First things first before I get to real estate. I started a new business recently, joining a giant and proven company that helps people save serious money on major and day to day purchases, and affords those that might want to earn a significant secondary income that opportunity….or to make a 6 figure + primary income if they desire. I am looking for some sharp people to join me in this venture, people who want to keep more of their money in their pockets, and/or don’t mind sharing this opportunity with others who want to save and earn.

We sell a benefits + membership package that affords everyone the buying power of a huge group…and we all understand how that saves, with factory direct prices on many major items like furniture, cars, insurance, long distance, and more. You also are instantly able to sell/buy products through your very own web site from hundreds of major retailers while earning commissions on these items…household names like Sears, Kohl’s, Golf Smith, Home depot, Best Buy, and so many more. There are huge upside advantages of our proven system with Team National, and the impeccable credibility of the company. You can have your own business instantly with low to no investment, and avoid so many normal business hassles, like partners/employees/bosses/large bank notes/ inventory/payroll taxes/building or rent/ etc.

If you genuinely want to be in a people helping people business that can give you financial and other freedoms, go to my BigN site, and invest a few minutes looking over the Your Road To Financial Freedom video …see the tab on the left side, fill out the few bits of info, and click/view. See the BigN Marketplace tab and the huge list of business we are involved with while there, and maybe look at a few success stories on that tab. If you want to talk or meet about this, give me a call. Carrie… 303-548-8732. http://www.bign.com/TeamNational.aspx?site=cdegraw

Back to real estate, see the info and chart below form the REMAX market update. Not only is Louisville the best place to live in America, it is one of the paces you can still sell a house relatively fast.

Below is a brief overview of the absorption rates for single family homes for the area counties and local communities through September/2009. The Absorption Rate is the length of time it would take for the existing inventory to sell assuming two things happen: (1) the rate of sales activity remains the same, and (2) no new listings come into the marketplace during that period of time (this is not going to happen). (IRES MLS is the source of information.)

Absorption Rate
====================================
Boulder ..........12.2 Months
Broomfield ..... 5.4 Months
Lafayette ......... 7.2 Months
Longmont......... 7.7 Months
Louisville .......... 4.3 Months
Mountains ........ 22.0 Months
Suburban Plains... 13.5 Months
Superior................... 4.0 Months

Community Totals 9.3 Months

Just lowered to $199,500 for fast sale...act now, it will not last long!! See the full listing below on this adorable 969 sq foot house in the "best city to live in throughout America"...Louisville Colorado!! It is perfect for a starter house, an older couple, or an investment property. A generous 6,568 sft lot, 3 additions, screened porch laundry/pantry rm. washer/dryer, fridge, gas stove & newer dishw. included. 500 sft. 2 level red wood deck, 2 sheds, one lg w/power, sprinklers, fully fenced, off st pkg, alley access and most gorgeous 100 year old ash tree in town. Joy to be down town yet w/no parking hassles. 2nd owner/agent. This will be a block from the "Fast Tracks" Louisville station and the revitalization area that is planned to be a "walking village" ...surrounded by duplexes, RM zoning thanks :-) Call me at 303 548 8732 http://www.homesincolorado.com/listings/detail.php?lid=46644888&oid=011700002&aid=011700580&chome=1

Location
Address:1109 SPRUCE St Louisville, CO 80027
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 1 full
Total Square Feet: 969
Type: 1 Story/Ranch
Subdivision: LOUISVILLE EAST
Area: Louisville
School Dist: BLDR VALLEY DIST RE2
MLS ID: 604190
Status: Active
Rooms: Living Room: 16x14Laundry Room: 11x10 Level MainKitchen: 15x10Master Bedroom: 11x11Bedroom 2: 16x11
School Information: High School: MonarchMiddle School: LouisvilleElementary School: LouisvilleSchool District: BLDR VALLEY DIST RE2
Features: Taxes: $1339Lot Size: 0.15 AcresYear Built: 1915Stories: 1.0Basement Description: Crawl SpaceConstruction Features: Wood/FrameHeating Features: Forced AirInclusions: Gas Range/Oven, Dishwasher, Clothes Dryer, Clothes Washer, Window Coverings, Refrigerator, Disposal, Smoke Alarm(s)Interior Features: Pantry, Washer/Dryer Hookups, Eat-in KitchenLocation Description: Deciduous TreesOutdoor Features: Storage Buildings, Lawn Sprinkler System, DeckSquare Footage Information: 969 Sqft(Main Level), 969 Finished Sqft, 969 Total Finished Sqft

