As most of you might know, Durango is a snowy mountain town and some people deal with tons of snow in different ways.  Some love it, others get what’s known as “cabin fever”.  This is an overwhelming feeling of needing to get out of the house! 

Well, Snowdown was created as a way to deal with the cabin fever.  It’s basically a week long celebration, where there are fun events hosted all week long throughout the town.  Even if you don’t want to participate in the events themselves they are all entertaining to watch! So get out of your snow surrounded house and come have a good time downtown!!!

This year’s theme…Surf’s up, life’s a beach!!!

Check out the website to see all the events click here to see Snowdown website

Here are some of the events I will personally be attending or competing in…

* The polar BEER plunge – where people jump into a giant pool of beer that has been sitting outside in the cold for days!!!

* The high-five competition

* The follies – a live performance with tons of local humor and funny skits!

* The do’s and don’t fashion show, showing off Durango’s horrible sense of fashion.

* The beard growing competition - to see who can grow the best beard in town.

* The Friday big parade down Main!

* The arm-wrestling competition at the Wild Horse

…And much, much, more!

Shaheen Hangval
Broker Associate/EcoBroker with Blue Ribbon Properties

835 Main Ave. Suite # 214
Office: 970-247-8388 Fax: 970-247-8360
Shaheen’s Cell: 970-769-2441

Visitors touched by help from local man

My wife, Leslie, and I recently were on vacation in Southwest Colorado. We hiked 80 miles on the COlorado Trail and had an amazing vacation in your beautiful state. The morning after we finished hiking, we had a scare we will never forget.
We were eating breakfast in Durango at the Brickhouse Cafe, and my wife started to feel ill (not from the food, but form an allergic reaction to medicine). Within seconds, she passed out and was convulsing.
Panicking, I asked if anyone know of the closest hospital; a young, college-aged man stepped forward and said he could take us. He grabbed our belongings and rode with us to the Urgent Care facility. Once there, he parked our car and helped explain what happened to the nurses while Leslie still was unconscious.
When the ambulance arrived, I said thank you to him, no knowing his name or how to express my feelings of gratitude any more clearly at the time. We parted ways, and I later learned he actually had returned to the restaurant to pay our bill.

As it turns out, Leslie made a full recovery within a couple of hours. The deeds of this man always will be remembered by me and my wife. His selfless actions gave us much needed support in a bad situation. This young man’s heroic act should be a lesson for everyone to emulate.

So, to whoever you are, the man who took time to help two strangers in distress, thank you.

Benjamin Jenkins, Christiansburg,  VA

And:

Tourists thankful for help from woman

We just returned from an extended trip to Colorado. While in Durango, we hiked up one trail, got lost and came back down on the other side of mountain.

 While wandering around lost, a nice lady stopped her car and tried to tell us how to back to our car. She then volunteered to drive us back to where we started. It saved our day.

She has just returned from a trip to Lander, Wyo, and had plenty of things to get done without hauling disoriented tourists around.

This act of kindness wat the nicest thing to happen to us in tree weeks of travel. Durango certainly has some nice people.

Phil and Gail Acuff, Leawood, Kan

Are you ready to move to Durango now? Call us for real estate info. 970 247 8388. Now’s the time to buy.
–
Claudia Williams
Owner/Ecobroker/Exchangor
Blue Ribbon Properties
835 Main Ave #214
Durango, CO 81301

970 247 8388 (office)
970 749 3555 (cell)
970 247 8360 (fax)
www.blueribbondurango.com

Check out my blog
The Scoop on Durango Real Estate
www.blueribbondurango.com/blog

Home sales increasing as prices fall

And other headlines this week:

Real Estate Outlook: Positive Growth

There was an important piece of economic news last week that has HUGE significance ofr the real estate and housing markets but got minimal coverage on TV and in print. read more…

NAR: Existing-Home Sales Rise Again
June sales were up 3.6 percent, the third-straight monthly increase, which eased inventory levels. Still, new appraisal standards remain an impediment in some transactions.
Read more >

Home Prices Increase in 22 Metro Areas
Report from Radar Logic show that from April to May, home prices rose an average of 2.1 percent, suggesting recovery could be at hand.
Read more >

Housing Experts: Now Is a Perfect Time to Buy
It’s a great time to buy a home, but the opportunity may be slipping away if buyers don’t act fast.
Read more >

 It’s time to be optimistic on Durango Real Estate! If you are thinking about buying and have been waiting for the great deals, this is the time to look, before everyone jumps on the bandwaggon and pushes prices up again. First the volume increases, then the prices. Call or email me and I’ll help you find the best deals out there.
–
Claudia Williams
Owner/Ecobroker/Exchangor
Blue Ribbon Properties
835 Main Ave #214
Durango, CO 81301

970 247 8388 (office)
970 749 3555 (cell)
970 247 8360 (fax)
www.blueribbondurango.com

Check out my blog
The Scoop on Durango Real Estate
www.blueribbondurango.com/blog

I found this helpful bit of advice on www.goswap.org, one of the internets most popular trade and exchange websites. We couldn’t agree more.

