Tune in to Golden Real Estate’s Show on KHOW Starting Saturday

As an extension of Jim Smith's YourHub real estate column, Golden Real Estate is launching its own weekly radio program every Saturday at 3 p.m. on KHOW (AM 630), starting July 15th. It was supposed to start last Saturday, July 8th, but a programming glitch caused the one-week delay. 

Jim Smith will be the host of this program, which will typically consist of two or three segments, at least one of which will be an extension of that Thursday’s column topics. Typically, he’ll be joined by one or more of our broker associates plus relevant guests. This week’s guests are Denis Hayes, the co-founder of Earth Day, Bill Lucas-Brown of GB3 Energy, and Andrew Sams of Alpine Building Performance LLC speaking about how to make your home more energy efficient. It will be a live program, and we’ll take phone calls from listeners. Information and links for speakers and topics is at http://Radio.GoldenRealEstate.com.

We’re Having a 10th Anniversary Party This Friday & You’re Invited!

Golden Real Estate was incorporated in July 2007, which means that this is our 10th Anniversary. Join us this Friday, July 14th, 5-8 pm, when we’ll be throwing a party in our South Golden parking lot with live music and free food.

Broker associate Jim Swanson and his “Lakeside Doublewide“ band will entertain us, with three sets of your rock n roll favorites.

Over the past decade, Golden Real Estate has earned a well-deserved reputation for our commitment to energy efficiency, solar power, electric cars and sustainability in general. In 2010, the City of Golden honored us with their “Sustainability for Business Award.”  When you come on Friday, bring your white block Styrofoam for recycling! 

 

Because of this reputation, our 10th Anniversary party will also be a mini-expo.  We’ve invited three of our favorite vendors to promote their services in front of our 20-kilowatt solar array.

Don Parker, the owner of Golden Solar, which installed our solar array, will be there to answer your questions about solar power and offer a free estimate on installing solar PV for you!

 

Bill Lucas-Brown, the owner of GB3 Energy, which did the super-insulation of our office, will explain that process and offer a free estimate on doing the same for your home or office. 

 

Andrew Sams, the owner of Alpine Building Performance, LLC, is a home inspector with special training on energy efficiency. He also performs energy audits which we give to our buyers as a closing gift. He will be there to explain why you might want to have an energy audit of your home.

Lastly, John Avenson will be manning an informational table for the Metro Denver Green Homes Tour taking place on Oct. 7, 2017. It will be your chance to visit over a dozen “green” homes!

In addition to those information tables, we’ll have a Car Show! On display will be four leading electric cars — 2017 models of the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Bolt, Chevy Volt, and Tesla Model X, all open for you to touch, sit in and inspect!  Steve Stevens’ Model X will even put on a music-and-light show that you won’t believe!

Come hungry, because Tequila’s Mexican Family Restaurant, will cater the event. And we’ll have carrot cake for dessert, with 10 candles on it!

Our thanks to another neighbor, First Presbyterian Church, located just north of our office, for providing the tables and chairs for this event and for opening their own parking lot for you to park in.

As members of Golden Rotary, we’ll be taking orders for peaches at $37 per 20-lb. box, to be picked up at the Jeffco Fairgrounds on Aug. 19th. If you can’t come to our party, order them at www.GoldenRotaryPeaches.org/ This is a major annual fundraiser for Golden Rotary, netting funds for many charitable activities.

The Golden Chamber of Commerce will honor us with a 10th anniversary ribbon cutting at 5:30.  All in all, it should be a fun time, and we hope you’ll want to join us for it!

Golden Real Estate Has a Phone-In Show Saturday at 3pm on KHOW

By JIM SMITH, Realtor®

As an extension of my YourHub column, Golden Real Estate is launching its own weekly radio program, “Real Estate Today,” every Saturday at 3 p.m. on KHOW (AM 630), starting July 8th.  I’ll be the host of this program, which will typically consist of two or three segments, at least one of which will be an extension of the previous Thursday’s column topic. Typically, I’ll be joined by one or more of our broker associates plus relevant guests such as inspectors, lenders, appraisers, etc. 

It will be a live program, and we’ll take phone calls from listeners. In the picture, I’m shown on Barry Miller’s program a couple years ago (before I lost 25 pounds!) talking about real estate and answering listeners’ questions.

 

For our inaugural program, I’ll have one or more guests who were present at the founding of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in 1977, when it was called the Solar Research Institute.  We’ll discuss not only NREL’s contribution to the “New Energy Economy” but also about how homeowners (or tenants) can make their own homes more energy efficient, saving money while reducing their “carbon footprint.”

