Golden Fine Arts Festival Is This Saturday & Sunday, 10am-5pm

The 27th Annual Golden Fine Arts Festival, presented by the Golden Chamber of Commerce, is one of the largest and most prestigious juried art shows in the country.  The 2-day Festival features over 130 artists from 20 states, including many from Colorado. Artists will be juried in various media categories such as painting, sculpture, jewelry, and photography. Admission is free there will be food vendors, live music and locally brewed beer, plus free art activities for children. As co-sponsors, we invite you to join us for this wonderful art show located adjacent to beautiful Clear Creek.

Denver Home Buyers Are Increasingly Looking at Western Suburbs & Foothills

By JIM SMITH, Realtor ® 

As a “semi-native” of Denver — my family moved to Denver from Maine when I was in kindergarten — I have always loved Denver, but I recognize the yearning of Denverites to “go further west,” either to Jefferson County or the foothills.  

As a kindergartner at Dora Moore School, as a 1st and 2nd grader at St. Anne’s Episcopal School, and as a 3rd grader at Stevens Elementary School, I developed fond memories of life in Denver during the 1950’s and driving into the mountains to picnic along Clear Creek. At that time, Arapahoe Basin was about the only place to go skiing. I remember playing with my battery powered boat on City Park lake and attending Easter sunrise services at Red Rocks.

I remember living at 721 Marion Street, when President Eisenhower would stay at his wife Mamie’s home a block away. There was none of the security we see today, of course.  The Secret Service set up shop in their garage on the alley, and none of the streets were closed off. The good old days!

I remember all my other addresses when we lived in Denver — 1020 7th Avenue, 2100 S. Josephine St. (later the Lamont School of Music, where my second wife took classes!) and 1444 St. Paul Street (later replaced by an apartment building). 

The weather is what I remember best. That was when the Denver Post boasted on its front page banner that it was “The Climate Capital of the World.”  I couldn’t wait to move back to Denver from New York as a 41-year-old and experience again that great climate and wonderful life that I remembered as a child!

Six years later, in 1997, I felt the pull of the mountains and moved again, this time to Golden, where I bought the first of six homes I have owned in or near that one-time territorial capital, still the county seat for Jefferson County.

Denver’s founding fathers felt that pull too, creating “Denver Mountain Parks,” 14,000 acres of parks and conservation areas that include Red Rocks, Winter Park, Genesee and Lookout Mountains, even part of Mount Evans — all outside Denver’s city limits! No other city in America has made such an investment.

Since becoming a Realtor in 2003, I’ve observed a migratory pattern among metro home buyers.  It starts in Wash Park and arcs through Highlands and Berkeley and ends in Golden.  Some buyers skip Highlands and Berkeley and move straight from Wash Park to Golden, although the inventory is rather limited now — just 13 active listings and 20 under contract as I write this on Monday evening.  (Those figures are for the City of Golden. There are 150 active listings with Golden addresses.)

What draws buyers to Jefferson County, not just Golden?  First and foremost, it’s our proximity to the mountains. Indeed, roughly half of the county is in the mountains!  The air is cleaner here, crime is minimal, and traffic is lighter.  Despite increasing home values in Jefferson County, Denver buyers are finding that real estate is more affordable here, too.  I’m happy to help them find their dream home in Jefferson County.

The schools are good, even great. Jeffco Schools has a week-long Outdoor Lab which every 6th grader gets to participate in, at one of two mountain retreats for all kinds of outdoor education and experience. Learn about it at www.OutdoorLabFoundation.org.

Jefferson County has the nation’s first sales-tax funded open space program. The 1/2 percent sales tax passed by Jeffco voters in 1972 has led to the purchase of 53,000 acres of park land with over 230 miles of trails. Learn more at http://jeffco.us/open-space/.

Condo & Townhome Owners Need to Consider Their Collective Liabilities

In a recent article about hail deductibles, I mentioned how the deductible for Belmar Commons in Lakewood was so high that each of the 45 owners in that townhome community received a $5,600 special “loss assessment” to cover the quarter-million-dollar deductible for roof replacement.

There are other perils besides a bad hail storm that could subject condo and townhome owners to a loss assessment. Considering the increase in real estate values, your HOA — like any  homeowner — needs to make sure their covered real estate is not underinsured. In addition to checking your HOA’s master policy for its coverage limitations, this would be a good time to discuss additional personal policy coverages with your insurance agent, not only to cover high-deductible assessments like the one discussed above, but for those imposed to cover losses exceeding the coverage limits of your HOA’s master insurance policy.

