Are you considering taking advantage of the $8000 home buyer tax credit or the new $6500 move-up buyer tax credit?  The deadline to do so is April 30, 2010 with a closing by the end of June, 2010.  But what if you want to purchase a brand new home?  That is still possible also.  I have been working with clients who are building new homes in the past 6 months and the builders are eager to get you in a house.  Just recently Hallmark Homes notified me that they will guarantee a closing by the end of June and are offering finished basements in some areas.  I have found Classic Homes in Wolf Ranch to be excellent to work with and my clients feel like VIPs.  Thank you to Tina and Teresa for being exceptionally caring and communicative.  We all appreciate you.

If you want to look into this option yourself, I have a team of experts who can help you come up with a plan so that you can be in your own home in 2010 and hopefully take advantage of the tax credit as well.

On Saturday, Gallery Two-Ten in Colorado Springs had their 2nd anniversary celebration.  Grace Wever has her fiber collages displayed there and I had the chance to meet her at the gallery.  I have to admit I didn’t know this fine art gallery existed in Colorado Springs.  They represent some artists who create stunning pieces - everything from Raku pottery to photography to painting and collage.  It’s close to downtown and you can try out one of our local restaurants after your visit.  There are many in the downtown and Old Colorado City areas.  I happen to like to go to La Baguette for their french onion soup.

Ready for another great place to go out and eat in Colorado Springs?  Do you like Italian?  Do you like the ambiance of Old Colorado City?  Then try Paravicini’s.  They also have a second location in Palmer Lake named La Zingara.  We like the variety of menu items (love the mussels!), the fresh bread and house salad, and think they have the best calamari fritti.  Located at 2802 W Colorado Ave at the west end of Old Colorado City, there is plenty of parking behind the restaurant.  If you like dessert, the cannoli is pretty yummy.  I like to take one home and put it in the freezer until I’m ready for dessert.

During the recent market downturn, many owners of larger, more expensive homes are staying put because they would have to take much less for their homes than they would have received 3 years ago.  Those that do have their homes on the market are still having difficulty selling because buyers in the higher price ranges are still scarce.  A recent article I read from the Dallas Morning News states that 60% of Baby Boomers intend to stay in their current home when they retire.  With 40% considering a move, that still leaves a lot of buying power on the table.  For now though, many are waiting for the housing  market recovery before making the decision to downsize or change location.

Below is an excerpt from the Dallas Morning News article.  Many of the WWII Generation own their homes outright.  The percent of Baby Boomers who own their homes outright is less.  This generation has moved around more and bought increasingly larger homes as their incomes increased.  Builders will have to adjust to a new cost conscious perspective of Baby Boomer retirees.  Social Security is in trouble and many retirees will still work parttime in retirement and will be watching spending.  Many will be retiring later than they planned and their 401K and other investments aren’t as robust as they were 2 years ago.  The housing market isn’t the only part of the economy that is recovering.  A new more frugal outlook will drive a desire for smaller, more energy efficient, more affordable homes for retirees.  I personally believe this could mean a shift to smaller more affordable communities that have nice amenities and are close to good health care.

More than 75% of 55-plus buyers say they want a home in the suburbs. But that doesn’t mean they want a big house. Surveys show older buyers are more frugal about housing needs. “The 55-plus buyers are not interested in growing their house size,” Crowe said. “They are asking for about a 1,900-square-foot home” on average. “They’re worried about energy costs.” Most older homebuyers surveyed are holding down their cost expectations, industry research shows. “When we asked the consumer, ‘What are you willing to pay?’ they said $190,000,” Crowe said. “And when we asked the builders, ‘What are you building for this market?’ they said $287,000. “Obviously, there’s a real big problem there.”

Indeed, builders say they are in a quandary over what kind of housing to produce for 55-plus buyers. “The baby boomers are absolutely unpredictable,” said Andy White, a South Carolina developer. “There is no model to say what we ought to build.”

For the full Dallas Morning News article, click here.

Today is the day to remember two of our country’s presidents, but I’m finding that today is the day I’m learning about how wonderful and inspiring women can be.  I spent some time this morning speaking with a young woman, Charity Weese, who is on a path of being a lender who makes a difference in the lives of others.  We had a great discussion and I am happy I had the opportunity to meet her.

I also was sent a website link today by a friend who is an art quilter.  This artist’s work is stunning and it is exciting that she is spending her retirement years creating such beautiful works.  I hope to have the opportunity to see some of her work in person.  Her name is Grace Wever and I have included the link to her bio and website here.  Take a look at her Gallery.  I found her bio and her work to be inspirational.  I hope you do too.

If you know women who you think are inspirational, I’d love to know who they are.  We left brained people do have a right brain.  Seeing what other people create and connecting with them can help us train our right brain so we use it more.  That’s what I’m trying to do.  Math and science ARE connected to music and art.  A balanced life includes using both sides of the brain.  Do you agree?

Realtor.org posted this article and I thought it was interesting to see which communities seem to be the most attractive to today’s retirees.  Top of the list is Ft.Collins/Loveland, Colorado.  Both great smaller affordable communities with Colorado’s temperate climate - milder, sunny winters, and pleasant summers.  We do get a lot of retirees in Colorado Springs too.  I love Honolulu (tropical weather and island beauty), Tucson (great winters, lovely desert terrain, but hot summers), Santa Fe (great SW food and shopping, mild summers, but cold winters), and San Diego (gorgeous ocean vistas, great climate, but expensive).  I would consider some of the other cities  but…Michigan??  Those retireees must like cold and snow, but… property is probably very affordable there now.  Here’s the list of the top 15 cities provided by AARP and CNBC.  Looks like you can still catch the Tom Brokaw story on March 4th on CNBC to hear all the details.

