Posts by Bill Allen, real estate news
‘Green Living: Saving Energy This Season’
0Fall weather is upon us and we find ourselves switching between the heater and the AC in the same day, driving up the costs of our utility bills. Think green this fall and winter, save the earth and save your money. Winter heating costs have risen in the last few years making it more enticing to go green and be energy efficient this year. 
You may all ready be thinking about going green to save some money, but how do I do get there? Well let me tell you. The first idea is to shop around electric providers. Compare the rate per kwh and see if you could save money by switching companies. The second idea if you have some money to spend is to upgrade your heating source. Yes, there is a large upfront cost, but for most upgrades you will see the return on your investment in a few short years. Upgrades could be things around the home like installing energy efficient windows or upgrading to an energy efficient water heater. You may even receive a tax credit for installing these upgrades.
Don’t have the money to upgrade, don’t sweat it. There are easy tricks that are cheap to save some money on your bill. On a cool night, walk through your house and find if there are and drafts coming from the windows, doors, or attic. Then take a trip to your favorite local hardware store and pick up some supplies for a quick do it yourself fix. You’ll like yourself in January.
You know how cold it gets during the winter, so while the days are still reaching the high 80′s, look into fixing up some things around the home. It will help keep some cash in your wallet.
Bill Allen, Realtor @ RE/MAX of Boulder, ballen@boulderco.com
‘A New Threat to Home Prices’
0CNNMoney reports there is a new threat to home prices. The threat is coming from the culm
ination of all financial issues facing Washington. Between the growing national debt, the harrowing financial markets, and the weaning economic market, signs point to a growing threat against home prices. The issue: home mortgages will feel pressure on prices in high-end markets. New loan limits are coming into play and these limits will mostly affect high-end markets and is said to affect 8% of the total U.S. housing market.
You may be thinking, this will not affect me, this is only about high-end homes, wrong! If expensive homes stop selling, then prices for the houses under them will feel the pressure too. As this issue will fall from high-end to low-end there is threat to the housing market. Experts believe that President Obama will propose a major housing-related stimulus in the coming weeks as part of a broader economic plan. May it be cutting conforming loans or creating more hurdles for ‘jumbo’ loans.
I will be keeping tabs on this story as it progresses.
Bill Allen, broker associate, RE/MAX of Boulder INC, ballen@boulderco.com
’11 Fastest-Moving Real Estate Markets’
0AOL Real Estate just released the 11 *Fastest-moving Real Estate Markets. Two Colorado cities made the list. Follow this link to see who made the list…
Slow, Tired, Gloomy day in Boulder. At least its already Wednesday.
Bill Allen
303.441.5690
billallenboulder.com
RE/MAX of Boulder, INC
*Fastest-Moving real estate markets: The average amount of days that it takes a home that has been put on the market to go under contract.
‘New Mortgage Idea that Can Save the Economy?’ Boulder
0I stumbled on an interesting article today about a new type of loan modification program that has potential to save the economy. Past loan modifications have only left us worse of and now banks are suing banks and the government is handing out money to corporations and now the people are standing up and fighting back, and with a brilliant solution at that.
The idea is for a new loan program that instead of the government to lend out millions of dollars to banks, the banks will just reduce the amount of principal on loans. The statistics are as follows:
“If lenders would reduce all underwater mortgages to their current market value, the nation’s banks could pump $71 billion per year into the economy, create more than 1 million jobs annually and save families up to $6,500 per year on mortgage payments, according to The New Bottom Line, a collaborative of 1,000 faith-based and community organizations who want Wall Street held accountable for the mess it created.” -Ann Brenoff, AOLreal estate
The idea behind this is that by reducing people’s loan payment, it allows them to spend their money on other things such as groceries, clothes, etc. This would cause a spike in consumer demand and businesses would be doing better and lead to prosperity and jobs.
Tell me what you think, could this idea help revive the economy?
Bill Allen is a Realtor in Boulder and works at Remax of Boulder
‘Home Affordability Remains High’ Boulder
0Home Affordability is near record highs (which is a good thing) This rating means that American families are buying homes within their means. The National Association of Home Builders said the affordability of homes sold in the second quarter for 2011 was 72.6%. The national median income is $64,200.
