Durango Real Estate Blog

Distressed Property Workshop

2010-10-02T17:12:00.000-07:00

The Wells Group will be sponsoring an online webinar on October 20 from 5 PM to 7 PM dealing with "DISTRESSED PROPERTIES". Those properties would include homes subject to a short sale, homes that are currently in foreclosure, and homes that have been through the foreclosure process and are now bank owned. Generally speaking, a buyer can get a very good deal on these types of properties, but there are certain "landmines" that one must be very aware of when making those purchases. That is just part of the information that we will go over in that webinar. In addition we will do virtual tours of approximately 40 properties currently available that meet those criteria. Most of these will be Durango real estate or Bayfield real estate.

If this interests you, please send me an e-mail asking for the webinar login information and I will send that to you as soon as that password system is set up. You can click on this link to send me an e-mail.

Durango Real Estate Statistics 3rd Quarter

2010-10-02T16:54:00.000-07:00

I have been a long time tracker of Durango real estate sales statistics. The last three months of this year... July, August, September... just ended with 164 total residential sales in La Plata County. That represented a sales volume of a little over $59 million with an average days on the market of 215 days for those listings that sold. The average price was just over $361,000 while the median price was $314,500. I thought it would be interesting to look at how many units sold in the various price breaks, so I completed the study and here are the results: For homes that sold under $200,000 there were 38 sales; from $200-$300,000 there were 36 sales; from $300-$400,000 there were 43 sales; from $400-$500,000 there were 17 sales; from $500-$600,000 there were 13 sales; from $600-$700,000 there were 4 sales; from $700-$800,000 there were only 2 sales; from $800-$900,000 there was only 1 sale; from $900-$1 million there were 2 sales; and over $1 million there were 6 sales.

Clearly the largest volume of business was transacted at $400,000 and under. The very weakest price brackets were from $600-$1 million where in that $400,000 price band only nine properties sold. Obviously that is a very tough price range right now. If you are a seller in that price bracket, you may want to hang onto the property but if you are a buyer, it may be a good time to strike a hard bargain. Of those 164 sales, 123 of them were either Durango in town or Durango rural... meaning they had Durango ZIP codes. We still are seeing that people prefer to be close to Durango when buying their real estate.

This coming week I will have my complete statistical review of Durango real estate January through September. I will discuss part of it in my blog but I will also post it to the website on the statistics page which can be reached by going to www.BuyDurango.com and then clicking on the AREA INFO button, then the drop down button labeled DURANGO INFORMATION and lastly the drop-down button REAL ESTATE SALES STATS and here is a link to that homepage: www.BuyDurango.com Those statistics should be up before October 8.

If you're on the fence about whether to buy now or wait, please give Team Lorenz a call and let us help guide you through the decision-making process. In my 34 years of doing this, I've always found that the fall of the year is an especially good time for buyers because so many sellers want to be out of their property before the snow flies. There are still three months to go in 2010 and with interest rates still under 5%, it should make for a pretty easy decision.

Colorado Green Built Homes

2010-09-30T10:50:00.002-07:00

A client of ours who recently completed the construction of their Energy Star home in Trappers Crossing sent us a newsletter that contained some very interesting information. According to the Colorado Governor's Energy Office (GEO), almost 45% of the new homes built in the state during the 1st half of 2010 were Energy Star qualified. That compares to only 8% of the new homes built in 2007 or the 19.4% of the new homes built in the year 2008. Continuing in that upward trend, in 2009 the number reached 33%.

Clearly all of us would love to see lower utility bills every month but being Energy Star qualified also means that the home will be more comfortable and with less drafts. It also means that less energy is consumed every month providing for a smaller carbon footprint.

Nicole Perino on our Team is an ECO-broker, meaning she has taken extensive training in green building methods. She would be happy to assist you in any way in your search for a green Durango Colorado home. Her direct line number is 970-375-7007.

2010-09-30T10:50:00.001-07:00

$1,000,000+ Home Sales

2010-09-19T10:28:00.000-07:00

I have found over the years people are always fascinated with sales in the million-dollar price bracket. This past week I closed on one of my listings in Shenandoah Peaks for just over $1 million. In the process of preparing for that closing, a competitive real estate broker asked me why it was that we attracted the million-dollar client? It got me to thinking about that subject and I wanted to see what the realities were.

Since January 1 of this year, our MLS records show that there have been 13 residential real estate closings of $1 million or more in La Plata County. In "Realtor-talk" we say that there are always 2 sides to every transaction: the listing agent side and the selling agent side. Each of those sides could be represented by a different broker. Consequently, 13 transactions would equate to 26 "sides" of $1 million or more. Realizing that there are nearly 300 brokers in our board of Realtors... about 45 of which were get the Wells Group... in roughly 50 offices, it was quite interesting to me to find out that the Wells Group participated in 12 of the 26 sides. That is, we were involved in nearly 50% of the transactions over $1 million. Coldwell Banker was involved in 4 sides; Glacier Club Realty was involved in 3 sides; Prudential and Durango Mountain Realty were both involved in 2 sides each. Clearly the competitive broker's observation was accurate that the Wells Group is very successful in working with both buyers and sellers of million-dollar plus property. I find it particularly interesting to note that the Wells Group is not a franchise and in spite of that fact dominates the higher end market. I believe this is true because the Internet has effectively made the benefits of a franchise inconsequential. We have seen statistics that show nearly 90% of all home buyers start their search on the Internet. They are not searching for a franchise, they are searching for a home, so they go to the website said best meets those needs. We feel that the Team Lorenz website www.BuyDurango.com and the Wells Group website are especially good at meeting those needs.

There is an extra level of expertise that only required, but is expected from that high-end client. On Team Lorenz, both Nicole Perino and Rick Lorenz have obtained the Institute For Luxury Home Marketing certification, with Rick being La Plata County's very first member. Membership is obtained not only through classwork, but also through documented closed transactions in the luxury home price range. Over the years I have found that a very thorough and informative website with lots of photographs and virtual tours of our million-dollar properties has been very helpful. Www.BuyDurango.com has been online for over a decade and has won numerous awards and national recognition. If you're a buyer looking in that price range please give us a call as they would be more than happy to use our 40+ years of experience to help you.

BuyDurango.com Gets a Facelift!

2010-09-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

Team Lorenz's main marketing website... www.BuyDurango.com... has just gone through a major rebuild to make it more attractive and user-friendly. We have added drop down menus for much easier navigation and have pretty much reworked all of our buttons and the overall appearance of our site. We added some new pages to the site and eliminated a few of the older items that we didn't feel were quite as pertinent anymore. We also added a section on "sold properties" so you can get an idea of what properties are selling in our current market. If you're not a person that has been to our website before, we would encourage you to take a visit. With approximately 1000 pages of information we feel that it is the definitive source for Durango Colorado real estate on the web.
If you're ready to work with a professional team of Realtors, please give us a call as we are here to help. 970-375-7007

Changing Rules in the Mortgage Industry

2010-08-04T09:38:00.000-07:00

All of us have heard stories from friends and business acquaintances about some of the new difficulties in obtaining financing today for the purchase or refinancing of your home. A few years back we kiddingly would say "If you can fog a mirror, you'll qualify for a loan." Fortunately those days are gone and they probably never should have been here in the first place.

Lenders have tightened up on apparent loopholes and here are a few of them. Every lender will run a credit report on the buyer, usually fairly early in the loan process. In the past, that was the only credit report run. Today, some lenders are "refreshing" your credit reports by running them again just prior to closing. The purpose of this is to make sure that the buyer has not had any new late payments, hasn't run up a credit card bill real high, or the one that we see way too often is they went out and bought a new car. Each of those things can be a major issue with the lender.

Everybody is used to providing copies of their income tax returns to the lender as part of the loan process. Some people would actually turn in bogus income tax returns to make their income appear to be more or perhaps their business expenses less. Previously, in about 2% or 3% of the loan applications, the lender would contact the IRS and ask them to send a transcript or summary of the actual returns to compare with the ones turned in with the loan application.

Verifying a borrowers' employment is another step that is done early in the loan process. Now the lenders are required to call the employer just prior to closing to verify that the person is still gainfully employed. I actually had a buyer client call me on the day of closing, somewhat in bewilderment, thinking that the bank was doing a bad job if the day of closing was the first time they were verifying their employment. I assured them, it was actually the second time. If the person is self-employed, the lender is required to call the CPA or accountant to verify the profitable ongoing business is still being run by the potential borrower.

I spoke with David Fountain at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage here in Durango and asked him if this was overkill or were there really lots of problems before? "Some of this might be overkill, but lenders have to be ever so careful to make sure that the information that they provide to the secondary market is accurate at the time of closing. If somebody lost their job or even retired two days before closing, for most people that would certainly be a material change in someone's financial condition." I asked David if these rules apply with every single transaction or is it a certain percentage of them? "It varies. Let's use the example of the lender requesting a transcript of the income tax return from the IRS. Remember that number used to be 2 or 3% but today that percentage is well over 50%. The employment verification just prior to closing is required for 100% of the files."

Buying real estate is certainly a complex transaction and experienced professionals are certainly an important part of the process. I have worked with David Fountain at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (970-385-9360) for years and truly appreciate his extremely professional service. Having a good experienced Realtor is also important in all of the brokers on Team Lorenz have that strong experience gained by successfully closing many transactions. If you or your friends are ready to make the move into the Durango real estate market please give us a call and we will hold your hand through the entire process. To take a look at properties for sale please click the following link: Durango Real Estate

Points. What Are They in Should I Pay Them?

2010-07-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

We are currently seeing interest rates at a roughly 50 year low. That makes it extremely good for a buyer because due to the low interest rate a buyer can now qualify for a larger loan or enjoy the benefits of a smaller loan payment due to the reduced interest rate. In spite of the wonderful benefit afforded by the currently low rates, perhaps you would like to have your Durango real estate purchase be more attractive with an even lower interest rate? It all has to do with points; so let me explain.

When a buyer takes out a home loan, often times the lender will ask that they pay a "point". The money goes to the lender to increase the yield on the loan. One point is defined as one percent of the loan amount... not one percent of the purchase price. A $100,000 sales price with a $20,000 down payment would result in a loan of $80,000. If the buyer paid one point, that would equal $800. Sometimes you hear loan rates quoted as X% with a 2% loan origination fee (LOF). For purposes of this discussion, points and loan origination fees are the same thing.

How are points useful? Let's say you have been preapproved for a 6% loan in the amount of $200,000. That would require a payment of $1200 per month. Remember it is the monthly payment amount that the bank uses in qualifying a borrower, not the gross amount of the loan. If the borrower has the cash to pay a point (or sometimes we can get a seller to pay it on behalf of the buyer) then that cash payment "buys down" the interest rate on the loan to a lower level. With a lower rate, the payment comes down or it will allow the borrower to qualify for a larger loan. Using our example above, let's say we paid one point. The rate would drop to 5.75% which would allow the borrower to get a loan for $205,475. If 2 points were paid, that would increase the loan amount to $211,187. That larger borrowing ability could be very useful in buying just the right home.

Should I pay points or not? It is a question I often hear and I always answer and say this: "Paying points is a math problem." Again, using our example from above, if one point is paid that would amount to $2000. If taken as a decreased interest rate, the payment would go from $1200 a month to $1167 per month a savings of $33 per month. Hence, it would take 60.6 months for the borrower to recoup their $2000. So the question to be asked is this: "Do I feel comfortable that I'm going to live in this house for at least 60.6 months?" If the answer is yes then you should seriously consider the option of paying the points.

By these two examples you can see there are two reasons to pay points: (1) to allow you to qualify for a larger loan or (2) to lower your monthly payment. If you need assistance in buying a property in the Durango area please give us a call and a Team member will be more than happy to help you with this type of calculation.

Home on 9 Acres Bordering National Forest

2010-07-23T13:55:00.001-07:00

Team Lorenz was recently retained to help market this Bayfield Colorado home just 25 minutes from downtown Durango. If you're looking for some privacy, direct access to national forest and a thoroughly modern home, then this one could be a good fit.

This warm and inviting 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2800 square foot home on 9.7 acres is nestled amongst the towering trees and backs to National Forest for unlimited hunting and hiking access. Enjoy peace, quiet and freedom in Bear Creek Canyon which offers no formal HOA and minimal restrictions.

This beautiful and spacious home has been recently fully remodeled and is finished in Art-and-Crafts period style with every detail intact. Enjoy wood wainscoting, hard wood floors, gorgeous custom wallpaper, claw foot bathtubs, and many other features.

Large screen-covered porch and a nice established garden invite you to relax with your favorite book while listening to the birds and watching wildlife stroll by. There is also a large open space for your horses’ corral. Big living room windows allow you to watch wildlife come and drink out of the seasonal pond. Whatever you enjoy the most: hiking, hunting, picking wild blueberries, peaceful setting, or craftsmanship, this is a home for you. Priced at $315,000 this may be the perfect home for you. Please give us a call and anyone on our Team will be happy to help you.

Open House This Sunday 3 PM-5 PM

2010-07-17T09:31:00.000-07:00

Open house Sunday, July 18 3 PM to 5 PM. Take highway 550 N. out of Durango. Turn right about 1/2 mile South of the entrance to Durango Mountain Resort. Follow the signs to the home. Lauren Ammerman will be the hostess. In case you get lost her number is 970-903-1333

Very seldom do we get a property on the water in this part of the state. This fabulous mountain retreat overlooks Lake Purgatory and is less than three minutes to the parking lot at Durango Mountain Resort. With over 4400 ft.² this home has everything you would expect at its $1.4 million price tag. Each bedroom has its own bathroom in the tall ceilinged great room features a wall of windows with the view of the lake on one side and a two-story Moss rock fireplace that opens to both the kitchen and the great room. The kitchen is expansive with two Jenn Aire cooktops with convection ovens underneath, the jumbo sized Sub Zero refrigerator/freezer and a large island in the middle where we know everyone will gather after a hard day of play to swap their tall tales of success.
The lake side of the house is a very large deck with beautiful views and an outdoor hot tub and sauna bath for working out the kinks after a hard day of skiing or biking. Although not offered furnished, the furnishings and some of the toys would be available as various pieces of furniture were custom created specifically for this home.
This family retreat is located on the west side of the lake so it has very easy access. Please come up Sunday and take a look we know you'll be inspired with this site just as the owners were when they purchased the land and had the home architecturally designed.

Irrigated 4.79 Acre Building Lot

2010-07-17T08:53:00.001-07:00

As many of you know, I have been selling Durango real estate for 33+ years. In that time frame one of the hardest pieces of property to try to locate was a nice piece of irrigated land that can be used for a home site. Not 30 acres or 50 acres, but something in the 3 to 5 acre size that maybe didn't have a lot of covenants and restrictions. Several subdivisions were created in our County mostly with 3 acre parcels in the 70s, 80s, and even into the 90s, but most of those were fairly restrictive. That is why this piece of land that I have for sale on County Road 302 is particularly interesting. At 4.79 acres it's nicely sized and has fabulous mountain views. A side role sprinkler comes with the property and there is a shared paved driveway providing very good access. The neighbor to the east is a large alfalfa field that is well maintained. Neighbors across the street are too far away to really be in view. There is a very nice house on the south and another home on the West side of the property.

The property has a slight slope and is essentially all pastureland. With the excellent irrigation would be easy to plant Aspen or other fast-growing type trees. Price was recently reduced to $145,000. This is a perfect place for somebody that wants to have a few horses or maybe raise some 4-H pets. Located about 1.25 miles east of Hwy. 550, you have very easy access to Durango, Ignacio, or Farmington, New Mexico.

More Durango Real Estate YTD Statistics

2010-07-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

Our Board of Realtors compiles the statistics in a little different way than I do. Whereas I sort all of the residential properties by incremental price ranges, our Board compiles the data based on where the properties are located. Homes in the city limits of Durango, homes in the city limits of Bayfield, homes in the Durango ZIP code but outside the city limits, etc. I'm sure you get the idea.

In looking at this data here are some of the statistics comparing the first six months of 2010 to the first six months of 2009 using the Board of Realtors compiled statistics. For Durango in town homes, the median price in 2010 was $335,000 which represented a 5.6% decline from 2009. Total dollar volume for those homes actually increase by 55% and the number of units sold increased by 51%.

For homes in the Durango ZIP code but outside of the city limits, the median price was $375,000 which represented an increase of 4.31% compared to 2009. Total dollar volume for that classification increased by 70% in the number of units sold increased by 40% when compared to 2009. Homes that sold, stayed on the market longer with the average days on market in 2010 being 244 days.

The Durango condominium market saw a slight decline in the median price are went from $270,000 in 2009 down to $267,500 in 2010. Last year 45 Durango condos sold in the first six months of the year whereas this year 83 of sold representing an increase of 84% in number of units sold. Average days on the market also increased from 231 days last year to 260 days this year.

Parcels of vacant land from 1 to 10 acres in size continue to be a slow part of the market. Last year 12 units sold in this year it jumped 15 in the first six months. For the properties that did sell this year the average days on the market changed pretty significantly. Last year it took 417 days to sell up tractable land this year only 278 days. The median price dropped 19% from 2009 to 2010. In 2009 median land sale price was $142,000 and this year it dropped to $115,000.

