Climate Change, Our Planet’s Most Pressing Issue

Colorado has been blessed with probably the least impact of climate change, but eventually it will catch up with us.  Meanwhile, we watch, stunned, not only by the tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires and flooding in other sections of the country, but also by the failure of the major networks to mention climate change as the culprit and to point out that it will only get worse over time.

Over 5 years ago, in 2014, the headline on my column was “We May Have Already Passed the Tipping Point on Climate Change.”  Here is what I wrote back then:

Each January, political leaders shower us with speeches on the State of the Union, the State, the City and other jurisdictions.  No one presents a State of the Planet speech, but if someone did, I suspect climate change would be topic #1 — and for good reason.

My friend and mentor, Steve Stevens, sent me a chart (below) showing the decline in late summer Arctic sea ice. It’s a wake-up call regarding climate change.

I don’t have a degree in science, but I do understand science enough to know this chart’s significance.

If you studied any science — or own an automobile — you know that white surfaces reflect solar heat, whereas dark surfaces (open ocean, for example) absorb it. The loss of sea ice does not just indicate global warming, it accelerates it, which makes one worry whether it’s already too late to reverse the effects of human-caused global warming.

Climate change deniers may celebrate the fact that the Arctic Ocean is becoming increasingly navigable in the summer, but they need to connect the dots between global warming and the whipsawing we now see in our day-to-day weather. 

I’d be curious to see the statistics on how many times the network news programs featured severe weather reports in 2013 versus previous years.  I can’t remember an evening in which weather wasn’t a major or lead story.

Our earth’s climate has been de-stabilized. Had you heard of the polar vortex before this year?  I hadn’t.  The uninformed will say that our cold weather proves that the earth is not warming, but how naïve is that?  It’s global warming that is causing extremes, both of temperature and precipitation — which is caused by warming. I don’t hear them questioning El Nino, in which natural changes in ocean temperature affect climate.

Is there time to reverse this situation?  Maybe not. But we certainly don’t have time to debate its existence with climate change deniers.

[End of my 2014 column]

Night after night, we see news reports of unprecedented severe weather around the country, but rarely is the connection to climate change mentioned. Our president’s failure to address climate change may be part of his legacy.

Finding the Right Senior Living Community for You Can Be Confusing!

Buying and selling a single family home can be confusing enough, but it pales in  comparison to shopping for the best senior living community.

According to Jenn Gomer of CarePartrol (more about her later in this article), there are no fewer than 400 senior communities in the Denver metro area, and the variety of living options and business models can be overwhelming.

There are pure rental facilities and rentals with buy-ins. The size and terms of those buy-ins can vary greatly, too.  Some facilities are on a campus with continuous care options as your health changes, ranging from independent living to assisted living to nursing home care, to memory care to hospice.  Personally, I like the idea of not having to move again if my health changes, but not all senior communities include that feature.

Financing, of course, is a huge consideration. If you own your current home and have lots of equity in it (little or no mortgage), that can provide a nest egg that could hopefully outlive you, if managed correctly and spent on the right facility. But not everyone has that luxury.

It’s important to get the right advice from someone who is not looking to drain more of your limited funds. We think we have found that person in Jenn Gomer. Jenn and her associates at CarePatrol don’t charge for their services.  Jenn’s company is paid by the communities that she helps you visit, analyze and ultimately select. She has all the important information about those 400 senior communities that I mentioned above. She knows their safety records, their health records, their reputation in the industry, their financial conditions, their charges, their amenities, and so much more.

If you own a home which you’ll want to sell, it makes sense to bring Jenn and me together to meet with you in your home and discuss your options.

Everyone’s situation is different. Let us learn your specific needs and wants. If working with Golden Real Estate and/or CarePatrol isn’t a good fit for you, we’re going to tell you so. Such a meeting carries no obligation to work with either of us.

Call me at 303-525-1851 to arrange such a meeting.

