Did you know Arvada has a community garden? They had an open house a few weeks ago*, and I stopped by. What a great place, and a nice bunch of people. It’s located at 57^th and Garrison. There are 120 plots. Club membership is $25 per year for individuals, $35 for families, and includes a plot, water, hose. Non-members can rent plots, but they have a waiting list.

You can tour the gardens, and be sure to stop by for your fall decorating needs, such as pumpkins, corn stalks, and gourds. (Please stick to the paths, and - do I have to say it - DON't PICK ANYTHING!) Hours of operation are Monday and Wednesday, 7:30 to noon, and 4:30 to 7 pm; Friday from 4:30 to 7 pm; Saturday 7:30 to noon.

For more info call Kyle or Jackie at Young's 303-422-8408.

*Oh wow - that was back in August!

Arvada is a historic town about midway between Denver and Boulder in Jefferson County, Colorado. There are many different neighborhood styles and homes prices, all served by well-loved schools. Call me to talk about the kind of neighborhood you dream of living in.

Check out my posts on Arvada.

I write posts focused on local businesses as a public service, and am not endorsing any business, nor do I have any sort of 'relationship' with them, other than as a raving consumer. My hope is to give people an idea of the 'flavor' of the community of Arvada, in case they're new here or considering a move here.

I am a residential real estate agent, and would love to assist you if you're considering buying or selling a home in the northwestern Denver suburbs.

Find homes for sale in Arvada.

Check out my website.

Whether buying or selling a house, the existence or lack of building permits for past work is easy to determine in the city of Arvada, Colorado. And it's an interesting little bit of sleuthing too, based on my recent experiences.

My eyes were opened to the importance of checking for building permits recently when my clients made an offer on a beautifully remodeled home. The place had been purchased recently for over $100,000 less, with some mention of structural issues in the listing. I checked with the listing agent, who forwarded the receipts for the work - done by a structural enginering firm. I called the engineer and found out about their warranty. He also said he'd personally explain to the buyers what they did and how they solved the structural problems.

Then, we noticed that there was a new electrical box and wiring, and there was also a new roof, windows, many other items. After we got under contract, I checked for permits.

There were no permits on record - not even for the structural work!

Not surprisingly, my clients backed out of the deal.

So then, I previewed three other houses I thought might work for them, and recommended they see all three because they each had their plusses and their issues, but any of them could work. This time, I decided to check those pesky building permits before I even showed the homes, and here's what I found:

Home # 1

- The house that needed the most work, and that the agent had written, 'Property is sold "AS IS", but also claimed, 'newer furnace and water heater' had no building permits on record.

Home #2

- The other one that mentioned 'newer furnace and hot water heater', had permits on record for both of those appliances, from January of 2006. Yeah! This home also happened to be one of the best-looking homes I've seen in this price range, as far as looking like the owner tended it carefully. Very clean and well taken care of.

Home #3

- MLS listing only said, 'Quiet street, very clean and neat'. But when I checked building permits, I found a new roof (1 month old), sprinkler system (2007), vinyl windows (2001), and a water heater (2004). Hmmm ... these are things an agent might want to mention in the marketing, I'd think.

When I checked building permits for my other home buyers, who are already under contract, one home showed a roof permit from last month (BTW - there was a big hail storm in Arvada a month ago, hence the abundance of new roofs.), a furnace in 2002, and the gas fireplace was permitted in 1991. The other one (a townhouse) showed a hot water heater in May of 2009 and a furnace in 2002.

Good to know - interesting that in neither case did the sellers note on their property disclosures how new these appliances were. Weird, huh?

To check building permits on homes in the City of Arvada, simply go to http://arvada.org/DM/address.php and input the address. Click on 'Get Doc' and all the building permits of record come right up.

I am a residential real estate agent, licensed in the State of Colorado, and would love to assist you if you're considering buying or selling a home in the northwestern Denver suburbs.

Find homes for sale in Arvada.

Check out my website.

Only 35 shopping days left for "wannabe" home owners in Broomfield, CO that want to take advantage of the $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit. The $8000 federal tax credit, offered this year to stimulate home sales, will end November 30, 2009, which means that first time home buyers in Colorado who qualify for the credit must close on their first home purchase transaction on or before November 30^th.

I'm telling home buyers in Broomfield, CO and surrounding areas that in order to take advantage of the tax credit, you have to be Under Contract, no later than October 30th. Really, the minimum time frame for processing a typical real estate transaction is at least 30 days. However, many transactions are actually taking 45-60 days, due to changing loan requirements and the over supply of FHA loan requests in Broomfield, CO.

The demand for FHA loans has been staggering this year. Approximately 40% of all real estate sales in 2009 have been from First Time Home Buyers, according to the National Association of Realtors. And with only 3.5% down payment requirements, FHA is the logical choice for most people purchasing their first home. CFHA, the Colorado Finance and Housing Authority also offers a down payment assistance program with as little as $1000 down for qualifying purchasers.