“Unofficial guide and practical advice with dirty tricks on selling or swapping a house when nothing is selling, or call it what you will.

Selling in this market takes extra effort. This guide is intended to give sellers some sense of direction where this effort should be directed to increase chances of having their property sold or swapped. Obviously there is an infinite number of ways to market a home for sale, but I emphasize some of the most productive ways plus throw in a few tricks of the trade. Permanently swapping homes is one of the best options in which sellers cannot reduce the price drastically. Trading homes by owner will also save sellers on the realtor’s commission.

1. Advertise, advertise, advertise!

Just like location, location, location is important in real estate, advertising is by far one of the most important factors (yet frequently overlooked) when it comes to selling a home in a slow market. 

UPDATE: As of late 2008, after enactment of the new Buy and Bail law, it is becoming less effective to advertise a property for sale, except if:

•           The property is priced considerably below the current market value

•           The seller is offering substantial incentives, such as seller financing

We strongly believe that pursuing a permanent exchange will likely yield higher chances of finding a buyer than trying to sell via conventional methods. Therefore, we suggest to avoid spending much money on newspaper ads or typical FSBO or MLS websites and directing marketing efforts on finding a real estate match instead.

Take many fresh quality pics of your house. Then choose the ones that can inspire or make your listing stand out and submit to all of these and other sites: http://craigslist.org  http://owners.com  http://allthelistings.com  http://realtor.com (once you submit to one of the MLS listing services such as http://iggyshouse.com make sure your listing appears on realtor.com). One way to simplify the process is to use our site http://GoSwap.org as the base and most detailed listing with up to 15 pics, then use the listing sharing tools at the bottom of your goswap.org listing to submit the same info to other sites. This reduces redundancy as you will then simply copy and paste the HTML code we provide on many sites that accept it including pics. Make sure to write extremely descriptive and long titles, description, and fill out most fields on all sites. Listing on GoSwap.org is also beneficial as your property will automatically be submitted to http://trulia.com (quickly becoming the #3 website in real estate), Google Base, and http://homesbyowner.com

The goal is to inspire buyers and make them want to click on your listing. Most swappers, myself included, would not reply to emails sent from people without their own home listed because if someone is not serious enough to spend some time describing what he/she has, what are the chances this seller will proceed with a swap? Many will also skip listings with no pics. A picture is worth a thousand words, remember?

Go one step further and make a short video if you are a techie. In fact take extra steps on any of the points mentioned here–be creative.

2. MLS, MLS, MLS!

List in the Multiple Listing Service but avoid listing with what I call a “sleepy realtor” who simply submits your listing to the MLS then waits until it sells through other realtors so that he/she can then cash your commission check to pay for his sleeping. Either find an ACTIVE realtor in YOUR AREA (not a national firm) or, better yet, submit your listing to the MLS yourself, then reduce the price by the amount of the commission you will save. There is at least one FREE service at http://iggyshouse.com , but make sure that this service belongs to your immediate area MLS board. For example, Iggyshouse.com does not yet cover all parts of Florida. Even though they will submit your listing, it will appear in the closest MLS system, which is not good enough. You want your property to be listed in your area MLS so that local agents can see it. Do not forget to set a commission. I suggest at least 3%, otherwise realtors will not show or mention your house to prospective buyers.

3. Be creative, be creative, be creative

and look for creative, alternative, and cost effective ways to promote your sale. So advertising your house for swap on this website is one of the creative ways, but open up your other options. Describe all your possible swap combinations, then search our site for people who want to swap for your location and email all of them about possible trade. Go a step further, and email all owners who indicated they will consider swapping for ANY LOCATION, then please do not stop even at that.

Look in your local craigslist.org real estate wanted ads section and see if anyone might want your property. There are many other great services that cost next to nothing. The ultimate goal is to get as much foot traffic through your front door as possible. Keep in mind that nowadays internet has become a vital tool used by buyers to shop for real estate. So online traffic to your listing plays the same role as the physical home showings. It is a pure numbers game: the more people know about your house for sale, the higher the chances of your success in selling it.

