Spring Home Maintenance Tips for Owners and Sellers

Whether you are trying to sell your current home, or take good care of the one you have, here are a few good spring time maintenance tips.

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  Clean and lubricate hinges, locks, and moving parts in window and door hardware once a year to maintain ease of use. In Colorado sometimes these get stuck if doors and windows aren't open much in the winter. This is a safety issue as well as a convenience issue - you want to be able to get out of the house in an emergency.

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  Test the auto-reverse function on your garage door, as well as the balance. Familiarize yourself with the door's release mechanism in case of emergency or power failure. Kids will be playing outside more now that the weather is better so keep them safe in and around your garage.

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  Cut grass no shorter than 3 inches, and never more than 1/3 of the blade. Mow in the morning or evening. Deep watering, in the morning, is better for your grass than frequent, shallow watering. In our hot Colorado summers watering in the morning will save water too as it won't evaporate as much as it will if you water during peak sun hours.

Pam Metzger

Director of Relocation and Business Development

303-302-8839

pam@coloradolandmark.com

Twitter = pmcolorado

Foreclosures and Bank-Owned Properties in Boulder County

There were conflicting reports this week about the foreclosure activity in Boulder County. The first report that came out was a national report by RealtyTrac stating that the number of foreclosures in our area was DOWN by 20% over the first quarter of last year. A separate set of figures from the Boulder CountyPublic Trustee's office tell a different story, one with a 5% INCREASE in foreclosure activity for the same period. Different metrics used for calculations and a possible seven- to 10-day delay in the collection of information could account for the difference in statistics.

Regardless of the numbers, it is safe to say that most parts of Boulder County have been, by comparison to other parts of the country, lightly hit by the foreclosure glut. That is somewhat of a disappointment for those folks that are trolling around Realtor.com, Trulia and other internet real estate sites looking for bottom of the barrel deals. If you want to pick up a bank-owned property in Boulder County you will need to look at the north end of the county and shop around in Longmont, because that is where approximately 70% of the bank-owned, or REO properties are.

As the data shows, the number of REO properties sold in the 1st quarter of 2009 is down 30% from the same period in 2008, and down almost 14% from the same period in 2007. Prices of bank-owneds in 2009 have crept up only slightly from 2008. I haven't yet studied the statistical correlation between the number of foreclosures and the REO sales in a given period. However, there is usually a lag between the two as after the bank takes ownership of the home often there are things like cleaning, and repairs and improvements necessary to make the home saleable, and the time for these tasks varies from property to property.

Over 60% of those properties were sold at prices below $200,000. This is great news for first-time homebuyers interested in Longmont who want to take advantage of historically low interest rates and bargain home prices. It's also a great time to pick up a rental property if you are interested in investment opportunities.

For those bargain hunters still holding out hope that they can pick up a bank-owned steal in Boulder you had better be able to act fairly quickly. For 1st quarter 2009 there were only six REO sales in the city of Boulder. One property up on Flagstaff Mountain took over 200 days to sell, but for the remaining five properties the average days on market (DOM) was a quick 34 days. For the same period for ALL homes sold in the city of Boulder the average DOM was 139 days - quite a difference! The moral of the story ... be ready to move on a dime if you have any expectations of buying a property of this type in the city of Boulder.

Another way you can increase your odds of obtaining a bank owned home is to find a realtor that actually lists and sells these homes for a banking institution. These realtors get early notification from their bank clients as properties become available and have exclusive access to the bank's inventory before they place properties in the MLS and start marketing them. It's the good old "inside track". Realtors with bank-owned experience also have knowledge of the bank's procedures and can walk you through the sometimes complicated process.

If you would like more information about purchasing a bank-owned property don't hesitate to contact me and I will connect you with a realtor with specific expertise in REOs.

Pam Metzger
Director of Relocation and Business Development

pam@coloradolandmark.com

303-443-3377

Twitter = @pmcolorado

HARP Help for Homeowners

It has come to my attention that there is a little known element of the TARP/HARP money that may help our clients. As we all know the “Stated Income’ loan is a thing of the past and it has been difficult for self employed people to obtain financing, either purchase money or refinancing. I have recently learned with the help of one of my favorite lenders, Sarah Bozich of Chase (http://homeloan.chase.com/sarah.s.bozich), that in certain circumstances self employed people or people that once would have used a “Stated Income” scenario may be eligible for funds under provisions of the HARP.

Homeowners should be able to do a streamline refinance (for Fannie it is called: Refi Plus, for Freddie it is called Relief Refi). This is all part of the HARP....the new government Home Affordable Refinance Program. It involves a completed loan application, whatever application fee they collect up front, and self employed borrowers will need the first two pages of their tax return. This is the required proof that the Business/Income source exists. They will do a verbal VOE (Verification of Employment) on any cosigner. They may or may not do an appraisal. Even though they collect the first two pages of your tax return, there is no income reasonable risk evaluation.