Readability of Websites, Emails and Even Your Phone Screen Can Become an Issue as You Age

Why would someone create a website and not make it readable?

I have a pet peeve that I need to get off my chest. I call it the “graying of the internet.”  Here are some examples:

> Website designers are fond of using sans serif fonts in smaller sizes and 50% black — in other words gray! Here is an extreme example from one such website:

Why would anyone create a website, then make it hard to read? 

> The default font for many email programs such as Outlook, which I use, is 11 pt. Calibri, which looks like this:  

At least it is black, not gray, and it looks big enough.  On a computer screen, however, there’s no need for type to be so small.  I changed the default on my outgoing emails to 14 pt. Georgia, the most readable serif font.

> The default font on the iPhone can be made more readable. Under Settings, click General, then Accessibility.

I’ve created a web page, www.ReadabilityYes.info, with instructions for changing the default font on four popular email programs — Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, AOL and Mail.

What Is Negotiated When You Purchase a Home? More Than You Might Think!

It’s easy to assume that the main (or only) negotiation in the sale or purchase of a home is the contract price, but it turns out that there’s a lot more negotiation — both before and after going under contract.

Most contracts are or should be countered, and not accepted as written. For example, there are 39 different deadlines in the standard contract — everything from when the earnest money check is delivered to when the buyer gets to take possession.

If the seller is given extended possession after closing, will it be free, and who pays the utilities?  It’s all negotiated.

If a contract falls, it’s usually because of inspection issues, so the seller will want that inspection deadline to be as early as possible — preferably within 5 to 7 days. And there are other deadlines which allow a buyer to terminate and get his earnest money back, so a good listing agent will make sure they are reasonable. For example, I have seen contracts in which the deadline for terminating based on the acceptability of insurance costs is a week prior to closing. That’s ridiculous, because it takes only a couple days to get that quote.

The second big negotiation in any transaction is over inspection issues. Some buyers will want to have the seller fix every single problem identified by their inspector. (Once my seller received an inspection objection notice that didn’t even itemize the problems but said, “Seller shall fix everything listed in the attached inspection report.”)

Negotiating what the seller will and will not fix and what the seller might give as a credit in lieu of certain repairs is different in every transaction, and your agent’s experience in handling that process can be critical in obtaining a favorable outcome, whether you’re the buyer or the seller.

As I have written before, I advise my sellers not  to fix many of the known problems prior to putting their house on the market, but to save some of them as bargaining chips during the negotiation over inspection issues. Getting a back-up contract in place also helps with negotiating inspection issues. If the buyer is asking for an unreasonable number of repairs, I’ll provide those demands and the buyer’s inspection report to the back-up buyer. Often that back-up buyer will agree not to ask for any of those repairs, giving the seller the ability to tell buyer #1 that he won’t fix anything. This can be an effective technique.

Having multiple offers presents a great opportunity for negotiating matters that are important to the seller.  For example, a downsizing seller may have lots of furniture he’d like to sell. Rather than have an estate sale, I recommend making a list, with prices, of the items “for sale outside of closing,” and leaving it on the kitchen counter for every visiting buyer to see.  Many times I have been able to have the winning bidder include in their contract that they will purchase everything on that list at the prices shown. In a recent case, the buyer asked that all the purchased furniture be moved to the garage prior to closing — a sure sign that they bought the furniture only so they would win the winning war for the house!

If the home doesn’t appraise for the contract price, the buyer can demand a price reduction on threat of terminating the contract. Since the appraisal deadline is usually very close to the closing date, the seller may feel compelled to accept the price reduction rather than lose the contract.  But a good listing agent knows that the same reluctance exists for the buyer, so oftentimes the seller can negotiate little or no price reduction.

Do You Practice Sustainability? Home Renovation Can Be Done Sustainably, Too

Tonight is the fifth in Golden Real Estate’s Sustainability Series. Previous sessions were about home insulation (January), home heating technology (February), solar power (March), and electric cars (April).

