Four beautiful, newly-constructed homes sold in Arvada in October, 2012, listed below. These homes were built in Whisper Creek (off of Indiana, west of Standley Lake), Candelas (west of Indiana, south of 80th Ave.), Woodfork (east of Wadsworth, south of 64th), and Birch Valley (72nd & Kipling). 14449 W. 91st Pl.; 2,237 sq ft 2-story; 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms; on a 6,600 sq ft lot; sold for $307,000 9345 Noble Way; 1,711 sq ft ranch style; 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms; on a 7,600 sq ft lot; sold for $378,037 6930 W. 60th Ave.; 2,331 sq ft 2-story; 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms; 5,751 sq ft lot; sold for $303,155 9812 W. 71st Ave.; 1,809 sq ft ranch; 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms; 9,195 sq ft lot; sold for $455,800 Whisper Creek, Spring Mesa, Wild Grass, and Candelas are the best-known new construction nei... 11/19/2012

If you love to deep-fry your Thanksgiving turkey, but wonder what to do with the massive quantity of leftover used oil, recycle it! Actually, you can drop off any used cooking oil, doesn't have to be from deep-frying a turkey! Arvada's Used Vegetable Oil Recycling Event is on November 24 this year (2012), between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. The used oil will be re-manufactured into biodiesel by recycOil. Click on the link to see year-around oil recycling locations in Broomfield, Longmont, Loveland, Fort Collins and Evergreen. Drop-off barrels will be available at Wadsworth City Shops, 6161 Olde Wadsworth Blvd., and Indiana Service Center, 6701 Indiana St. (Oil Recycling Event is for the use of individuals.  Restaurants interested in recycling their used cooking oil should contact recycOil at ... 11/18/2012

Easy answer to the question, "What blooms in November between Boulder and Denver?" - not much!   As of today, (Nov. 13, 2012) we've already had two light snowfalls and lots of below-freezing night temperatures here between Denver and Boulder. Still, in my backyard walk this afternoon I found three brave bloomers, and several plants still showing some nice color. Clematis Durandii - starts early and stays late    - Cyclamen - sweet and strong!   And the ever-popular pansy, still peeking out from fallen leaves If you read up about cyclamen, you'll see statements such as, 'hardy even in the most hostile of garden environments, the dry shade', 'maintenance-free', and 'long-lived'. But don't try planting cyclamen you got from a flower shop in the Denver area's high plains climate. Get hardy ... 11/13/2012

Twenty of Arvada's Club Crest neighborhood homes sold in the past six months. Five of those homes sold for under $200,000 Eight Club Crest homes sold between $200,000 and under $250,000 Seven of them sold for $250,000 and up, with one home selling right at $300,000. One of the Club Crest homes sold in the past six months was a short sale (sold for $150,000), and four were foreclosures ($157,300, $187,694, $189,900, $190,500). Once these 'distressed sales' are eliminated, the lowest sale in Club Crest in the past six months was $211,500. The median days on market for this group was only 19 days, and the median sold price was $247,000. 7760 Brentwood St.; 1,892 square feet; sold for $150,000 8854 W. 75th Way; 1,800 square feet; sold for $165,200 8721 W. 79th Ave.; 2,174 square feet; sold ... 11/12/2012

  Our office has been doing short sales long before the short sales of today.. In the beginning, the banks were very slow in the short sale process; they did not have the people or procedures down. We had an 80,000 condo take 14 months with Wells Fargo. It was a pain staking SS.( Short Sale ) . Today the banks / mortgage companies have geared up the people and have really improved the process.   My absolute favorite bank to work with is Chase Bank. They get it !! . We are always assigned a “ actual person “ to deal with. Chase reps actually returns calls . Our quickest SS close was with Chase – 30 days from list to close !!!   We have sold $40,000 homes to 1.4 million dollar homes. There is a difference in the more expensive homes. We have found several “ short steps “ on a expensive SS... 11/12/2012

