Ninah Hunter

Congratulations to my broker associate, Kylee Smith, and her hockey broomball team, C 21 on Ice, this year's Montrose/Ouray Hockey Broomball champions! After a three year hiatus, the Montrose/Ouray County Hockey Broomball League was back on the ice again this year. This year's league play consisted of nine teams organized by Michelle Hanes of Ouray. Kylee explained it to me as follows: Play included 2-3 game per week for five weeks with the single elimination "playoffs" Feb. 18, 2009 to determine the 2009 champions. Games were played by 5 players on ice, in boots, helmets and other protective gear with each player designing their own broom. Only 3 men were allowed to be on the ice at a time with one of those playing the goalie position. The other two positions were filled with females and/or children from 11-15 years. One "bonus" player 10 years and younger was allowed on the ice at all times. The games took place at the Ouray Rotary Club Ice Rink. C 21 on Ice won in a sudden death play-off.

I'm ashamed to say that, despite Kylee's encouragement, I didn't participate this year. Besides schedule constraints, I have to admit that I lost a of bit of enthusiasm after Kylee told me that, in addition to a broom, I should have a helmet, knee pads, shin pads, butt pad, wrist guards, and whatever other protection I could muster up. Well, after winning the championship with a team name honoring our company, I'm rethinking this broomball thing. At least, now, I've got a year to get my broom!

Front Row L to R: Mike Trickey, Glacier, Chase Darling, Mariah and Tyler Hilton
Back row L to R: Ben Tisdel, Kane Darling, Kjersten Davis, John Nixon, Steve Hilton, Kylee Smith, Michelle Hanes, organizer (Check out all those missing teeth!)

Congratulations, again, C 21 on Ice!

~Ninah

Real Properties in Colorado will be re-appraised this year, which happens every odd year. Property owners will be getting a notice of valuation by May 1st of this year. The new tax amounts will go into effect for the years 2009 and 2010 (payable in 2010 and 2011). Now, here's the interesting part. We (property owners) are being warned to expect property values, and therefore, property taxes, to increase, rather than decrease, despite the obvious decline in the real estate market over the past couple of years. As explained by Debbie Griffith, the Delta County Assessor, who visited my Delta office recently, if values do increase, it will be because the sales data collection period ends on June 30, 2008. While sales volume (i.e., quantity sold) fell signicantly, values generally did not during this period from mid-2006 to mid-2008. In fact, some values increased. This explanation has been echoed in newspaper articles I've read in both Ouray County and Montrose County. In truth, depreciation in values in our area have lagged considerably behind the declines in harder hit areas of the country. Our regional MLS market statistics bear this out. Despite this explanation, I'm anticipating a lot of property owners will be puzzled, and not necessarily happy, when they receive their notice of valuation to find the value of their property has increased, and, consequently, so have their property taxes.

Valuation and taxation in our counties are a rather complex process. You can get a pretty good explanation by reading the brochure, Understanding Property Taxes in Colorado available on the Montrose County website. As Delta Assessor Griffith explained, complicated, statistical formulas exist to determine value, which vary among different distrcits or areas. In some cases, valuations can be more accurate because maybe 140 properties are being compared versus 5-7 in a typical appraisal. On the other hand, they may not be as accurate because variations can exist among smaller, more specific areas or neighborhoods and because most properties are not physically inspected. For this reason, disgruntled tax payors may appeal if they disagree with a valuation. Be forewarned the period to appeal is very short. The appeal must be received by the Assessor by June 1st (if mailed, the appeal must be post-marked by June 1st). In Delta County, you may also appeal by telephone. The appeal should include an explanation as to why the value is wrong, which is most often done by comparing your property to other similar properties that sold in your neighborhood or nearby. You can also request that the Assessor visit your property to confirm he/she has current and correct information. Be careful with that, however, because a physical inspection could result in even higher taxes if the Assessor discovers signficant remodeling or other improvements, expecially those that increase square footage or living space, new outbuildings, etc., about which the Assessor previously had no information.

