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Rainy Day Maintenance

June 10, 2010 by George · Leave a Comment 

10 Things To Do When Summertime Showers Fall
1.  Watch the Waterworks–Check your gutters by watching them work during a steady rain. 

Are they properly connected and functioning?
Does the water flow away from the foundation?  This is very important.  Water that collects next to / near your foundation can be absorbed into the soil’s clay, causing it [...]

12 Ways to go Green for your Home

June 4, 2010 by George · Leave a Comment 

1.  Compact Flourescent Bulbs (CFL’s) use 75% less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer!  If every household in the U.S. changed out only 5 of their most frequently used light bulbs to CFL’s, we would prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of 10 million cars!!
2.  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle–recycle [...]

Current Market Outlook: 5/26/2010 (mostly National)

May 27, 2010 by George · Leave a Comment 

The stimulus plans for the housing market worked.  We’re not entirely out of the woods (think East and West Coasts), but money remains at/near 50 year lows.  My lender at Wells Fargo gave me a quote of 4.875% with a 1% origination fee.  That’ll be tough to beat going forward.  (If you’ve been thinking about refinancing, [...]

Great New Ideas and Home Trends

May 21, 2010 by George · Leave a Comment 

I didn’t know how to categorize this, so I didn’t.  Lifestyle and housing choices move with the times.  Several trends that might be of interest to you are:
1.  Induction Cooking  Trend: 30% more efficient than gas or electric
Similar to microwave cooking, but special pan used in the oven stays cooler to the touch.  Special cookware [...]

Denver’s place on the Green Cities list

May 14, 2010 by George · Leave a Comment 

Smart energy use is a driver of Denver’s economy.  Denver itself ranks 7th among 43 U.S. Metro areas in a report by the LEED certification system. 
The rankings:

Portland, OR
San Francisco, CA
Honolulu, HI
Austin, TX
Boston, MA
Seattle-Tacoma, WA
Denver, Aurora, Broomfield, CO
Pittsburgh, PA
Albuquerque, NM
Albany, NY

Denver ranks highest in the number of:

LEED professionals (3rd),
LEED architects per capita (4th)
Lack of sprawl (6th)
Number [...]

Denver’s Market Snapshot

May 6, 2010 by George · Leave a Comment 

Denver’s Market Snapshot
Point #1:
Properties that are currently Under Contract are at a 5 year high.  Did the $8,000 tax credit work?
All figures are “End of April’ for the year indicated (vertical blue bar)
From the 2009 value (7077) to the 2010 value (8592) there was a jump by 1,500 in the number of properties under contract.  [...]

Time for Solar?

May 4, 2010 by George · Leave a Comment 

The cost effectiveness of photovoltaic panels (electricity producing panels) has improved dramatically.  Most of this improvement is because of the lifespan of the panels.  When the first tests were being done it was assumed that the life of the panels was 20 years.  After that amount of time the electrical output of the panels was [...]

Wondering about Home Improvement?

May 4, 2010 by George · Leave a Comment 

Click on the article’s title (above) for a cost comparison guide…

Mountain — Midrange
2009-10 National Averages

Job Cost
Resale Value
Cost Recouped
Project
Job Cost
Resale Value
Cost Recouped
 

$46,239
$34,902
75.5%
Attic Bedroom
$49,346
$40,992
83.1%

$13,825
$7,592
54.9%
Backup Power Generator
$14,304
$8,428
58.9%

$58,743
$45,170
76.9%
Basement Remodel
$62,067
$46,825
75.4%

$36,987
$21,410
57.9%
Bathroom Addition
$39,046
$23,233
59.5%

$15,296
$10,765
70.4%
Bathroom Remodel
$16,142
$11,454
71.0%

$15,145
$10,620
70.1%
Deck Addition (composite)
$15,373
$10,904
70.9%

$10,608
$8,395
79.1%
Deck Addition (wood)
$10,634
$8,573
80.6%

$3,423
$2,338
68.3%
Entry Door Replacement (fiberglass)
$3,490
$2,275
65.2%

$1,138
$1,265
111.2%
Entry Door Replacement (steel)
$1,172
$1,470
128.9%

$78,525
$53,169
67.7%
Family Room Addition
$82,756
$54,051
65.3%

$56,141
$35,192
62.7%
Garage Addition
$58,432
$36,361
62.2%

$27,559
$12,814
46.5%
Home Office Remodel
$28,375
$13,648
48.1%

$55,336
$40,382
73.0%
Major Kitchen Remodel
$57,215
$41,260
72.1%

$98,505
$65,628
66.6%
Master Suite Addition
$103,696
$67,578
65.2%

$20,805
$15,944
76.6%
Minor Kitchen Remodel
$21,411
$16,773
78.3%

$17,727
$12,531
70.7%
Roofing Replacement
$19,731
$13,133
66.6%

$10,284
$8,222
79.9%
Siding Replacement (vinyl)
$10,607
$8,476
79.9%

$70,711
$34,537
48.8%
Sunroom Addition
$73,167
$37,118
50.7%

$150,260
$105,494
70.2%
Two-Story Addition
$156,309
$107,286
68.6%

$10,239
$8,006
78.2%
Window Replacement (vinyl)
$10,728
$8,217
76.6%

$11,156
$8,888
79.7%
Window [...]

Denver Water Board’s watering schedule

May 4, 2010 by George · Leave a Comment 

Water availability in Metro Denver will limit our growth and impact your property value.  The bottom line is that the more water the Metro area has to use, the more likely our property values will rise.  The Denver Water Board’s policy decisions basically control water use throughout the Metro area.  Municipalities who have secured their [...]

PMI–What the Big Boys are saying about your property's value

March 31, 2010 by George · 1 Comment 

Do you wonder what the biggest and smartest money is saying about the housing market. 
PMI: Private Mortgage Insurance – aka PMI.  These are the Big Boys. These are the people who insure the 20% portion of an 80/20 loan.  Every month you probably pay them a fee (mortgage insurance) to insure that 20%.  They need to [...]

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