This private, secluded townhome at 1120 10th Street #G in downtown Golden was just listed by Jim Swanson. The Tenth Street Row Home community has no HOA dues and minimal covenants. Walk one block to Clear Creek, Lions Park, tennis courts and baseball fields. The Golden Public Library is just a block further, and Washington Avenue, with its shops, restaurants and more, is just 4 blocks away! The Golden Rec Center is just 3 blocks in the other direction! The seller-owned solar system fully meets this townhome’s electrical demand and is included in the sale. This home has updated bathrooms, a large living room/dining room area, and bigger than average bedrooms. The primary suite has a private covered deck (visible in the above picture). The home has hot water baseboard heat and is cooled with a newer evaporative cooler. Partly visible above is the fenced 20’x20’ porch and garden area. This is a rare opportunity to live close to everything that makes Golden a great place to live. Take a video tour (with drone footage) below or at www.GoldenTownhome.info. The seller requested no open houses, so call your agent or listing agent Jim Swanson at 303-929-2727 to see it in person.
As you may know, Rita and I sold Golden Real Estate’s former office building on South Golden Road at the end of July. However, part of the contract of sale was that the buyers, Joe & Stacy Fowler of the Golden Hayride, would lease back to us a parking space for our free moving truck and the box shed which holds the free moving boxes we provide to clients.
The new location for the truck and shed is at the northwest corner of their parking lot at 17695 S. Golden Road. Here’s a picture:
We are super impressed with the changes which Joe & Stacy are making to the building and lot. Consistent with their Old West hayride motif, they have completely redone the inside, including installing wood laminate flooring and wood paneling that looks terrific!
Golden Hayride is a familiar site to Golden residents. Below is a picture of them and their truck, which is available for special events. You can catch one of their Beer Tours on their website, www.GoldenHayride.com. Here’s what’s on their calendar: Friday, September 29, Saturday, October 7, Saturday, October 14, Friday, October 20, Saturday, October 21, Saturday, October 28, Saturday, November 4, and Saturday, November 11.
Golden Real Estate has a box truck which we lend free to our clients for moving to or from the homes we sell for them. We also provide free moving boxes and packing materials which we keep in a shed at 17695 S. Golden Road, where the truck is still parked, although we recently sold the building.
We negotiated a 5-year rent-back of a parking space for the truck and the box shed and agreed to move the truck and shed to the far end of the parking lot.
Moving the box shed required hiring Cory of Shed Runners, who has a remote-controlled, purpose-built trailer built specifically for moving sheds much larger than ours. I made a short video (2:40) documenting the move, which you may find interesting. It wasn’t how I expected the shed to be moved.
Golden Real Estate is a Realtor brokerage, meaning that all our agents belong to a local Realtor association and thereby are members of the Colorado Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors.
“Realtor” is a trademark, and only members of a Realtor association can call themselves Realtors. That’s also why Realtor, like Kleenex, should always be capitalized.
It’s estimated that only half of all licensed real estate agents are Realtors, but you have to be a Realtor if you want to work for us or any other Realtor brokerage. All the major franchises are Realtor brokerages, but there are lots of non-Realtor brokerages that an agent can join if he or she wants to avoid the $500+ annual dues to be a Realtor.
So what’s in it for an agent to be a Realtor, paying over $5,000 per decade for the privilege?
First of all, non-Realtors can’t work for a Realtor brokerage such as ours. They’d have to be independent or join a non-Realtor brokerage. Some brokerages, such as HomeSmart, Your Castle, and Resident Realty, have created both Realtor and non-Realtor brokerages with near-identical or identical logos and near identical names so that the average client or prospective client would have no idea that the agent they are speaking with might not be a Realtor.
I feel that’s deceptive advertising, which violates the Realtor Code of Ethics, but non-Realtors aren’t bound by that code. There are benefits to being a NAR member that wouldn’t mean much to consumers. More than that, however, I believe in “paying one’s dues.” All agents benefit from NAR’s lobbying on our behalf and for property rights in general, but only Realtors pay for it. Non-Realtors benefit from that lobbying but are, in effect, getting a free ride.
There’s a growing movement, with good reasons, to eliminate natural gas from our homes. Think carbon monoxide poisoning. Or the bad health effects of inhaling methane. Or home explosions from gas leaks. Or how the use of natural gas (which is methane) contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, exacerbating climate change.
While it’s easy (and financially incentivized by state, federal and utility re-bates) to replace your gas furnace with a ducted or ductless heat pump system and your gas-fired water heater with a heat-pump water heater, many homeowners — myself included when I owned a single-family home — find it hard to accept giving up their gas fireplaces and gas grills.
