About Pueblo County, CO

If you own a vacant lot in Pueblo West, you may have received a call from a company promising to sell your vacant lot for a wonderfully high (read: inflated) price. These resale companies (out of Florida and Nevada from what I've heard) will tell you they have a buyer for your lot, charge you several hundred dollars up front, and then you'll never hear from them again. Usually, these companies ramp up their phone calls right after the property tax bills are sent out. They get your information by going to the Pueblo County Assessor's site and looking up properties that have not yet been built upon. (http://www.co.pueblo.co.us/cgi-bin/webatrbroker.wsc/ackatr.p)

If you get a call from one of these companies, you should consider asking the caller the following questions:

1. What is the name of the buyer or where is the buyer located? Will the buyer be paying cash or getting a loan? (Is there really a buyer?)
2. Is the company licensed to sell real estate in the State of Colorado ? (Can't sell real estate without a license. You can look up license holders here: http://www.dora.state.co.us/real-estate/)
3. What is the broker's name? (Again, look the name up to verify the license).
4. Which title company do they work with in Pueblo ? (If they aren't using a title company then there is no title insurance.)
5. How will the title be transferred? (The most protection for buyer and seller is a General Warranty Deed.)
6. What are the costs for transferring title? (If they use a title company, there will be a closing charge. There is a cost for the title insurance. There is a fee for filing the title change at the court house. You still owe your 2009/2010 property taxes!)

If a company like this calls you, give me a call or shoot me an email and I'll be happy to send you the going prices for comparable lots that have sold in the last year. I'll keep your name/number/email on file and send you quarterly updates of real estate sales in Pueblo West. Read my last blog on Pueblo West Real Estate statistics. There are still hundreds of vacant lots on the market and demand is not that strong at the moment. Remember, if a "deal" sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Deb

By now, Pueblo property owners have received their 2009 General Property Tax Notice. Property owners should verify that the address and legal description are correct. If you no longer own the property, your mailing address is incorrect, or if you have questions about the tax assessment, call the county tax assessor at 719-583-6000.

If you did not receive a tax notice and you own property in Pueblo, contact the county treasurer's office at 719-583-6015. The taxes are still due, even if you did not receive a notice.

If you have a mortgage on the property and your mortgage company escrows for property taxes, your property taxes will be paid by the mortgage company. Verify with your mortgage company that they have received the tax notice. If you pay your property taxes yourself, you have the option of making two payments, half due by Feb 28, 2010 and the second half due by June 15, 2010. Otherwise the full amount is due by April 30, 2010.

Deb

Here are the Pueblo West real estate statistics for 4th Quarter 2009, 10/1/2009-12/31/2009 along with final 2009 sales totals. The figures in parenthesis are the from the same time period in 2008.

SINGLE FAMILY
Of the 117 Single Family Sold, 3 were condo/townhomes.

Residential homes sold 4th quarter by price

10 < $100K
34 between $100-150K
38 between $150-200K
20 between $200-250K
15 over $250K

Residential homes sold 4th quarter by Pueblo West MLS location.

[To describe the Multiple List Service area breakdown, Pueblo West Acreage includes those lots on one acre (+) on the south side of Highway 50, not including the Golf Course area (which are usually smaller lot sizes), Liberty Point (the areas adjacent to Pueblo Lake boundaries) or Pueblo West East (generally areas east of the first McCulloch with smaller lot sizes).  There are two designated manufactured home park areas which are on smaller lots, one on the north side and one on the south side of Highway 50.]

21 Pueblo West Acreage
28 PuebloWest East
23 Pueblo West Golf Course
  3 Pueblo West Liberty Point
  7 Pueblo West Manufactured Homes
35 Pueblo West N of Highway 50

Residential sales are up and inventory is down.   In fact, 4^th quarter sales were actually more than 4^th quarter sales in 2008.   I attribute the increased residential sales to first-time-homebuyers making a purchase to take advantage of the $8000 tax credit which was originally set to expire November 30 (but has since been extended into this year).  Total residential sales are about 20% lower than 2008  sales levels.   There is still time to take advantage of that first-time-homebuyer credit as well as the $6500 credit available to current homeowners who wish to purchase a home.  Interest rates are expected to slowly rise in 2010.