Here are a couple scenarios that could result in losses that exceed your master policy coverage limits:

Scenario One:

   A child riding a bicycle takes a shortcut through your community’s HOA-maintained street, hits a large pothole and crashes, sustaining injuries that are permanently disabling. The family sues the HOA, prevails and is awarded a settlement that far exceeds the liability limits maintained by the community. You are notified of a special assessment for your portion of the amount not covered. Divide just $1 million — and such awards can be much bigger — by the number of unit owners, and you’re talking about a huge special assessment.

Scenario Two:

   The owner of the unit just below your own causes a kitchen fire that destroys the entire condo building. Luckily, no one was injured. It never occurred to your HOA board that the surge in property values required a re-evaluation of your master policy’s coverages. Failure to update that coverage could potentially result in a huge assessment should the community experience a major loss event.

These are just a couple examples of occurrences that could affect your financial position as a condo or townhome owner and subject you (and your fellow owners) to a huge loss assessment.

For this article, my associate, Andrew Lesko, surveyed 85 individual condo and townhouse HOA declarations (covenants). Over 35% of these declarations made no mention of limiting the deductible in the community’s master insurance policy. As the owner of valuable (and appreciating) real estate assets, it would be unwise of you to assume that you are protected. It is best to know for sure, so ask your HOA board to check and confirm the community’s coverage limits and deductibles.

Board officers are responsible for addressing current valuations of the buildings, structures and amenities that make up the community. Of  course, reducing the deductible will raise the premium for the master policy, but consider the alternative. Your HOA board should make it their practice to regularly update your community’s insurance coverage.

Are you adequately covered personally? Here is a good place to start.

1)  Review your HOA Declaration documents. List any items not covered by the master policy.

2) Verify the current master policy deductible.

3) Estimate the replacement cost of the items that are your responsibility. Total the values, including labor.

4) Change your coverage from “Named Perils” to “All Risks, unless excluded.”

5) On your individual unit HO-6 policy, raise your loss assessment coverage limits as advised by your insurance agent based on increased asset valuations and current replacement cost estimates. (Most if not all of the Belmar Commons owners had this coverage.)

6) Buy adequate liability coverage. Discuss various possible claim scenarios with your insurance provider. Consider purchasing an “umbrella” policy.

Hopefully, the above scenarios have inspired you to evaluate your coverage position should there be an unfortunate occurrence within your condominium or townhome community.

————————

   Andrew Lesko, a broker associate at Golden Real Estate, assisted me with this article. You can reach Andrew at Andrew@GoldenRealEstate.com or at 720-550-2064. He is our condo and townhome specialist. Check out his website detailing 30+ Golden área communities at www.GoldenLifestyleProperties.com

How to Check Out Any Denver Real Estate Agent

Nowadays, you can learn a lot about an individual real estate professional simply by Googling his or her name, but one thing you may not know how to do is to check out their level of success. How many active listings do they have, and how many homes have they sold as either listing or buyer’s agent?

Well, I have made it a little easier for you by creating a shortcut to that information on Denver’s MLS, REcolorado.

Go to www.FindDenverRealtors.com, where you can enter the agent’s first and last name. Remember, the first name may be a nickname. For instance, I’m “Jim” on the REcolorado, but I'm “James” on my Colorado real estate license. You only need to enter their name, then “Enter.” The search defaults to agents who are Realtors (that is, members of the National Association of Realtors), but you can change it to search for “All Agents.” 

Once you find your agent, you can click on “View My Listings.”  If that doesn’t appear, then the agent has no listings, either active or sold. 

It defaults to active and under contract listings, but you can click on “Properties I’ve Sold” which is a great way of seeing how experienced that agent is. 

Then click on “Map View” so see the geographic distribution of that agent’s transactions. Have they sold any in your area? 

How many of their transactions were their own listings, and how many were buyer sides? Each sale displays the listing brokerage.  If the name of the brokerage is not the same as the agent's brokerage, you know that agent was representing the buyer in that transaction.

 

Lastly, be sure to click on “View My Profile,” too. You may learn a lot about the agent and their background. If there is no profile, that tells you something, too — that he or she isn’t diligent in managing their online presence.

What’s a ‘Material Fact’ That Must Be Disclosed by Seller and Listing Agent?

At last week’s meeting of the Colorado Real Estate Commission (CREC), there was lengthy discussion about what constitutes a “material fact” that should be disclosed by the seller and his broker. State law requires the disclosure of material facts, but does not adequately define what’s “material.’

Would you, as a buyer, consider it a material fact that the next door neighbor is a registered sex offender? Or that the house was a meth lab but was mitigated to state standards? Surely many people would, but state law exempts sellers and their brokers from disclosing both of those facts.

