Salida, CO

Salida Colorado Things To Do: Monarch Mountain March Skiing

Our ski season has not been the best this year, similar to many places in Colorado but it is now!

Conditions: Powder and Packed Powder.

My favorite conditions now (not as young as I was) is packed powder. It is like skiing on air.

There are 6 lifts and 59 runs, enough to find your own level of difficulty and pace. Waiting in line is a concept we are not exposed to.

Runs:

Easiest: 14

Medium: 16

Black Diamond (Difficult): 21

Double Black (Extreme): 8

Upcoming events: Sunday March 11th. Monarch is having their 1st annual Butterfly Roundup. Teams of two ski or ride around the mountain looking for colored butterfly stickers worth various points. And, it is free....all ages. Come join the fun!

Ski buff? New Listing 20 minutes from the mountain: Salida Colorado Real Estate New Listings

Collegiate Peaks Forum Series is a non profit organization that has been provided Salida and Buena Vista residents and visitors with national quality speakers on topics related to philosophy and science.

The Forum is entering their 10th year and is kicking off with Jock Bartley, singer songwriter

Jock Bartley

Thursday, March 15, 7 pm: “Accessing Childlike Creativity: Find Your Natural Spontaneous Muse.” Buena Vista High School Cafeteria.

Friday, March 16: 7 pm: “Songwriting: Writing From the Heart and Your Right Brain.” The Salida Middle School Auditorium.

To find out more about Collegiate Peaks Forum, click on the link below

www.collegiatepeaksforum.org

FINALLY! It feels like spring.... Yahoo! Started the day with a dog walk with Tony Bussing, owner of Gone to the Dogs.

Next, we took a walk with our dogs (had a client who cancelled ... he is a snow plower with CDOT and was called out.. not here thank you!).

When we got home, we opened all the doors, aired out the place and added some very fun touches to our kitchen...

While we were enjoy a perfect Salida Colorado Day, we saw other folks kayaking. The Arkansas River runs right through downtown and this person's antics were viewable from the Boathouse Cantina.

Stay tuned for more adventures and things to discover in Salida Colorado!

First, the average credit score for home loans has gone up. 4 years ago, 650 would give the buyer pime rates. And, they could still at 500 --subprime rates. Now, the minimum score for getting any mortage went from 500 to 650. Read more...

Currently, the 650 is now the break off between (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) now carry average FICO credit scores in the 760 range and above, and FHA loans now have average credit scores slightly above 700.

Four years ago, a 650 credit score for a mortgage would have given the borrower prime rates. These prime mortgage loans would give the borrower the best interest rates which were lower than the average interest rate of the market that time.

Prime rates require borrowers to have scores of 730 or up, which used to be just 650 a few years ago. Read more..

On the surface this looks like bad new but it is actually a good trend. This has begun to stabilize the banks so that they are willing to loosen up other lending requirements... good news for buyers.

Banks are now beginning to loosen up on the amount of money they lend. In the chart below, you can see they they are beginning to lend amounts up to 3.5 times borrower earnings. This is up from a low 3.2 times earnings during the crisis. This is giving folks more buying power.

Banks are also loosening loan-to-value ratios (LTV) an improvement in mortgage credit conditions. In contrast to a low of 74 percent reached in mid-2010, banks are up to 82 percent Loan to Value. (DSnews 1/24). The 74 percent loan to value meant borrowers in a tough economic time time had to come up with 26% down to even get in a house.

Folks with credit scores under 650 are still finding creative ways to get into houses like lease options, lease purchases and owner finance. There has been a growing number of sellers who are now willing to look at these more creative ways to sell their home just so they can move on.

Stay tuned for salida Colorado real estate market trends: good news part 6

If you are stepping into this series and would like to begin with the first post, follow this link Local Colorado Real Estate Trends.

I cannot believe how much I learned at the Keller Williams Family Reunion this year. And, what great connections... met realtors all over the US and Canada that were doing great in a pretty tough year for many realtors. I studied, went to session after session, picked people's brains and ... came up with what I already know but on steroids...

And, it directly applies to my clients and Salida Colorado Real Estate.

Here is a short video that will give you a sense of the energy at the conference...Enjoy!