RSS feed Readers

I am building a site and on which I would like to have an rss reader which will post news about certain search phrases or keywords.  Does anyone have experience with this type of tool and is it something I can expect to have accomplished relatively easily?

 

From a SEO standpoint I'm under the impression that if it is an XML feed then the content of the reader will help my rankings

Firelight Highlands Ranch Market Update October 21, 2007

 

Firelight Highlands Ranch Colorado Market Update homes sold under contract and new listings October 21

October in Firelight has been pretty steadily plodding along:  there are currently 12 homes under contract in Firelight.  Of which two contracted since my last update (in the last 7 days)

 

 

3267 Ashworth Avenue, Highlands Ranch, a Shea Sage on open space contracted after only 11 days on the market.

And A Beazer two story after 46 days on the market that sits on over a quarter of an acre (0.27 a m/l) which makes it a contender for one of the largest yard in Firelight!

 

List Price	Bed/Bth	Sqr Ft	Address	City	Subarea
$295,950	3/3	1992	10646 CherryBrook Ci	Highlands Ranch	Firelight
$307,950	3/3	1804	2649 Westgate Ave	Highlands Ranch	Firelight
$339,900	4/3	2283	10727 Middlebury Way	Highlands Ranch	Firelight
$369,900	4/3	2562	3267 Ashworth Ave	Highlands Ranch	Firelight
$409,000	4/4	2220	3155 Windridge Cir.	Highlands Ranch	Firelight
$419,000	4/3	2420	10733 Ashford Cir.	Highlands Ranch	Firelight
$515,000	5/5	3138	3361 Westhaven Pl.	Highlands Ranch	Firelight
$549,000	4/4	3561	2794 Pemberly Ave.	Highlands Ranch	Firelight
$598,000	4/4	3321	3200 Lynwood Ave.	Highlands Ranch	Firelight
$599,900	5/5	3192	3285 Lynwood Ave.	Highlands Ranch	Firelight
$689,000	4/4	3264	2969 Newbury Ct.	Highlands Ranch	Firelight
$875,000	5/5	5073	2680 Danbury Ln.	Highlands Ranch	Firelight

 

 

And we have three new listings including a Shea Tarryall on open space priced at $269,900.00 at 10647 CHERRYBROOK although it’s incorrectly entered in the MLS as a Denver listing…

 

No closings in the last seven days in Firelight so here’s how it looks as of October 21:

 

 

Andy Andrews-- The Decisions You Make Today Dictate Who You Are Tomorrow

I had a an opportunity to see Andy Andrews at a Keller Williams convention a few weeks ago.

 

After experiencing his talk related to his book The Travelers Gift Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success I bought a whole box of his books and cd's to share with my team and my loved ones. 

 

Since I drive so much with my business I have listened to hours and hours of his conversations.  Andy is very clear that he's not a speaker nor a motivational coach-- more of a conversationalist.  That suits me just fine since I'm not big on motivational speakers in general but I've recently become a big fan of Andy Andrews!

 

Since pretty much everything he says or writes is copy written and I don't have the press credentials to get access to his media kit so I can't quote the book.  However I can say that the seven decisions are based on Andy's extensive research of over 200 Biographies of wildly successful people in history.  Andy's gift to the world is his ability to notice things-- and what he has noticed is how the presence of the "Seven Decisions" changed each of their respective lives.

 

To acknowledge and approach the Seven Decisions with a conscious deliberation is one of the easiest to integrate into your daily life.  Each of the decisions that Andy talks about are decisions that each of us make or don't make during the course of our every day life. 

 

 I strongly recommend that if you aren't where you want to be in your life, professionally or personally Andy Andrews is a great resource.  His light humor and easy going conversational ability makes for quick reading and engaging study.

 

Take a look at http:www.andyandrews.com

 

I'd love to hear your success stories related to this.  Please feel free to comment...

 

Jump on The Colorado Rockies Bandwagon!!!!

What could be better than rooting for a winner?

I was heading in to the office this morning and was listening to the sports experts talking about all of the people who have recently jumped on the Colorado Rockies Bandwagon.  The host and a few callers seemed almost surprised at how many new fans the Rockies have accrued in their historic run to the World Series-- The Fall Classic!!!

Well what do they expect?  I have to admit even I am getting excited about baseball.  Now don't get me wrong I love a great game of baseball.  PLAYING baseball that is or maybe some coed softball with some friends.  But let's face it.  Baseball is tough to watch until your team is winning.

