Good Neighbor Next Door Program

*Financing program which is a neighborhood revitalization initiative provided through HUD.

*All properties are located in a revitalization area

*Designed to encourage law enforcement officials, eligible teachers, firefighters and EMTs to live in the low-to-moderate income neighborhoods where their work.

* Offers 50% zero-interest, forgivable silent second and $100down payment on a HUD PD.

The rankings take into account such factors as crime statistics, natural disasters, housing depreciation, foreclosures, air quality, environmental hazards, life expectancy, and car accidents.

According to the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies, here are the most secure places to live among large metro areas with populations of 500,000 or more:

1. Pittsburgh, Pa.

2. Rochester, N.Y.

3. El Paso, Texas

4. Syracuse, N.Y.

5. Bethesda-Gaithersburg–Frederick, Md.

6. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.

7. Wichita, Kan.

8. Omaha, Neb.-Council Bluffs, Iowa

9. Denver-Aurora, Colo.

10. Austin-Round Rock, Texas

Many HOA’s offer neighborhood activities (dances, mixers, etc), pools, gyms, walking trails, tennis courts, and of course beautiful landscaping.

Before you purchase a home that is located within an HOA, however, it’s important that you ask questions and do your research. Not all HOAs are created equal. Some may be more lax on enforcing rules, others may have a history of poor management, and still others may be financially irresponsible.

This last issue should be a key point that you discuss with the HOA board or your real estate agent. You want an HOA that does periodic reserve studies and has plenty of money on hand for major repairs, such as refinishing a swimming pool, adding a roof to a common building, and repairing sidewalks and parks.

If an HOA runs short, meaning they haven’t been charging the correct amount each month to homeowners in anticipation of these cost, they may need to do a special assessment and charge each owner a one time fee which can be quite steep.

Next, find out about your dues. HOA charge either monthly, quarterly, or yearly dues that help pay for reserve studies, upkeep common areas, and handle any legal or legislative fees. You’ll need to be sure you anticipate this cost. For condo units, this monthly fee can be hundreds if not thousands of dollars. That cost is on top of your monthly mortgage and bills and you must pay it.

Discuss the CC&R’s with your real estate agent. This stands for Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions. Many HOA’s don’t allow certain improvements that you might want to make in the future. You might not be able to remove shrubs or trees without permission, build detached buildings, or install a swimming pool.

Find out what all you will get with this HOA. Are there certain special services like trash pick-up that they’ll take care of? Do the benefits outweigh the costs?

An HOA can be a wonderful thing. It can foster community togetherness through common areas and activities. You can actually get to know your neighbors! It can help keep your neighborhood looking trim and neat for years, if not decades, to come. Just be sure to check out the ins and outs and dollars and cents of your prospective HOA before signing on the dotted line. Not all HOAs are equal and you want to find the best fitting HOA for you!

Here are my ten tips to get you on your way to getting your home sold FAST.

1. Hire a Professional Realtor. This is no time to be navigating the rough waters of the Denver real estate market on your own. You want an experienced professional who can help you accurately price your home, bring in potential qualified buyers, handle and negotiate contracts, and market your home to the masses, primarily on the Internet through websites, video, social media and blogging.

2. Fully Disclose. Are you selling because your current home needs more work than you can handle? Are there infestation problems you’d rather not talk about? You must disclose all of these facts to potential buyers. In Colorado we do a seller’s property disclosure. I advise all my sellers to disclose everything they know and don’t know about the home on this form so the buyer can never come back to them in the future for not disclosing.

3. Be Realistic about Pricing. It is much wiser to price a home correctly from the start of the selling process than to have an overpriced home sit on the market for months only to have to do a price reduction or reductions down the road. You get much more traffic on a well-priced home and newly listed home in the first 60 days of being on the market, which in turn means a higher selling price. Plus if you over price the home in the beginning you will miss out on potential buyers that would have looked at your home if the property was priced correctly.

4. It is important to detach emotions as much as possible from the transaction. A seller may have the inclination towards adding sentimental value to a home. They see the memories and work they’ve put into a property and think every buyer should recognize this. This kind of attachment will make it harder to make smart and timely decisions about offers and negotiations.

5. Be Involved. Yes, you’ve hired a professional Realtor to handle the legwork, marketing, legality and negotiation of your sale, but you’ll rest much easier at night if you understand the process and all that is going on. Be sure to have ongoing communication with your agent through the process. Also let your agent know how you would like to be communicated with whether that be my text, email or phone.

