowing Money Out Your Window?

As the hot days of summer quickly approach us, this is a good time to start thinking about your air conditioning needs versus expenses. In today’s economy, it seems like everyone is looking for ways to save money. By understanding and being aware of your air conditioning use, you can save a lot of money this summer.

Typically, your air conditioner will use much more electricity than other appliances in your home. For example, a central air conditioning system can use up to 3500 watts while your fridge may use around 360 watts. Obviously, this is a great area to conserve.
If you use your air conditioning unit all summer long, this can make for rather large electric bills. Some ways to reduce this cost are:

* Force yourself to raise the temperature in your home a few degrees - It's not that difficult to do

* Turn off the A/C when you leave your home - or at least turn the setting up 10 degrees

* Close vents and doors to rooms that you are not using

* Consider using a window A/C unit for the room you spend most of your time in rather than cooling the entire home

* Install or utilize a ceiling fan (Make sure it is blowing down!)

* Close blinds when the sun is shining directly into your home

* Install a whole house attic fan to remove heat from your home when you first arrive and to greatly reduce the build up of heat in the attic (which acts like a heat blanket to your home)

Here are a few helpful websites:
-Saving Electricity
-How to prepare your A/C unit for spring/summer

Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

Summer is fast around the corner. One of the best summer time activities in Denver is to watch a Rockies game.

Coors field is located on 20th and Blake in Denver’s lower downtown/Ballpark neighborhood. This prime location is a beautiful spot to watch a game. This ball park is unique because there are typically more homeruns hit there than any other stadium. Why? The altitude! Since Denver is the Mile High City, the air is thinner which allows the ball to travel greater distances. It is estimated that a home-run ball that is hit 400 feet at a sea level ball park would travel around 440 feet at Coors Field. Needless to say, this makes for a more exciting baseball experience.

In 2007, the Colorado Rockies made a dramatic, exciting finish to their season by winning the National League Championship. This was only the second time in Rockies history (Since 1994) they made it to the playoffs. 2007 ended in the best finish in Rockies history by making it all the way to the World Series before losing the series 4-0 to the Boston Red Sox. This recent success has created excitement for Rockies fans. The team is excited about the talent they currently have and those who are making their way up through the minor leagues.

Here are a few helpful Rockies websites:

-Rockies Schedule
-Rockies Kid’s Website
-Rockies Single Game Ticket Sales

Your Child’s Guide to Moving to Denver

Moving is a stressful time for anyone but especially for kids. They leave their homes, schools, friends, and other comfortable, well-known things to face new, unknown people and places. The best way to make this new transition a smooth one for your children is to get them involved in activities in their community. Fortunately, Denver is a great place to be a kid as well as a parent of a kid. There are endless opportunities to learn, give back, and have fun.

The best way to learn about your new city is to do some research on the internet about the area and to get out on the town. Parents, here are some valuable websites that may help you interest your children in their new home town.

- Denver Kids
- Kid Friendly Denver
- The Kid’s Directory
- Kid’s Attractions
- YMCA Youth Sports
- Denver’s Youth Sports
- Colorado’s Youth Soccer

Also, parents, if you are feeling anxious about how your child will react to the move, it is perfectly normal. No parent wants to cause their child any discomfort but psychologists suggest that children who face small amounts of adversity, such as a move to a new city, actually learn to handle stress and change more effectively. The “experts” say the best thing you can do, as a parent, is to be involved in helping them adjust and supportive of their feelings during this sensitive time.

Welcome to Denver!

LOCATION Can Really Make A Difference

About ten years ago Denver’s history was changed when a very bright engineering student from the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado decided to use his skills to calculate exactly where one mile (5,280 feet) above sea level happened to be on the steps of the Colorado State Capital building. Interestingly enough the spot that had been previously marked for decades was incorrectly marked by around 18 inches. So, a new official Denver “mile high” marker was installed. Today, you can find both still in place.

Well, a much bigger LOCATION issue appears to have just happened again for our wonderful state of Colorado. It now appears the four corners of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico is not really where the current marker and the United States Department of Interior said it is. The actual location is estimated now to be off by around 2.5 MILES. The experts are still working out the details. In defense of the previous experts, the fist time this area was surveyed was in 1868 when the sophistication of surveying was inferior to today’s standards.

The correct location is apparently inside the Colorado boarder. Think about this: If the correct line is relocated to the east side of U. S. 160 and northeast of the San Juan River, the state of Colorado will be becoming smaller in total land area.

It is quite interesting to think about the millions of people (including myself) who traveled to the four corners monument, paid their $3.00 admission fee and thought they were actually standing in four states at one time only to now find out we were all 2.5 miles away from the CORRECT LOCATION. I guess we all need to take a trip back to the four corners area to stand in the correct spot once the experts finally agree on the new “exact” location. If we hurry, we might even get there before they move the toll booth.

Former Bronco Jay Cutler Has Listed His Mansion For Sale

If you follow sports you probably know of the recent feuding that took place between Jay Cutler and Josh McDaniels, the Broncos new head coach. Cutler felt McDaniels attempted to trade him behind his back leading to Jay demanding a trade to another organization. It was granted. But before the Broncos agreed to trade Jay, he put his mansion on the market.

In 2006, Jay Cutler had a 5,149 square-foot Denver-Area mansion built for $1.3 million. With the fully finished walk-out basement it has over 7,500 square feet of finished living area. Including 4 bedrooms, 7 baths, a 3 car garage, a 13 tier water fall and mountain views. He recently listed his home on the market for $2 million. - Let me know if you a serious buyer - otherwise I will let you know what it eventually sells for.

Denver Steeply Dipping Bedrock REVISITED

Facts about Denver's Steeply Dipping Bedrock Hazard Area is something most home buyers, current home owners, Realtors®, home inspectors and builders know little about; but should. A previous blog discussing various aspects of the Dipping Bedrock Hazard Area provide insight to problems home owners may experience if their home was built within the affected areas.

I was recently contacted by one home inspector who happens to be an expert on the subject. Joseph Wujek, M. A. Advbldg1@aol.com, owner of Advanced Building Consultants, LLC was kind enough to pass along a very informative fact sheet about the Denver area Slidding Dipping Bedrock Hazard Area.

Some of the key points for metro Denver area home buyers to know are:
* Sedimentary deposits formed the bedrock layers 80 million years ago.
* As the Rocky Mountains push through the ancient horizontal layers of bedding planes of Pierre Shale they caused the bedrock layers to stand nearly vertical in some areas of Jefferson, Douglas and El Paso Counties. These areas are more commonly know as Steeply Dipping Bedrock.

* When moisture is added to these tilted layers they may slide with the movement in severe.cases causing structural failure of building foundations. Ground movement has been as much as two feet and extending hundreds of feet.

* Future movement can continue for decades even no prior movement has occured for decades

* Slipping dipping bedrock destruction at a particular site can only be determined with extensive geological and geotechnical investigation.
* Structures such as homes should not be built on some of the Slipping Dipping Bedrock areas.

SIGNS OF HEAVING BEDROCK DAMAGE:
* Differential heaving (uneven lifting) of the home, or nearby sidewalks, driveways, and streets.

* Uneven sloping of patios, porches, and floors.

* Large cracks around windows and doors, and in foundation walls.
* Doors and windows that bind.
* Evidence of repairs of severe cracks in interior drywall walls and ceilings.

Full-size copies of Slipping Bedrock Hazard Area map can be purchased by calling
The Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Department at 303-271-8700.

Squirrels: Your Home Can Be Their Home

Squirrels are sure cute to watch BUT...they sure can cause you problems for homeowners. When you are buying a home it would be a good idea to ask the seller to specifically disclose any pest activity within the last two years. Even if a pest has been removed, others can scent the territory and move right back in.

This is especially true of squirrels. In the Denver Metro area we have the Fox Squirrel, which is a tree dwelling rodent mostly active during the day. The diet of the Fox Squirrel varies: Fruit, nuts, berries, tree buds, and succulent plant materials are the common base but they have adapted to urban environments to become scavengers of most anything available, including nestling songbirds. In the fall squirrels will range more for food and tend to pester homeowners more at this time.

They often build tree-nests of leaves, twigs and other debris, but they prefer an enclosed space if they can find it. Squirrels can be a nuisance at your bird feeder, your garden or your garbage cans but the severe problem is when they enter your residence, usually at the eave or soffit, to make their nest and have their young. Once nested, squirrels have two to seven young per litter, usually twice per year in February to April and August to September.

Like all rodents, squirrels gnaw constantly and along with eating their way through your shingles or wood siding to get inside, they will gnaw on rafters, studs, drywall and chew through electrical wiring, which can cause a fire. Fox squirrels can also remove wooden shakes and shingles from roofs and enter attics. They also will use your attic as their bathroom, creating a health hazard from the wet and drying waste. Like all wild animals, they are dirty and carry fleas, ticks, mange mites and internal parasites. They will remove bark from deciduous trees, especially elms and Russian olives. They love bird feeders. Digging in lawns, eating ornamental plants and bulbs are indicators that you are frequented by squirrels.

Some ways to keep the squirrels away are to use squirrel-proof bird feeders, trim tree limbs six feet away from your home and by placing metal “collars” on trees to keep them from climbing at all. They sometimes find entry through a chimney, so make sure a regulation chimney cap is in place.

If squirrels are causing damage to your property or have entered to make a nest the only method of removal allowed under Colorado law is trapping. Once trapped and removed it is important to squirrel-proof the former entry points because squirrels are numerous and others will soon fill-in the empty territory and nest.

Looking for answers For Wildlife Problems at your property? Try contact Colorado State University Extension.

If you need assistance with your squirrel, pest or wildlife problems contact Whitmore Pest Control. Hugh Whitmore hwhitmore@q.com has the experience to resolve your problems.

See related Woodpeckers article

Pot Of GOLD At The End Of Foreclosed Or Short Sale Property?

Most of the buyers I have been working with over the past 18 months start their conversation with me by saying they really would like to find a “good deal” or a really “great deal” by finding a bank foreclosed property or perhaps a “short sale” property that needs minor fix-up. I immediately know I am talking with someone who does not understand the current Denver area foreclosure and “short sale” market.

The thing they do not understand about the current Denver market is how loans have been put on the typical foreclosed and short sale property during the previous two or three years. Most homes owners placed maximum loan to value loans on their homes when they purchased them within the past few years. What this means is that they originated an 80% loan to value first mortgage and simultaneously placed a 10%, or 15% or in many cases a 20% second mortgage on the home. When the market softened they ended up owing more on their homes than the home was worth. Many home owners would need to come to the closing table with tens of thousands of dollars in order to sell their homes. Since they don’t have that money, they fall into a “short sale” or foreclosure.

Here is where it becomes interesting. What ends up happening is that the first mortgage lender can not recover all of the money owned to them. The second mortgage lender typically is looking at losing the entire amount owed to them in the loan they made. BUT, the second mortgage lender still must agree to release their lien against the property or the new buyer (perhaps you) can not close on the home.

What is happening in the Denver market today is that the second lender becomes extremely difficult to work with. They figure that they have nothing more to lose so they start pushing everyone involved to recover some of their money. This fight, mostly between the second and first mortgage lenders, can take months, or in some cases, longer than a year to finally resolve.

So, my buyers think that we can just find a real nice foreclosed or “short sale” property, make an offer and go to closing – like we did in the old days. It just does not happen that way any longer.

Today, the typical “short sale” or foreclosed home will be on the market long enough to have multiple offers written on the property. Most have four to eight contracts written. I have run into some that have over 20 pending contracts on them and the lenders still have not accepted a single offer. I recently read somewhere that the typical Denver “short sale” listings has an average of ten written offers on it before ONE of those buyers successfully goes under contract and to closing.

My word of caution for today’s “good deal” hunters is that the pot of gold you might be expecting when you purchase a foreclosed property or a “short sale” home may not be quite as easy to find as you think. Sauvé lenders know how to squeeze every last dollar out of their bad situation. After all, they are getting tons of experience with thousands of properties they have made bad loans to on how to force the negotiations in their favor. One way they do this is to just sit and wait for up to 25 offers to be written on the home. Then they start their negotiations from there to get the highest bidder even higher. (More about that tactic in a future blog)

If you have many months or even up to a year to buy a home than foreclosed and “short sale” properties may be just the thing for you to get involved with. There are “deals” out there. They are now becoming much more difficult to find.

Here is a tip for you if you want to consider this type of property purchase. Find as many homes as you can and submit a written offer on multiple properties. The Denver average is upwards of ten written offers to get one to go to closing.

So, Is There Really A Pot Of Gold At The End Of A Foreclosed Or “Short Sale” Purchase? I guess you will have to make that determination after your own unique experience. Be sure to let me know how many months it took you to close and how many contracts you had to present. I will be happy to report my viewers numbers.

Mold (What You Should Know) CORRECTED

I was just contacted by a Forensic Industrial Hygienist, Caoimhín P. Connell (http://www.forensic-applications.com/), who advise me that some of the information on my web site regarding mold was incorrect. Mr. Connell offered to re-write my information for me and I thought I would share his corrected (more knowledgeable) version with my readers below.

"There is no scientific classification “mold.” Mold is any filamentous fungi.
A fungus may be a “mold” at one point in its life cycle, a yeast at another, and just a fungus at other times.

Over 100,000 mold species have been recognized
A single genus or species may have more than one genus or species name
More genera and species are constantly being found and/or re-named
Molds do not flourish well without an initiating water source
Most molds will not proliferate in elevated relative humidities even as high as 85% unless there is an initiating water episode.
Molds flourish best in moderate temperature ranges: 40° - 100°F

Molds generally need two components in order to thrive:
* Water
* Food Source

All houses in the world contain mold
All houses in the world contain tens of thousands to billions of mold spores

TOXIC vs. TOXIGENIC:
There is no such thing as “toxic mold.”
The term “toxic mold” was recently created by journalists, who probably confused the term with “toxigenic mold.”

Some molds that produce by-products called “mycotoxins” are toxigenic molds.
The mycotoxin known best to most people is penicillin.

No studies have shown that exposures to molds or their mycotoxins in normal residential settings have caused illness.

No studies have shown that normal indoor exposures to Stachybotrys atra, the notorious “toxic black mold” are related to any illnesses.

The one study that reportedly linked Stachybotrys atra to pulmonary hemorrhaging in children was withdrawn by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for lack of evidence.

Stachybotrys is an extremely common mold found in every house and in every building in the United States.

Stachybotrys, like all other molds, does not always produce its mycotoxins.

There is no one mold that is more “toxic” or more “dangerous” than any other mold.
All molds have the potential to illicit allergic reactions, which is the primary health concern associated with mold exposure.

Each day, every adult human on Earth inhales between 10,000 and 500,000 mold spores, including spores from the so-called “toxic molds”.

Mold Exposure:
Any type of mold can be allergenic, but only in susceptible individuals.
Exposures to elevated concentrations of molds have been associated with:
* Coughing
* Sneezing
* Runny Nose
* Itching eyes
* Asthma

The stereotypic "toxic black mold," Stachybotrys atra, has not been shown to be any greater a health threat than any other mold.

Mycotoxins can be either beneficial or harmful to humans depending on the dose received.

Studies have demonstrated that toxicologically significant exposures to mycotoxins generally do not occur, even in houses that are heavily contaminated with molds.

Mold Testing:
There are no Federal or OSHA standards for mold exposure.
Anyone, regardless of training may call themselves a “Certified Mold Inspector” and print their own certificate and market their services as such.

While some Industrial Hygienists may be scientists and have training in molds, being an Industrial Hygienist is not an indication of training in microbiology or sampling. Some Industrial Hygienists may be certified only in specific aspects such as sound, or radiation. Virtually all testing performed by “Certified Mold Inspectors” and Home Inspectors is invalid and uninterpretable.

The following is a small portion of the list of organizations that recommend against such testing for mold during normal building assessments:
- The US Environmental Protection Agency
- The Illinois Department of Health
- The California Department of Health Services
- The New York City Dept of Environmental and Occupational Disease Epidemiology
- The American Industrial Hygiene Association
- The US Centers for Disease Control

Typical indoor mold concentrations in healthy Colorado homes can be as high as 15,000 spores (or CFUs) per cubic meter of air for winter months. - 1,000 spores (or CFUs) per cubic meter of air for summer months.

The American Academy of Allergy and Immunology classifies mold concentrations as follows:
* “Low”(1 – 6,499 spores/m3): Only individuals extremely sensitive to these molds will experience symptoms.
* “Moderate” (6,500 – 12,999 spores/m3): Many individuals sensitive to these molds will experience symptoms.
* “High” (13,000 – 49,999 spores/m3): Most individuals with any sensitivity to molds will experience symptoms.
* “Very High” (greater than 50,000): Almost all individuals with any sensitivity at all to these moulds will experience symptoms. Extremely sensitive people could have severe symptoms.

There is no science to support the common practice of comparing indoor and outdoor mold concentrations. This practice is used almost exclusively by poorly trained “mould inspectors”.

Indoor and outdoor concentrations cannot be compared for many reasons including:
- Mold concentrations change wildly minute to minute indoors
- Mold concentrations change wildly minute to minute outdoors
- The changes occur independently of each other
- Seasonal changes are greater outdoors than indoors
- Wind speed effect outdoor concentrations more than indoor
- Precipitation and snow cover effect outdoor concentrations more than indoor
- In Colorado, winter indoor concentrations for healthy homes is normally greater than outdoor concentrations.
- In Colorado, summer indoor concentrations for healthy homes can be the same as outdoor concentrations
- It is statistically impossible to confidently test the air concentration in an home with fewer than six samples for every study area, which must be collected throughout the day.
- Sample results are valid only for the day in question, and only for a five minute time-frame surrounding each sample.
- According to the American Industrial Hygiene Association and ASTM International and other organizations, legitimate mold assessors can adequately perform a building assessment for mold without collecting any samples.
- According to the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), legitimate mold experts can adequately identify a mold by merely looking at it.

