Buying a Home Won't Get Much Cheaper --

CNNMoney | Posted May 3rd 2012, 1:02 pm

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© Copyright 2012 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

March Madness. It’s the greatest time of year for basketball fans, and for fans in Denver the excitement is right in our backyard as the Pepsi Center plays host to the NCAA Women’s Final Four and on Sunday, April 1 and the National Title game on Tuesday, April 3.

The Final Four features the best of the best. On Sunday Notre Dame (34-3) plays Connecticut (33-4) at 4:30 and at 7 p.m. Stanford (35-1) faces undefeated Baylor (38-0).

While the games are the focus, they are far from the only thing in town. Other activities around the tournament are sure to entertain the entire family. Here is a look at what is going on this weekend.

Friday

Mile High Magic Salute Premiere —The welcoming party is at the Buell Theatre from 6-7:30 p.m. The red carpet arrival of the four teams is open to the public, but tickets ($20 general admission) are required to get into the event.

Tourney Town —Open every day at the Colorado Convention Center, Tourney Town is the center of weekend fun for fans and will host clinics, exhibits, interactive displays and concerts all weekend. It is free and open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. through the championship game.

SATURDAY

Practices and autograph sessions —Practices at the Pepsi Center for all four teams are open and free to the public. Free posters will be given to fans, who can get them signed at autograph sessions after practices. Team times are: Notre Dame 11 a.m.-noon; Connecticut 12:05-1:05 p.m.; Baylor 1:35-2:35 p.m.; Stanford 2:40-3:40 p.m.

4Kay Run —The 4Kay Run starts at Civic Center Park, benefits breast cancer research and is in remembrance of the late North Carolina State coach Kay Yow. Prerace registration is 7:30 a.m., and the run begins at 9 a.m. Online registration is $20. Onsite registration is $25.

Youth clinics —The clinics for boys and girls ages 8-16 are at Denver South and ThunderRidge high schools and will focus on basketball skills, conditioning and life skills with women's basketball coaches and student athletes, as well as collegiate administrators. The clinics are free.

Battle of the Bands —Bands from all four schools will have their own competition after the teams' practice sessions. 3:45 p.m.

High School All-America Game —The Women's Basketball Coaches Association will host the annual game of the best high school girls in the country at the Pepsi Center. 4:30 p.m.

Jewel concert —Going on at Tourney Town, singer and songwriter Jewel will give a free concert. 5:30 p.m.

SUNDAY

Semifinal games —At the Pepsi Center Notre Dame (34-3) vs. Connecticut (33-4), 4:30 p.m.Baylor (38-0) vs. Stanford (35-1), 7 p.m.

Mile High Dribble —Thousands of kids are invited to dribble a basketball from Civic Center Park to Tourney Town on Sunday morning. Participants who preregister can check in at 10 a.m. Day-of registration starts at 11, and the dribble begins at 11:30 a.m.

TUESDAY

NCAA championship game —Winners from the semifinals will meet at the Pepsi Center at 6:30 p.m.

If there is one thing that you will need for your short sale it will be patients.

Here is the Basics of a Short Sale

Banks grant short sales for 2 reasons: the seller has a hardship, and the seller owes more on the mortgage than the home is worth.

A few examples of a hardship are: Unemployment / reduced income, Divorce, Medical emergency,  Job transfer out of town, Bankruptcy, Death

The seller will need to prepare a financial package for submission to the short sale bank. Each bank has its own guidelines but the basic procedure is similar from bank to bank. The seller's short sale package will most likely consist of:

    Letter of authorization, which lets your agent speak to the bank.
    HUD-1 or preliminary net sheet
    Completed financial statement
    Seller's hardship letter
    2 years of tax returns
    2 years of W-2s
    Recent payroll stubs
    Last 2 months of bank statements
    Comparative market analysis or list of recent comparable sales

Writing the Short Sale Offer and Submitting to the Bank

Before a buyer writes a short sale offer, the buyers agent should provide them with a list of comparable sales. Banks are not in the business of giving away a home at rock-bottom pricing. The bank will want to receive somewhat close to market value. The short sale price may have little bearing on market value and may, in fact, be priced below the comparable sales to encourage multiple offers.

