Ladders, Gloves and More! Cleaning Rain Gutters, Ugh!!

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Dee & Tom Cryer

Cleaning Your Gutters

Cleaning Your Gutters

Once upon a time, cleaning gutters was not an issue in Denver, Colorado.  Even the most wooded areas today, were originally high desert plains and grasslands.  Now will irrigation, fertilization and care, trees are filling our gutters and making a mess.  What to do?  Clean your gutters; money and or time well spent, but be careful!

Clean gutters to protect your siding and landscape plantings, and prevent thousands of dollars of damage to your foundation.

How often to clean gutters

Clean gutters at least once a year—twice a year if you have overhanging trees. Also, clean clogged gutters after big storms. Clogs often occur where downspouts join the gutter system—check these areas closely.

How to clean gutters

  • Wear a shirt with long sleeves. Wear rubber gloves.
  • Have a good extendable ladder available. Standoff stabilizers (ladder “horns”) are ideal to keep the ladder from damaging the gutter.
  • Use a small plastic scoop to remove gunk. Buy a gutter scoop from the hardware store ($25) or try a child’s sand shovel.
  • Spare your lawn by dumping the stuff onto a plastic tarp.
  • After you’ve cleared the muck, flush the gutters and downspouts with a garden hose—also a great way to spot any leaks.

Cost of a professional gutter cleaning

If climbing ladders is not your cup of tea, you can hire someone to do the job for you for between $50 and $250, depending on the size and height of your house.

Gutter covers

Interested in an ounce of prevention? You can slow clogging by installing gutter covers in the form of mesh screens, clip-on grates, or porous foam. However, the cost can be more than the gutters themselves and covers need regular maintenance to keep them clear. Expect to pay $6 to $8 per running foot for gutter covers, installed.

By: Pat Curry

Published: October 8, 2010

Serial remodeler Pat Curry is a former senior editor at BUILDER, the official magazine of the National Association of Home Builders, and a frequent contributor to real estate and home-building publications.

Posted in Buying or Selling Real Estate, Centennial, Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, Denver, Denver Housing, Denver Residential Real Estate, Greenwood Village, House Cleaning | Leave a comment

Kentwood is the Exclusive Real Estate Search Portal for Denver.com

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Dee & Tom Cryer

DenverDotCom
DenverDotCom

DenverDotCom This Dramatic Partnership Will Allow Kentwood’s DenverRealEstate.com Website to Extend Market Reach While Providing Advanced Real Estate SearchCapabilities on Denver.com

Denver.com is Denver’s leading intuitively-branded home on the Web. It focuses on providing local neighborhood and community information in the Denver metropolitan area. By combining two of Denver’s top web destinations, users will have a unique opportunity to explore the city and discover areas that fit their lifestyle preferences.

Home sellers will receive exclusive exposure for their properties through this one-of-a-kind partnership. Visit this page online at Denver.com/realestate.

Posted in Buying or Selling Real Estate, Centennial, Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, Denver, Denver Housing, Denver Residential Real Estate, Greenwood Village | Tagged | Leave a comment

Green Window Cleaning Makes Glass “Pane-fully” Clear!

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Dee & Tom Cryer

Mile High Stadium

Mile High Stadium

“I Can See Clearly Now”, as the song goes makes perfect sense for cleaning your windows.  Window cleaning with non-toxic ingredients and reusable cloths protects your health, preserves resources, gains a streak-free view, and stretches your budget.

Mix a green window cleaning solution

Commercials cleaners leave behind a waxy residue on windows that can result in streaks. A homemade window cleaning solution made with vinegar and water helps cut through grime, minimizes streaking and water spots, and prevents windows from fogging.

The first time you clean your windows with a homemade vinegar solution, include a few drops of dish detergent to eliminate the waxy buildup. Combine these ingredients in a spray bottle for streak-free windows:

  • ¼-cup white vinegar
  • ¼- to ½-tsp. eco-friendly dish detergent
  • 2 cups water

After an inaugural washing, keep your windows spotless with a window cleaning solution made from 2 teaspoons white vinegar mixed in 1 quart warm water. (Too much vinegar can etch window glass, which results in clouding.)