Mold Guidelines & Recommendations:
There are no Federal or OSHA standards for mold exposure.
The US EPA recommends following the guidelines set forth by the AIHA and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH).

Two States (Texas and Maryland), ignored the AIHA/ACGIH guidelines and promulgated mold standards which have met with widespread disapproval from scientific bodies.

Most “mold remediation” projects conducted in Colorado were unnecessary, and frequently the techniques are unwarranted.

The AIHA states that the purpose of mold remediation is to remove visible mold
According to the AIHA, the assessment of the adequacy of remediation should be based on a visual inspection.

Most mold remediation can be adequately and safely performed by the homeowner.

The EPA has recommended that homeowners who have more than 100 ft² of mold growth should have it professionally re-mediated.

Spraying the affected building materials and/or mold colonies with a 10% to 20% hypochlorite solution (Clorox in water) is generally not recommended, and is an ineffective mold remediation technique.

Spraying the affected building materials and/or mold colonies with more expensive commercial biocides is no more effective than using bleach.

The U.S. EPA recommends against the use of any such sprays.

Ozone generators are entirely ineffective at mold mitigation.

Ozone generators produce extremely dangerous concentrations of the toxic gas ozone and should never be used as a mold remediation technique.

If building materials have been damp for over 48 hours, they can be adequately and quickly cleaned by the homeowner or maintenance staff.

If building materials have visible mold, in many cases, they can still be adequately and quickly cleaned by the homeowner or maintenance staff.

Depending on the degree of visible contamination, personal belongings (books, clothing, furniture) may require professional evaluation to properly remove the mold and salvage the item.

These are no generally accepted criteria where mold remediation is necessary for health reasons."

Thank you very much Mr. Connell for sharing your professional expertise with my readers.

It's Not Legal - But New Contract Procedures Are Here

Most of the laws affecting real estate transactions were signed into law many decades ago. Specifically the law that says a listing real estate agent must present all offers to their seller client upon receipt of the written offer. But with the multiple purchase offers being presented on many "Short Sale" listings these days, I am finding most listing agents are ignoring the Colorado required contract procedure of presenting all offers to their owner seller client.

The New Contract Procedure seems to be that listing brokers working with a "Short Sale" seller are now electing to take a short cut by simply submitting all contracts to the "Short Sale" lender or lenders and not bothering to involve their seller client. They are waiting weeks or months for the existing lender(s) involved with the transaction to select (or counter and select) the contract they want to work with before actually obtaining a signature from their client (the owner/seller of the property who holds legal title to the property).

This procedure is sure not what the law makers had in mind when real estate contract laws were written. My guess is the Colorado Department of Regularity Agencies would agree that this new procedure is not acceptable. But, real estate brokers are making up their own rules to simplify their work load under our greatly changed real estate market conditions that exist today.

Interestingly enough, I have actually been told "it just won't happen" when I asked a recent listing broker to have his seller sign a purchase offer that I submitted for one of my buyer clients.

I have to admit, I am totally amazed at the attitude and indifference many "Short Sale" real estate listing brokers have toward Colorado contract law and their client obligations.

The point of this blog today might just be to suggest that you select your broker very carefully. Denver Real Estate Brokers are not all created equally and they sure do not all provide the same level of professionalism toward their clients nor toward other real estate brokers. The price to you is frequently very similar from one broker to another, but the level of service and professionalism you receive can be from one extreme to another.

Want To Know What The Maximum FHA Loan Limits Are For Your County?

You can check on-line for the maximum FHA loan limits by your specific county and State by going to the FHA limit information web site.

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Click here if you are interested is seeing the FHA maximum mortgage loan limits for Colorado by county.

FHA underwriting guidelines are a bit more relaxed than conventional loans. Additionally, you only need to put down 3.5% of the purchase price to obtain a FHA loan - (96.7% loan to value).
I can refer you to one of several reputable mortgage lender if you would like more specific information on FHA or any other type of loan.

How To Improve Your FICA Credit Score

Your credit score has become more important to you than ever before. Not only are lenders becoming more selective of whom they will loan money to, they are now setting the interest rate they charge various customers based upon credit scores. Only borrowers with a 740 credit score or higher are given the lender’s lowest (best) interest rate. If your credit score is below 740 your lender will require you to pay a higher interest rate.

So, what is your credit score based on? It is based on many different aspects of you as a consumer and user of credit. Your spending history and past use history of credit is also considered when establishing your credit score. Credit bureaus look at what type of credit you use, the length of time your accounts have been open, and of course, if you pay your bills on time.

Maintaining a strong score is even more important to you since credit scores never rises as quickly as they fall. It is suggested that you check your credit score at least 6 to12 months. Most credit agencies will let you do it for free once a year. Be sure to read every line of your report and request in writing they delete incorrect information. You can check your credit by contacting:

Experian
Equifax

TransUnion

If you do need to bring your credit score up a bit, here are a few ideas to consider:

* Pay all bills on time – Consider paying as many of your credit lines such as your house payment, car or student loans through an automatic monthly deduction from your checking account. It is one sure way these credit lines will always have a good history.

* Don’t open credit cards or any new lines of credit that you don’t need. The longer your existing credit history is (the more mature each credit line is) the better your score will be.

* Be absolutely sure that your monthly balance remains below 30% of credit card or line of credit limits. Your credit score will suffer if it looks like you need credit as compared to your ability to borrow.

* Don’t open new credit cards during the holidays to get the merchant’s discount. Each new credit line can also reduce your score.

* If you have old credit lines that are more than five years old, do not bring them current. The older the delinquency the less effect it has on your score. If you start paying the really old lines of credit off, you instantly bring all of that old history into the current calculations of your credit score.

* Consult a licensed mortgage credit specialist before doing anything. This is part of their daily job and they not only can assist you, they are current to the day of what will help and what will hurt your FICA credit score.

* You can have multiple mortgage lenders check your credit WITHIN a two week period and it will only count as a single inquiry. If one or more lenders check your score outside the two week window, each additional one will be counted against you. (Be careful when contacting the on line lenders such as Lending Tree and Ditech. They each will authorize as many as 100 credit inquiries to appear against your credit and frequently they will not all be run within the two week window.)

* Get rid of credit card balances or try to decrease them as fast as you can. Remember the 30% rule above.

* Remember: closing an account does not make it disappear from your credit history. Credit agencies sort of think you should always be responsible for your actions.

MLS Statstics for all of Metro Denver

FEBRUARY METRO DENVER MLS STATS are right hear. Find the up and down trends. How many days it is taking to sell a home by area of Denver. Discover the percentage of change by areas of metro Denver for average sales price, days on market, year-to-date and year-to-year as well as REO inventory changes.

The Rise and Fall of Denver’s Housing Prices

Do you ever feel like the rise and fall of home prices resembles the stock market? It can seem nerve-wracking when you are looking to buy a home while the news reports contain information about falling prices. You sure don’t want to buy when home prices are dropping.

The good news is, buying a home in the Denver real estate market is not like buying and selling stocks in the very volatile stock market. Although home prices do rise and fall, you will fair far better with home ownership than returns available within the stock market. Home owners tend to own their homes for very long periods of time and can easily weather the small drop of their home values in difficult economic times. More importantly, the Denver housing market not only did not take the big hit other major market have, Denver’s housing market is now improving. New home construction starts showed a significant unexpected increase just last month. – The first sign of improvement for the building industry in over ten months.

Additionally, 30 year fixed rate mortgages are available below 5%; the lowest they have been in the past 30 years.

So why does the real estate market fluctuate? The answer is as simple as basic Economics 101 -Supply and demand. The quality of jobs contributes into the equation of determining home prices too. If there are too many homes on the market as compared to the number of buyers in the market, the prices will drop because not as many people are interested in buying a home. If there are more buyers in an area with too few of sellers, the prices will rise because more people are competing for the same home. Today in Denver, we are actually seeing a "Seller's Market" with multiple offers on many homes below the $200,000 price point.

The real estate market’s rises and falls are hard to predict. America’s current economy has created more unemployment and layoffs and sent real estate into a slow ("Buyer's Market") cycle over the past 18 months. And needless to say, home prices have decreased. The positive aspect of this is that homes across the nation, including throughout the Denver market, are “ON SALE” and it is the best time to buy a home and move up to a nicer home that we have seen in many years.

Although home inventory is declining, you still have an excessive amount of inventory to choose from in all price ranges above $200,000 throughout Denver. Good Deals and Great Deals are still out there for those who are willing to invest some time to lean their local market. If you are considering purchasing a home above the $800,000 price range, fantastic opportunities are still available.

Let me explain the different aspects which affect the real estate market’s ups and downs in the areas that interest you the most. I would be happy to also share with you specific market trends, appreciation and depreciation percentages by neighborhood and show you which communities are most likely to show appreciation within the next several months.

Are You Trying To Decide If You Should Buy A Home?

We buy things everyday. The majority of our purchases are small and frequent enough and so familiar to us that little additional knowledge is necessary to make a sound purchase decision. But, then there are those larger purchases – like your next home that requires some additional attention to details and specific knowledge to insure you make a wise decision. In other words, buying a home should not be just another “buy decision”. This type of purchase should be made after taking several steps as well as gaining more technical knowledge about the home buying process.

Most people think they need to take time to research to know they did not over pay for the home. But, many people don’t even consider how to find the best neighborhood for their money.

Just this week I am assisting a first time home buyer (who is smart enough to take advantage of the $8,000 government 1st time home buyer tax credit that expires 12/31/09) find a home. Interestingly, he has selected one home that is in a “short sale” and appears to be well under priced compared to other homes we have seen. But, after reviewing recent comparables within that specific neighborhood, it actually appears that the home is over priced. It is especially interesting that the home also has five offers on it that the two previous lenders have not gotten around to accepting. But, that is another story for another blog.

Here are some pointers and things you should think about when you decide to purchase a home. Remember, what you do not know, can easily get you into trouble.
* Shop around for mortgages and even a knowledgeable and very experienced Realtor to start your process.

* Next on my list would be to have your real estate broker determine what neighborhoods are currently holding their own or are now showing signs of appreciation. Needless to say, it would not be a good idea to buy a home in an area that was still showing signs of downward price movement.

* Once you have shopped for the best mortgage that fits your current financial abilities and the lender’s underwriting needs the best, determine which lender has the most competitive rates for that loan program. - Remember, you can bargain with your mortgage broker as well as the seller of the home.

* Don’t save money by skipping on the home inspection before buying – even if it is a new home. This mistake can cost you thousands of dollars in the future. (I drive this point home to my clients by suggesting that they probably already have enough problems in their lives without going out and buying the undisclosed problems of some seller.)

* Know what type of house you are looking for, what type of neighborhood, and how much you are willing to spend before you start looking. This one step can save you days of time and tons of frustration. Some of my buyer pay more attention to this detail than others. What level of frustration are you willing to pass on?

* The more knowledgeable you are about the home buying process the smoother your purchase will likely proceed.

The decision to buy a home is a big one! It is important to research and familiarize yourself with the aspects of buying a home. I have 31 years of real estate experience within the metro Denver real estate market. Perhaps I can at least visit with you to discuss your specific questions and to perhaps suggest a few additional points you might want to consider to help you decide if now is the right time for you to be buying a home. As always, there are absolutely no obligations on your part.

Here are a couple helpful links to get you started:

- Buying A Home

- 5 Things To Know Before You Buy a Home

First Time Home Buyer" Get $8,000 Tax Credit

What exciting news and what a great time for any anyone how has never owed a home before to be buying. Never in all of the history of our country has the government made it so easy for a first time home buyer to purchase a home. All of you Metro Denver area first time home buyers really need to jump aboard and take advantage of this outstanding opportunity.

Remember, this is not a tax deduction but a full blown TAX CREDIT. It is actually $8,000 of money you get directly from the U. S. government for purchasing a home anytime during 2009.

Here are the details of how the 2009 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit works. As always, feel free to call me with your questions about this program OR to start looking for a home.

DENVER IS TOPS ON THE LIST

According to a recent national survey Denver has again risen to the top of the list of most desired cities to live in.

Perhaps you too should consider making living in Denver tops on your list of objectives this year. Prices and selection of homes are still great. Interest rates are low and there is no reason we should be enjoying all of our “Mile High” sunshine and wonderful amenities without YOU.

"See No Evel" (part 2 of Did You Over Pay Your Home Inspector)

Home inspectors often proceed with the home inspection you hired them to do with an attitude of "I See No Evil" so therefore, it does not exist; at least as far as their report and their liability are concerned. Specifically speaking, many home inspectors do not want liability for the big ticket areas of a home. I am referring to the roof and the heating/cooling system of your home. So, they simply "See No Evil" and therefore take no responsibility for their inspection and report of condition of those items. They skirt their responsibility, in my opinion, by inserting a clause in their inspection report that says something like: "It is recommended that you have the furnace cleaned, serviced and certified by a qualified HVAC contractor."
As soon as they insert this clause two things just happened to you.

First - You just over paid your home inspector - because you THOUGHT the professional you hired to complete your home inspection was actually capable of and willing to inspect the entire home. BUT, this type of convent (transfer the inspection obligation and liability to someone else) clauses many home inspectors use really just complicated your life.

Secondly, these clauses create a couple of other very difficult problems for you.

a) The allotted days allowed in your purchase contract for a home inspection to be completed is typically very limited. By the time you and/or the seller hires a second or third contractor to finish inspecting the part(s) of the home that your first inspector was not trained or not willing to inspect, the inspection period will have past. If the seller does not agree to sign an extension agreement with you to extend the date for you to complete your home inspection, you will be out of luck if problems are found.

b) Who do you think is suppose to pay for the second or third "qualified professional" to complete your home inspection? Typically your agent will try to get the seller to pay for the rest of your home inspection. BUT, many sellers are not willing to pay for any part of YOUR home inspection. If the seller should allow the extension of the inspection period, but refuses to pay for the other professionals to inspect the home, didn't you just over pay your first home inspector by the amount of money that your 2nd and possibly 3rd contractor charge you? After all, your real estate broker probably never mentioned that you would be paying for additional inspections.

Since you probably thought the home inspector you hired would be inspecting the entire home, why not make your life as simple as possible and verify, before you hire an inspector, that he actually does not transfer inspection obligations and liability to additional professionals. I always refer capable and competent professionals to my clients.

Did You OVER PAY Your Home Inspector? (Part 1)

After observing home inspectors for the past 31 years it has become quite apparent that not all inspectors are created equal. Or, at least, they sure do not all elect to deliver the same level of competence and in depth quality of home inspection.

Never has the phrase "Caveat Emptor" been more applicable than when you hire a professional home inspector. Caveat Emptor means buyer be aware. When it comes to home inspections, the buyer does not automatically get an implied warranty of competence nor any guarantee of a thorough inspection. As a knowledgable consumer, you must know the TWO MAJOR AREAS where home inspectors typically fall short of doing the job you thought you hired them to perform for you.

Your first area of concern should be with the steps your inspector takes to inspect the roof. Some inspectors will only look at the roof from the ground and provide a "general visual inspection". Others will lean a ladder against the front and back rain gutters to get a closer but still very limited view. The best inspectors will actually get up on the roof and walk the entire roof to do a thorough inspection. MOST home inspectors will not walk on any roof because of the risk of falling and injuring themselves. If they will not walk the roof for you, you just over paid for your home inspection.

Before hiring an inspector, you really need to ask him how he inspects the roof. If he does not say he walks the entire roof, call another inspector. Additionally you should ask him specifically what parts of the roof he inspects. If he does not give you a long list of technical sounding parts of a roof (as listed below), you really need to find a more competent home inspector.

Here is the real issue (and hint for Part 2 of this blog): Most home inspectors go to extremes to limit their personal liability exposure. They start with their written agreement and limited liability statement that you are required to sign before they begin their home inspection. So, be sure to read and question them about their limited liability disclosure. The next and most critical part of how they limit their liability is to simply transfer it to another professional. They do this with a simple clause in their home inspection report that says something like: "It is recommended that you hire a licensed roofing contractor to have the roof inspected and certified". Didn't you think he was willing and "qualified" to inspect ALL parts of the home - including the roof? You would not hire a dentist who was willing or only qualified to work on most of your teeth. How about a CPA who was only willing of qualified to do only part of your tax return? So, why hire a home inspector who is willing or only qualified to inspect most of your home?

Your home inspector should be knowledgeable and capable of inspecting the following:
• Attic Ventilation qualities
• Insulation
• How Gutters are attached and drain
• If the roof has any potential of Ice Dams
• Dormer • Roof Truss • Rafters • Decking or Sheathing Underlayment
• Drip Edge
• Soffit
• Valley
• Hip
• Gable
• Ridge
• Flashing
• Starter Strip
• Roof Skylights

MOST IMPORTANTLY:

Ask your home inspector to email you a couple of his most recent home inspection reports. You will quickly be able to determine if his reports transfer liability to other professionals who are more capable than he or if he indeed does the quality of inspection you thought you would be purchasing.

In Addition To Location, Location, Location

Everyone knows that whenever they go shopping for a new home that the three most important things are Location, Location, Location. But, as a buyer, how does this long standing advise really translate when you are selecting properties for consideration? My personal experience is that buyers are frequently not really sure what neighborhood and home features equate to the best "Location".

So, what features make it a “good neighborhood”? A “good neighborhood” should provide safety of you and your family. Next, homes should appreciate more easily than in other areas. And, the home and community should offer the best "livability". Here are the top things to look for when selecting a neighborhood to live in:

1. Schools – You should always check out the school district your children would be attending. Better districts provide a quality learning environment.
2. Low crime rate- This is important for obvious reasons. The local police department should have published information for you to compare one community to another.
3. Accessibility to Denver's Public Transportation.
4. Overall trend of the neighborhood. - This is important to look at not only for your family’s enjoyment and comfort of living in the neighborhood but when you decide to sell, the more desirable neighborhoods will have appreciated the most and are always the quickest to sell.