After the seller accepts the offer, the listing agent will send the following items to the bank:

    Listing agreement
    Executed purchase offer
    Buyer's preapproval letter and copy of earnest money check
    Seller's short sale package

If the package is incomplete, the short sale process will be delayed.

The Short Sale Process at the Bank

Buyers may wait a very long time to get a response from the bank this is normal. 

Following is a typical short sale process at the bank:

    Bank acknowledges receipt of the file. This can take 10 days to a month.
    A negotiator is assigned. This can take 30 to 60 days.
    A BPO is ordered. The bank probably will refuse to share the results of the BPO.
    A second negotiator may be assigned. This can take another 30 days.
    The file is sent for review or to the PSA. This can take 2 weeks to 30 days.
    The bank may then request that all parties sign an Arm's-Length Affidavit.
    The bank issues a short sale approval letter.

 Some short sales get approval in 6 to 8 weeks. Others take 90 to 120 days, on average.

If you would like additional information on the short sale process please contact The City and Mountains Group
 

10212 Buena Vista Drive, Conifer and Pine Area.

This is a gorgeous gently sloping 1.4 acre lot in the desirable Shadow Mountain subdivision with beautiful mountain views and easy access.  Well is already drilled.  Incredible location with that perfect quiet mountain setting, yet only minutes to us 285 & HWY 73.

For more information contact Kellie Morrissey at toll free 800-931-9947

Few things are better than paying off a thirty-year real estate mortgage early. Not only will you be free of mortgage payments, you could also save thousands of dollars in interest payments over the life of the loan. Here are four ideas to help you pay off your mortgage early:

1. Apply any extra money you have available to your mortgage balance. Be sure to indicate that this is an extra payment and should be applied only to your principle.

2. Overpay a fixed amount every month. By sending in an extra fixed amount as an additional principal payment every month, you’ll reduce the length of time it takes you to pay off your mortgage. By sending in a fixed amount every month, you can easily automate this process.

3. Make bi-weekly mortgage payments. Making exactly one-half payment every two weeks will add up to a total of twenty-six half payments per year. Or, thirteen whole payments each year instead of twelve. That’s the secret to paying off a real estate mortgage early with bi-weekly payments. The interest rate itself isn’t reduced, but the amount of money you pay in interest on the principal is.

4. Use a prepayment calculator to figure out other ways to pay your mortgage off early. The free prepayment calculators available on the internet can also help you determine how quickly you can become mortgage free.

Before implementing any of these methods to pay off your  real estate mortgage early, contact your mortgage lender to find out if you’ll be incurring any additional fees. It’s also a good idea to ask your mortgage lender if there are any specific instructions you need to follow to be sure your payments are processed correctly.

Thinking about buying a home that you can pay off quickly? Call Kellie Morrissey now at
303-877-2813

Contributing write Sloan Holloway of Guaranteed Rate @ GuaranteedRate.com

Silverthorne Ice Castle: Brent Christensen's Colorado Ice Castle

This video and article is from from Huff Post Denver today.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/03/ice-castle-in-silverthorne-colorado_n_1182177.html?ref=denver

New Years Eve Countdown Summit County

Here are a few last minute ideas.

Copper

For the first time ever, Burton is launching the Burton Mountain Festival tour, a completely new experience that offers riders a full day of FREE on-snow entertainment.

The Snowcat parade starts at 6 p.m. with fire dancers, bonfires, glow sticks, parties throughout the village followed by two firework shows

Keystone Resort

Keystone has two bases of celebration: Lakeside Village and River Run. From 5-10 p.m., the ice rink offers champagne ice bars to toast the New Year — or warm up with s'mores kits around the fireplaces. At 8 p.m., fireworks light the night sky.

