The Colorado State Capital bears a strong resemblance to our nation’s capitol, including famous street names such as Pennsylvania and Lincoln Avenue. The building was built in the 1890’s and is composed of Colorado white granite. In 1908 the dome was plated in 24 karat gold.

The interior features magnificent brass and stained glass. The dome towers 180 feet above, and contains stained glass dedicated to the 16 initial founders of the city of Denver.

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A round brass survey marker embedded in the west entrance stairway declares why Denver is known as the Mile High City.

Elevation: 5280 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL

The Colorado State Capitol is open to the public Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

To see more photos of the Colorado State Capital in Denver click here!
photo credits: Naked Eyes

The Denver area real estate market ranked number 3 in the latest (November 2009) S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price report. The report tracks 20 metropolitan areas and ranks them based on real estate price performance.

The Denver area showed a 0.5% increase, and ranked 3rd, trailing only Dallas (+1.4%) and San Francisco (+1.0%.) The only other city showing a positive number was San Diego +0.4%.) In October 2009, Denver was rated the #1 market overall with a .1% loss. This is very positive news for the area, and for real estate nationwide!

I believe the reason for the improvement was the urgency caused by the end of the first time homebuyer credit. Since then, we know the tax credit has been extended to April 30th of this year, so the increase should continue through the first quarter of the year. The first time buyer market, those home priced under $250k, has firmed up tremendously and I am seeing a continuation of that.

Overall, the 20 markets in the index dropped 5.3%.

Stay tuned!

With tax time upon us, I wanted to share the IRS form that is required to get your credit.  IRS form 5405 is what you’ll need to attach to your tax return to claim the credit.

Please consult your tax professional for any tax advice regarding this, and if you need a tax pro, shoot us a message or give us a call.  We have a couple of people we would highly recommend!

Click the link below to view and print the form.

IRS_Form_5405_-_updated_1-19-10

photo credit: brianjmatis

HUD’s 90 day rule was a condition put upon home sales stating that if the property was owned for less than 90 days, the owner could not sell it and offer FHA financing.  The reason for this was to keep unscrupulous investors from buying low, and re-selling immediately for substantial profit.  Investors, rehabbers, and the like, needed to wait a full 90 days before the resale could go through with an FHA loan.

Starting February 1st, 2010 home may now be financed via FHA financing even if they don’t meet this 90 day requirement.  This policy change will allow foreclosures to get back on the market in a quicker time frame, and hopefully, move inventory quicker.

Here is the memo that was just released:

In an effort to stabilize home values and improve conditions in communities where foreclosure activity is high, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced a temporary policy that will expand access to FHA mortgage insurance and allow for the quick resale of foreclosed properties.  The announcement is part of the Obama administration commitment to addressing foreclosure. Just yesterday, Secretary Donovan announced $2 billion in Neighborhood Stabilization Program grants to local communities and nonprofit housing developers to combat the effects of vacant and abandoned homes…

…The waiver will take effect on February 1, 2010 and is effective for one year, unless otherwise extended or withdrawn by the FHA Commissioner.  To protect FHA borrowers against predatory practices of “flipping” where properties are quickly resold at inflated prices to unsuspecting borrowers, this waiver is limited to those sales meeting the following general conditions:

• All transactions must be arms-length, with no identity of interest between the buyer and seller or other parties participating in the sales transaction.
• In cases in which the sales price of the property is 20 percent or more above the seller’s acquisition cost, the waiver will only apply if the lender meets specific conditions.
• The waiver is limited to forward mortgages, and does not apply to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for purchase program.

Specific conditions and other details of this new temporary policy are in the text of the waiver, available on HUD’s website at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/waivpropflip2010.pdf

This weeks Friday photos features some of the great architecture and beauty of Denver area churches.  Check out the photos here

photo credit: knick_knack55