You should look for:
a. Extensive employment opportunities near the neighborhood
b. Positive population and economic growth
c. Clean well kept homes that show consistent "pride of ownership" within the community
d. Nearby quality shopping, entertainment, restaurants, parks, recreation centers, open spaces and easy access to interstate and light rail
e. Functionality of the floor plan. (no functional obsolescence)

f. Money being spent in neighborhood to remodel or better yet, home additions and "popping tops" and scraps and re-building new and bigger home.

You might also enjoy reviewing my articles on:
Five Secrets To Buying The Best House For The Money

There are over 100 other considerations that should be on your radar screen when considering your next home. It would be my privilege to make sure you consider them all the next time you buy a home. - Just give me a call and we can get started.

Good Times Are Coming

The professionals at Land Title Guarantee Company, just provide January 2009 MLS statistics for the number of closed homes, number of closed sales year to date, average day on market, number of active listings, number of new listings, absorption rate in months and average price sold throughout all area of Metro Denver.

If these numbers are telling the truth, our market is continuing to show signs of recovery. Inventory of available homes continues to fall, average days it takes to market a home continues to decline and the number of sales is increasing.

The monthly numbers in the attached link will automatically up-date around the 10th of each month. So, if you are interested in referencing back to older numbers, you might want to print out each month's information.

"I Can't Believe It Is This Hard To Buy A Home With Cash"

During a closing I had this week my buyer actually said "I Can't Believe It Is This Hard To Buy A Home For Cash". The buyer was buying the property for cash and could not imagine how difficult the process was to finally get to the closing table.

The problems were sure not on our end of the transaction but rather on the seller's end. You see, the seller was not making payments on the property any longer. Neither the 1st mortgage lender nor the 2nd mortgage lender were in too big of a hurry to send their borrower (the seller) the official Notice of Election and Demand that would start the foreclosure process. So, we ended up writing a purchase contract that required a "Short Sale" Addendum. This also required both existing lenders who were taking substantial losses to provide written notice that they would allow the "Short Sale" to occur. They basically had to put into writing their agreement to accept considerably less at our closing than their promissory notes were written for.

Today, lenders REO (Real Estate Owned) departments are so over worked that they get around to contracts like ours whenever they can. I this example, it took them over 60 days from the day we wrote the offer on the seller's property to get around to responding in writing that they would allow our closing to happen.

Technically, my buyer and the seller never did have an enforceable contract all the way to the closing. The Short Sale Addendum requires the lender(s) to provide written notice of their acceptance of the purchase price and the resulting short payment of their loan(s) in order for the contract to be in force.

The real problem with my buyer was that he was trying to move his family back to Denver from Mexico. He continuously asked me if me if it was save to make the move. I had to answer him every time with "I really don't know. It looks favorable, but we still do not have the required signatures from the two existing lenders"

We did finally close, but not until the buyer was quite frustrated with the home buying process that now is standard operating procedure when a home is going through a "Short Sale".

Do You Need A Moving Company?

GREAT, you sold your home! . . . Congratulations. One of the next steps you will need to take is to hire a good moving company. This may sound easy enough but you want to make sure you get a reputable company who won’t scam you or take any belongings.

Yes, there are moving companies that will load up your belongings and hold everything hostage to get more money for their services because of excessive weight or time required to pack their truck. You can minimize your risks by signing a contract several weeks in advance of your moving day. A client of mine just used a moving company that presented a contract their attorneys prepared just as they showed up with the truck on moving day. My client quickly signed without really reading the agreement, but sure became educated by the end of the day and later on too when the moving company would not reimburse for damages they caused to the furniture.

The first scam was to say they could not get everything on the truck so they would need more money to finish the move since a second trip required extra crew & truck time. (The owner of the company bid the job two weeks before the move to confirm the size of truck they need. My client was required to pay for their mistake in estimating the move - or, I guess, not get all of their furnature delivered.)

To make matters worse: He felt bad for the crew who worked so hard to move everything, he not only bought the entire crew a very nice lunch, he also tipped them quite well only to learn about the second surprise. My client discovered two rolls of stamps were missing from his desk drawer a few days after the move. I guess one of the movers decided he was entitled to a little extra tip.

When furniture damage was discovered the day after the move, the moving company owner referenced the signed agreement saying the company was only responsible for Penny's on a dollar for the repair/replacement; based on the weight of the item damaged not the actual cost to repair or replace the items. Needless to say, my client is much wiser now on what to watch out for.

Here are some tips about finding a quality moving company:
1. Ask around for the name of reputable company. Word of mouth is and excellent way to find a good moving company. Ask family, neighbors, friends or your real estate agent.

2. Make sure you sign a contract - only after you have had a chance to read it thoroughly - well in advance of your move date.
- be sure you know exactly how much you will be paying and what services you are receiving and not receiving.
- be sure to discuss the section regarding their claims policy.

3. Ask a lot of questions.
- You are hiring these people to move your personal belongings, ask every question you need to in order to get a feel for what type of company they are.

4. Get more than one estimate.
- Not only will this help you find the best deal but it can also help you detect a scam. If one estimate is very low compared to the others, it probably is too good to be true.

Here are some helpful websites that can make your move a smooth one:

– This will show you bad moving companies and also moving companies with good reputations. Moving Company Scams

– This will show you if your movers have a current license. Movers

– One last tip: Hide your stamps

Latest MLS Information For Denver Sales

The December and the 2008 year-to-date Denver area MLS statistics are out.

The total residential homes actively on the market for December 08 was 14,995 as compared to 18,709 homes on the market in December of 2007; a decline of 19.9%
Similarly, Condominiums & townhouse inventory throughout metro Denver fell from 5,894 during December of 2007 to only 4,606 in December of 2008. A 21.9% reduction in available inventory.

Watch out for what SOLD STATISTICS are really saying:
Although the average sales price throughout Denver appears to be dropping in most of the following areas, it is not a true picture of what is really happening. The Denver market is experiencing a significant number of bank owned properties being purchased individuals and investors as compared to the higher end closing in our market. Nearly 50% of the recent closings are in the price range below $150,000. This has drastically dropped the AVERAGE sales price of homes and therefore does not truly represent a the PERCENTAGE of decline in the market value of homes throughout metro Denver. The statistics are skewed drastically toward the lower end of our market. Although the average sales price of homes being sold throughout Denver has dropped, the actual market values of individual neighborhoods and homes has not dropped anywhere near the figures being reported.

Once again, I would like to thank the professionals at Land Title Guarantee Company, for providing the latest MLS number of closed homes sales, number of closed sales year to date, average day on market, number of active listings, number of new listings, absorption rate in months and average price sold within each area of Metro Denver.

Total MLS All Metrolist Areas as one download Aurora North (AUN)

Aurora South (AUS) Brighton, Fort Lupton (BFL)
Broomfield (BRM) Douglas County West (DCW)
Douglas Elbert Parker (DEP)
Douglas Highlands Ranch Lone Tree (DHL)
Denver Northeast (DNE)
Denver Northwest (DNW)
Denver Southeast (DSE)
Denver Southwest (DSW)
Downtown Denver (DTD)
East Suburban North (ESN)
East Suburban South (ESS)
Jefferson County Central (JFC)
Jefferson County North (JFN)
Jefferson County South (JFS)
Jefferson County West (JFW)
Jefferson County Northcentral (JNC)
Jefferson County Southcentral (JSC)
Lafayette (LAF) Mountain Clear Creek (MCC)
Mountain Conifer Pine (MCP)
Mountain Evergreen North (MEN)
Mountain Evergreen South (MES)
Mountain Gilpin County (MGC)
Mountain Jefferson County (MJC)
Mountain Jefferson North (MJN)
Mountain Jefferson South (MJS)
Mountain Park County (MPC)
Mountain Park East (MPE)
North Northeast Suburban (NNE)
North Northwest Suburban (NNW)
North Suburban Central (NSC)
North Suburban East (NSE)
North Suburban West (NSW)
South Suburban Central (SSC)
South Suburban East (SSE)
Superior (SUP)
The above links will automatically up-date themselves during the first week of each month when new numbers are posted. So, if you are interested in saving any one months information, you might want to either save a PDF version on your computer or print out the links that are of interest to you.

Is Your Home An Energy Hog?

Most of my clients who are purchasing a home do not take into consideration the additional costs their energy bill will add each month. There are certain ways to tell if your potential new home will cost you more than you planned for in energy bills.

*If the home has an older heating and/or cooling system, this will cost you more than a newer one since newer systems that are more efficient. Before buying a home, you might want to see the current owner’s power bills to get a feel for what you will likely be paying. Throughout most of metro Denver, you can call Xcel Energy at 1-800-895-4999. They will give you the high, low and average gas and electric bill of any property they service.

*Ask your home inspector to verify the insulation R value of the home you are interested in purchasing. (R-value measures insulation's resistance to heat flow.) Some Denver area home inspectors and insulation contractors use a special thermal imaging camera to detect where the house is losing heat. This can show you where improvement in the insulation should be made. If your home inspector does not offer this service, he can refer you to a company who does.

*If you are buying a home in Denver, it may be wise to purchase a home that faces or backs to the south. More window space is available to heat your home for free. The disadvantage of this is that summer sun will add extra heat to the home.

*If the home has a dark colored roof, more heat is attracted to heat your home. The trade-off here is that the summer sun will make the home hotter therefore requiring more energy to cool. If you have a dark colored roof it would be quite advantageous to install a whole house attic fan or even better yet a solar attic fan that turns on automatically with solar power to circulate hot air out of the attic area.

Send Your Own Happy New Years Email Card Today

We all send out Holiday cards in the mail to our closest friends and relatives. But we generally just don't take the time to reach out to more distant friends, relatives and business associates.

Here is a quick and easy way to reach out to everyone you know to wish them a wonderful and happy new year.

Try sending out an electronic greeting card with your choice of music. It is bound to generate a nice feeling from everyone you think of sending the card to this year.
Just click here to find New Years Greeting card ideas.

By the way - I hope your 2009 is filled with love, joy, health and prosperity.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!

Bill Kosena

Tis The Season

It is hard to believe the holidays are here! Christmas and Hanukkah are a special time of year to spend with loved ones. It is important to keep in mind safety procedures so this time remains fun and memorable for all the right reasons. There is no better way to get in the holiday spirit than by decorating your home. The key to decorating is keeping your home and family safe from danger.

Fire danger is big this time of year because of the lights and candles used to decorate. This is also a time where there are extra cords and extension cords that can be tripped on, or chewed on by your pets. Here are some things to keep in mind when decorating your home this holiday season:

- Make sure smoke alarms are working

- Inspect all electrical decorations before hand to check for any damaged parts

- Keep candles in a safe place away from flammables

- Buy a “fire resistant” tree, this is not fire proof but will be more resistant to fire

- Water your tree regularly so the pine needles do not dry out and become a fire hazard

- Tape all loose electrical cords to the walls so nobody trips and animals do not chew on them

- Turn off all interior lights when going to bed

- Remind your family of fire safety

I truly hope each and every one of you has a wonderful, safe holiday season!

Are You In The Spirit

The holidays are a time of joy and a time to be surrounded by loved ones. There is no better way than listening to holiday music, cooking baked goods, and seeing lights and holiday events. Some neighborhoods may have fewer decorations this year in efforts to keep their electric bills lower. In this case, there are many ways you and your family can enjoy holiday lights and activities!
Within the Denver area, there are many holiday opportunities.

- A Christmas Carol ~ Plays until December 28th at the Denver Performing Arts Center.

- Nutcracker ~ Plays until December 27th at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

- A Colorado Christmas ~ By the Colorado Symphony and plays December 12-14th.

- Charlie Brown Christmas ~ On December 23rd at the Boettcher Concert Hall.

- Downtown Denver Lights! ~ Nightly starting at 6pm.

- See Santa at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center until December 24th

What Does The Denver Housing Inventory Drop Mean To You?

The available housing inventory has continued to drop every month since last April. So, what does this mean to the buyers and sellers in the Denver market?

What it means is that the Denver housing market is improving. Whenever supply goes down and demand goes up, the supply (homes) will start going up in value. We have already seen a firming up of the lower priced homes throughout much of Denver. The market conditions for homes priced under $200,000 has already switched from a "Buyer's Market" to a "Balanced Market" - and in some communities; a "Sellers Market". An example of this is one of my buyers wrote an offer on a bank owned home and to my buyer's amazement, the bank countered only $1,000 off of their asking price. The bank knows the value of the home (they sure seem to be selling a lot of them recently) and they know the market is firming up quite well in the price range. Although the home is sitting there vacant, they are in no apparent hurry to drop their price to make this buyer happy.

Next year will be a much stronger one for Denver's housing market. Available home inventory continues to drop and prices seem to be firming up too.

Are You And Your Family Prepared In Case Of Fire?

Home fires are more common than one would think with over 67,000 home fires totalling over $800 million property damage annually. Nationally, nearly 500 people lose their lives and more than 2,000 individuals are injured in home fires.

Are you doing everything you can within your home to prevent fires? Here are some tips to prevent fires in your home:
Install smoke/fire detectors AND carbon monoxide detectors on each level of your home – including the basement level. (Put this on your "must to do list" for this weekend.)

* When cooking do not leave the kitchen
* Blow out candles when you leave the room
* Put cigarettes and cigars in water to put them out
* Do not leave on curling irons, hair strengtheners or irons
* Keep space heaters away from anything that can ignite
* Keep towels and other objects away from the stove when cooking

Does everyone in your family know NOT to try moving a frying pan that is on fire away from the range top? Many people are severely burned every year trying. Does everyone in your family know how to put out a range top fire? Water should never be thrown on a range top fire. It only makes the fire worse and can easily spread the fire to a larger area. Everyone in your family should know that range top fires should be put out by smothering it with a towel, baking soda or baking powder can work too. Try covering small fires with a lid. Needless to say, a fully charged fire extinguisher located in the kitchen should be your first line of defense. Everyone should have been trained on its operation before a fire occurs in your home.

Has everyone in your family been trained and gone through practice fire drills including actually escaping through bedroom windows? Being prepared and trained to escape quickly may save lives of loved ones. Gather the family and go over fire safety rules and how you will exit the house if there were a fire; including where to meet you outside the home – daytime or nighttime.
This is especially important for children to know. If everyone is on the same page beforehand, the exit from the fire will be quicker with the desired results.
If your clothes catch on fire: STOP, DROP, and ROLL until the fire goes out and cover your face with your hands.

Has everyone in your family practiced STOP, DROP, and ROLL? If someone's clothes do catch on fire the best thing to do until the fire goes out is to cover your face with your hands and do the Stop, Drop, & Roll exercise.

Here are some things to think about:
* Faulty (frayed, cracked or cut sheathing) wiring causes more fires than any other source. Check your home for damaged wires to lamps, appliances, TV's and replace any questionable wiring this weekend.

* If a wall light switch is warm or hot, replace it this weekend. If lights flicker when they are turned on the wall switch should be replaced.

* Have a hanging ladder on the second floor of your house. Everyone should know how to secure it from the window and everyone should experience going down the ladder before there is a fire.

* Make sure kids know how to get out alternative windows if they need to. Be sure they have all practiced setting up the ladder and climbing down the ladder in the dark from different windows.
* Teach kids to crawl on ground if there is smoke.

* Warn kids ahead of time that door handles might be too hot to touch and to test touch their door for fire related heat before opening.

* Have each member of your family been taught how to use the fire extinguishers in your home?
Here is a fire safety websites for you and your family:

Home Safety Counsel Fire Safety Tips
American Red Cross Fire Safety Tips

Just One Of A 1,000 Reasons To Pick Denver

Here is another one of the thousands of reasons to live in Denver.

How much better does it get than this photo of an early morning sunrise over downtown Denver? Photo provided by Brian Kosena - for other exciting photos check out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/briankosena/

New Standardized Form May Save You $700

The federal government is changing the way lenders will work with anyone shopping for a mortgage loan in the future. Loan originators will be required to provide borrowers with a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) three days after the loan originator receives the borrower's necessary information.

Borrowers will easily be able to compare their final closing costs and loan terms on new HUD-1 Settlement Statement with those listed on the lender's original GFE estimate. HUD estimated that the consumer will save as much as $700 when originating a new loan since the lenders will be limited in the amount their estimated changes can change. The effective date for the new standardized GFE and revised HUD-1, the required implementation date is January 1, 2010.

Here is the entire new story if you would like to learn more about the changes.

What Is A Short Sale?

Short Sales can be a good thing for you as a buyer in today's real estate market or it might just that you decide it is not be such a good thing after all.

My clients frequently ask me what it means when I mention that a specific listing is subject to a “short sale” or it is a “short sale” property.

Basically, it means the current owner has not been making payments to their lender and that they are trying to sell the home before their bank starts foreclosure proceedings (Election of Election and Demand) against them. More specifically, if the home sold at the full asking price, the current lender will would need to accept less (sometimes substantially less) than the outstanding loan balance against the home.

Getting a short sale home under contract can be quite a difficult process since the buyer needs to not only get the current owner(s) approval to the offered price, they also need to get the existing lender to approve taking a substantial loss on their loan. Typically the buyer would submit a written purchase offer on the property. Negotiate the price and all terms of the agreement with the seller and then start the entire process over again with the existing lender. The painful process is that the entire negotiations process can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months depending on the motivation of the bank and their current work load.

The part most buyers find difficult to accept is that all the time that you think you are going to be able to buy the home you and the seller have agreed on price, the home is actually still completely available for anyone else who writes a better offer. Many times the current lender encourages (or even requires) you to complete a $300 to $400 home inspection prior to them responding to your offer. All the while anyone can buy the home out from under you by writing a better offer.

To complicate matters further, the lender typically makes you wait even longer by requiring a formal appraisal of the home so they can be sure of the homes’ market value before determining what they think will be an acceptable sales price. Currently I am negotiating a “short sale” contract where the existing lender’s appraisal came in higher than the current list price on the property. The lender, after making the buyer wait for nearly a month now, countered my client at only $1,000 under the current list price on the home. My buyers and I sure have our work cut out on this transaction since our offer is considerably below the asking price.