6. Stage your Home. Staging is a perfect way to help buyers see the true potential of each room. Staging your home will help the property appeal to widest range of potential buyers. Homes that are staged typically sell faster and for more money. This may mean, however, that you have to tone down your own style and pack away any clutter or extraneous and personal decor.

7. Don’t Hover. Sellers can put a lot of heart and soul into staging and getting a home ready for the market. They might want to hang out during an open house or showings. Resist the urge. This makes it very uncomfortable for buyers and their agent when you are home for showing or open houses. So, during showings of any kind it is best to leave the property.

8. The Next Step. Are you going to be buying another home? Have you decided to rent? Under normal sales, you’ll have plenty of time to make arrangements, but you also might get a buyer who needs to move in right away. Be ready to take your next step. Have a plan in place. Are you pre qualified to buy your next home, have you scoped out rental properties, do you have a storage unit?

9. Be Flexible. It’s no secret that today’s Denver market can be challenging for many sellers. Some parts of the Denver metro area have seen sharp price declines and shallow buyer pools. This means you need to be flexible on both price and terms when it comes to negotiations. Don’t compromise on your bottom line, but understand that you must be willing to negotiate.

10. Positivity. Focus on the good in today’s Denver market. Pull your attention to the feedback you get from your agent and prospective buyers and buyer’s agent! Most of all, don’t get discouraged. Together we will find a buyer and get your home sold!

Selling in today’s market can be a tough, but rewarding. So, whether you’re selling to move up, downsize, avoid foreclosure, or are following a job, be sure to keep my ten tips in mind for a smooth and quick process.

According to a report issued Thursday by the Texas-based MPF Research, rents in Denver rose by 6.7 percent in 2011, the eighth largest annual rent increase percentage in the nation. An October 12 report on the Denver rental market by MPF Research predicted that rental prices would rise by at least 6.5 percent.

The percentage of increase in rent prices in Denver placed it behind San Francisco, the city with the biggest increase 14.6 percent, followed by San Jose, California (12.3 percent).

Rent increases occurred in almost all communities in the Denver metro area. According to MPF Research’s October report, increases in the Denver Tech Center area reached 8.6 percent, 7.5 percent in Littleton, 7.0 percent in south Aurora, 6.9 percent in intown Denver, 6.8 percent in south Denver and west Englewood and 6.8 percent in north Aurora. Only Westminster and Arvada/Golden posted rent price increases below 3.0 percent.

From March to September, rent increased in Denver by 5.6 percent and overall, the rent increase percentage in Denver was the largest of the past decade outside of 2007.

MFP Research said the rental market in Denver and other metro area should continue to increase in 2012 and predicted that occupancy will grow by another half a percentage point and rents will rise by at least 4.5 percent.

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Christmas Activities at Southlands Mall:

Movies with Santa.   December 10^th Elf will be playing at 10 AM.  December 17^th How the Grinch Stole Christmas will be playing at 10AM.  Tickets can be purchased at the Holiday Guest Services. 

Santa and Photos now through December 24^th.  At Southlands guest services.

The Pond.  Ice Skating for the whole family.  $10 for admission and skate rental.  For more information please call 303-928-7536.

Southlands Holiday Food and Gift Show.  This show offers numerous holiday vendors, great for finding those last minute gifts.  Open Daily.

Southlands Mall is great place for shopping and entertainment.   There are stores to appeal to all.  Southlands mall also offers many family activities throughout the year. 

DaVita Clinical Research, a division of the Fortune 500 company, will expand its capabilities with an early clinical-research center. The facility will add medical, technical and scientific jobs to the area.

The call center will focus on finding kidney-dialysis services for patients, whether temporary ones while traveling or permanent facilities.

DaVita’s existing call center in Malvern, Pa., will continue to make dialysis placements. The Denver​ center will help handle increased call volume, DaVita officials said.

Several existing metro-area buildings are being considered for the new facilities. Medical office space, with access to diagnostic equipment and ancillary support services, is a priority for the research unit.

“We are bringing these jobs to our new headquarters city because we have found Denver to be a great community to live and work in and a great community in which to do business,” DaVita chief executive Kent Thiry said in a statement.

Gov. John Hickenlooper called the expansion “welcome news for Colorado.”

Since DaVita relocated its headquarters to Denver in 2009, it has added more than 320 jobs in the metro area. The company has about 1,100 employees in Colorado.

Local recruiting and hiring will begin in the first quarter of 2012. Job openings will be posted on the company’s website, davita.com.