 

Well they are winning now and winning in a big way. The Rockies have now won 20 of their last 21 games.  First, it was a miracle they made the playoffs at all.  Now they're actually recognized nationally.  They are 7-0 in the playoffs!  Yes, there's a real baseball team here in Colorado.  The Rockies are going to the World Series if they win tonight or as long as they don't have a historic meltdown.

LETS GO ROCKIES!!!!

I'm rooting for the Rockies all the way.  I just hope the schedule of the world series doesn't conflict with the Avalanche!

 

Highlands Ranch Colorado market update

How did Highlands Ranch do in September? Highlands Ranch finished September very strong relative to all of the "Sky is Falling" news in Real Estate lately. Our average price for a sold home in Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree combined increased quite a bit from the end of August. We started September at about $343k and finished at about $383k. Although we had fewer sales in September than we did in August, that is a typical seasonal pattern. I generally help home sellers understand that when the number of new listings decreases at the same time the number of under contract homes increase-- it's a good time to list their home to sell. That happened twice in September in Highlands Ranch. The second week of September we had a good dip in new listings while 3 weeks in a row our new under contracts increased over the previous week in September and even beat August's performance. In fact, the number of new listings for the week ending 9-30 was the lowest increase to inventory since early summer! If the number of new listings continues to decrease we'll have to start calling this a neutral market instead of the Buyer's market that is on everyone's lips. Overall the total level of inventory is about the same level it was at the end of July. Interestingly, the average list price is up quite a bit and very close to the highest level of the year! This could explain the end of the trend of more and more homes under contract. Overall, Highlands Ranch continues to exhibit very typical Supply and Demand traits. The market is very fair right now and those who are willing and able to consider and react to all of the facts are getting very reliable results. This analysis is based upon my ongoing research and is provided as a summary of the entire market in Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree. This post was created almost exclusively from Metrolist (MLS)facts. I also track and provide information on individual neighborhoods. Neighborhood information is much more valuable, frequently has significantly different trending than the overall picture and I'm happy to share it with you free and with no obligation. Let me know where you'd like me to focus and I'll put together a very comprehensive analysis that is easily understood and helpful. Logon to http://www.myhomebuyingresource.com, send me your e-mail address and I'll respond promptly. Thank you.

Firelight Highlands Ranch Colorado homes sold under contract and new listings October 14

We had some quality activity in Firelight this week.  While historically October isn't a big month for market activity I'm pleased to post that there are currently 10 homes under contract in Firelight.  Of which three contracted since my last update (in the last 10 days)

2649 Westgate, Firelight, Highlands Ranch, CO  is under contract after only 15 DOM (Days on market)

10733 Ashford Circle, Firelight, Highlands Ranch, CO is under contract after 55 DOM

2794 Pemberly Ave, Firelight, Highlands Ranch, CO is finally under contract after 195 DOM after almost $50k in price reductions over the last 6 months.

There has been one closing in Firelight in the last few days:

10688 Riverbrook Circle, Firelight, Highlands Ranch, CO, a two story Berkeley greyrock sold after 30 DOM for $305,000.

Overall we have 40 homes active on the market in Firelight ranging from $259,900 up to $799,999.  For a closer analysis of the market conditions, to discuss how we adapt our efforts to timely and specific Firelight market information, or to schedule a showing of any of the 42 homes for sale please logon to http://www.myhomebuyingresouce.com/

Tuscany South in Aurora CO-- A top notch community packed with value

I recently researched a wealth of information about Tuscany South in Aurora, CO for a Seller client of mine who I have known for several years.  I really wanted to pinpoint why this Seller has had so much difficulty selling their beautiful perfectly maintained home that we feel has been priced very well.

 

So I started by analyzing and graphing the data from all of Aurora South.  Now Aurora South is huge.  It's in Arapaho County and adjacent to the Denver areas's second largest core of office space, the Denver Tech Center.  It's a major feeder area for the hundred of thousands of professionals who want a short commute while also having excellent schools-- namely Cherry Creek, arguable the best school district in Colorado. So, I was pretty sure that mapping the entire sold results for the city was going to be fruitless however, I was pleased to see a few easily recognizable trends:

It's easy to recognize the seasonal dip in sales that begins in August and starts ramping up again in March.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that the overall performance this year has been relatively steady with no material decrease in sales volume, price or even number of expireds.