Real estate is a complex business and while it's possible to get caught up in the numbers too much, I think it's important to be able to look at the figures and come to some conclusions on what the trends might be. If you would like additional information on more Durango real estate sales statistics, please feel free to give me a call or drop me an e-mail and I'll see what I can do to answer your questions. A well-informed client is the best client to have.

Durango Real Estate Sales Statistics-2010 YTD

2010-07-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

I just completed compiling the Durango real estate sales statistics for the first six months of 2010. I traditionally do this study at the end of six months, nine months and 12 months of each year and compare those statistics for the same time period the year before. The complete spreadsheet for that analysis is located on the following link: Durango Real Estate Statistics.

2010 has seen a significant improvement over the 2009 sales statistics. Total residential dollar volume in La Plata County increased by 52% while the average sales price increased by 10%. In terms of units sold, it went from 210 units the first six months of 2009 to 293 units in the first six months of 2010. That which represented an increase of 39.5%. There was an increasing number of units sold in every single price range. The smallest increase was 27% but it happened to be in the most popular price range of $200,000-$400,000. Last year's complete "dead market" was anything from $800,000 and up where only seven properties sold in the first six months of 2009. This year 15 properties sold in that price bracket, although one buyer bought three in that price range.

In our business we often refer to the term "absorption rate" which is the period of time it would take for all active listings to be sold, assuming no additional properties would come on the market, based on the current rate of sales. For illustration purposes, let's say 10 homes sold between $400,000 and $600,000 in the last 12 months. Currently available on the market are 30 homes in that price range. That would be a three-year supply or absorption rate. The higher the absorption rate the more the market is benefiting a buyer; the lower the absorption rate, then we would call it a sellers' market. In 2009 the residential absorption rate was 3.29 years which is extremely high. This year it dropped all the way down to 2.34 years, which still is pretty high. Typically, we like to see it at about one year or less.

Where did the buyers buy in 2010? Durango in town sales were 111 units, while Durango country properties represented 104 units. Bayfield in town came in at 19 units and Bayfield rural actually dropped this year down to 23 units. Clearly Durango is the market maker but with the slowdown in the Bayfield area I would think there would be some very good values out there available for somebody who is especially budget conscious.

It is a very common question to be asked of our team members "Is it cheaper to build or to buy an existing home in Durango?" Even with builders and other contractors giving great deals right now because they are not busy, financially, it is a far better deal to buy an existing home. We are finding builders/sellers who are selling their properties for well below their cost. I met with another broker in town this past week who did a study on all of the foreclosure property sales in La Plata County this year. We have heard figures from places like Phoenix, Aurora and Pueblo were that percent would reach 35 to 50% of all transactions were sales where the bank was the seller. This fellow broker looked at every sale for the year 2010 and came up with a 7% figure for La Plata County. That was certainly an encouraging number.

Again here is a link to the full Excel spreadsheet: Durango Real Estate Sales Statistics

With over 1380 homes to choose from in La Plata County, a Team Lorenz buyer broker would love to help you in your efforts to buy a home in Durango. Lisa and Nicole are the very best and statistically have been the number one top-selling team since January of 2006 for the CREN MLS system (Durango, Grand Junction, Cortez, Delta,Montrose, San Luis Valley). It's one thing to talk and say you're good it's quite another to actually do it. And they are the best so please give us a call we are here to help.

Things I Remember from When I Was a Kid

2010-07-04T19:47:00.000-07:00

All of us have those memories of when we were pre-teens and perhaps even into our teen years of things that we did every Fourth of July. One thing in particular that I remember that we would do on Memorial Day or the Fourth of July was to go to the cemetery in Ohio where my mother's family was buried. I was raised in Southeast Michigan near Detroit and my mother was raised in Dundee, Michigan which is right near the Ohio border. She was actually born in Caledonia, Ohio which, oddly enough, she never took us there. Back in those days it was not an uncommon thing for a woman to die in childbirth. And my mother's mother did just that. My mom was then raised by her aunt who lived to be 103 years old. When my mom's mom died the kids were split up with the boy is going to live with one family in California and the girls with auntie in Dundee.

One of the things I remember so vividly during those cemetery years is the fireflies. We would be driving back home after a day at the cemetery of planting flowers and trimming the grass and it would be early evening. In those days there weren't air-conditioned cars so the car windows were always open and my brothers and I would stick their hands out the windows and catch fireflies as dad was driving us back home. I remember walking around the cemetery looking for the oldest gravestones and marveling at the fact that there were headstones that were dated in the 1800s. I remember my mother always said to walk behind the gravestones and we should not walk right in front of the headstones as that was dishonoring to do that. It was interesting to see where many families had bought a plot inside the cemetery and there might be one big memorial with the family name on it and then many little plots around it. There were also plenty of just what I would call "regular headstones". I remember asking my parents why we had to do this every year and I'm not sure that I was wise enough to understand the answer: To remember our family that is gone and to bring honor to those who came before us. You see my mom's family had members who fought in the Civil War, Spanish-American war and in the Revolutionary War. One of my mother's most cherished possessions was a teacup that George Washington had once used.

I remember somebody once asking "Why do we have all the tombstones at the Arlington National Cemetery? Why couldn't these people all be buried back with their families?" this person asked. Today I can answer that question... because we need a place to memorialize those that have come before us; those that died to help give us the liberty and freedom that we have in this country. Nobody knows all of the names on those tombstones. However, everybody that's an American knows that each tombstone represents a life that was given by somebody in the military so that we could live in a free country. I remember Colin Powell's quote when visiting France and seeing all the American soldiers that were buried on French soil after D-Day. He said, we did not come to conquer France and acquire her land, we only need enough to bury the men that we sacrificed to die on your behalf. In my father is 82 years, I saw my father cry one thing. It was when the wall of Berlin came down. You see, my father moved here from the old country and he knew what that wall of repression meant. He was so glad that he shed tears of joy because he knew what it meant to family members that had not been able to see each other for years and now they would be able to see each other again.

I realize I've really wandered in my blog today and perhaps only I can see the connection between my Fourth of July and Memorial Day memories and the time that I saw my father's tears of joy, and the story about Arlington National Cemetery, but they truly are connected and I feel so lucky to live in this country.

Certified Negotiating Experts

2010-07-03T14:08:00.001-07:00

This past week all three of the licensed brokers on Team Lorenz received their Certified Negotiation Expert professional designation. This is a nationally recognized program and is designed especially for real estate brokers. It was taught by Oliver Franscona a well-known real estate attorney from Denver. The two day class covered various techniques and styles of negotiating so that we as real estate brokers can better serve our clients whether they be buyers or sellers. Less than 1% of the Realtors nationwide have attained this designation.

Our team is dedicated to always improving our services and the additional classwork, training and transactions required to obtain many of these designations is certainly something that benefits our clients. Nicole Perino has received her Eco-broker designation, the CNE designations and the prestigious Luxury Home Marketing Institute designation. Lisa Govreau has received her CRS, GRI and now her CNE designations. Rick Lorenz has received the CRS, GRI, E-Pro, CNE, ABR designations as well as the Luxury Home Marketing Institute Certification. In addition Rick is a member of the CyberStars a by invitation only group of approximately 250 Realtors around the world.

Those of you that have used our services before know that we work very hard on behalf of the people that we represent. If you haven't used our services yet, we encourage you to begin the dialogue with one of our Team members. Please give us a call and we'll be happy to help you anyway that we can.

Buyers: What Do You Really Want?

2010-06-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

There is no perfect house! As simple as that observation would seem, I can't tell you how many buyers I meet who believe that if we look long enough and hard enough their perfect home is out there. I tell buyers, "Even if you find a great lot and build from scratch... it still will not be perfect." (See the three rules of building below.) To help the buyers realistically focus on their needs, we have a tool in our conference room that is made up of 16 wooden sticks. On each stick is written a question that every buyer has to consider. What price range? How many bedrooms? City lot or country acreage? Move in ready or fixer-upper? Mountain View's? Travel time to town? Price range? You get the idea. Our goal as your real estate broker will be to find you a house or lot with as many of your "sticks" as possible. From our experience we have found that if we are able to find you a 12, 13 or 14 stick home, the buyer is very satisfied and we have accomplished our task.

Since we know you'll have no interest in looking at an "8-stick house", there just isn't any point in us wasting your time or the seller's time, looking at homes that are simply not "keepers". If we have good listening skills and you've been accurate at giving us answers to the questions on the sticks, we can take the frustration out of the home selection process and actually make that part of the purchase process smooth and efficient.

Those who have built before, know the following axiom to be true. The three rules of building are: (1) It will cost you more than you figured; (2) It will take longer to build than you figured; and (3) When it is all done... it didn't come out just exactly like you figured it would. If all three of those statements archer, you didn't do so well. If only two were true, you did about average. If only one sure with some was true, you did very well indeed. If none of the above is sure about your quest to build the perfect house... you may want to consider becoming a builder.

Buying Durango real estate is certainly something that needs professional advice. The "sticks" method of determining a buyer's true needs has proved very successful for our Team over the years. We would be happy to sit down with you and do this very exercise. It will help you to focus on what is important and it helps us in trying to match up your needs with what properties are available.

One Half of a Duplex

2010-06-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

It is not very often that we get the opportunity in Durango to sell a unit that is part of a two unit structure. This duplex was built by local architect Dean Brookie and it was his personal residence for a number of years. Created as a two unit condominium, the property really has the characteristics of a townhome because there is nobody above or below you and you have your own fenced backyard. The way this unit was laid out, there are less than 10 feet of common/shared wall between the two units. Contemporary in design, the Durango home that is for sale has lots of hard wood floors, high vaulted ceilings and numerous windows. The kitchen is fully modernized with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. You'll enjoy many cozy evening around the woodburning fireplace in the family room. There is a bedroom on the main floor that overlooks the landscaped backyard. Not seen very often anymore, this home actually has two sets of stairs going up stairs: One leads to the master suite and the other set of stairs leads to the other two bedrooms. The home is approximately 2250 ft.² in size.

The location of this home is especially good in that it is only a block away from the Durango Rec Center and the free Durango trolley. It's also within walking distance of Needham Elementary School, Durango Senior High School, Miller Junior High School and the 55+ center.

For more pictures and more information on this Durango condominium click the following link and it will take you to a mini website within our BuyDurango.com main website. Durango Condominium

Year to Date Statistics

2010-06-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

Now that we are into the six month of the year, I thought I would do some analysis and review of our year-to-date figures for sales of Durango real estate. Buying homes in Durango, just like any other part of the country, can be a stressful event. Am I getting the best deal? Am I getting the right house? If I waited longer will interest rates go down? What if somebody else writes an offer on the same house that I like... should I amend my offer? These are all typical questions and thoughts that go through most buyers' minds while they're in that buying process. I know many people feel this way and over my 33 years of being in this business I have found the best way to deal with the emotional aspect of buying real estate in Durango is to give guidance from a factual perspective with solid sales statistics and trend analysis. Today's blog will be on sales stats from January 1 through June 11 of this year regarding residential sales in La Plata County only. That means that Mancos, Pagosa Springs, and Silverton are not included in these figures. Durango, Bayfield, Ignacio and Durango Mountain Resort are included.

There have been a total of 259 units sold year to date. 190 of those sales were either in the city limits of Durango or just outside the city limits of Durango. There were 23 sales at the resort, 16 sales of homes in the city limits of Bayfield and 18 home sales in rural Bayfield. Clearly the vast majority of the activity is Durango centered. Of those 259 sales 137 were financed with what is considered conventional bank financing while a whopping 41 units used the FHA financing. That number is especially high and was clearly driven by the first time home buyer tax credit which expired this last month. Interestingly, 59 people out of the 259 sales paid for their purchase with all cash... that is no loan was required. That is a very large number.

A statistic that we track is what percent of the asking price does a property eventually sell at. That percentage varies in different parts of the country. Were you have an extremely soft market you might see a 75 or 80% sales to list price percentage. When I used to live in Detroit years ago even in a strong market, it was typical to offer 75% of the asking price and maybe end up settling at about 80% of the asking price. Here in Durango it would be very unusual to be under 92 or 93% and that is having looked at it and watched that statistic for over 30 years. In looking at all of the Durango in town sales this year, the average percent was 95. For Durango rural properties it was 92%; Bayfield in town properties were 95%; for Bayfield rural properties, the sales price to list price percentage was 93%. The softest market was the condominium market up at the ski area where sellers were typically accepting 76% of their asking price. That would clearly indicate a soft market up at the ski area. The difficulty presented at the ski area is financing. It is extremely difficult to locate financing for properties that are used in a rental pool or her what we commonly call condo-tels... condominium units that are rented out like hotel rooms. The financial shakeup that has been going on in the country is certainly not found a good source for those type of loans yet.

If you have this type of information, then as a buyer clearly that would help you in structuring an offer so that not only will you be able to get the best deal but it will also help to remove any doubts that are so common that I talked about earlier when buying Durango Colorado real estate. Nobody likes to be uneasy in that type of transaction and certainly anybody at Team Lorenz can help walk you through that process and give you the statistical guidance that is required.

Log Home on the Pine River

2010-05-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

If this isn't true Colorado, I don't know what is. This fabulous hand hewn log home even has its own sand beach right on the Pine River. Fish from your own property while watching the bald eagles do their fishing right in your backyard. The Pine River is the outflow from Vallecito Reservoir, so not only do you have protection from flooding, but you also have nice clear waters most of the time. This unique property offers a main home with two bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms but it also has a small children's guesthouse (complete with electricity, radiant heat, and a wood stove) that is of cabin construction and is cute as a button. In addition the entire second level above the garage has been made into a mother-in-law quarters complete with two bedrooms, a living room, and an efficiency kitchen. With the beautiful setting and guest quarters, your biggest problem is going to be getting your guests to leave. You will likely end up having relatives that you didn't even know about that will want to come and visit! With irrigation water right out of the Pine River, you can keep the lot nice and green for the entire season.
They're really just isn't any other way to say this, but this would be a home that could easily be featured in a log home magazine. You'll definitely want to look at the additional pictures and information on the following link: Pine River Log Home
Team Lorenz would be tickled to show you this property, of course, please just give us a call. 970-375-7007

Million-Dollar Homes Sales

2010-05-16T14:19:00.000-07:00

Over the years I have found out that many people are intrigued with the $1 million plus homes in the Durango real estate market. How many luxury homes have sold? How big a discount is having to be given to get them sold? Are buyers getting financing or paying cash? Just for fun I thought I would go ahead and look at this year through May 15 and see how it compared to last year through the same date. Here's what I've found.

In 2009 only three homes sold in that timeframe with the sales price of over $1 million in La Plata County. The average days on the market was 250 while the longest days on the market was only slightly more at 283 days. One property sold at 100% of asking price; one sold at 76% of asking price and the third property sold at 84% of asking price. The highest priced sale was $1,275,000 and that home was located on County road 250 (E. Animas Valley Rd.). Of those transactions two were financed and one was for cash. Based on their addresses, none would have been considered resort properties or homes located at the ski area.

In 2010 there have been six luxury homes sold from January 1 through May 15 within La Plata County for over $1 million. The average days on market was 275 days while the longest days on market was 1046 days. That large number skews the average so I will tell you that the median days on market was only 131 days. Three of these sales all happened at the same time with one buyer and they were all properties located on County Road 250. That series of transactions just closed last week. This year some high-end resort property sold. One at the Glacier Club and one at the ski area. Overall these homes sold at 84% of the asking price with the highest percentage of asking price being 93%. The property that sold at Purgatory was a condominium. With the availability of jumbo loans having loosened up quite a bit in the last year, it was pretty interesting to see that four of the six transactions sold for all cash where no financing was necessary.

If you are a regular reader of this blog you're already aware that I like tracking statistics. Our main website, www.BuyDurango.com has an entire section related to statistics and here is a link to it:
Durango Real Estate Market Statistics

Please feel free to give me a call if you have specific questions or have certain types of searches that you would like me to perform that may be of some help to you in your analysis of Durango real estate. We would certainly like to help you get a good handle on the condition of the market so that you can make informed decisions. Team Lorenz prides itself on trying to be very current on the market conditions and Lisa and Nicole certainly have all of the statistics available for them to use with you as well.

Do Not Call Registry For Cell Phones

2010-05-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

Not everything we write about in this blog relates to Durango real estate, so here is a tip that would just help make life easier.

I am not sure if the cell phone thing is new, but you are now allowed to put your cell phone telephone number in the Do Not Call Registry, which is maintained by the Federal Trade Commission. In order to register and help prevent you from receiving unwanted telemarketers on your cell phone, you need to call the following phone number from the cell phone that you want on the "telemarketers please stay out of my life" list. That phone number is 888-382-1222. It is very quick and easy; I will bet that it didn't take me one minute to complete.

You can do it by going online, as well. Here is a link to that registration site:
https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx

From this website, you can check other phone numbers you may have registered in the past to make sure they are still registered or add other land lines to the Do Not Call Registry.