MULTI-FAMILY

Total sales of multi-family homes actually increased in 2009 over 2008.

VACANT LOTS

Vacant lots sold 4th quarter by Pueblo West MLS location:

 1 Pueblo West Acreage
 0 Pueblo West East
 0 Pueblo West Golf Course
 1 Pueblo West Liberty Point
 1 Pueblo West Manufactured Homes
13 Pueblo West N of Highway 50

Lots on the north side of Highway 50 continue to lead Pueblo West lot sales.  These lots tend to be a little less expensive than lots on the south side of Highway 50.   Total sales of vacant lots are 50% less than 2008 lot sales highlighting the depressed building situation.  If you live in Pueblo West or are a local builder and if you are interested in a particular lot because it is adjacent to your property or you want to build, give me a call.  I've talked to many lot owners who want to sell but have decided not to place their lot on the market at this time.

Deb

Just in case you didn't see this info in the Pueblo West View, here is some important home info.

The San Isabel Electric Association donated ten "Kill-A-Watt Electricity Usage Monitors" to help home owners measure the electricity usage of their 110-volt appliances. The monitors are simple to use and can be checked out from the Pueblo West Library for a two-week period. This is a great way to check your home energy usage. See http://pueblowestview.com/news/1263452400/2

January is National Radon Action month. Radon, an odorless gas, found in many homes in the Pueblo area, is the 2 nd leading cause of lung cancer deaths in the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency has information on radon at their website: http://www.epa.gov/radon/ . The Citizens for Clean Air in Pueblo - Education, Research, Action, & Pueblo CAREs (Community Action for a Renewed Environment) are hosting several public informational meetings and giving away FREE radon test kits. The Pueblo West Radon meeting is Wednesday, January 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the Pueblo West library. Other Pueblo meetings will be Thursday, February 11, 6:30 p.m., Freed Middle School, Media Center, 715 W. 20th St. and Thursday, February 18, 6:30 p.m., Robert Hoag Rawlings Public Library, 100 E. Abriendo Ave. See http://pueblowestview.com/news/1263452400/10

Deb

From my faithful readers, I've received some more military discount information:

The Buckle in Colorado Springs and Pueblo gives a 10% discount to military members.

Captain D's also gives a military discount, but you have to be in uniform.

Pioneer Sand and Rock - 10%

Rocky Mountain Landscape Supply (behind Safeway) - 10%

These last two can make a huge difference if you are trying to tame your Pueblo West landscape!

One of my Colorado Springs clients, Angela Winterton, has started a blog entitled " Cents & CentsabilitY". Although Angela lives in the Springs, her information can be helpful for Pueblo residents also!

And finally, I'm going to get on my soapbox about the Great Health Care debate. I was suffering intense pain in my back which then travelled down to my right leg. My wonderful physical trainer, Marti Van Manen (who works out of Pueblo's World Gym), recommended her acupuncturist, Troy Sammons ( http://troysammons.com ). He provided IMMEDIATE relief for a reasonable charge. If I had gone to a regular, insurance-approved doctor (my insurance company doesn't pay for acupuncture), I would have had, at most, 10 minutes with a doctor who would follow the standard insurance protocol of first ordering x-rays. Since my issue turned out to be a deep tissue problem, nothing would have shown up on the x-rays requiring a second visit for a MRI. Nothing would have shown up there either. At this point, the doctor would probably have just given me a prescription for pain pills. The cost of this "health care" would have been into the thousands of dollars (not to mention my lost time) with no relief received. This is NOT health care, but "health insurance care". Alternatively, Troy Sammons actually LISTENED to my problem. By asking questions and assuming that after 50 years in this body I knew what was right or wrong with it, he was able to diagnose the problem and actually help me. I hope our elected representatives start looking at alternatives to "health insurance care". I highly recommend Pueblo acupuncturist Troy Sammons!