Chris Liverett Pagosa Springs Real Estate

I only have one meeting today. Good. I just left a meeting as part of a sub committee of the AEDA board of directors concerning PR. It's not that I don't like meetings, it's just that my mind gets a few pieces of fodder to chew on, and then automatic brainstorming overdrive takes hold. It hurts after a while.

Hot water= economic growth?

At one point in our meeting the discussion surfaced about the current planning stage of our towns geothermal project feasibility study. There are many ideas of what this might look like ranging from a vegetable grow dome that employs locals and sells fresh produce to the surrounding markets, to a geothermal-esc water feature for tourist to walk through and be educated. A kind of art museum meets science project feel. This kind of stuff gets my mind whirring. A project that effectively uses our natural resources for positive, economic, clean growth that aids in providing other positive benefits such as organic food to sell and consume....that's pretty cool!

It's nothing new, and we are not the only ones.

There are others in the southwest looking more intently into geothermal resources. Ouray is one of them. Here is an excerpt from a recent article published in Colorado Energy News about ouray taking a second look at utilizing there geothermal mineral springs.

The City of Ouray is examining the viability of harnessing power from its geothermal hot springs...Pagosa Springs is the only municipality in Colorado with a geothermal heating district. The system provides heat to schools, churches and other customers, as well as hydronicb heating for sidewalks during the winter. Other communities such as Steamboat Springs are investigating new uses for their geothermal resources, both for environmental and economic reasons.

If you have ever visited Pagosa Springs you know that we are known for our hot springs soaking facilities which are growing every year. I appreciate the springs for those uses. However I am very excited about being a part of a group like the Archuleta Economic Development Association that is thinking and acting creatively to leverage these geothermal resources in such a way to make a positive economic impact on the future of my town.

Earlier this month I wrote an article entitled "Inspection, Objection, Rejection... Oh My!" in which I outlined the reality that emotions play in the inspection negotiation process between both buyers and sellers of residential real estate. In this piece, I layed out a few practical things to keep in mind as you enter into this process, and I promised an interview with a home inspector.

Matt Matzdorf was kind enough to give me his lunch break earlier this week and let me ask him a handful of questions about his profession.

Chris-"Matt, how long have you been a home inspector here in Pagosa Springs?"

Matt- "We have lived here for about 16 years, I have been a certified inspector for about 5 years."

Chris-"Is there a licensing requirement for home inspectors? "

Matt-"You do not have to have a license in the state of Colorado to be a home inspector. About half of the states require licensing and I believe Colorado will follow suit in the not to distant future. Currently it's just like General Contracting, there is no certification and no license required. However, I do carry a certification, It took me about 6 months to get it through American Home Inspectors Training."

Chris- " I understand that inspections are not used to deal with cosmetic issues but issues that could be of structural or hazardous nature. What are some of these potential issues and how do you uncover them?"

Matt-" I carry a bag with about $3,000 dollars worth of tools that I use for detecting hazardous gases and materials. Combustible gas sniffers, Carbon Monoxide detector and a microwave leak detector to name a few.

Typically a home inspection is to identify major deficiencies with the structure and that can include anything from weak roof framing, structural issues or bad grading in drainage causing heavy moisture infiltration into the crawl space."

Chris- "When is a good time to get a home inspection?"

Matt-"Home inspections are usually asked for by the buying party as a part of the buying contract process. I also do a lot of Pre-Listing inspections for the home seller before they put their home on the market. This shows conscientiousness on their part, and allows full disclosure to potential buyers."

Chris- " What kind of issues do you commonly see that can really be a big dollar item to correct?"

Matt-" It does not come up a lot but obviously structural foundation issues are a biggie because the house is sitting on top of it. If you have some weak framing members in the attic or up in the roof system it's relatively easy to get up their and brace it...but when you've got cracked footers or bowed stem-walls that's a big one, that's gonna cost a lot of money."

Chris-" I know from my perspective the last 18 months or so has been particularly slow in real estate sales, how has that corresponded to your business? How busy are you right now and how do you see 2008 shaping up?"

Matt-" It looks like we are hopefully right on track to have a good year. In the last 3 weeks my business has picked up dramatically."

I have used Matt for inspections and found him to be highly professional and his work very thorough. You can learn more or contact Matt at his website Matzdorf Inspection Services.

Often times the most difficult and emotional portion of the home selling process revolves around the time allotted for the home inspection. There is something about our human nature that cares nothing for our home being picked apart by a guy with a flashlight and a tool-bag, only to have a list of "deficiencies" thrust at us a few days later based on his findings.

It's a personal space - our house. One that has been lovingly cared for, painted and repainted. That tile work in the kitchen took us all Spring and we don't mind at all the small gaps in the trim. We love the creak the door makes when entering from the garage, it's a kind of "welcome home" greeting after a hard days work. Why would these potential buyers see it any different?