Beware of Scammers on Craigslist

2010-05-11T10:44:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been caught up in a scam before? Many of us probably have and we just headed one off before it was able to culminate. Many of you may use Craigslist as a way of buying and selling things over the Internet. We advertise many of our properties for sale using Craigslist. We are able to put pictures as well as a virtual tour of the home into our advertisement. It is surprising the amount of activity that we are able to generate in an advertising medium.

Here is how the attempted scam worked. Some bad person out there in the Internet world took the pictures from my advertisement for a property in place them in a Craigslist ad of a home for rent. The rent was especially low in the advertisement. This bad person said that they were the owner and were out of the country buying property in Africa someplace and needed to get the property rented right away. They created an e-mail account in the name of the seller@yahoo.com and had that e-mail go directly to them, the bad people. People actually showed up at the house and knocked on the door to see the property very much to the seller's surprise. One real estate broker in town called me because his son was looking for a place to rent and mentioned the property to his father who then called me about the house. The bad person's advertisement specifically says to not bother the Realtor because they're about to take the property off the market. Their goal was to get the prospective tenant to send them $900 as a damage deposit and when they had received a damage deposit, they would then send the keys to the prospect.

It is hard to believe that anyone would fall for this scheme, but people do. The especially low rent tends to be a dead giveaway but so does the traveling out of the country excuse. We immediately contacted the Sheriff's Department and it's hard to know where this will end up. Hopefully they can trace the location of the bad people through the Yahoo account.

We are very thankful that several of the potential victims contacted us anyway and all have been willing to talk with the Sheriff. These scam artists are a dime a dozen and I hope by sharing this information with you, that you won't end up being caught by something as goofy as this.

When you have Durango real estate needs, we hope you'll give the Team Lorenz a call and let us provide professional services for you.

Home Buyer Tax Credits about to Expire

2010-04-27T08:48:00.001-07:00

Today is April 27th and these tax credits will expire at the end of the day on April 30th. When we say this is the last chance we truly mean "this is the last chance". Unlike last November when the tax credits were extended, there is no talk about that happening again. While I don't recommend buying simply because of the credits, if you are a buyer, then it would be foolish to pass them up.

Just to review, there are two tax credits available. One is a first-time home buyer tax credit worth up to $8000. The other is for a repeat homebuyer and is worth up to $6500. Our team conducted a seminar on these tax credits recently and we have the entire slide presentation posted on www.BuyDurango.com right on the home page. The presentation goes through all the rules, the income limits, and filing requirements in order to obtain the credit.

Please give us a call and one of our team members me more than happy to help you in your search for Durango real estate. The Team Lorenz phone number is 970-375-7007.

Open Houses This Weekend... Earn $1000?

2010-04-09T12:48:00.000-07:00

To help you in your search for Durango real estate, the Wells Group is holding approximately 57 open houses this weekend all across La Plata County. This is all being done as part of the National Association of Realtors national open house weekend. To view the list of homes that will be open you can go to http://wellsgroupdurango.com/open_house_index.asp and get a list and view a map of all of the properties. As an extra incentive, the Wells group is offering to pay to a buyer at closing $1000 provided that you purchase one of the Wells Group properties that you actually toured and that you signed up in that property. You must go under contract on one of your registered homes by April 30 and then close on the purchase by May 31 of this year in order to receive the $1000 credit. For those of you that are interested in the first time home buyer credit provided by the federal government or the repeat buyer credit, this $1000 would be over and above that.
Team Lorenz will have a condominium priced at $175,000 available both Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 PM. It is located at 343 E. 8th Ave. unit number 9. Just follow the red and white open house signs. This is a great location near the college and at that price is certainly a very good value.
We would love to see you at our open houses this weekend but if you are unable to make it please feel free to give Team Lorenz a call and one of our excellent buyer brokers would help you in your search for Durango real estate. That number is 970-375-7007.

Vegetable Gardening in Durango

2010-04-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

As a local for many years who really loves to garden, I am often asked by newcomers when is a safe time to plant your vegetable garden? The best rule of thumb that I have seen is when all of the snow on the north face of Smelter Mountain has melted, then it is okay.
Things that you are going to plant by seed such as green beans, peas, lettuce, radishes and the like can easily go into the ground the first week of May or maybe even the last week of April. Plants such as tomatoes, various types of peppers, should definitely not be planted until the Smelter Mountain date mentioned above has occurred. A fun thing to grow and it is really easy to grow here, are artichokes. These are plants and get quite tall. You will need about 3 foot square for each artichoke plant. Each plant will generally produce two or three artichokes.
Certain things grow better at certain altitudes. Durango West, which is located about eight miles west of town, is about 1000 feet higher in elevation than town. That little difference makes it tough for tomatoes to turn red in the fall or late summer. However if you plant the same products in town, you will have plenty of red tomatoes in August. Edgemont Highlands is not quite 1000 feet higher than Durango but has so many more trees that the shade can work against you. The other thing to be concerned about in Edgemont Highlands, is the pollen from the pine trees and the needles that change the basic acidity of the soil. These are not insurmountable problems, but just something that you need to deal with in your soil treatments.
We are very fortunate here in Durango because we have several places where you can buy plants and the staffs are all very knowledgeable. Kroeger’s Hardware, located by the South City Market, as well as Bayfield Garden Center, are extremely helpful for those of you wanting to develop your green thumb. The quality of their bedding plants is very good and they truly know what does well and what doesn't do well in our climate and your particular soil conditions.

Carbon Monoxide Detectors

2010-03-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Last year, the State of Colorado passed legislation requiring the placement of carbon monoxide detectors in all homes offered for rent or for sale. Not every single home is required to have a detector, but most homes would meet the requirements. Mandatory placement of monoxide detectors is required if any of the following conditions are met: there is an attached garage on the property; there is a fireplace or some sort of wood-burning or gas burning type stove on the property; there are any gas-fired appliances in the kitchen, furnace, or hot water heater. If any of these conditions are true, then the owner of the property must install a battery-operated carbon monoxide detector within 15 feet of the entrance to the bedrooms. If a person elects to have an AC wired detector, that is okay, but it still must have a battery for times when the electricity may be out.

The purpose of this law is to protect the health and safety of the occupants of homes and rental properties so that there'll be no deaths caused by an invisible gas called carbon monoxide. Over the years there have been a number of people who have died because of poorly vented fireplaces, using kitchen appliances to heat homes, exhausted likes on water heaters that get plugged up on the top by a bird or a squirrel. The presence of the detector will set off a loud alarm warning the occupants of the dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.

These detectors are easily purchased at the local hardware store or Home Depot type businesses. Anywhere between $20-$35 each is the going price depending on how fancy the unit is.

Tax Credit Seminar Tonight

2010-03-18T09:09:00.000-07:00

This is just a reminder that this evening from 6 PM to 7 PM Team Lorenz and Wells Fargo will be putting on a seminar regarding the federal tax credits for first time when buyers or repeat homebuyers. The seminar will be held at the Durango Public Library in Program Room 2. This is an especially timely seminar because the eligibility for these credits expires April 30 of this year. I have heard of no conversation in Washington about these credits being extended like they were last November. This appears to be the last opportunity for someone to get back $8000 if you're a first-time home buyer or $6500 if you are a repeat homebuyer. There are numerous rules and guidelines that have to be followed and that is part of what we will be covering this evening. To buyer agents will be present to discuss available properties in David Fountain from Wells Fargo will be there to explain financing and other loan related issues. There is no charge for this seminar. Hand outs will be available discussing the various guidelines.

Eco-Friendly Strawbale Home

2010-03-11T17:15:00.000-08:00

It is not often that we get a very environmentally friendly home for sale. It's even less often that we have a strawbale home to offer people looking for Durango real estate. The Strawbale home is really a post-and beam constructed home with bales of straw used as the infill between the various posts and beams. The straw doesn't hold anything up, that is, it is not weight bearing at all. It offers fabulous insulation and makes up the base upon which the plaster, stucco, or whatever covering you are using. This home, located on 3.3 acres at the very end of Meadow Road in the Rafter J. Subdivision has been a labor of love for the two builder owners. Every attention to detail has been paid with beautiful hardwood floors, granite countertops, and Ponderosa pine cut from local forests. This particular home is unique in that it actually has irrigation water which is used for the pond on the property but can also be used for a garden and yard. Built with two bedrooms, this property is ideal for a retired couple or newlyweds just getting started. Since the parcel adjoins 53 acres of open space, which then adjoins BLM land, we feel that the peaceful quiet setting could make this a great artist studio, as well.

If you are new to the area and don't know where Rafter J. is, this home would be less than 10 minutes from downtown Durango over paved roads, except for about the last 1/4 mile. The entrance to the new Lake Nighthorse will be less than 3 miles away from this home. Lake Nighthorse is currently being filled and should be ready for fishing, boating, water skiing and sailing in the year 2011.

If you're interested in getting more information, here is a link Durango real estate Strawbale home to this property’s page on my Main website, www.BuyDurango.com Priced at just $389,000

Durango Vacant Land Sales

2010-03-05T17:31:00.000-08:00

Continuing in my analysis of real estate sales statistics over the last several years, I thought I would look at vacant land sales in La Plata County. While the vast majority of Durango real estate sales are residential, when you look at the figures in the chart below, you will see that we have certainly had significant sales volume in vacant land transactions. Just like the residential category or the commercial category, land sales have dropped significantly in the last couple of years.

When you look at it comparing 2005 to 2009, the difference is enormous. In 2005 it was just over $100 million of vacant land sales compared to just over $18 million last year. In the number of units, it went from 480 and 2005 to only 88 units last year. The biggest drops occurred in 2008 and 2009 where in each of those years is sales volume was cut in half from the year previous. It's interesting to note that the highest average sale was in 2007 and the highest median sale was in the year 2008. Median sales price today is almost $30,000 above the median sales price of 2005. The average sales price rose from $209,000 and 2005 to a high of $324,000 in 2007 and then drop back down to 211,000 in 2009. In looking at both the average sales price in the median sales price 2009 value is higher than the 2005 value.

There were a little over 320 Realtors in our real estate Association in 2009. With only 88 sales total, that means each Realtor averaged approximately 1/4 of a land sale for the whole year. Although the Team Lorenz land sales were down in ’09, we were involved in 5 vacant land transactions... considerably better than the average real estate broker.

Tax Credit Seminar March 18, 2010

2010-02-19T09:09:00.000-08:00

In your continuing search for Durango real estate, I want to remind you that the federal government income tax credits will be expiring April 30 this year. In order to help you beat that deadline, Team Lorenz and Wells Fargo will be cosponsoring a one-hour seminar to be held on Thursday, March 18 at the Durango Public Library in Program Room 2. The seminar will run from 6 PM to 7 PM.

There are now two tax credits available. One is for first-time home buyers and that credit is up to $8000. The new tax credit that was added last November, is for existing homeowners who want to buy a new principal residence. That tax credit is up to $6500.

People have asked us many times about how the credit works, whether or not they are eligible, do they have to trade up, and so many other questions. We will go over all of these questions and many more at the seminar. There will be handouts available. In addition, both Lisa and Nicole will be there with their laptops so they could show you specific properties that might fit your needs. David Fountain from Wells Fargo will be there to answer questions regarding the loan process, getting you pre-qualified, etc.

Reservations are not required, but if you know you're going to come it would be great if you just drop us an email or a call and let us know so we can have a better idea of the number of materials to prepare. You can contact Team Lorenz at 970-375-7007. Rick@BuyDurango.com

New Team Member

2010-02-03T10:10:00.000-08:00

Team Lorenz is proud to announce the addition of Jim Baumgardt as our new director of marketing and IT services. Jim has a very unique background in that he is a professional photographer and along with his wife Eileen own a gallery on Main Avenue here in town. Prior to coming to Durango 10 years ago, Jim and Eileen were gallery owners in Sunnyvale California. Both Jim and Eileen are professional photographers. Jim's love for computers and electronics started with his intense training when he was in the Navy. In addition, Jim has created and managed numerous websites since the inception of the Internet. It is with great anticipation that everybody on our Team looks forward to his contribution to our top-notch marketing efforts. You can see some of Jim's photography at their gallery's website www.imagecounts.com

As Team Lorenz strives to continually improve on our services we find that that effort helps both buyers and sellers in their search for Durango real estate. Good solid marketing helps sellers to get their property sold when so many other homes sit on the market. For buyers, our websites are very good at informing buyers about various properties that are available and at the same time educating buyers upon the general Durango real estate market. An informed buyer is always a better buyer. Please feel free to contact Team Lorenz at 970-375-7007 we will do our best to take care of your specific needs.

Why We like Durango ~ TheRestaurants

2010-01-31T16:10:00.000-08:00

Continuing in the series of why we love living in Durango, I thought I would discuss some of the restaurants that we have here. I've heard it said many times, although I really don't know if it's true, that Durango has more restaurants per capita than San Francisco. I do know this: It's hard to get a bad meal in this town. My commentary may be a little different than the average Joe's because my degree is in hotel restaurant management and I used to own five restaurants in my "previous life". The main reason we have so many restaurants is that our town services about 800,000 tourists a year and those tourists are staying at hotels and motels and they need to eat out.

We have everything from gourmet restaurants like Seasons, The Cosmopolitan and the Mahogany Grille located in the Strater hotel to the good old-fashioned breakfast counter diners like the Durango Diner and Oscars. We have lots of choices in between with steakhouses like The Ore House, Sweeney’s Grubstake and Randy's (the last two really specialize in prime rib). We have several Chinese restaurants; my favorite of which is the May Palace... great food but don't go there for the decor. We have a Himalayan restaurant, an Egyptian restaurant, and a Cyprus Café as well. Obviously, being located in Southwest Colorado, we have numerous Mexican type restaurants. My two favorites there, would be Francisco's which not only has the best poblano soup you will ever eat but they have a full American menu which is not only reasonably priced but very well prepared. http://www.franciscosdurango.com/ The other Mexican restaurant that I enjoy is Tequilas. Very very fast service, the best salsa in town and you may want to order a side dish of mushrooms. I would swear that they are cooked in pure butter… what a delight. http://www.tequilasmexres.net/ We have several sushi restaurants which aren't my cup of tea but I'm told by others that they are quite good. For smokehouse or barbecued food we have the award-winning Serious Texas Barbecue which was ranked in the top 20 smokehouse restaurants by Sunset Magazine just a couple of years ago. They're pulled pork is out of sight and the smoked turkey is delish. They have a cherry chipotle sauce to put on top and you won't want to miss that. http://www.serioustexasbbq.com/

Seasons Rotisserie cooks their stakes and chicken and fish over an open wood fired grill. It is an open kitchen design that you can view, and they even offer barstool seating right in front of the chef where you can enjoy your dinner. They offer a fabulous wine selection, an excellent assortment of appetizers and their crème brûlée for dessert is to die for. At least one person at your table needs to order the center cut sirloin so that you can enjoy a real good taste of the wood fired grill. They offer outside dining in the summer season. http://www.seasonsofdurango.com/

The Cosmopolitan has only been in town about three years, having started in Telluride. Their signature dishes a deep-fried shrimp and calamari with an orange and red pepper sauce. If I were to make a list of the 10 best things I've ever eaten, this would be on the list for sure. Cosmo also has a great wine list and many creative ways of preparing traditional dishes in nontraditional ways. Cosmo offers rooftop outdoor dining during the summer season. http://www.cosmodurango.com/

The Mahogany Grille is located in the Strater hotel, our 130-year-old Victorian grande dame. If you could eat architecture and stunning interior decor, you would be full before you ever sat down at your table. Meticulously restored and rebuilt, there are numerous solid walnut antiques and period pieces that truly add to the dining experience. That said, the food is exceptional from the various breads that are part of the dinner, to the elk tenderloin served on their menu. http://www.mahoganygrille.com/

About a mile south of the ski area is a restaurant called The Sows Ear. Well known for their steaks and great mountain views right from the dining room, this may be the only place I've ever eaten where you can cut your steak with the dull side of the fork. Wine list was not sophisticated at all, but you will get "drunk" on the views of the mountains. http://www.sowseardurango.com/
Other very nice dinner houses include Ken & Sues (famous for their molten chocolate lava desert), The Red Snapper (seafood, of course and the best salad bar in town), The Palace (chicken and dumplings like your grandma used to make), Mutu’s Italian Kitchen, and The Swing Restaurant located in the clubhouse at Dalton Ranch Golf Course. Only two restaurants overlook the river: the main dining room in the Doubletree Hotel and the South restaurant of the Serious Texas Barbecue group.

On a more casual basis, Olde Tymers is a great spot for a burger and green chili. Nina’s Taqueria has the best habanero salsa in town. Lady Falconburgh's serves 92 different kinds of beer (I don't really know how many, but more than anybody in town I am sure) and has really good sandwiches. Carvers, which is both a brewery and a restaurant, is pretty famous for their breakfasts as well. Steamworks brewing, up on 2nd Ave. allows the kids to color on the floor and throw the peanut shells wherever they want. Steamworks has a real large menu and he is definitely a local's favorite Friday afternoon. Gazpacho is a little hard to find, but they specialize in southwestern food and a variety of margaritas. Mama's boy restaurant serves Italian food and is located directly across from the rec center. In that same general area Doughworks is only open for breakfast and lunch and makes their own homemade bagels. This is one of the spots were lots of skiers stop on the way up to the area and grab breakfast burritos, which I think are the best in town. The two chain restaurants we have would be Applebee's and Denny's.

