Joetta’s Neighborhood Newsletter
March, 2012
To All My Friends & Neighbors –
Greetings!
Did you get out to Arvada’s first St. Patty’s Day celebration? They blocked Grandview Ave. off to traffic, had live music. Tons of people were there, it was a good time!
If you missed it, your next Arvada opportunities would be various Easter events, including the Easter Egg Hunt at the Apex Field House on March 31. I plan to enjoy this event with my eldest grandson. Should be great photo ops!
Then, on April 14 there’s both the Kite Festival and the Tartan Day events. My family and I went to both last year, and look forward to doing it again. Get out and enjoy Arvada this spring!
An Internet Site for Those Who Love Trying New Recipes
I’ve been spending just a little time on a site called, “Pinterest”. It’s a place to save great online finds, like recipes, party ideas, decorating ideas, crafts, etc. Saving things on Pinterest is called pinning. I’ve pinned a lot of recipes to my board, and made a discovery – most of the best recipes seem to come from www.foodgawker.com.
So there’s your tip of the month – if you want some new recipes to try, visit www.foodgawker.com.
And if you want to check out Pinterest, you need an invitation in order to join. So let me know, and I’ll send you an invite.
What My Readers Said:
“The housing crisis means to me that people cannot afford the houses available due to the overall economic climate, the lack of incoming funds, credit issues due to funds issues and the lack of availability.”
There are many interesting points in this statement, but the one I want to discuss is that right now housing is actually more affordable than it’s been ever since records have been kept. ‘Affordable’ refers to how much of a person’s paycheck goes towards a mortgage. Right now, people can buy a house at a better price, taken as a percentage of income, than ever before.
However, that statement only applies to people who have jobs. In many ways, the housing crisis is over, or headed that direction. But things will not be back to ‘normal’ until more people have jobs.
Whatever the end of the housing crisis looks like, it will be over in some parts of the country while it drags on in other parts. Whenever a report is released about healthy real estate markets, Denver is consistently in the top 10 to 20 cities.
Most professionals are calling what we’re experiencing now, ‘the new normal’. Where we are right now is pretty much a balanced market. There’s a real tug of war between those who want to sell for as much as possible, and those who want to buy for as little as possible.
Plus, as a reader mentioned last month, we have a lot of people who want to sell their house and buy another but they are ‘stuck’ because the one they own has declined in value. It’s estimated there are millions of such households throughout the country. Those folks will not consider the housing crisis ‘over’ until their house appreciates enough to set them free.
Here’s an excerpt from another of my readers. His entire comment was really good, I’ve put it in a blog post you can read it by clicking here.
“For the rest of us, this isn't a crisis so much as the greatest opportunity in a century. I continue to marvel at how much house a person can get for so little. Renting just doesn't make sense in this market. For those of us fortunate to have waited out the craziness, this is an ideal time to buy. No more promises of appreciation or finding a greater fool to pay more than we did. Inflation, deflation, appreciation, none of those matter when a home is so affordable. What we can sell for doesn't matter because we have no plans to sell. We'll live in it until we want a new place, and rent the current house when that time comes. A house has to make sense when you buy it, not when it appreciates.”
Need a Good Mover?
I had the opportunity to see a couple of local moving companies in action this month. Actually three companies, but one was awful so I won’t talk about them. The ones that did a good job were -
Denver Small Moves (Ken Marley)- they moved furniture up and down stairs at our house for $100. Were an hour late, but did call. Email denversmallmoves@gmail.com or call 720-810-6821
Reliable Movers Inc. – I’ve referred this company before. Very professional, good prices. 303-227-3141
If you’d like to refer any local contractors you’ve found, let me know and I’ll put it in the newsletter. I could really use some good concrete contractors.
Some of my blog posts for the past month
If you get this newsletter by email, click on the title and the article will open up. Otherwise, I’d be glad to print and mail any you want to read.)
Arvada Homes Market Report February 2012
See all my listings – in fact, every home listed via MLS IDX - at www.DreamHouseHunting.com
If you’d like daily updates of homes on the market, or monthly updates of sales in your neighborhood, let me know.
If you have input for, or a response to, this newsletter, I’d love to hear from you.
Joetta Fort~ The DiGiorgio Group ~ 720-353-8031 ~ Joetta.fort@me.com
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