Springtime in Montrose, finally!

As is all too common, I let work and life's distractions pull me away from posting to this blog recently, for which I apologize, but I'm back with renewed commitment and enthusiasm. Just to catch you up on what's been happening with me, in March, I made a very typical Coloradan escape during the "mud months" to La Paz, Baja California, Mexico. The primary purpose was to attend a wedding, where many dear friends from San Diego gathered for the affair, so it was a wonderful reunion, as well. La Paz was marvelous, friendly, beautiful, great weather, good food, and relaxing. It was a bit of a journey by plane (via Salt Lake City and Las Angeles), but still a lot faster than driving!

Back in Colorado, spring was making an attempt to appear, but we continued to have off-and-on snow showers, even into early May! Mostly, we've had lots of wind, which I'm told is due to the heat hitting the snowpack in the high country. I've also been told that when the snow melts off Horsefly Mesa, that's when we can expect the wind to quit. I always thought that was an old wives' tale, but, apparently, there is some truth to it. Usually, the snowpack is substantially gone by mid- to late April. So, unfortunately, that means we'll probably continue to get wind into late June. Ugh!! Good thing is that it appears we're safe from any more snow, at least, in Montrose and probably below 8,000 feet. We have had a few nice rain showers, which means everything is greening up nicely around here, and flowers are beginning to bloom. Even the trees in Ridgway (about another 1000' higher) are beginning to leaf out. It's beautiful, especially against the backdrop of those gorgeous, brilliant blue skies with big, puffy white clouds.

Spring fever has caught hold of me this year like never before, causing me to do some good and crazy things. First, I decided to take up golf, thanks to the encouragement of some of my avid golfer agents, Nick and Joan Zappa. So, I've gone as far as buying a new set of golf clubs and have had a couple of rounds of golf in very gusty winds at the Cobble Creek Golf Course. Not so pleasant in the wind, but makes for a good excuse when the balls don't fly straight! That's the good thing. Then, I got very inspired to get back into a fitness and training routine, which I haven't done in over 10 years, and it shows 20 lbs later! My agent, Kylee Smith, a retired P.E. teacher, is my inspiration here. I committed to do the Imogene Pass Run with her this year in September. It's a 17 mile stretch from Ouray to Telluride over the Imogene Pass which is just over 13,000 feet in elevation. That's the crazy thing! But as I told Kylee, I have to be scared into training. And it's working. I joined the MAC (Montrose Athletic Club). I signed up on Jillian Michael's website for her online training. Jillian is best known for being a trainer on the Biggest Loser TV show. I also bought her DVD's and, believe me, those work-out sessions do kick your butt! I started a running regime, and I'm finally seeing some progress. Kylee and I both ran the Run for Shelter 5K last month and the Black Canyon Ascent 10K (well, I mostly power-walked it) last weekend, both events put on by the San Juan Mountain Runners. The Black Canyon Ascent was 6 miles all uphill from Highway 50 to the top of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison park entrance, ending at the campground. I made it without dying and was especially pleased with how well I recovered the next day.

Of course, the warmer, sunnier spring weather does help one get and stay inspired. We're getting into the mid-70's and approaching 80's in Montrose, while still cooling down into the 40's at night, and dipping close to freezing in Ridgway, where I live. And I still get thrilled by the ever-changing "real weather" that Colorado offers.

On the real estate front, business has definitely, and fortunately, picked up. We are fortunate that the real estate market has not been hit hard as in other areas, such as Florida, Arizona, California, and Las Vegas. Values have remained essentially flat since 2007, and there is a significant decrease in overall volume of units sold. From my experience, it's the credit crunch that has had the most effect. While interest rates are still at historical lows, and some good, FHA, near-100% loans still exist, lenders have definitely tightened up the criteria for approving loans. Stated income loans, so important to self-employed and investors, have disappeared. The best advice we can give to buyers right now is that they meet FIRST with a good, local lender and know what they're qualified to buy, or if they're qualified at all. And for our sellers, we expect to have any offer to be submitted with a conditional approval letter (that goes beyond a pre-qualification letter). It means the buyer has actually submitted substantiating documentation and a credit report has been pulled by the lender. Even then, we're finding that loans are not getting approved after being submitted to underwriting. As one mortgage banker told me recently, it's as if the underwriter is requiring the loan originator to prove the borrower won't default, rather than proving the borrower has satisfied all the criteria and conditions of the underwriter for being approved. Of course, we're all comparing the current situation with how easy it used to be just a couple years ago to get a loan, when, as the same mortgage banker said, "all you had to do was prove you had a pulse." In a nutshell, it's a great time to buy in the Montrose area, and not such a bad time to sell, so long as the seller asks for a realistic price, which should be at or just under market. The days of testing the market are over!

Well, I've probably included way too much in this one post, but I felt the need to make up for my 2-month hiatus. I hope all of you everywhere are enjoying a lovely springtime!

~Ninah