We have a couple of places that will serve pizza by the slice or pizza with ribs or a pizza with chicken. Of course there are places that are more bar than restaurant where you can get pizza, sandwiches, chicken wings etc.

There's no way I can cover every single restaurant that Durango has to offer and these are just a few of the ones that I like the best. We are so fortunate living in Durango to have these great places to go out to eat. How many towns of 15,000 people do you know that have this many eateries? The restaurant business is very competitive and if they do a poor job they won't be in business for long in this town. One thing that many of the restaurants do every spring and every fall, which are considered our shoulder tourist seasons, is to offer 2-for-1’s for a week or two weeks. Many of the locals take advantage of that offering so during that time, the restaurants are generally quite busy.

FICO Score Information

2010-01-22T13:04:00.000-08:00

Your FICO score is certainly something that anybody who has some interest in borrowing money is concerned about. If there was a magic pill to raise your FICA score by 50 points, almost everybody would take one of those. Mortgage lending is getting tougher and tougher... in spite of what the government says is going on in loosening of credit... and a high FICO score is even more important. For years people have tried to figure out the formula for determining that score, but it has been a well-kept secret. However, I recently read an article by Jeff Mandel and Marlin Brand Pres. and COO respectively, of ApprovalGUARD. It gave me some very helpful information. According to the authors, your credit score is based 30% on your payment history, 35% on the amounts of money that you owed compared to your available lines of credit, 15% on the length of your credit history, 10% on newly established credit and then 10% on the different types of credit that you use. You can see by these percentages, that the single most important figure is the one that relates to the balance you have outstanding compared to your available line of credit. That 35% is 5% higher than what your payment history has been. Just to be clear, the higher the credit score the better.

It seems that a higher credit score results when you keep your credit card balances at 30% or less of the authorized line of credit. Let's say you have a credit limit of $10,000 on your credit card, if you carry a balance of $9000 on it and pay it on time or even early all the time, that will result in a lower score than a person that has the same $10,000 limit that keeps a balance at $3000 or less and always pays on time.

Why is your credit score important? Mortgage lenders base the interest rate on your loan using what is called risk based analysis. A person with a credit score of 780 will pay lower interest rate than a person with a credit score of 715. The differences in interest rate can be significant one quarter of a percent to 1/2%, but more importantly some loan programs won't even be available to a person with a lower score. Some programs for second homes or investor (rental) properties may not be available to a person with a low credit score. In addition, a person with a lower score may be required to make a larger down payment.

Team Lorenz experts would be happy to connect you with a top-notch mortgage lender to get your credit report run, make sure there are no errors and maybe suggest some things to help improve the score. You want that score to be as high as possible when you apply for your loan. This is an especially good time for buyers as I'm sure everybody is aware it is a buyers market out there right now. Many sellers have reduced their prices back to levels of three, four or even 5 years ago. Those prices won't stay low like that forever; nor will the interest rates remain low forever. Please give Team Lorenz a call at 970-375-7007 and we will be happy to help.

Durango Mountain Biking Trails

2010-01-20T10:51:00.000-08:00

Continuing in the series on why we love living in Durango.

If you are a fat tire mountain biker, then you're going to feel like you died and went to heaven when you come to Durango. To say we have miles of trails is an understatement; we've got several hundred miles of trails for the enthusiast. First off let me say that I am not a biker but it's hard not to know a fat tire biker in this town. I am going to tell you a little bit about several of the trails and areas and I'm also going to give you a link to a fabulous website that describes every single trail.

First off the Colorado Trail which starts in Denver and comes all the way to Durango runs through forest lands and other public lands for over 300 miles. You will cross the Continental Divide and go to elevations of 11,000 feet above sea level. The trail ends north and west of Durango out Junction Creek Rd. From the city limits it would be about a 3 mile ride to the trail head.

Another very popular trail system is located in Horse Gulch which lies due east of the city. It is accessed via a sidestreet right by the Sonic Drive-In or go south past the Sonic on Highway 3 and enter at Carbon Junction just North of, and right across the street from Wal-Mart. There are a vast number of trails in the Horse Gulch area but I'm just thinking anything called "Suicide Hill" is not my cup of tea, but it certainly is for those adrenaline junkies out there.

Don't think that every trail is super advanced. Little kids have to learn how to bike and there are numerous trails rated "easy" that are perfect for mom and dad and the little tykes.

One of our more famous trails, indeed many say it is world famous, is the Hermosa Creek Trail which is rated as most difficult. It is 21 miles in length and starts up near Purgatory (our ski resort) and ends at Hermosa where the train crosses highway 550. This particular ride has been written up in numerous fat tire biking magazines and is certainly a very popular all day event.

Here is a link to the descriptions of many of the biking trails in our area.

This outdoor activity is just another one of the many reasons people love to live in Durango. So many of the trails are close to town and it's not unusual for somebody to take a quick 30 minute spin on a lunch break. My oldest son will even ride his bike to work during the summer and spring months and that is about a 6 mile trek each direction. Since we live in the mountains, 6 miles of that is downhill, but the other 6 miles is uphill!

If you'd like to get to know more about Durango real estate market and the opportunities that exist for employment, Team Lorenz stands ready to help you at any time. Just click on this link ~Durango Real Estate~ and it will take you to my 500 page website that should be able to answer almost all of your real estate questions.Between the three of us that are licensed on the Team, we have a combined experience of over 40 years of selling real estate. Please give us a call, we are here to help. 970-375-7007

Why Live in Durango?

2010-01-19T16:04:00.000-08:00

Many of the subscribers to the Durango real estate blog are from out of the Durango area. These are people whose main goal is to get an idea of what Durango is all about; what goes on here that makes it attractive; and why might they want to live in Durango? I thought I would take a couple of blog postings and answer some of those questions.

There are lots of outdoor activities and events in Durango. I particularly like the Animas River Trail which runs from 32nd St. on the north end all the way down to behind Wal-Mart on the South end. I would guess that's 3 or 4 miles in length. And more Trail is being created on each end of the existing trail. This wonderful path is hard surfaced with either concrete or blacktop the entire route and is roughly 6 to 8 feet wide. Except in a few isolated spots, this trail runs right next to the Animas River and in certain spots the Durango to Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is right next to the river trail as well. There are bridges in several locations so that the trail crosses the Animas and behind the high school there are many days when the kids will dive off of the bridge into the river. You could ride your bike, push a baby in a stroller, jog or just take a leisurely stroll and there's always plenty of room for everyone. There are numerous access points to the River Trail all up and down the system, so getting to it is quite easy. It's a lot of fun to watch the fishermen fly fishing for trout or the kayakers running the rapids or the tubers and rafters meandering downstream. There are a couple of gaps in the entire system and these are being filled-in every year. You see, several years ago the voters passed a very small sales tax increase to pay for the completion and extension of the river trail system. So this is something that is used not only by tourists when they come to town, but very much so by the locals.

While we're talking about the Animas River, let me also mention some of the other water resources that we have in our area. The Animas is graded as gold -medal fishing waters right downtown! Our newest reservoir is currently being filled and it is just South and West of the city limits. It will be used for boating, water skiing, fishing and other outdoor recreation. It's going to take another year or possibly two to fill up so it is currently not open to the public. This reservoir will be called Lake Nighthorse after our former US Senator from Durango, Ben Nighthorse Campbell. There are 4 other reservoirs in our area: Lemon Reservoir; Vallecito Reservoir; Pastorius Reservoir; and Navajo Lake. Of these four, Navajo is by far the largest. That lake starts in Colorado and runs all the way down into New Mexico. It is perfect for enjoying waterskiing, sail boating, and there are those who even houseboat on that lake. There is a marina in Colorado as well as one in New Mexico. Navajo Lake is about a 40 minute drive from downtown Durango on all hard surfaced roads. You get there by driving through Ignacio, which by the way, has a $92 million casino hotel complex owned by the Southern Ute Tribe.

Vallecito Lake is North and East of Durango and is a 30 minute drive, also on hard surfaced roads. It is roughly 5 miles north to south and maybe a mile wide. Trout, pike, and bass are typical fish located in this lake. There are a couple of marinas on the Lake and if you decide to go swimming or waterskiing, you better have a wetsuit because this water is cold. There are several restaurants and watering holes at Vallecito as well as places to rent a horse for a horseback ride. It's not uncommon to see sailboats on Vallecito, but you see far more of them at Navajo Lake. Lemon Reservoir is in the same general area as Vallecito, it is just one River over to the West. This is a smaller lake with no marinas or docks. Great for a quiet day of fishing or kayaking. Pastorius Reservoir is located southeast of town on the Florida Mesa and is really just a nice spot to go fishing.

My next blog article will be on the fat tire bicycle trails that are all around town. We even have a mountain bike park!

Team Lorenz is here to serve you in your real estate needs. Rick has been involved in the real estate business for 34 years and knows Durango forwards and backwards. With the real estate market in lending practices as volatile as they have been the last year or so it's good to know there's somebody on the team with a little "grey hair behind the ears" to help guide buyers and sellers through their Durango real estate transactions. We specialize in getting the transaction completed when many other brokers are not able to. For the third year in a row, Lisa and Nicole (The Team Lorenz Buyer Specialists), successfully took more buyers to the closing table than any other team, agent, or mega broker in all of La Plata County. We specialize in results. We would be happy to help you locate your "dream home", please just give us a call at 970-375-7007.

Short Sale Information

2010-01-16T13:44:00.000-08:00

Having trouble making payments on your house? Are you upside down but really need to sell? Do you wonder what a foreclosure would do to your credit report if you just walked away from the house? These are real questions that I get asked all too often. Many owners are in a dilemma just like that and don't know where to turn. Let me suggest that you give me a call and see if I can help you. But first let me briefly explain what short sales are all about.

A short sale would occur when the sales price of the property is inadequate to pay off the first mortgage, second mortgage or other liens and closing expenses. That is, you are "upside down" on your home. We often hear that terminology as it relates to automobiles, but very seldom when it comes to houses. With the decline in values in so many markets across the country, coupled with the fact that so many people took out loans at 100% of value or even 105% of value, it's pretty easy to see how the error is compounded by the drop in prices in homes.

A bank is not required to do a short sale. It needs to be negotiated. There are certain rules or guidelines that they like to follow. I'll share some of those now. There needs to be a hardship on the seller's part; loss of job, major reduction in income, disability or some other item like that. Generally, the lender is going to want to see that the seller has no other assets that can be used or sold in order to pay off the loan. If you have a high net worth, you're not a good candidate for a short sale. Your Realtor as well as an independent Realtor that the Bank selects, will have to give a substantiated opinion of value that shows the decline in value of the property. The bank will want to see that the home has been properly marketed with a Realtor and that it is indeed currently on the market. Additional documentation that the lender will require after an offer comes in is bank statements, savings account or stock brokerage account statements, copies of pay stubs and tax returns.

When an offer does come in, remember the seller is still the owner of the property and it is the owner who gets to choose which offer he will accept. Since the seller is not going to get any funds at closing the goal is really to get a property sold as quickly as possible and as close to the broker's opinion of price as possible. Occasionally in very hardship situations, the bank will let the seller have about $1000 for "moveout expenses". A short sale can take quite a bit of time to get approved. I recently did a short sale transaction that was 43 days from beginning to end with both a first and second mortgage. That is almost record fast. Generally 60 days to six months is fairly typical. From the buyer side, a very patient buyer is required because there just is no certainty as to a closing date up until about two weeks prior to closing. Many times the buyer will be required to perform their inspections and other due diligence tasks before we even know the bank will accept a short sale. That said, there usually can be some pretty good deals out there in short sales and so to play that game you need to recognize that you do put some money at risk. For the buyer that needs to close fairly quickly but is also looking for a "bargain", then that buyer needs to be looking at homes that have already been through foreclosure and are bank owned. We can help a buyer find those as well.

How does a short sale affect the seller's credit? It'll definitely be a ding on your credit report, but not nearly as bad as a foreclosure. The short sale will show up on the credit report.

If you would like to discuss your situation with me I'd be happy to have a private meeting or telephone consultation to review your particular circumstances. When dealing in a short sale situation, the experience of the listing broker is especially paramount.

CyberStar Real Estate Conference

2010-01-15T07:19:00.000-08:00

I just returned from Scottsdale where I attended a real estate conference with 140 other top-notch real estate brokers from around the world. The CyberStars are a mastermind group founded by Allen Hainge and is a by invitation only network of tech savvy Realtors. Worldwide, there are 240 members and 140 of us met to share marketing, technology, business practices and the latest in real estate concepts. CyberStars are traditionally on the leading edge of new techniques that eventually become the standard of practice in our industry. This was my eighth CyberStar conference that I had attended.

Aside from coming back definitely charged up and with a positive outlook on 2010, I was exposed to numerous new ideas that will be implemented throughout the year ahead. During a period of time when so many real estate markets have gone through such a difficult time, it was great to get the very positive energy from these outstanding people.

Another huge benefit of this group is that if I ever have clients moving to other cities that a CyberStar serves, I am able to refer them to a broker that I know will give top-quality service. It can be so difficult when someone has to move and they don't know anybody in the destination city but by being referred to a CyberStar, I know they will have professional representation and a person who will eventually become your friend.

At the conference, Allen Hainge, the founder and president of our group, announced the transition of ownership to Brad Korn from Kansas City. The last several years Allen has been battling a major health issue and he determined that it was time to pass on the reins to a younger man. I've known Brad for six or seven years and he is extremely competent and very progressive in his real estate technology, techniques and practices.

End of Year Sales Statistics

2010-01-08T11:13:00.000-08:00

Talk about a roller coaster ride! I'm not sure I've ever seen any year quite late 2009 before, as it relates to Durango real estate. As everybody knows, the sales volume was down in almost every market around the country. Durango's real estate market followed that trend but was certainly not nearly as bad as many markets which were predominantly foreclosure sales and bank owned properties. The "tide" was down all across the country, and our boat was caught in that tide.

In my blog article at the end of the third quarter I told you I was beginning to feel positive and I'd give you a firmer prediction at year's end as to which way the Durango real estate market is going. Rather than look at numbers on a static basis, I like to look at the trends and see which direction the numbers are moving. That gives me a much better sense of "predicting" the future. I've done a ton of analysis and here are some of the thoughts that I have. At the end of the first six months of 2009, La Plata County residential sales volume was down 45% from last year; at the end of nine months of 2009, the volume was down 37%; and at the end of the year 2009 volume was down only 22% compared to 2008. That shows me that the last half of 2009... in particular the last quarter... was making good headway in catching up to the very slow start to 2009.

In my third-quarter blog article, I discussed absorption rate at length. Remember that that rate is the period of time it would take all active listings to be sold, assuming no additional properties come onto the market based on the current rate of sales. That is, it is a reflection of how many homes are currently for sale and how many homes per month are selling. Generally speaking, a faster absorption rate reflects an improving market. For the first six months of 2009 residential absorption rate for all price categories of $100,000 and above in La Plata County was 3.29 years; at the end of nine months it dropped to 2.68 years and at the end of the year was down to 1.5 years. Again, this is another trend going significantly in the right direction.

The last quarter of the year finally saw the higher-end properties begin to come out of their doldrums. Through the first nine months of '09, 10 homes priced at $1 million and up had sold; by the end of the year 18 of those homes had changed hands. In the $800,000-$1 million price bracket, 7 homes sold during the first nine months but by the end of the year 14 had sold. In the $600,000-$800,000 price bracket, 20 homes had sold in the first nine months but by the end of the year 35 had sold. That clearly is a very good rate of increase in sales volume in those higher-end properties.

Areas that did not show improvement the sales price to list price percentage. Let's say you listed your home for $100,000 and sold it for $97,000. That sales to list price percentage would be 97%. Through the first six months of ‘09, that ratio was 96.8%; by the end of nine months it was 94%; and when the year concluded, it dropped to 93.3%. Pretty clearly sellers were willing to negotiate more in order to get their properties sold. Another measuring stick that I look at is median days on the market. It's a little different than absorption rate in that this simply says for those properties that did sell, how long did it take them to sell. Again, through the first six months, median days on the market was 115 days; by the end of nine months it had risen to 144 days; and by the end of the year it was 158 days.

One of the most significant changes was in the number of units currently available for sale. Again, this is strictly residential, priced at $100,000 and above, and only in La Plata County. Inventory at the end of six months was 1382 units; at the end of nine months it had dropped to 1333 units; but at year's end that number was all the way down to 854 units. That is even lower than at the end of 2008 when the available inventory was 1004 units. That is a very significant number of units that are not currently available and figuring out why they are not is a challenge. Partly, some sellers have clearly become discouraged and decided to simply take their property off the market in hopes of the market coming back. Another part of that slack is taken up because more properties sold in the last quarter of ‘09, thus reducing inventory. And thirdly, I believe some sellers have put their homes on the market as rental properties as we have certainly seen an increase in the number of rental homes available at this time of year.
Next week I will be able to post the spreadsheet for the full year statistics. Remember that on my website, www.BuyDurango.com I have posted previous spreadsheets. Here is a link to that page in my website: Durango Real Estate Statistics.