I represented a couple of sellers once that always come to my mind when thinking on inspection issues. Bob and Linda were their names and they had a home on a few acres that they asked me to help them sell. (Only the names have been changed to protect the parties involved, the rest is 100% true...mostly) Right out of the gate in the listing presentation I attempted to give them a little warning. "Guys, I want to encourage you on one issue" I said. "When inspection time comes I want you to have mentally reserved some money for repairs, $2500 maybe even $3500 dollars." " Oh sure we understand Chris." was the reply.

Several weeks and showings later we had a bonified offer for about 11% more than most of my collegues said we would be able to get for this house...I was ecstatic for them. When the inspection came through and the buyers were asking for a rebate of $3000 to do repairs I was even happier. Bob and Linda...not so happy. It seems that they had no problem with many of the inspection issues pointed out, and on second thought, maybe they did not want to sell after all. They took it very personally and late in the process I was not sure that they were going to follow through and sell no matter what the facts were. Dozens of very emotional phone calls and late nights of tears ensued. Bob felt very insulted even assaulted that the buyers wanted a few things repaired and upgraded. I was caught trying to protect them from themselves, and the contract that they had very willingly agreed to, due to an emotional flare up frustration.

Bob and Linda turned out to be a rather extreme case but there is almost always a certain level of personal rejection when a seller is confronted with the not so perfect attributes of their home...and we all have those nuances about our residences.

Here are three things to remember that may help you as a home owner gain a little perspective when it come to the inspection portion of your home during the selling process:

It's negotiable- Just because a buyer asks for something to be corrected doesn't mean you HAVE to do it. A seller will often times present what is called an "Inspection Notice" with a list of requests on it. Sometimes they are asking for things that are not necessarily "must haves" but only "would likes". Ask for a lot, and get a little kind of thing. If your REALTOR® has good rapport with the selling agent sometimes these differences can be deciphered which will give you a better position to negotiate from.

It's calculable-Nine out of ten times there will be a few things minor or major that you will be asked to correct after an inspector does his work. If you prepare for that monetarily before hand, it makes the process much more bearable. Just plan on holding back an amount of money to use for those repairs. Ask your REALTOR® to help you spot possible issues so that you can do these estimations in the beginning.

It's business- Don't take it personally. This can be very difficult but remember that the buyers have no emotional attachment to your home yet. They have never had a family event or even a meal around the table. The buyers are simply looking for the best value that they can get at this point, which means that they want it to be perfect if possible.

The inspection portion of a home sale can be very tough but it doesn't have to be. If you are listing your home to sell ask your real estate professional about some of these things up front. Find out their strtegies help you through this part and what some of their past experiences of been like. This is only one piece of a sometimes complicated puzzle but if your REALTOR® is ready and prepared to help you it will take a great deal of anxiety out of this process.

Watch for my interview with a home inspector if you want to gain insight into some of the common hang ups that are encountered through this process....coming soon.

As a REALTOR® operating in Pagosa Springs, my business is tied very closely to the mortgage industry. The shifting tides of rates and corrections have left me dependent on my "daily fix" via the Internet to try and maintain some understanding of current mortgage conditions.

Thankfully, I don't have to go this alone. Recent news of fairly significant rate changes whet my appetite enough to seek out someone who really knows what's going on. Kathie Lattin of First Southwest Bank was gracious enough to give me a few minutes of her time this week. Kathie is the vice President of First Southwest Bank and has been with them for 17 years. The following is from an interview with her:

Chris: "Kathie could you give us an overview of what has happened in the last few years in the mortgage industry?"

Kathie: "We hit the big turbulence when the sub-prime market dropped - because too many people over-borrowed for their ability, which has really hurt the housing market. There are a lot of houses out there for sale. The inventory is available but the qualified buyers are becoming more picky.

"The programs have all changed. Obtaining the 100% financing is getting a lot tougher. Mortgage insurance and extra costs are still appropriate to what you are doing. You can do 80/20 purchases or 90/10, whatever you want to do, but a lot of them aren't offering second mortgages anymore - so you can't do a first/second combination. Most of them only go up to 90% on the first. So to get the 100% you usually have to go to an in-house portfolio or have mortgage insurance."

Chris: "I understand that last week the long term mortgage rate dropped. Can you give me a basic scenario of what that means for the borrower on a $350,000 home."

Kathie: "This rate drop was put into place to help stabilize the core market. Last week with an interest rate of 6.25% a borrower would have made a principal and interest payment of $2,155, where today with a 1% origination fee your looking at about 5.5% which drops that payment down to $1,987. So we are seeing significant monthly payment changes from the interest rate drop."