If you contemplate making an appeal, you should review the information in your notice of valuation carefully. Then, you can research recent sales in most neighborhoods via the Assessor's Property Record Search (ITAX in Montrose, ITAX in Delta, and ITAX in Ouray. Most Realtors are willing to provide at no cost recent sales information to anyone who wishes to appeal their taxes. That is certainly true of me or any of the broker associates in my office. Of course, if you're contemplating selling your home this year, and your value goes up, then maybe you should just count your blessings!

Year-end 2008 in the Montrose market was a happy surprise for me and my office. With the current state of the economy and the holiday season, I was expecting us to be quiet (that's a euphemism for "dead"). But activity picked up, and the good news, is it has continued into the new year. It's hard to pinpoint just what has caused the increased activity, but I can only surmise that, in part, buyers are finally realizing it truly is a great time to buy with interest rates at all-time lows. Probably the elections behind us and renewed public confidence and hope are contributing factors, as well. I'm also hearing that other markets, which have historically been our "feeder markets" in Californai, Arizona, Florida, etc., are picking up. In between all that good news, however, are the continued reports of bail-outs, job losses, more credit tightening, war worries, political corruption, presidential admonitions of there being no easy, quick fix, that just add to the ups-and-downs and uncertainty of our economy, nationally and globally. So, go figure.

Forutnately for us in Montrose, although our real estate market unquestionably has felt the effects, it has not suffered to the degree of other markets, as the 2007-2008 Comparable sold stats from our local MLS reveal. Click on the links below to see these stats for Montrose County and Ouray County,

Montrose County

Ouray County

Below are the comparative MLS sold stats for residential properties in Delta County.

DELTA RESIDENTIAL 2007-2008 YEAR-TO-YEAR COMPARISON REPORT

Qty Sold % Chg Volume Sold % Chg Average Sale % Chg Median Sale % Chg Qty Active % Chg RESIDENTIAL Delta Delta Current Period 172 31,727,753 184,463 170,000 403 One Year Ago 232 44,074,689 189,977 171,815 540 Increase/ (Decrease) (60) -26% (12,346,936) -28% (5,514) -3% (1,815) -1% (137) -25%

As you'll note for all 3 counties, although the volume (number of units sold) is definitely down from a year ago, the median price of all properties sold is remaining fairly steady. One exception concerns the residential units sold in Ouray County, where the median sold price decreased by almost $100,000. Of course, median/average prices in Ouray County have always been significantly higher than Montrose and Delta Counties, and Ouray County has a greater number of seasonal residents or people who own second or vacation homes in Ouray County (those that bought from our feeder markets). So, it's no surprise that this sector of the market has been hit harder.

I believe it would be a great time right now for anyone that can afford to do so (read "financially" "physcially" and "emotionally") to invest in Ouray County (which includes the Town of Ridgway where I live) as a long-term investment, since Ouray County is one of those very desireable, resort-like, vacation areas that in recent years had enjoyed significant growth and appreciation in real estate values due to high demand and low supply, until this recent bust in the real estate market. I predict that within 5 years, maybe less, those real estate values will, again, take another significant swing upward, as the economy improves across the nation. I doubt one will see another buying opportunity like this in Ouray County for quite some time, if ever, with these depreciated, lower values combined with some of the lowest interest rates in history. And if you've seen the photos on my blog, you can tell what an incredibly beautiful place Ouray County is.

Of course, Montrose and Delta Counties offer some enticing investment opportunities, as well, with much more affordable inventory and a greater pool of potential renters for an investment property that is more likely to cash flow than in Ouray County. During the hey-days of 2003-2006, we did see appreciation in the double digits, which is not likely to return any time soon, but at least enough to surpass a conservative investment portfolio of mutual funds and stock--and we're all scared of those right now, anyway, right?