In response to the demand, I have organized a series of First Time Home Buyer classes, held monthly at the Arvada Public Library. We've held a total of six classes over the summer and the response has been really exciting. We have several real estate professionals on site to answer questions, such as a mortgage banker, home inspector, tax expert, home insurance expert, and more. The next class will be held Tuesday, October 13^th, from 7-8:30 PM. But with time running short, home buyers can also gather good information at a special web site we set up-http://www.cfthb.com/. For more information about the classes or the first time home buyer tax credit in Broomfield, CO, please visit the web site or call me.

Chip Bruss, www.chipbruss.com, chipbruss@kw.com, 303-463-3660.

Mitch Friedman from Premier Mortgage Group teaching home finance.

Picture this – a husband and wife lived in their 4-level home for more than three decades, and now climbing all those stairs is getting difficult and dangerous. They’d love to get a one-level house, but the nice ones cost more than they could sell their current home for. They can’t use any of their savings to make up the difference, because they need that cash for living.

Or how about this – after raising her family in the home she shared with her husband, a lady has lost her husband, and there is a mortgage on the home. She can’t keep up with the payments, and the house needs serious maintenance, plus there’s medical expenses from her husband’s illness. Sure, she has equity and she could sell, but she doesn’t want to. She wants to stay in her home, but she’s in danger of losing it to foreclosure.

The answer in these cases, and many others, may be a reverse mortgage.

Now, I know reverse mortgages were awful in the past, and many people won’t even consider them. But today’s reverse mortgage could be a lifesaver for many seniors. They’re not the same dangerous product they used to be.

For one thing, they’re now FHA insured. A person can’t lose their home as long as they live in the house, pay the taxes, and keep the insurance policy paid up. To get a reverse mortgage, a person doesn’t have to have a job, a credit score, assets, or income, You do not give up title to your home. You do not make payments. You are never required to leave or sell the home as long as one borrower occupies the home as the primary residence and the taxes and insurance are paid. Your heirs retain 100% of the excess equity when the home is sold, after the senior leaves it. And today’s reverse mortgage never leaves you or your family in debt. The cash you take out of the home is tax free.

You can get a lump sum of tax-free cash, or get monthly payments. What’s more, it’s now possible to purchase a home with a reverse mortgage.

I know this sounds like a commercial, but I have a heart for the senior citizens of our communities, who’ve worked hard all their life, did everything right to the best they knew how, and are now struggling while they have hundreds of thousands of dollars of equity in their home that they’re afraid to touch.

If you are 62 years of age and you could benefit from this, or you know someone who could, please call Christine Jensen of Cherry Creek Mortgage (303-456-4403). She can get you started in about ten minutes.

I had a closing last week, and it turned out that that the closer and my client were long-time residents (for those of you who don’t live here, that’s kind of a rare thing!). While papers were flying back and forth, I had the pleasure of hearing a few great ‘insider’ stories.

First – did you know that the Boulder turnpike was the first toll road in the nation to pay for itself? I didn’t know it ever was a toll road, but I think it’s cool that once it paid for itself they quit collecting tolls. It was expected to take 30 years, but usage was so high, it only took 15.

There was a toll booth just north of where I live, at the intersection of 287, and there was a dog that hung around that toll booth. This dog was familiar to all the travelers who passed by there, and people affectionately called him, ‘Shep’. When Shep died, a grave was dug for him at that intersection, and there’s still a little marker there in his honor. (Everyone say it – Awwwww!!!)

There was some mention about tomato fights between Colorado and Texas. I tried to find some info on that, but failed. However, in my search I discovered an announcement for a best tasting tomato contest just a block from my house, which I unfortunately missed on August 22. It was at the King Sooper’s parking lot in Arvada, first prize was $2400. (WOW!) Did anyone catch that?

The site I found it on was www.PickYourOwn.org. The site has info about pick-your-own farms, corn mazes, pumpkin patches, and more. I found one pick-your-own berry farm in Adams County, two farms in Boulder County (1 for veggies, 1 for apples), one in Denver County (pumpkins), and ‘0’ in Jefferson County. That’s sad. Do you know of any pick-your-own farms in the Metro Area?

I love these insider stories, if you have any to share, please do!!

- From Karen “This coming Saturday is Arvada’s Harvest Festival, go watch Pomona march!!!”


- From Cory Ceilings to floors I can fix your doors, windows, trim and more. A man of many trades. Licensed and insured Independent Contractor”

- From Amanda “The Westminster center does prenatal yoga on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I haven't gone yet but it's pretty cheap compared to the ones I've looked at in Boulder. They also have scheduled fall hikes, walks, and drives. The info is here under adult activities http://www.ci.westminster.co.us/178_2200.htm You can also call 658-2400 for more info.”


- From Tammra “I walk the neighborhood with my dog and see trash set out for collection. What I notice is that there is a lot of stuff that can be recycled that isn't. I have found several recycling sites (through web searches) that I take my stuff to when I am out and about and these sites are FREE. I know curbside recycling is easy, yet can be expensive and many trash collection businesses may stop collecting it as the cost to pick up recyclables is currently outweighing the income it used to produce for these companies (unless they hike the price). Here are the web sites to check out: Earth911.com