You can whip up gallons of window cleaning solution for a few dollars: A 32-ounce bottle of white vinegar costs about $2. A 16-ounce bottle of eco-friendly dish soap costs about $3.50. By comparison, a 16-ounce bottle of commercial window cleaner costs about $3.

Polish to a sustainable shine

Use microfiber cloths, rather than paper towels or newspapers, for window cleaning. Paper towels are manufactured from trees and end up in the landfill. Newspapers can blacken your hands and fall apart. Microfiber cloths are affordable, lint-free, and can be washed and reused again and again.

A six-pack of reusable microfiber cleaning cloths can be purchased at national discount stores for less than $10. By comparison, an eight-pack of bargain-priced paper towels costs about $9.

Window cleaning tips

  • Window cleaning on a sunny day can dry the solution too quickly and create streaks, so select a cloudy day to work.
  • Begin window cleaning by spritzing the glass with your homemade vinegar solution. Wipe away grime with a damp microfiber cloth. Rinse this cloth often in clean water.
  • Follow with a dry microfiber cloth to polish the glass to a shine.

With four home renovations to her credit, Jan Soults Walker is a devotee of improvements, products, and trends for the home and garden. For 25 years she’s written for a number of national home shelter publications, and has authored 18 books on home improvement and decorating.

By: Jan Soults Walker

Published: October 11, 2010

Posted in 2010 Mid Year Denver Market Watch, Buying or Selling Real Estate, Centennial, Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, Denver, Denver Housing, Denver Residential Real Estate, Greenwood Village, House Cleaning | Leave a comment

Rainy Day House Cleaning Secrets for a Truly Deep Clean

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Dee & Tom Cryer

The Right Tools For Deep Cleaning

The Right Tools For Deep Cleaning

Locked in doors on that rainy or snowy spring day?  You can deep clean your house and you’ll brighten rooms and help maintain your home’s value.  The number one physical characteristic that attracts buyers is cleanliness!

De-bug the light fixtures

See that bug burial ground within your overhead fixtures? Turn off the lights and carefully remove fixture covers, dump out flies and wash with hot soapy water. While you’re up there, dust bulbs. Dry everything thoroughly before replacing the cover.

Vacuum heat vents and registers

Dirt and dust build up in heat vents and along register blades. Vents also are great receptacles for coins and missing buttons. Unscrew vent covers from walls or pluck them from floors, remove foreign objects, and vacuum inside the vent. Clean grates with a damp cloth and screw back tightly.

Polish hardware

To deep clean brass door hinges, handles, and cabinet knobs, thoroughly wipe with a damp microfiber cloth, then polish with Wright’s or Weiman brass cleaner ($4). Dish soap shines up glass or stainless steel knobs. Use a Q-tip to detail the ornamental filigree on knobs and handles.

Replace grungy switch plates

Any amateur can wipe a few fingerprints off cover plates that hide light switches, electric outlets, phone jacks, and cable outlets. But only deep cleaners happily remove plates to vacuum and swipe the gunk behind. (OK, we’re a little OCD when it comes to dirt!) Make sure cover plates are straight when you replace them. And pitch plates that are beyond the help of even deep cleaning. New ones cost less than $2 each.

Neaten weather stripping

Peeling, drooping weather stripping on doors and windows makes rooms look old. If the strip still has some life, nail or glue it back. If it’s hopeless, cut out and replace sections, or just pull the whole thing off and start new. A 10-ft. roll of foam weather stripping costs $8; 16-ft. vinyl costs about $15.

Replace stove drip pans

Some drip pans are beyond the scrub brush. Replacing them costs about $3 each and instantly freshens your stove.

By: Jane Hoback

Published: January 14, 2011

Jane Hoback is a veteran business writer who has written for the Rocky Mountain News, Natural Foods Merchandiser magazine, and ColoradoBIZ Magazine.

 

Posted in 2010 Mid Year Denver Market Watch, Buying or Selling Real Estate, Centennial, Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, Denver, Denver Housing, Denver Residential Real Estate, Greenwood Village, House Cleaning | Tagged | 1 Comment

What do Evergreen, Parker, Highlands Ranch and Centennial All Have In Common?

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Dee & Tom Cryer

 

MyTownCryer & Denver Real Estate by Tom Cryer, SCRP

MyTownCryer & Denver Real Estate by Tom Cryer, SCRP

In this market, buyers are compelled to finally get off the couch, call their Realtors and attempt to buy residential real estate through out the metro area.

 

Recently showing property in Evergreen, my buyer fell in love with a home.  Multiple offers, the same in Parker with another buyer.  Showing in Highlands Ranch and Centennial with another set of buyers, same result, multiple offers.

I’m not seeing appreciation, but I am seeing properties with compelling pricing strategies receive more than their fair share of attention.  Setting up showings on 12 properties for the weekend up and down the Denver Metro Area, several of the properties had received recent offers and were no longer accepting showings,

Here’s what I think is happening.  First, let’s examine the pool of inventory.  With very little builder inventory competing in the market place for more than 2 years now, owner occupied resales, shorts sales in various levels of occupancy and bank owned properties predominate in our market.

When the probability of a short sale ever closing or closing in a reasonable period of time factored into the process, at least 30% of the available inventory disappears for a buyer that needs to close in the next 30-60 days.  That leaves 60-70% of the inventory remaining.  With the supply of listings down considerably from last year in most MLS areas, this creates a shortage of well located, well priced, well cared for homes, and I’m here to tell everyone, at many price points, the pickings are slim!

Here’s what makes short sales so tough:

  • Lender(s) holding the notes on these properties are swamped.
  • Borrowers/Owners of the short sale properties have lives that are a mess.
  • Many times, these properties have received less than excellent maintenance, and there are no funds to make repairs, and the typical buyer does not want a project.
  • Many times, the typical buyer needs assistance in the way of closing costs.  Once again, the funds are not available to assist.
  • And, the list goes on and on…

Long story short, this segment of the inventory pool is a mess.

Owner occupied, well cared for, well priced properties where the seller has enough equity to close, or is willing to bring funds to closing sounds enticing doesn’t it?  Well, it doesn’t happen very often.  Good luck finding this type of property in the neighborhood and on the site you like with the floor plan desired!

Finally, bank owned inventory that can range from very nice fixed up and presented to the fly covered, filthy, poorly located and over priced property with little or no appeal.

By now, you understand why so few properties are receiving so many multiple offers.  For the meantime, I’m predicting more of the same.  Happy hunting; now’s the time for professional help more than ever before.  Have you hugged your Realtor today?

Posted in 2010 Mid Year Denver Market Watch, Buying or Selling Real Estate, Centennial, Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, Denver, Denver Housing, Denver Residential Real Estate, Greenwood Village | Leave a comment

FREE DISTRESSED DENVER PROPERTY SEARCH

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Dee & Tom Cryer

FREE DISTRESSED DENVER PROPERTY SEARCH.

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Kentwood Real Estate Announces Strategic Marketing

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Dee & Tom Cryer

Partnership Will Allow Kentwood’s DenverRealEstate.com Website to Extend Market Reach While Providing Advanced Real Estate Search Capabilities on Denver.com

DENVER – Kentwood Real Estate, Colorado’s Premier Real Estate Company, has announced a strategic marketing partnership with Denver.com, Denver’s leading intuitively-branded home on the Web. The partnership will allow DenverRealEstate.com, Kentwood Real Estate’s leading website, to extend its market reach while providing advanced real estate search capabilities on Denver.com

5690 DTC Blvd. #600W
Home of the Finest Realtors

        

            Denver.com, a city guide by Boulevards, focuses on providing local neighborhood and community information in the Denver metropolitan area. By combining two of Denver’s top web destinations, users will have a unique opportunity to explore the city and discover areas that fit their lifestyle preferences. DenverRealEstate.com real estate brokers will be available to assist clients with their needs.  Kentwood Real Estate agents are among the most experienced in the industry and are consistently ranked among the top-producing agents in the country. 

            Kentwood Real Estate and DenverRealEstate.com’s marketing programs are unsurpassed in the real estate business. The company’s listings including a wide variety of homes ranging from affordable condominiums and townhomes, to extraordinary luxury estate homes.  Home sellers will receive exclusive exposure for their properties through this one-of-a-kind partnership.

            “Our agreement with Denver.com is a very strategic and powerful partnership that is beneficial for both parties and especially for our clients and prospective clients,” said Peter Niederman, Chief Executive Officer of Kentwood Real Estate.  “Visitors to Denver.com will now have access to real estate on a new, more comprehensive level, with DenverRealEstate.com serving as a powerful platform for real estate searches.  The site is live and we look forward to advancing our Internet search capabilities through this important partnership with Denver.com.”

 

            “We are pleased to announce our relationship with Kentwood Real Estate.” said Rich Tancredi, National Real Estate Director at Boulevards. “By working with Kentwood Real Estate to deliver industry-leading real estate services, Denver.com will provide its visitors with top-tier real estate resources, local information and client services from a top local firm.”

            Boulevards continues to push the boundaries of the city guide industry.  Established in 1994 with the idea of “inventing the local media of the future,” Boulevards’ sites were among the first city guides to allow community postings for both events and businesses.  The company operates in 23 of the nation’s top markets and is the largest U.S. operator of city guides branded with high-ranking, intuitive geo-domain sites. 

            The Boulevards network reaches more than four million unique viewers each month, of which 91 percent are in the United States.  Its other properties include Dallas.com, Houston.com, SanAntonio.com, LosAngeles.com, SanJose.com, SanFrancisco.com, Seattle.com and Philadelphia.com.  With traffic comparable to the top 600 sites worldwide, Boulevards is one of the nation’s leading online media companies.  For more information, visit Boulevards.com.

            Kentwood Real Estate is dedicated to its legacy of being “Colorado’s Premier Real Estate Company” through the highest producing, most knowledgeable, caring and experienced sales team in the country, offering the highest quality customer service experience.  Kentwood Real Estate is an innovator known for unparalleled marketing strategies and superior Internet technology that places its clients in the best possible position. 

            Kentwood Real Estate is comprised of The Kentwood Company in the Denver Tech Center, Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek, and Kentwood City Properties in downtown Denver.  For more information, visit Kentwood Real Estate online at www.DenverRealEstate.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION                                    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Douglas E. Lierle                                                             March 18, 2011

Lierle Public Relations on behalf of:

Kentwood Real Estate

303.792.0507

Lierlepr@comcast.net

Posted in 2010 Mid Year Denver Market Watch, Buying or Selling Real Estate, Centennial, Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, Denver, Denver Housing, Denver Residential Real Estate, Greenwood Village | Tagged | Leave a comment

General Contractor Dispute? Here Are Your Legal Options

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Dee & Tom Cryer
 

The Scale of Justice

The Scale of Justice

If you have a general contractor dispute, try some simpler resolution alternatives before you call in Perry Mason.

Skipping court altogether

Sometimes the best way to resolve a general contractor dispute is to avoid legal proceedings. Talk to your contractor about one of the options below if you can’t see eye-to-eye. Indeed, your contract may require the parties try one of these options before turning to the courts.

  • A state or local agency. Your state’s contractor licensing agency may have a resolution program for general contractor disputes. Your county may have one as well.
  • Mediation. Typically, this is a retired judge or senior construction litigator who hears the respective positions of both parties in the general contractor dispute. Mediators help each party understand the other’s point of view and facilitate a settlement. Their opinions aren’t binding on either party.
  • Binding arbitration. Similarly, a judge or litigator will act as the arbitrator and hear both sides of the story in a general contractor dispute. Arbitrators will render a decision, which is binding on both parties. If it’s not to your liking, you have no right to appeal.

Local courts may recommend mediators and arbitrators. Also, you can find mediators and arbitrators at the nonprofit American Arbitration Association. Costs vary widely by location and the level of complexity, but as both parties share the cost, you’ll probably spend less than you would in litigation.

Small claims court—no lawyer necessary

If you can’t agree on mediation or arbitration, try small claims court, which differs from traditional civil court:

  • They’re limited to small amounts, with upper limits usually in the $3,000 to $5,000 range.
  • They assume you won’t be using an attorney and tend to provide user-friendly instructions on procedures.

Rules can vary from one state to another, but you will find some generalities:

  • The jurisdiction of the dispute may be defined in your contract but, if it isn’t, you can file in the county where your contractor is located, where you live, or where the property is based.
  • Contact the clerk of the court to obtain and file the necessary paperwork—most courts make the information available online.

Filing costs average around $50, and you may incur additional fees for collection if your contractor loses and still doesn’t pay. You’ll need solid documentation to show you were harmed.

The process is usually less expensive than civil court and often a lot less painful, although you may have to do a lot of prep work and there’s no guarantee.

Civil court—get a good lawyer

If your dispute is more than the amount allowable in small claims, start your journey through the legal system. Find an attorney with extensive experience in contractor litigation.

Your attorney can guide you through the process, and you’ll be out-of-pocket for filing expenses. Filing fees will run from $250 to $800 depending on the court in which you file, according to Jack Harari of the Manhattan-based law firm Weidenbaum & Harari.

You’ll also be looking at attorney’s fees, which can be paid on a contingency basis (a percentage of what’s recovered), or on an hourly basis ($200 to $500 per hour).

By: Barbara Eisner Bayer

Published: February 24, 2011

Barbara Eisner Bayer has written about personal finance for the past 17 years. She’s luckily avoided construction litigation, but once brought a deadbeat to small claims court and won.

Posted in Buying or Selling Real Estate, Centennial, Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, Denver, Denver Housing, Denver Residential Real Estate, Greenwood Village | Tagged | Leave a comment

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!!

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Dee & Tom Cryer

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day

Don’t look back unless you can smile!  Don’t look forward unless you can dream!

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Do You Have a Contractor Agreement: 7 Simple Steps to an Iron-Clad Contract

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Dee & Tom Cryer

HOME BUILDER

HOME BUILDER

Follow these seven tips to make sure your contractor agreement works in your favor—not your builder’s.

Step 1: Hire a lawyer

Contractors use their own forms, which are drafted for their benefit, not yours. You’ll benefit from hiring an attorney to review your contractor agreement or draft one that’s you-friendly. Even though this may cost around $250 to $500, it can save thousands of dollars later if there’s a dispute.

Step 2: Take the home court advantage

Add a “choice of law” or “forum selection” provision, which says that disputes will be litigated on your turf. This provides protection against out-of-town contractors or suppliers—you don’t want to have to drag yourself across multiple state lines for a lawsuit.

Step 3: Create an incentive to finish

Define when the contactor will deliver on his promises, and when he’ll get his money. Within the contractor agreement, create a payment schedule in your favor by holding money back until the work is fully completed and you’ve verified the final payments to subcontractors.Maintain control by holding the purse strings.

Step 4: Reeling in a runaway contractor

The most common problem you’ll encounter is a general contractor who gets paid, but doesn’t pay his subcontractors and suppliers—possibly leaving you on the hook, according to Craig Robelen, a home builder in Boca Raton, Fla.

Robelen advises protecting yourself upfront by requesting the names of all professionals your builder will work with. Verify that your contractor has paid his subcontractors by requesting conditional partial lien releases during the construction term, and a final lien release at completion. (Have the general contractor collect them and present them to you.) These are essentially formal acknowledgments from subcontractors that they are being paid for work done.

Also, see if your contractor has a “payment bond” that guarantees subcontractors will be paid.

Step 5: Corral unauthorized costs

Your contract should state that any changes that will affect the price of construction should be in writing and countersigned by both you and your contractor. This protects you from unauthorized charges.

Step 6: Avoid kickbacks

Protect yourself from kickbacks—where contractors gets bonuses from their subs for referring business—by requesting that builders sign affidavits that they’re not getting any “fees” from subcontractors as a prerequisite for doing business with them. Keep costs well-defined by asking for a “bid summary,” which should show a minimum of three quotes in every cost category of your budget.

Step 7: Binding words

If you’d like to avoid going to court in case of a dispute, add a clause in the contractor agreement for binding arbitration. If there’s a problem, you and your contractor will plead your case in front of a non-biased arbitrator, whose decision will be final.

If your contractor balks on any contract point you feel strongly about, do some more research. Maybe what you’re asking isn’t typical for that kind of job. Talk with neighbors who have had similar work done and sound out other contractors regarding their policies on the disputed issue before you sign anything. This helps you determine what’s customary for your particular area.

By: Barbara Eisner Bayer

Published: February 24, 2011

Barbara Eisner Bayer has written about personal finance for the past 17 years. She recently completed a home renovation on time, on budget, with the aid of a cold compress on her forehead.

 

Posted in Buying or Selling Real Estate, Centennial, Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, Denver, Denver Housing, Denver Residential Real Estate, Greenwood Village | Tagged | Leave a comment