 

As you may know, Golden Real Estate has been honored for its sustainable practices and commitment to energy efficiency.  Indeed, our “for sale” signs (right) have two slogans on them, one of which is “Promoting and Modeling Environmental Responsibility.”  We have done that by installing 20 kilowatts of solar capacity at our South Golden Road office, by installing Velux sun tunnels to bring daylight into our office, and by super-insulating our building so that it costs far less to heat and cool than it did when we bought it 10 years ago.  With all the excess electricity from our solar panels, we are able to charge our own electric cars as well as offer free charging to the public at two ChargePoint stations in our parking lot.

 

We also accept block white polystyrene (aka “Styrofoam”) for recycling, keeping over 200 cubic yards of that material out of landfills every year.  Drop off yours 24/7 at the “Styrofoam Corral” located behind our South Golden Road office.

Our Favorite Sustainability Practices & Improvements

By JIM SMITH, Realtor®

   Golden Real Estate is known for its sustainable practices. Indeed, we were recognized as early as 2010 with the City of Golden’s Sustainability Award for Business.

   Here are some of the practices and improvements which earned us this award, plus some measures we’ve taken since 2010 to deepen our commitment to sustainability.

   Recycling of Styrofoam: We have a “Styrofoam Corral” behind our office where anyone can drop of their block white polystyrene (aka Styrofoam, which is a brand name) 24/7.  At least once a month, we take a truckload of this material to a reprocessing center in Denver, keeping over 200 cubic yards of it out of landfills annually.

  Solar Power: Our office (and my own home) have enough solar panels to power not only our office, but our electric cars. In addition, we have two ChargePoint charging stations for EV’s that are free to the public.

  Reusing trash bags: I can’t remember the last time I purchased trash bags. We dump our trash and recycling materials loose into the trash carts, then reuse the plastic bags over and over again.

  Super insulation of home and office: Insulation is the smartest way to save on energy — and has the biggest return on investment (ROI). By hiring GB3 Energy to do an energy audit and install basement, crawl space and attic insulation as well as caulking windows, we have significantly reduced our heating and cooling costs.

  Driving electric cars:  I have driven nearly 200,000 miles on electricity in my Chevy Volt and Tesla cars. The lifetime MPG for the Volt (which has a range-extending gas engine) is over 200 mpg. Back in 2015 I drove my Tesla round-trip to Connecticut, and the only cost was the wear on my tires thanks to the free Supercharging. New Teslas don’t have unlimited free Supercharging — unless you’re referred by a current owner. Use my referral code to get a $1,000 discount and that free charging: http://ts.la/james6985.

  Solatubes: The generic name for these alternatives to skylights is “sun tunnels.” (Solatube is a brand name; my favorite brand is Velux.)  By installing Velux sun tunnels in our office and at home, we use less electricity for lighting — saving us more electricity to power our automobiles!

Published June 29, 2017, in the Denver Post's YourHub section.

 

Jim Smith is Featured on Cover of Top Agent Magazine (Colorado Edition)

Jim Smith, broker/owner of Golden Real Estate, is featured on the cover of the Colorado edition of Top Agent Magazine for July 2017. Top Agent Magazine is the premier real estate magazine featuring the foremost real estate agents, mortgage professionals, and affiliates in the USA, Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Top Agent Magazine features the top producing and most accomplished professionals in the real estate industry, offering an in-depth look at their careers and providing a blueprint for their success.

To be considered for a feature in Top Agent Magazine all professionals must go through a nomination and interview process. Candidates are then evaluated based on production, professionalism, as well as industry and community involvement. It is considered a privilege to be nominated as it speaks to a certain success level all real estate agents strive for. Top Agent has set itself apart as a trusted source of real estate information and inspiration.

Jim Smith is a stellar example of the kind of real estate leaders that Top Agent Magazine likes to feature. What stood out about him is that he has built his business primarily on his journalistic skills, writing a weekly real estate column that has created a following among both prospective clients and other real estate professionals over the last 15 years. That’s one reason he was put on the cover of the July issue.

The July issue can be viewed online at www.SmithCoverArticle.info.

“I’m honored to be featured by Top Agent Magazine,” said Smith. “I particularly appreciate how they valued our brokerage’s commitment to sustainability.”

For more information about Jim Smith, please call 303-525-1851, or email Jim@GoldenRealEstate.com.  His “Real Estate Today” column, published every Thursday in the Denver Post, is archived at www.JimSmithColumns.com.