Ninah Hunter

Although I work out of my real estate office in Montrose, CO, I also live in Ridgway, Ouray County, Colorado, a county with a population of less than 5,000. I get the occasional listing or buyer looking in this area, which alway pleases me, since I love living here so much. This past May Day, as I worked from my beautiful home with the spectacular view of the Cimarron Mountains, I thought I'd take a look at the residential active and sold listings for Ouray County on our MLS.

I found 262 such listings, of which 28 sold in the last 6 months. That represents less than 11% of the inventory. Of the active listings, prices range from $99,000 to $7,995,000. Average asking price is $603,916, and median asking price, $408,000. Average days on the market is 332 (and counting).

Of the sold listings, the prices ranged from $99,000 to $770,000. The average sale price was $306,579, and median sale price, $260,000. Average days on market was 225.

Out of the 262 listings, 17 are bank-owned (foreclosures), which represents less than 7% of the total market. Of these 17 listings, 10 sold within the last 6 months, ranging in sale prices from $148,000 to $328,000. Those 10 sales out of the total of 28 sales means that almost 36% of the sales were foreclsoures.

Of the 7 active foreclosure listings, 3 are under contract ranging in asking price from $144,900 to $292,500. The 4 remaining active listings not under contract range in price from $155,000 to $450,000. The latter started out with an original price of $750,000!

Clearly, what is moving in Ouray County are the real bargains (i.e., bank-owned) or more relatively affordable homes for Ouray County, i.e., close to $300,000 and under. While it is a great time to buy in Ouray County, in fact, there is not a whole lot of bargain or affordable inventory. Such inventory that exists goes quickly. So, if you're thinking of buying in Ouray County, you will need to keep a close eye on the market and move quickly to take advnatage of these good deals.

Do you live in Ouray County? Are you buying or selling? Let us know what your experiences have been like in this market

Ninah

P.S. Do you recognize this photo? It's in Ouray County. If you've never seen this in person, you may have seen it in the original John Wayne movie, True Grit.

Hello, all my ActiveRain friends!

I've been absent for awhile, primarily due to focusing on Facebook and other social media, not that I was purposefully neglecting ActiveRain. But now I'm making a commitment to get back into the ActiveRain swing of things, since I truly believe this is one of the best places for fellow real estate professionals to connect, share, network, and learn.

For those who don't know, last month, I closed my Century 21 office. Hated to make that decision, but it was a smart thing in light of these ongoing economic difficulties (disaster?). I was coming up on my 4th anniversary of owning the business and looking at another year of loss with no real relief in sight any time soon . While doing some business planning, I read a good article on that subject (I think from Inman News), specifically, about cutting back expenses. One of the suggestions was simply "close the office." Well, that was an epiphany for me, because I'd been slashing expenses right, left and center, and pretty much had no more I could slash. It dawned on me that closing the office was, in fact, the quickest, most sensible way to eliminate a tremendous amount of monthly overhead, while I could still remain in the real estate business. So, I made the decision quickly, but not without first exploring my options at other real estate brokerage firms in town, Century 21 no longer being an option.

I knew about Keller Williams from when I lived in California. I have always admired its business model and read all of Gary Keller's books. I started with a bit of research on the internet. This franchise has not been very well known on the Colorado Western Slope, and the Montrose office was less than a year old. A few months ago, one of my dear friends and fellow real estate brokers closed her independent real estate office and merged with the KW office in Montorse. I met with her and her team leaders out of Grand Junction, and it didn't take them long to convince me to join them. Fortunately, most of my broker associates followed me over, so we really haven't lost a beat, other than increasing our real estate family and the energy, and enthusiasm in our new Keller Williams office. I'm coming up on my first month with Keller Williams, and I can honestly say, I made the right decision. I am pleased to be a part of a healthy, agent-centric franchise that has actually grown and profited during the turmoil of the past 4 years of global economic challenges.

So, if you happened to notice the change in my colors from gold to red, that's why. And I share this in case other brokers here may be considering making a similar move. It was, in fact, difficult getting to the decision, but once the decision was made, it was easy to move forward, knowing I had done the best I could for my business and my agents, and knowing that we will continue and prosper together this point forward.

NINAH HUNTER, now with Keller Williams Colorado West Realty in Montrose, Colorado

As the expiration of the First Time Homebuyer Tax credit approaches (April 30th), there have been varying reports on how much this tax credit has really stimulated housing purchases. The consensus seems to be it has helped those who already were considering buying to get off the fence and do so; otherwise, it hasn't been a big factor. That has been my experience as well in Montrose.

