Smart Living in Denver

 When should I buy my new home in the Denver CO metro area?

 What home types qualify for the tax credit?

Any home that will be used as a principal residence will qualify for the credit.  This includes single-family detached homes, attached homes like townhouses and condominium, manufctured homes (also known as mobile homes), and houseboats.

I am selling my home and buying another.  Do I qualify for any of the tax money?

There is an additional tax credit for repeat or move-up buyers.  Purchasers may be eligible to receive up to a $6,500 incentive to buy their next home.  You need to have lived in the same principal residence for 5 consecutive years during the 8-year period that ends when the new home is purchased.

Do I have to pay this money back? 

For homes purchased in 2009 or 2010, the credit does not have to be paid back unless the home ceases to be the taxpayer’s main residence within a three-year period following the purchase.  Should you move in two years after purchasing your home, you will have to give back the amount of the credit you received.

How much can I receive?

The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the home’s purchase price up to a maximum of $8,000.  Therefore, if the purchase price of the home is $80,000, you would receive $8,000.  If the purchase price is $50,000, you would receive $5,000 and if the purchase price of the home is $150,000, you would receive $8,000.

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Does anyone really know? Some economists are talking about an on-going housing market downturn in 2010. Others are much more optomistic. A new report, the RPX Monthly Housing Marketing Report released by Radar Logic, shows that with the continued goverment incentives for both home buyers and sellers and the affordability of housing prices, the market will stablize in 2010.

This report also believe that household incomes will also begin to stablize in the second or third quarter, after unemployment peaks.

There are still a number of distressed properties that the banks have not yet released onto the market. These will be gradually introduced to avoid drastically reducing home prices even more.

“If efforts to ease foreclosure can and do succeed, there could be significant recovery in housing values in 2010,” says Michael Feder, President and CEO of Radar Logic. “Inventories are close to the norm of six months’ supply and prices have returned to 2003/2004 levels. Activity is much stronger than normal for this time of year, and there is evidence of qualified buyers waiting on the sidelines. If we can put an end to the financially-driven weakness, it may well be time for housing values to go up,” Feder says.

What this means to you is that it is still a great time to buy a home and as we go through 2010, being a seller will also be possible.

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Denver homes sometimes present storage issues.  Older Denver areas have great homes, but little closet or extra storage space.  Is storage space a problem in your home? Is the crunch of clutter overwhelming your life? Consider these creative solutions.

For starters, make sure furniture is doing double duty. Invest in ottomans with hidden storage to stash remote controls and blankets and a coffee table with drawers or a bottom shelf to hold magazines. Consider putting a chest in the foyer to store sports equipment and shoes or installing coat hooks on the wall to free up more hall closet space.

Boxes and jars are your best friends when it comes to organizing your odds and ends. Group like items together — such as old letters, cards or photos — and store in colorful boxes. Label the outside of the box so you know what’s inside, and use the same trick to organize shoes.

Think tall. Choose vertical, not horizontal, bookshelves to conserve space, and display framed photos or artwork on the upper shelves where access isn’t as important. Put frequently used items, such as recipe books, CDs or DVDs, on bottom shelves.

Make better use of the space under your bed with clear bins for storing extra linens or off-season clothing (put clothes in vacuum- sealed bags to conserve even more space). If your bed doesn’t have much space underneath, consider putting it on risers.

In the kitchen, hang pots on an overhead rack rather than stowing them in cupboards, and put frequently used utensils like spatulas and whisks in an easily accessible vase on the counter.

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Winter Watering in the Denver Colorado Area

Even though we have rain and snow in the fall and winter months, most years it is not enough to prevent damage to lawns, trees and perennials.

Your lawn and garden need some “winter water”.  Areas around your home in southern or western facing locations are prone to need a little extra.  Pay particular attention to moisture between October and March.  Your plants can actually become damaged if they do not receive sufficient moisture.

You should only water when the air and soil temperatures are above 40 degrees and the areas have no snow cover.  Water trees around the roots.  Mature trees have a root spread about equal to their height so watering out from the base is essential.

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New Homebuyer Tax Credit for More Buyers

President Obama today signed legislation to extend and expand the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit that had been set to expire at the end of the month. These changes are included in the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009.

The extension for the first-time home buy states home purchase contracts must be entered into by April 30, 2010 and closed by June 30, 2010. For owners of existing homes who are purchasing a new principal residence — if they have lived in their current residence for at least five consecutive years of the past eight years.

Income eligibility limits were also increased to $125,000 for individuals and $225,000 for married couples. Previous limits were $75,000 and $150,000. The home purchased must cost less than $800,000 to qualify the homebuyer for the tax credit. Buyers are required to attach documentation of the home purchase to their tax return to prevent fraud.

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Denver Colorado is green again!  It’s summertime.  However, it is also time to pay attention to the amount of water we are using in the Denver Metro area.

The City of Denver has mandatory watering restrictions.  You should check to see who provides your water, as different cities have different rules and regulations, but the City of Denver rules are practical and easy to follow. 

Beginning the 1st of May and continuing through the 1st of October, you may not water your lawn between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm.  This allows less evaporation and does not burn the leaves and flowers (roses especially) of some plants, as water droplets can act as a magnifying glass for the sun’s rays. If you have a healthy lawn, watering two days a week should be sufficient.  Your lawn may need an extra day during dry spells or prolonged periods of extreme heat.

Perennial flowers and shrubs need only about half the water as a lawn.  When planning a flower bed, choose plants that are drought tolerant.  Any good nursery can help you pick them out, or  check out internet sites like www.Denverwater.org or www.ext.Colostate.edu - Colorado State University’s Extension Program, for a list of drought tolerant plants.

Vegetable gardens are best watered using a type of irrigation system.  This could be a drip system or soaker hose.  Vegetable gardens need about the same amount of water as a lawn does. 

Following these plans will give you a wonderful lawn to play or relax on, wonderful flowers to enjoy and food to eat.

Happy Watering!

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View our Denver area Photo Slide Show

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Click on a Denver area photo thumbnail below to view a larger version:

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