Thirty-one percent of people 65 and older, in fact, have home mortgages, according to the Census Bureau.

Alot of people in this situation will sell the home, but if the beneficiary wants to keep the home, just who is responsible for paying the mortgage until the estate is settled can fall into something of a “gray area.”

Under federal law, the mortgage must be allowed to remain in effect without changes when it passes from one person to another because of a death. This negates any due-on-sale clause in the mortgage.

Who pays generally depends on the deceased relative’s will, and also who among the survivors has the ability to maintain the mortgage, the experts say.

The will might stipulate, for example, that the heir receive the home, free and clear, which may mean that the executor will be directed to sell stocks, bonds or other assets in the estate to pay off the mortgage. (If there is no will, state law will come into play.)

The survivors, meanwhile, should look at the inheritance of property from a practical, economic perspective. You need to look very strongly at whether you can afford to maintain the mortgage and maintain the property.

Although there may be some emotional attachment to the home, having it appraised can help determine whether it’s worth keeping. The question would always be: Are you protecting equity?

An estate lawyer or financial adviser can provide advice on estate taxes and other expenses associated with the property.

The survivors should contact the lender early on to let it know that the borrower has died and that they are the heirs, or the executor of the estate, and to determine the loan’s status. Sending the lender a copy of the death certificate and a letter from the estate’s lawyer.

It is also important to determine whether the deceased relative has stayed current on the property taxes, if they are not paid through the lender.

But what if the mortgage is delinquent — overlooked in a final illness? If the payments are behind by 60 days or so, it is possible to catch up. If it’s 90 or more days late, the property may already be in foreclosure proceedings. Depending on state laws and lender practices, the lender could either demand full payment of all the back payments, or continue with the foreclosure.

Some family members ask about whether they can “walk away” from the property if it is underwater, or worth less than the mortgage balance, noting that such requests are more common in this shaky economy. They can do this and allow the foreclosure to show up as the estate’s responsibility and record, she said. But care is needed if the estate has other assets, like a second home or an investment portfolio, which the lender could come after to satisfy the debt.

In some cases, negotiating with the lender for a short sale on the property may be the best solution. In a short sale, the lender agrees to accept less than what is owed on the mortgage.

If the deceased relative had a reverse mortgage on the property — one that paid him or her a stipend and accrued a balance — the heirs could pay off the mortgage balance in full; sell the property and pay off any balance with the proceeds; or refinance.

•Although buyer activity may appear to slow down, the buyers who are actively looking during the holidays are that much more serious. Ling believes the home market is no more affected at Christmas than during other “busy” period. If that were so, the market would shut down throughout the year as families concentrate on spring weddings, June graduations, summer vacations, and autumn back-to-school activities.

•Many buyers deliberately choose to shop for a home after the busy spring and summer rush. They know that it will be easier to look, and that negotiations will be less stressful. They may not have children, or they may have grown children, so moving to accommodate the school year isn’t a consideration. Finding the right home at the right price, however, is.

•Relocating families often don’t have a choice in when they can leave for their new destination. Although 68 percent of transferring families have children, many families have to transfer during the middle of the school year. These families are that much more motivated to get their families settled in before either before the January semester begins, or to arrange for the move during spring break in March. If you sign a contract by New Year’s Eve, the timing couldn’t be more perfect.

•At Christmastime, our culture focuses on family and the home. Preparing for the indoor activities of winter is one of the most enjoyable periods of family life. Allowing buyers to view your home during this most hospitable of seasons lets them better picture their own family life in the attractive environment you have created.

•When is your home ever more beautiful and inviting? You have cleaned and decorated, and your home looks like a picture postcard. If the results are good enough for family and friends, they will surely be good enough to impress your buyers. Get the family team on board to do a five-minute blitz pick-up every morning to keep holiday messes to a minimum.

•With reduced inventories and motivated buyers, you will have all the members of the MLS on your team. You may find you have more showings than you would if your marketed your home during a busier time of the year.

•If you do get a contract, you can arrange the terms to suit your needs. If moving during the holidays isn’t an option, you can put in the closing date of your choice. “Most people can close 30 to 60 days after a contract is written, so there is plenty of time,” Ling says. “Possession and closings are are very negotiable.”