Over at River Run, the fireworks begin earlier, at the top of Dercum Mountain.

 At 6:30 p.m., join the Keystone Ski School for the torchlight parade, which begins at the top of River Run (accessible from the mid-station of the River Run Gondola).

The big party takes place at Warren Station Center for the Arts with headliners Head for the Hills. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. Openers Missed the Boat take the stage at 9:30 p.m., followed by Head for the Hills at 10:45 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance at warrenstationnewyears.eventbrite.com or $20 at the door.

Breckenridge

At 6 p.m., the Breckenridge Ski Resort riders glide down Peak 9 in a torchlight parade.

At 8 p.m., Yamn kicks off its all-ages show at the Riverwalk Center (doors open at 7 p.m.). The band will take a break at 9 p.m. so everyone can watch the fireworks over Peaks 8 and 9.

Tickets for Yamn are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Call (970) 547-3100 for more information or to purchase tickets.

Happy New Year!!

Best Regards,

Kellie Morrissey, CR5

Named "Five Star Real Estate Agent" by 5280 Magazine, 2010 & 2009

303-877-2813

Courtesy of The City and Mountains Group
Keller Williams Realty

Kellie@CityMTNS.com

Get the Best Price on Your Next House!

One of the most important aspects to buying a home is to ensure that you purchase for a fair price. Since there are certain key steps that you must follow in order to make a sound decision, it pays to have a knowledgeable Realtor on your side that will be able to help obtain the best and most realistic asking price for a property.

Determining Market Comparables

For example, one of the first ways that your agent will discover the price of a home is by researching local market comparables. In most cases, they will be able to bring up a list of properties sold over the last 6 months within a 1 mile radius. Properties should also not be bigger than 20% of the subject size.
Additional features to consider would be the neighborhood each home resides in, structural differences, bedrooms and bathrooms, overall condition and other amenities such as a pool, a/c, or garage. Other factors, such as if a particular home sold for much lower due to foreclosure is something your agent can uncover as well.

Houses That Have Not Sold

Next, many homes could be on the Denver area MLS for 6 months or longer without ever selling. Others that are comparable could have been taken off the market after not getting enough offers or being listed for too high. This is valuable information, because you may be able to get a particular property for a substantial discount or it may not even be worth pursuing.

Neighborhood Reputation

When it comes to buying a house, this is one of the most important reasons to work with a Realtor. Since your agent will have a familiarity with various local market trends and statistics, you will be able to learn what makes a particular neighborhood desirable and also which areas to avoid.
A lot of things can affect a home’s value such as the school district, crime levels, or even other properties located nearby (such as those burnt in a fire or properties that were a bank sale). In fact, sometimes these factors can even differ from block to block!

Appraisals & Inspections

After you place an offer on a property, you will have the opportunity to get an appraisal and home inspection as further due diligence. Even with an agent, there are sometimes issues that may arise with a property that could affect the home’s value that you were not even aware of. Some of these problems could include structural issues, plumbing or electrical, termites or insects, mold or even water damage to name a few. Obviously many of these things could impact the price significantly and would either have to be fixed by the seller or renegotiated to get a fair price.

In conclusion, there are a lot of areas to consider when choosing a home and getting a fair price on a property. Since this is one of the biggest purchases you will ever make, it is crucial that you protect your interests and ensure that you are getting the best deal possible.

In order to get started researching your next homes in our Denver area, contact me, Kellie Morrissey.  I look forward to serving you as you search for your next future home!

____________________________________________________________

Please call or email me with any questions!

Best Regards,

Kellie Morrissey, CR5

Named "Five Star Real Estate Agent" by 5280 Magazine, 2010 & 2009

303-877-2813

Courtesy of The City and Mountains Group
Keller Williams Realty

Kellie@CityMTNS.com