WOW – Percentage of List Price at 99.9%

One of our listings: 146 Sandy Hollow Trail Franktown, CO 80116

WOW – Percent of homeowners who got their list price or better in May was 99.9%. Median sales price was up 12.7% at $310,000 for single family homes in Colorado. Get the latest stats at: http://ow.ly/OmEJo

5 Safest Places in Colorado.

When deciding where to live, safety is a top priority. Our team at ValuePenguin has analyzed the most recent FBI Crime Report to determine the safety of cities in Colorado. These 81 cities ranged in a crime score from 42 to 5,423, with an average of 1,525. In the expansive state known for its section of the grand Rocky Mountains, smaller turned out to be safer. Each member of our five safest places, while not completely immune from crime, enjoys the quiet of a population lower than 8,000 residents. Capital Denver, by contrast, with its approximately 650,000 people, ranked third-to-last in our crime score, which took into account both the amount of violent and property-related crimes per 100,000 people.

Dacono, Fort Lupton, Rocky Ford, Eaton and Yuma have an average crime score of 178, 88 percent lower than their typical peer in Colorado. All of these places have populations of less than 8,000. With some of the state’s lowest total violent crime rates, these five are the safest places in Colorado.

Read more at: http://ow.ly/NNacT

Down Payment Assistance – Easy

Studies show that 70% of Americans don’t know that there are down payment and closing cost programs available in every community. The Colorado REALTOR® Down Payment Program is a free tool that helps you discover down payment programs that fit your personal situation. Check it out at www.coloradorealtors.com/down-payment-program/

Metro home prices maintain steady growth

Metro home prices maintain steady growth in the first quarter, however homeowners are hesitant to move-up and sell because they aren’t confident they’ll find another home to buy. This trend—in addition to subpar homebuilding activity—is leading to the ongoing inventory shortages and subsequent run-up in prices seen in many markets. Learn more http://ow.ly/NbHnk

Pending home sales in March continued to Rise

WASHINGTON (April 29, 2015) — Pending home sales in March continued their recent momentum, rising for the third straight month and remaining at their highest level since June 2013, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, climbed 1.1 percent to 108.6 in March from an upward revision of 107.4 in February and is now 11.1 percent above March 2014 (97.7). The index has now increased year-over-year for seven consecutive months and is at its highest level since June 2013 (109.4).

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says contract signings picked up in March as more buyers than usual entered this year’s competitive spring market. “Demand appears to be stronger in several parts of the country, especially in metro areas that have seen solid job gains and firmer economic growth over the past year,” he said. “While contract activity being up convincingly compared to a year ago is certainly good news, the increased number of traditional buyers who appear to be replacing investors paying in cash is even better news¹. It indicates this year’s activity is being driven by more long-term homeowners.”

Read more at:  http://ow.ly/MhZfD

Early Spring Lawn Care

Early Spring Lawn Care – Snow has pounded lawns this winter with ridiculous sub-zero temperatures and record snowfalls. So don’t be surprised if parts of your lawn — especially in low-lying areas — are dead on arrival in spring.

“Snow acts like a cover, but ice is bad for turf,” says Chris Lemcke, technical director of Weed Man USA lawn care. “Ice freezes plant cells and crushes blades and leads to death.”

Freeze-thaw-freeze conditions are even worse for turf roots, which can become brittle and die.  Road salt also is bad for lawns. The turf near streets and along driveways and paths may need resuscitation or replacement when spring grass should be greening up.

Dead or Sleeping?

When snow and ice melt, your late-winter turf starts awakening from hibernation and changes from brown grass to green; if your lawn died, it won’t change color.

The best way to see if your lawn is dead or sleeping is to tug the brown areas. If the turf comes up easily, the roots have failed and the grass is dead. If there’s resistance, then there’s hope.

How to Bring Lawns Back

When is the right time to bury your dead lawn — grass, roots, clinging soil — in a compost pile and start growing new grass?

• After the last chance of frost

• When night temperatures top 35 degrees

• When soil temps reach 50-65 degrees

Dead patches of lawn are easy to pull up because no roots bind the turf to the soil. Cut around dead areas with a spade, then yank up the patch.

Then it’s time to reseed.

1.  Scatter seed on soil and lightly rake it in.

2.  Water daily with a light mist for 15 minutes to keep soil moist. If the soil dries out, seed will not germinate.

3.  When seed germinates, water deeply.

4.  Feed young blades a high-phosphorous fertilizer.

5.  Let grass grow at least 3 inches before its first cut.

If you can afford sod — 8-30 cents/sq. ft. compared with $28 for a 5-pound bag of seed that’ll cover 2,000 sq. ft. — Lemcke recommends laying sod on dead patches instead of seeding. Sod is more forgiving when it comes to watering and resists weeds better than seed.

An Ounce of Prevention

You can’t control the weather, but you can mitigate winter’s affect on your lawn.

• Add topsoil to low areas of your yard to reduce the impact of ice. Then reseed or sod.

