Wheat Ridge, CO

Lees Lake in Wheat Ridge

Lees Lake, otherwise known as North Henry Lee Reservoir, is located in the heart of Wheat Ridge. This wonderful neighborhood has so much to offer with beautiful homes, convenient commuting routes, and access to schools, services, parks, and local businesses. A combination of classic neighborhood style with modern amenities makes Lees Lake the perfect place to consider in Wheat Ridge.

Lees Lake itself is a somewhat hidden reservoir, with homes, yards, and plant growth lining the shore. For a peak of Lees Lake, one needs only to travel up Garrison St. Homes in the Lees Lake neighborhood range from 1900’s Arts and Craft style Bungalows to modern Condos. This eclectic mix of homes lends itself well to the eclectic people who are moving into Wheat Ridge. The wonderful schools in the Lees Lake area include Wilmore-Davis Elementary, Everett Middle School, and Wheat Ridge High School. Residents will find events and activities going on throughout the year; bringing the community closer together and supporting all things local.

Wheat Ridge is lucky to have not only Lees Lake in the area, but Crown Hill Lake and Kestrel Pond. Both Crown Hill Lake and Kestrel Pond are part of Crown Hill Park, which is also home to a wildlife sanctuary. Wheat Ridge residents can come to view the wildlife like the Yellow-rumped Warble or the Vesper Sparrow during different parts of the year. If you are an active person, come walk, skate, or ride your horse! Crown Hill Park near Lees Lake in Wheat Ridge was home to the first apple orchard in the area and many of the offspring of those apple trees can still be found in the neighborhood. To add to the wonderful parks in the area, the Wheat Ridge parks and recreation department will be working on Discovery Park, located Northwest of Lees Lake. This exciting addition will include a café, interactive water feature, play areas, climbing wall, Skate Park, and more!

Also nearby you can find important amenities like Exempia Lutheran Medical Center, or local businesses like Vinnola’s Italian Market and Clancy’s Irish Pub in Wheat Ridge. Next time you are in the Wheat Ridge area, come by the Lees Lake neighborhood. You will enjoy all the light, lakes, and laughs!

Lees Lake in Wheat Ridge

Italian Bakery in Wheat Ridge

I stumbled upon Dolce Sicilia Italian Bakery almost by accident. I was meeting with a client in Wheat Ridge and needed somewhere to grab a bite to eat. I did not want to go too far so I looked around and saw a red, green, and white sign. I thought Italian food sounded great! Dolce Sicilia Italian Bakery is more than just great, it is simply amazing.

Located on the corner of 32^nd and Wadsworth in Wheat Ridge, Dolce Sicilia is a Bakery filled with pastries, sandwiches, cookies, bread, calzones and pizza. They also have classic and delicious Italian favorites to eat in or take to-go. Everything in the bakery is made fresh by the wonderful staff, which treats you like long lost family. It is like having a little piece of Italy in Wheat Ridge.

The trick to any amazing Italian Bakery is in making simple, yet delicious food. Any bakery, and believe me there are plenty in the Wheat Ridge area, can make an ok loaf of bread. However, Dolce Sicilia is a bakery that goes beyond what is expected. Try their calzones for a quick lunch, or stop by the bakery before a party to pick up an assortment of Italian cookies. You can not go without trying their Tiramisu, which I try to order every year for my birthday!

Stop by for a cannoli from the bakery, grab an espresso, and let your mind wander from Wheat Ridge to the Italian shores of Sicily. Find them on Facebook too!

3210 Wadsworth Blvd, Wheat Ridge, CO (303) 233-3755 ‎

Wheat Ridge has so many Adorable Homes available!!

Italian Bakery in Wheat Ridge

Elevate West Metro Business networking Open house Sept 13th in Wheat Ridge, CO 80033.

Calling all small business owners in west Denver! Want to expand your networking circle? Want to make more money this year? Want to have some fun and meet other business owners? Want to educate your fellow professionals about your business? Do you want more referrals?

Come join us for our first open house on september 13th off Wadsworth and 38th Ave from 8am -10am.