This month, the topic is sustainable renovation. Our presenter is an expert in sustainable practices when it comes to home renovation.  His name is Steve Stevens, and he has been my mentor regarding sustainable practices for nearly two decades.

A retired scientist from Bell Labs, Steve has made a lifelong project, it seems, out of reducing the carbon footprint of his 1970s brick ranch in South Golden.

Retired and living on a fixed income, he has developed several habits/practices that are not only sustainable but also have saved him a boatload of money.

For example, he only buys cull lumber from Lowe’s, and he buys returned products (typically mis-ordered) such as windows  and doors, which are then sold for a fraction of their original price.

Steve also seeks out salvaged goods such as windows and doors. As with buying cull lumber and returned products, collecting salvaged products means zero new carbon footprint for doing your renovation. 

Steve, being a scientist by training and passion, always considers the embedded carbon footprint of products, whether it’s food or building materials. How much energy is used to transport the goods you purchase?  For example, are you buying slab granite mined and shipped from Asia, or an alternative material mined or created closer to home?

Steve will share his shopping and construction tips that save money and are also sustainable.

For example, he emphasizes insulation, which should always be your first measure when it comes to saving energy. But what products should you buy, and where should you start?

The session will be held tonight, May 16th, from 5 to 6 pm in the Golden Real Estate office at 17695 S. Golden Road, Golden. There are still seats available. Reserve yours by emailing me at Jim@Golden RealEstate.com. 

Each of our sessions is video recorded by our friend, Martin Voelker, from the Colorado Renewal Energy Society.  You can watch videos of the first four sessions at Sustain-abilitySeries.info.  This session will also be recorded and posted there.

Lookout Mountain 2-Story Has Walk-Out Basement

This 2-story home with walkout basement at 494 Mount Vernon Circle is in the Paradise Hills neighborhood, less than one mile from I-70. It was just listed for $825,000.

It is perched high on a hillside with terrific views of Mt. Vernon Canyon and beyond. The interior was updated last month with refinished hardwood floors, new paint, and new Stainmaster carpet with a lifetime transferrable warranty. This home shows really well! The main floor features a large master suite with 5-piece bath and walk-in closet, a great room with gas fireplace, vaulted ceilings and large south-facing windows, and a study with connected 3/4 bathroom which could serve as a second main-floor bedroom. Upstairs you’ll find a large loft and two guest bedrooms sharing a full bath. The walkout basement has a bedroom, 3/4 bathroom, recreation room, and a large storage room which could be made into another office or workshop.  View a narrated video tour on the MLS or at www.ParadiseHillsHome.info, then call your agent or broker associate Chuck Brown at 303-885-7855 for a private showing.  Open on Saturday, May 18th, 11 to 3.

5-BR Littleton Ranch Has a Finished Basement

This 2,963-sq.-ft. brick ranch at 8006 S. Vance Court is in the Columbine Knolls South subdivision, north of Chatfield Ave. between Wadsworth & Pierce. It was just listed for $498,000.

It has four bedrooms and 2½ baths on the main floor, plus a 5th bedroom and 3/4 bath in the basement, along with a rec room and plenty of unfinished storage. It’s a super quiet location, as you’ll observe on the narrated video that you can view at www.ColumbineKnollsHome.info.  Some features that caught my attention include the three Solatubes and one skylight bringing natural light into the home’s interior spaces, including the kitchen, plus the beautiful family room with rock fireplace and vaulted ceiling. Watch that video tour, then call your agent or me for a private showing — or come to our open house this Saturday, May 18th, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Updated Golden Tri-Level Home Backs to Greenbelt

This 3-bedroom, 2½-bath home at 491 Somerset Drive is in the Lakota Hills subdivision, also known as Eagle Ridge. It was just listed for $638,000.