Kidding aside, I've now gone from hoping to expecting the market to continue its way upward as we approach springtime and through the fall season. Obviously, investing in real estate may not make sense to everyone in light of the uncertainty of today's economy, but if you're still sitting on the fence, you may end up falling off on the wrong side.

~Ninah

First, a belated Happy Holidays, Happy Winter Solstice, and Happy New Year, everyone! I'm a bit behind in catching up, but thought I'd do so before the first month of January is behind me. We've had a terrific winter so far on the Western Slope, with one of the snowiest Decembers in quite some time. It took me until January 8th, however, to hit the slopes in Telluride, but it sure was worth the wait. Annabel and I could not have chosen a more perfect day--sunny, warm, clear and not crowded. The next day it snowed. Here's a photo of us on the See Forever Run. That's Mountain Village below, and beyond you can see San Miguel Canyon and the La Sal Mountains in Utah way in the distance. It was a great day, especially, considering it snowed the next!

It has stayed pretty cold through December and January, keeping snow on the ground at my home in Ridgway. But my dogs love it. I just strap on the snow shoes and take them in the 35-acre field behind the house or around the neighborhood, and invariably meet neighbors doing something similar, like cross country skiing. Here's a photo a neighbor took of me and my Airedale dogs, Huckleberry and Shamus, on the road in front of my house. Those are the Cimarron Mountains to the east behind us.

With the good snow prevelant everywhere, I've had a lot of conversations with friends and colleagues about their snowy past-times and adventures, some of which appeal to me, others not so much. But the exciting thing is the variety of activities in which one can participate during the winter in Colorado. So, I thought I'd list a few. Here they are:

Downhill skiing

Cross-country skiing

Snow-shoeing

Ice skating

Ice climbing (be sure to visit the Ouray Ice Park)

Snowmobiling

Ice fishing

Ice Hockey

Broom Hockey

Dog-Sled Racing

Skijorning

Bird-watching (especially the Bald Eagles this time of year)

Well, that's what I've come up with so far. Can you think of some more?

Happy winter, everyone! I'll catch up on real estate news in another post.

~Ninah

This past Thanksgiving Day turned out to be more special than I anticipated. For me, it's no longer a big family event, with both my parents now deceased, my siblings and varoius newphews and nieces in other states, and no children of my own, and most of my neighbors with family visitng theirs. This year, after several invitations, from us to others, and a mix-up in communication with some neighbor friends, my partner, Annabel, and I ended up in Montrose at the home of some dear friends, whom we really haven't seen nearly enough during this past year. Like us, Jen and Maree, do not have children or big extended families who live in town. What they do have, like us, is a big, extended group of friends of various ages, backgrounds, interests, and even some with children.

There was about 25 of us, and it was a potluck affair. So, oh, my goodness, was there some food! I'm still stuffed. It was great to catch up with friends we hadn't seen for awhile, and to meet some new ones. Best of all, it was just a wonderful opportunity to chat, laugh, socialize, eat, drink and be merry, and to forget about all the negativity permeating the news and the work-a-day conversations of the last several months. So, as I'm still glowing this weekend from a warm and friendly Thanksgiving gathering, I'm re-committing myself to being thankful and saying my gratitudes everyday. I'm starting with the following.

I am very grateful for:

1. My health, mental and physical;

2. My lovely, devoted friend and partner of 30 years;

3. My warm, energy-efficient, cozy home with awesome views of the Cimarron Mountains, from which to enjoy the first snow showers of the season.

4. My charming, loyal Airedale dogs, Huckleberry and Shamus, always good for a laugh.

5. My dear sister, Barbara, in San Diego County, who is never more than a phone call or email away, . . . and who has bought more property in Colorado from me than anyone!

6. A career that I love and my fantastic team of broker associates--I finally found that something I love to do which means I'll never have to work again!

6. The loving memories of my mother and father, who will always be close to me in my heart and a source of strength, and comfort during the holidays and every day.

I hope all of you had a joyful Thanksgiving. Let the Holiday season begin!

~Ninah

. . . I'm also grateful for rainbows out my front window!