Denver’s Road Home

www.denversroadhome.org

Overview: Founded in October 2003, Denver’s Road Home is the Mile High City’s comprehensive 10-year plan to bring an end to homelessness for the Denver community. This organization doesn’t just serve the chronically homeless, it also provides opportunities and hope to all persons living on the street, in shelters or doubled up with friends and family in Denver, with an emphasis on persons and families whose incomes are at or below 30% percent area median income (those most in need and hardest to serve). Denver’s Road Home hopes to develop permanent, transitional and shelter housing, in addition to providing Denver residents facing homelessness with essential tools for staying off the street.

How You Can Help: There are a variety of one-time and ongoing volunteer opportunities available. Dial 2-1-1 to speak with a call center specialist who can help you find a volunteer opportunity with agencies providing services for homeless individuals and families in our community. Find out how you can donate to Denver’s Road Home at www.denversroadhome.org/donate.php.

Bonfils Blood Center

www.bonfils.org

Overview: Belle Bonfils Memorial Blood Bank opened February 27, 1943, at Colorado General Hospital (now University of Colorado Hospital). This year Bonfils’ celebrates 65 years of saving lives. It now operates nine community donor centers, serves more than 200 healthcare facilities in Colorado and beyond, collects more than 200,000 units of blood annually, and offers a variety of services to better meet the needs of the community.

How You Can Help: Each week, Bonfils Blood Center needs more than 4,000 donors to meet the needs of our community and to be prepared in case of an emergency. Donating blood typically takes less than an hour and with nine community donor centers and as many as 13 mobile blood drives each day, there’s sure to be a donation location near you. Head to the website to find our more.

Food Bank of the Rockies

www.foodbankrockies.org

Overview: Food Bank of the Rockies (FBR) strives to create a place for everyone at the table. In the area served by FBR, nearly 400,000 people live in poverty and struggle to meet their basic food needs; almost half of them are children. Hunger is especially hard on children, who make up 47 percent of the FBR’s clients, and must have proper nutrition to grow and learn. In today’s uncertain economy, the need for food assistance continues to increase. Last year, FBR distributed over 22 million pounds of food — enough for our agencies to provide more than 46,000 meals each day to children, seniors and families in need.

How You Can Help: The FBR offers a wide variety of volunteer opportunities, including organizing and distributing food, assisting with mailings and other important duties. Call to schedule a time to volunteer. Contact Olive Crawford at 303-371-9250 ext.236 or by email at volunteer@foodbankrockies.org

Dumb Friends League

www.ddfl.org

Overview: Founded in 1910, the Dumb Friends League (DFL) is a national leader in providing humane care to lost and abandoned animals, rescuing sick, injured, and abused animals, adopting pets to new homes, helping pets stay in homes, and educating pet owners and the public about the needs of companion animals. The Dumb Friends League is the largest animal welfare organization in the Rocky Mountain region, welcoming tens of thousands of animals to our two shelters.

How You Can Help: The DFL’s main shelter is located in Denver and our Buddy Center is in Castle Rock. If you’d like to volunteer at either location, please go to www.ddfl.org/volinfo.htm to fill out an online application. You may also request a hard copy by calling (303) 751-5772, Ext. 1933. You can also become a foster parent for animals – get complete information at www.ddfl.org/foster.htm

SafeHouse Denver

www.safehouse-denver.org

Overview: Established in 1977, SafeHouse Denver operates the only shelter in the City and County of Denver that exclusively serves victims of domestic violence. SafeHouse also runs a non-residential Counseling & Advocacy Center where we provide all of our support services to women and children not in need of emergency housing. SafeHouse’s shelter has 26 beds plus cribs, serving more than 340 women and children in a typical year. In addition, SafeHouse serves hundreds more women and children through non-residential services. More than just keeping women and children safe, SafeHouse services include individual counseling, advocacy support groups, legal assistance and referrals to other services.

How You Can Help: Volunteering at a SafeHouse special event is a great way for individuals to get involved without making a long-term commitment. For information on upcoming special events, call 303.302.6112 or write to events@safehouse-denver.org. Find out about donating at www.safehouse-denver.org/content/view/27/41/.

Cancer League of Colorado

www.cancerleague.org

Overview: The all-volunteer Cancer League of Colorado is committed to raising money for cancer research and patient care within the state of Colorado. Since 1985, they have awarded more than $5 million in research grants and service awards. The organization was founded by five women whose families were affected by cancer. These women personally experienced the heartache that comes with the disease.

How You Can Help: Cancer League of Colorado has no paid staff and no offices. All operating expenses are covered by membership dues and volunteer staff. Cancer League of Colorado now has more than 400 volunteer members who share the commitment to fight cancer and support cancer research. Find out how you can become a member at www.cancerleague.org/howcanyouhelp.htm.