"Business Professionals Raising Opportunities"

Location: Vectra Bank, 7391 W. 38th Ave, Wheat Ridge Co 80033

When: Tuesday mornings 8am-9:30am, weekly

Wanna know what we do???? We are: A group of business professionals working together to build a sustainable business network through their community, as well as social and personal group events to facilitate more business for all its members.

We are growing and looking to add members, come check it out.

Want to know your home's value? Why your local agent is MUCH more reliable than your real estate website. Finally! I just read this article: 4 ways online real estate valuations fail. I will add this to my library for refuting the monthly conversation of off-based website property values. I know Realtors are not the only ones putting out this fire, mortgage brokers and appraisers have the same objection: But ***** says my home is worth $270,000!

Here's their list of ways consumers could get bad comps:

• if your home is older and has had a lot of improvements and even additions that are not in the county records, you're likely to get bad comps;
• if homes in your area are very different from each other, you might get bad comps;
• if you live in a neighborhood very nearby another neighborhood where homes have a much higher or lower value than your area's (say, because they belong in a better school district or even on the other side of the city limits), you're prone to getting bad comps;
• if your home is in an area where homes are dense, the algorithm might jump over many very nearby properties to get to a relatively dissimilar one even a half-mile away, and that can give you bad comps.
• The computer can't necessarily distinguish nuances in a property's condition or aesthetics, nor does it always correct for whether the house two blocks over was a short sale or a foreclosure

(Not to mention where the data comes from or how dated it is. Also look into the sites accuracy rate.)

"But when it's time to actually list your home, or figure out what it is worth, no computer -- no algorithm -- is as accurate as a living, breathing local real estate professional who sees and sells all the different specimens of homes in your neighborhood and sees firsthand what ready, willing, qualified buyers actually pay for them, day in and day out.

I think it's important for sellers interviewing listing agents to discuss the online comparables with prospective listing agents, but not as a counterargument to what the listing agents recommend you list your home at."

Understanding the source and educating the consumer is our job. I had to post this article for that reason: 4 ways online real estate valuations fail.

Need a Denver real estate property valuation? Have short sale questions? Need foreclosure information?

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Treasury To Temporarily Penalize Mortgage Companies, Making Good On Old Threat 3 of the largest mortgage companies are failing to comply with the MHA program used to help struggling homeowners. The Treasury has been threating for 19 months, yep 19 months, to penalize these lenders for non-compliance and "abusing homeowners". "More homeowners have been kicked out of the program than are receiving assistance."! Really?! I had to share this article and spread some awareness.

"Treasury first identified potential mass non-compliance in November 2009, warning the participating companies that those failing to meet their obligations to homeowners under their contracts with the federal government "will be subject to consequences which could include monetary penalties and sanctions." The Obama administration spent the next year and a half defending itself against accusations levied by federal auditors, members of Congress and consumer groups that it was soft on the big banks' abusive behavior due to its reluctance to follow through on that threat."

What is your reaction to this? The best part is two of the banks are refutting the results and said it doesn't matter to them... BUT it does matter to them to get the market turned around. So, we bail them out and then they turn the screws more? Blatant abuse? Where do we point the finger? We're paying the bills and this is our tax dollars at work.

The grades are in and they are terrible: "Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, which collectively service about half of all home loans, abused homeowners and violated the rules of the Making Home Affordable (MHA) program, Treasury said. The initiative aims to lower monthly payments, reduce loan balances or enable distressed borrowers to sell their homes before they're seized by awarding a series of incentive payments to banks, investors and homeowners when foreclosures are averted. Treasury is only withholding pay to the three banks.The three were found to need "substantial improvement," the agency said in a statement. Cumulatively, they received $24 million in government incentive payments last month. Last quarter, the three financial behemoths collectively reported about $11.4 billion in net income."

"Potentially "thousands" of troubled homeowners were denied opportunities to lower their monthly mortgage payments under the administration's program due to servicer errors and inadequate oversight by Treasury, according to a June 2010 audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO)."

Please take a minute to read the Full article and add your comments. This program has been a huge failure and how do we fix it?

One option for distressed homeowners is a shortsale. Need pre-forclosure tips? Denver shortsale Realtor