Other facts that you might consider material, however, are neither specifically stated nor exempted from disclosure under state law or CREC rule.

 

No action was taken by the Commission, but the topic will be on the October agenda.

 

Is it “material” that the neighbor has a rock band that practices regularly?

 

Is it “material” that the seller suffered from an undiagnosed allergy living in their house, suggesting an indoor air quality problem?

 

For that matter, why, you might ask, is the seller selling? When I’m representing a buyer, I like to ask the listing broker why the seller is selling. The broker isn’t required to answer, and that question isn’t asked on any disclosure form, but wouldn’t that be useful information, if only to put to rest any fears about a “bad” reason for selling?

Golden Real Estate Receives National Recognition

San Juan Capistrano – America's Top 35 real estate firms based on service excellence are being honored for exceptional customer service satisfaction with an industry first, a Q_E Award (pronounced "Quie") "that measures and independently verifies excellence in the delivery of the highest levels of customer satisfaction and service quality in real estate in North America," according to Quality Service Certification, Inc. (QSC), creators of the award.

The 2017 Q_E Award recognizes the Top 5 Large Companies, the Top 10 Midsize Companies and the Top 20 Small Companies, spanning 22 states, from Florida to California and Minnesota to Texas, and includes some of the most respected independent and well-known national and regional brand names.

 

The 2017 Q_E Award is based upon the results of an independent survey limited solely to buyers and sellers who were in a real estate transaction that actually closed with participating real estate companies from January through December 2016. Quality Service Certification, Inc. and Leading Research Corporation administer the survey process to ensure that every past customer is surveyed, preventing agents or the company from interference or influence in any way.

 

Golden Real Estate, Inc. was named one of the top 20 small companies — one of only four in the state of Colorado.

 

"At a time when consumers seek transparency, greater accountability, and trusted information to help them make better, more informed decisions and choices, tens of thousands of service professionals are electing to participate in service assessment and feedback following every transaction, which is setting a better standard for excellence," said Kevin C. Romito, President, Quality Service Certification, Inc.

Debunking Some Mistruths About Electric Cars

With the $35,000 Tesla Model 3 now in production and GM ramping up its sales of the equally affordable Chevy Bolt, buyers are demonstrating a keener interest in electric vehicles (EVs) — and naysayers, primarily from the fossil fuels industry, are spreading mistruths about EVs in a vain attempt to slow their adoption. As an early adopter of EVs myself, having already driven 150,000 or more miles on electricity alone, I can debunk the numerous mistruths contained in a currently circulating email.

Mistruth: Electricity costs $1.16 per kWH, so it costs $18 to charge a Chevy Volt for just 25 miles of range. Truth: Xcel charges 11 cents per kWH, and it costs $1.25 to fully charge a Volt for 30 to 40 miles of range. (The newest Volt has a range of 50-60 miles.) United Power charges 5 cents per kWH overnight, so it costs 50 to 75 cents to fully charge a Volt.  The fuel cost per mile for all EVs is 3 to 5 cents — and there are no maintenance costs.  No oil change, no engine/transmission repairs.

 

Mistruth: A Tesla requires 75 amps for charging and if every third home had a Tesla, it would overload our electric grid. Truth: A Tesla requires the same 220-volt outlet as an electric clothes dryer and would typically draw power for only 4 to 5 hours. You leave your garage every morning with 200 to 300 miles of range, costing at most $6-7 per night.

 

Mistruth: It would take three times as long to drive long distances because of charging time.  Truth: In a Volt, you could drive non-stop and just burn gasoline at 30 mpg or more. For a Tesla, it takes 15 to 40 minutes at a Supercharger to be on your way again — enough time to pee, eat, check and return emails, etc.  The only way to go faster in a gas car is to use drive-thrus and eat while driving.

 

Mistruth: Cars with lithium batteries can catch fire and explode.  Truth: Every gas tank is a bomb waiting to be ignited. The picture of a head-on collision at right is a good example of this.  Would you rather have been in the red Tesla or the black Mercedes?

Mistruth: For electric cars to go mainstream, we need to create an infrastructure of EV charging stations, which would be prohibitively expensive.  Truth:  All that's needed is home charging (a 110V or 220V outlet in your garage) and workplace charging if you have an EV with limited electric range, but those cars will be replaced in coming years by cars like the Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model 3, with 200 or more miles of range, so charging away from home with be rare -- needed only on long distance driving.  The 500-plus Tesla Superchargers and growing network of DC Fast Chargers for non-Teslas make that as easy as gassing up along the interstates.  