15 Top Retirement Cities - Boomers are willing to move farther than previous generations when they retire, and they are choosing places unlike stereotypical retirement hotspots, says Tom Brokaw in his report on Boomer retirement, airing on CNBC, Thursday, March 4 at 9 p.m. ET.The top places listed by AARP and explored on the show are:

1. Loveland/Fort Collins, Colo.
2. Las Cruces, N.M
3. Rehoboth Beach, Del.
4. Portland, Ore.
5. Greenville, S.C.
6. Sarasota, Fla.
7. Ann Arbor, Mich.
8. Tucson, Ariz.
9. Montpelier, Vt.
10. Honolulu
11. Santa Fe, N.M
12. Atlanta
13. Charleston, S.C
14. Northampton, Mass.
15. San Diego, Calif.

Source: CNBC, Paul Toscano (02/05/2010)

I’ve lived in Colorado Springs for 22 years and have seen restaurants come and go.  A few I was sad to see close.  Others were open such a short time it was obvious the owners didn’t plan for enough money to stay afloat until they were solvent.  Or maybe they just didn’t have good food or service.

One of my favorite places for Chinese food is Tsingtao House at the corner of Woodmen and Rangewood, just east of the King Soopers.  I used to have another favorite Chinese restaurant but when new owners took over I didn’t like the food anymore.  Then I found Tsingtao House.  I have to go a few extra miles to get there, but it is worth it.  It’s a great value.  They have a varied menu and the food is consistently good.  They have a great lunch and dinner special that includes soup, crab wonton, eggroll, and hot tea.  Give it a try!  It’s great when we can keep local restaurants open.  And watch for more favorites in the future.  What is your favorite Pikes Peak Region restaurant?

This cozy little BBQ place really satisfies the desire for good ol’ Texas BBQ.  Having spent years driving to Johnnie’s mobile BBQ wagon on Saturday mornings to get a couple huge brisket sandwiches, we’ve missed the mouth watering taste of that Texas treat.  (Okay, so Bird Dog says it’s Oklahoma style, but we won’t dredge up that old rivalry.  :-)  Mesquite or oak smoked, it all tastes great! ) Well, no more waiting!  Colorado Springs loves Bird Dog BBQ and so does my family.  Great pulled pork, brisket, and links and a unique wasabi BBQ sauce that adds just the right tang to your sandwich.  Give it a try.  They are located at Stetson Hills and Powers but I read recently they just opened a new location at Shops at Briargate too.

There is a new trend in some areas that have been especially hard hit during the past 4 years - people who are current on their mortgages walking away and letting the bank take back their house.  In the early 1980s this phenomenon was happening in Houston, TX, where we lived at the time, because home prices dropped all over the city and surrounding communities and people who were unable to sell their homes for what they owed simply walked away.  Some neighborhoods looked like Phoenix and Florida do today with foreclosure after foreclosure lining the streets.  Here is a link to a recent article from Realtor.com about the risks in doing this.

I was looking at information for a client on a home listed in our MLS and realized this home and seller were representational of the worst case situations that have been happening in the past few years.

They bought their home in 1998 for a great price, enjoyed having it appreciate to a current tax valuation $116,000 more than they paid in 1998, and then drained it of equity in 2002 and then again in 2006 by taking out large 1st and 2nd loans.  I don’t know the reason they did this, but it is very sad.  Sometimes people lose their job.  Sometimes they have huge medical bills to pay off.  Sometimes they use the money for other investments.  And sometimes they just treat their home as an ATM and the money ends up wasted on depreciating cars, boats, furniture, and just stuff.  And when the market changes, they are stuck and end up in foreclosure because they can no longer afford their payment.

In this case, the owner borrowed what the house was worth and did it not once, but twice.  And they didn’t use just a single mortgage, they used both a 1st and 2nd loan each time.  Remember my last post about easy money?  They were put at risk by risky loans.  I wish I knew what their story is.  Why would they do this to themselves?  The refinance in 2006 was at a variable rate over 1.5% higher than their 1998 rate.  And what was wrong with their 2002 loans that they would refinance and accept such a high rate in 2006?  Was their 2002 rate even higher?  Were their 2002 loans even riskier types of loans they were trying to get out from under?  Did they just want another $28,000 out of the house that they got by refinancing in 2006?  Why did they trust the lender who put them into these loans?  Did they realize they were putting themselves at risk?  Did they care?  Was it out of desperation?

Their 1998 rate was  fixed and they put 5% down.  They did everything right when they bought the house, but then 4 years later, everything seemed to start going wrong.  They ended up filing for foreclosure in 2008, actually managed to get a loan modification, and then went back into foreclosure in 2009.  Which, by the way, is not an uncommon occurrence.

The sad thing is that if they had stuck with their original loan, by fall of 2008 they would have paid it down by over $23,000 and with over $100,000 in appreciation, they could have sold in 2008 and walked away with cash in their pockets.  Their loan to value ratio would have been only 54%.  They would have owned 46% of their home 10 years after buying it!  Even if they had taken equity out to update the home, they still should have had plenty of cash when they sold.  A very sad case indeed.  And now an opportunity for someone else who buys their foreclosure.  Watch for posts in February about my free consumer seminars to help you avoid being one of these sad cases and instead be a story of real estate success.