It's heating up... Don't let your cooling costs get out of control

The unofficial start to summer has come and gone and the weather is definitely getting warmer. As you start to turn on your a/c units or swamp coolers, make sure you do a few things.

1) If you are using a central a/c unit, spend the $100 and have it professionally cleaned and serviced. This act alone will likely save you more than $100 on your utility bill over the summer months.

2) If you are using a swamp cooler, have it professionally cleaned and serviced. Be sure to make sure your water connections are tight and leak free. Water leaks can get expensive in a hurry. It's easy to leak hundreds, if not thousands of gallons of waters if you don't check on a regular basis. On a roof mounted unit, you may not even notice because the water will go into your gutters and water the grass.

3) No matter what you are using, CHANGE YOUR FILTERS! On central a/c units, do it monthly. They are cheap. The dust clogs them up and makes the units work harder increasing your costs. On swamp coolers, check and clean the water filter monthly. Change the pads at the beginning of the summer. You may want to check and change them at the end of July or in early August as well.

4) Close the shades on the sunny side of your house. Pay particular attention to south and west facing windows.

5) Turn off the lights if you aren't in the room or don't really need them on. Lights give off heat and your cooling system is working against them. Turning out the lights is particularly important if you are using Halogen or incandescent bulbs. You may want to consider switching to CFL bulbs where ever possible. They produce about 70% less heat than incandscent bulbs AND they are much more energy efficient.

There are lots of things you can do to help reduce your energy bills. These are just a few simple ideas to get you started.

Fun short sale story

I had a very interesting phone conversation about a short sale property this morning. I want to be clear this is not my listing or my buyer for the property being referenced. The buyer did contact me and wanted to discuss the situation as they wanted an outside opinion. Please keep in mind this is NOT legal advise and to verify the accuracy of this if you should come across a similar scenario you should contact an attorney.

Here is the scenario: The buyer put an offer in on a short sale property last month. The buyer worked directly with the listing agent to put the offer together and has provided all of the necessary documentation.

The listing agent (now working as a transaction broker as best as I can see) submits the offer to the lender for short sale approval. The lender has approved the short sale. Yay! Right??? Well, not so much. The listing agent DID NOT submit the offer for short sale approval to any of the other lien-holders against the property nor did the agent disclose there were multiple liens against the property. Now the agent is telling the buyer it will be necessary for the buyer to PAY OFF all other existing encumbrances PRIOR TO THE CLOSING to make the deal happen. Whoa there, what? This is called FRAUD and it is a FELONY. It violates a number of RESPA rules and damages the senior lien holder. If a BUYER, SELLER, OR AGENT engage in this activity, it could land them in jail. For a real estate agent, it would be grounds for immediate revocation of his or her license and a significant fine.

Short sales are tricky. I get it. But, it isn't worth going to jail to get one done. If you are ever in a position where you are asked to do something that seems shady in a real estate transaction you should immediately contact an attorney and walk away from the deal.

Colorado Owner Carry Financing Law

One of the big real estate news items of 2010 was the passage of legislation that required home-owners to become licensed mortgage brokers in order to carry financing on properties they were selling. This was bad for the market and was legislation that did not make sense.

I want to set the facts on this matter straight. Owner carry financing is extremely important to the market and to the economic recovery. Governor Hickenlooper signed bill 11-1022 on March 1st to address this. Please see Bill 11-1022

This bill makes it perfectly legal for a homeowners to carry financing on properties without obtaining a mortgage originators license. A homeowner may finance up to three (3) properties every twelve months. If you are considering buying or selling a home and utilizing Owner Carry Financing, make sure you are working with an agent and more importantly, a title company who is knowledgeable with the laws in regards to this issue.

Please be aware, this is not an attempt to be legal advise. If you should need legal advise and how this law could impact you be sure to seek the help of a qualified attorney.

Community Responsibility

I read lots of blogs talking about all of the great things people are doing with their businesses. I wanted to take a minute and let everyone know what 5280 Homes, Inc does outside of providing world class service to those wanting to buy or sell homes.

We are committed to be socially responsible. Out of almost every closing, a small donation is made to a local charity. Over the past two years we have donated money to the Carson J Spencer Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House and other 501(C)(3) organizations. As the managing broker for the company, I have been determined to keep 100% of our donations in the local community. While I understand catastrophic events happen around the world, I can never forget about the people in my own community who so greatly benefit by keeping my donations local.

One of our broker associates is in the process of launching her very own not-for-profit organization. This charity will help to spread information about suicide prevention. This is a very personal issue for her and an extremely worth while cause. 5280 Homes, Inc is proud to be the very first donor to this charity and we look forward to providing financial and volunteer assistance in the future.

More from the land of short sales

A recent news article I read in the Denver Post indicated that more the 20% of homes in Colorado are now worth less than the mortgage(s). I know far to many people who have lost their jobs or have had significant income reductions and just aren't able to readily afford their payments any longer. Couple this with a home that isn't worth the amount of the mortgage and you have all of the ingredients to lose a home to foreclosure.

To often, people in this situation don't ask for any help until it is WAY to late. Lenders are not nearly as forgiving in Colorado as other states when you get behind on your payments. Colorado has a unique Public Trustee system to handle foreclosures and they move very quickly once the initial foreclosure filing is submitted.

If you find yourself in this position, here are some things you MUST do right away!
1) Call your loan service provider and discuss your situation! If you do this right away, the will know you are serious about keeping your home and will be more willing to help you.
2) If you know you can no longer afford your payments, you must discuss what your options are for a "LOAN MODIFICATION."
3) If you don't qualify for a loan modification, consider a "short sale". A short sale is where you ask the lender to forgive part of your debt so you can sell your house. There are many different requirements that must be followed you need to work with an experienced short sale expert.

In my next blog post, I'll go over questions you should be asking when interviewing a short sale specialist.

Getting back on task...

It has been too long since my last short sale post and for that I apologize. During this time, I have been busy working on a multitude of items, including becoming a father again.

5280 Homes, Inc still strives to help distressed home owners avoid foreclosure. While I have always run my business in accordance with newly implemented "Mortgage Asset Relief Services" or MARS, you should be aware of what the changes mean for the consumer.

1) No one (except a licensed attorney)may charge an UP FRONT FEE for providing loan modification or short sale services!
2) For a loan modification, a consumer may ONLY be charged once he or she has agreed to the new terms extended from the lender. If the consumer doesn't agree to the terms of a loan modification, there can be no charge.
3) Consumers cannot be encouraged to stop communicating with their lender(s)
4) An agent may not misrepresent the likelihood that a short sale will be approved. No one can guarantee they can get a deal closed and they should NEVER do it.


There are many more rules and regulations professionals must follow when it comes to short sales. If you have questions, please give us a call at 720-457-3890.

Foreclosure Filings

Denver Metro area foreclosure filings:
(Notice of Election & Demand)for the week of 7/22 - 7/28;

Adams County - 64 NEDs filed
Arapahoe County - 113 NEDs filed
Boulder County - 16 NEDs filed
Broomfield County - 4 NEDs filed
Denver County - 93 NEDs filed
Douglas County - 34 NEDs filed
Jefferson County - 67 NEDs filed

There were a total of 391 NEDs recorded during the past 7 days. The previous 7 day period had 458 NEDs filed.

*Information is deemed reliable but cannot be guaranteed. All information is available from public records.