Real Estate Information

New Summit County trees are starting to grow! Beetle kill trees naturally falling.

The natural progression of the forest as viewed in this photo of a recent hike we took on the Mesa Cortina Trail in Silverthorne, Colorado.  The sad news is that many trees taken over by the pine bark beetle have fallen and lay on the ground.   The great news, however, is that new healthy trees are popping up all over.  From the pristine aspen trees to the new lodge pole pines, plus raspberry bushes and many beautiful flowers can be viewed on the moderate level hike.  Lake Dillon views from many areas of this fun hike also. Check out the photos.  Summertime in the Rockies at its best!

Credit Card Traps
It is not unusual for first-time buyers to be free of debt. They have been saving for their first home for many months or even years. But after they move into their new home, the new homeowners are often deluged with pre-approved credit card applications from banks and stores offering credit lines. Before they realize what is happening, they can be overwhelmed with debt.

The consumer credit agencies know that mortgage companies do thorough checks before approving a loan, and those who have passed through that process are considered good credit risks. They also know that new homeowners often need to make major purchases of furniture and appliances at a time when they have depleted most of their savings accounts. After years of disciplined savings, new owners may be faced with a tremendous temptation to just say "charge it" for the things they need.

If you have just purchased a home, be aware--and wary--when those credit card applications start pouring in!

Guitar Town, August 13 – 15
The world’s best guitarists come together at Copper for the 6th annual Guitar Town festival, featuring free guitar workshops, the 2nd annual ArtGuitar Silent Auction, Guitar Hero contests and kids music activities all weekend. Free performances by guitar legends throughout the weekend include Scott Goldman, Pete Huttlinger, Kaki King, Bryan Sutton, John Jorgenson, Richard Thompson, Mark Selby, Albert Lee, Sonny Landreth, Monte Montgomery and more. www.copperguitartown.com
Another great aspect of Guitar Town this year is the ArtGuitar Silent Auction, sponsored by Guitar Center in Denver. In the spirit of the “Chicago Cows,” artists from around the community and around the state have designed, decorated, painted and created art from damaged guitars. There will be a gallery showing on Friday, August 13, at Metals Rock on West Lake and then they will be displayed throughout the Village at Copper on Saturday - Sunday, August 14 - 15. Winning bids will be announced before the All-Star Jam on Sunday, August 15, on the main Guitar Town stage, and all proceeds from the silent auction will benefit the Copper Environmental Foundation.

Warrior Dash, August 21 - 22
Warrior Dash is the ultimate event for thrill-seeking athletes. Participants will conquer extreme obstacles and celebrate their feat with music, beer, warrior helmets and muddy shorts. Zany costumes are encouraged! Some of the obstacles include Knee High Hell (stepping through hundreds of tires), Muddy Mayhem (scrambling beneath barbed wire in mud), and Warrior Roast (leaping over fires). www.warriordash.com.

NOTE TO ALL GUESTS: During Warrior Dash weekend, Copper’s mountain bike trails and Digglers will be CLOSED to summer guests, including Diggler use in the Village. Scenic Chair lift rides will be open with the normal operating hours , 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. (weather permitting). During the week leading up to the event, Aug.16 - 20, there will be a few random mountain bike trail re-routes on the lower section of Redtail – there will be directional signs at the re-route points as they occur. For more information on what is closed, please visit Guest Services in Copper Sports (formerly the MAC).

Saturday Concert Series, featuring Reverend Horton Heat, Aug. 21
Enjoy an amazing live music performance in an intimate setting. Live music provided by Reverend Horton Heat in the Pavilion from 8 - 10 p.m. Admission is FREE for Copper lodging guests and $15 for all others. There will be a limited number of tickets available to the public - First Come, First Served. Tickets go on sale at 6 p.m. the day of the show at the ticket windows in the Village at Copper only, located outside of Copper Sports and next to the base of the American Eagle lift, directly below Jack’s Bar.

Free Things to do in Summit County-Dillon

Take a spin around Lake Dillon on your bike.  You can go as far as you want with Summit Stage stops along the way that you can just hook your bike on and get a bus ride back.

Dillon Town Park has new Bocce Ball courts by the basketball courts just off of Tenderfoot St.  Visit TownofDillon.com

Thursday nights at the Lake Dillon Amphitheatre receive free country dance lessons through August 14.  Visit www.TownofDillon.com

Dillon’s Farmers Market every Friday from 10:30 to 1:00 is a great place to pick up the freshest produce and many other products for your weekend.  Located on Buffalo Street by Town Park.  Visit www.TownofDillon.com

Take a hike on the Dillon Nature Preserve loop and enjoy the views of the Ten Mile Range, The Continental Divide, and the beautiful blue waters of Lake Dillon.