Needless to say, you really want to have a lot of extra time to work with if you are planning on buying a "short sale property. - - - Stay tuned, I will let you know how we do with our negotiation process.

Bank Owned & Short Sales - TODAY

Bank Owned and "short sale" listings now represent about 50% of the home sales occuring under $250,000 throughout the metro Denver market today.

What this means to a buyer is that they will need to wait anywhere from ten to 45 days to receive written notice back from the seller that their offer to purchase was countered or accepted. Many buyers simply do not have the time to wait that long for a response. Over the past year I have had several clients who initally wrote an offer on a lender owned property and then decide to purchase a home where the owner was still in good standing with their lender. (or non lender owned & non 'short sale" property). Buyers writhing contract offers on this type of active listing typically are firmly under contract within a few days instead of many weeks as can be the case with lender owned properties.

One other major issue buyers need to consider when dealing with lender owned, pre-foreclosure, foreclosure and short sale contracts is that anyone else can write a better offer while you are waiting for the seller to respond to your offer. Even if your contract offer states that you are in first position to future offers, the seller only needs to reject your offer to be able to accept another, better, offer. In the best case, the seller would counter both offers to at least give you a chance to be in the running to purchase the property. This type of negotiations can be quite challenging and frustrating.

With a 1.9 month supply of homes on the market under $150,000, it is a very good chance that you will see multiple offers on the most desirable (best condition & best location) properties. My last closing was with a client who found the home 49 days after someone else wrote an offer on the same property. We ended up being the high offer while the other couple had to start their house hunting process all over again.

My next blog will discuss exactly what a "short sale" is and why they can be tricky to negotiate.

Latest MLS Information For Denver Sales

The latest information from the Denver area MLS system is showing continued improvements for the metro Denver area. The total number of residential homes available on the market for October 08 was 17,842. There were 21,947 homes on the market in October of 2007; a decline this year of 18.7% active listings as compared to last year.

Condominiums & townhouse throughout the metro Denver area dropped from 6,981 condos & townhouse on the market during October of 2007 to only 5,278 in October of 2008. This represents a 24.4% reduction in available inventory for month-to-date from last year to this year.

Watch out for what SOLD STATISTICS are really saying:

Although the average sales price throughout Denver appears to be dropping in most of the following areas, it is not a true picture of what is really happening. The Denver market is experiencing a significant number of bank owned properties being purchased individuals and investors as compared to the higher end closing in our market. Nearly 50% of the recent closings are in the price range below $150,000. This has drastically dropped the AVERAGE sales price of homes and therefore does not truly represent a the PERCENTAGE of decline in the market value of homes throughout metro Denver. The statistics are skewed drastically toward the lower end of our market. Although the average sales price of homes being sold throughout Denver has dropped, the actual market values of individual neighborhoods and homes has not dropped anywhere near the figures being reported.

Thanks once again to the professionals at Land Title Guarantee Company, for compiling the following the latest MLS number of closed homes sales, number of closed sales year to date, average day on market, number of active listings, number of new listings, absorption rate in months and average price sold within each area of Metro Denver.

Total MLS All Metrolist Areas as one download Aurora North (AUN)

Aurora South (AUS) Brighton, Fort Lupton (BFL)

Broomfield (BRM) Douglas County West (DCW)

Douglas Elbert Parker (DEP)

Douglas Highlands Ranch Lone Tree (DHL)

Denver Northeast (DNE)

Denver Northwest (DNW)

Denver Southeast (DSE)

Denver Southwest (DSW)

Downtown Denver (DTD)

East Suburban North (ESN)

East Suburban South (ESS)

Jefferson County Central (JFC)

Jefferson County North (JFN)

Jefferson County South (JFS)

Jefferson County West (JFW)

Jefferson County Northcentral (JNC)

Jefferson County Southcentral (JSC)

Lafayette (LAF) Mountain Clear Creek (MCC)

Mountain Conifer Pine (MCP)

Mountain Evergreen North (MEN)

Mountain Evergreen South (MES)

Mountain Gilpin County (MGC)

Mountain Jefferson County (MJC)

Mountain Jefferson North (MJN)

Mountain Jefferson South (MJS)

Mountain Park County (MPC)

Mountain Park East (MPE)

North Northeast Suburban (NNE)

North Northwest Suburban (NNW)

North Suburban Central (NSC)

North Suburban East (NSE)

North Suburban West (NSW)

South Suburban Central (SSC)

South Suburban East (SSE)

Superior (SUP)

The above links will automatically up-date themselves during the first week of each month when new numbers are posted. So, if you are interested in saving any one months information, you might want to either save a PDF version on your computer or print out the links that are of interest to you.

Is Your Home Big Enough?

Does it seem like your current home is just not big enough any longer? Perhaps you need to move to a larger home. If so, call me and I will make that happen for you. But, if your budget is a bit tight or you really like your home and your neighborhood, selling your current home and moving into a larger one may not be your best option.

Have you considered using the space you already have more wisely? Finishing all or some of your basement will instantly provide you with more room in your home. Most unfinished basements have a lot of space but are most likely used for unorganized storage space. By cleaning out your basement you can make room for more living space. Some additional rooms you can put in your newly organized basement are:

- Home theater room
- Workout room
- Extra bedroom(s)
- Office
- Game/recreation room
- Extra storage area
- Additional closet(s)
- Work or shop room
- Hobby or craft room
- Wine cellar

These are just a few ideas of extra rooms you can add to your house to create more space and ultimately, a more comfortable living space.

Basement Finishing TIP # 1:
If you want to insure you have improved the resale value of your home, be sure you finish your basement in the exact quality of materials and workmanship as the main levels of your home. A “do-it-your-selfer” project may save you money today add livable square footage to your home, but it will actually decrease the value of your. The day you want to sell your home in the future, it will not only take longer to sell, it will actually sell for LESS than if you did not finish the basement at all. So, be sure to check out several contractors past basement projects before you begin your own basement finishing project.

Basement Finishing TIP # 2:
Get professional Realtor and contractor suggestions on what will make your space the most livable to you and future owners. I have shown many homes that little attention to the functionality. Although the quality of materials used and workmanship were perfect, buyers rejected the home because the utility of the basement was compromised because of the nonfunctional design.

Please call me if you would like the names of a few contractors who have done excellent work in the past.

Check out this article regarding the typical Home Improvment Recapture Dollars derived form typical home improvment projects.

See Clarity About Denver's Home Inventory

Denver's is still experiencing a "Buyer's Market", but we are continuing to see a decrease in available homes on the market. More importantly, the Denver housing market is starting to see a reduction in the number of days it takes to sell a home. Here is an interesting chart that plots some of the communities around Denver to reveal both the Average Sales Price as well as the Months of Inventory for that community.
Oct. 08 Months of Inventory vs. Average Price A six month inventory of homes is considered to be a balanced market.

As you can see from homes in Cherry Hills, Greenwood Village, Larkspur, Conifer, Evergreen (and areas not show such as Franktown, and Evergreen) have an excessive amount of inventory and are taking between nine to 17 months to sell (depending on price and area). You would also be correct if you guessed that home sellers in these areas are not very happy with their inability of finding a buyer for their home.

On the other hand, you can imagine how happy the banks and individual owners are who are selling homes priced under $225,000. Many owners are seeing multiple offers with homes priced under $150,000. Savvy owner occupied buyers and investors are snapping up homes in this price range resulting in a very tight 1.9 to 4.7 month supply. See Oct. 2008 Active - Sold & Days On Market. Many of these areas are also starting to see APPRECIATION.

The average home in Metro Denver increased two percent in 2006. During 2007, the average price dropped by thee percent. Then in 2008, the average home price dropped by eleven percent. But, remember, these reported averages were greatly influenced by the fact that so many more lower priced homes were selling than higher priced homes; as compared to prior years. We will likely see a strong appreciation (in AVERAGE Metro Denver prices) during the next 12 to 18 months as the lower priced home buyers finish snapping up the great deals and the higher priced homes begin to sell again. - Stay tuned. The ride will be interesting.

Making Your Own Energy For Your Home

The economy is struggling. Our world’s non-renewable energy sources are being used up faster than we honestly want to believe. And, our energy prices are steadily rising. We may not have control over the economy and preserving our non-renewable energy sources but there is something we can do at home: solar energy panels.

The economy is leading homeowners to change their home’s features to save money if possible on their electricity bills. Some are turning to solar solutions. The sun is a free energy source of power that home owners are beginning to tap in to.

Solar energy is not for every home. Denver's 300 plus days of sunshine offers us an excellent potential for using solar power. As a homeowner you should assess your home for how much light your house gets, the angle of your house in relation to the sun, and obstacles there may be to getting direct sunlight. Professionals can help you determine if solar energy panels is a good fit for your home.

If so, solar panels can be installed. This will be an added cost to your monthly bills but it will decrease your energy bills and will pay for itself in a matter of years. There is a solar heating range. This gives your house an electric boost even when the sun is not out.

Here are some helpful websites:
– Clean Energy Quotes

– Standard Renewable Energy for Home

Halloween Safety

Halloween is here. Jack-o-lanterns, costumes, haunted houses, trick-or-treating, and scary movies. This is a fun holliday for the whole family. Although this is a fun fall holldiay, Halloween activities are not as safe as they use to be. This is an exciting time for people and it can lead to forgetting to be careful.

Make this Halloween a fun, SAFE event for your family.

Some tips to keep Halloween activites safe:
*Always have an adult accompany children trick-or-treating and know where they plan to go.
*Start trick-or-treating when it is still light out so you can return home before dark.
*Eat dinner before so your kids won’t eat candy. Check all candy to see if its been opened.
*Tell your kids never to go into the homes or cars of strangers
*Stay as a group and have flashlights
*Above all, use common sense

- Safety quiz
- Safety tips

If you want to scare your friends by email, send them this clip: GIRL ON BIKE

Does the Stock Market Have You Down?

Last week the stock market had its worst week ever. The Dow dropped over 18% this last week alone. Investors know to buy stocks when the market is low so the chance of them rising is greater. This past week has investors hesitating with their investment decisions because they wonder how low they will go. If they invest at this low point, will it drop even lower? If they don’t invest now, will they miss the rebound opportunity? They have decided not to miss the opportunity.

Luckily, those who are not investors do not have the same pressure. Here are some ideas if you are thinking about investing or if you have money invested in the current stock market:

* This is a time full of emotions for many people. Keep them under control and do not make rash decisions.

* The stock market is very unpredictable right now so it may be smart to wait out the storm before investing.

Here are some useful websites:

- Five ways to ride out the market mess

- Steps to determine when to buy stocks

- Six Stocks to Buy

Denver's Positive News

I know many home buyers are sitting back waiting for the market to "bottom" or fearful to make a move into homeownership because of the current market conditions. We are definitely in the midst of difficult economic times. I've heard our current climate compared to the Great Depression. For me from a real estate perspective, it reminds me of the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s.

Now I can also tell you that historically Denver has entered the down cycle before the rest of the nation and also exited it sooner. So while nationally talk of recession abounds, there is good news for Denver.

Thousands of jobs are being added throughout the state; check http://www.jobopenings.net/ for a complete list.
The Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation is reporting:
Job Growth in Denver of 1.6% while the national average is 0.2%
Denver area employers added 3,800 jobs between July and August
Education and Health Services are Denver's fastest growing job sectors
32% of Denver area employers plan to hire
Metro Denver's foreclosure filings declined dramatically between July and August, down by 35% to 68% by county

To quote the report "these more positive indicators suggest that the framework for stable housing markets could be in place. Market fundamentals -- including home prices, invetory, and job growth -- are already stronger in Metro Denver than they are nationwide."

In my opinion, its a great time to become a homeowner. Do buyers need to be cautious? Of course. Only work with licensed, reputable real estate agents and lenders who can help you navigate this market. The timing is good for the right purchase.

Contributions by:

Mary Steinmeyer, Certified Mortgage Lender
www.marysteinmeyer.com
Mountain Crest Mortgage
720-339-0526

Latest MetroList Numbers By Area Of Metro Denver

The Denver Housing market is looking up as compared with other major cities throughout the nation. Nationally, home prices have fallen 16.3% through July as compared to a year ago. But, Denver's home values have only fallen 4.7% during the same period.

During May and June of this year, Denver's home prices rose 1.5%

During June and July metro Denver's home prices rose by .8% - This is the 4th consecutive month we have seen month-over-month appreciation throughout Metro Denver.

Thanks to Land Title Guarantee Company, you now can see the latest MLS number of closed homes sales, number of closed sales year to date, average day on market, number of active listings, number of new listings, absorption rate in months and average price sold within each area of Metro Denver.

Total MLS

All Metrolist Areas as one download
Aurora North (AUN)
Aurora South (AUS)
Brighton, Fort Lupton (BFL)
Broomfield (BRM)
Douglas County West (DCW)
Douglas Elbert Parker (DEP)
Douglas Highlands Ranch Lone Tree (DHL)
Denver Northeast (DNE)
Denver Northwest (DNW)
Denver Southeast (DSE)
Denver Southwest (DSW)
Downtown Denver (DTD)
East Suburban North (ESN)
East Suburban South (ESS)
Jefferson County Central (JFC)
Jefferson County North (JFN)
Jefferson County South (JFS)
Jefferson County West (JFW)
Jefferson County Northcentral (JNC)
Jefferson County Southcentral (JSC)
Lafayette (LAF)
Mountain Clear Creek (MCC)
Mountain Conifer Pine (MCP)
Mountain Evergreen North (MEN)
Mountain Evergreen South (MES)
Mountain Gilpin County (MGC)
Mountain Jefferson County (MJC)
Mountain Jefferson North (MJN)
Mountain Jefferson South (MJS)
Mountain Park County (MPC)
Mountain Park East (MPE)
North Northeast Suburban (NNE)
North Northwest Suburban (NNW)
North Suburban Central (NSC)
North Suburban East (NSE)
North Suburban West (NSW)
South Suburban Central (SSC)
South Suburban East (SSE)
Superior (SUP)

The above links will automatically up-date themselves during the first week of each month when new numbers are posted. So, if you are interested in saving any one months information, you might want to either save a PDF version on your computer or print out the links that are of interest to you.

Eat Healthy This Summer

Whatever you have going on this summer, why not feel better doing it? Even if you are too busy to exercise, changing a few aspects of your diet can do wonders for your body and nutrition.

Many experts have said that diets do not work. Your weight loss comes from a lifestyle change instead. You can begin to change your eating habits slowly by making small changes. For example, if you drink a lot of soda and juice, by cutting down on these or switching to diet beverages, you can cut a lot of calories. If you want a burger you can order it without a bun and vegetables instead of French fries. Try to stay away from sugars, white flour, white rice and potato based dishes.

Avoid eating out because it is hard to keep track of the fat/calorie/carbohydrate count. Instead, cook at home so you are aware of what you are putting into you food and how you are preparing it. Here are some websites for healthy recipes you can try this summer:

* low fat summer recipes

* mayo clinic’s healthy recipes

* family fun recipes

Denver Housing Inventory Is Declining

Listing Inventory drops 18.733% over the past twelve months according to the Denver area Metro List Corporation! During September of this year, the Denver area active listing inventory averaged 25,543 units for residential and condominium homes on the market. This is the lowest September inventory since 2004.

Builders continue to be careful with how many homes they start and the amount of standing inventory they will allow to be built. Foreclosure inventory is declining and the number of new foreclosures hitting the Denver market is also declining. Fewer sellers are entering the market as compared to the number of buyers. Annually, Colorado is continuing to see more people moving into the state than out of the state. Interest rates are still holding very low around 6.0% for a 30 year fixed loan. All of these factors are indicators that the Denver market is and will continue to be heading the direction of recovery.

Are Your Grocery Bills Large Lately?

As Americans see some relief at the pump, food prices remain high. Food inflation is here and there are no signs of it dropping any time soon. In the past, food prices tend to rise quickly and drop very slowly. The normal inflation rate is 2% whereas this years food inflation is around 6%.

Despite the struggling economy which may be increasing food prices, the severe weather throughout the world has been destroying some crops. This also adds to the raising food prices. Food companies are forced to raise their prices. Another way they try to deal with the inflation is by shrinking the sizes of their products and selling them at the same price.

Since we need to eat and the prices will not decrease anytime soon, there are ways to save money at the grocery store.

These websites give good money saving tips:

- how to save money on food

- ways to save money on your food bill

- 27 ways to save money on food

Keeping Your Children Safe

You always tell your kids not to talk to strangers. One of parents’ biggest fears is a child being abducted or harmed. What if a sex offender was living next to your child’s school?

Sex offender laws state that sex offenders must be on a national registry so the public can be aware of who sex offenders are. There is a website (http://www.familywatchdog.us/) that shows sex offenders who live near your home.

Much discussion has taken place on sex offenders living near schools. Slowly, this law has been introduced to more cities. Only three Metro Denver area communities have adopted this law at this time: Northglenn, Englewood, and Greenwood Village. The most recent city council to consider applying this law is the town of Greeley in Northern Colorado.

Here is some information to help keep your children safe from predators:

Teach your children that it is okay to say NO
Get to know the adults your children spend time around
Teach your children about appropriate touch and inappropriate touch
Remember, almost 90% of molestation cases are committed by someone who knows the child and is close to them.

Here are some very helpful site that will expand your knowledge and your child's safety.

Talking To Strangers - how and when it may be necessary for your child to speak to strangers

Safety Tips All Children Should Know - Quiz your children on how they would handle these everyday situations.

How To Instill A Healthy Distrust Of Strangers. More excellent ideas

Denver's Housing Market Is Vastly Different Than The Rest Of The U.S

The Denver real estate market continues to show significant signs of improvement while other parts of the nation continue declining or remain stable. Yesterday Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, one of the nations largest mortgage lenders, upgraded 12 Front Range counties from "distressed" to "stable". Mr. Bryant, a company spokes person said : "I think this is great news for Denver, great news for Colorado. We had challenges earlier than many of the other real-estate markets in the country, and it appears our recovery is happening before others."