Rita and I had to give up our gas grill when we moved into an apartment with balcony, but the George Foreman electric grill is a great replacement — and costs less to buy and operate. (You can also use it indoors!) But I didn’t know until recently that there are some fine alternatives if you are willing to give up your gas fireplace.
As an active Realtor, I have seen and listed many homes with electric fireplaces. One of my recently sold listings, which you can still view at www.GreenMountainHome.info, has an electric fireplace sitting on the hearth of the wood-burning fireplace in the basement. Fast forward to 3:45 in that listing’s video tour to see it. The seller explained that the wood-burning fireplace would always overheat the basement, but the electric fireplace can be controlled with a thermostat.
Temperature control is just one of the challenges with wood-burning and most gas fireplaces. I mentioned others in the first paragraph above, but cost of operation is another one. Many people just want the ambiance of a burning fireplace, which you can get for pennies per hour from an electric fireplace, but most electric fireplaces also having heating modes, and if you want heat from it, the electric cost is still less than the cost of gas for an equivalent amount of heat generation.
Much of the heat generated by a gas (or wood) fireplace goes up the chimney, whereas electric fireplaces are unvented and therefore 100% efficient in that respect. No chimney also means no rodents or birds taking up residence in them.
At www.ElephantEnergy.comyou’ll find a web page devoted to electric fireplaces, from which I downloaded the two pictures below. On that page they describe seven different types of electric fireplaces, two of which — an insert and wall-mounted — are shown here.
That web page addresses the following considerations: Lower costs; reduced carbon emissions; increased energy efficiency; improved safety; ambiance options; and model types.
In terms of costs, the web page claims a 30% savings over the cost of a gas fireplace. The electric fireplace generates less heat at lower cost, but when it’s used to supplement, not replace, your central heating or for ambiance, that should be fine. If your home is solar-powered, it can be free. You can’t create gas!
Model types which offer ambiance and/or heating options are broken down as follows:
Pre-fab fireplacescan be either free-standing or wall-mounted and can be plugged into any 120 Volt outlet. They range from $400 to $4,000 depending on the features you want.
Custom fireplacesrequire unique installation and can range in price from $2,000 to $10,000.
Wall-mounted fireplacesresemble flat-screen televisions and can cost as little as $300.
Electric fireplace insertsallow you to make attractive use of your existing fireplace hearth and firebox. According to the website, they range in price from $400 to $3,000.
Recessed electric fireplacesare nice if you’re willing to build out a wall to accommodate the unit’s depth, and can be quite attractive. The design options are limited only by your imagination. Cost can range from $400 to $7,000 or more.
Built-in electric fireplaces are just a variation on the above, but typically include a hearth, mantel and surround. Intended for heating, not just ambiance, they can range from $3,000 to over $10,000.
Water vapor electric fireplacesare my favorite. No one will mistake them for a gas or wood-burning fireplace, but they “spark” elegance and style. That’s the other example included above. They create 3-di-mensional “flames” through the use of water vapor and LED lights. Heating is not an option.
Elephant Energy does not sell fireplaces (or other systems), but they link to ModernBlaze.com, which sells a wide variety of all the types of fireplaces listed above. They offer free shipping and returns and a 10% discount if you sign up for text messages.
If You Want an Actual Flame, Ethanol Is a ‘Green’ Option
Last week I shot a narrated video tour of an all-electric home that will be in October 7’s Metro Denver Green Homes Tour. It’s Michele Merritt’s Lakewood home, and she has two fireplaces that burn liquid ethanol. (Fast forward to 2:33 in my video tour.)
Ethanol fireplacesare the easiest kind to install because they require no venting, construction or electrical outlet. You can build it into a wall, like a regular fireplace, but you can also have one as an indoor firepit (see picture below), since CO2 is the only fume. You pour the liquid ethanol (basically just alcohol) into the reservoir and light it. A one-liter bottle of ethanol will burn for several hours. ModernBlaze.com sells 6 bottles for $87 including shipping. They sell a 24-inch ethanol burner for $1,895.
In a July 27th article on realtor.com, the National Association of Realtors’ chief economist, Lawrence Yun, was quoted as saying, “The recovery has not taken place, but the housing recession is over. The presence of multiple offers implies that housing demand is not being satisfied due to lack of supply.”
“The West—the country’s most expensive region—will see reduced prices, while the more affordable Midwest region is likely to see a small positive increase,” Yun was quoted as saying in the article.
Yun’s analysis was based on June statistics, but I can see some evidence of his statement in my own experience. My newest listing in Lakewood, featured last week for $700,000, went under contract in three days amid competing offers for $720,000, leading to cancelation of the open house scheduled for day 4.
