About Douglas County, CO

Live Highlands Ranch : Coffee Tasting

Event: Coffee Tasting

Date: Saturday, January 7, 2011

Time: 8:30 am - 10:00 am and 10:30 am - noon

Location: Eastridge Recreation Center - 9568 S. University Blvd., Highlands Ranch

Admission: $10.00 for Members and $13.00 for Guests in advance or $13.00 for everyone the day of the tasting (if not sold out)

A Starbucks barista will be on hand to teach us the art of coffee enjoyment! Learn in this classroom setting how to pick coffee, brew it and pair it with yummy accompaniments.

Proceeds benefit the Highlands Ranch Scholarship Fund.

Online Registration is not currently available for ticketed events. To purchase tickets, visit any HRCA recreation center or call 303-471-8859. Tickets will be available at the door, if not sold out. All ticket sales are final and no refunds will be issued. For general information call 303-791-2500.

Live Highlands Ranch : Littleton to Continue Fire-Services Contracts

The discussions between the Highlands Ranch Metropolitan District and the Littleton Fire Protection District have been very much in the news over the last year or so. The Denver Post is reporting that an agreement has been reached.

The city of Littleton will continue to provide fire services to the Highlands Ranch Metropolitan District and the Littleton Fire Protection District.

The council this week approved an intergovernmental agreement with the two districts.

Highlands Ranch and the Littleton FPD looked at other potential options this year, because the city controlled all budget and personnel decisions regarding fire services.

"This is significant for our community because it assures our current excellent level of service into the future and ensures a fair distribution of the costs," Terry Nolan, general manager of the Highlands Ranch metro district, said in a press release.

Specifics of the agreement include:

• A revision to the funding formula that will result in lower administrative fees to the partners with a review of actual costs in one year.
• Creation of a review committee that will meet monthly with Littleton fire administration to discuss issues such as service, budget and other topics.
• All engines and medic units staffed and equipped at the Advanced Life Support level.
• Establishing a minimum staffing level of 36 full-time personnel per shift.
• And establishing minimum response times of 10 minutes, 90 percent of the time in Highlands Ranch and 9.5 minutes in the Littleton FPD.

"This contract is not the end of a process; it is a tool for us to continue to work together to ensure that our constituents receive the very best fire protection and emergency medical services at a reasonable and affordable cost," said David Oppenheim, chairman of the Littleton FPD board.

Littleton fire has provided fire rescue and emergency services to 220,000 people living within the three jurisdictions for more than 20 years.

As a former member of Littleton Fire Rescue, Kathy knows what a fine job the guys and gals at the firehouses do for our community.

Live Highlands Ranch : BackCountry Winter Night Hike

Event: Winter Night Hike through the BackCountry

Date: Friday, January 6, 2011

Time: 6:00 pm

Location: BackCountry Wilderness Area (for more info check out their Facebook Page)

It might be cold, it might be snowy, but that is the point. Come with us as we hike into the heart of the Backcountry. Hopefully with a snow covered landscape the night will not seem so dark. We’ll stop and warm up by a nice fire, roast marshmallows, and listen for night sounds, watch for wildlife, and enjoy a quiet, peaceful, winter night. Snowshoes are optional. Please dress warm! Flashlights and headlamps are highly recommended. Hike distance 2-3miles.

Live Highlands Ranch : Tuesday Tips : Which Seller Incentives Tempt Buyers

Welcome to our new series, "Tuesday Tips", where we'll bring you tips for buying and selling real estate. We hope you enjoy and in the future if you have any topics you'd like to see covered, drop us a line.

Realtor Magazine recently reprinted an article "Incentives Upgraded in Down Market," from The Washington Times which Kathy and I both believe in, when the situation is right. Here are the article highlights along with our comments.

Sellers trying to get buyers attention are offering up plenty of incentives, everything from closing-cost assistance to remodeling credits - even hot tubs, home theater systems, flat-screen TVs and cars, reports The Washington Times.

But these incentives "don't actually make the deal," says Michael Labout, regional vice president of the National Association of Realtors, who recalls one seller who offered up his 1970's Cadillac El Dorado in a real estate deal. "They're as much to get buyers and agents to look at the house as anything."

But sellers may be convinced that the extra buyers these incentives may bring in to view their home may be worth it. Some popular seller incentives catching on:

• Offering a gift card to a home improvement store or a local flooring company if the property you're trying to sell is in need to some remodeling work;
• Covering some or all of the closing costs;
• Offering home warranties, which will cover HVAC systems and other major appliances, usually for a year - although more home sellers are offering warranties that last longer, possibly even up to 4 or 5 years;
• Paying the homeowners association dues for a year or more or covering the first year's property taxes or condo fees;
• Offering a selling agent bonus, such as $2,000 or $3,000 bonus to the buyer's agent may help get the property shown to more potential buyers.

It's true we've seen seller incentives in this market, but which ones really make an impact?

Offering a gift card? While we haven't tried this yet we can absolutely see the benefit to the buyer. Usually items like this might come up more an inspection to smooth things over.

Covering some or all of the closing costs? We don't recommend offering the closing cost assistance up front, in this market if the buyer needs the help their agent should recommend structuring their offer for your home to include this. Why give away several thousand dollars of equity before you've even begun the negotiating process?

Offering home warranties? This can be a great incentive, especially if the home is older. We're seeing bank owned homes often coming with home warranties. We had a client, who closed on a bank owned home this year, who had a plumbing problem their first day and boy did that warranty come in handy!

Paying the homeowners association dues? We almost always suggest this if the home in question is a condominium or town home. This market in Colorado has been the hardest hit and this incentive has helped set our client's homes apart from the rest of the pack.

Offering a selling agent bonus? Who doesn't like to get a bonus? If you're selling a higher end property this might make sense. We would absolutely suggest you don't do the opposite, i.e. offer a co-op that is less than the norm for your area. Listen to your real estate expert here. Again, bank owned homes often come with this incentive which can help to even the field for these often distressed properties.

In the end do you as a seller offer an incentive? Great question. We would first suggest you look at your home and see if the money you would spend on one or more of these incentives be better spent preparing your home to sell, i.e. new carpet, paint, granite counter tops, landscaping, etc. Granted, the market can be incredibly difficult for sellers, but our experience has been if your home is in selling condition the buyers are out there. However, if your home is in that selling condition and no offers are coming in, perhaps an incentive that differentiates your home from others are the market, might just be the answer.

Here we go it's that time of year again. I will begging today posting my yearly real estate market reports for neighborhoods in and around Douglas County Colorado.

Be prepared to see how many homes have sold, what they sold for and how long it took the Realtor to sell them. This is a valuable resource for anyone thinking of buying or selling a home.

You MUST know your numbers in order to be successful when buying and selling a home. We will be able to spot pricing trends and see what areas are hot and what area neighborhoods are cooling off.. With housing inventory in the Denver Metro at all time lows I would expect to see data pointing towards a recovery which is the first time I've used those words in years.

Here is a little tidbit of info to let you know where we are. As of the end of December our housing inventory was down 39% from one year earlier.

You can find these reports on this blog www.RealEstateYak.com and on our other blog located HERE.