Colorado Group Realty Charitable Foundation

Colorado Group Realty Announces its Sixth Round of Charitable Foundation Grant Recipients as $11,000 Awarded to Nine Local Community Programs

The Colorado Group Realty Charitable Foundation awarded a total of $11,000 in grants to nine local organizations Thursday, March 10th at a gathering at the Tread of Pioneers Museum. This is the sixth distribution of grants totaling over $60,000 by the Charitable Foundation and is part of a continuous effort to support community-based programs.

This winter’s recipients are: Grand Futures, Habitat for Humanity, Howelsen Hill
Centennial Campaign, Humble Ranch, Partners in Routt County, Routt County Riders,
Steamboat Adaptive Recreational Sports, Summer Concert Series and Yampatika.
The Colorado Group Realty Charitable Foundation was established in 2006 in order to
provide a means to give back to the community. In addition to donations made at
the time of real estate transactions, employees, managers and matching funds from
client and public donations, can also contribute to the foundation. The goal of the
Charitable Foundation is to support a wide range of community based programs
related to human services, the arts, education, western heritage, the environment
and recreation.

March 2011 Colorado Group Realty Charitable Foundation Recipients:

Grand Futures Prevention Coalition provides a framework for the community to create and promote positive, healthy lifestyles as alternative choices to substance abuse for youth.
Since 1999, Routt County Habitat for Humanity has been building and
remodeling simple, safe, affordable homes with families in need throughout Routt
County.
Howelsen Hill Centennial Campaign is an effort to raise money to upgrade the facilities at Howelsen Hill.
Humble Ranch Education and Therapy Center provides individuals with varied abilities, therapeutic and educational opportunities in the heart if a working ranch.
Partners in Routt County is a youth mentoring organization whose mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of youth of Routt County by facilitating one-toone partnerships between adult volunteers and youth.
Routt County Riders is a bicycle advocacy group representing the local cycling community.
Recreational opportunities for people with disabilities are offered through
Steamboat Adaptive Recreational Sports (STARS).
The Steamboat Springs Free Summer Concert Series produces an annual
summer music series that is free to the public and provides enjoyment for both local
residents and visitors.
Yampatika was founded in 1992 by community members who saw a need for environmental interpretation in the Yampa Valley.

About Colorado Group Realty, the largest 100% locally owned real estate firm in Steamboat Springs, has a deep commitment to improve the quality of life in the Yampa Valley. The company operates 4 offices in the area.

This Week's Top Picks and Sold Homes on the Market in Steamboat Springs, CO

Hi there, lets take a closer look at what is happening on the market locally. Yet again there are plenty of great investments out there and most of them foreclosures or as they call them in the industry REO (Real Estate Owned. There is a variety of product available, from condominiums and town homes to single family homes and even land opportunities to allow you to build your dream house in the beautiful Yampa Valley. The amount of foreclosures doesn't surprise me as Routt County did beat the all time record for foreclosure filings in September of 2010 with 3 months still to go and finished the year with around 300 foreclosure filings or like they call them in the industry NED (Notice of Elect and Demand). Only in the month of January of 2011 we've had over 60 NED fillings. Those numbers might not sound like a lot to you, especially if you reside in one of our metropolitan areas, but for the small Routt County with its 25000 or so in total population, that is a HUGE number.
To take a closer look at the investments that sold this week, please click here And if you'd like to see the Top Picks and all the wonderful opportunities that the Steamboat Springs, CO market has to offer, please click here.

What is Happening on the Market in Steamboat Springs

By Martin Dragnev

Dear All,

The current housing market nationwide, as you all know, has been in turmoil compared in many instances with some of the worst economic times our country had been through. Routt County is not immune against all the nationwide trends as being primarily a second home/vacation home market is in direct correlation with the Stock and Bonds markets and the housing market in the big metropolitan areas. Many of you are asking, How are all the short sales and foreclosures affecting our home values? What is going on with the average home price in our neighborhood? How are the most recent sales affecting our ability to sell or refinance? Is now really the best time to buy or is that simply yet another sales tactic?

