Jacqui Jeffress

This post is for everyone who likes to eat! My Rotary Club is selling peaches and pears at $20 per box. All orders are due by July 31st. They are absolutely the best fruit available and come directly from Palisade in their last harvest.

All orders must be pre-paid and will be available for pick up the first or second week in September. Don't be left out. E-mail me and I will send you an order form or call at 303-887-4210.

P.S. You probably need to live in or near metro Denver to take advantage of this offer.

This post is supposed to be about restaurants and we will get to that. First I have to give you a little background. Erie Colorado is in both Boulder County and Weld County. Both counties have some great restaurants as well as other amenities to recommend this up and coming town. I am going to tell you about one specific breakfast/lunch place now - The Rose Cafe at 303-828-3675 located at 554 Briggs Street, Erie, CO 80516.

This business is dedicated to the owner's mother Rosemary (Rose) who passed away from breast cancer in 2005. Her daughter, Suzanne, is honoring her mom through a totally comfortable restaurant with great food. She also has provided some interesting statistics on the back of the menu. One in eight women will contract breast cancer. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women exceeded only by lung cancer. The good news is breast cancer has been declining since 1990 among women who are 50 years old and younger. My own mother developed breast cancer at 80 years old. Older women are not as prone to tell anyone anything that is of a personal physical nature. Mother's cancer was the size of a half dollar, we discovered it by accident, it was excised and she received radiation. She is now 90 and cancer free. Daughters remember to question your older moms. Everyone - annual mammograms are a must and please have your own personal GYN doctor. Your internist is not a GYN specialist. Women are made differently and we have different medical needs!

What brought this whole topic to mind was the wonderful breakfast I had at Rose's this morning. It was the best Huevos Rancheros I have ever had! You can enjoy all the "in" coffees with extra special flavors, both small plates and regular portions, lighter fare that is good for you or go for the sausage gravy and home made biscuits. They are open from 7 am to 2 pm, Tuesday through Sunday for breakfast and lunch. You can bet I will be back as often as I can arrange it.

PAY ATTENTION, SOME THINGS HAVE CHANGED.

Effective July 1, 2009 House Bill 1091 goes into effect. This bill mandates the installation of carbon monoxide detectors in residential properties. The bill applies to all properties - single family, multi-family, mobile homes, owner-occupied, rental, and homes for sale. In other words if someone lives in it, there needs to be a carbon monoxide detector.

Besides things changing minute by minute in the mortgage industry, things are also changing among appraisers. In the "olden days", your lender had a list of appraisers that they found to be efficient, trust-worthy, and accurate. Appraisals for conventional loans could be done very quickly and you could have your results in about a week depending on the time of the order. Unfortunately, there were some individuals who just didn't play by the rules. That resulted in over-inflated values on some properties. We Americans seem to have difficulty in trying to reach a median point, we are either all the way to the left or to the extreme right. That pendulum has swung again and here are the new rules.

We now have a new compliance code called the Home Valuation Code of Conduct. This code prohibits mortgage brokers and bankers from having any direct contact with an appraiser. Appraisals for properties using conventional financing must now be ordered through an Appraisal Management Company (gee, we just created a new business giving someone else a job!). Sometimes an appraisal needs clarification on an item but the lenders cannot have any contact with the appraiser even if the underwriter of the loan needs something changed or has a question about a comp that was used, or correcting a legal description, etc. Let's see how this scenario plays out.

1. The lender orders the appraisal from an AMC.
2. The AMC orders the appraisal from one of the appraisers on its approved list.
3. The AMC waits to hear back from the appraiser to see if they want to do the appraisal (hours, days, etc.).
4. The appraiser is busy or cannot do the appraisal so they notify the AMC.
5. The AMC orders the appraisal from someone else on their list.
6. They do this process until someone accepts the job.
7. The appraiser completes the job.
8. The final report is sent to the AMC.
9. The AMC sends the report to the lender.
10. The lender sends the appraisal to the underwriter.
11. Questions? They go from the underwriter to the lender, to the AMC, to the appraiser.
12. The appraiser makes an required correction and sends the updated appraisal to the AMC.
13. The AMC forwards the updated appraisal to the lender.
14. The lender sends it on to the underwriter.