It sits on top of a ridge overlooking Rooney Gulch and offering unobstructed views of Lookout Mountain.  It has been beautifully updated with slab granite countertops, new stainless steel appliances, new carpeting and paint throughout. The sellers purchased it earlier this year, but personal developments make it necessary for them to sell it.  Their loss is your gain. Take a narrated video tour, including drone footage, at www.SouthGoldenHome.com, then ask for a private showing. I’ll be holding it open this coming Sunday, May 19th, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Or call me at 303-525-1851 for a private showing.

Here’s What You Need to Know About Appealing the Assessor’s Valuation of Your Home

By the time this column appears in print, all Denver and Jefferson County homeowners will have received in the mail a letter from their County Assessor declaring the “Actual Value” of their real estate holdings. The same is happening in all Colorado counties. The letters give taxpayers until June 3rd to file an appeal of that valuation which, if successful, could lower the “Assessed Value” (explained below) against which taxes will be levied for 2019 and 2020.

Property taxes in Colorado are paid in arrears, which means that the property tax for 2019 isn’t payable until April 2020, and the property taxes for 2020 will be payable in 2021. The valuation you just received in the mail, however, is not a statement of your home’s current value.  Rather, it is a statement of your home’s market (or “Actual”) value as of June 30, 2018, based on its condition on January 1, 2019.

In other words, if your house was significantly improved between June 30, 2018 and January 1, 2019, the assigned value should be what your home in its new condition would have been able to sell for on June 30, 2018, based on what comparable homes did sell for prior to that date. (You may need to read these two paragraphs a few times!)

The good news is that even though your home’s value has continued to increase since last June and will likely continue to rise for the next year or two, you will only pay property taxes for the next two years based on what it might have sold for in June of last year.

Nevertheless, many of us (me included) are going to be shocked at how much the assessor claims our homes have increased in value.

Additional good news for homeowners is that, because of both TABOR and the Gallagher Amendment — too complicated for me to explain here — the percentage of “Actual Value” against which your local mill levy will be applied keeps going down—from 21% of actual value in 1982 to 7.15% today. That percentage creates the “Assessed Value.”

To keep it simple, here’s an example using round numbers. If the assessor said the market value of your home as of June 30, 2014 was $500,000, your “Assessed Value” was 7.96% of that, which equaled $39,800.  If your mill levy was 100, then your tax bill was $3,980 (100 x 39.8).  Let’s say your home’s “Actual Value” as of June 30, 2018 rose to $600,000, a 20% increase. Your new “Assessed Value” is 7.15% of that, or $42,900. Thus, your tax bill, at 100 mills, will be $4,290, a 7.8% increase in your property taxes despite a 20% increase in market value. That’s only $90 more than if your home was worth $200,000 in 1982 when the assessment rate was 21%!

And it gets even better. Unless the voters in a particular tax district voted to “de-Bruce” the mill levy, that tax district must lower its mill levy as much as necessary to keep its revenue from increasing beyond TABOR limits based on population growth plus any increase in the cost of living.

Nevertheless, since your property taxes are the sum of multiple mill levies from various districts, that hypothetical rate of 100 mills that I used above might actually be lower this year, further reducing your property tax bill.

Here are two key points you must keep in mind when appealing the valuation assigned to your home by the Denver assessor:

1) You can only appeal the assessor’s valuation by citing comparable sales during the 24 months prior to June 30, 2018. Unless your home was mischaracterized (wrong neighborhood, style, etc.), all eligible comps are listed under “Comparables” on the assessor’s web page for your home.

2) You must “age” every comp you cite in your appeal by about 1% per month, since the median increase in our residential property values was about 24% over that 24-month period.  Thus, if a comp sold in January 2018 for $500,000, you can’t cite it as a comp at that price, but must increase that price by 6% to obtain its value as of June 30, 2018.

