Carrie & Kathy Sampron (303) 931-3629 or (303) 931-3780

Homebuyer Tax Credit Extended and Expanded - Highlands Ranch, Colorado Buyers and Sellers Don't Miss Out Again!

President Obama signed legislation on Friday, October 6, 2009 extending and expanding the Homebuyer Tax Credit. So what does this mean for you?

$8,000 First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit*: The first-time $8,000 tax credit has been extended. Those who qualify are:

• First-time Homebuyers: You have not owned a principal residence in the last three years.
• Income Limits: $125,000 - single / $225,000 - married
• New Home: The home your are purchasing may only cost $800,000 or less
• Time Limits: You must be under contract by April 20, 2010 and close on your home by June 30, 2010

$6,500 Current Homeowner Tax Credit*: This new $6,500 tax credit has been added for current homeowners. The details include:

• Current Homeowners: You must own or have owned your principal residence for five consecutive years of the last eight years
• Income Limits: $125,000 - single / $225,000 married
• New Home: The home your are purchasing may only cost $800,000 or less
• Time Limits: You must be under contract by April 20, 2010 and close on your home by June 30, 2010

Frequently Asked Questions Answered:

Existing Homeowner Credit -

• Must the new home cost more than the old? No - For example, individuals who move from a high cost area to a lower cost area who meet all eligibility requirements will qualify for the $6,500 tax credit.
• If you owned a home for 10 years, but sold it two years ago and have been renting since - are you eligible? Yes - If you have lived in your principal residence for five consecutive years of the previous eight, you will qualify for the $6,500 tax credit.

New Homebuyer Credit -

• If you entered into a contract to purchase prior to October 30, 2009, and have not closed yet and will not close by the previous deadline of November 30, 2009 will you be eligible? Yes - You no longer have to close before December 1, 2009. Once the legislation was signed, it will be as if the November 30th date never existed.
• If you did not qualify with the old income limits, yet you haven't yet closed on the house you have contracted to purchase, will you be eligible? Yes - The new income limitations went into effect as soon as the President signed the bill. The income limit and other eligibility rules will look to your status as of the date of purchase, which is the date you close on your home.

*Of course we encourage you to consult your tax professional for all of the details on how the Homebuyer Tax Credit can benefit you personally.

The end of the year has traditionally been a "slow" time for Real Estate - not this year. If you were waiting to list your house until this spring you may be too late. Buyers will be out there now so they can find their dream home, your home perhaps, prior to the April 30th deadline. This in conjunction with near record low interest rates means the time to act is now!

If you have any other questions, call SampronSisters for all of the details!

Get off the Fence! The time to buy and sell is NOW!

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Carrie and Kathy Sampron specialize in residential real estate in Highlands Ranch, Colorado as well as surrounding communities in the Denver Metropolitan Area. Contact Carrie and Kathy at (303) 931-3629 to list your property for sale or to purchase a property in Highlands Ranch, Denver, Lakewood, Littleton, Arvada, Centennial, Greenwood Village, Cherry Hills Village, Castle Rock, Parker, Aurora, or any other Metro Area city. We love your referrals!

Learn more about Highlands Ranch Colorado Realtors Carrie and Kathy Sampron

Search Highlands Ranch and Denver Metro Area Homes at SampronSisters.com

Ask anyone currently living in Beautiful Highlands Ranch Colorado what they think of their community and they'll positively gush!

Highlands Ranch is a 22,000-acre master planned community in Douglas County, Colorado. It is located twelve miles south of Denver along C-470 and approximately one mile west of Interstate 25 (I-25).

The Highlands Ranch Development Plan, approved by Douglas County in 1979, laid the foundation for the innovative development of a community with a wide variety of housing opportunities designed to meet the needs of a broad range of new homebuyers. The master plan calls for 61 percent of the land to be devoted to non-urban uses including open space and recration, 31 percent to residential, and 8 percent to business. Many of the residents living in beautiful Highlands Ranch Colorado will tell you one of the reasons they've chosen to live here is the communities commitment to maintaining open and recreation spaces for its residents.