This may not seem to be earth shattering news for most of us, but it is very informative for anyone considering buying a home in the Denver area. No one wants to purchase a property in a declining market. Well, since April of this year, one indicator after another have been showing up to indicate that Denver has turned the corner regarding its housing market. Yesterday's latest vote of confidence as indicated by Wells Fargo easing of loan requirements along the Front Range is recognition of a healthier housing market.

As far back as April 14th my blog revealed that I was seeing considerably more under contract and sold signs throughout Denver. I predicted that the general Denver market would see across the board appreciation of housing price by the end of 2998.

May 8, 2008 I discussed eight specific area subdivisions were showing appreciation

On June 25, my blog revealed a .5 percent appreciation of property values for the the month of April.

My July 7th blog revealed that the available housing inventory dropped 9.7% in the past 12 months - a very strong indicator that the Denver housing market was improving.

Denver's market has strengthened in part because of a 20 percent drop in available housing inventory over the past year, according to August data from MetroList.

Thomas Thibodeau, academic director for the CU Real Estate Center in Boulder was quoted as saying "It's about time" Wells Fargo upgraded the area. The fact of the matter is that the housing market here is vastly different than the rest of the U.S. I think the Denver housing market has turned the corner and is on the way to recovery." Professor Thibodeau also stated that the Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller home price index shows the Denver market to be healthier than the nation as a whole.

Throughout my 30 years as a Realtor, this time of year has shown a significant decline in the number of buyers in the market. So, I would expect that even with this latest good news, that buyers will not enter the market until next year. January has historically been one of Denver's best months for the number of under contract properties. All of these indicators should show up in force in 2009. Next year's home sales in Denver will be well above 2008 month for month.

How To Plan Your Next Party

There is no better way to show off your new home to friends, relatives and business associates than to have a get together in your new home. Even if you did not recently buy a new home, summer is a great time to have a party or barbeque. One of my clients even throws an annual end of summer party as a way for them to stay connected with their closest 100 friends.

It does not matter if you have five hours or five months to plan a party, you can use similar strategies to pull off a great party. Here are some easy ways to have a successful party:

Use evite.com as invitations. It is quicker and more efficient
Do not take time to make a play list, instead play a mood setting album.
Use delivery services for food to save time
Choose menu items where you present the ingredients and the guests make their own plate.
Theme your bar (a merlot, a martini party) saves time and money.

Online Invitations
Evite.com
Party Ideas
Party411

Party Planning Ideas

Celebration.com

Lenders Need To Be Licensed In Colorado Jan. 1st

By January 1, 2009, all mortgage brokers operating in Colorado need to complete ALL of the licensing requirements, including the latest addition of 40-hours of education and a licensing exam. As of today, less than 5% of mortgage brokers operating in Colorado have passed the state exam. Granted, its only September so brokers have a full four months to finish education and pass the exam.

There is a percentage of lenders operating in Colorado today who have no intention of completing the licensing requirements. Their plan is to exit the business by December 31, 2008.

So what does that mean to you if you need a mortgage? Now more than ever -- buyer beware. Lenders are opting not to complete the licensing for a variety of reasons. Some are changing industries. Some are not able to generate enough business in our current market to incur even more expense in the business. And some are not able or willing to commit the time and energy necessary to complete the licensing. For the later, some are trying to "make hay while the sun shines." Fear of penalties means nothing to these folks. Losing their license means nothing to these folks.

So, now more than ever, ask questions and get your lender from a trusted source such as your professional Realtor who has established quality lender connections over the years. Be very careful of the lenders you find on line too. Some are professional and then again, I have a long list of past clients who now wish they did not deal with the on line lender they found.

Ask lots of questions and be sure you shop not only for the lowest interest rate, but also for a reputable lender.

STIMULUS ANYONE????

How does the new stimulus package affect your plans to buy a home? The new legislation is definitely a mixed bag for home buyers.

HIGHLIGHTS:

NATIONAL LENDER LICENSING: One of the major highlights is that all mortgage brokers nationally (except for those employed by a nationally chartered bank) must be licensed. Upon initial review, it appears that Colorado’s new licensing requirement actually exceeds the new national lender licensing, so lenders licensed by Colorado have exceeded the new standards. This should go a long way to protect home buyers from unscrupulous lenders. And don’t be surprised to see federal licensing for ALL lenders soon, which will include the federally chartered banks.

FHA RESCUE: This part of the bill is getting a lot of press as homeowners believe this could be the magic solution to their mortgage woes. The truth is that the legislation creates a voluntary program for lenders to write down the loan balance in exchange for an FHA guaranteed loan not to exceed 90% of home’s value. Sounds great for the home owner, but the tricky part will be getting the lender to agree to write off the balance of the loan and pay a 3% FHA loan origination fee. The homeowner needs to qualify as well for the new mortgage and have a debt-to-income ratio above 31% on the original loan.

$7,500 TAX CREDIT: Another item getting a lot of press is the $7,500 first-time home buyer tax credit. This credit is for buyers who have not owned a home in the last three years (or who are buying because of a qualifying event such as a divorce) and is only for a primary residence. The tax credit provides a maximum of $7,500 to be taken as a single line credit for qualifying home buyers. The credit is actually a loan and it will be paid back in the following 15 years (or immediately becomes payable if the property is sold). The credit applies for purchases between April 9, 2008 and July 1, 2009. Be sure to check with your tax advisor before taking this credit.

LARGER FHA LOAN AMOUNTS: Another highlight is the raising of the FHA loan limits for most metropolitan areas. Although lower than the temporary limits established by prior legislation, these changes are anticipated to be more lasting. While they won’t go into effect until January 1, 2009, early indications are that the FHA loan limit will match the conforming loan limit at $417,000, which is great news for consumers with less than perfect credit. Coupled with the bill’s easement of FHA-risk based pricing, which had been slated to go into effect October 1, 2008; this change goes one step further to making FHA a viable financing option for many home buyers.

REDUCED SELLER ASSISTANCE AND HIGHER DOWN PAYMENTS: One downside of the FHA changes for buyers is that down payment assistance programs will no longer be available. While each mortgage company is implementing this change differently, the bottom line for the consumer is that effective for applications after September 1, 2009, the seller will no longer be able to pay the buyer’s closing costs and down payment. The buyer will be required to have 3% of their own funds (or gift funds) into the transaction. This coupled with the raising of the FHA down payment amount from 3% to 3.5% will make it nearly impossible for home buyers to purchase a home without investing some of their own money (or money gifted from family).

CAPITAL GAINS: One other notable item in the new legislation is the change in the capital gains laws – which is not getting the attention it deserves. Instead of only having to had lived in a property for two out of the past five years to avoid the capital gains tax, home owners now only get a prorated deduction based on the number of years they occupied the home for the past five years.

The stimulus package is really just a good sound bite or good press. For the average consumer thinking of buying their first home or trying to keep their existing home, it is a truly a bunch of smoke and mirrors. Congress actually reduced the temporary loan increase, eliminated seller assisted down payments for FHA and increased the minimum down payment for FHA loans (which mostly hurts 1st time home buyers).

For additional information on any of these changes, please contact:

Mary Steinmeyer, Certified Mortgage Lender - 720-339-0526

Mountain Crest Mortgage

mary@marysteinmeyer.com
License #MB100017382
Professional Mortgage Lending. . . . Experience the Difference
www.marysteinmeyer.com

RTD Might Be Raising Fares & Charging For Parking

Due to the raising fuel prices, the Regional Transportation District (RTD) is planning to raise its fares to riders. Additionally, they are discussing the idea of charging a fee to park at certain parking lots.
Rider fair increase will likely begin on January 1, 2009. Parking fees at select park-n-rides will begin on February 1st of next year.

The six parking lots where fees to park will be implemented are at:
*Stapelton
*Airport Boulevard/40th Ave
*Montbello
*Wagon Road
*Thornton
*104th Ave/Washington St.

Customer may eventually be required to pay to park at 38 of the RTD lots by May 1st.

Although customers will have to pay to park, residents of eight county RTD district will get the first 24 hours free. After the 24 hour grace period, they will be charged $2 per day. The primary impact of this measure will affect only those who use the buses for transportation to the Denver International Airport.

Those who are not in the eight county RTD district residents will pay $4 per day. RTD will use vehicle license plates to determine your residency.

In spite of what the mayor and most new coverage is trying to convince us of, traffic into and out of downtown Denver will be challenging next week during the Democratic National Convention. I have attached a list of suggested routes for those of you who will be venturing into the downtown Denver area.

Here are some very helpful websites for additional DNC and traffic information.
http://www.denverconvention2008.com/
http://www.downtowndenver.com/
http://www.denvergov.org/
http://www.denverconvention.com/
http://www.thecepp.org/
http://www.rtd-denver.com/
http://www.pepsicenter.com/

Who Is Winning?

So, who is winning the race for the highest office of the land?

As summer comes to an end, more attention is being focused on the political race. Recent polls shows Obama's lead has been slipping. McCain has approved television ads which say Obama has little experience and liberal. Also, helping McCain, he recently adopted a more focused supporting of offshore drilling.

Pew Research Center surveys show Obama leading by 3 percent. In June he led by 8 percent. Despite this drop in Obama’s lead, his campaign said he will not be changing his stances or strategy.

Obama now goes into the last leg of the race facing some difficult challenges. The Democratic and Republican Conventions over the next two weeks will be crucial for both parties.

RNC Saint Paul, Minneapolis starts September 1st
DNC Denver, Colorado starts August 25th

Republican Nation Convention website
Democratic Nationa Convention website

Full Moon Over Denver Skyline

For those of you lucky enough to be out around 9PM last night, you were treated to one of the biggest and deepest orange colored full moon rises I have ever seen. The moon was so big that when I first saw it rising above the horizon while driving east on 6th Avenue, I honestly did not know it was the moon. The the spectacular moment caused me to stop to take a picture. Unfortunately, my camera batteries were shot and I knew I did not have enough time to hunt down replacements.

I quickly called both of my sons to go grab their cameras. Brian Kosena was lucky enough to snap the above photo a few minutes later for all of you to enjoy.

You might check out this calendar for other full moons. If by chance we should ever have such a gorgeous full moon rise again, you will at least know what days to be on the look out for the occurrence.

For more outstanding photos you will want to check out both:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/briankosena/ and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonkosena

Denver Has Relief From The Heat!

Temperatures finally drop after surpassing a 107 year old record for consecutive days over 90 degrees. In 1901, there were 18 days in a row over 90 degrees. This past week Denver shattered this old record with 24 consecutive days with temperatures above 90 degree.

Not only has it been hot in Denver, it has been dry as well. The driest year on record was in 2002. At this time of year in 2002, Denver received more rain than we have so far this year.

After setting a new heat record for Denver, the temperatures are cooling down a bit and seeing some afternoon rain showers. The forecast for the remainder of this week calls for a few thunderstorms and possibly some heavy rain.

Keep your eye on the Denver aere forecast for the upcoming weeks left in summer:

Foreclosures Affect Only 2% Of Nation's Homes

National news coverage of the number of foreclosures and the mortgage industry meltdown have made us all think our nation is in deep trouble. Bad news sells, while telling the entire story just might not be as interesting to the average viewer. So, it is nice to see complete news coverage on any national issue that affect such a large number of people.

Recently, CNBC the entire story when they produced a news clip that revealed the other part of the foreclosure story. They showed in an easy to visualize manner that only 2% of the nation's home owners have been affected by the foreclosure. Although 4 million homes are in the "at risk" category only about 2% of all homes are what the new media are focused on when they report on the housing problems. Although you need to watch the ad first, you will enjoy watching this CNBC video.

Indicator trends today are showing the foreclosure problem in Colorado is improving. The number of foreclosures filed in Colorado during the first quarter of this year was 11,630 while the number of foreclosures filed for the second quarter was DOWN to 10,875. Another interesting trend is that between 2006 and 2007, there was an increase in the number of foreclosures filed in our state. But, the number of foreclosures filed in the first quarter of this year are DOWN by 16% state wide.

Land Title Guarantee Company just released some other good economic and sales trend information about Denver and Colorado that is very interesting.

We are not out of the woods yet, but Colorado sure is experiencing an improvement in their foreclosure numbers. Simply put: Times are improving - at least for Denver and Colorado.

Here Is The Rest Of The Story

Just as is expected. The seller's repair person did not complete all of the required repairs and several of the completed repairs were not done according to industry standards.

My buyer did re-hire the home inspector to check up on the quality of the repairs. The handy man elected to use flexible dryer vent material to connect the bathroom vent to the roof cap exit vent. The home inspector reminded the handy man that industry standards require a PCV pipe or sheet metal for attic piping- not a dryer vent material.

As I guessed, most of the insulated covered roof soffit vents were still not discovered by the seller's relative/handy man. The buyer's inspector had to not only send over photos, but he also had to hand draw where the remaining vents were located in order for that repair to be completed. The inspector had to make a third inspection of the property after all repairs were finally made in order to verify everything was correctly completed.My buyer thanked me several times for suggesting that he re-hire his home inspector to check-up on and give extensive guidance to the handy man.

My buyer said he was expecting the repairs would be completed by a professional and that he would never have guessed there might be any problems with the repairs.

The knowledge gained by anyone reading this blog might be to always re-hire your home inspector to re-inspect the home you are about to buy to insure the agreed to repairs were fully completed and that the repairs were completed in an industry standard professional manner.

How Do You Know If Inspection Repairs Have Really Been Completed?

A current buyer of mine came to agreement with the seller of a property to have some repairs completed to the property before closing. One of the repairs was to have a totally missing vent pipe installed in the attic area. Apparently the builder and county inspector missed the fact that the six foot vent pipe was never installed. The other significant item needing attention was the removal of attic insulation from all soffit vents. Presently the attic is five or six times hotter than it should be because attic ventilation has been eliminated. - Apparently the builder, the builder's insulation contractor and the county inspector missed this too. (A side note is that during winter months, the entire attic area will become damp when the air can not circulate. Hot moist air from the home quickly condensates when it is exposed to the unheated air within the attic area.)

The issue for you to decide is how would you suggest that the needed repairs have actually been completed in a professional manner?

1. Would you trust the seller and listing broker when they confirm in a phone call that the work has been completed?

2. Would you personally take a look to verify these and other negotiated repairs have been completed as a part of your final walk-through inspection? How far in advance of the closing would you do your walk-through?

3. Would you trust that the work has been completed if the seller and listing broker provided you itemized paid contractor receipts for the work?

Do you have any other ideas on how you would become verify the repairs have been completed?

Now, let’s make the process a bit more interesting. Let’s suppose, as is the case with my buyer who is closing this Friday, that the listing agent just informed us that the seller’s brother owns a handy-man service and that the seller’s brother has personally completed all required repairs. Which method would you use to verify all items have been completed?

I suggested to my buyer that he should re-hire the home inspector to verify that all repairs have been completed in a professional manner. Assuming any of the items have not been completed, the buyer would have a strong unbiased outside professional backing his request for further work. It is a lot less likely for the buyer and seller to get into a “he said, you said, they said” disagreement between each other if the original home inspector did the verification inspection.

A future blog will report on what this friendly inspector finds and how buyer and seller reach final resolution on the inspection items - if indeed the repairs have not been completed. My guess is the licensed home inspector will not be satisfied with how the agreed repairs have been completed. Let’s see if I am right or wrong.

Perhaps you might want to consider re-hiring your home inspector to complete your final walk-through before your next closing.

Why Use A REALTOR® Instead Of A Real Estate Agent When Buying Or Selling Property?

Buying or selling a home is a significant event in almost everyone’s life. It is vital to your financial piece of mind to hire the right person with the highest personal standards of conduct to help you through the confusing process. Did you know there is a significant difference between a REALTOR® and a licensed real estate agent? Most people I visit with assume all real estate agents are Realtors®. This is not true however.

All states require real estate agents to be licensed in their state in order to assist the public when performing the duties of real estate brokerage. But, states nor local governments require their licensed real estate agents to be Realtors®.

The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® is the world's largest professional association. The term REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.
Founded in 1908, NAR has grown from its original nucleus of 120 to today's 720,000 members. NAR is composed of REALTORS® who are involved in residential and commercial real estate as brokers, salespeople, property managers, appraisers, counselors and others engaged in all aspects of the real estate industry.

A REALTOR® has taken a significant step that can benefit you whenever you are buying, selling or renting a property. In order for an agent to become a Realtor®, the agent must take additional classes to learn the Code of Ethics and the Professional Standards of Conduct that have been developed by the National Association of Realtors®. Realtors® must then agree to conduct themselves under NAR's strict rules of conduct. Realtors® also become subject to discipline if they should violate any of the Codes of Ethics rules. State licensed real estate agents are not bound by the strict Code of Ethics that Realtors are. So, which type of professional do you want representing you during your next real estate transaction?

The next time you decide to purchase or sell a property, be sure to verify that you are working with an individual who has taken the professional steps to become a National Association Realtor®. It will cost you nothing, but can save you money and result in a much smoother real estate transaction.

Just Moved? - Looking For A New Doctor & Best Hospitals?

If you are new to the area or are simply looking for a new doctor, it is important to find the right doctor for your needs. Personally, one of my needs is to find a doctor who is respectful of my time. I seek out doctors who do not make me wait an unreasonable period of time because patients are backed up in their waiting room. I found a primary care doctor with extensive credentials and in his practice for many years who believes in short patient wait times. How, simply by asking questions of receptionists when I called to discuss the doctor's behavior. Some were not willing to discuss the wait time nor bed side manner issue at all (perhaps because they knew they would be in trouble if they answered my questions honestly.)

You might also want to read patient reviews of several doctors before making your selection. Here are a few helpful websites that can aid you in finding a great doctor.