4. Open, open, open!

Hold open houses every weekend, even if just a few people stop by. Remember, you only need one buyer! Constantly advertise your property and open houses in local papers, community forums, craigslist.org,  GoSwap.org (of course) and anywhere else you may think of. Use your own imagination to get some traffic through your door. If you are really desperate, consider very desperate measures, such as contacting a local newspaper reporter to do a story about your house not selling even at a greatly reduced price. This would certainly bring some attention.

5. Price, price, price!

Price your property slightly below of what you think the market price is. Remember that in a low market no one really knows what the actual market price is, but the only price that matters is the one that gets your property sold. No, I am not implying selling short (less than you paid). Buyers will only consider buying from you if THEY THINK your price is LOW, so make them think your price is low. One trick of lowering the price without actually lowering it is by having buyer pay for most of the closing costs, while reducing your asking price by that amount. So, say the house is listed at $250K and seller’s closing costs will typically run $5K, then lower the price to $245K and when it comes to signing the contract insist that buyer pays for closing because the price is great. Do the same by listing in MLS yourself and apply the savings in commission towards the ASKING price of your home. A 3% commission savings equals $7,500, then your new asking price should be around $237.500 ($250K – $5K – $7.5K = $237.5K) Here you effectively reduced your asking price by $12.5K, while you would end up with the same amount at closing.

Remember, one of the most effective ways to get people to look at the property is to attract them with a low price. Think about it this way: if your house was for sale for a hundred bucks, the entire nation would probably stand in line to write you a check. Well, find that magic number that seems attractively low to buyers, yet acceptable to you. Forget about the era of making huge profits in real estate.

6. Follow up, follow up, follow up!

Create a new folder called “prospects” in your email program and save all your listing related emails there. Keep a detailed log of all callers, too. Keep in touch with all your previous enquirers with any updates or changes in price. If you get a lowball offer, here’s another of my dirty tricks. Contact all your prospects saying you have an offer while indirectly inviting them to participate in a bidding war. I am not a psychologist, but  it appears people get especially excited when something they consider buying is becoming popular and wanted by other people. In fact, this is precisely why this whole bubble thing popped up–flipping homes has gotten too popular. Someone once said, if even homemakers get involved in buying real estate, it’s time to get out as things are just about to get ugly and they sure did.

7. What to do if nothing happens?

If you have done everything above and are still sitting in your living room and scratching your head, then repeat some steps above.

If it still does not sell, consider the following alternatives. Can you owner finance? If you have only a small balance on your mortgage, then odds are in your favor and you could potentially set the down payment close to the amount of your mortgage balance, so that the balance is paid off and the buyer owes you about the same as your equity. You could create a balloon mortgage where the buyer will be required to pay off the mortgage early, say in 5 years, if becoming a bank and carrying a loan for 30 years is not your cup of tea. One great site to advertise your owner financed real estate FREE is http://SellFinanced.com“

The key is creativity and hard work. I do believe if both the homeowner and realtor work together in getting as many of these steps done as possible it’s just a matter of time before your property will sell.

Call me to discuss, Claudia Williams, Exchangor, Realtor, 970 749 3555.

P.S. Thank you www.goswap.org for this great bit of advice.

I”ve been preaching that all year, but hey, no one listens to me… I said, “Really? What makes you think that?”

“Well. I have a friend who just got a fantastic deal on a house and I think it might be time for me to think about looking!”

Ok, so which part of what I have been saying for months now did she miss? Apparently, the same part that ALOT of buyers are missing.

It’s been on TV; it’s been on the radio; it’s been in print and on the web…where hasn’t it been if you’re a professional Realtor and tuned in to everything real estate ever since they first uttered the words U.S. HOUSING CRISIS!

But here’s the thing… if you are just another economic-shell shocked human being wondering what happened while you were busy enjoying the last twenty years of your life, it may well BE the first time you are realizing it! After all, we all know sellers who still don’t seem to understand that a buyer’s market means that they, too, will not be seeing the profit from the sale of their home that their neighbors saw last year. What in the world makes us think those same folks are out there telling their friends and relatives that they just heard it’s a great time to buy a house!

Its human nature to think that, as long as your world doesn’t seem to be terribly different, then all those problems THE MEDIA is describing must be happening to other people! After all, if you hadn’t really saved that much for retirement, you might not notice that 401Ks everywhere have become 201Ks. If you’re just getting started thinking about long term career goals, job loss statistics are probably lost on you. And if your friends and family don’t have to sell their houses any time soon, you may not have heard that the prices sellers are getting for their homes are easily 10 to 20 to (gulp) 50% less (depending on where you are) than last year’s sellers got for their homes. Just as this past presidential election cycle was the longest in recorded history, so too, it seems to many of us, is the recovery from the housing crisis. But if you don’t vote…or don’t want to buy a house…who cares? It’s only a Buyer’s market if you actually BUY!

