Cheyenne, WY

Many Beatles fans never had the opportunity to experience a live Beatles show; until now.

A Beatles Tribute Classical Mystery Tour

Saturday, April 30, 2011

7:30 to 9:30 pm

Cheyenne Civic Center

Classical Mystery Tour offers that live experience in the comfort of a concert hall. The four musicians in Classical Mystery Tour look and sound just like the Beatles, but Classical Mystery Tour is more than just a rock concert. The full show presents some 30 Beatles tunes sung, played and performed exactly as they were written.

Hear Penny Lane with a live trumpet section; experience the beauty of Yesterday with an acoustic guitar and string quartet; enjoy rock/classical blend on the hard-edged I Am the Walrus. From early Beatles music on through the solo years, Classical Mystery Tour is the best of The Beatles like you've never heard them, totally live.

Tickets range from $10 -$36 and can be purchased online or by calling 307.778.8561. For more information, click here.

When a real estate agent tells someone that buying a house is a great investment, most people think they are only saying that because it's their job to do so. So because of this, the KCM Crew wanted to offer potential homebuyers with an outside perspective on homebuying being a good investment by gathering information from members of the investment community. This is what they found:

The Wall Street Journal

Jim Woods wrote an article earlier this year for Market Watch, part of the Wall Street Journal’s digital network. Its title: Why your best investment is a house. Mr. Woods compared the investment potential of real estate against other asset classes such as stocks and precious metals. Here was his conclusion.

One reason your best investment right now could be a home has to do with the relative upside of getting in on an asset class while it’s at the bottom versus buying into other asset classes that could be near a top. Consider for a moment the tremendous upside we’ve seen in stocks, precious metals and agricultural commodities over the past 12 months…

If you’re a long-term investor looking to put money to work, now is not really the best time to get into any of these three asset classes. However, with home sales starting to improve, and with prices now possibly forming a bottom, real estate could well be the asset class that represents the best low-risk buying opportunity out there today…

Mr. Woods went on to talk about the financing portion of the purchase:

Yes, mortgage rates still are near historical lows, but if we see these rates rise, then the cost of a new home could climb significantly. So, now could really be the best time to pull the trigger on that home purchase — and it could also be your best investment right now.

Fortune Magazine

Shawn Tully, senior editor at large for Fortune penned an article last week which was titled: Real estate: It’s time to buy again. In the article, Mr. Tully explained:

Forget stocks. Don’t bet on gold. After four years of plunging home prices, the most attractive asset class in America is housing.

Let’s state it simply and forcibly: Housing is back. Two basic factors are laying the foundation for dramatic recovery in residential real estate. The first is the historic drop in new construction … The second is a steep decline in prices, on the order of 30% nationwide since 2006, and as much as 55% in the hardest-hit markets. The story of this downturn has been an astonishing flight from the traditional American approach of buying new houses to an embrace of renting. But the new affordability will gradually lure Americans back to buying homes. And the return of the homeowner will start raising prices in many markets this year.

So what can we take from this? That real estate agents aren't just there to tell you to buy real estate property because it's their job. Even those who are in the financial industry are leaning towards real estate being a good investment.

St. Patricks day may have come and gone, but are you still feeling the urge to go green? Here are 8 easy ways to green your home provided by CNNMoney.com:

1. Be wise about windows. By putting windows in the right places, you can benefit from the most old-fashioned kind of solar power. Homes in the northern part of the country with most of its windows facing the sout will collect more light, and therefore more heat in the winter.

2. Ventilate and if circulate. The key to keeping cool in the summer without cranking the air condition is to force warm air out of your house as quickly as possible. vents in the attic space, combined with insulation in the ceiling below, keep the cool air downstairs from being warmed by the pocket of hot air above.

3. Insulate. Upgrading the insulation in your home can cut your heating bills by as much as 20%.

4. Get a zone defense. Thermostats are now as smart as your iPod. You can program them to respond to your use patterns, which will cut your energy bills by nearly 10% (according to data from Energy Star).