At a time of high affordability it means prosperity, homeowners are purchasing within their limits and with the historic low interest families are getting great deals on homes and will be well financed to make affordable payments. Unfortunately, the high level of affordability has not turned into more sales, actually, the national average of home sales dropped 3.5% in July from June sales.
Bill Allen is a Realtor in Boulder and works at Remax of Boulder
‘New Coat of Paint’
0Have you been thinking about re-painting a room in your home? They say certain colors can define and even enhance your mood. Its a grea low-cost way to spruce up the appearance of your home. Check-out this article about paint colors to help you find the right one for you.
Bill Allen
303.441.5690
billallenboulder.com
RE/MAX of Boulder, INC
‘Another Issue Plaguing the Housing Market’ Boulder
0Through all the ups and downs the housing market has been going through, one key issue is holding the market back from growing. The market IS seeing lots of improvement from a year ago but that is just from housing activity and not the facts. The activity in the market has been growing over the past year but the facts of the matter is that, nationally, we are not improving when it comes to home appraisals and valuation. Home appraisals are the staple to the healthy economy and because of the past few years of poor valuation we are seeing the effects today…Here is why:
Before the housing bust, home appraisals were getting out of hand, making higher valuations than the property was worth. This market characteristic contributed heavily to the housing bust, homes were jumping up 10-16% a year, when on an average year home values are to appreciate between 2-4%. This spike in home values lead to the crash and the appraised values plummeted and over the past 3 years we have seen large de-valuation of homes where they were highly valued.
The home appraisals of today are the effects of the high appraisals and the low home values of the past 3 years. What is happening today is that home valuations are turning up lower than the REAL value of the home. What I mean by REAL value of the home, is that a home may actually be worth $500,000 BUT because of the low appraisals of the past few years, the home that has a REAL value of $500,000 will end up being appraised at a lower value because the appraiser does not have comparable homes to compare it to. And if the appraiser does have homes to appraise it to, they are at a lower price because of the housing bubble bust and the home values of comparables that have sold recently are at a lower price, therefore, causing the home with the REAL value of $500,000 to be valued below its worth at say $450,000.
Now you may be thinking, ok, its valued at $450,000 but im going to put it on the market for the $500,000 because that the real price it should be appraised at. The problem here is 99 out of 100 times a buyer will want to see the most recent home appraisal and if the appraisal says the home is worth $450,000 and not $500,000 (as listed) the buyer will not be willing to go above $450,000 on the home and will end up buying a house down the street and leaving yours on the market for a long long time.
This is a very interesting subject to keep track of, because until home appraisers can figure out a better system to appraise homes, we may be stuck in this downward appraisal turmoil for a long time. The appraisal system has the power to turn the housing market around and bring things back to normal.
I’d love to hear some comments on home owners/ home buyers/ home sellers, and what you think about all of this.
Bill Allen is a Realtor in Boulder and works at Remax of Boulder
’30-year Mortgage Rates Fall Below 4% for the First Time’
0For the first time ever, 30-year mortgage rates fall below 4%. Not to be confused with 15year fixed-rates which hit a 50 year low of 3.26% a few weeks ago, the 30-year mortgages dropped below 4% for the first time in history. The interest rate loan fell to 3.94% this week, the lowest rate since Freddie Mac began tracking it.
These drastic savings are why NOW is the most affordable homes have ever been. If you look at it this way, for every 1% drop in interest rates, it will decrease your monthly payment by almost 10%. Average that 10% drop over 30 years and that’s a substantial savings. Take the example above. If you bought a home for $300,000, you would most likely put $50,000 or more down on the house, leaving a $250,000 mortgage. If you could like in todays rate over the previous 4.6% your savings in payment over the 30 year life of your mortgage would total nearly $35,000.
If you have been thinking about buying a home or re-financing, I would like to hear from the public how the low mortgage rates have affected you. Comments?
Bill Allen, re/max of boulder, ballen@boulderco.com