DOCTORS:
Find local doctors in the yellow page: SuperPages.com

Find good doctors for people over 50 at: AARP Doctors

Read patient reviews of doctors
Find additional doctor ratings and reviews

DENTIST:
1-800-Dentist
Zipfeldentist

CHIROPRACTOR:
AllChiropractorClinics

Compare Hospitals too. This site lets you search hospitals nationally by:

Geography: What services are provided by which hospitals

Procedures: Find which hospitals are know for specific medical procedures like heart attack, abdominal surgery...

Process of care: See how well hospitals are rated for specific procedures

Outcome: Includes in-hospital and 30 days after discharge mortality rates for heart attack & heart failure.

Patient experiences: See what patients say about their hospital care

Cost & payment: Learn the average charges for specific procedures as compared to national averages

For example, in the Denver area:

National Jewish Health (University of Colorado Hospital) was named the nations best respiratory hospital for the eleventh year running. Craig Hospital is once again in the top 10 nationally for rehabilitation for the 19th consecutive year.

Housing Market Continues To Improve

Metrolist data for June shows Denver experienced a 9.5% drop in listed inventory during the past 12 months. (June of 2008 had 27,295 properties listed as compared to 30,145 units in June of 2007.) Another excellent change is that last month the Denver market had 8,382 units under contract; a 13% increase over June of 2008. This is the highest number of under contract properties in Denver for June since 2003.

These changes are fantastic news for the Denver Real Estate Market. It means we are starting to see improvement and are heading toward a more balanced market; which is very healthy for both the buyers and sellers.

When the market swings too far either direction, it is not good for either buyers or sellers. Since most sellers typically turn around and buy another home, it is most advantageous when they can relatively easily sell their present home. If, like during the past couple of years, many sellers have not been able to sell their present home, they can not buy another. So, the entire market becomes plugged up and home values drop along with market confidence. Lenders then also become more conservative in their lending practices and make it more difficult for buyers to qualify. Appraisers begin to under value homes in hopes of not being behind the market in their evaluations. These low appraisals actually force the market even lower. The downward spiral keeps accelerating to the point that the market is under valued; like it is in many areas of Denver today.

A healthy and balanced market exists when buyers and sellers are actually freely able to sell and buy when they want to. Although our market never stays exactly balanced, the closer to balanced we are, the healthier our market becomes. Homes then continue to experience normal and healthy appreciation. Buyers, sellers, lenders and appraisers all have confidence in the housing market. The market moves freely and uninhibited from artificial forces. Everyone wins when we have a balanced market.

Feel free to call or write with your comments on this topic. If you are considering buying a home, now is one of the best time to do so that we have seen for the past several years. Interest rates are still holding around 6.0% and available inventory remains high.

What’s New & Available In The Denver Area?

What’s New In the Denver Area?

The new European Village of homes in Greenwood Village consists of neighborhood shops and dining opportunities. This is a quickly growing area which is an exciting place to live, eat and be entertained and the place to be in the Denver area for people of all ages.

Prices are sure not going down in this up-scale Brownstones and loft Towers living community. New construction prices range between $300,000 and $2.7 million. Landmark Tower has 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units priced between $300,000 and $1 million.

Come visit the European Village and experience wonderful up-scale shopping, restaurants with live music and the Landmark Theatres with what I personally consider to be the very best service, bar and comfortable cushy seats found in any metro Denver theater. It is a great place to go for patio dinning and a movie. The newest Comedy Works is also scheduled to open this year.

Some helpful websites:

Landmark Shops

Landmark Development

Landmark theaters

Are Your Kids Safe At The Pool?

Summer is a great time to get out with your kids and enjoy the warm weather. Going to the pool is always a fun way to cool down from the heat and stay in touch with neighbors. Pool safety is an important aspect for parents and kids. Each year hundreds of kids die from pool related accidents.

For those of you who have back yard pools, there are some important considerations to take into account before you let your children enjoy the water:
*Only install a pool when all children are above age 5 (most deaths are kids of 1-3 years)
*Never leave any age child or children alone in the pool or pool area without adult supervision
*Install a fence around pool to prevent neighborhood children from wondering into your pool area
*Do not leave toys in the pool when not in use so kids are not tempted to reach for them
*Remember - even children who know how to swim can and sometimes still drown
Reports show that 70% of children who drown in the pool have parents nearby. Later, upon questioning, parents state they did not hear or see anything indicating their child was in trouble.

Here are some useful websites about pool safety. - products for pool safety

An additional website to learn about pool safety

Denver Post Confirms Denver Homes Are Appreciating

Several of my previous blogs including one on March 20th have stated that the Denver housing market trends were improving and that our market was showing signs of hitting bottom. TODAY, the Denver Post is reporting that sales figures how Denver experienced appreciation of .8% in April. It is interesting to note that Denver was the only city out of 20 surveyed to show any appreciation for the period. All other cities are still showing downward trends.

Last March I suggested it was time to start shopping for the best values in home purchases that would likely be found in Denver. Since 2000, Denver has realized a 28.5% increase in housing prices. Although this is below some other cities in the survey, it represents a steady sustainable appreciation during those years.

If you ever considered buying a home in the Denver area, now is (or perhaps last March before the prices started going up was) the very best time in the past four years to do so.

Interest rates are remain very low and affordable. Although we still have homes going into foreclosure every month, the rate of new foreclosures is also starting to decrease. Additionally, builder starts are also decreasing. These factors combined with greater buyer confidence and demand for home ownership have resulted in a slow but steady decrease in the available Denver home inventory. Less inventory with greater demand can only mean increased prices. - - - Did I mention that now is a great time to be buying a home in Denver?

What’s New in Denver This Summer?

This summer the city of Denver will play host to the Democratic Convention. This event will pack the city and nearby suburbs with visitors from all over the nation. There will be 10,000 reporters covering the event. The impact on Denver will be a once in a century event.

The convention will take place each night in the Pepsi Center. Denver’s hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues will benefit greatly from such an event. In addition to the millions of dollars Denver was given to prepare the city for the convention, it is expected that an extra $160-200 million dollars will be brought to the Denver economy.

There are also different events that the NDCC is putting on to get citizens involved. Some of these events include:
*Clean-up project at the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Denver
*Making a special holiday breakfast with Colorado’s First Lady Jeannie Ritter for homeless and runaway youth
*Sorting canned goods with Atlanta Mayor and Convention Co-Chair Shirley Franklin
*Soccer skills camp with the Colorado Rapids
*Spreading mulch around trees in City Park to promote environmentalism

This is the website with all of the information about the Democratic Convention In Denver this August.

Come and enjoy the excitement!

Tornado Safety for You and Your Family

Recently an F-4 mile wide tornado ripped through Northern Colorado. This tornado traveled 35 miles running over cars, farms, buildings, houses and even turning over semi trucks and derailing a train. The Northern Colorado citizens quickly took proper cover to protect themselves. This tornado brought much needed attention to tornado safety.

Summer is tornado season. It is important that you and your family know about tornadoes and where to seek shelter before the storm to remain safe. Some important things to know about tornadoes:
*Tornado WATCH means a there is a possibility of a tornado
*Tornado WARNING means an actual funnel cloud was spotted
*Before a tornado the sky will be an eerie greenish/black color and fast moving clouds
*Some tornadoes to not have a distinct funnel, look for flying debris

What to do:
*Best places to hide are storm shelters, basements, or under stairs
*Any place away from windows with many walls between you and the perimeter of the building
*Bathtub, closet or under a sturdy table
*Use heavy blankets or a mattress to cover yourself from flying glass and other objects
*Your place for shelter should be decided on before hand and well known

Where NOT to be when you see one coming.
If you are in your car, remember NOT to stop under a bridge/overpass if you suspect or see a tornado is coming. The wind speed actually increase anywhere there is a restriction. The area under bridges/overpasses restricts the air and it will speed up and cause even more damages to anything in the area.

Here is a site about tornado safety:

Make Your Next Move As Stress Free As Possible

Moving to a new home can be a very exciting time, but it can also be quite stressful for everyone involved – including your children. Early preparation can help reduce stress on your entire family. Since it is such a big project break it down into baby steps that are easier to face than looking at the entire stressful event all at one time

Be sure to involve your children in the process too. If they are allowed to help pack many of their own belongings they feel more needed and a part of the process as well as becoming occupied. Let them help even if it means re-packing some of the boxes later on. They feel even more helpful if they are allowed to pack the family pet’s items like canned food and grooming supplies.

Here are some other useful tips to consider when moving:
Open a checking account in your new city at least a couple of weeks before you move. Allow ample time for funds to clear that you will need for the down payment and closing costs for your new home.
Labeling boxes greatly reduces the time and stress of any move.
Begin packing early- it always takes longer than you expected to have everything ready for the movers on moving day.
Keep important documents and any medication with you.
Be exuberant when throwing away, recycling, or donate things you have not used recently.

Moving Coach offers these 5 Big Mistake Moving Tips fore everyone to consider.

Here is a moving checklist to assist you in organizing your move:
http://www.mayflower.com/moving/full-service-movers/moving-tips/moving-checklist.htm

These websites can assist you in comparing prices for different moving companies:
Van Line Firms - get free moving quotes
123Movers

PODS is a moving company that drops off big storage containers on your driveway that you pack yourself. When you are ready, they pick up your self-packed POD and move it to your new home:

Do A Good Deed - Help Build A Home For Another

Doing a selfless deed for another is a great way to spend part of your summer. How about giving one day (or more) of your time to help build a house for Habitat for Humanity.

This non profit organization builds low cost homes for families in need around the world. The Habitat for Humanity seeks to lessen poverty and homelessness by building houses with volunteers and donated money and materials.

These homes are sold to families in need at no profit and are financed with affordable loans. The money brought in from their monthly mortgages goes right into making more homes for other families. This organization has built more than 250,000 homes throughout the world and have created better living environments for over 1 million people.

This summer would be a great time to volunteer to help build a house for a family in need. The day I volunteered was a wonderful experience. Well trained employees of Habitat For Humanity provide a safety talk and all of the tools and materials needed. They are also quite good at matching your individual skill level with tasks that need to be done for that day. Repeat visits are very welcome. - If you do not have the time to help build one of their homes, your donations are always appreciated and help as well.

For more information and locations close to you:
Habitat for Humanity Denver locations or call (303) 534-2929 TODAY.

SPRING IS HERE! - RUN IN A MARATHON OR RACE

Are you looking for a fun, active summer activity to participate in? There are many races/marathons in and around the Denver area this summer that are a fun and exciting way to push yourself.

The Cottonwood Classic 5K
This race is in Thornton on May 17, 2008

Couples Relay
A run or walk race for couples in Ft. Collins on May 18, 2008. Each person runs/walks 5K. Couple can be male/female, male/male, or female/female.

Boulder Boulder
This 10K race is in Boulder on May 26, 2008. Registration costs $40 and up (depending on package)

Rocky Mountain Half Marathon and Women’s 8K
This marathon is in Denver on June 8, 2008

Donor Dash
This is a 5K race in Washington Park in Denver on July 13, 2008

Denver Marathon
This is a marathon, half-marathon or 4 person marathon relay on October 19, 2008. It starts in front of the capital building and goes through the heart of downtown Denver and ends at Civic Center Park

Save Money On Your Gasoline Expenses In 2008

This past year we have seen gas prices increase dramatically. On May 1, 2008 the average national gas price was $3.62 per gallon, the highest our nation hase ever seen. Gas prices in 2008 overall have increased 18% from last year alone.

There appears to be no signs of slowing. The gas prices will continue to rise in the spring and into the summer. In some places gas prices will reach $4.00 per gallon. Traditionally, gas prices peak during the summer months. This summer’s gas prices look like they may be even higher than predicted.

With gas prices at a new high throughout the nation, many of us are looking for ways to cut down on their fuel consumption. If you are interested in reducing your gas consumption, here are a few ideas:

* Walk or bike instead of drive to close destinations
* Carpool to work or other activities
* Take public transportation (light rail)
* Don’t jump in the car every time you want something. Plan fewer trips with multiple stops and route your trips in advance of leaving.
* Drive slower. Driving 10 miles per hour slower on the highway will reduce fuel consumption by nearly 10%.

Fill up with the least expensive gas in your area.
Here are some sites that can help you do so:

Gas Buddy

MapQuest gas prices

Appreciation Seen In Select Denver Subdivisions

A recent article in the 5280 magazine noted several Denver neighborhoods that experienced an increase in their average sales price for 2007. The article lists only some of the areas showing appreciation for the year. There are many additional subdivisions that are showing upward movement in price trends throughout the Metro Denver area.

Here are the communities listed in the recent magazine article.

Average Sales Price and Percent Increase From 2006 to 2007 For:
Berkley: $274,000; 5 percent
Cherry Hills: $2,016,500; 7 percent
Country Club Historic District: $1,082,000; 26 percent
Highlands and West Highlands: $305,011; 4 percent
Highlands Ranch: $319,000 (average of Redstone and Coyote Creek); 1.5 percent
Ken-Caryl Valley: $564,000; 5 percent
Louisville: $392,000 in 2007 and early 2008; up 7.3 percent from 2006
Mayfair: $671,000 (average of Montclair and Hilltop); 10 percent
Old Bonnie Brae: $904,212; 13 percent
South Park Hill: $456,000; 5 percent
Stapleton: $454,000; 4 percent
Washington Park: $654,000; 9 percent

Other interesting new is that according to the Metrolist numbers the number of days it is taking for a home to go under contract is decreasing. During of April 2007 it took 108 days to sell while last month, it took 103 days. Although this is not a significant difference, it is just another indicator to tell you which way our market is moving.

Metrolist figures show another interesting point. The number of buyers in the market is also increasing. Under contract properties increased by 7% this past March as compared to March of 07 and April to April showed a 2% increase. - These market indicators are saying the Denver real estate market is improving.

Feel free to contact me to discuss specifics of any community you have interest in or if you would like to know about other subdivisions showing significant promise.

Parts of Denver Are Appreciating

A recent article in US News reported that although many areas of Denver have experienced a reduction of home values during the past two years, homeowners in select neighborhood have actually seen APPRECIATION of home values. This color coded map shows in blue (0 to 5%) and green (5% +) where owners have been experiencing an increase in their property values over the past two years.

If you are thinking of purchasing a home in Denver you might want to first consider looking in the areas that have bucked the national and local trend. After all, the reasons these pockets of areas are and have shown appreciation while other areas have not, will continue to exist in the future. You too can benefit by owning a home, or investment property, in one of these appreciating areas.

Good Trend For Denver's Housing Market

Denver's housing market appears to have turned the corner.

Supply and demand always determines the value of a product or an entire market. The breaking news is that the supply of currently listed homes for March 2008 is 3.5% less than for the same month in 2007. This is a very significant number indicating the Denver housing market is improving as compared to a year ago.

Another interesting point is that Denver is one of only five major markets to see a decrease in available homes as compared to the same period last year. Denver has only a 6.4 month supply of homes available today; one of the lowest numbers of all major housing markets nationally. In contrast, Miami has a 35 month supply of homes and other areas like Las Vegas, Tampa, and Detroit have close to an 18 month supply.

Other indicators that Denver has turned the corner can be found in a recent Forbes article stating that local builders had reduced building by nearly 50%, Denver has seen a 20% drop in the number of vacant homes and new jobs has increased by 2%.

If you are considering buying a home in Denver, you might want to do so before the prices start to increase. And, before the inventory of available homes decreases further.

Want A Volume Discount With Your Next Moving Company?

We at RE/MAX are always working for our clients to get them the best possible pricing with their entire relocation. We have just established an affiliation with MoveSource which can provide moving services from various major van lines, including Atlas, Mayflower and United. Due to the high volume of business we refer these van lines, we can pass along the volume discounts to our clients.

In addition to the discounts available to you, MoveSource also offers you the following benefits:
* Guaranteed pricing in writing prior to your move
* Guaranteed pick-up and delivery dates
* Up to $75,000 full value replacement coverage at no additional cost
* A relocation coordinator to counsel you throughout your move
* Post-move assistance in case of a claim

You can also contact MoveSource by calling 800-991-6683

Here is a helpful Moving Check List you may find helpful when planning your next move.

Your Money Can Grow On Trees

Improving your landscaping is the absolute single best way of increasing the value of your home for the money you invest. All other things owners do to their home like kitchen or bath remodeling will only return a portion of every dollar invested; and actually loses some value each year thereafter. Well designed landscaping will actually increase in value each year.

Home buyers always value a landscaped home more than a non-landscaped or under landscaped properties. The Society of Real Estate Appraisers state that 95% of the appraisers believe that landscaping adds to the dollar value of residential real estate by improving your homes’ appearance.

Landscaping Tips:

1. Consult with a professional landscape design firm or even your local nursery to insure you purchase landscaping that will thrive in your climate.

2. Plant flowers that will bloom at various times throughout the spring, summer and fall months of the year to maximize the color and appearance of your property.

3. Be sure the space will be adequate for the fully mature tree you will be planting. (For example: A Colorado Blue Spruce tree can have a 50 foot diameter when mature. So, be sure the area selected will support such a tree in the years to come.)

4. Drive your neighborhood as well as fully mature subdivisions to see what others have done with their landscaping. There is nothing wrong with coping great landscaping ideas of other owners.

5. Add water features. The sight and wonderful sounds of a water feature can greatly increase the value of your landscaping and set your home apart from others in your neighborhood. A comment from a viewer of my March 20, 2008 blog mentioned that: "Flowers that attract the butterflies will attract the hummingbirds and Baltimore Orioles as well. To attract the songbirds, a birdfeeder usually works best." So, you might also consider adding a birdfeeder and perhaps a birdbath to your landscaping as well.

6. Go online to find landscaping ideas. Here are a few excellent sites to consider:

Free Landscaping Design Ideas

Water Features On Any Budget

Landscape Designs To Create A Beautiful Back Yard Retreat

UNDER CONTRACT HOMES INCREASING

Under Contract and/or SOLD Signs are popping up all over the place!