Another listing, a $1,250,000 ranch in north Golden, also went under contract last week for just below its listing price.
The fact remains that the increase in mortgage interest rates has many sellers holding onto their current home even though they’d like to move. If you had a 2.9% mortgage on your current home, you’d want to stay put rather than give it up and buy a replacement home with a 7% mortgage, right? The industry refers to homeowners in that situation as “rate-locked.”
Builders of new homes are benefiting from the low inventory of existing homes for sale. The sale of new homes surged in May and declined in June, but the trend is still upward. Buyers like buying a new home because, in addition to being new, they can usually be purchased without a bidding war.
Yun, of course, is quoting national statistics, but you and I know that all real estate is local, so I created the chart below using the tools available to me on REcolorado, Denver’s MLS, looking only at listings within 18 miles of downtown Denver.
Current inventory compares favorably with previous years in that chart, although pending and closed sales are down significantly. Values are still high, with the price per finished square foot near last July’s high.
Forecasters, me included, were surprised at the strength of the current real estate market. We thought a true recession was in the cards, but in fact the market remains quite strong. I can only attribute the market’s performance to the large number of buyers still in the market and the continued low unemployment rate.
What will the market be like as we move into fall and winter? Stay tuned, because I don’t want to venture a guess!
One of the two value statements on our yard signs is “Promoting and Modeling Environmental Responsibility.” (See logo.) If you’re a buyer wanting to assess the sustainability of the homes you are considering, you owe it to yourself to hire one of our agents, because we know this topic better than most real estate agents.
In addition to our agents pointing out the good and bad points of the houses we show you, our inspectors “speak green” too, and, as a fall special, we are offering new clients a Free Energy Audit after closing. Call 303-525-1851 for details.
Prior to 1988, you had to reinvest the profits from selling your home into a new home, but that is no longer the case. As long as you have lived in your primary home for two of the last five years at the time of sale, you are exempt from taxation on your capital gain up to $250,000 (single) or $500,000 (married).
If your spouse dies, you can still get the $500,000 exemption if you sell less than two years after his or her death.
In calculating your capital gain, you take the price of the home when purchased plus any capital improvements (not repairs) made to the home plus the cost of selling (commissions, title insurance, etc.) and subtract that from your selling price. Note: this is my layman’s understanding. Always consult a qualified tax advisor to see how these rules apply in your situation.
Here is a lengthier explanation of the above rules plus some I didn’t mention — sorry I didn’t make note of the source:
The capital gains exclusion for selling one’s primary residence is a tax benefit in the United States that allows homeowners to exclude from their income a portion or all of the capital gain they realize from the sale of their main home, under certain conditions.
Exclusion Amount: Single taxpayers can exclude up to $250,000 of capital gains on the sale of their primary residence, and married taxpayers who file jointly can exclude up to $500,000.
Ownership and Use Test: To qualify for the exclusion, you must have owned the home and used it as your primary residence for at least two of the five years prior to the date of sale. These two years of residency do not need to be consecutive.
Frequency of Exclusion: The exclusion can only be claimed once every two years. That is, you cannot claim the exclusion if you’ve already claimed it on a different home in the two-year period before the sale of the current home.
Partial Exclusion: If you do not meet the Ownership and Use Test fully, you might still be eligible for a partial exclusion if your home sale was due to a change in employment, health reasons, or other unforeseen circumstances specified by the IRS.
Reporting: If the gain on the sale is entirely covered by the exclusion, in many cases you do not even need to report the sale on your income tax return.
Deceased Spouse: If a spouse is deceased, the surviving spouse may still qualify for the $500,000 exclusion under certain circumstances, generally within two years of the spouse’s death.
Remember that tax laws are complex and can change, and individual circumstances can have a significant impact on tax obligations. It’s important to consult with a tax advisor or accountant to understand the potential tax implications of a home sale.
10,000 people reach retirement age every day in the US, and Census statistics show that the “Silver Tsunami” will crest in 2034. More people will be over the age of 65 than under the age of 18. That may be why I am often asked about “reverse mortgages.”
I spoke with one of my preferred lenders, Jaxzann Riggs,recently and was reminded that while most people know that a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) can be used to refinance an existing mortgage to access equity, few people realize that a reverse mortgage can also be used to purchase a new home. Fewer people know this because the HECM for Purchase program was not established until 2008.
Prior to 2008, a borrower who wanted to use a HECM as part of their retirement strategy would be required to purchase their new home with a traditional loan and then to refinance into a HECM, doubling the closing costs.