• If you notice dead turf where you piled shoveled snow, spread out your snow pile next year.

• To reduce salt damage, apply deicers after you shovel snow, so salt doesn’t seep into your grass. Also, use calcium chloride-based deicers, which do less damage than sodium chloride-based salts.

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/lawns/lawn-care-maintenance/#ixzz3Y4huSPNO

Renters May Be in Trouble

The gap between rental costs and household income is widening to unsustainable levels across the country. As more renters face steeper costs, it may put them even further away from home ownership, according to a new study released by the National Association of REALTORS®. NAR evaluated income growth, housing costs, and changes in share of renter and owner-occupied households over the past five years in metropolitan statistical areas across the U.S.

Over the last five years, a typical rent rose 15 percent, while the income of renters grew by only 11 percent, according to their research.

Read more at http://ow.ly/KNXaz

Freddie’s 3% Down Payments Start Next Week

Freddie Mac will begin offering mortgages with down payments of only 3 percent — the first time they’ve been this low on the GSE’s loans in nearly five years — starting March 23. The move is expected to make more credit available to entry-level borrowers.

“By launching our 3 percent down payment mortgage now, at the start of the spring homebuying season, lenders will be ready to serve qualified working families who are ready to buy and keep the recovery going,” Dave Lowman, executive vice president for Freddie Mac’s single-family business, writes on its Executive Perspectives blog.

Fannie Mae began insuring 3 percent down payment mortgages in December.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, the conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, recently said it wanted to make it a priority to “work to increase access to mortgage credit for creditworthy borrowers,” according to FHFA’s 2015 Scorecard for Freddie Mac. Tight credit conditions and high down payment requirements in recent years have been blamed for sidelining potential home buyers and causing a sluggish housing recovery.

Besides 3 percent down payments, Freddie Mac’s Our Home Possible Advantage Program, which is aimed at supporting first-time buyers as well as low- and moderate-income borrowers, is allowing no minimum from borrowers in contributions. That means parents or relatives now can cover 100 percent of the down payment through gifts.

Source: “Advantage: Home Buyers,” Freddie Mac (March 9, 2015)

21 Hot Housing Trends for 2015

Everyone wants to be hip, and the latest trends in design can help distinguish one home from another. And it’s not all flash; many new home fads are geared to pare maintenance and energy use and deliver information faster.

This time of the year, we hear from just about every sector of the economy what’s expected to be popular in the coming year. Foodies with their fingers on the pulse of the restaurant industry and hot TV chefs will tell us to say goodbye to beet-and-goat cheese salad and hello roasted cauliflower, and there’s no end to the gadgets touted as the next big thing.

In real estate, however, trends typically come slowly, often well after they appear in commercial spaces and fashion. And though they may entice buyers and sellers, remind them that trends are just that—a change in direction that may captivate, go mainstream, then disappear (though some will gain momentum and remain as classics). Which way they’ll go is hard to predict, but here are 21 trends that experts expect to draw great appeal this year: http://ow.ly/KdFlu

Pending Home Sales Rise in January to Highest Level in 18 Months

WASHINGTON (February 27, 2015) — Improved buyer demand at the beginning of 2015 pushed pending home sales in January to their highest level since August 2013, according to the National Association of Realtors®. All major regions except for the Midwest saw gains in activity in January.

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, climbed 1.7 percent to 104.2 in January from an upwardly revised 102.5 in December and is now 8.4 percent above January 2014 (96.1). This marks the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year gains with each month accelerating the previous month’s gain.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says for the most part buyers in January were able to overcome tight supply to sign contracts at a pace that highlights the underlying demand that exists in today’s market. “Contract activity is convincingly up compared to a year ago despite comparable inventory levels,” he said. “The difference this year is the positive factors supporting stronger sales, such as slightly improving credit conditions, more jobs and slower price growth.”

Yun also points to more favorable conditions for traditional buyers entering the market. All-cash sales and sales to investors are both down from a year ago¹, creating less competition and some relief for buyers who still face the challenge of limited homes available for sale.

“All indications point to modest sales gains as we head into the spring buying season,” says Yun. “However, the pace will greatly depend on how much upward pressure the impact of low inventory will have on home prices. Appreciation anywhere near double-digits isn’t healthy or sustainable in the current economic environment.”

The PHSI in the Northeast inched 0.1 percent to 84.9 in January, and is now 6.9 percent above a year ago. In the Midwest the index decreased 0.7 percent to 99.3 in January, but is 4.2 percent above January 2014.

Pending home sales experienced the largest increase in the South, up 3.2 percent to an index of 121.9 in January (highest since April 2010) and are 9.7 percent above last January. The index in the West rose 2.2 percent in January to 96.4 and is 11.4 percent above a year ago.

Total existing-homes sales in 2015 are forecast to be around 5.26 million, an increase of 6.4 percent from 2014. The national median existing-home price for all of this year is expected to increase near 5 percent. In 2014, existing-home sales declined 2.9 percent and prices rose 5.7 percent.

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

More at: http://ow.ly/JVD86