I have been quite busy lately showing many different price range of buyers around both older and newer neighborhoods. The one significant, and exciting, change I have noticed in even the past three weeks is the number of Under Contract sign riders there are on Realtor's for sales signs. Homes are starting to sell again in the Denver market. Buyers are actually buying again; instead of just out looking like they were for most of this past winter.

With increased buyer interest (demand) will result in a reduction of the available inventory. Reduced inventory and increased demand will result in prices moving up on Denver homes. My guess is we will see prices firming up and start moving upward in the most desirable neighborhoods by June or July. Other neighborhoods will see price movement by the end of this year.

Metro Denver MLS Two Letter Description Codes

Have you ever been searching through various Denver MLS listings and wondered what all those two letter description codes mean. Well, you need not wonder any longer. I have provided you answers for how to interpret the metro Denver MLS Codes.

Are Woodpeckers Damaging Your Home?

Woodpeckers can be a real head ace to homeowners. If your home has wood siding or EIFS stucco, (exterior insulating finishing system), you very likely have experienced the damage caused by woodpeckers. They generally favor nesting locations high up on the side of homes; like the Flicker in the photo. Chimney chases and columns of decks clad with stucco are other highly desirable locations for these birds because they resonate like hollow dead trees when they are drummed on. When a woodpecker finally opens a large enough hole to pass through, they discover a wonderful new home for themselves has been created.

Although this may not appear to be problematic for you as the homeowner, it really is the beginning of what may be a very expensive problem. When rain or snow goes through the hole, water damage inside the wall of your home is inevitable. Stucco siding has been know to completely delaminate and fall off of the home. Additionally, mold can also start growing inside the walls of your home. (See Mold - Mold - Mold And YOU and Mold - What You Should Know) Total repair expenses of such damage starts in the hundreds of dollars and can easily exceed tens of thousands of dollars.

There are two effective ways to repair woodpecker damaged areas. First, hard coat the repaired hole – over the existing softer EIFS finish. Woodpeckers will not enjoy pecking through the much harder exterior finish the second time. A second method might be to install Hardie Board over the damaged areas and then finish with hard coat stucco texture. Once the wall has been repaired and repainted, they will look like they did when they were first installed.

See additional information on Preventing Woodpecker Damage at
WOODPECKERS BOTHERING YOU? ? WHAT TO DO

Learn more about Woodpeckers .

Top 5 Cost-Effective Remodel Projects

According to “Remodeling Magazine” there are five home improvement projects that consistently gave back the most return for the money invested. ServiceMagic.com just completed a video report discussing the Five Best Home Improvement projects nationwide. They asked me to participate in their video as their 30 years in the business Real Estate Expert. Be sure to check out there video and my comments.

If you are thinking of doing some home improvements for the purpose of selling your home, be sure to see my article titled REPAIR TIPS TO MAXIMIZE YOUR PROFITS WHEN SELLING

AND the one I wrote titled "STAGING" YOUR HOME FOR A QUICK SALE.

As always, let me know if you would like to discuss the sale of your home. I am always available to assist you with helpful ideas as well as the actual marketing of your home.

How To Get Rid of Pet Odors

We love our pets but do not love the smells they may leave in our homes. When selling your home, it is important that these odors be removed before buyers view your home. For your clothes, rugs and other washables, mix in ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar in with your wash and regular detergent. As for the hard wood floors in your home, mix in white vinegar with warm water and soap (3:1 ratio) in a bucket.

Hands Off Dog Training Formula for just $37.77 – including potty training dogs

When it comes to those tell tail brown spots in your lawn, you might want to visit:

Bring Back The Green (how to repair the dead patches on the lawn)

YES, Nobody Sells More Real Estate Than RE/MAX

Take a look at one of our recent national television commercials. We can help you get out from under your present home and help you find your next home as well.

You can also see 100% of the listed homes on our web site or by visiting my visiting my web site. You can use the Simple MLS Search method including typing in individual MLS numbers if you like or you can sign up to receive daily, weekly, monthly... Automatic Up-dates of new listings the meet your specific needs.

Let me know whenever I can assist you. I am just a click or a call away. It is a great time to buy a new home!

Lenders Getting Tougher – Blackball Many States

Whenever home loan borrowers put down less than 20% of the purchase price, they are required to purchase mortgage insurance to protect the lender in the event they happen to stop making payments on their loan. Companies who insure mortgage loans recently refused to insure home loans in California, Florida, Arizona, Michigan, Ohio and Nevada. Each of these state apparently have been experiencing too many foreclosures and decline in home values. Nearly 25% of the zip codes across the nation have been targeted as having too high of risk for the mortgage insurance companies to continue issuing insurance. The largest mortgage insurer, MGIC, just put metro Denver and Weld County on their “restricted” markets list. They now will only cover 95% loans with the borrower being required to put at least 5% of the purchase price down at the time of closing. If the borrower’s credit score is lower than 620, they must put at least 10% down. Radian and MGIC as well as most other mortgage insurers are also increasing their premium rates for all customers.

Buyers in the future will be required to have much larger down payments – (at least 5% to 20% down payment depending on the insurer in these blackballed zip code areas), a higher credit score and pay a higher mortgage insurance premium. This will result in far fewer buyers being able to qualify to purchase homes. In the affected areas, it will likely mean a continued decline in property values since there will be a decrease in the number of buyers. The old economic supply and demand equation will be hard at work for many months to come. Less demand equates to lower prices.

Be sure to have your Realtor(r) identify which areas are showing appreciation v. s. decline in values before you purchase your next home.

Does Your Home Have GREAT Curb Appeal?

Lets face it, we all initially judge people, communities, buildings and your future home by their appearance. So, when you are selling your property, improving your home’s “Curb Appeal” is an easy way to attract buyers to your home.

Start by standing on the opposite side of the street and take a real good look at your home - as if you were a buyer seeing the property for the very first time. Pick out features of your home or landscaping that, if improved, would increase your home’s “Curb Appeal”.

Want to try going for the maximum benefit to yourself? Drive around your entire neighborhood and find the top three homes that have the very best “Curb Appeal”. Needless to say, copy as many ideas as you can for your home. Can you imagine the improved desirability your home would have if it was one of the top three homes in your neighborhood?

The real end result is that by improving your home’s “Curb Appeal” you not only increase the demand for your home, you also will find a buyer quicker and sell your home for more money.

Here are a couple of web sites that might help you with some additional ideas on how to improve your home’s “Curb Appeal”.

.

197 Ways to Improve the Curb Appeal of Any House.

Turning Bland Homes Into Showplaces - easy ways to increase your curb appeal.

If you are thinking of selling your home, I might be able to help you with some additonal ideas too. After showing thousands of homes over the past 30 years, I have had the chance to not only see many homes with great "Curb Appeal" I have had the benefit of listening to thousands of comments from buyers in the market. Would it be helpful to you to know what they see and what their comment will likely be about your home?
Give me a call - 303-796-0957

XXX Rated Sewer Lines Will Cost Someone Money

Buyers be ware when it comes time to have a home inspected. Be sure you have all of the home’s systems, especially sewer lines in an older homes.

A recent buyer of mine just went under contract on a 1942 vintage home. One of the inspections I recommended was to have the sewer line scoped since sewer lines of that period frequently have problems since they were typically made out of clay. The sewer inspector said his video had to be rated X X X for how bad the line appeared. It had seven areas where tree roots were entering the line. The line also had so much standing water in it that the inspector could not tell if the line just needed to cleaned out or if it had actually failed and collapsed.

Needless to say, my Inspection Report required the sellers to have the line cleaned and then re-scoped to determine the condition of the line. This sewer line actually failed in one location and that section of line needs to be replaced. My clients saved thousands of THEIR dollars by having the sewer line inspected before they became the owners of this home.

Most home inspectors do not have the equipment to inspect a sewer line. They typically test the sewer line simply by filling the bath tub with water, as it drains, the inspector turns on all of the sinks and flush the toilets. This adds considerable amount of water to the sewer line. If it is clogged up badly, the water will not drain quickly. This procedure can not determine if the line has been damaged or if the sewer line is starting to collapse. It will only show major sewer problems.

The water drained a little slower than normal on the home my buyers are purchasing. Since the sewer line scope inspection was suggested on this home, my buyers saved thousands of dollars worth of repair expense. The defective line, rightfully so, will be repaired at the seller’s expense.

Consider having the sewer line scoped as a part of your home inspection. Typical sewer inspections will cost you $99 to $275. Send me an email if you want the name of the $99 inspector.

Under Contract Numbers Are Increasing

Denver residential homes in February of 2008 had an average sold price of $278,871. This represents a 4.54% drop as compared to the same month in 2007. The average time it took to sell a home in Denver dropped from 123 days in Feb. 07 to 111 days in Feb. of this year.

In Feb. 08 there were 25,037 active home and condo listings on the market in Denver. This represents a .8% increase from the same month one year ago.

Last month 5,126 buyers wrote acceptable contract offers on Denver area homes and condominiums. This represents an increase of 12.66% in accepted contracts than there were in January. It is also a 4% increase in buyer activity as compared to February of 2007. So, more buyers are out there finding homes this year than last year. My prediction is that we have seen the bottom of the decline and 2008 will prove to be better than 2007 in the numbers of homes sold.

You might as well consider buying now too – before the prices start to go up.

Attract Butterflys & Birds

Here are a couple of links that you will find interesting and useful. One is a resource for finding native plants. Native plants conserve water and reduce the time required to maintain landscaping. Some native plants also attract birds and butterflies. This site http://www.wildflower.org/ is Ladybird Johnson's project.

The National Wildlife Federation sponsors another site http://www.nwf.org/backyard/ that can show you how to attract butterflies and birds to your yard. What a fun project to share with a child or grandchild!

When Is The Best Time To Buy Denver Real Estate?

One investor I know is buying his third home in the same block. He apparently thinks the time to buy Denver real estate in now. My guess is that he has considered the following facts about our market.

* Interest rates are extremely affordable.

* The Denver market is flooded with too many sellers and not enough buyers. (We are experiencing a strong “Buyer’s Market”)

* Most sellers that have been listed on the market for more than 30 days consider any offer seriously. * Many sellers are willing to sell below their properties “fair market value” when a seriously qualified buyer shows up with an offer to buy.

* Many sellers are initially pricing their homes below recent appraised values.

* Denver numbers for homes under contract are increasing again. (For the first time in months, we just saw an increase in the number of under contract properties in February 2008 as compared to February 2007. - An increase of nearly 12% throughout metro Denver.)

* Our metro Denver market was more stable than many other major city markets. Although we did not see run away appreciation in the last five years as did many other cities, we also did not experience the bottom falling out in the past couple of years either. Denver is a safe place to own real estate.

* Property values have stopped declining in the better neighborhoods throughout metro Denver.

* Buyers, as a general rule, are still quite nervous about buying. (When buyers across the board believe the water is save, home prices will have already appreciated in Denver by thousands of dollars on each home. - The buyers are always behind the market.)With 30 years of Denver real estate experience, I have seen several cycles in the Denver housing market. What I see happening today in our market makes me believe that today is the right time to be buying homes in Denver. My prediction is that today you can buy Denver real estate at the lowest prices we will see. Prices in better Denver neighborhoods will go up, not down, from here. Let’s see how accurate I am as I quote home values as shown in the MLS system in future blogs.

How NOT To Price Your Home When Selling

Denver area sellers can become frustrated with today’s strong “Buyer’s Market” conditions. Last week I was at a listing presentation of a high end home and the seller wanted to be sure he priced his home aggressively to ensure the home sells within a 90 to 120 day maximum marketing period. His suggestion was to price the home right at “fair market value”. – He just did not have the time to “play around”.

Most listing agent would be excited to hear this from a potential seller. How easy can this be? But, my advice was NOT to price his home right at today’s “fair market value” for the home. My reasoning is simply that ALL buyers today know the market if flooded with anxious sellers. They and their agents also know there are deals to be had out there. Any agent worth his/her commission will want to prove that fact to his/her client when it comes time to negotiate the final contract price.

So, assuming the property is priced at exactly the “fair market value” and at the seller’s absolute bottom price, how do the selling agent and buyer negotiate a better price? One that feels like they won in today’s strong “buyer’s market” conditions. Forget the fact that the buyer would actually be getting the home at a great price with no effort with my seller’s approach to pricing. The real problem here is that the buyer and the buyer’s agent just won’t have a good feel about the negotiation process if they don’t know they won. Anytime a buyer pays the full asking price in our market, the buyer will never feel like they won. Can you imagine the reaction the buyer would get when they told their family, friends and office acquaintances that they paid the seller's asking price on the home they just purchased?

So, how should a seller price his metro Denver home? My answer was to allow enough negotiating room on the price that the eventual buyer AND the buyer’s agent could feel like they won in their negotiations. The percentage amount the asking price should be above the seller’s absolute minimum acceptable price will depend on the condition of the home and the number of competing listings in the immediate area.

As a seller in the Denver market place, just be sure to factor in the “good feeling factor” for the buyer and the buyer’s agent.

You can find excellent negotiation strategies articles on my DenverRealEstateOnline.com web site.

Spring Forward Into A Season of Summer Fun

Yes, today we all move our clocks forward one hour. (spring forward) and get ready for warmer spring temperatures.

Winter is coming to an end and the warm beautiful months of summer are just about upon us. The state of Colorado has a lot of summer activities to offer. Downtown Denver hosts many events as well. It does not matter if you are looking for an event to take the family to or a special someone, it is all offered in Denver. Whatever your desire, get out and enjoy our beautiful spring and summer weather.

Your family will enjoy the numerous rides, attractions, and water park that Elitch Gardens has to offer. The Colorado Rockies are back after making it to the World Series last year! Let's get out and encourage them to do it again this year! The Pepsi Center and Invesco Field are normally home to the Nuggets, Avalanche and Broncos. On the off season, the facilities are used for many different events - top on the list are concerts. Keith Urban & Carrie Underwood are in concert tonight at the Pepsi Center. Many musicians come through Denver to perform, especially in the summer months. Check out this Denver concert schedule to purchase tickets on-line! You'll want to experience a concert or Easter sun rise services at Red Rocks.

Enjoy All Colorado Has Offer.

How Does Denver Compare To Your City?

There are all kinds of city comparison calculators on the internet theses days. One that is especially helpful when considering a move from one part of the country to another is to compare salary requirements necessary to afford your same cost of living. This calculator answers how much income you will need if you move from your city to another. For example, if you live in Los Angles and are considering a move to Denver.
It is 31.7% less expensive to live in Denver, Colorado than in Los Angeles, California.

Therefore, if you make $200,000 living in Los Angeles, California
You will need to make $136,694 living in Denver, Colorado
You can find this calculator on The Moving Coach web site.

Other excellent city comparison calculators can be found on this page of my DenverRealEstateOnline.com web site. You can compare housing costs, climate, economy, crime, health, cost of living, housing, people…

Have fun comparing your community to Denver.

It’s Still A Strong Buyer’s Market – With Deals Abound

Recently I had a buyer under contract to buy a new construction home from an area builder. The buyer originally wrote the purchase offer on the home as a dirt start nearly eight months ago. My buyer ran into some unexpected problems and could not close when the home was ready. The builder quickly agreed to extend the closing by 30 days with no penalty to the buyer. Then, my buyer confessed that she had to spend about $15,000 of her required $20,000 down payment. The lender suggested a different loan program that would allow the buyer to close with her limited down payment. This presented another problem. The buyer’s monthly payment would increase above what she was comfortable paying. So, it was the builders turn to again to decide how badly they wanted to keep my buyer happy and see her at the closing table. Unbelievably, the builder ended up contributing 6% of the purchase price toward buying down the buyer’s interest rate to allow the monthly payment to be tolerable to my buyer’s budget. In thirty years of selling homes, I have never seen builders so "cooperative" in their business decisions.

The first rule of successful negotiations is: “He who cares least, wins.” In my recent example, the buyer clearly cared least. After all, the most she had at risk was a very small $2,500 earnest money deposit. (This is a topic of a future Denver Real Estate Blog). On the other hand, the builder had thousands and thousands of dollars of lost profit at risk because our "buyer's market" would not likely produce another buyer in a timely manner.

Nothing should be considered out of the question when writing or negotiating a contract. The point is, we really do still have a very strong “buyers market” in the Denver area.

How To Find A Great Home Inspector

When you purchase a home, you should always have it inspected by a qualified home inspector. Currently, only 27 states have home inspection regulations. Colorado is not one of those states. In Colorado, anyone regardless of training or background can claim they are a home inspector. So, how do you find a qualified home inspector?

Start by asking lots of questions. You might ask your Realtor to recommend home inspectors he/she have found to be knowledgeable.
Then, begin your interview process. The obvious question of how many homes he has inspected in his life-time is a good place to start. A word of caution: be sure you talk with the actual inspector who will be conducting the inspection on your home. Many of the large national inspection firms with the 800 numbers require their receptionist to assign an inspector for you. You have no way of knowing what that inspector’s background and competency might be until you meet that person at the front door. They will boast of vast experience their inspectors have: and some may actually have that experience level. Just be sure you are getting the person. Please do not assume all home inspectors are created equal. They are not.

The next way to assure you are hiring a quality home inspector is to inquire about their advanced designations. American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) is one such designation. You might also ask if they are Certified Master Inspectors (CMI) certified inspectors. Other professional home inspectors belong to NACHI the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors. Another is the National Association of Home Inspectors (NAHI)

Each of these organizations requires extensive training and competency of their membership. Be sure your inspector belongs to at least one of these professional organizations.

Economic Stimulus Bill Affects Us Positively

The number one way most Americans establish wealth in their lifetime is through the ownership of their homes. Historically, home values across the nation double in value every ten years. So, any program that increases our ability to own a home is good for our financial security.

This month our Federal Government will pass an economic stimulus bill increasing both FHA and Conventional Loan Limits that will now enable 700,000 home owners to refinance their existing home loans with more affordable interest rates. The bill will also enable over 430,000 Americans to sell their homes that have not been able to do so in past months. Additionally, over 130,000 new FHA buyers will be able to enter the housing market as a result of passage of this important economic stimulus package.