The land upon which the community of Highlands Ranch is being developed was part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Homesteaders staked out claims in the area, which were consolidated into one holding of 23,000 acres by the turn of the century. Highlands Ranch was owned by Lawrence Phipps, Jr. between 1937 and 1976, and in 1979 was purchased by Mission Viejo Company. The first homes were offered for sale in July 1981 and in September 1981 the first residents began living in beautiful Highlands Ranch Colorado.

An impressive network of outdoor recreation amenities in Highlands Ranch are managed by the Metro District. This includes more than 70 miles of paved and natural trails that connect neighborhoods, 22 parks, and more than 2,000 acres of natural open space areas throughout Highlands Ranch. The parks offer a variety of recreation opportunities. Civic Green Park in the Highlands Ranch Town Center features a shaded ampitheatre for performances, creeks, stream sided pools, and fountains, as well as The Big Book Cove children's play area. Three large community parks, Falcon, Northridge, and Redstone, feature athletic fields, picnic areas, and playgrounds. Additionally, the neighborhood parks offer sports fields, play areas, and picnic facilities. There are also four dog off-leash areas and a 20,000-square-foot skate park.

The Highlands Ranch trail system provides a link among neighborhoods for transportation and recreation purposes. Along the trail system, residents can access two public golf courses, The Highlands Ranch Golf Club and The Links at Highlands Ranch, the High Line Canal Trail, and the Recreation Centers at Eastridge, Northridge, Southridge, and Westridge.

To learn more about this community we love so well take a look at Highlands Ranch Community Association's web site.

Now you know why residents love living in Beautiful Highlands Ranch Colorado. If you're ready to join them give us a call or search Highlands Ranch homes at www.sampronsisters.com.

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Carrie and Kathy Sampron specialize in residential real estate in Highlands Ranch, Colorado as well as surrounding communities in the Denver Metropolitan Area. Contact Carrie and Kathy at (303) 931-3629 to list your property for sale or to purchase a property in Highlands Ranch, Denver, Lakewood, Littleton, Arvada, Centennial, Greenwood Village, Cherry Hills Village, Castle Rock, Parker, Aurora, or any other Metro Area city. We love your referrals!

Learn more about Highlands Ranch Colorado Realtors Carrie and Kathy Sampron

Search Highlands Ranch and Denver Metro Area Homes at SampronSisters.com

Denver was the national leader of the pack for housing prices last year. Yes, home prices in the Denver area dropped 4 percent during the 12-month period that ended in December. But that was the smallest decline of the 20 metropolitan areas tracked in the closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices. Overall, the 20 cities fell by an average 18.5 percent.

A separate report released by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, known as OFHEO, showed even better numbers than Case-Shiller.

OFHEO showed a 0.71 percent overall drop in home prices last year in a large swatch that encompasses Broomfield, Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, Jefferson, Douglas, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Elbert, and Park Counties. It also showed a 0.77 percent increase in the fourth quarter from a year earlier.

Colorado is bucking the national trend of homes in a free fall. And while any decline in prices is not happy news, the Denver-area housing market should hit bottom no later than the end of the third quarter of this year - and maybe as early as the end of the second quarter, or so experts believe.

"Denver was among the cities with the least run-up during the boom," said Karl Case, an economics professor at Wellesley College and founder of the Fiserve Case Shiller Weiss group that puts together the report with Standard and Poors. Case noted that from 2000 until the peak in August 2006, home prices in the Denver area rose by 40 percent, and have since given back less than 10 percent of the gains.

So, if you're selling a home in Colorado or hoping to buy something soon know that the market here is stable. If your plans to including buying or selling we hope you'll give us a call.

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Carrie and Kathy Sampron specialize in residential real estate in Highlands Ranch, Colorado as well as surrounding communities in the Denver Metropolitan Area. Contact Carrie and Kathy at (303) 931-3629 to list your property for sale or to purchase a property in Highlands Ranch, Denver, Lakewood, Littleton, Arvada, Centennial, Greenwood Village, Cherry Hills Village, Castle Rock, Parker, Aurora, or any other Metro Area city. We love your referrals!