See the full listing below on this super cute house in the newly voted best city in America city Louisville Colorado. It is only $209,900, and perfect for a starter house, an older couple, or an investment property. It is a 1915 Sears Prefab home brought in on a flat car and with help of many neighbors set down on this 6,568 sft lot. 3 additions since, summer kitchen, now lvg rm, pantry now bathroom, screened porch now laundry/pantry rm. washer/dryer, fridge, gas stove & newer dishw.included. 500 sft. 2 level red wood deck, 2 sheds, one lg w/power, sprinklers, fully fenced, off st pkg, alley access and most gorgeous 100 year old ash tree in town. Joy to be down town yet w/no parking hassles. 2nd owner/agent. This will be a block from the "Fast Tracks" Louisville station and the revitalization area that is planned to be a "walking village" ...surrounded by duplexes, RM zoning thanks :-) Call me at 303 548 8732

http://www.homesincolorado.com/listings/detail.php?lid=46644888&oid=011700002&aid=011700580&chome=1


Be aware that there is light at the end of the tunnel, we are battling back as a community, city, and state...lets all pull together and accelerate the recovery. read on for some stats on the good news.

Denver continues to lead the nation in annual returns

Denver recorded the best year-over-year return in the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index during April 2009. Prices fell 4.9 percent from April 2008 to April 2009. According to the S&P/Case-Shiller report, “Denver, Dallas and Boston continue to fare the best in terms of annual declines down 4.9%, 5.0% and 7.7%, respectively” ( ).

Denver’s monthly change shows even more improvement. Denver home values increased 1.5% from March 2009 to April 2009. April was Denver’s second consecutive month of positive changes in home values. David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s expresses some hope for the housing market, “Every metro area, except for Charlotte, recorded an improvement in monthly returns over March. While one month's data cannot determine if a turnaround has begun; it seems that some stabilization may be appearing in some of the regions.

Denver is America’s best city to buy a home

Forbes magazine named Denver the best city to buy a home. According to Forbes, “Denver scores very well in terms of being able to bring people into a stable housing market” ( ). Denver
earned its ranking with a 5.7 percent increase in average price per square foot of housing space and the small decline of transactions compared to other cities throughout the nation. The Denver Business Journal also reported, “Denver was named America’s No. 1 city on the verge of recovery in a segment on NBC’s ‘Today’ show. Real estate expert Barbara Corcoran, a regular guest on the show, said Denver more than any other U.S. city is ‘clearly on a rebound’” ( ). Data for May 2009, from the Denver Metrolist, supports Barbara’s view.

Big Change for Appraisals.

More good info from Louisville/Boulder: After May 1, lenders will not be allowed to put any "undo influence" on an appraiser. What this means is that there will essentially be a complete separation between lenders and appraisers. We can't ask the appraiser to do a "comp pull" to see if the value is in the ball park of the purchase price or refi value needed. Once the appraisal has been ordered there will no communication with or from the appraiser. Appraisers will not be able to let us know if the the value does not look good. Once the appraisal has been ordered it will be completed and submitted and we will have to take the value that is submitted to us. A lender also won't be able to use an appraiser that you or anyone else suggests to them. So this will obviously mean that your CMA's will be even more critical. Also, a home owner can order an appraisal independent of a lender to get an idea of the value but a lender will not be allowed to use that appraisal. They would have to order another appraisal to stay within the guidelines of the new appraisal code.