Chris: "The big news this morning is that the Federal Reserve cut the short term interest rates by 75 basis points. Will that have any effect on long term mortgage rates?"

Kathie: "Not on long term mortgages, but on short term borrowing. The cut was made in hopes that consumers will get out there and borrow more short term money- your credit card, in house accounts, home equity line of credit and that sort of thing. If they pull it down then people can therefore buy more and get the economy back going.

Chris: "It seems that I am starting to see more attention on some of the homes between about $200,00 and $250,000 in the recent weeks. Can you offer any reason for this concerning mortgages?"

Kathie: "We are seeing a shift in the people that are able to qualify for these loans. Rates are coming down. We are at a low even for what it was two years ago...so this is making those loans available. What we have to do as REALTORS® and Lenders is consciously put the right person in the right home. Not over extend them, we can almost qualify them for anything. The 100% is still out there but we need to know they can truly afford this so that were not flipping or doing foreclosures a year or two from now. We have to justify to our customers, we are here for the long haul."

Chris: "For the borrower with an average credit score what rate can you give them right now?"

Kathie: " Probably 5.875% with no origination fee and 5.5% with an origination on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage."

Thanks to Kathie Lattin for her expert insight into the mortgage industry. I highly recommend her for her professional efficiency and strait answers when it comes to home loans. She can be contacted at kathie.lattin@fswb.com or call 970-731-1300. Learn more about First Southwest Bank at their website.

I find myself all to often brainstorming with clients about how we can effectively sell their property in a sluggish market. The normal outcome of these sessions usually has an aroma of marketing, networking, pricing, repairs, clean-up, landscaping, home staging or buyer incentives...until now.

Introducing St. Joseph the Patron Saint of Carpentry! Upon entering my office a few days ago, I find a Fed-Ex box on my desk. I am a self admitted horrible multi-tasker (my wife will back me on this) and at the time I was talking on my cell phone, so it was my natural response to set this box aside, and focus on whatever it was I was into at the moment. When I did get around to opening the box, I noticed the sender is a client of mine, so I eagerly ripped apart the seals to find not one but two smallish green packages with this Patron Saint of Carpentry situated in plastic staring out at me. As a man that grew up in the buckle of the Bible-Belt, Catholicism was not something that was front and center in my world, so I needed a little help understanding this gift. He looked pretty sad to be a Saint, so I took it upon myself to investigate this man of history.

I found that according to http://www.luckymojo.com/, Saint Joseph (San Jose in Spanish and San Giuseppe in Italian) is petitioned by many conservative Catholics as one who grants an easy death, but in the wider world of Catholic folk-magic, he is the Patron Saint of real estate matters and home sales. Eureka! Now we're on to something. The reason given for this belief is that he was a carpenter who taught his "step-son" Jesus the carpentering trade, and he always saw to it that Jesus was well housed.

On the front of the package reads the words "The SOLD Realty Co." clearly defining the purpose of the Saint statuette. A quick survey around the box and I find "Can't sell your home? Ask St. Joseph... He's helped 1000's!" OK, sounds reasonable to me, but how do I put this little man of power to work? I mean for $2.99 this guy better pack a big punch with that tiny 2 cm plastic axe!

I found that there is a method to the "mojo" of "Joe". He is to be buried in the yard of the home you desire to sell. While differing methods seem to abound, here is a list that the handy burial instructions for him include:

• upside down
• in the rear of the yard
• 3' from the rear of house
• facing the house
• simply on the property
• right-side up
• in the front yard
• exactly 12" deep
• facing away from the house
• when sold remove, etc., etc.

I guess you can pick and choose from these based on how much snow happens to be in your yard.

There is a disclaimer for St. Joseph. "For this practice to be fully effective, however...sellers must, of course, first do such practical yet all important chores, as completing all necessary fix-up, properly staging the home and finally, adjusting the price so as to reflect true market value...". It's refreshing to know that my advice to sellers is at least on the right track (reference my opening paragraph).

If the plastic statue can bring me such good fortune, what else is out there concerning this holy man? Referencing my favorite general information source on the planet, aka Google, I am delighted to find additional real estate help methods with the Saint's name attached:

1 Dressed and Blessed Saint Joseph Candle
1 Statuette of Saint Joseph
1 Bottle Saint Joseph Oil
1 Saint Joseph Chromo Print
1 Saint Joseph Holy Card

I don't know if I will have the opportunity to explore these additional options of serendipity. Nothing against St. Joseph, any other Saint of old or the Catholic church, but I will continue to stick with my belief of provision. I will put my trust in the higher power of God and the work of His Son. In doing this continue to accept guidance and direction concerning life, relationship, love, business...and selling houses.