Let’s face it, those of us in the business are fully aware that we are in the army now…if we, as professional Realtors, can get some of this housing inventory sold, we will have begun to win the battle that will lead to winning the war! And if we can win the war to get the housing market back on track, we will win the war to get the whole U.S. economy back on track! We are the key! (How’s that for a pep talk?!)

So what do Realtors have to do to get buyers to see that this is serious business? The government is anteing up $8000 in tax credit to get some of you moving. In fact FHA is getting ready to let you use that $8000 as part of your down payment…without having to wait until after closing! Combine that with unbelievable, never before seen, never again to be seen in this lifetime, interest rates (which, by the way, are just as fantastic for those of you who don’t qualify for the tax credit) and you guys should be fighting to get on my schedule to look at homes! I mean full on, no holds barred, hair pulling,fighting!

Oh, I know you’ve called me and we’re trying to get together…but, what with your vacation and all…how ‘bout next month? I even know a lot of you are working with other agents because you’re looking at my listings and you’re even having your agents call me to see if anybody else is looking at the house you like. But what’s up with having your agent write up a preliminary offer, spend days verbally sparring with me and my seller before reaching a tentative agreement, and then I don’t see another thing in writing from you for two weeks?

Buying a home is not a spectator sport! It is a major and serious step toward achieving the American Dream. You’ve heard of that haven’t you? That’s when you get a pretty little piece of dirt with a cozy little roof over your head to come home to after a hard day at work! A place to call your very own and nobody (well except f or the HOA, and, of course, your Realtor when it’s time to sell) can tell you what to do there! It’s a place where you can paint the walls any color you want, invite friends over whenever you feel like it or get a puppy!

Give us poor Realtors a break… we’ve done all the work already, helping our sellers see that they need to provide you with a home in really great condition and at a really great price (no they aren’t happy about that last one but THEY trust us.) How can you go wrong?

So, my friends, we are here for you! We promise to show you opportunities you won’t believe are available! I promise to walk you through the process every step of the way and answer ALL your questions and teach you really COOL stuff about home ownership! I’m telling you there is a SALE, a REALLY BIG SALE on real estate right now and you shouldn’t miss it!

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.Claudia

Chuck replied, “Well, then just give me my money back.”

The farmer said, “Can’t do that. I went and spent it already.

Chuck said, “Ok, then, just bring me the dead horse.”

The farmer asked, “What ya gonna do with him?”

Chuck said, “I’m going to raffle him off.”

The farmer said, “You can’t raffle off a dead horse!”

Chuck said, “Sure I can, watch me. I just won’t tell anybody he’s dead.”

A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, “What happened with that dead horse?”

Chuck said, “I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece and was able to make $998.”

The farmer said, “Didn’t anyone complain?”

Chuck said, “Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back.”

As a Realtor, a stimulus package from the government would be nice. If it’s good for AIG to receive billions, why not us? Imagine, all NAR (National Association of Realtors) members receiving a check from Uncle Sam for a million dollars because our industry has been hit by such a negative downturn.

Well, we know that’s not going to happen, so our only option is to put on our “big girl” or “big boy” panties on and create our own emotional stimulus package. Here’s my thoughts, and the great news is, it won’t cost the government a penny.

How many time have your heard “Attitude is Everything”, well, it is. Although we are on a rough road, feeling hopeless and complaining about the situation won’t help. We need to figure out how to stay positive, and work harder than ever knowing that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Check out www.happyrenews.com

Turn off the news. We as Realtors know better than anyone what’s going on out there, we don’t need Matt Lauer to confirm it over and over. I’m not saying to turn a blind eye to what’s happening in the world, just don’t over load yourself with negative media news. Be informed, not inundated.

Concentrate on what you’re grateful for. We all have things in our lives to be thankful for. Our families, kids, friends, pets, our health. We live in the greatest country in the world where possibilities are limitless if we are willing to work for them. Make a gratitude list and read it daily.

Stay focused on solutions, and share them with other people. We are in the place where we need to think out of the box, come up with new ideas and not be afraid to try them. Through imagination and creation comes thoughts and actions that will help lead us to recovery.
Support your fellow Realtor. We are all in this together and need to support each other through it. A laugh and some kind words goes a long ways these days.

Optimisim, PASS IT ON.

Reposted with permission from Sue Brown, Prescott Real Estate, www.prescotrealestateroundup.com
I couldn’t have said it better. My thoughts exactly. Passing it on.

If you need a peptalk, call me.

Claudia Williams
970 247 8388

P.S. Search the MLS at http://www.blueribbondurango.com/mls.php or email us to receive listings as they hit the market

P.P.S. Did you know that a duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows why?