First Time Home Buyer Alert

Greetings from Louisville, Colorado: I just received this is a short note, and i thought it was important for you to know. First CNN is reporting that the new stimulus package being reviewed by congress has a stipulation in it that will make the $7,500 first time buyer credit a true credit, not a 0% interest loan that needs to be paid back. Apparently the response to the original incentive has not been very positive so the logic goes that if the government makes it a true tax credit it will stimulate more purchases. The estimate is that it will stimulate an additional 10% in home purchases. I will let you know more as it happens.

Read the news letter "Positive Perspective" below .....what we all need a little more of today!! See the buyers market posting below, and call me if you need to buy or sell a home...I am your Boulder/Louisville and surrounding area expert. Working here for 26 years as a ReMax agent, and living here for 40+ years, I am up on all that goes on

Highlighting the Upside of the Economy in a Challenging Market
January 2009, Issue Seven

Predicting an '09 recovery: In December, Jim Glassman, a senior economist with JP Morgan Chase in New York, told a select crowd of business leaders gathered in Denver at the Executive Leadership Forum that the economy will recover in 2009. "There’s nothing wrong with the U.S. economy that hasn’t already been fixed," Glassman said.

Census: Colorado among fastest growing states: Colorado was among the five fastest-growing states the year between July 1, 2007, and this July. Estimates release on December 22nd by the U.S. Census Bureau show Colorado, Texas and North Carolina each grew at 2 percent. Colorado's population increased by 96,686, giving it the eighth-largest gain in the country.
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_11291904

Denver Aims to Ride Out the Recession: Mr. Nichols, the president of the Nichols Partnership, a commercial real estate developer, spoke at the Rocky Mountain Commercial Real Estate Expo about why he would be stupid enough to build 500 housing units during a national economic downturn. It isn’t that Denver expects to avoid rough economic seas, but there is a sense that leaders here have constructed an ark on which to weather just such a storm. A number of elements are cited as keeping this region afloat as other areas founder: investments in public transportation, aggressive economic development and, most significant, a two-decade campaign to diversify the region’s economic base from oil and gas to alternative energy, aerospace, technology and telecommunications. (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/business/07denver.html

Lower rates spark refinancing mortgage boom: Anderson, a retired engineer with a little more than $120,000 left on his mortgage for his Lakewood home that has been appraised for $350,000, got his wish late last week and exchanged his old rate of 6.375 percent for the new 30-year fixed loan of 4.75 percent.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/dec/18/lower-rates-spark-refinancing-mortgage-boom/

Xcel, Vestas put state on wind power map: It’s one thing to be among the top wind-power-producing states. It’s another thing to be a top manufacturer of wind turbines that are used by all wind power states. Xcel Energy, Colorado’s biggest utility, and Danish company Vestas have put Colorado on the wind power map. The utility in 2007 retained its No. 1 status in wind-generated electricity for the third year in a row. By 2010, Vestas plan to spend $680 million at its Colorado plants and employ 2,450.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/dec/31/xcel-vestas-put-state-wind-power-map/

Telluride Makes Top 10 List for Clean Air: Telluride came in 6th in the latest "State of the Air" report by the American Lung Association. http://www.americanprofile.com/article/29750.html
Home sales increase in West: The western U.S. region, including Colorado, was the only area of the country to have an increase in sales of existing homes — nearly 18 percent — from November 2007 to the same month this year, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors on December 23rd.

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2008/12/22/daily19.html

"The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware for the danger but recognize the opportunity. " John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

Buyers in the driver seat

It is a buyer’s market, with greater purchasing power and affordability. Call me now so I can help you find and move into your dream home. 303-548-8732

Buyers have an advantage in the current market because homes are more affordable than they’ve been in the past two years. Affordability is calculated on home prices, income levels and
interest rates. Interest rates are way down as well, see the chart below. With a smaller payment as a percentage of income more buyers are able to afford homes and current buyers are able to buy more with their money.


Mortgage Rates Like these can mean payments under $1000 for you!
12/31/08 5.10%
12/27/07 6.17%
12/28/06 6.18%