Enjoy Children’s Programs of the Saturday Morning Adventure with wildflower hikes to trail hikes.  Visit www.TownofDillon.com

Watch the paper for the great free concerts at the Lake Dillon Amphitheatre.  Most every Friday and Saturday.  Visit www.TownofDillon.com

Recent reforms in the disclosure laws and real estate practices around the country have resulted in new options for buyers and sellers. Real estate agents can take different roles with buyers and sellers.

A seller's agent works with loyalty and fidelity as the seller's advocate and negotiator, and is obligated to disclose to potential buyers all adverse material facts that are known about the property.

A buyer's agent works exclusively to negotiate the lowest purchase price and best terms for the buyer. This agent serves the buyer with undivided loyalty, confidentiality, and full disclosure. The agent would know the highest price that the buyer would be willing to offer for a home, but could not disclose that information to the seller.

A dual agent can work for both the buyer and the seller by written, informed consent of both parties and has fiduciary obligations to both. The agent can only disclose to one party what the other party allows to be revealed.

A transaction broker assists the buyer or seller or both throughout a real estate transaction without being an agent or advocate for any of the parties.

If you’re sick of spam, take these steps to help reduce it from your email.

Don’t give out your address arbitrarily.  These days there’s a space for you to fill it in on almost any form.  Seems harmless, but companies sometimes sell or share their lists with other companies you don’t want to hear from.

Check privacy policies before you submit your address online.  Reputable sites will tell you what they plan to do with your address.  Make sure you don’t opt-in for emails you don’t want.

Use your spam filter.  It works, but check occasionally for legitimate emails.

Don’t click on anything in a spam message.   If you click a link, the spammer knows it’s a valid email address and will send more spam.  The best option is to delete the email and add the sender to your spam filter.

Don’t be a spammer yourself.  Some people consider those emails that warn of viruses or kids who need Christmas cards as a form of spam.  Be wary of emails that say “send to everyone you know.” Check out hoaxes on sites like www.snopes.com. While you may have the best of intentions, your friends will appreciate it if you forward messages selectively. 

AUSTIN, TEXAS (July 30, 2010) —According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Home Buyer/Seller Study^SM, Keller Williams Realty, Inc., the third largest real estate company in the United States, has received the highest overall satisfaction ratings from home buyers among the largest full-service real estate firms for the third year in a row. The company also ranked second among home sellers in the study for the second year in a row.   “We are incredibly proud of our associates for earning this distinction and want to thank them for their commitment to their clients and communities," said Mark Willis, CEO of Keller Williams Realty. “We see this honor as demonstration of our company philosophy that it is the agent’s brand that matters most and no amount of money spent on advertising can replace the influence and reputations our agents have in their local communities. Our associates have earned this on their own, by building relationships in their communities."   The study was produced by J.D. Power and Associates to measure home buyers and sellers customer satisfaction. The results of the home-buying experience were determined by three factors including the buyer’s experience with their agent, the real estate office and a variety of additional services. Keller Williams Realty performed particularly well in the agent and office factors. And, overall satisfaction of buyers for the industry was up over last year.   Additionally, the study noted that the importance of real estate agents has increased substantially in the past year, with buyers and sellers relying on the negotiating skills of their chosen agent and help in navigating the market.   “It is thrilling to see our firm, once again, get public recognition for its incredible focus on customer satisfaction from such a prestigious group. Our associates continually demonstrate that it is possible to deliver the highest level of customer service in one of the toughest real estate markets on record," said Mary Tennant, president and COO of Keller Williams Realty. “We feel incredibly fortunate to be in business with them, and want to congratulate them on their hard work and dedication."   In the past year, Keller Williams Realty has continued to grow despite the well-publicized turmoil in the real estate industry. In addition to becoming the 3^rd largest real estate company in the U.S., surpassing RE/MAX®, Keller Williams Realty was ranked as the No. 1 real estate franchise on the 31^st Annual Franchise 500 list by Entrepreneur magazine and was voted the Most Recognizable Brand of Real Estate Franchises and the Trendsetter of the year for 2009 in an industry-wide survey for the Swanepoel TRENDS Report.

Case-Shiller Index: Denver home prices up 3.6% from 2009

Published: July 27, 2010

For the seventh month in a row, home prices in the Denver area showed a year-over-year price increase in May, rising 3.6 percent from May 2009, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Index, released Tuesday.