Learn more about Highlands Ranch Colorado Realtors Carrie and Kathy Sampron

Search Highlands Ranch and Denver Metro Area Homes at SampronSisters.com

Today we remember a tragedy which touched the lives of so many in our community.

Ten years ago today Kathy was working as an Administrative Coordinator for the Littleton Fire Department and here is her first hand recollection of April 20, 1999 (only first names are used for all individuals involved):

We had just finished a really long Tuesday morning staff meeting. A representative from the American Red Cross had visited to tell us how they could assist Littleton Fire Department at emergency scenes. All I knew was that the meeting started at 9:00 a.m. and wasn't done until 11. Ugh!

I was standing at my desk chatting with Battalion Chief Ray. Then we heard a call on the radio: "Explosion at Wadsworth near Chatfield." I thought, April 20th, that's a strange time to set off fireworks. Station 11 (Engine and Rescue 11) is attached to the Fire Administration and City Hall in downtown Littleton. Station 11 and BC Ray left for the scene from City Hall and would have to travel along Bowles to respond to the call. Rescue 13 was responding from the fire academy on Santa Fe, where they had been attending "burn building" training, and would also have to travel west on Bowles. Finally, Engine 13 was responding from their station on Coal Mine.

What we didn't know at the time was how this explosion occured. It turns out that this was a diversionary device left by the suspects. An employee of the power company had found a duffle bag on the side of the road at Wadsworth near Chatfield and tossed it against a nearby fence. The bag, which was set to detonate, suddenly exploded. The public probably doesn't know or recall that the power company employee was almost the first Columbine victim.

What the suspects didn't realize was that their "diversion" put the battalion chief, Engine and Rescue 11 and Rescue 13 right at Bowles and Pierce when they started their rempage only one block away at Columbine High School.

At 11:21, I was still standing at my desk when the next call came in: "Shots fired, Columbine High School." I was really in a state of denial at this moment, because I thought "just a drive-by." Fire Marshal Jim was standing with us near the mailboxes and front desk at Fire Admin. He had a very concerned look on his face, and then I remembered his son went to Columbine. He said thankfully his son was at a soccer tournament out of the country.

The next call went out on the radio: "Explosion on the roof, Columbine High School." This is when, as they say, "all heck broke loose." The chief, division chiefs, and all uniformed personnel started responding. Another call: "Explosions in the cafeteria." I thought, "Oh my god; it's lunch time at the school."

This is when the hundreds of phone calls started flooding the office. And at this time a small handful of our firefighters and paramedics, dressed only in their gray uniform t-shirts, so as not to look like police officers, are running under active gunfire to scoop and run with a number of seriously wounded school kids. They saved many lives that day!

Over the next serveral hours, the radio calls kept filling the airwaves: "eight victims transported," "12 victims transported," "victims in the library." A co-worker's wife called to say that her nephew attends Columbine; he usually goes out to lunch. I replied "Oh that's good!" She then said, "But today they were going to study for a test in the library." I told her to "just pray." Her nephew was "The Boy in the Window."

The hours, days, and months ahead were filled with Columbine. When everyone went to work in the morning to set it aside for a while; we went to work to be immersed in it. The memories have faded, only to come back strong now and again, especially around the anniversary. It hit especially hard the two times I visited the Columbine Memorial. A place I wish you all could visit. However, there is an invisible wall you have to push through just to set foot inside.

Today, ten years later, we ask you to stop what you're doing, take a moment, and remember:

Cassie Bernall

Steven Curnow

Corey DePooter

Kelly Fleming

Matthew Kechter

Daniel Mauser

Daniel Rorhbough

Dave Sanders

Rachel Scott

Isaiah Shoels

John Tomlin

Lauren Townsend

Kyle Velasquez

As well as the injured, their families, and the heros from the responding agencies who will "Never Forget."