Mistruth: Electric vehicles are not affordable yet.  Truth: That's debunked by the Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model 3, but if you consider the lifetime cost of operating a gas-powered vs. electric vehicle, you quickly conclude that EV's are already affordable.  My 2012 Chevy Volt (which is comparable to the Toyota Camry in size and price) has 72,000 miles on it, and has a lifetime MPG of over 225.  I'm getting 2,000 to 3,000 miles on each 8-gallon tank of gas!  I'll never have an engine problem because the gas engine (which is not connected to the wheels -- it's merely an electrical generator which runs at constant RPM when the battery gets low) has less than 5,000 miles on it!  And it may never need a brake job since the electric motor is designed to slow down the car and generate electricity when you let your foot off the accelerator.  I hardly ever use the brakes to slow the car. 

If you want to learn move about EV's, watch a 35-minute video of my presentation entitled "Gas-Powered Cars Are Obselete -- And Here's Why" at www.GasCarsAreObsolete.info.

 

National Association of Realtors Says Immigration Is Good for Real Estate

More restrictive residency policies can have widespread effects on housing markets. 

This article was not written by me. Instead I am reprinting it from the May 2017 online edition of Realtor Magazine.  -- Jim Smith

Immigration is among the most hotly debated issues in America right now, but regardless of the political arguments about how to manage the country’s borders, there’s no denying that an uptick in foreign residents in the U.S. is a boon for real estate, according to Alex Nowrasteh, immigration policy analyst with the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity.

“No other market is more affected by immigration than real estate,” Nowrasteh said at a session called “Housing Markets Are International” at the Realtors Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo. “The effect of immigration on the labor market is, at most, one-tenth the size that it is on real estate.” He noted that immigrants gravitate toward construction jobs at a much higher rate than American-born citizens. When immigration rates increase, the homebuilding industry may benefit. 

Nowrasteh also said Cato Institute research has shown that on a local level, a 1 percent rise in the immigrant population corresponds to a 1 percent hike in rental rates. And with 22.6 percent of the U.S. population—or 43.3 million people—being foreign-born, according to Census Bureau data, the economy is getting a huge influx of cash. In 2012, Nowrasteh noted, immigrants added $3.1 trillion to U.S. housing wealth, mostly in mid- to low-income counties. 

Policies that tamp down immigration will tend to have a negative effect on housing, Nowrasteh said, using a controversial Arizona law as an example. The Legal Arizona Workers Act, which was enacted in 2007, aims to crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers and force illegal immigrants out of the state. Between 2008 and 2010, about 100,000 residents left Arizona, resulting in a 16 percent decline in foreign-born residents, Nowrasteh said. During that same time period, rental vacancy rates soared from 9.8 percent to 16.8 percent. 

The exodus wasn't the sole reason for skyrocketing housing vacancies given that it took place in the midst of the last housing crisis, Nowrasteh noted. But it definitely compounded the problem, he said. “A shrinking population decreases housing prices, period. If you want to increase housing prices, the number one thing you can do is increase the population.” 

Also during the session, Danielle Hale, managing director of housing statistics for the National Association of Realtors, revealed NAR’s latest research on international buying activity in the U.S. in 2016. These are some of the highlights: 

> Foreign buyers purchased $102.6 billion worth of U.S. real estate. 

> While the majority of foreign buyers typically reside outside the U.S., 2016 was the first year that more were living inside the country. 

> Following the trend of the last few years, China again represented the largest share of foreign buyers in the U.S., followed by Canada, the United Kingdom, India, and Mexico. Buyers from Canada and the UK were most likely to reside primarily outside the U.S. 

> The average price of a property purchased by a foreign buyer was around $477,000, while the average national home price was $260,000.

Florida, California, Texas, Arizona, and New York were the most popular states for both foreign buyers and sellers.

 

How Many Square Feet Is Your Home? That Depends...

There are three different square footage numbers for every MLS listing, and which of those figures is advertised on other websites can confuse buyers. So, here is a quick tutorial on square footage terminology..

Above-Grade square footage used to be called “Main” square footage or simply square footage without any modifier. As the new name suggests, it does not include basement square footage.  But that begs the question, “what is a basement?”  In a split-level home, the lower level, which is often below grade, is included as “above-grade” square footage, since there is frequently a basement below that level.  In a “raised ranch” home, the lower level is included in “above-grade” square footage for the same reason.  (A “raised ranch” is defined as a home where you have to climb a flight of stairs to get to the “main” level.  The “main” level is defined as the level with the kitchen.)

 

Finished square footage includes all the finished square feet, including in a basement. If the basement is unfinished (or there is no basement), this number will be the same as the “Above Grade” number.

 

Total square footage is what the name suggests, whether finished or unfinished.  

For a listing with a partially finished basement, all three square footage numbers will be different.