Interesting Economic/Business Info About Denver
January 18th, 2008Here’s some interesting information that the Denver Newspaper Agency Marketing Department published recently about the Denver area.
Tupper
Welcome to Evergreen Guide & Blog. Here you will find up-to-date information about what is happening in Evergreen, Colorado. Use this resource to read about the latest news and events in Evergreen as well as information on schools, transportation, calendar of events, lodging, area attractions. non-profit news, the arts. Read first-hand reports from the people that live here of many other great activities and attractions in the Evergreen area.
Economists Differ on Denver’s Future
January 18th, 2008Depending upon which presentation you went to, economists are predicting Denver’s economy to either slow or follow the nation into a severe recession, reports the Denver Post.
Tupper
Mortgage Debt Cancellation Relief
January 10th, 2008President Bush recently signed a bill into law that relieves homesellers who successfully sell their homes on a ’short sale’ from having to pay taxes on the portion of the debt that was forgiven by their lenders.
In the past, if a homeseller sold their property for less than what was owed and obtained forgiveness from their lender from having to pay the entire mortgage balance (referred to as a ’short sale’ in the real estate and lending communities), the amount of debt that was forgiven by the lender was considered income to the homeseller and they had to pay income taxes on that amount the next year.
The new law, which will be effective from 1/1/2007 through 12/31/2009, allows homesellers to avoid paying taxes on the forgiven amount of debt. There are restrictions and the attached summary does a good job of highlighting the new law. As always, you should consult with your tax or legal professional to see how you might be affected by this.
Tupper
Denver Existing Home Sales Held Their Own in 2007
January 9th, 2008Existing home (as opposed to newly constructed home) sales in metropolitan Denver were down by less than 1% from 2006, which compares favorably against other formerly hot markets around the country, and suggests that metro Denver (and therefore Evergreen/Conifer) is poised to recover faster and stronger than the national average.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_7917416
We just completed our annual stats for the Evergreen/Conifer market and found that our sales were down by 11%, but both the average and median selling prices increased. Look for our next issue of Mountain Homes for details.
10 Steps to Selling in a Stalled Market
January 7th, 2008While all real estate is local, our entire country is suffering through the cloudy skies and uncertain conditions of a ’stalled’ housing market right now. The attached article offers good advice about how home sellers should arm themselves to be successful in these turbid times. http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20080107_negotiate.htm
Tupper
Real Estate Outlook for 2008
December 31st, 2007In an interesting article from our trade magazine, two economists from different organizations (Home Builders and Realtors) have surprisingly similar predictions for real estate in 2008. Click on this link for the story http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20071231_realestateoutlook.htm.
Tupper
New Cap Gains for Residential Properties
December 28th, 2007Congress quietly passed a change to the capital gains rules regarding the sale of residential properties. Most Realtors can recite the rules in their sleep: provided the property has been used as a primary residence for 2 of the last 5 years, married sellers can exclude up to $500,000 of gain, while single sellers can exclude up to $250,000 in gain.
But what if your spouse dies? The old rule from IRS was that you had to sell in the same year that your spouse died in order to claim the $500,000 deduction. After that, you’re single and only get the $250,000 deduction.
Under the new law, you have up to 2 full years to sell after your spouse’s death to claim the $500,000 deduction. The official citation is HR 3648, Section 7.
Tupper
Bush signs bill to aid ’short sale’ homeowners
December 24th, 2007Click on the link below to see the MSNBC article about the law President Bush just signed into law to make forgiven mortgage debt NOT taxable income. It’s a small gesture to help homeowners who are in distress over mortgages they can’t afford, but every effort helps.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22345416/
Tupper
Christmas Trivia
December 21st, 2007As we get closer to Christmas, I thought you might enjoy the following factoids.
1. Americans send more than 3 billion Christmas cards and buy more than 37 million Christmas trees each year.
2. A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard.
3. Although many believe the friday after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year, it is the 5th to 10th busiest. The friday and saturday before Christmas are the 2 busiest shopping days of the year.
4. Before settling on the name Tiny Tim for his character in ‘A Christmas Carol’, Charles Dickens considered three alternative names: Little Larry, Puny Pete and Small Sam.
5. In Norway, all the brooms in the house are hidden on Christmas Eve because Norwegians believe that witches and spirits appeared on that night to steal the brooms to ride on.
6. It is a British Christmas tradition that a wish made while mixing the Christmas pudding will come true so long as the ingredients are stirred in a clockwise direction.
7. Over 400,00 people become sick each year from eating tainted Christmas leftovers.
8. More diamonds are purchased at Christmas than any other holiday or occasion during the year.
9. Yuletide-named towns in the US include Santa Claus, in Arizona and Indiana, Noel in Missouri, and Christmas in Arizona and Florida.
Enjoy the holiday season!
Tupper
Conflicting Information Regarding Denver’s Future
December 19th, 2007I recently found two articles about how Denver will fair in the near future. The Denver Business Journal reported that economists expected slower job growth in 2008–but also indicated Denver is positioned better than most cities as we recover from the credit crisis.
On the other hand, Colorado Business magazine is downright positive about Denver’s prospects. Thought you’d enjoy seeing both articles.
Tupper