5. Renewable energy. Even though you may not be putting a wind turbine in your backyard anytime soon, in many areas it is possible to sign up with an electricity provider that gets its juice from renewable sources, often including wind.

6. Size does matter. The average American home occupies about 2,500 square feet compared to 1,700 in 1977. But try to fight the urge to go big and build high. A smaller, well-proportioned house is easier to heat and to cool. Keep these tips in mind: A kitchen should match how you cook. Unless you plan to cook up 7-course meals every night, a kitchen that is about 20 feet long, will be most convenient. And bedrooms are for beds and designed around the spot you sleep, not around a sitting area you will most likely not use as much.

7. Reuse and remodel. A house that you fix up will probably be much greener than anything you may build in its place. You will consume a lot of energy and materials putting up a new structure. By tearing a home down, all the stuff that went into building the old house will go to waste.

8. All about the eaves. A roof should overhang walls by at least one foot. This will keep the sun off windows and exteriors, which will help the house stay cool in the summer. This will also protect siding from bad weather, which may allow you to go twice as long between repaintings or re-sidings.

Join the Cheyenne COMEA House for their 4th Annual

"Empty Bowls" Event

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Holiday Inn

(204 West Fox Farm Road, Cheyenne)

5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Enjoy soup, bread and a beverage, as well as a "bowl" for $10. This even is to help raise money for the homeless by bidding on their silent auction items including artwork from local artisits and an IPOD TOUCH.

All proceeds to benefit the COMEA House and Resource Center.

Tickets are $10.00 and available at COMEA House, from the COMEA Board Members and at the door.

1. Choose a listing agent. This is the person who will represent you and have a fiduciary responsibility to look out for your best interest.
2. Get your home ready for sale. Start by cleaning, decluttering and improving your curb appeal. Hire a professional stager to stage your home or ask your agent for help in staging. Also, be sure to make any necessary repairs.
3. Figure out how much your home is worth. Don't make the mistake over over pricing your home. Price your home in line with recently sold homes that have the same features as yours. Also consider whether your market is cold, hot or neutral and price accordingly.
4. Market your home. Sit down with your agent and agree on an advertising/marketing plan to sell your house. Be sure to take quality pictures and make them available for buyers to see.
5. Show your home. Keep in mind you will probably get more showings if you let your agent use a 'lockbox' rather than have to make appointments. Selling in the spring rather than winter will showcase your home better and ask potential buyers for feedback so you can adjust your price, conditions or marketing campaigns accordingly.
6. Receive purchase offers and negotiate. Make sure your potential buyer follows the correct procedures for writing a purchase offer. Even if an offer comes in low, negotiate by issuing a counter offer. Don't be afraid to make a full-price counter offer if you are priced competitively and prepare yourself for multiple offers if you are priced right.
7. Open escrow / order title. Your agent or transaction coordinator will open escrow and order a title policy for you. Write down contact information for the closing agent and select a date to close based on when the buyer's loan will go through.
8. Schedule an appraiser appointment. Clean your house the day before the appraiser is set to arrive and if an appraisal comes through low, ask your agent about alternatives.
9. Cooperate with home inspection. Ask your agent to provide you with a home inspection checklist so you can prepare yourself.
10. Deliver seller disclosures. All homes in the US are subject to lead-based disclosures. Disclose any material facts you are aware of.
11. Negotiate requests for repair. A seller does not necessarily need to accept a buyer's request for repair, but keep in mind that a buyer can generally cancel their offer then. If you choose not to make repairs, a buyer may request a closing cost credit instead.
12. Sign the title / escrow documents. This may happen shortly after opening escrow or near the closing.
13. Close escrow. Your property deed, re-conveyance and deed of trust will record in public records and Title will notify you and your agent when it records. Depending on what is specified in the contract, you may be required to move on the day it closes.