Christ the King’s building project is underway.  The sincere hope is to increase community-oriented efforts in the mountain area.   Read the press realease from Christ the King Catholic Church.

Metro Denver’s real estate market is turning. Can Evergreen/Conifer be far behind?

A must read article!
Denver home resales up 23% in November from 2008

The Yule Log is burned in the fireplace as part of the Christmas celebration.  Traditionally the log is not burned completely.  A small part is saved and kept in the house to start the following years’ log.  The log brings good luck and keeps the house safe for the year.  Different types of wood release their own kind of “magic”.

Ash brings protection, prosperity & health.

Aspen invokes understanding.

Birch signifies new beginnings.

Oak brings healing, strenght & wisdom.

Pine signifies prosperity and growth.

Make your own Yule Log -

1 large log 12″-15″
evergreen branches
pine cones
cinnamon sticks
fresh rosemary branches (optional)
2 candles

Cut holes in the log for the candles.  Arrange evergreen branches on the log. Add pine cones, fresh rosemary branches, holly or other Christmas decorations.  This make a beautiful Holiday Centerpiece.  Remove decorations from the log and burn on Christmas Eve.

Colorado joined the increasing number of states that have outlawed some cell phone useage while driving. Our new law went into effect 12/1/09 and basically forbids drivers under the age of 18 from using a cell phone at all and forbids any drivers from using a cell phone to text, regardless of age.  Here is a link to the new law.

DrivingLaws

The Treasury Department has issued new guidelines for short sales that aim to streamline the process, including paying an incentive to sellers and lenders to complete a short sale quickly, requiring lenders to respond to offers within 10 days and prohibiting lenders from slashing brokers’ fees as a means to sweeten their short sale proceeds.  While I support anything that would loosen the log jam of distressed property sales, this ‘directive’ appears to be little more than a suggestion at this point and won’t, in my opinion, change the short sale processing landscape much.  It MAY hopefully serve as a springboard leading to regulatory change that would speed processing of short sale requests and hasten the end of the real estate debacle we’re in today.

NewShortSaleGuidelines

The national real estate market surprised everyone in this month’s report from the National Association of Realtors.  Bear in mind that it’s the local market that counts, but national averages are made up of many local averages, so this is good news in the “for what it’s worth” category.

MSNBC Article

Here are more FAQ about the new home-buyer tax credits.

Here is a  summarization the $8,000 tax credit extension for first-time buyers and the new $6,500 tax credit for existing homeowners.  Now is the time to buy!

Homebuyer Tax Credit Changes

Frequently Asked Questions

This is getting VERY interesting!  Here is the 10/31/09 Market Update Report.

The number of homes on the market continues to be down nearly 20% from last year, but the number of sales also continues to lag last year by a little more than 10%. Sales relative to new listings also continues to improve marginally, from 58% last year to 55% this year. And DOM continues to be about 2 weeks longer this year than last.

So what’s interesting? One, the fact that the numbers are roughly the same indicates we may be stabilizing—at bottom. But at least things aren’t getting worse.

The second surprise is that prices seem to be stabilizing—again, at bottom? Note that both the discount sellers suffer as they ‘dial in’ their price to attract an offer AND the discount sellers suffer in negotiating their selling price with their buyer are BOTH unchanged. Both these figures have shown deterioration as every month went by this year. For the first time, prices seem to be firming—at a total discount of 12.5% (which is horrible), but at least not worse.

Also, note that the median selling price has fallen only 2% from last year. Last month, the median selling price was down 10%.

We could be watching the market turn before our very own eyes. On the other hand, this could be a spike. So I’ll be eager to see next month’s report…

Economist predict Denver’s recovery is right around the corner.  Recent announcements and improvements in our business climate, indicate a quick recovery.

Read this article from The Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation.