Join in the one of the most rewarding experiences you can get involved in -

Participate in building a home for a family less fortunate than most.  

Habitat For Humanity Volunteers

You can work on-site in all phases of construction, including moving dirt, pounding nails, raising walls, painting, etc. You may also help out with site clean-up, transportation, or providing lunches for on-site volunteers. Skilled workers can serve as team leaders, and those individuals with little or no skill can be trained on-site by our Construction Manager.   You can also join in on the Topping Off Celebration in Edwards.

TOPPING OFF PARTY
with Habitat for Humanity

DATE: November 14, 2008

TIME: 3:45pm

LOCATION: Fox Hollow 

We broke ground on #1

We raised walls on #2

It’s time to TOP OFF #3!

Join RA Nelson, a Professional Building Partner, American National Bank, a Banking Partner, and Lake Creek, a Community Partner to celebrate the construction of a 3rd duplex.

DIRECTIONS:  From Edwards, head west on Hwy 6.  Go through the Eagle River Village mobile home park traffic light and take the next left on Fox Hollow Drive.  At the stop sign, turn right on Murray Rd and you’ll see the Habitat job trailer and homes under construction.

For Volunteer Opportunities contact:  Habitat for Humanity
(970) 748-6718

Habitat for Humanity for Eagle and Lake County, Colorado

On Line Donations to Habitat for Humanity - Eagle and Lake County

Shop at Habitat for Humanity Outlet Store

Habitat for Humanity - Colorado

On a personal note, I learned to put in switches in the Eagle Habitat for Humanity home.  Since then I have replaced a few switches of my own.  Try volunteering, you may walk away with a new skill and certainly a positive rewarding experience.

For information on the Eagle and Lake County Habitat for Humanity homes, contact Teri Lester-Eco-Broker  970-376-0779 or tlester@gatewayland.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFyY7JmEFWw

Click the link above to watch a video of this lovely horse property in Colorado.

The full moon rising over the Sawatch Mountain Range is a sight to behold.  Snow capped peaks are shimmering in the moonlight while all is calm and still.  The horses are tucked in for the night and all is well. 

It is becoming increasingly difficult to find good, private, horse property near Vail.  With an indoor arena,  outdoor arena, 6 stall barn, fenced and irrigated pastures, and a beautiful custom log beam home this is one property that definitely fills the bill!

October 6 is coming up fast, that is the last day to register to vote.

To register, complete a Colorado voter registration application which can be found at elections.colorado.gov  . Applications must be signed and hand delivered, faxed or mailed to:

 Eagle County Clerk and Recorder

PO Box 537

Eagle,CO

81631-0537

Fax: 970-328-8716

Early Voting October 20-31

Last day to request mail in ballot, October 28

Last day to pick up a mail in ballot, October 31

All mail in ballots must be returned to the Clerks office by 7:00 pm November 4.

You can also drop off your mail in ballot on election day where ever you would go to vote in person.

The November Ballot is very long, a mail in ballot will give voters more time to examine the isssues and their choices. Take advantage of this easy way to make a difference.

The stock prices of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have dropped drammatically this summer, prompting the federal government to take the unusual step of making its support of the government sponsored enterprises explicit.

Why are the companies shares falling?

Investors fear they will collapse because of rising mortgage defaults driven by home price declines.

What are the default rates on loans held by the companies?

For Fannie Mae, 1.225 for single family loans delinquent 90 days or more, up from 0.62% for Freddie, 0.81% up from 0.49.  The figures are for April and were in the Wall street journal.

What happens if they collapse?

Mortgage rates will rise.

Will they collapse?

Not likely.  The office of Federal Housing Enterprises Oversight, the companies regulator, says Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have enough capital to withstand  extreme conditions.

What if the extreme conditions  are realized andtheir capital runs out?

Then they will need to raise capital by issuing more stocks.  Given the belief that Fannie and Freddie will be backed by the government, the process of raising capital should be easy.

With mortgage rates low and a lot of seller inventory, now is the time to buy your first home or 2nd home in the Vail Valley.

Contact: gerlinde@gatewayland.com

www.gerlindevail.com

The Eagle Valley Land Trust preserves open space

The Eagle Valley Land Trust, a private, nonprofit organization established in 1982, to preserve land that provides important wildlife habitat, scenic vistas and historic ranching heritage in Eagle County, is looking for local opinions.  So far the Land Trust has been able to protect almost 10,000 acres of land in Eagle County through conservation easements and land purchases. 

We all treasure the Vail Valley for a wealth of reasons; for the sheer beauty of the mountains, for the clean air, for the abundance of wonderful activities we enjoy season to season and for the important, enriching times we are able to spend with our families and friends in such a wonderful environment. 

The Land Trust has preserved 1,800 acres of land that is now part of Sylvan Lake State Park, the East Vail waterfall and three miles of Colorado river frontage. 

So now the Land Trust ambassadors are asking residents, is  a 105 acre parcel in Edwards, known as the B&B gravel pit a priority, or is a 2,000 acre ranch property in Lake Creek more important?  Some locals think riverfront property should be preserved, since it is quickly disappearing for development.

Preserving land requires willing property owners and funding from private donors, governments, grants and non-profits. If you are interested in becoming an ambassador to the Land Trust and promoting the Land Trust ’s philosophy and discovering how a parcel positively or negatively affects the community, contact the Land Trust.  There will continue to be meetings in the Eagle Valley to provide information and ask locals for opinions on open parcels the Land Trust should consider.

Preserving open space increases property values surrounding the preserved space.   An example of property adjacent to preserved land is the West End in Edwards, which is offering condominiums with direct access to the trails in the Eagle River Preserve. 

For more information on the Eagle Valley Land Trust, donating land or becoming an ambassador, visit their website: www.evlt.org

For information on The West End, Edwards, contact Teri Lester, Eco-Broker: 970-376-0779 or tlester@gatewayland.com 

Eagle County considers a new Housing Authority

Eagle County Commissioners will vote this week on forming a Housing Authority which will assure that new developments in the Vail Valley be responsible for the housing needs their projects create. The County staff has been meeting with developers and planners to establish guidelines that some worry could discourage new construction in the Valley.

Under affordable housing guidelines now being proposed developers would have several choices: 1. 35% of the total square footage must be ‘work force’ housing. 2. 30% of the project must be ‘work force’ and another 10%  owned by locals. 3. 30% of the project would be ‘work force’ and all the market rate homes would be sold with a 15% Transfer Fee for a future ’affordable housing’ fund. 4. 25% of the project would be ‘work force’, 10% locally owned, but sold at market rate and the Transfer Fee would apply to all market rate sales.

On the commercial end, developers would have to build enough ‘work force’ units to handle all new jobs created, which means about 715 sf of housing for every 1,000 sf of commercial space created. Hotels would have to build 204 sf of ‘work force’ units for every one hotel room constructed.

The continuing problem of affordable housing will now be a major issue for any new development in the Vail Valley, but no one knows if the above will be the final solution. Keep in touch with Valley issues by contacting Judd Babcock at 970-376-3230. We have always been the best place for local information on the Valley’s real estate market.

Abundant educational and financial help available for locals

Think you’ll never be able to buy a house in the Vail Valley because you can’t come up with a down payment?  You’re not alone.  Pick up any local newspaper on any day and you’ll find an article on this ever present county wide issue.  With the average price of a single family home at $535,350, many Eagle County residents are having a hard time figuring out a way to combine two of their life long dreams – to own a home and to live in the Vail Valley. 

So if the average family in the county can afford to pay $253,000 for a home, how can locals bridge the gap between what’s out there and what they can wrap their wallets around?  You may be surprise to find out there are many groups out there wanting to give you help – educational and financial.  You just need to know who to ask.

Eagle County offers a wide variety of services to get you ready for the big adventure of buying a home.  Get started by taking the free Home Buyers Class held at the Eagle County Building at 5:30 every month (see link to Eagle County Housing below for class schedule).  Even if you’ve owned a home, this class is full of great information on repairing credit, the basic mortgage process, homeowner’s insurance and foreclosure prevention.  p.s. – if you’re thinking of getting county down payment assistance, you have to take this class.

Don’t think your credit is good enough to buy a home? Eagle County offers free credit counseling. Call Leona Perkins at 328-8770.

Now for subject everyone wants to know about – money, preferably in the form of down payment assistance.  Here are 4 sources: The Eagle County Fund, Colorado Mountain Housing Coalition, CDOH and the H20 Fund. 

These resources are based on income levels which are pretty high for at least a couple of the programs.  Do you make under $81,100 a year for a family of 1 (higher for more people)?  You may qualify for 2 programs that offer 5% of the purchase price of a home, up to $20,000, and you do not need stellar credit to get help.  That’s up to $40,000 assistance and that’s only 2 of the 4 programs, which can all be combined together. 

The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) has many programs including the ever popular Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC), which allows buyers to take a portion of their mortgage interest as a direct credit to their income taxes (the rest of the interest is taken as a deduction).  If you don’t know what this means - it’s an incredible program which can put a couple thousand dollars back in your pocket.

There’s also the Funding Partners who offer several types of loans to homebuyers and also help lenders stack all of the programs out there so you can us as many programs as possible to get you to the ultimate goal – owning your home.

I know – it’s a lot of information on a subject that is confusing at the basic level.  The first step is to take the class.  Second – talk to a lender.  There’s a list of lenders on the Eagle County website (see links below) who work with these programs.  Third – if you need it, get credit counseling.  Fourth – call me with any questions along the way and when you’re ready to go find your home. 

For more information on home buyer assistance and Vail Valley real estate contact Karen Gilbert at 970-926-6777 or karen@gatewayland.com