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This Week at Copper
July 30 - August 12
Welcome to Copper,
Summer can be the best time of year to share with family and friends at Copper! Please enjoy all of Copper’s summer activities, as well as Fridays at Copper, Woodward at Copper Barn sessions and two great cycling events for two great causes - the Courage Classic, raising money for the Children’s Hospital and the Copper Triangle, working with the Davis Phinney foundations to raise funds for Parkinson’s Disease research.

Courage Classic, July 30 – Aug. 2
The 21st annual Children's Hospital Courage Classic returns to Copper Mountain for three consecutive, fun-filled days of cycling over three Rocky Mountain passes at the height of summer. About two thousand riders hit the roads from Leadville to Summit County and back, for a 157-mile ride, encompassing backcountry roads, challenging climbs and as always, picturesque views, all in an effort to raise money for The Children’s Hospital in Denver. To donate to the cause or for more information, visit www.couragetours.com.

Copper Triangle Bicycle Tour, August 7
The famous Copper Triangle has long been considered one of Colorado’s classic alpine road rides. Graced with 78 miles of breathtaking scenery, gorgeous roads and three challenging climbs (including Fremont Pass, Tennessee Pass and Vail Pass), the Copper Triangle exemplifies cycling in the Colorado Rockies. The 2010 ride works in partnership with the Davis Phinney Foundation to raise funds for Parkinson’s disease research. For more detailed Copper Triangle info, visit www.coppertriangle.com

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Fridays at Copper (F AC)
This summer, FAC stands for Fridays at Copper, and it also stands for Free. Copper's FAC includes free music, free movies and free activities. Ok, the activities are almost free – just spend $30 in the Village on Fridays and you get free tickets to the village activities, from bungee to bumper boats. The free music starts at 6 p.m., the free movies start around Dusk!

Friday, July 30
 Friday Night Street Party – Enjoy free live music by Angie Stevens and the Beautiful Wreck, a Denver-based band playing Indie, Americana and Folk Rock.
 Burning Stones Outdoor Theater – A free showing of Breaking Away (PG), the 1979 Academy Award winning, light-hearted and heartwarming tale with Dennis Quaid, all about cycling.
Friday, August 6
 Friday Night Street Party – Enjoy free live music by The Matt Clark Band, playing Rock, Reggae and Blues, this week at Mulligan’s Irish Pub.
 Burning Stones Outdoor Theater – In celebration of the Copper Triangle, enjoy a classic cycling epic, American Flyers (PG-13), about a bicycle race across the Rocky Mountains.

Woodward at Copper
Make sure to check out Woodward at Copper, the first indoor & outdoor ski and snowboard camp on the planet with a focus on terrain park and pipe progression, for those looking to progress their terrain park and pipe skills in the off-season. Starting August 5, the Barn is open Thursdays through Sundays, for the 2, 4 and 6pm One Hit Wonder Sessions, Drop-In Sessions, Barn Privates and Skate/BMX only sessions, as well as Saturdays & Sundays for Barn Only Camp Days. Check out the new Woodward at Copper blog here: www.woodwardatcopper.com/site/blog/. To sign up for a session, call a Copper Mountain Vacation Specialist at 866.534.7444, the Barn at 970.968.3400 or visit  www.WoodwardatCopper.com.
www.CopperColorado.com

There is a lot of confusion and misinformation about what a contact management system is.  It really depends upon how you use it.

If you just want to have a single place for your names and addresses, something like Outlook would work well for you.  At its most basic level, you could even use Excel or 3x5 cards.  This basic functionality speaks to knowing contact information but not addressing interaction with the contact.

If you want something to help you communicate with your contacts, you need a product that has a function that lets you know when you need to call, email or mail contacts.   You might think Outlook does this but it really doesn’t.  If you are out with the flu for a week and come back to work, you would have to go back to each day that you missed to find out who to call, email, etc.  If you called a contact and they were out of town for a few days, you would have to keep track of them on paper as a reminder to call when they got back.

Act, a real contact management system, takes care of this with its Task List.  This is a list of all the contacts that you need to call, meet, email, mail, etc until you have addressed them.  They stay on your list until you have checked them off as complete.  So if you go away for a week, when you come back, you pick up right where you left off.

In my opinion, this interaction with contacts is the entire basis for having a contact management system.  So if it does not have this facility, it is a “contact filing system”.

Therefore, Outlook, Chaos and SharperAgent are contact filing systems.  ACT is the only contact management system that is available and affordable for individuals and small businesses.