All communication is accomplished on-line, no phone conversations are conducted. Be prepared to see a rise in the cost of appraisals as we have added another entity to the pot. The AMC will also have to be paid for their work. Realtors® takes note: this is going to slow the process down. Be aware and make the proper adjustments when preparing those contracts. By the way, these new rules do not apply to FHA, VA or Rural Housing Loans.

Just when you thought you had everything figured out, here's another new item. "Walls-In" insurance. You must have insurance to cover everything (cabinets, appliances, personal items, etc.). Check with your favorite lenders to keep up to date with changes in occupancy requirements for condo buyers.

Two of my favorites are Chris Thomas, cthomas@mtgsupportservices.com, 303-345-3683 and Elsa Wohlford, ewohlford@pmglending.com, 303-302-3916. They both contributed information for this blog. They always keep me "in the loop".

"Saturday, May 16, 2009, The One and Only Erie Town Fair"

This is a date that should be marked in red on your calendars. The Erie Town Fair is spectacular. The day starts at 6 am with over 60 balloons lifting off from the Colorado National Golf Club (formerly Vista Ridge), 2700 Vista Parkway. If you want to volunteer to crew you must be 18 years or older and be able to lift 50 pounds. Sounds like fun to me.

The Erie Municipal Airport (just west of Vista Ridge) will be the site for a pancake breakfast starting at 7 am with free plane rides for the kids from 8 to 17. Skydivers are on hand too. It should be fun to watch, but not something I would want to do.

At 10 am events begin in Historic Downtown Erie starting with DJ music by JayTee Productions, craft and food vendors, Garage Rats Car Show, Spirit of Flight Museum, 501 Legion – Star Wars Event, a children’s candy run at 1 pm, the Safeway BBQ and Chamber Beer Garden begin at 3, Deja Blu is the headliner band that kicks off the night at 6, and at 7 there will be a Night Glow Balloon Launch.

The day culminates at 9:30 pm with a wonderful fireworks display. Coal Creek Ball Park will be center stage for the following entertainment. La Bella Ballerina Academy performs at 12:45, the Columbiners Square Dance Club will be exhibiting at 1:30, the Erie High School Jazz Band struts their stuff at 2:30, Axis of Movement is highlighted at 3 and the Erie High School Jazz Band comes back for an encore performance at 3:35. Home Plate Novelties is contributing to this event by hosting “The Rocky Mountain Wrestling Event”. Professional wrestlers from all over are being invited to Colorado to participate. Autograph signing will be from 12 to 1 with the show going on from 1 to 3. A free shuttle bus will be provided from Historic Downtown to the event in the Erie Commons parking lot.

The craft and business fair has approximately 200 booths. There are still a few available at $125. If you want more information please e-mail the Chamber at erie@eriechamber.org or call 303-828-3440.

A few weeks ago I made a new friend. I had been doing one of my favorite things - going to a new art exhibit. It was being held at the new Open Studios office space on Spruce Street in Boulder Colorado. Believe it or not, I went by myself and was having a good time even after driving around a bit looking for a parking spot. Note to self: learn how to ride a bicyclesince that seems to be the popular mode of transportation in Boulder!

I spent a pleasant hour saying hello to artists that I knew and viewing some of the exhibits there. I also spent a long time salivating over a particular oil that I would have loved to add to my collection. However,my checkbook simply would not expand to the $2,500 that the artist was looking for. If that lottery ticket would just pay off I would run right back and get that painting.

Since I was having such a nice time I decided I should treat myself to a good dinner on Pearl Street. I found a great spot at La Roma and while enjoying a crisp Chianti was looking over the menu. In walks a colleague of mine with two of her friends. They were celebrating her birthday and the absence of another of their friends who had passed away. They invited me to join them and I did.

During the ensuing dinner and conversation I thought what a great treasure our female friends are. We understand one another, we can talk about anything at all, and our life experiences are all somehow interrelated. I do hope the male population also has groups of friends that can relate like this. Of the four of us, two are divorced, one married a little later in life and one has been married a long time and is wondering how to cope with up-coming male retirement. I am one of the divorced (for more than 20years) and have been a practicing Realtor for 17 years, another is also a Realtor with a husband who is on disability, one is avolunteer and homemaker, and the other divorcee is co-owner of a thriving business called "Basket Kase".