If you are a seller, then this information should be fairly encouraging to you especially when you realize that there's a lot less competition out there right now. If you are a buyer that has been sitting on the fence, I think most people can see that it's time to get off the fence. In spite of what we hear out of Washington DC, qualifying for a loan can be a challenge today. Our team members here would very much like to help you get connected to a good local lender who can start you in that process. Own qualification takes longer now than it did six months or a year ago. With the first-time home buyer tax credit having been extended as well as the creation of a new tax credit for home buyers that previously owned homes, we feel that those two market segments will have increased activity and thus more competition for a fewer number of properties. With more people chasing less properties, it is basic economics that teaches us that prices should rise in that market segment.

Team Lorenz is here to help you and we certainly look forward to a call from you.

A Christmas Poem

2009-12-12T10:01:00.000-08:00

My father served in the military in World War II; my oldest son served on a submarine during the first Iraq war; my oldest brother served in Germany during the 1970's; and I have family members on my mother's side that represented our country all the way back to the time of George Washington. Ancestors from my mother's side served during the Civil War as well.
After the events of 9/11 I think we've become anesthetized to the danger that lurks out there in the world. Those American soldiers that defend us and protect us, need to be remembered by us. This poem was shared with me and certainly deserves our thought and consideration.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear..
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile..
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.."

" So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

Thank you for reading this I hope you have a safe, healthy, and prosperous year.

Holiday Season-To List or Not to List

2009-12-02T10:42:00.000-08:00

Clients often ask me whether they should list their home during the holiday season and early winter months. For others the question is, "Should I take my home off the market for the next three months?" There is no one set answer to either of these questions, but my general feeling would be to go ahead and list the property or keep it on the market, as the case might be.

Everybody knows that there is a large influx of homes that come on the market starting in late March or early April. In addition many sellers do take their homes off the market in November, December, and January. The consequence of this is that the inventory is always lower during those months of the year. Another way to look at that would be to say that there is less competition out there if your house is one of the ones that is on the market. Less competition is always good when you are the seller. A second, and very important consideration, is that any buyers who are looking at that time of year are far more likely to be serious buyers and not tire kickers. Who wants to stomp around in the snow and stormy weather looking at houses "just for fun" some Sunday afternoon? It would be an accurate generalization to say that the only buyers during those winter months are buyers who have to buy. What more could a seller ask for?

As a general rule, most people's homes are well decorated and very attractive during the month of December due to the holiday season. This helps the property show more like a "home" than a house, which generally would help in good sales appeal. In Durango, we often have a nice group of people coming to look at property during the month of December because they are combining their "real estate searching trip" with their trip to the ski area or visitation with friends etc. Our Team is very busy this month with buyers coming to town.

Who would be a good candidate not to have their house on the market during the holiday season? Often times you may have many family members coming to visit and is almost like they have camped out in your house. If you've got eight, 10, or 12 guests literally camped all over the place in sleeping bags etc. then that's not a good time to be showing the property. This is especially true if it is a small house and the extra people would make the place seem really cramped for space.

If you are an owner thinking about selling your Durango real estate, I would suggest giving Team Lorenz a call and let us put our 30+ years of experience to work for you. We are not just great marketing and effective websites, we are great at getting transactions closed during this very difficult market time when close to 50% of all transactions do not close. To learn a little more about what we do for you as a seller click the following link. Listing my Durango real estate.

Jumbo Loans Are Coming Back

2009-11-09T15:40:00.000-08:00

For the last year or so jumbo loans (those loans over approximately $440,000) have been very difficult to obtain and if you could get them were extremely expensive. Since a lot of Durango real estate tends to be over $500,000 in sales price, the inability to obtain jumbo loan financing has certainly put a hamper on those higher end sales. Due to some recent changes, that is easing up.

Right now jumbo rates are lower than at any time this entire year. For the purchase of a primary residence or a vacation home and where the buyers have excellent credit scores, today's rate... and that would be on November 9, 2010... is 5.875% with no points or loan origination fee. I obtained this quote from David Fountain with the Durango branch of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. One of the requirements to get that jumbo loan approval is that the borrower must have additional funds left over after the down payment and closing costs as a reserve. This is called Post-Close Liquidity or PCL and it is expressed as a percentage of the loan amount. The smaller the down payment, the more PCL is required. For primary residences with loan values up to $1.5 million, borrowers must have a 10% PCL if they put a 30% down payment. With a 25% down payment, the PCL would go up to 20%. With a minimum down payment of 20%, then the PCL requirement is 40%. I think most people can understand what the lender is trying to do and that is just to make sure that the borrower has additional funds that could be available to use for payments and maintenance on a house in that price range. Over leveraged home purchases are partly what got us into the problem that we just went through this last year and a half and I think it's just good banking policy for the bank to be conservative and provide loans at a very low rate. We saw jumbo loans in the 10% or 11% range earlier this year, so 5.875% looks pretty sweet.

If the loan amount is between $1.5 million and up to $2 million, the rate is still the same if they put 30% down payment and then there would be a 10% PCL requirement. The minimum down payment in this price range would be 25% but then the PCL goes up to 30%.

For vacation homes or second homes with loans up to $1 million, the minimum down payment is 30%. For a vacation home with a loan from $1 million-$1,500,000, the minimum down payment is now 35%. If the vacation home is between $1.5 million in $2 million then the down payment is 40%. Because of the larger down payment, the PCL for vacation homes is 10%.

I have used David Fountain at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage for years and all of my clients rave about his great service. Please feel free to contact him directly. His direct line phone number is 970-385-9360 or if you'd like to e-mail him you may do so at: david.fountain@wellsfargo.com

Those of you that have read my year-to-date statistics through September of this year know that we have actually sold more homes over $1 million in price this year than we did in the first nine months of last year. The vast majority of those homes were North of Durango either in the North Animas Valley, at the Glacier Club, or at or around the ski area. The buyers and sellers of the million-dollar plus primary residences will be especially helped out by this breakthrough in jumbo loan financing.

We would love to help you find that high-end home and Team Lorenz currently is marketing two homes over $1 million in price. One is located three minutes from the ski area on Lake Purgatory and is over 4000 ft.² in size, has four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a beautiful rock fireplace and a spacious deck overlooking the lake. This Durango home is priced at $1,575,000 and the furnishings would be available for an additional fee. Click the above link for more details.

The other high-end home we are currently marketing is located 10 minutes Southwest of Durango in the Shenandoah Peaks subdivision. This is a four lot enclave, with all lots being 5+ acres in size, that is part of the Shenandoah subdivision. This is a beautiful home with tall wooden trussed ceilings and a massive rock fireplace as the centerpiece between the living room and dining room. The covered outdoor patio even has a fireplace as well. The kitchen is gourmet with slab granite countertops and all high-end stainless steel appliances. The three car garage provides plenty of room for your cars and toys. Up to two horses per lot may be maintained. Robinson and Associates, is not only the architect but the builder and they have built numerous homes in this area. You will certainly enjoy their quality. Click here for a better look at the Shenandoah home.

Seminar This Week

2009-11-09T12:15:00.000-08:00

You are invited to attend the International Realty Investors Network (IRIN) meeting to be held at the La Plata County Fairgrounds on Thursday, November 12 at 6:30 PM in the Pine Room. Rick Lorenz will be presenting a program on How to Invest in Real Estate Using Your IRA Funds as well as a discussion on Investing in Single Family Homes…Am I Ready to Be a Landlord? Handout materials will be provided.

Many people are not aware that it is possible to use IRA funds to acquire investment real estate. There are certain rules and procedures that must be followed and that there are certain transactions that cannot be completed using IRA funds. These items will be discussed.

Owning single family homes and renting them out can be an excellent way to provide tax shelter, income, and wealth accumulation. If you bought one rental property per child when they were born and then put it on a 20 year note you could have a free and clear house that would pay for the college education of that child. When the child is done with college you might consider selling it to provide for a nice down payment as that young adult starts their new life. On the other hand you may want to keep the house and it makes for nice easy estate planning. This and a lot more will be discussed.

The vision of the International Realty Investors Network is to provide information, contacts, education and an effective marketing forum to support real estate investors, real estate professionals and others interested in learning more about both Domestic Real Estate and International Real Estate. Tony Measles, a local real estate investor, has formed a local IRIN chapter for Durango. There is no charge for first-time attendees and the meeting is open to the public. If you think you're going to attend, please let me know so that I can have a proper number of handouts available. Please RSVP at 970-375-7007.

More Info On Homebuyer Tax Credits

2009-11-06T16:02:00.000-08:00

As predicted yesterday, President Obama has signed the legislation to not only extend the $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit but has added a new tax credit of up to $6500 for what we are going to call the Move-Up Buyer Tax Credit.

Many of you are very aware of the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit and there have been some changes in that program. Here are the important points: (1) The credit is for 10% of the purchase price of the property, but not over $8000 if you're married filing a joint return, or $4000 if you are married filing tax returns separately; (2) A first time homebuyer is defined as someone who has not had any interest in a principal residence for the past three years prior to the closing date; (3) There are income limits, namely $125,000 in annual income for a single person or $225,000 annual income for a married couple and there is a phase-out of the credit as income increases; (4) the home must be under a binding contract of sale by April 30, 2010 and the property must close on or before July 1, 2010.

The Move-Up Buyer Tax Credit is for people that have lived in their principal residence five consecutive years out of the previous eight years. That wording is a little interesting, because what that means is you could have sold the home two years ago and been renting in the meantime, and as long as you can close on another property, by the deadline date outlined below and in such time that you don't negatively impact the five-year rule, then you can go ahead and get the $6500 credit. Even though we call this the move-up buyer tax credit, the replacement property does not have to be a higher price than your previous home. We do know that the value cannot be over $800,000, however. Income levels appear to be the same as above. The time frame in which to put a property under a binding contract and close is the same as the above as well. The credit amount is a maximum of $6500 or $3250 if married filing separately.

I'm sure there will be many more questions and clarifications that will come up just like we did this last year when a first-time buyer credit came out. Buying real estate in Durango, or any other part of the country, is complex and we would certainly like to help you in your endeavors to buy Durango real estate. Over the years Durango Colorado homes have been a very good investment and Team Lorenz is here to help you whether you are buying or selling. Give us a call at 970-375-7007. If you'd like to look at all of the Durango homes for sale feel free to click this link and it will take you to my Main website buydurango.com.

$8000 Tax Credit Extended

2009-11-05T16:36:00.000-08:00

Late this afternoon both the Senate and the House passed the extension of the $8000 first time home buyer tax credit. It was part of an unemployment benefits extension legislation. The first time home buyer tax credit is now extended through April 30, 2010as a deadline to be under contract and the property must close by the end of June of 2010.

A new, move-up homebuyers tax credit of up to $6500 was also part of that legislation. A person would have to have lived in their home five out of the prior eight years as their primary residence and the home that they purchase must be $800,000 or less.

Both of these tax credit are only available for primary residence which can include condominiums, but it would not include second homes or vacation homes. More details will be coming out and as they are I will be sure to include them in this blog.

Please feel free to call Team Lorenz as we would be happy to help you in your Durango real estate endeavors. Our phone number is 970-375-7007. If you would like to look at homes for sale in Durango please click this link and it will take you directly to all of the homes for sale.

Near Biking Trails And Downtown Durango

2009-11-05T08:12:00.000-08:00

One thing that I've always found interesting about Durango real estate is the wide variety of Durango homes for sale. We have hand peeled log homes in the forest overlooking lakes; we have cattle and horse ranches with a river running through it; we have irrigated farmland; we have stately Victorian homes in downtown Durango; and we have a number of different styles of condominiums and townhomes to suit almost anyone's tastes.

Durango Real Estate Blog's featured property is a condominium located in the southeast end of the town with very easy access to Fort Lewis College, Horse Gulch hiking and biking trails (right across the street) and it is even within walking distance to downtown Durango. Built in 2004, this Santa Rita town home has all the amenities and upgrades one would hope for. Essentially, there are two master suites on the top floor as well as an additional half bath on the main level. The kitchen is top notch with cherry cabinets and granite tile countertops. You will love to cook with the GE profile appliances. On those winter nights when the snow is coming down, you will enjoy curling up with a glass of wine in front of the gas-fired fireplace in the living room. This unit was the builder's model so you know he paid extra special attention to every detail during construction. This is a small townhome complex with only 13 units in it, most of which are owner occupied.

The lower-level is an oversized one car garage with a tank-less water heater to help save on your utility bills, yet there is plenty of room to store your kayak, bicycle or camping equipment. The entire home is protected with a fire suppression system. Condo dues are quite reasonable at $100 per month which includes snow removal, outdoor maintenance, exterior insurance and a mailbox system.

To obtain more information on this Durango Home for Sale please click this link.

Team Lorenz is more than happy to help you with any and all of your real estate needs. For the third year in a row, Team Lorenz has successfully taken more buyers to the closing table than any other team, mega agent, and in many instances, even entire companies. During this time when so many transactions fail due to financing, appraisal issues, etc. we are proud to say that we are able to get the job done and our record proves that very fact. Our phone number is 970-375-7007.

Year-To-Date Comparative Sales Figures

2009-10-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

As is my custom, I've compiled a complete analysis of the residential sales data for all Durango real estate (that would be for all of La Plata County) from January 1 through September 30 of this year as well as the same time period in the year 2008. In addition, my analysis breaks down the price brackets by $200,000 increments, which makes it easier to understand it allows you the public to look at your specific price range.

Overall the total residential dollar volume in 2009 versus 2008 has dropped 37.05%. The average residential sales price, however, only declined by 8.2%; while the median sales price declined 10.33%. You can see by these figures that values are holding reasonably well... it's just that the dollar volume is down significantly. Those numbers seem to reinforce our concept that Durango Colorado real estate has been, and is still a good place to invest your money.

The busiest price bracket is from 200,000 of $400,000 where 219 units sold this year compared to 293 last year. That is a decline of 25.26%. The hardest hit price range is the $800,000-$1 million price bracket. That is almost a no man's land with very few buyers closing on properties in that price bracket. Last year 17 homes that sold, this year only seven have sold and their average days on the market this year has risen to 402 days. Somewhat oddly, I would think, in 2009 more homes over $1 million and sold than in 2008; granted it's only one more than last year, but it's the only price bracket where there was an increasing number of units sold.
One of the items that I analyze is where are people buying? Durango in town? Durango rural? Bayfield in town? Or Bayfield rural? Condos at the resort? Per each price bracket, I have the answers to those questions.

My complete Excel spreadsheet...in an easy to view format...for Durango real estate sales analysis is located on my website. Click the following link to take you directly to that spreadsheet: Durango Real Estate Sales Analysis

If you would like to discuss this analysis in more detail or if you are ready to get some help in your search for Durango area real estate, please give us a call and we will be more than happy to take care of your needs. My direct line office number is 970-375-7007.

$8,000 Tax Credit..Is It Affecting Lower Priced Sales?

2009-10-06T13:56:00.000-07:00

What affect has the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit had on the lower priced real estate market in Durango and throughout La Plata County? As many of you know, the Durango real estate market has certainly been affected by the drop in the national economy for the last couple of years. Durango Real Estate Sales Statistics. Overall sales volume, depending on the specific area of the county and price range, has dropped roughly 40%. I recently reviewed the residential sales for the last 120 days in this County and came up with the following sales statistics. Please note this is for homes/condos only and only sales that occurred within La Plata County, so that would include Durango, Bayfield, Ignacio and the rural areas around each of those towns.

In analyzing the data it is clear that the “sweet spot” is $300,000 and under. It is interesting to note that nearly 70% of all the sales have come from homes priced at $400,000 and under. When compared to the available inventory of homes note the large difference in the percent of sales versus the number of properties available in that particular price range. The buyers are certainly gobbling up the lower end price range of homes while the higher priced properties are just sitting almost stagnant on the market. First-time homebuyers tend to buy in that lower price range, so these numbers would certainly seem to suggest that the tax credit is having an effect here for sure.

In order to truly come to a correct conclusion, I feel it would be necessary to compare the sales in 2008 versus the sales in 2009 for that same time frame and price brackets. The chart below uses all residential sales in La Plata County from June 1 through October 1 of the appropriate year.

This chart even more graphically demonstrates the impact of the tax credit on homes priced $300,000 and under. Look at the huge differences in the bottom three categories. It is clear that the product mix of what is being sold is $300,000 and under and there is very little doubt in my mind that what is driving that is the $8000 first time home buyer tax credit.
There are still opportunities out there to obtain that credit, but window of opportunity will soon be closed. Generally speaking, it takes 30 to 45 days to get a loan approval... could be done faster with A+ credit and good steady employment... so it's pretty clear that somebody needs to be under contract on a home of their choice by mid-October or they will quickly be out of luck.
Team Lorenz has two excellent buyer specialists whose only function is to work with buyers and help them find properties. If you're one of those people seeing the window of opportunity getting smaller and smaller, please give us a call today and would be tickled to get you into your first home. Buying Durango real estate can certainly be a daunting task, but with her many years of experience in successful closing of thousands of transactions, we will take you through the process and hopefully have it be into an enjoyable one. To learn a little bit about our Team, click here. Team Lorenz

Can't Sell? Try Exchanging.