 

Well that's all fine and dandy but not much help to my Seller in Tuscany South who is absolutely going to take a large loss after buying at the very peak in pricing back in 2005.  So I have now graphed the Tuscany South results and here's the bad news:

 

Firelight Highlands Ranch Homes for Sale recent sold information and Days on Market graph

One of the things about blogging real estate information is that it's a learning process for both reader and writer.  I've been selling homes and maintaining a market conditions report for my own office for years-- actually I started in 1996.  But to produce something that's worthy of sharing with the public is a different story.  So I've been experimenting with various graphs and statistics that I think are helpful and plotting them with different styles. 

This graph is for Firelight, Highlands Ranch, Colorado and gives a visual indicator of what's been going on.  Although Firelight hasn't been experiencing the crazy boom days of 2005 anymore it still performs pretty well.  In my opinion this is because of the intrinsic value that Highlands Ranch offers along with the specific great attributes that Firelight offers.  Take a look and let me know your thoughts.  Feel free to send me an e-mail at BobMaiocco@kw.com or visit my website at www.MyHomeBuyingResource.com and I'll share with you my trending analysis as well as how I use what I know about the market to position my clients to take advantage of any situation.

Firelight in Highlands Ranch did the Dam Break? An optimistic Market Update

Firelight in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.  Yesterday I gave an overall summary of recent market activity in Highlands Ranch and Today I want to focus on Firelight.  Firelight is a terrific community in South Highlands Ranch with many great features including fast access to the new Southridge Rec Center, http://www.hrcaonline.org/Fac_Southridge.asp  which is loaded with amenities, great public schools within the Douglas County School District: http://www.dcsdk12.org/portal/page/portal/DCSD including:

Mountain Vista High School - grades 9 - 12   boundary map  MountainVistaHighSchool                          Mountain Vista High School Feeder Doc Size: 238.50 KB

Mountain Ridge Middle School - grades 7 - 8 see the boundary map                     Mountain Ridge Middle School Doc Size: 331.10 KB  

Copper Mesa Elementary School - grades K - 6,  see the boundary map                 Copper Mesa Elementary Doc Size: 131.74 KB  

Heritage Elementary School - grades K - 6, see the boundary map                          Heritage Elementary Doc Size: 160.43 KB    

I'm a big fan of Firelight and the roughly 1,850 homes and active listings ranging from $259k to $799,999 as of October 2, 2007. Homebuilders include Beazer, Berkeley, Joyce, Richmond, Ryland, and Shea Homes.

This evening as I review the market in Firelight I'm pleased to announce that the results from September are fairly promising.  We had nine closings in Firelight in September ranging from $249,900 up to 572,000.  And although one of the new listings to Firelight contracted very fast (7 days) the average is now 57 Days on Market (DOM) and the average closed price to list price is a reduction of 2.11%.

There are two new listings this week: A Richmond Flatiron backing the open space that leads to the Rec Center at $598,500 and a Beazer Bradbury for $588,000. 

Four new under contracts in the last week so here's how Firelight's inventory looks overall:

42 homes for sale ranging from $259,000 up to $799,999.  For a closer analysis of the market conditions or to schedule a showing of any of the 42 homes for sale please logon to http://www.myhomebuyingresource.com/

19137 East Maplewood Ave. Tuscany South, Aurora, CO Cherry Creek Schools

 

Front View : Excellent Corner Location

A tremendous value in a superior location within the Cherry Creek School District Address:   19137 E. Maplewood Ave.    City/ST:   Aurora, CO   Zip Code:   80016   Location:   In Beautiful Tuscany in Cherry Creek School Dist.   Property Type:   Single Family Home   New or Resale:   Resale    Square Footage:   4082   Bedrooms:   5   Bathrooms:   4 full, 1 half   MLS#   549173    The Glenwood is historically one of the most popular floor plans with a great combination of well thought out Architecture and plenty of usable space. This home carries on the tradition and brings a wealth of upgrades and timeless design elements. The home's huge double front doors welcome you into a very impressive two-story entryway. Once inside the upgades throughout are evident in flooring, paint, cabinetry, counter tops--really no corners have been cut. The Kitchen is a wonderful use of generous cabinetry and lots of counter top space-- even a large pantry. The bedrooms are all oversized, the Master has it's own reading retreat, huge walk-in closet and comforting five piece bath. Two of the secondary bedrooms share a Jack and Jill bath. The full basement offers an additional 2096 square feet of unfinished storage space or an enormous space for the ultimate finished basement... Request Even More Information