Ruth's Blog: September 2009

Heads up, Colorado... we just got our very first purchase suspense pending confirmation that a property has installed carbon monoxide alarms in conformance with the Colorado House Bill 1091 that went into effect 7/1/09, which is also known as Lofgren Family Carbon Monoxide Safety Act. This Act applies to both single family and multi-family dwellings and applies if the property is sold, remodeled, repaired, or leased after July 1, 2009.

For a full copy of this law, click here: Carbon Monoxide Safety Act

For a summary (that we can understand!) of this law, click here: CHB 1091

News will be breaking soon about yet MORE changes coming out for us to deal with in the wild world of mortgage lending. For one, there will be restrictions on WHO and HOW FHA appraisals are ordered, similar to the restrictions recently imposed by HVCC on conventional appraisals. YUK!

Additionally, the length of time an FHA appraisal is good for is being reduced to 120 days. Previously it was 6 months on existing and 1 year on new construction. Before complaining, though, think about this... IF you believe values are going to increase in your area, that could be a good thing. You won't be stuck with a value that is not represented of current market conditions.

And there's more, but I'll save that for another time once I've sold myself on the previous paragraph about this being a good thing.

This weekend we took a drive to Taos. Even though it's only about a four and a half hour drive, it's the first time we've ever gone to New Mexico. I'm not sure what it is, but no matter where we visit I can't help but wonder how the real estate values compare. Does everyone do this, or do I need counseling?

Taos was such an interesting little town. Incredible southwestern architecture, regardless of whether viewing a recently constructed hacienda or touring the ancient Taos Pueblo. What caused curiosity for me was what appeared to be the difference in the average household income vs the cost of real estate. So I did a little research comparing my little town of Castle Rock to Taos to see if the averages were comparable. And what I found seemed to justify my initial suspicion:

Taos: Average median household income = $29,602  vs median home or condo value = $239,100

Castle Rock: Avg med household income = $89,750 vs median home or condo values = $331,200

(figures taken from City-data.com)

That means the average price of homes in Taos is over 8 times more than the average income, whereby Castle Rock is just over 3.5 times more than the average income.

I suspect two things to be true about Taos, from my very limited research:

1) there must be a lot of retired people moving to Taos that pay cash for homes; and,

2) mortgage lending is probably not a very lucrative business there!