2009-09-19T13:24:00.000-07:00

Having been in real estate in Durango for so many years, I have witnessed the ups and downs of numerous markets. Back in the 80’s I became familiar with the concept of real estate exchanging. In its simplest form person A has a home worth $300,000 and they want to down size to a condo worth $250,000. Person B has just that type of condo and guess what? Their family is expanding and needs a home worth $300,000. Both parties like each other's property so they exchange their properties, one for the other, and person B gives to person A $50,000 to make up for the difference in values. This straight across, one for one exchange, doesn't happen very often. Instead what we see is person A wants out of their property very badly and really likes person B's property. Person B however has no interest in person A's property. Consequently, we need to add what we often call the third leg to the transaction and that would be a taker for person A's property. You can see how this could get interesting pretty quickly with it not being uncommon to have 3, 4 or even 5 legs to a transaction.

Brokers who do exchanges often get together in groups and present various properties that their sellers have indicated they would be willing to take other property for in exchange for theirs. These meetings are open forums where each presenter gets about five minutes to explain what his client has and what his client would like as well as what his client might be able to add to a transaction in terms of additional properties. I attended just such a meeting yesterday and came away with a proposal for one of my clients. Lots of times, at meetings like this, it isn't just real estate that is offered. When a broker says that their client can add something to the transaction, that “something”could be a boat, a motorhome, an interest in a houseboat, etc. These things are often added in order to balance the equities between the parties. Let's go back to our first example where the one party needed to pay the other party $50,000. It wouldn't be unusual to see an offer made where the one-party would offer you $25,000 in cash and his free and clear ski boat. As you can see these affairs can be very fun and interesting but most importantly they are focused on problem-solving.

There are two ideal candidates in exchanging: the first is what we call a “don't wanter” that is to say, the seller absolutely doesn't want their property anymore. It could be someone who's had a terrible experience in property management; it could be caused by a divorce; it could be someone who has a property that is difficult to sell or so high-priced that it might be better if they had two or three smaller properties which individually would be easier to sell. The second ideal candidate is somebody that owns free and clear property. That makes it very easy for them to go into a transaction because they have a 100% equity position in relation to the value of their property. Bad candidates would be people who are upside down... that is they have no equity in their property... unless they are able to add other properties that have equity.

There are certain tax benefits to doing an exchange but those would only pertain to investment properties. That is, your personal residence is not eligible for a 1031 tax-deferred exchange. That's not to say you couldn't exchange it, it simply means that that you don't have the benefit of the of the 1031 terms. A personal residence, as long as you've lived there for two years, has the $250,000 or $500,000 tax-free gain benefit anyway. I've written some additional information regarding 1031 exchanges that can be found on my main website www.buydurango.com here is a link to that specific page: Durango Real Estate Exchanges .

As you can imagine, these transactions can be complex and you certainly need an experienced real estate broker to guide you through the process. A very good knowledge of the inventory of properties available in the Durango real estate market is certainly important. How to structure an exchange to minimize the tax consequences is important as well. And lastly a broker that can be creative and think out of the box is the kind of broker that you need in order to put together a 3, 4, or even a five legged exchange. If this sounds interesting to you please give us a call, Team Lorenz is here to help.

Buyer Agency... Having Someone Represent You.

2009-09-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

Navigating your way through Durango real estate can certainly be a daunting task. If you are a prospective buyer from out of the area, it's hard for you to know the benefits of the various subdivisions and building projects that we have around the County. Nearly all subdivisions will have rules and regulations, called CC&R's, that define what you may or may not be able to do in that development. Let's say that you wanted to have horses and you are told that horses are allowed in a particular subdivision. It would not be unusual to see that there might be a limit as to the number of horses that you could have. In the Shenandoah subdivision, for instance, you have to have 5 acres in order to be allowed 2 horses. No horses are allowed if you have less than 5 acres. A Buyer Specialist will be able to find out this information for you.

Many buyers have campers, motor homes or RVs that they would like to park on their property. That is the type of thing that could easily be covered in the CC&R’s. You need to be certain that you get all of those rules and regulations ahead of time. An experienced real estate broker is very vital in helping you work your way through those sorts of issues when buying Durango real estate. Our Team is set up quite a bit differently than anybody else here in town. Lisa and Nicole are Buyer Specialists whose only job is to work with buyers. They may each see 100 properties or more a month so they truly know the market extremely well. I often kid them and say: “I have a buyer who wants pink carpet in the hallway...” and I'll get a response that says they know three homes just like that. Knowing the product that is available and then matching it to your specific needs is very important.

Another important advantage of having a Buyer Specialist work for you is that you can have an advocate on your side. A Buyer Specialist does not represent the seller; they represent you, the buyer.

Having a Buyer Specialist on your side is definitely to your advantage. ”Does it cost me anything to have a Buyer Specialist on my side?” is a question I often hear. In Colorado, the seller is allowed to pay the buyer brokerage commission and in probably 99% of the transactions that is exactly what happens.

If you're at that spot where you're ready to look for real estate in the Durango area please give us a call and we will have one of our Buyer Specialists take care of you. Please Click Here to learn a little bit more about our team.

When Is the Best Time to Buy?

2009-09-02T07:46:00.000-07:00

That is a great question but it's also the one I have an answer for. Having been in the real estate business for 33 years... and over 25 of them in Durango in particular... I know the market here extremely well. Once you hit Labor Day, the first week of September, sellers get very nervous and you see even more price reductions. In addition, buyers are often able to negotiate much harder with the seller because they know that seller really wants to be out of that house before the snow flies. Generally speaking, the inventory is down a bit because of the summer sales, but this year we have seen more properties come on the market and because of the slowness of the market the inventory has not been reduced.

That combination of high inventory and motivated sellers really will help buyers. This is not the time to be sitting on the fence trying to make up your mind, but rather, it's a time to go out and select your new home.

So many people always say that they want to buy at the bottom of the market, but the problem is the only way to know you're at the bottom is when it's on the way back up... which means you missed the bottom. New home sales across the nation have increased for the last four months in a row. Inventories in the big cities like Phoenix and Los Angeles which are our feeder markets, are being eaten up by buyers. Those are all signs that we have hit the bottom and are going the other direction. I don't think any sane person out there feels interest rates can stay this low when the federal government is running a deficit like it is right now. Interest rates will have to go up and they will be forced up by the huge deficit spending. Nobody is talking about a balanced budget in Washington so that will continue to drive rates up and keep them up. It's back to that same concept: The time to buy is now, it will only get more expensive in the future.

Buying real estate in Durango has long-term been a very good investment. I don't see any reason why that will not continue. People live in Durango because they want to live in Durango, not because they got transferred here because of their job. It's not like a job transferred or Detroit (now I can say this because I was raised there) where you might even consider quitting your job just so you didn't have to take the transfer. People want to live here because of all of our outdoor activities, the great feel of the town, the natural beauty of the mountains around us in because the people are so friendly. We offer a diverse cross-section of real estate, with everything from modular homes on acreage to 8000 ft.² mansions in the mountains. And there are lots of homes in between of course. It is our job as Team Lorenz to help you find just exactly the right property so that you'll be able to have that Durango Colorado real estate experience. Please give us a call and I'll set you up with one of my two buyer agents who for the third year in a row have successfully taken more buyers to the closing table than any other agent, mega agent, or team in the entire County. They know the inventory and they'll find you your home.

CHFA 20% Tax Credit

2009-08-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

Uncle Sam is doing everything he can to help first-time homebuyers get into a house. Sponsored through the Colorado Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) is a new mortgage certificate program that will allow a buyer to deduct from their federal income tax liability 20% of the annual mortgage interest paid on their home. Everybody knows that the payments in the first years of a mortgage go almost entirely to interest. Let's say that you had a $200,000 loan at 5 1/2% annual interest rate, then you would have paid approximately $11,000 in interest in year one. Under this mortgage certificate program, 20% of that amount... $2,200... could be deducted dollar for dollar from your federal tax liability. The balance of the $11,000... $8,800... can still be taken in the taxpayers itemized deductions. This is a significant savings and does not cover just the first year, but is supposed to apply to the life of the loan. There are some restrictions of course so please give us a call and we can discuss those with you. One restriction is an income limit and another is the sales price of a home. Also, you have to be a first-time home buyer.

This program does not expire at the end of November like the $8,000 tax credit and it can be taken in addition to the $8,000 tax credit. We would love to help you find your first home so please give us a call and I'll hook you up with the number one buying agent team in the County for three years running.

Beer and Homebuyers Workshop

2009-08-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

Having a beer and getting educated. Isn't that what every college kid tells their parents they are doing? Well Team Lorenz is going to sponsor a first-time home buyer workshop at Carver's Brewing on Thursday, September 10th. We will have beer and some appetizers from 5:00 PM to 5:30 PM in the back room at Carver's. From 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM we will put on a workshop and answer all your questions about the buying process and especially about the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit which will be expiring November 30th. In addition, you'll learn about an additional 20% tax credit that can be available as well. Have no money for down payment? We even have some answers for that. Nicole and Lisa from our Team as well as Suzi Loether from Vectra Bank will be there to explain the process, show you some properties online, get you set up with a banker and answer your questions. They will have a beer also.

So many first-time homebuyers are afraid and don't understand the process and that's why we are going to have the number one buyer representative team in all of Durango for the last three years there to help you. They have taken more buyers to the closing table than anybody. They know how to get the job done and will work hard for you.

There are so many great deals out there right now and money is so cheap it's just crazy not to be buying real estate assuming you can afford it. We have seen prices come down this year and in the fall of the year is traditionally the best time to get a great deal. Sellers want to be out of their property before the snow flies so they're a little better at negotiating.

No RSVP is required just come on down and visit us and bring all your real estate questions with you. We would love to help you get into a piece of Durango real estate. If you can't make this workshop, give us a call at 970-375-7007 and we would be happy to sit down with you and answer all your questions.

More First Time Home Buyer Credits

2009-08-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

By now, everyone has heard about the $8000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers. However, there is an additional first time home buyer incentive available. Sponsored by the Colorado Housing Finance Authority, a first-time home buyer may be eligible to take a tax credit of 20% of each year's mortgage interest paid against their federal income tax liability. Let's say, for purposes of illustration, that a homeowner paid $12,000 in interest on their home mortgage the first year. 20% of that number ($2400) would be deductible from the taxpayer's federal income tax liability. The remaining 80% of the mortgage interest paid ($9,600) can still be used as an itemized deduction on their federal income tax return. This program is supposed to last the life of the loan.

In order to qualify for this program, you must obtain a CHFA Statewide Mortgage Credit Certificate through an approved lender. In order to qualify purchase price of the home cannot be more than $354,900 anyone a two-person family cannot make over $71,000 annual household income or $81,600 annual household income for homes with three or more persons.

Only a select number of lenders have signed on to this program so please give me a call and I would be happy to help you connect to the appropriate party. Buying real estate in Durango is very rewarding but it certainly can be a daunting task for many a first-time home buyer. Team Lorenz is certainly here to help you locate great properties and get you connected with the appropriate lenders.

Durango Is a Great Place to Raise Kids

2009-08-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

Durango was recently named the third-best city in the United States to raise outdoor kids. The study was put on my Backpacker Magazine. So many children are raised in the city and they never get a good sense of the outdoors. The report was featured on the CBS morning show the other day. Here's a link to that program:
Raise Kids in Durango
There are so many factors to consider when finding a new home for your family, and Durango real estate certainly comes up all aces in so many categories. With interest rates low, sellers really ready to make a deal, and lots of good inventory to choose from, I'm not sure there's ever been a better time to invest in Durango real estate. Feel free to give me a call and our Team is ready to go to work for you.

Local Economic News

2009-08-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's good to just sit back and look at some basic economic numbers for our area. As a member of the Durango Chamber of Commerce, I get a lot of that type of information which I find to be very helpful. I hope some of this information will be helpful to you as well.
Airport Enplanements We will never be a major airport, but our connection to Denver and Phoenix is very important. In June of 2005 8608 people boarded planes at our local airport. By 2007, that number had risen to 10,770 in the month of June. June of this year that number had increased to 14,490 people. Since 2005, that is a 46% increase.
Unemployment Figures Durango's unemployment is certainly better than you see in this state and nationally. At the end of May, the national unemployment rate was 9.1%; Colorado's unemployment rate was 7.4%; while the La Plata County's unemployment rate was only 5.5%.

Durango is still a destination location when it comes to real estate. People move here because they want to live here not because they got forced to live here because of a corporate transfer. As a matter of fact, we often see corporate transferee is specifically requesting Durango and hoping that they never then get re-transferred back out. Our little town offers so many benefits of a big city, but without all of the negative features that go along with a large town. You can still go in the grocery store and know 30% of the people that you see shopping.

2009 First Six-Month Statistics

2009-07-16T13:37:00.000-07:00

Total Sold Residential Sales in La Plata County per Price Bracket and Year.
January 1 through June 30 Each Year.

In today's topic, I want to discuss January through June residential La Plata County sales this year compared to last year, by various price brackets. First off, the above chart shows that there's been a significant decline in the number of units sold this year compared to last year. What I want to point out is that it's the high-end properties that have slowed down immensely. The first two price brackets show that in 2008 62.6% of all of the units sold were price at $400,000 or less. Compare that to the year 2009 and you will see that 77.6% of all sales were under $400,000. That is a significant change in product mix being sold. As you can see by the numbers, the $800,000-$1 million price bracket is particularly quiet in 2009. Sellers are very aware of this, so it may be a very good time to try to strike a bargain in that particular price bracket.

For a very thorough Durango real estate analysis that would compare the first six months of this year to the first six months of last year, please click the following link. Durango Real Estate

Class Canceled

2009-07-15T09:17:00.000-07:00

I am very sorry to report that the Wells Fargo Real Estate Exposition scheduled for Saturday, July 18 has been canceled. It turns out that due to government regulations, it is not legal for Wells Fargo to put on an event like this. We are trying to see if the Durango Board of Realtors would be the sponsor instead of the bank, but we have not heard yet.
As many of you know, I was going to teach a class on being a landlord and what that entails. I was going to discuss the types of properties to buy and the types of property to avoid buying. I was going to share my lease that I use, when to have leases expire, the kinds of ads to write and many more topics of interest. As soon as we can get this rescheduled, I will post a note on my blog with plenty of advance notice.
Navigating your way through the purchase of Durango real estate, particularly investment real estate, could be a daunting task the first time you make that effort. Remember back when you bought your first house? You had lots of questions I'll bet. Buying your first investment property is just like that. This class will be extremely helpful to not only people that would be a first-time investors, but also to those that own numerous properties. I've taught this class before to people that own six or seven rental homesand they commented that they learned claims from the class.

How to Be a Landlord Class Coming up

2009-06-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

Are you one of those people that has been interested in the possibility of buying a home to use as a rental property? Real estate is the single greatest wealth producer in the country, so it would certainly be something that I would encourage you to do. Many times people don't know the ins and outs of being a landlord and owning a rental home. If you would like to learn about becoming a landlord, I will be teaching a class in conjunction with the Wells Fargo Real Estate Exposition to be held on Saturday, July 18 th. This will be at the La Plata County Fairgrounds and I will be teaching the class from 1 PM till 2 PM. The title of the class is: “So you want to be a landlord? Investing in single family homes." There will be a 20 page handout that you will find very helpful. This will cover everything from the right kind of properties to buy, special clauses you want to make sure you have in your lease to when you want leases to expire and so much more. For everyone attending the class, I will give away a free autographed copy of my book “How to make your Realtor get you the best deal…Durango Colorado edition”.

The purpose of the Wells Fargo Real Estate Expo is to get homebuyers, or potential home buyers, into the marketplace. There will be a number of Realtors exhibiting and some properties will be held “open-house” for the day so that a buyer can come in and look online at the property in the Fairgrounds, and then go right out to the house and take a look in person. In my 33 years of doing real estate I've never seen an Expo quite like this and I think that buyers will find this very helpful. In addition to the class that I will be teaching at one o'clock, there will be a first time homebuyers class taught at noon.

Searching for Durango CO homes for sale can be a daunting task because you really need to know the areas and subdivisions, the schools, and what the mineral situation might be for a particular property and so many more items of concern. Our Team has two full-time dedicated buyer agents who do nothing but work with buyers and probably preview a hundred properties per month. Knowing the inventory is certainly an important function for a good real estate broker. For the last 2 1/2 years, my two buyer agents have successfully closed with more buyers than any other broker or team in La Plata County. Whether you're a first-time home buyer or an investor buying your 10th property, we would love the opportunity to help you in that venture. To go directly to Durango homes for sale, click this link: Durango CO real estate and it will take you to my listings section of my BuyDurango.com website.