To find your home on the Denver assessor’s website, visit http://www.denvergov.org/property and enter your address. When your property is displayed, then click on the address and you’ll be able to click on a “Comparables” tab where you’ll be able to see exactly how the value of your home (the “Subject” property) was determined against three or more comparable sales identified by address. If you feel that those comps are not truly comparable to your home, you can click on the “Neighborhood Sales” tab and choose three or more other comparable sales and cite those in your appeal. You have to file your appeal by June 3rd.  Over the years, I’ve found in-person appeals to be most successful.

To find your home on the Jefferson County assessor’s website, visit http://assessor.jeffco.us and click on “Prop-erty Records Search” in the lower middle of the screen, then click on “Address” on the left of the screen.  “Sales” is on the top center. This is all explained on a website that I created for Jefferson County appeals, www.HowtoAppealValuations.info.

Many Renters Are Unaware of Programs That Make Homeownership a Possibility

Last week I wrote about the challenges facing buyers who must sell their current home in order to buy a new home and are not sure how to accomplish that.

This week, I’m going to address the different challenges facing renters, including first-time home buyers.

There are many programs for first-time home buyers, but did you know that anyone can qualify as a first-time home buyer if he or she hasn’t owned a home for at least three years? You could have owned many homes in your lifetime, but if you haven’t owned one in the past three years, you can take advantage of these special programs.

A common misconception among people who want to buy a home is that a 20% down payment is required, but that is simply not true. Another misconception is that if you put down less than 20%, you’d be required to pay for mortgage insurance. There are conventional loans available with as little as 3% down that don’t require mortgage insurance. That differs from the 3.5% minimum down payment required for FHA loans which do require mortgage insurance which continues for the life of the loan.

One of our preferred lenders, Scott Lagge of Movement Mortgage, compares the low costs of available programs to what renters pay when they lease a condo or home. Typically, renters need to come up with the first and last month’s rent plus a damage deposit.  Some first-time home buyer programs have out-of-pocket costs as low as $500.  Moreover, your partially tax-deductible mortgage payments could be as low or lower than what you’d pay in totally non-deductible rent.  

When I bought my first home in Golden in 1997, I was single but I had a good friend (also renting) who agreed to rent a room from me if I bought a suitable home. I found a ranch-style home with a walk-out basement that worked perfectly. He lived in the basement, I had a main-floor master suite, and he had access to the kitchen. We both saved money over renting, and I was building equity in my home. This is a formula that can work for anyone – if they have someone they’d like to have living in their basement!

There are programs from CHFA (the Colorado Housing & Finance Authority) that offer a grant of up to a 3% of the first mortgage loan amount, or up to 4% through a “silent” second mortgage that accrues no interest and requires no payment until the first mortgage is paid off, either at maturity, refinance or resale.

Scott claims that the best first-time homebuyer program of all is his company’s Dream to Own Loan.  This loan includes a silent second of 4% of the purchase price to be used for down payment and closing costs. This is the closest thing to a no-money-down loan that Scott’s aware of for first-time buyers.  There’s no mortgage insurance and the rates are competitive.  Call Scott at 303-944-8552 for more details.

Another great option for renters is a rent-with-option-to-buy program which you can read about at www.HomePartners.com.  The way it works is that you only have to qualify to rent a home which that company then purchases so you can rent it.  They’ll pay up to $500,000 for almost any home (except a condo) that’s on the MLS once you agree to rent it at a pre-determined rental amount based on the purchase price.  You can rent the home for up to five years, knowing in advance what your rent will be for all five years, but at any time you can buy that home at a price that is also agreed to in advance. Call Golden Real Estate to apply for this program.

That program is also a good option when your credit isn’t strong enough to buy right away but you know it will be better within five years. You can also use the program for the peace of mind that comes from knowing what you’ll pay in rent for five years and that you won’t have to move.

It’s also a good program for people relocating to our area who see a home they may want to buy but feel better renting it with an option to buy it later on if they like it — but they don’t have to.