I would like to give you some numbers to help you better understand the market conditions we are in. With just a few weeks remaining in the year, Routt County has already established a new record in foreclosure filings in a calendar year (274) and public officials expect to finish the year at about 300. The previous record of 234 was set in 1985 as a result of the Savings and Loan Crisis. As of today, our MLS system shows 48 active residential foreclosures in Routt County and 27 pending sales. Those numbers show that lots of buyers are taking advantage of the great opportunities that the market presents them with. I was able to help a young family obtain their first home this summer in the Stagecoach Area where they got happily involved with a 3BD/3BA, 2500 square foot home with 2 car garage and the size of their investment was in the low $200’s.
This is also good news for sellers trying to put their home on the market as most of those bank owned properties are getting absorbed rather quickly.

Taking a closer look at the Short Sales, there are currently 62 active and only 3 pending sales. Short Sale is the process in which the lender (the bank) agrees to take less funds (shortage) than what is owed to them by the borrower in the sale of his home. This is very complicated and time consuming process and you would most likely need a real estate professional with knowledge in that area to assist you through the process.

So, let’s explore some of the questions you might be asking yourself.

How are all the short sales and foreclosures affecting our home values? What is going on with the average home price in our neighborhood?

Short sales and foreclosures are usually priced towards the low end of the market and have the potential of bringing the average neighborhood price down. Please keep in mind that banks do property evaluations often and even though they are willing to give buyers a good deal, they are not simply giving properties away. On the flip side of that coin, most of the distressed properties are in somewhat of a deteriorated condition and need to be purchased in AS-IS condition which caries certain doze of risk and some buyers are not going for that. Also being priced aggressively helps getting them absorbed by the market quickly and reduces the number of homes for sale in a given neighborhood and therefore the competition.

Is now really the best time to buy or is that simply yet another sales tactic?

Mortgage interest rates is another factor making this market such a unique opportunity for buyers. Even though they had started to trickle upwards, they are still near historically low levels. There are great first time home buyer programs available out there like the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) loan which is a program with no money down and the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) loans. Programs like these in combination with down payment assistance programs, like the one administered locally through Yampa Valley Housing Authority (YVHA) are very powerful tools available to buyers.

Of course, I don’t have a magic wand to tell you when the market will bottom out but I have remained very active throughout the year and there have been lots of opportunities on the market. There are many reports and industry specialists are pointing out that 2011 will be a break through year for real estate and I am hopeful that by next spring there will be a spur of activity on the market locally. As local professionals like to say amongst themselves…”Buyers always like to look at opportunities in the winter and invest in the summer”.

So…is getting happily involved with an investment in Steamboat now a good idea? I would say…Yes. You are never going to be able to time the market perfectly and with most sellers being upside down on their home equity, I don’t see prices going down too much further for the most part. That, combined with the low interest rates and some of the great loan and down payment assistance programs provides for real buyers market.

I’ve been fortunate enough this year to continue being involved in the Real Estate industry, working with Sellers and Buyers alike and trying to find the perfect home for folks who still dream of having a place to call home in Steamboat.

I’m happy to assist you in any way possible, so please feel free to contact me on my cell phone 970.291.9412 or shoot me an email at martin@mybrokers.com

Martin Dragnev

Sold in Steamboat Springs for the week of Jan 11th

Just released: all the sold real estate opportunities in Steamboat Springs in the last week. Again we see some short sales and foreclosures on the list which have been the primary moving force on our market. To see the homes click here.

Sold homes in Steamboat Springs,CO for the week of 12.28.10

Hot of the press: Sold properties in Steamboat Springs, CO for the week of December 28, 2010. Arround here we like to say that our visitors and patrons look at properties in the winter and invest in the summer. Well that has shown not to be entirely true as lots of folks see the great opportunities our market has to offer and get happily involved with an investment in Ski Town USA. To see last weeks sales just click here.

Colorado Group Realty Winter Real Estate Piece

Hot of the Press: Colorado Group Realty Winter Edition of all the wonderful opportunities on the real estate market in Steamboat Springs and Routt County Colorado. Please browse through and contact the site owner with any questions and/or inquiries. I hope you find the information helpful in your decision making process.

Enjoy!

Early Steamboat Snow!

Check out my video at the base of the Steamboat Springs, CO Ski Area