Interest Rates Are on the Rise

2009-06-05T11:20:00.001-07:00

Have we finally hit the bottom of the low interest rates? Only time will tell us the answer for sure, but it looks like we probably have. So if you've been sitting on the fence hoping for the rates to go down, it looks like your fence sitting should end. All of us know that the federal government is borrowing money like crazy to deal with the federal budget deficit. That act alone, in the quantities that are being borrowed, has put an upward pressure on interest rates. I talked with David Fountain our local Wells Fargo representative, and he provided the following information for interest rates over the last 120 days.

As you can see by the above spreadsheet, interest rates dipped to their lowest level in years between 30 and 60 days ago. Those rates have risen considerably... 7/8ths of 1% to be exact... in just the last week. From 30 days ago to today, the monthly payment for a $250,000 loan has increased over $116 per month. Another way to look at it is to ask: “How has my buying power been affected by the increase in rates?” That can be determined by looking at the following chart.

As you can see in the last 30 days a person approved for $1,400 a month payment had their buying power reproduced by $21,346. And since buyers are approved on the monthly payment amount, not on the total loan amount, that really equates to a buyer having to look at homes in a much lower price range.

All buyers want to buy when the prices are the lowest and when interest rates are the lowest. The reality is that those people who look into that crystal ball often end up eating glass. Clearly we can see that rates are on the rise and in Durango, the home prices, depending on the exact area you're looking, have stayed quite strong and steady. The average in town Durango home price has actually risen. Don't be the person that regretfully says: “Oh, I wish I would have bought in the spring when interest rates were the lowest. Now I have to buy a less expensive home with fewer features." The fence sitting time is over. As we often say in this business “It is time to pull the trigger."

Team Lorenz would love to help you in your search for Durango Colorado homes for sale. We have two full-time buyer specialists who do nothing but work with buyers. They are experts in your search for Durango Colorado real estate. To take a look at some of the homes that we have for sale click the following link. Durango CO homes for sale.

Condominiums Are the Hot Market Currently

2009-06-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

When looking for Durango CO homes for sale, many buyers are finding great values in condominiums, especially when looking in the under $350,000 price range. Most of these homes tend to be newer and close to town, which are characteristics that many buyers are looking for. Our Team happens to have 4 condominiums or townhome for sale, all of which are under $350,000.

Terrace Gardens Condominiums $139,900

Located on Florida Road, this condo would be perfect for college kids because it's just a short drive to school. With two bedrooms and one full bath, it has all the necessities your college kids would need. Community laundry room is close by and the heat is included in the Homeowners Association Dues. This is basic living but at $139,900 it is a good deal.

Ferringway Condominium $225,000

We are definitely moving up a notch when we come to Ferringway. This project is located directly across the street from Fort Lewis College and comes fully furnished with his two bedrooms and two full baths. Use it as a vacation retreat and then you can rent it out through on-site property management to generate a little income. Ferringway has a clubhouse and outdoor pool and would be a short bicycle ride to town. For more details click: Durango CO home for sale

Santa Rita Townhomes $300,000

As they say in the famous TV show, we are “moving on up” now. Granite tile countertops, cherry kitchen cabinets and GE Profile appliances are part of the package in this town home located just off of eighth Avenue. There are two master suites on the top floor and a freestanding gas-fired stove for those winter nights in the living room. The one car attached garage still leaves room for you to store your bicycle, kayak etc.

The Boulders at Escalante $339,000

With nearly 1700 ft.², this would be the largest unit of the group. There is an attached two-car garage plus bedrooms and an office. Kitchen counters are all granite tile and along with his stainless steel appliances and hardwood floors make this a real sharp unit. There is a playground at the Boulders for the kids as well. This town home is located near the Animas River south of town, providing you good proximity to the hospital as well as shopping.

Durango Real Estate Short Sale

2009-05-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

This five bedroom home located in the Rafter J. Subdivision (less than 10 minutes from town) appraised for over $700,000 not quite two years ago. An extensive addition was put on the home last year with an architect designed master suite, office and more being added. Sitting on over 3 acres of land, there is plenty of room to play; plus the new Lake Nighthorse...currently being filled...will be less than five minutes away. With five bedrooms, there is plenty of room for visiting friends or a large family. There is even a pad with RV hookup as well. Since this is a short sale, the sellers are anxious to receive any offer so that we can get the negotiations started with the bank. Asking price is $495,000.

Team Lorenz Client Party

2009-05-18T15:02:00.001-07:00

Every year Team Lorenz holds a client appreciation party and food drive for the local Durango Food Bank. We take over the movie theater on a Saturday morning and we invite past clients and their friends to come on in for a private showing of a recently released movie. This year we selected Star Trek as our movie. The cost of the movie and the concession stand snacks are covered by The Team. We ask that our clients bring in cans of food and for each can of food they get one coupon. Each coupon is then used to guess the number of nails and nuts and bolts in a huge jar that we set up in the lobby of the theater. Our prizes this year were as follows: 1st place was a $100 gift certificate to Seasons Grill; 2nd place was a $75 gift certificate from Sunnyside Farms Market here in Durango; and 3rd prize was a $50 gift basket from Dietz Market filled with all locally made food products.

We have been holding this function for six years and everyone gets really excited about trying to help the Food Bank. I just heard back from the Food Bank today and we collected 1,638 pounds of food which was the largest single day donation we have made in the last six years. We had two individuals that brought more than 150 cans of food each! One local family actually drove back from Denver where they were visiting to bring food and attend our party and then turned right around and went back up to Denver. Thank you so much for people with hearts like that. Many people even brought cash donations. Our 2nd place winner actually donated his prize back to the Food Bank. Team Lorenz feel strongly that we need to be a contributor to the community … it isn't just about real estate sales …and this is one of the ways that we help by organizing this very successful food drive every year.

New Info on $8000 Tax Credit

2009-05-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

Newsbreak from May 12th.
The Federal Housing Administration just announced at the National Association of Realtors midyear conference in Washington DC, that the FHA is now going to allow the $8000 first time homebuyer tax credit to be used as down payment in the purchase of qualifying property. See my previous posts regarding this tax credit. We do not have all of the rules and regulations as to how this will be implemented yet, but it appears that the home buyer will get a short term bridge loan in the amount of the $8000 and the proceeds from that loan can be used for the down payment. It appears that this will only apply to FHA loans, but that is not definitive at this point.
As I get more information on this latest development, I will pass it on to all of my Durango real estate clients. Please stay tuned for further information.

Understanding Short Sales

2009-05-08T07:30:00.000-07:00

A short sale is a real estate transaction where the lender agrees to accept less money than what they are owed. Typically we call this situation being “upside down" in your home… that is, you owe more than the property is worth. This situation can happen for a number of reasons. It can be caused by a decline in the value of the property, which we are seeing more and more of lately. It can also be caused when an owner takes out a second mortgage or a line of credit using the house as collateral where by the lender loaned up to 105% of the value of the property. Today that would be very difficult to do, but three, four, or five years ago, that was a very common practice. while the Durango real estate market has not been hit like other areas, we have seen an increase in the number of short sales for Durango real estate.

Why would a lender be willing to accept less money than what they are owed? That is a great question. There are two options for a lender in this situation. They can consider a short sale and accept their losses, or they can go through the foreclosure process which increases their expenses and usually makes their losses even greater. The foreclosure process in the state of Colorado will generally take nine months to a year. A short sale, on the other hand, should be just a matter of months to complete. Notice that I said should... some lenders still drag their feet and extend this timeframe. So the bottom line is this: banks will consider a short sale because it helps their bottom line.

How does a short sale situation affect the sale of a piece of real estate? Every lender has different rules when it comes to short sales. There are, however, some fairly standard policies that are followed by all of the lenders. (1) The seller will have to prepare a hardship letter discussing their financial situation and why they are unable to pay the loan off in full. (2) They will need copies of all bank statements and stock account statements. (3) They will need a financial statement showing a list of all assets and liabilities as well as a listing of the monthly expenses. (4) They need copies of the last several months pay stubs. (5) A copy of the listing agreement. (6) A letter authorizing the Realtor access to the lender in order to facilitate the transaction. As a general rule, the lender will not respond to a request for a short sale without a bona fide fully executed purchase agreement. Also any transaction will need to be done at arm's length”… that is, the sale cannot be to anyone that the seller has a close personal or business relationship with including family, friends or neighbors.

How does the process work? Buyer and seller come to terms on an acceptable sales price. The contract must contain a provision providing for lender approval of the short sale. That process can take anywhere from three weeks to three months, with most being in the 60 – 90 day range. If other offers come in during that time, the lender can choose to approve any of those and not the first offer. Once we have lender approval for the short sale contract, closing is generally within three weeks. Even though a buyer does not really know if they will be successful in being approved by the short sale lender, the buyer will still need to invest monies in having the inspections done, appraisal for their lender, title work review and the other normal due diligence expenses. Consequently, there is a definite risk in trying to buy a short sale property, it just has to be weighed against the possible gain. The positives are that you could buy a house in a very good price. The negatives are if you need a quick closing, forget it. And you risk losing due diligence expenses in the event that your offer is not the one chosen by the lender. In a short sale, except in a very few instances, the seller is not allowed to walk away with any money.

If I am a seller, how does a short sale affect my credit compared to a foreclosure? Let me say this: either one of these scenarios will affect your credit report and your credit score. There are no published rules from the credit bureaus as to how these two items would be handled. However, Fannie Mae guidelines to lenders give an idea how they will be treated. I spoke with Tim Burrell, a fellow Realtor, CyberStar and real estate attorney who operates a short sale website called http://shortsalesr.us Tim indicated that for a short sale, if the person showed a good credit history afterwards for a period of 2 to 4 years, Fannie Mae would consider allowing a loan to be underwritten. A foreclosure, on the other hand, carries a longer-lasting effect on your ability to borrow. While in each instance the derogatory will stay on your credit report for the full seven years, the effect of the foreclosure, according to Fannie Mae guidelines, is still looked at as a fatal flaw until after your five, and that assumes that you've had good credit history since the foreclosure.

What liability does the seller have for the monies that were not paid to the lender? First off, you should consult with a CPA for advice on this question. That said I'll try and explain some of the facts as I understand them. There are different scenarios depending on if secondary financing was involved, if the money was used for home improvement vs buying a jet ski, was the property a primary residence and who services the loan. There are no, “one answer fits all” situations. Colorado is called a deficiency state. That means that the seller could be responsible for any amount less than the full amount owed. That is, the lender could go into court and try to obtain a judgment against the seller for the difference. The other item to consider is that the lender may 1099-C the seller for the amount of the shortage so that the seller would then have to pay income tax on that forgiven amount as if it were income. This aspect may be affected by The Mortgage Forgiveness Act of 2007. Here is a link to that for you to review. Click Here

In summary, short sales are clearly a complex issue. Whether you are a seller and a short sale situation or a buyer considering acquiring a property that has to go through a short sale is clear you'll need professional assistance and counsel in order to get through that process. All of us at Team Lorenz would be happy to give you that help, just give us a call.

Durango Luxury Real Estate

2009-04-21T09:59:00.000-07:00

Team Lorenz was recently hired to market a home built and designed by Robinson and Associates. This builder and architectural team has worked in the Durango area for almost 20 years and has been the creator of many luxury homes in Durango. If you are looking for a well planned and thought-out home with dramatic tall ceilings in an upscale development, then this 4200+ ft.² home may be just the right opportunity for you. Shenandoah Peaks is a 4 lot enclave of 35 acres located within the Shenandoah subdivision less than 10 minutes from downtown Durango. With the new Lake Nighthorse currently being filled, your home would be less than 2 miles from the entrance to the new Lake. Designed for boating, fishing, and other recreational uses, Lake Nighthorse should be filled to capacity within two years. Paved roads throughout Shenandoah and Shenandoah Peaks provide for easy year-round access.

Ease of living is the byword because the vast majority of the home is all on one level. You are immediately taken-in by the beautiful detail work driving up to the entrance. Large native rocks are stacked three and four high to provide a curved retaining wall, as well as planting areas. The large covered entry is flanked on each side by beautiful outdoor lighting. The three car garage is smartly finished with custom-made Cedar garage doors. Upon entering through the 8 foot door, you are greeted in every direction with a visual stimulus. The deep rich color of the hand distressed Birch engineered plank flooring is instantly recognized as high-quality. Looking up, the exposed wooden trusses span from the front of the house to the back and rest above the 12 foot window wall that looks nearly due South towards Black Ridge Mountain. To the right is a moss rock fireplace that, while very large, does not overpower the rooms and with its see-through design, services both the living room and the dining room with elegance and warmth. The kitchen is expansive (27 x 19) with extensive use of slab granite countertops as well as a Birch hardwood prep table island in the middle. If a luxury kitchen is what you're looking for, this is certainly it. Dual Viking convection ovens, a 42 inch Sub-Zero refrigerator/freezer, GE Profile dishwasher as well as microwave oven, and a Wolf gas 4 burner plus griddle Cook top… all finished in stainless steel, of course… help to make this kitchen a true chef's delight. Storage will never be a problem because of the walk-in pantry and an abundance of Alder cabinets with underneath accent lighting.

The master suite is on one end of the home to ensure privacy. Individual marble vessel basins on their own vanity table provide an elegant touch. The master even has its own patio for enjoying the view and relaxing. On the opposite end of the house are two bedrooms, either of which could easily be an office, if you would like. No doubt, you will spend many an evening outdoors. Off of the living room is a partially covered outdoor entertainment area with a wood burning fireplace that will certainly help extend the season.
The lower-level has a junior master suite and a large family room, complete with wet bar and wine cooler refrigerator, that could easily be used as the media center, pool table room, etc. A temperature controlled room on the north side of the home would make an ideal wine cellar.

There is so much more to tell you about this home that I thought I would provide a link directly into my BuyDurango.com website. Here is the hotlink to this Durango Luxury Home.

EXCELLENT STARTER HOME

2009-03-20T15:31:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has looked for houses in Durango very long, knows how hard it is to find a Durango home for sale under $300,000 that is even livable. I recently listed one of my properties that I own that is located in Durango West 2 about 7 miles west of downtown. This is a single level home with three bedrooms and one and three-quarter bathrooms and a two car attached garage. Built in 1979, there've been a number of improvements in the last four years: new refrigerator, new stove, new washer and dryer, new carpet and laminate flooring throughout, new sliding glass door, and even interior paint last year. This is not a modular or manufactured home; it is a built on-site house.
This would be an excellent starter home or for an empty nest couple. I have used it is a rental and get $1500 per month plus all utilities. If you qualify for the $8000 tax credit as a first time home buyer, this would be a great property for that. FHA financing would be available with 3 1/2% down payment. This home is priced at $285,000 and here is a link to that property: Durango Home for Sale

Home Inspections and Mold

2009-03-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

Part of our function as your Realtor in selling you Durango real estate is to make sure that you get the property you are buying well inspected prior to being fully committed to the transaction. Home inspections are a contingency in the contract. In the last 3 to 7 years we've heard a lot more about mold when it comes to homeownership. What is mold? Is all mold bad? Can it be repaired? Can we test for mold? These are typical questions that many buyers have. Clearly, as Realtors, we are not scientists, but we do try to connect you with inspectors who have expertise. If you are a person who already knows you have allergies to mold, then you would certainly want to have the air tests performed in the home to determine the presence of mold. If mold is present, that indicates that there is also moisture in the home because mold cannot live without moisture. In the Durango area where many homes are built on top of a crawlspace, that crawlspace area can often times be damp and wet… a breeding ground for mold. Good drainage around the house with the use of French drains certainly helps to keep the crawlspace area dry. Where does this moisture come from? Often times it could be a leak that drips into the crawlspace area, a bathtub or toilet that overflowed, or one of the worst things that you can do is to close up the crawlspace vents.
Mold spores are everywhere; some are good and some are bad. It would be impossible to eliminate all mold and you wouldn't want to. When you collect yard clippings and leaves and put them in a compost pile for instance, it is mold that turns that stuff into the nice rich topsoil that you like to use in your garden.
If mold is found by your inspector and it is determined to be bad, then two things need to occur. The mold itself needs to get cleaned up and the source(s) of water that allowed the mold to grow, needs to be eliminated. Only cleaning up the mold and not fixing the source of water will only lead to the mold coming back again. The terms for these activities are remediation and mitigation. You always want to think of those two processes together.
Buying Durango real estate or real estate in any part of the country for that matter is a serious endeavor. Having the proper inspections performed is a very important step in that process. If you would like more information on mold, here is a link to the mold handbook prepared by the EPA. MOLD HANDBOOK.
If you would like additional information on how our buyer agents deal with inspection items please feel free to give me a call and I would be happy to discuss those items with you in greater detail. 970-375-7007.

First Time Home Buyer Seminar March 25

2009-03-18T14:53:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, March 25 from 5:30 PM till 7:00 PM, the Wells Group will be hosting a seminar geared to the first time home buyer and the benefits of the $8000 tax credit in particular. According to the new legislation, first time homebuyer is defined as anyone who has not owned a primary residence in the last three years. That is, you might own five rental properties but are still living with mom and dad you would still qualify so long as you did not own a primary residence in those three years.
There will be an accountant present to discuss in greater detail the benefits of homeownership from a tax perspective plus you will get more information on the $8000 tax credit. Quite simply, that is free money that the feds are willing to give you, assuming you qualify. In addition, there will be two lenders present to explain the mortgage process, various loan products that are available, and how your credit score will affect your interest rate.
John Wells from our office will be presenting information from the broker's point of view and we'll discuss some possible properties. Several Wells Group brokers will be present to help you in addition to the Q&A session that will be held at the end of the evening. For many first-time homebuyers, purchasing a property can be a nerve-racking event. We will be there to guide you through the process so it will be an enjoyable experience. With rates so low and $8000 falling out of the sky this is a terrific time to buy Durango real estate.
Seating will be limited, so we suggest calling in to reserve a seat. 970-375-7007.

