File under…

File under small victory: Colorado cracks down on mortgage brokers

File under mortgage + home equity loan + checking account : Aussie ARM can pay off

File under conforming loan limits: It’s still $417,000 in Denver and Colorado. California is a different story.

File under money from the Feds: Rebates, What you need to know

File under 16th & Court makeover: Adam’s Mark sale done

File under not a lopsided trade after all: Manning for Rivers

File under an interesting experiment: Due to Top Five Fridays I rank well for Mailman Newman

Keeping up with…

Keeping up with the low interest rates: . I haven’t seen rates on a 30 year fixed this low in years. Yet for some strange reason people are playing the “wait and see” game. Personally I hate this game mainly because people don’t know jack about the mortgage market. The rate cut means nothing to the mortgage market. Nothing. My advice is simple, if rates are low enough for you to act, then act.

Keeping up with the Joneses: . I had an interesting discussion with a friend of mine in California who said “It’s hard to keep up with the Joneses especially when the Joneses are totally out of control.” Foreclosures are rampant in California and it’s getting worse. Maybe now people will try to keep up with their other neighbors, the ones with the older model cars.

Keeping up with Tom Brady. I have a lot of respect for Tom Brady, however, I seriously question why he’s in NY the week before the big game. Shouldn’t he be in Mexico where the weather is much warmer.

Keeping up with the weather: Being an avid skier it pains me to say that I hate snow and i’m looking forward to the 50 degree weather in Denver this weekend.

Keeping up with a 20 month old: Having a child means reliving your childhood. Except my childhood didn’t include visits to the stockshow.

Keeping up with DirecTV: I dropped satellite television the first week of the year. I was sick all week and instead of watching Rome is Burning and SportsCenter I had to endure Dr. Phil and Oprah. I must say that watching daytime television is more painful than watching Fox News.

Keeping up with the Rebate: The feds are implementing a rebate to invigorate the economy. Some people weigh in on what they’d do with the money. The Federal Government is giving us money to spend it elsewhere. Give a man a fish and they’ll keep up with the Joneses….

Pavilions, Argonaut, and more

Interesting articles from the Denver newspaper conglomerate Post/News :

Denver Pavilions goes on market: The developers of the Denver Pavilions are putting the downtown retail development on the market.

Argonaut Liquor moves: The storied Argonaut, one of the oldest and most successful liquor stores in the Denver area, is getting a new home after about a half-century at its current site on East Colfax Avenue in Capitol Hill.

57-acre Evergreen estate on market for $24 million: Denver entrepreneur Richard Bard is selling a mansion on a 57-acre estate in Evergreen.

Treasury secretary: No simple fix for housing: The Bush administration is working to combat the country’s severe housing crisis but there is no simple solution, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Monday, adding that a correction in the housing market is “inevitable and necessary.”

Efforts to spark economy may be too little, too late: As leaders in Washington turn their attention to efforts to avert a looming downturn, many economists suggest that it may already be too late to change the course of the economy over the first half of the year, if not longer.

Why don’t we save?

I caught the New Hampshire debate on Saturday night in between watching the Pittsburgh and Jacksonville game. (Note to the NFL, enough already with the Jeep Liberty commercial with the singing animals.) Where was I? Oh yeah, the debate. While watching the debate I heard the politicians speak about the American Dream becoming harder and harder. They said that health care costs are rising. They said that gas prices are out of control. They said that it’s harder to feed a family today than ever before.

Not once did any of them mention that saving money is no longer a priority in America especially at the government level.

Why don’t we save? Saving is simply a habit. Just like watching television, eating healthy and exercise. Most people just don’t think about saving. Today while checking out my rss feeder, I came across 7 ways to save :

  • Look for discounted dinner entrees
      Don’t throw out the Valpak or Money Mailer they’re chock full of coupons for local restaurants. Skip the appetizers and the desserts while you’re at it skip the booze, the alcohol is always over priced and you shouldn’t drink and drive anyway.
  • Return unopened, unused items
      Lowes and Home Depot don’t even require a receipt if you bought it in the last 90 days or something like that and they automatically credit your credit card.
  • Look for extra grocery savings
      Cutting coupon sucks, ok it sucks big time, but if the coupon says $2 off 5 Lean Cuisine Panini sandwiches and you were planning on buying 5 Panini Sandwiches, go ahead and pick up a 6th, your wallet won’t know the difference.
  • Check out materials from the library
      If you live in Denver, our library system has the most unreal DVD collection in the world. Sure you wait a few more weeks for new releases and the mailman doesn’t drop it off or picks it up at your house but it gets you out of your house and you might run into an old friend who looks really good in wingtips but really bad in birkenstocks.
  • Bundle cable, phone and Internet services
      Get rid off cable and your phone altogether. Television is just more noise in an already noisy world. Sure you’ll miss watching Family Guy at 1 AM on Cartoon Network but you won’t miss spending $50 each month. To entertain yourself learn how to juggle or get DVD’s at the library. As for your telephone, it will only serve one purpose in 2008 – for politicians start calling you to ask for your support.
  • Negotiate with monthly service providers
      Sure the cleaning people clean great the first time. Sure the landscapers mow your lawn great the first time. Wait till they “forget” to show up or when they’re on the 3rd go around, you’ll be less than thrilled with their service and you’ll end up doing it yourself.
  • Stash money for easier savings next year
      Money will double in 7 years. I deposited $250 in a mutual fund in 2000 and it turned into $500 by 2007. The money even withstood the dot com and stock market drop off in the early 2000’s. I couldn’t buy a laptop for $250 in 2000 but I can definitely buy one for $500 today.