Fannie and Freddie have different pricing methods so, depending on your credit score, that may or may not impact your rate .....even at that, now is a great time to purchase or refinance and this is a very easy way to go.....stated income, stated assets! Just like the good old days! You can go to Fannie's or Freddie's web sites to find out which one owns your loan – http://www.fanniemae.com/ or http://www.freddiemac.com/. Just an FYI, there is no number of financed property restrictions on these programs.

HARP or TARP … it is about time these funds start flowing to Main Street and help all of us win our way out of this recession. Good Luck and if Colorado Landmark can assist you in any way let us know – we want you to be successful!

Joel Ripmaster

Owner / Managing Broker

Colorado Landmark, Realtors

joelripmaster@coloradolandmark.com

303-641-3377

Home Grown Boulder company gets a look from some big hitters!

Just out today in the Boulder County Business Report - local company Clementine Art (spin off of Clementine Studios) has used recently raised funds to hire three top notch executives to launch and market its new line of children's art supplies.

The BCBR article states "John Maggio, co-founder of Boulder Chips, is chief executive. Gordon Cooper, former vice president of sales at Larabar, is vice president of sales and marketing. Katherine Gregory, previously with Williams Sonoma, is director of supply chain operations."

This is really exciting! Clementine Studios founder Diana Mercer used to teach art at the Friends School in Boulder, where both of my kids went to pre-school too many years ago! She launched her own business and obviously has done a great job bringing quality art education for kids to the Boulder community. Her new line of art supplies already includes organic play-dough, and will soon include a whole new line of all-natural and environmentally friendly products like paints, glues, brushes, etc... Their line will be sold in kits and sold in Whole Foods this summer!

Even more exciting is that at the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California., in March, Mercer was approached by the CBS Morning Show, Target, Wal-Mart and Amazon.com about their new product line. At Colorado Landmark, Realtors we LOVE to see local companies shine and Clementine Arts is sure to do just that.

For more information on Clementine Studios and their classes go to: http://www.clementinestudioboulder.com/

For more information on Clementine Arts products go to: http://www.clementineart.com/

What Does it Mean to be in a “Buyer’s Market”?

It is best to return to basic economics. A buyer’s market is when there is more supply than demand. Some say it is when the inventory rises above a six month supply and there are more homes for sale than there are buyers for these homes. All agree that a buyer’s market has more inventory than demand for this inventory and so buyers are in control. So what this means is that there are typically more homes for sale for buyers to choose from. What it doesn’t mean is that a buyer has total control and can make unrealistic demands on the seller.

If you are a buyer looking to buy in Boulder, you may have your pick of several homes that meet your criteria..and you may not. Revisiting the simple economics and understanding how Boulder’s sustainable growth or housing cap works is an important piece of this equation. Boulder has its own limited supply by historical and ongoing scrutiny with new building permits. This plan started in the 1960s when the City implemented a sales tax increase and purchased greenbelts to remain as such; surrounding the city instead of issuing developers building permits for this space. Currently the idea of quality over quantity is still evident in the “Comprehensive Rezoning Proposal” which addresses both commercial and residential development within the City of Boulder.

I found a very well written case study based on Eben Fodor’s Better Not Bigger if you would like to read more about Boulder’s sustainable growth plan. So even if the national news is telling you it’s a “buyer’s market,” it is best to examine real estate city by city or even better: block to block. Some areas within Boulder and price ranges are definitely taking a hit. The upper end of the market (above $1,000,000) has seen longer days on market and fewer sales in the past 12 months. At the same time, single family homes under $400,000 have continued to sell in less than 80 days on average, some even going under contract the same day they are listed. It just goes to show that homes will sell and not every market is the same.

How about foreclosures or short sales? Buying from a bank has its own set of rules and if you are someone that likes to control situations then this is not for you. It is a game of "hurry-up and wait". When I was first starting my real estate career, all I did was buy foreclosures and pre-foreclosures. I know from experience it can be a long process. It can take a month or more for a bank to decide whether or not to accept a short pay offer and 80% don't get accepted. There is no one to call and push along, the person that answers the phone at the bank doesn't care much if the property sells or not and the listing agent has no control over the speed at which the bank responds. What’s more is because the market is moving in Boulder, there are little to no foreclosures available, even right now.

What else does a “buyer’s market” mean? Currently it means that buyers still have choices and incentives to buy. One of the most popular loan products I have seen is an FHA loan where the buyer only needs to bring 3.5% to the table. You can bring more of a down payment, but 3.5% is pretty stellar. This loan has been a 30 yr fixed with a rate around 5%, depending on the borrower. Also, the federal government has implemented a non-repayable $8,000.00 tax credit to first time home buyers. The terms “first time” are pretty loose as the definition according to the federal housing tax credit website says first time also means that you haven’t owned in the past 3 years. Visit the site to find out if the tax buyer credit will work for you.

And what about if you are a seller? Well, the above incentives for buyers are great because it keeps buyers buying. But sellers are not off the hook yet. Price your home right, stage it

properly and market it effectively. Look for a follow-up post from me on how sellers can reach their goals in a buyer’s market.

This post contributed by:

Sheila Mudd-Roberts

boulderrealtor@gmail.com

720-628-8454