Be sure to view the National Association of Realtor's® Podcast discussing the February 19, 2008: Stimulus Package that will boost our national housing market.

Check out the quality of schools before you buy your next home

This week the Denver Public Schools closed one charter school while putting six others on probation because of low test scores. Although this is an unfortunate event that we as citizens have little direct control over, we do have control over the homes we elect to purchase and the quality of schools servicing the home we buy.

Anyone thinking about buying a home should seriously consider the quality of schools in the area. This should be the second consideration right after establishing the price range they can afford. The quality of schools will greatly affect the home values in the area. (The best school systems attract buyers more readily.) Even if you do not have school aged children, you should still consider buying in an area with high performing schools. Because, one day, you too will sell and when that day arrives you want to have as many positive factors working for you as you can. The quality of schools servicing the property you purchase will affect not only the value of your home, but how quickly buyers become interested in your home.

In order to help clients establish the best school system for their needs I frequently suggest review of the following school information web sites. I hope you too find them to be beneficial.

http://reportcard.cde.state.co.us/reportcard/CommandHandler.jsp
http://www.homefair.com/Find_A_Place/School_Reports/
http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeassess/sar_info.html
http://www.cde.state.co.us/

A national database of school demographic information can be found on the National Center for Education Statistics Web site. Click on the "School, College and Library Search" tab at the top in order to view data including a particular school's student-to-teacher ratio or enrollment by race and ethnicity.

For a snapshot of academic performance and to compare schools, a prospective homeowner might browse the School Matters Web site, a service of Standard & Poor's.

Another site, Great Schools, offers similar tools.

Here are links to other metro Denver area schools:
The official Cherry Creek School District’s web site is at:
http://www.ccsd.k12.co.us/

http://www.ccsd.k12.co.us/dist_info/dist_mapMED.html Cherry Creek School System Boundary Map

Here is the Douglas County School District's web site.
http://www.dcsdk12.org/

The Littleton School District’s site is at:
http://www.littletonpublicschools.net/

The Jefferson County School District's site is at:
http://www.co.jefferson.co.us/ext/dpt/portal/learning.htm#jcps
and also see
http://www.jeffcoonline.net/schools.htm

Denver Public Schools
http://www.dpsk12.org/

State of Colorado’s Official Web Site - Education
http://www.colorado.gov/education.htm

Colorado K-12 Schools Web Sites
http://www.cde.state.co.us/utility/k12schls.htm

Colorado School Districts - Web Sites
http://www.cde.state.co.us/utility/k12schls.htm#districts

http://www.cde.state.co.us/

Also, click on my web site page at:
http://www.denverrealestateonline.com/PageManager/Default.aspx/PageID=851132&NF=1

and explore these other links:
School Information

Public Schools Review

Private Schools Review

Boarding Schools

http://www.cde.state.co.us/

Understand your builder's bentonite soils test before buying

Obtaining the builder's bentonite soils test to determine the swell potential of the soil could save you tens of thousands of dollars later on by simply knowing what property you should or should not buy.

Pure bentonite (montmorillonite clay) can expand 15 times its normal size and exert a pressure of 40,000 pounds per square foot when it becomes wet. Expansive soils test showing 2% to 12% swell potential can result in various degrees of cracking and movement of your basement cement floor, garage floor, drive and walks, and in some cases, even foundation walls. The bentonite swell potential tests are typically available from your builder. You will want the specific swell potential numbers interpreted by a qualified person to determine if the swell potential is too great for your comfort level.

Be sure to also lean what you can do (or what a previous owner have neglected to do) to prevent swelling problems from occurring through proper landscaping, drainage and watering. One excellent publication from the Colorado Geological Survey Department of Natural Resources entitled Special Publication 43: A GUIDE TO SWELLING SOILS FOR COLORADO HOME BUYERS AND HOME OWNERS is available by calling (303) 866-2611 or you can order it Online for $7.00.

Further reading can be found at: EXPANSIVE DENVER SOILS - BENTONITE GUIDE: (Expansive Soils - Must Read Material)

Marketing Tip # 3 To Get Your Home SOLD

Sure, many area neighbors know your home is on the market. Many of your neighbors have pulled a flyer out the brochure box and now have an opinion about your asking price. BUT, will they actually help you find the buyer? Probably not - since they were not asked by you or your Realtor® to help direct possible buyers your direction.

If the marketing of your home is done correctly, the buyer of your property may actually come from one of your neighborhood or a neighbor in a surrounding neighborhood. After all, everyone now living in your general area has already selected your area as their 1st choice to own a home. Imagine how many of your neighbors need to move on an annual basis, but would like to keep their kids in the same school? Additional reasons neighbors move are: a) divorce, b) house they now have is too large, c) house they now have is too small, d) death in family or distant family. Anyone having one of these issues in your neighborhood can be a possible buyer for your home.

Another source of buyers for your home are friends or work associates of your neighbors. No one can sell the benefits of your community better than someone who has previously made the decision to live in your area.

The easiest way to notify hundreds of area neighbors each month about your home is by way of STRATEGICALLY MAILING TO HIGHER AND LOWER PRICE HOMEOWNERS a large full color custom postcard that presents the best features of your home. I consistently see increased interest in my listings every time I mail out 1,000 brochures to neighbors in the community of my listing. Perhaps we should be doing the same for you the next time you think about finding a buyer for your home.

I have been helping buyers and sellers with their housing needs for the past 30 years. I look forward to assisting you too. Feel free to call or email me.

Bill Kosena ABR, CRS, SRES - 303-796-0957

Popular Denver Area Events

Come and join in on the wonderful cultural events Denver and Colorado have to offer. Attendance grew in 2007 at the Central City Opera House, the Children's Museum, the Arvada Butterfly Pavilion, Denver's Botanic Gardens, the Denver Art Museum and the Denver Zoo.

Event 2007 Attendance
Butterfly Pavilion 248,163
Central City Opera 29,650
Cherry Creek Arts Festival 380,000
Children’s Museum 240,928
Colorado Ballet 70,114
Colorado Symphony 131,607
Denver Art Museum 630,000
Denver Botanic Gardens 585,055
Denver Center for the Performing Arts 685,909
Denver Museum of Natural Science 1,248,100
Denver Zoo 1,672,017
Opera Colorado 31,062

Feel free to call or email me.
Bill Kosena ABR, CRS, SRES - 303-796-0957

9th Highest Foreclosure Rate Nationally

Although Denver's foreclosures jumped 27.8% in 2007, we are no longer leading the nation in foreclosures. We are actually ninth in the nation.



Detroit Mich.
Stockton, CA
Las Vegas, Nevada
Sacramento, CA
Cleveland, OH
Bakersfield, CA
Cleveland, OH and
Miami, FL
all lead Denver in the numbers of foreclosures they experienced last year.

If you or someone you know may need foreclosure assistance, there are several organizations that my offer advice. Try visiting:

Home Assure - Free Consultation
Denver Office of Economic Development
Foreclosure Hotline 1-877-601-4673
Foreclosure Assistance - 1-877-699-5993

Here is an outline of the changes affecting Colorado Foreclosure Process

I have been helping buyers and sellers with their housing needs for the past 30 years. I look forward to assisting you too.

Feel free to call or email me.
Bill Kosena ABR, CRS, SRES - 303-796-0957

Colorado Road Conditions & Closures

Unlike many states, Colorado offers its residents all four seasons. We have tremendous (world known) excellent skiing opportunities and sometimes the associated bad weather that results in such wonderful skiing. So, before heading up into the mountains, it might be a good idea to check out the Colorado road conditions.

The Colorado state patrol sometimes finds it necessary to close certain roads because high winds and blowing snow can cause visibility to be so low that the roads are not safe for travel. Eastern Colorado roads can be closed for this same reason.

This site can also let you know which roads are icy and/or snow packed. It also has:

- Highway Estimated Travel Time Report

- National Snow Analyses 3D Interface

- 12 hour to 6 day forecasts for Watches, Warnings, and Advisories

- Surface Winds

- Interactive Snow Information Map

- National Snow Analysis

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I have been helping buyers and sellers with their housing needs for the past 30 years. I look forward to assisting you too. Feel free to call or email me.
Bill Kosena, ABR, CRS, SRES - 303-796-0957

Dipping Bedrock Hazard Areas

Most Denver area real estate professionals know something about our local soils and unique building procedures required by builders to circumvent expansive bentonite in our soils. But, most agents know nothing about our Dipping Bedrock Hazard Areas.

When you are considering buying a home, be sure to ask your agent if he/she is knowledgeable about Dipping Bedrock Areas and where in the metro Denver area they are found. Your agent should be able to explain to you how the hazard affects homes.

A word of caution: During my 30 years as a Denver Realtor®, I have never met a builder or on site sales agent NOR HOME INSPECTOR who, if they knew anything about this hazard, would discuss it with one of my clients. Since this area hazard can significantly damage your home, be sure you know all you can about the effects of the hazard and where it exists before you purchase a property.

If you would like a quick educational overview of the Dipping Bedrock issue, check out this web page which features photos and area maps of the Dipping Bedrock Hazard Areas. Be sure to click back to the other parts of the report for more detailed information.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I have been helping buyers and sellers with their housing needs for the past 30 years. I look forward to assisting you too. Feel free to call or email me.

Bill Kosena, ABR, CRS, SRES - 303-796-0957

Why Use A Realtor®? - Then Find The Best One

Land Title Guarantee Company just produced an interesting brochure for the public outlining ten powerful reasons why they should consider using a Realtor®.

Once you decide to use the services of a Realtor, you then want to find THE BEST REALTOR®. I wrote an article regarding just this subject. You can find out how to find one of the best Realtors® in your area with the tips provided in the FIND THE BEST REALTOR® article.

Realize that NOT ALL REALTORS® ARE CREATED EQUAL. The public frequently believes that licensed agents are all basically the same. That they will provide the same level of knowledge and expertise. They sure are not the same and the knowledge, professionalism and expertise runs from excellent to non existent. Be sure to ask lots of questions to insure you find the best Realtor® for your needs. Also, realize that Realtors agree to conduct their business under a strict code of ethics that state licensed real estate agents are not required to abide by.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -I have been helping buyers and sellers with their housing needs for the past 30 years. I look forward to assisting you too. Feel free to call or email me.

Bill Kosena, ABR, CRS, SRES - 303-796-0957

Denver's Real Estate Market Is Changing

Metro Denver saw a 33.8% increase of homes placed under contract in January of 2008 as compared to December 2007. (4,550 in January 08 v. s 3,401 in December 07.)

Denver home sales also showed a significant six percent increase in numbers of sold properties last month as compared to January of 2007. (Jan. 08 = 4,550 v. s. Jan 07 of 4,292 properties under contract).

It looks like buyers have decided that it is the right time to start buying Denver area real estate.

January active listings for houses and condos came in at 24,489.

January total under contract showed up at 4,550 homes.

January Sold and closed listings were reported at 2,897 properties.

January average days on market was 114 days for the metro Denver area.

January Sold Prices for metro Denver for homes and condos was $256,569.

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I have been helping buyers and sellers with their housing needs for the past 30 years. I look forward to assisting you too. Feel free to call or email me.
Bill Kosena, ABR, CRS, SRES - 303-796-0957

Are You Living Green?

The earth's natural resources are vital to our existence. With around 6.6 billion people living on this planet, our resources need to be used wisely. If each person made at least one change toward living a green life, we could manage our resources to last for future generations. Living green does not have to happen all at once. Each of us first needs to acknowledge and then agree to make changes to begin living green. Adapting slowly, one step at a time, will allow us and our planet an easy transition to living green.

During winter, lowering your thermostat just 10 degrees when you leave for work save 320 pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere over one year. Needless to say, it will also lower your heating bill by around 10% for the year too. Check out this Home Heating interactive site to learn more facts about how much you can save.

Here are some tips for living green:

*Recycle or buy re-cycled goods

*Reuse coffee filters

*Hang clothes instead of using the dryer

*Turn off all appliances and lights when not in use

*Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact florescent bulbs

*Get a low-flow shower head

Here are a few helpful web sites:

Test your ecological footprint

The Green Guide

How to build a green house

Search for a recycler in your city

Earth Friendly Cleaning Products

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I have been helping buyers and sellers with their housing needs for the past 30 years. I look forward to assisting you too. Feel free to call or email me.

Bill Kosena, ABR, CRS, SRES - 303-796-0957

Family Watchdog & Denver Crime Map

FAMILY WATCHDOG - Type in your home address and see all of the registered offender's living in your area. This site gives you their address as well as their picture.

Award Winning Products that teach kids safety

Internet Safety DVD (42 min.) with Joe Walsh host of America’s Most Wanted TV show and Julie Clark (founder of The Baby Einstein Company)

Download the Strangers Safety Home Guide

Buy the Strangers Safety DVD for $9.99

The city and county of Denver provides a Denver Crime Map web site that is well worth visiting.

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I have been helping buyers and sellers with their housing needs for the past 30 years. I look forward to assisting you too. Feel free to call or email me.

Bill Kosena, ABR, CRS, SRES - 303-796-0957

RADON - Do You Know The Danger In Your Home?

Every time I sell a home, I strongly suggest my buyer has their future home tested for radon before completing the purchase. Radon exists in both old homes as well as new homes throughout the nation.

Radon is radioactive gas which is produced from the decay of uranium found within the earth’s crust. Once the decay takes place, the radioactive gas particles rise into the air and attach to dust. Radon gas enters your house through any crack or gap within the foundation. Once in your house, the particles remain trapped and can actually build up over time causing very dangerous levels of radon that you and your loved ones inhale. Radon gas should not be taken lightly. The EPA has proved radon levels greater than 4.0 picocuries (pCi/L) to be the second leading cause of lung cancer in America. Once the radon is in your lungs, the little particles actually release bubbles of energy which can lead to lung cancer. You can not smell, taste or see radon.

The only way of knowing if you have radon gas in your home is to conduct a test for the gas. I suggest that everyone has their home tested for radon, even if you are not planning on selling. Once the time comes to sell, the results are handy to show your buyers. The tests are fairly inexpensive and the results come within a week or two if you use an inexpensive canister test. More accurate test results can be obtained with the use of a RAD7 continuous monitor read-out machine used by professionals.

If high levels of radon are found, a radon mitigation system can be installed for around $850. A quick and easy test can put you and your family at ease and know you live in a healthy environment. Please contact me if you would like to know more about how to test your home for the presence of radon gas.

Other helpful information web sites are:

Consumer's Guide to Radon Reduction

A Home Buyer's and Seller's Guide to Radon
A Citizen's Guide To Radon

Feel free to call or email me. -

Bill Kosena, ABR, CRS, SRES - 303-796-0957

Vacancy Rates Low - Rents Are Up - Investors Are Buying

For the first time in many years, landlords are happy. Many are even buying rental properties that "cash flow" the day they close on them. This generally has not been the case with investors in past years.

The forth quarter 07 vacancy rate for apartment buildings in Denver was 6.1%; the lowest it has been since 2001 according to a recent Denver Post article. Investors nationwide are targeting Denver to purchase rental properties since they believe the Denver rental market will be strong for the next three to five years.

Rental vacancy rates of single family homes in the metro Denver area range from just below 4.0% to around 9%. Vacancy rates have not been this low since 2001.

I have been helping buyers and sellers with their housing needs for the past 30 years. I look forward to assisting you. Feel free to call or email me. - Bill Kosena, ABR, CRS, SRES -303-796-0957.

Mysterious Real Estate Closing Costs

Buyers and sellers have told me they really do not fully understand why there are so many fees associated with the closing on their home. To make matters worse, most title insurance closing agents quickly read each line of the buyer's and seller's settlement statement and offer little to no explanation as to why each line item appears.

Certain fees are automatically assigned to either the buyer or the seller while other costs are dictated by local custom. Many of the closing fees are actually totally negotiable at the time of contracting if your agent is persuasive enough in writing and presenting your contract - or if you are selling, your agent is a better negotiator than the buyer's agent.

Possible Negotiable Items include nearly all of the following:

Customary buyer closing costs include:
• The down payment (the difference between the purchase price and the loan amount)
• Loan discount points
• Loan application fee
• Loan processing fee
• Loan underwriting fee
• Loan recording fees
• Lender administrative fee
• Buyer's credit report
• Prepaid interest from the date of closing through the end of the month
• Home inspection fees
• Homeowner’s association transfer fee
• Appraisal fee
• Homeowner's hazard insurance
• Title insurance company closing fee
• Mortgagee's title insurance
• Documentary stamps fee
• Prepaid property taxes
• Flood insurance certification
• Broker administrative fee
• Warranty deed recording fee
• Title insurance company endorsement fees
• HOA document retrieval fee
• County tax report fee
• Aggregate Accounting Adjustment
• Survey or ILC fee
When a buyer applies for a loan, lenders are required to provide a good-faith estimate of the expected closing costs. The lender's fees vary according to several factors, including the type of loan requested.

Customary Seller's closing costs include:
• Outstanding balance on the loan(s)
• Listing and selling broker's commission
• Transfer taxes
• Release of deed of trust fee
• Title insurance premium
• Title insurance company closing fee
• Unpaid Property taxes
• Water escrow for unpaid water
• Over night courier fee
• Release tracking Fee
• Homeowner's associations Special assessments
• County special assessments

At the closing, certain costs are often prorated (or distributed) between buyer and seller. The most common item is property taxes. This is because property taxes are not paid until the year following the tax year. So, if a home is sold on August 31st, that year's tax bill is not assessed until the following year. Therefore taxes are typically prorated using the prior year's (or most recent) county assessment and mill levy figures to project the current years taxes for closing.

Needless to say, fully understanding and negotiating the various closing fees can be financially rewarding. The easiest way to be successful in this process is to use the services of very seasoned professionals.

I have been helping buyers and sellers with their housing needs for the past 30 years. I look forward to assisting you. Feel free to call or email me. - Bill Kosena, ABR, CRS, SRES -303-796-0957