No more excuses.

Spanning the web

Interesting stuff from around the web:

Rocky Mountain News: File under nice hotel but will it give me Marriott Reward points? Ritz puts on finishing touches: It’s the home stretch for the $75 million Ritz-Carlton Denver, which opens its doors a week from today.

Paul Kedrosky: File under the misery gets worse or how California Dreaming is turning into a real nightmare Option ARM Misery

Calculated Risk: File under what happens when corporations don’t pay their debt Analysts: Corporate Defaults to Rise “Drastically”

Zillow: File under 2007 ends 2007 – It’s a wrap

Trulia: File under 2008 begins New Year’s Resolutions for Online Real Estate and Trulia

Alex King: File under now this is what I call a year end review 2007 in Review

4Realz: File this under A trip down the memory super-highway

AMG: File under Chop Suey Subprime Woes Gives the Chinese Politburo 10% Stake in Major US Bank

PhotoMatt: File under Misery is the key to happiness.

If you have an interesting link that you’d like to share, just post in the comments. I’m always on the lookout for interesting readz!

Just don’t get rid of the lunch boxes

First thought upon reading this article: Annie’s Cafe may join hotel

Developer Charlie Biederman plans to incorporate the beloved Annie’s Cafe restaurant into a hotel he intends to build at Colorado Boulevard and East Eighth Avenue.

Just don’t get rid of the lunch boxes!

If you’ve never been to Annie’s Cafe give it a go. They have the BEST breakfast in Denver when it comes to price, ambiance, and service.

Buying a Denver Home online

If you know what Redfin is all about, this article, Buying or selling a home? Forget the traditional realtor may intrigue you:

The Internet is increasingly taking on the duties once performed by real estate agents. And while no one – yet – is suggesting that it’s a good idea to buy a house over the Internet sight unseen, a new business model is emerging that takes advantage of the convenience of Internet shopping.

80% of all home searches start on the internet. So it’s no surprise that companies are using the internet to transform the way they buy and sell real estate.

More on online home buying:

Buyers and sellers can save thousands on sales commissions and through rebates using online real estate agencies, such as Real-a-Save:

FOR A BUYER

  • Home sales price: $300,000
  • Traditional 2.8% buyer’s agent commission: $8,400
  • 66% Rebate Real-a-Save clients would receive: $5,400

FOR A SELLER

  • Home sales price: $300,000
  • Typical 3.2% sales commission: $9,600
  • Real-a-Save’s standard sales commission: $2,500
  • Savings: $7,100.

It’s really too soon to tell whether or not online real estate brokerages will be around or just another passing fad. If you talk to most people they love the idea but would prefer to stick to using a real estate agent no matter how much they despise agents. Why do people despise agents? Same reason people despise the government – a lot of upfront promises, not much after that. The internet won’t solve that problem.

Denver’s relationship with Fannie and Freddie on the rocks

Denver’s relationship with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac hits the rocks:

The chief executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Tuesday warned that their ailing mortgage-finance companies will suffer further in 2008 because of a weakening housing market and rising home-loan defaults.

Read the full article: Freddie and Fannie: More woes in 2008

Metro Denver’s designation as a “declining market” could delay any recovery in the area’s long-suffering residential real-estate market, local housing experts said Tuesday.

Read the full article: Fannie label on Denver ominous

What does this all mean: Putting 5% down is the norm to get a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan. They do have several high risk 100% loans but these loans have higher rates with higher levels of mortgage insurance.

FHA only requires 3% down.

Some companies will have 100% down programs it just remains to be seen who.

Double Dealing

Last night during the Sunday Night Football between Indy and Baltimore I managed to steal a glance or two at the Sunday Paper. This article entitled The art of the double deal. The first two paragraphs seemed rather interesting:

To real estate investors, a good day is when they can buy a piece of property or sell it. A better day is when they can do both.

Buying and selling the same home before sunset yields a quick profit to the fortunate investor who can work both transactions. It is the stuff of “get rich in real estate” schemes advertised in infomercials.

While the rest of the story is rather mundane.

Gates Project or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Urban Redevelopments

I have never been a big fan of the new Denver urban redevelopments: Lowry and Stapleton. When I first moved to Denver, Lowry was an aging military base and Stapleton was an airport. Things changed when friends of mine moved into these urban redevelopments. They’re vibrant neighborhoods. They’re near the airport, city, zoo, museums, restaurants, and more importantly for my friends they’re family friendly.

Enter the Gates Project:

From fan belts to greenbelts – at long last the urban revival of the former Gates Rubber plant is taking shape.
Read the full story: Long-awaited Gates project gathers steam

It’s going to be a while before the Gates Project will be complete. I’ve learned to embrace these urban redevelopments and I’m looking forward to having another Linens and Things, Office Depot, Chili’s, et. al. fill our landscape. Who knows they may even add a Chipotle or a Qdoba or both.