Real Estate Investors Seminar Tonight

2009-03-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, March 18 at 5:30 PM, we will be holding a seminar for people interested in investing in real estate. This seminar will run from 5:30 PM until 7 PM and will be held in the lower level conference room of the Wells Group on the corner of 9th St. and Main Avenue. There'll be an accountant present to discuss tax ramifications; two lenders to discuss loan products as well as the differing criteria required to qualify for an investor type loan; and John Wells from our office will present various properties that could be a good fit. If you can make it tonight come on down. It is a great time to buy Durango real estate.

Opinon on The Market

2009-03-12T09:05:00.000-07:00

The question I am asked most often about real estate is, “How is the market?” When I hear that question I'm often reminded of the Kentucky Congressman who was asked what his opinion was regarding liquor. Here's what he said: “Now if by liquor you mean that evil product that breaks up families, that liquid upon which money is spent instead of on food and clothes for the family, or causes deaths by DUIs, or the product that often gets into the hands of teenagers causing many calamities…if by liquor you mean that product, then I am absolutely against it.

But on the other hand, if by liquor you mean the product that is made at our local factory providing numerous jobs and tax base and keeps people out of the homeless shelter, and provides tax money to the state and the County and the city, and if by liquor you mean that little muscle relaxant so many of us enjoy after a hard day at work that just so happens to provide employment to the farmers who raise all the hops and barley and other grains… then I want you to know that I'm absolutely in favor of it.”

Opinions on the market are just like opinions on liquor... there are some good things and there are some bad things. Here are some of my thoughts on the current market. Remember that you can go to my website www.BuyDurango.com and view these statistics. Here is the link: Durango Real Estate

Bad things
The dollar volume of all types of property sold in La Plata County from ‘08 compared to’ 07 was down 30.23%.
The dollar volume of residential-only sales in La Plata County in ‘08 compared to ‘07 was down 24.87%.
The number of residential units sold in the County went from 898 to 683 a decline of 215 units when comparing ‘07 to ‘08.
If you're one of the fortunate people to have a home valued at $1,000,000 or more, the current absorption rate is 124.8 months to get all of the current inventory of homes sold based on the ‘08 sales level.

Good things
Interest rates are at a roughly 50 year low right now. It has not been since the Korean War that rates have been as low as we see them today.
In-town Durango residential sales dropped by only 10 units in 2008 compared to 2007. That is a decline of just 3.17%.
The average price for an in-town Durango home rose slightly in 2008 compared to 2007. And the average price for a Durango rural home also rose slightly in 2008 compared to 2007.
Sometimes we are not sure if the government getting involved is a good thing or a bad thing, however, Washington is certainly working hard to try to help the housing industry. In particular, the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit will have an impact in that $200,000 to $400,000 price range. Take a look at my previous blog article regarding this tax credit.
Single-family FHA loan limits are now at $443,750 for La Plata County. An FHA loan is a loan that only requires a 3.5% down payment.
The median price for in-town Durango homes has grown 9.9% per year since 2000.
From the landlord standpoint, residential vacancies remain very low (below 4%) and rents have continued to increase. With credit tightening, some tenants who wanted to be property owners won't qualify, so they will need to remain as renters. If you're interested in being a landlord, this is a good opportunity for long-range financial planning.
The overall sales price to list price percentage for 2008 was 96.05%... nothing like people are seeing in Phoenix and Las Vegas and in Florida where homes are selling at 35% to 50% off the asking price. Thank the Lord we don't live in Detroit.
The most active market segment in the County is between $200,000 and $400,000. That is certainly a price range that many in this town can afford.
Average days on the market went up slightly in 2008 compared to 2007 but that still lies within the normal Durango marketing time that I've witnessed over the last 33+ years.
There is a lot of press about the foreclosures all around the country and even here in La Plata County. But the reality is the number of foreclosures per household in La Plata County is one of the very best in the state and is so much better than other areas that no one legitimately can say that we are having foreclosure problems in Durango. Many Front Range Colorado counties are seeing one foreclosure sale for every 50-70 households, while in La Plata County we have one foreclosure sale for every 763 households. In 2008, less than 30 properties went through the entire foreclosure process in La Plata County. Unless all the foreclosures are within a three or four block radius of each other… which they aren't… the effect of foreclosures is very minimal in our market.
The number of residential properties that sold for all cash…. that is there was no loan on the property involved…. increased again. In ‘07 13.9% of all residential transactions were for cash while in ‘08 that figure increased to 18.7% of all residential transactions were for cash. Somebody… and I think it is smart money… feels Durango real estate is a good place to put cash.

Warren Buffett is often quoted as saying “Sell when the people are greedy and buy when the people are afraid.” That just happens to be the exact recipe for how to “Buy low and Sell high”… which everyone wants to do. And right now, because of uncertainty, people are fearful. All too often we look opportunity squarely in the face…and don't recognize it.

So what should I do?
If you own property in the $200-$400,000 price range, then you should consider selling it now while that market is strong, (That is a sell high move) and trade up to the next higher price range which currently has softer pricing. (That is a buy low move.)

If your home is currently on the market, or you're planning to put it on the market, then it really needs to be in the best condition possible. There is a lot of competition out there so you want your buyers to desire your home, not simply tolerate it in a lesser condition.

If you are buying in that very active price range of $200,000-$400,000 I would suggest getting preapproved by your lender. Lending criteria have tightened dramatically if you can actually get to the preapproved status, then when you write an offer to buy a home using close more quickly and offer a seller much more certainty of that closing.

Please feel free to contact our team at any time as we would love to help you with your real estate needs.
Rick Lorenz

Record Keeping for Your Personal Residence

2009-03-03T14:57:00.000-08:00

When the federal government raised the primary residence exemption to $250,000 or $500,000 several years ago, many people thought they didn't need to continue to maintain any records of the improvements they did to their home. I recently came across an example where if this person had followed that advice that they would have had a tax liability. Let me set the stage.
The Smiths bought a house intending it to be their last house… the house they would die in. Like many people who buy a brand-new home, the Smiths had to add many improvements that were not part of the builder's package. Here's just a short list of some of those improvements: underground sprinkler system, shrubbery, trees, fencing around the perimeter of the lot, duet blinds in all the windows, additional window coverings, towel bars, built-in shelving in the garage, electric heat tape for the gutters and downspouts, extra electric outlets on the back patio, extra outlets in the soffits around the house for Christmas decorations, and a few other items. I even bought a new Maytag washer and dryer that they ended up leaving with the house when they sold it. Not one of those items seems like very much money and probably most people wouldn't even have kept the receipt. As it turns out, because of a desire to live closer to the grandkids, the Smith's needed to move before they had lived in that home as their primary residence for two years. When the Smiths sold their house they made a profit and because they had lived in it less than two years, they figured they would just have to pay Uncle Sam on the capital gain. The $500,000 rule would not apply at all because they had not lived there long enough. Real estate market being what it has been lately… fairly flat… the Smiths only saw a profit of about $45,000.
Here is where recordkeeping really helped them out. You see Mrs. Smith saved every single receipt and put it in a file entitled “Addition to Basis”. Every one of those above projects were added to the cost basis of their house. So in this example the Smiths paid $600,000 for their home and added to that were her receipts totaling a little over $40,000. The house sold for $675,000 and after deducting the cost of selling (Real Estate Commission, title insurance, attorney fees, etc.) they actually were able to show a slight loss so that no taxes were due at all. This is just one good example of why you too, need a file entitled “Additions to Basis” in your home office filing cabinet.
Another equally good example of why you still should maintain records is the example of the Joneses. They bought a home and lived there for five years as their primary residence. Their plan was different, however. They intended to turn this house into a rental property and buy another home as their primary residence. For illustration purposes, let's just say that the Joneses did the very same improvements that the Smiths did. When the Joneses convert the home to a rental property they will be able to add that $40,000+ of improvements to their basis and then begin taking a depreciation write-off. If they did not have those records, then they would have lost the benefit of that $40,000 of improvements.
My daddy always used to quote to me “The best laid plans of mice and men often go asunder.” And I think all of us have seen that in our lives. Having been in real estate for 34 years, I see it all the time in other people's lives. Their plans change; someone's health changes; the property they thought would be their dream, didn't turn out to be that at all. The lesson to be learned is that everybody still needs to keep a file with their receipts for all of the improvements they've made to their properties. For me, I use QuickBooks to record all of my checks and even credit card charges. Under the category of Housing I have a subcategory entitles additions to basis. If I lived in the house for 15 years, it would only take me one minute to run a report that itemized every improvement I made to that property. If you own several properties, each of those properties should have their own subcategory regarding additions to basis.
With the changes to the tax laws that all of us are expecting due to the new administration, it is ever more reason to be proactive and keep track of your expenses even more diligently. I will try to blog about other changes in the tax law that pertains to home ownership as I see those items come forward. Clearly a blog is no replacement for good tax advice so I encourage you to find a good CPA to assist you. If you're ready to look at real estate in the Durango area click on the link to go to my website. Durango Real Estate

There Is a Silver Lining To Everything

2009-03-03T11:45:00.000-08:00

One of the side effects of the economic slowdown around the country is a decrease in demand for building supplies and materials. Similarly, there are plumbers and carpenters and electricians who are very anxious to work and are sharpening their pencils real fine when it comes to bidding. New home construction on Durango real estate has been affected as well. Economics 101 tells us when the demand decreases, the prices come down. And we are very much seeing that in the construction business right now. Framing lumber is now 18% cheaper than it was 18 months ago. Drywall is now selling for 40% less. The price of steel and concrete have also come down.
It is often said that timing is everything. So, if you are a person wanting to build a home, then you are witnessing an almost “perfect storm” situation that hugely benefits you: A. interest rates at or near 50 year record low levels; B. the cost of building supplies dropping pretty drastically; and C. the ready availability of and the declining cost of labor.

If you are looking for a nice piece of land for your custom home we have a number of properties to choose from. We've got everything from 35 acres west of Durango to in-town lots in Sky Ridge. Here is a link to the land section of my BuyDurango.com website where you can take a look at some of our team listings as well as a link directly into the MLS to view the entire inventory of land available from all agents. Durango Real Estate

New FHA Loan Limits

2009-02-27T15:25:00.001-08:00

The Department of Housing and Urban Development released new maximum loan amounts for FHA loans on properties located in La Plata County Colorado. This would include Durango, Bayfield, and Ignacio. The new loan limits are as follows: for a single-family home $443,750; for a duplex property $568,050. For a single family home, that represents an increase of over 10% compared to the previous loan limit.
FHA loans are particularly helpful for people with a small down payment as an FHA loan only requires a 3% down payment. These new loan limits will certainly help in the sales of Durango real estate because our average price is a bit higher than you'll see in many parts of the country. By raising the loan limits, more buyers will be capable of buying a home in Durango and enjoying the Durango lifestyle.
Over the years I have found that parents will have their eye out for a home for their adult children who are just getting started. An FHA loan might be just the ticket because a gift of the down payment from a parent is acceptable to FHA.
Please feel free to give me a call and I would be happy to discuss possible properties with you. Here's a link to my website so you can search for homes.
Durango Real Estate Home Search

The $8,000 Tax Credit For Homebuyers

2009-02-16T15:38:00.000-08:00

The $787 billion economic recovery plan has passed both houses of Congress and is scheduled to be signed by the president tomorrow in Denver, Colorado. In that bill is an $8000 tax credit available for first-time homebuyers who purchased any time after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009. Please note that this provision is retroactive. Also note that a first time home buyer is a person (or their spouse) who has not having owned a principal residence in the last three years. Unlike the previous $7500 tax credit which had to be repaid, this tax credit does not require repayment. It appears that the tax credit could be used on either the 2008 or 2009 income tax. If a person's tax liability is less than the $8000, then the IRS will refund the unused credit to the buyer. The previous income limitations and I discussed in my blog for the $7500 credit are the same for the $8000 tax credit. There will certainly be additional details and I will get those out to you as soon as possible.

While this tax credit may not be appropriate for you, perhaps your children, nieces and nephews, or your grandchildren could benefit from this economic stimulus. We do have some local financial assistance groups that could provide aid with down payment monies while waiting for the tax credit to be refunded.

All of us who've been around any period of time, are certainly aware of how difficult it can be to buy into the Durango real estate market as a first time home buyer. Higher home prices mean larger down payments and the somewhat lower wage scale makes it tough. Compared to the big cities of Denver, Houston, Phoenix and Dallas our prices are quite high. But we do enjoy lower property taxes caused by our oil and gas industry and I am always quick to say that the amount of the budget for vacations can be less, because where we live is just like a vacation. People live here for the lifestyle and the slower pace that this type of town provides.

Please feel free to give me a call to discuss in greater detail how this tax credit could be put to use. 970-375-7007.

Just a Little Bit of Bragging

2009-02-06T15:16:00.001-08:00

It isn't very often that I talk about the accomplishments of Team Lorenz.
But two weeks ago our team was the recipient of the sales volume leader award
in The Wells Group for the year 2008. For a number of years we have always
been in the top three or four for our firm, but in 2008 we saw our team sales
volume rise nearly 30% while almost everybody in the marketplace saw a decline
in their sales volume. In addition, our sales volume was such that
our Team ended up number two in the entire county for production. My
little Team has certainly made me proud and it is only with a good
team effort that we were able to achieve the results that we did in 2008.
My special thanks to Lisa Govreau buyer specialist; Nicole Ferrarese Perino
buyer specialist; and Andy Roach the team listing specialist.

In addition, I was honored to receive the education award given by
The Wells Group for my strong commitment in not only attending real
estate conferences, conventions and educational seminars, but for
my willingness to teach classes at The Wells Group on various real
estate related topics. I certainly enjoy teaching and feel honored
to be asked to impart to others what I have learned over the last
33 years in the real estate business.

If you're not yet a client of Team Lorenz, please feel free to give
us a call and we would be happy to explain the advantages of the team
concept and how that could be good for you. In these difficult real
estate times, you certainly want someone on your side who knows what
they are doing and how to get things done. Our records certainly speaks
to those points. We look forward to talking with you and putting our
many years of experience to work for you.

As I've gotten older and there's some gray hair around my ears, I'm reminded
of the nervous woman who got on an airplane and asked the flight attendant
if the captain was a young guy or somebody with a little gray hair? "Why do you ask?
All of our pilots are licensed" the attendant queried. "Oh, having the license is not the same thing as having experience. Plus, if he is an older pilot, it means he knows how to survive." When, or if, your transaction hits some "bumps".... and more and more deals
are seeing that.... do you want a rookie on your side or someone who
has weathered many a storm and has the gray hair to prove it?

Real Estate in Your IRA

2009-02-05T14:32:00.000-08:00

With the turmoil in the stock market, more and more people have been
asking me about how to put real estate into their IRA. Real estate
give you the opportunity to have a rental income as opposed to stocks
were you would get dividend income. Either investment obviously offers
appreciation. Just today I met with a client who was curious about how
he might diversify by purchasing a rental property for his IRA.

Not every stock broker is set-up to allow you to hold real estate in your IRA.
It's very likely that you would need to roll it over into a different
company that does allow this. Your Roth IRA, your 401(k), your step IRA,
your health savings plan... are all vehicles that could be used. You can
put any type of real estate, except for real estate that you would personally
use, into your IRA. It is a little more complex than that, obviously, but
the key is this: "Am I holding it for investment purposes? And am I not
using it?" Personal use is a prohibited transaction... so don't even go down
that road.

I have written some of the basic rules about this concept and have them
posted on my BuyDurango.com website. Here is a link to the page on that
particular subject: http://buydurango.com/investing/ira.htm

I am certain that this will cause you to have questions, so please feel
free to give me a call and I'll see what I can do to help. This is not
for everyone by any means, but perhaps it's a fit for you.

Tax Credits Available

2009-02-05T10:39:00.000-08:00

The news out of Washington today reveals that Congress is working on
a $15,000 tax credit for home buyers. That bill would still need to go
through the House of Representatives for approval of course and we
will need to wait to see what the details of that might be, and there
is still the possibility it won't be approved.

That said, there already is a $7500 tax credit available for first-time
homebuyers. There are certain rules have to be followed of course,
one of which is that the $7500 has to be paid back at the rate of
$500 per year starting three years after you on the property. However,
this might be a great opportunity for your kids or grandkids to get into
a home for the first time. prices on the starter homes are very good right
now so you may want to take a look at these opportunities. How many times
have we all said, "I wish I would have bought when...?" And we didn't. If you
would like more information on on the existing program, feel free
to send me an e-mail or give me a call and I would be happy to discuss it