The problem continues to be the buyer's ability to qualify for financing, as well as the overall affordability of home ownership. Those who have bought their first home may have been surprised by some unforeseen new expenses, as noted in this article from RISMedia. However, one thing the survey does not address is the benefit of the mortgage interest and property tax write-offs. First time home buyers should be surveyed again in a year after they have been able to take advantage of the write-offs, which in most cases will more than make up for the additional overall expenses of home ownership. For more info on these tax benefits, you should consult with your tax advisor.

Tax credit or not, home ownership still continues to be one of the best investments and the American Dream. That has also been my experience in Montrose, even in this continuing challenging market.

~Ninah

Last Thursday I attended the annual general membership meeting for the Montrose Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). I have been an investor of MEDC for several years, but that is about as active as I've been, other than reading its newsletters. I think that is going to change.

The first part of the program included the report of MEDC's president, Sandy Head. Her obvious dedication and enthusiasm for the accomplishments, projects, and goals of MEDC were very apparent. Click here to get MEDC's 2010 Annual Report, which is a great summary of MEDC's efforts and accomplishments in 2009 and its ongoing projects and goals for the future.

The keynote speaker was Don Marostica, Director of the State of Colorado's Office of Economic Development and International Trade. Mr. Marostica was a dynamic speaker and a proclaimed optimist, although much of what he had to relay was rather disconcerting, if not downright depressing, regarding the state of the economy in Colorado and nationally. Regarding economic development, as Sandy Head confirmed with respect to Montrose on a local level, it is a very competitive proposition to attract companies to Colorado. We do not have the funds to offer huge, million-dollar incentives to the larger companies. Therefore, we need to focus on companies that are smaller, unique, and who would relocate to Colorado mostly because they just want to be here.

Mr. Marostica used Nucla and Naturita on the west side of Montrose County as examples of what happens when a primary industry leaves the area and which does not have a diverse economic/commercial base. While the rest of Montrose County has enjoyed an increase in population over the past 2 decades, the population in Nucla and Naturita of declined, along with jobs.

Mr. Marostica pointed out that, in his experience, as long as a town has a major hospital and an institution of higher education, it will survive. That was positive news, since Montrose does have a good hospital and ancillary medical facilities, and because MEDC is leading the efforts to bring a higher education campus to Montrose on land dedicated last year by the City of Montrose. Currently, Montrose does have a satellite campus for Grand Junction-based Mesa State University.

On the economic side, Mr. Marostica shared with us that the State of Colorado has no economic strategic plan for the next year or 5 years out, well, actually, no plan whatsoever. His intention is to put the feet of the new governor to the fire to come up with such a plan, which Mr. Marostica sees as crucial in light of the very difficult economic decisions that have to be made in the face of little to no funding for other than federally-mandated programs. He warned that counties and municipalities should not to count on much financial assistance from either the State or the Federal government. The loss and lack of employment will continue to be a huge concern, which is causing a drain on the Unemployment Fund. He said employers should expect to see an increase in their UI rate of 300% to 600%. Yikes!

Despite this doom and gloom, Mr. Marostica is optimistic that Colorado will survive and is poised to do quite well on the economic development front, with many exciting prospects on the horizon. The same can be said about Montrose. The key he said, both locally and state-wide is retention, i.e., helping existing businesses to thrive in order to provide jobs and infuse more money into the local economies. Raising money within local EDC's will also be crucial, since state and federal assistance will be scarce, if non-existent. One way that MEDC raises money is through its members or "investors," who pledge a certain amount annually.

I learned a lot about MEDC and what any formal economic development organization or focus can do for a community. This came on the heels of an EDC presentation in Ridgway by Deanna Sheriff of the Delta County Economic Development Corporation (DCED) a week earlier. Ouray County does not have an EDC but is exploring the possibility, which I believe would be hugely beneficial to this very small, rural region. My support for MEDC and a proposed EDC for Ouray County was certainly reinforced at the MEDC annual meeting. As we continue to see business struggle and close down, leaving empty store fronts and lost jobs, all of which adversely affects the real estate industry, we need more than ever for businesses and community members to get more involved, educated, active, and financially invested in perserving and promoting our local economic health and development.

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) has launched a new website dedicated to homeowners and homeownership: HouseLogic.com.

This is a great resource for the period of time after someone has purchased a home, including info and tips on improvements and remodeling, energy savings, green features, maintenance issues, tax benefits and considerations, refinancing, and the like.

Although the home may be the American Dream, it is still an investment that should be cared for, nurtured, reviewed, updated, and enhanced in order to realize its fullest potential and value for the time when the homeowner decides to sell. Too many times I've seen a home with "great bones" but poorly maintained, out-dated, functionally challenged, or with funky remodels, which totally detracts from its value. A homeowner should always keep the eventual resale in mind. Maintenance and smart renovations and upgrades are key to preserving this most valuable asset and its value.

So check out this new resource from NAR. The slogo of HouseLogic is right on: Own Smarter!