The fundamentals of a HECM refinance and a HECM for purchase are identical. HECMs allow homeowners to access the full amount of their home equity (and, potentially, even more). Borrowers have flexibility regarding how they choose to access their equity. The borrower can eliminate monthly mortgage payments entirely or receive monthly payments from the lender, establish a growing line of credit or they can opt for a combination of all three. Because a HECM is a loan, monthly payments received by the homeowner from the lender are not taxable and do not reduce Social Security or Medicare benefits in any way.
Although they are relatively easy to obtain, reverse mortgages are not for everyone. You must be at least 62 years of age, have substantial equity in your property, and occupy the home as your primary residence. A reverse mortgage also provides security for a “non-borrowing” spouse (younger than 62 years of age), who may continue to live in the home until his or her death following the death of the “borrowing spouse.”
Some of the misconceptions about reverse mortgages that prevent people from considering this option are:
That the lender takes ownership of the home, when in fact, the title stays with the homeowner.
That your family won’t be able to inherit the home when you pass. Any equity that remains from a sale after paying off the mortgage will go to your heirs. If they choose to keep the home, they can refinance into a conventional mortgage.
That you or your heirs may end up owing more than the home is worth. HECM’s are “non-recourse” loans meaning that you or your heirs will never owe more than the home is worth. If you live so long that you exhaust all the equity in your house, FHA insurance covers the loss.
While there are many benefits to a HECM they are not inexpensive. They are “insured” by the Federal government. The “Up Front” premium is 2% of the home’s value and there is an annual premium of .50% of the loan balance (paid monthly). Homeowners pay traditional closing costs as well as an “Origination Fee” which cannot exceed $6,000. While the upfront and annual mortgage insurance premiums may seem steep, they protect you and your heirs from owing additional funds if your loan balance exceeds the home’s value when it is sold. Remarkably, the “note” that you sign for a HECM allows you and your spouse to live in the home for up to 120 years.
The terms offered to a borrower are based upon the age of the youngest borrower and the equity in the home. Jaxzann Riggs, owner of The Mortgage Network is happy to discuss whether a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage is right for you. Contact her at 303- 990-2992.
Driving around the metro area and elsewhere, you have probably noticed huge installations of solar panels on open land and wondered who built and who benefits from them. Installations, such as the one north of 64th Avenue on Highway 93, are owned by community solar companies or nonprofits.
The concept of community solar is to rent or sell portions of such installations to individual consumers. The kilowatt-hours generated by those solar panels are then credited to the usage on subscribers’ electric meters.
It’s a perfect solution for people who live in an apartment or condo building where they can’t install their own solar panels. The really neat thing about community solar is that when you move, your solar generation is merely reassigned to your new electric meter — no need to install new panels.
Small businesses can also take advantage of community solar. Golden Real Estate, for example, moved in Nov. 2021 from its solar-powered office on South Golden Road into a storefront on Washington Avenue in downtown Golden. Community solar is the only way that we can continue to be solar-powered since we can’t install solar panels.
Denver-based SunShare describes itself as the nation’s oldest community solar company with over 10 years’ experience building and maintaining “solar gardens” across the state. Their website says that they have built 116MW of solar panels and have 14,000 subscribers and three utility partners. Find more info at www.MySunShare.com.
Community solar was legalized in Colorado in 2010 with the passage of the Community Solar Gardens Act (HB 1342). The following year, SunShare opened for business, and in 2015 the Colorado Energy Office partnered with GRID Alternatives to construct a community solar demonstration project to serve low-income Coloradans.
Colorado Springs Utilities was the first utility to create its own solar garden for 278 subscribers in 2011. That 0.5-MW installation has since grown to a 2-MW installation serving 435 customers.
Community solar can be a good deal for rural landowners, providing a predictable revenue stream for otherwise non-producing acreage.
Renting or buying photovoltaic panels in a solar garden costs money, so you’re still paying for electricity, but the rule of thumb is that what you spend on community solar is about 10% cheaper than buying the same amount of electricity from the utility.
Some of us don’t worry about the size of the savings but simply “go solar” because it’s the right thing to do. Any savings are just a bonus.
To learn more, in addition to visiting SunShare’s website, I suggest Googling “community solar Colorado.” You will find other companies offering community solar, learn the history of it in Colorado, and decide whether it is right for you.
You may find that existing solar gardens are sold out and you’ll be put on a waiting list for a future solar garden.
Whether you are putting solar panels on your own property or subscribing to a solar garden, consider upsizing your investment instead of basing it on your current usage, since the chances are that you’ll be buying an electric vehicle and you’ll want electricity from the sun to power it, too. Xcel Energy allows you to install solar panels based on twice your last 12 months’ usage for that reason.
Jim Smith's Blog 