This was on Fox Business News a couple of days ago. It is really good news for Denver homeowners. It’s a short YouTube video. It’s nice to hear, on national news, that we are doing well. There is lots of hope! It’s 2012 – we’re ready for a wonderful year!
Posted by: Marilyn Van Steenberg
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Posted by: Marilyn Van Steenberg
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What is green in Denver, Colorado?
When I was studying the get my real estate Eco-Broker designation, a friend sent an email to me about life in the “good old days”. I realized that like beauty, green is in the eyes of the beholder. This blog is meant to educate, supply resources and to be a little thought-provoking.
This is what green meant to me when I was growing up in Denver, Colorado.
Today’s generation blames the older generations for using up the earth’s resources, for not paying attention to the environment, wasting water and energy. But, did they?
Milk, soda and beer came in bottles that were always returned. As a kid, we made our spending money by returning empty bottles. There were no plastic or aluminum cans. The same bottles just kept recycling back on the market.
We lived in the suburbs, so no one walked to the grocery store, but my dad had an MGTD which got many miles to the gallon, my mom a station wagon, but not with a V-8 engine in it.
When my children were born, there were no disposable diapers, we used baby bottles, my children wore hand-me downs, they wore tennis shoes not sport shoes and they walked to school, without an adult.
When I lived in Germany as a teen-ager, my mother took her own grocery bags to the stores. The stores didn’t provide bags for customers. As a result of that experience, she took her own plastic bags back to the store each time to recycle. Re-usable shopping bags are not a new thing, just a new generation.
Very few people had dryers. Everything was dried on a clothes line, using wind and solar power to dry them.
We had a black phone with a rotary dial. The phone company owned the phone and when it broke, they fixed it – for free. We had TV, but just one set and it was black and white. It wasn’t until I had been married almost ten years that we actually had a color TV. No remote, no cable, no DVD players, no TIVO or Wii. We had to get up to change the channel. There were three stations plus PBS. No using much energy in my house for entertainment.
So, what is green? It’s different for everyone. In this blog I would like to share new innovations, some simple fixes for those 50s ranch homes, ideas in gardening and landscaping in the hopes that you can live more simply and comfortably.
Posted by: Marilyn Van Steenberg
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And, good news for the Real Estate Industry.
New starts by private developers were up down a bit in October of 2011, but 16.5% above the starts in October of 2010. These numbers are the latest from the U.S. Commerce Department. Builder confidence is at its highest level since May of 2010.
Today’s well-qualified home buyers are purchasing new homes. This is partly due to the poor showings in the stock market as well as the very low interest rates. Builders are also offering inviting incentives to attract new home buyers.
If you are in the market for a new home, please contact your Realtor® as the builder will not give you the extra representation that you need. Remember, the home builder is the seller and the new home developments are staffed by agents for the seller.
There are a number of green communities around the country, and several in Denver, CO. Some are new, and some have been around for quite a while. More and more homes are being built-green and homeowners are looking for ways to make their homes more efficient when remodeling.
The Smart Communities Network is a great place to go for information on the green building industry. Read about their philosophie and look at the building ideas. Whether you are looking for a new home or doing remodeling on your current home this is a useful resource.
One of the earliest socially aware communities in Denver as well as nationally was developed by the Mile High Housing Co-op. It has been environmentally concerned and active since 1950. It is a good example of a socially conscience and sustainable community. The homes were well designed on the lots with a park in the middle, a community garden, tennis courts and a small outdoor theater. It is located just off Dahlia Street, south of Evans and north of Yale.
The neighborhood design was the work of well-known architect, Eugene Sternberg. He and a group of professors from the University of Denver formed the co-op. There are 32 homes located around the park. It’s a quiet neighborhood tucked away from prying eyes. It is in unincorporated Arapahoe County and the children go to Cherry Creek Schools.
Highline Crossing, in Littleton, is another early environmentally aware community. There is a community center and community garden. No cars allowed in the main housing area which makes it a great place for children to play and neighbors to socialized. The neighborhood reminds me a little of the small towns in Mexico. There is liberal use of stucco and wood.
Arvada boasts a new community called Geos. All of the homes are heated and cooled using thermal energy from the sun and earth.
These are affordable communities. I believe in the future, more of these will become the standard.
Posted by: Marilyn Van Steenberg
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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.
Posted by: Marilyn Van Steenberg
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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.
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.
