Stacie Staub

Last Friday I went along with my son's kindergarten class on a Field Trip to Miller Farm - which is located in Platteville, CO - not too far East of I-25. What a great day - just chilly enough to feel like fall, but warm enough for the kiddos to leave their jackets in the car so that we didn't end up carrying them - and a blue sky that made for great pictures!

We go to a Pumpkin farm every year as a family to let the kids choose their carving pumpkins off the vine, but Miller Farm was a whole new experience - they piled the kids onto a huge hay wagon pulled by a tractor and then stopped in the middle of a huge field - indian corn, broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onions, peas, beans, zucchini, butternut squash....it was really amazing. Each kid took a big burlap bag and were set free to wander the fields and harvest whatever they wanted. It was so cool to watch them digging in the dirt for a hard-earned potato, yanking the carrots out by their green leafy stems, jumping to reach a good-looking ear of corn high up on the stalk...they were so into it, and it made me realize that most of these kids had probably never even seen how vegetables grow - and what an important lesson this is.

We often go to Farmer's Markets to get local produce, but I think that even then the kids don't realize how important each vegetable is - and how it needed so much work and tending to create it.

After the kids had filled their bags, and chosen a special pumpkin out of the field, we loaded the produce into the car and took a break for lunch before playing on the bicycle-tractors, the huge dirt mound with sliding carpets, and the huge bouncy pad that seemed to grow right out of the ground - they also got to ride in a little train and climb on a big old fire truck - no ride coupons required!

Most of the kids in my car fell asleep on the ride back to school, they were so worn out. We went home that night and made 2 big pans of roasted veggies. Hudson and Elliot chopped the vegetables (only one minor little owie) and spread them on baking sheets with olive oil, rock salt and black pepper - and we enjoyed them for a few days in several different dishes - really yummy!

We will definitely go back to Miller Farms, what a great experience!

Wall Street's in turmoil, having taken its biggest hit since 9/11 with a 500 point drop, but things are looking stable for Denver's Real Estate market, according to the Denver Post:

Colorado's largest mortgage lender is making it easier for homebuyers to borrow money.

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage on Saturday upgraded the status of the Denver metropolitan area's real-estate market from "distressed" to "stable."

"The fundamentals in the Denver market are changing," said Greg Osborne, regional vice president of the mortgage company. "Inventory is being worked down, and as a result, prices are stabilizing."

There were 24,648 homes on the market last month, a 20 percent drop from August 2007's 30,827 homes, according to data released last week.

The improved status of the market means consumers can borrow 5 percent more than they previously could, Osborne said.

"I am hopeful that it will stimulate demand by increasing confidence in our market," he said. "We may have led the nation into the doldrums, but we're again leading out of the doldrums."

Jim Theye, managing broker for Kentwood City Properties, said the move could signal that the market has hit bottom and is showing signs of improvement.

"This will really help buyer confidence, and it will really help rekindle a positive market," Theye said. "Our brokerage is definitely seeing increased activity."

Dee Chirafisi, also of Kentwood City, said she expects other lenders to follow Wells Fargo's lead.

"If they loosen up on some of the guidelines and make it easier for people to get loans, that will start activating the market," she said.

Lou Barnes, owner of Boulder West Financial Services, said the negative perception of Denver's market has been misplaced.

Barnes points to the PMI Mortgage Insurance Co.'s risk index, which says Denver has a 1 percent chance of home prices falling. That's far better than the 35 percent chance of prices falling that PMI forecast for the region in 2003.

"Despite Denver's high foreclosure count, as a matter of price decline and underwriting risk, our greatest exposure was at the moment the tech bubble blew back in 2002," Barnes said.

Jerry Kaplan, vice president of capital markets for Cherry Creek Mortgage, said the Denver market has been stable since June.

"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac removed Denver from their declining-market list several months ago," Kaplan said. "There are certain pockets around the area that have a higher concentration of foreclosures, which in that immediate area is driving prices down."

The Standard & Poor's/ Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index dropped 15.4 percent for the one-year period that ended in June. Denver, however, was down only 4.7 percent for the period and has shown three straight months of price growth.

Arvada's annual Harvest Festival is September 6 - and if you're looking for old-time fun, one of the longest parades that you have ever seen, and some yummy treats, head on down to Olde Town Arvada!

The committee has definitely stepped it up this year - check out their new website!

There is a Spelling Bee, a Kids Parade, a Teddy Bear Picnic, and tons more to do at this all-day event.

The Sunnyside Music Fest is back next weekend with great music, shopping and eating, as well as fun stuff for the kiddos and cute new merchandise.

Stop by the LIVE Urban booth and say hi - we will be there throughout the event, from 10 am to 8 pm at Chaffee Park, which is at 44th and Tejon.

Get your Sunnyside groove on!

I have been happily surprised over the last few days to see that many of the bank-owned listings on the market are - wait for it - nice!

I have several buyers looking in a comfy first-time homebuyer price range under $140,000. There has been no shortage of listings to show them, but most of them were vacant, dirty, full of trash, etc. It may be easy for a seasoned investor to see beyond the yuck and envision what a few thousand dollars and some sweat could do for a place, but for first-time homebuyers looking for that first step onto the property ladder, it's more difficult. They are used to looking at and living in tidy little rental units that are professionally cleaned for showings and move-ins. It's got to be a bit discouraging to look at house after house filled with the foreclosees left-behinds.

But, just in the last couple of weeks, I have seen a DRASTIC improvement in new bank-owned listings in this price range. Are banks and their listing agents finally realizing that spending a few hundred dollars to have the house cleaned up and the trash hauled away is well worth it? I bet they are - because several of these shiny new listings have only been on the market a few days and they already have multiple offers.

Hopefully the rest of these lenders will get on board, because even if a house is really out-dated and missing appliances, it's way easier for Buyers to picture new paint and carpet if the house isn't knee-deep in garbage!

If you are a Buyer stuck in a price range with nothing but bank-owned properties, try to keep the following in mind:

- One rough day of clean-up might save you thousands of dollars off of the purchase price!

- Prices in a lot of areas right now are 25% lower than they were at this time last year. That savings will buy a lot of paint!

- Go look at some Open Houses in the area that have been "flipped" or that are at least in great shape - this will help you see what that little foreclosed on, outdated house can look like with a little time and money!