Olde Town Arvada is getting their much anticipated Christmas events onto the calendar - Lagniappe 2012 and the town square tree lighting have been announced for Tuesday, December 4th.  Festivities include carolers and a visit from Santa Clause, and I hear the fire department puts on a chili cookoff - starting at 6:00 pm. I know in the past there's also been carriage rides, but I haven't seen them announced yet.  I'll update this post when I find out. Have you heard of Lagniappe? (Pronounced lawn-yahp) Once a year, Olde Town Arvada businesses thank their loyal customers with small gifts. Some merchants will give a small token to anyone who stops in, such as cookies or hot chocolate.  Some merchants will give small gifts with a purchase. I get updates about what's going on in Olde Town Ar... 11/11/2012

Arvada's Club Crest neighborhood is a quiet collection of homes built in the 1970s and located between 80th Ave on the north, 72nd Ave on the south, Kipling St. on the west, and spreads out just a bit east of Carr Drive. Within these boundaries are Club Crest Park, Robby Ferrufino Park (where the increasingly popular Arvada Kite Festival is held), and Two Ponds National Wildlife Refuge. But having multiple parks nearby is not uncommon for Arvada neighborhoods, it's said that it's only a 5-minute walk from any Arvada home to a park or a trail. Wide, curving streets with sidewalks, mature trees and mountain views lend a welcoming air to this popular enclave.  The fact that Club Crest does not have a homeowner's association (HOA) is a plus iin the minds of many. Like many of Arvada's neigh... 11/10/2012

This is a monthly market report for Arvada homes, a small town between Denver and Boulder. Arvada's real estate market is not the same as Denver or Boulder, but is very similar to Westminster, Broomfield, Lakewood, and Golden.See current market reports for Arvada, Westminster, and Broomfield CO (click the link) I hope that issuing these reports every month will help give you an idea of the real estate market, in case you want to buy a home or sell a home in one of the best places Denver to Boulder! Click the underlined text to read the report for Arvada homes September 2012 I've categorized my Arvada homes market reports by price range. You can see the categories below. Clicking on a category will take you to the respective report once it's complete. I hope this will be helpful, and you... 11/09/2012

See current market reports for Arvada, Westminster, and Broomfield CO (click the link) What this Arvada Home Sales report tells you:  Still plenty of foreclosures and short sales to choose from if you want to buy an Arvada home for less than $200,000. But the best of them are going fast, although the inventory is back to over a month now. Get your tools and buy yourself a place to create your dreams in! Click this link to see Arvada Home Sales in the other price categories. This report includes only detached single family Arvada homes listed or sold for $200,000 or less.  (I'm using the term 'distressed sales' to refer to short sales and foreclosures. A 'regular' sale may also have been 'distressed' in the sense that the home was in need of major work.) Currently, there are 48 Arvada ho... 11/07/2012

See current market reports for Arvada, Westminster, and Broomfield CO (click the link) What this Arvada Home Sales report tells you:  Interesting that while 19% of the Arvada homes in this price range for sale are distressed, and 27% of the homes under contract are distressed sales, only 8% of the homes sold were distressed.  It appears the distressed homes (short sales and foreclosures) are not as appealing to Arvada home buyers as those that are not distressed.  I would be surprised if the percentage of distressed sales isn't up quite a bit next month due to the large number of them currently under contract. Arvada homebuyers - if you're looking for short sales or foreclosures, now may be the best time to pick one up. Click this link to see Arvada Home Sales in the other price categor... 11/07/2012

What this Arvada Home Sales report tells you:  The huge jump that we saw in sales of Arvada homes in this price range did not continue.  With the current inventory, the absorption rate has bumped back up to 2.5 months. That's still not bad, especially with 31 Arvada homes currently under contract. Click this link to see Arvada Home Sales in the other price categories. This report includes only detached single family Arvada homes listed or sold between $300,000 and $400,000.  (I'm using the term 'distressed sales' to refer to short sales and foreclosures. A 'regular' sale may also have been 'distressed' in the sense that the home was in need of major work.) Currently, there are 46 Arvada homes for sale in this price range (40 last month).  Three of them are foreclosures, none are short s... 11/05/2012

Arvada Historical Society's Christmas Yard Sale Come to the Arvada Historical Society's Christmas yard sale at the Arvada Flour Mill, 5590 Olde Wadsworth Blvd, on November 16 and 17, from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm.  Shop a gigantic selection of new and gently used Cristmas decorations, from trees to trinkets! For those wanting to donate for the sale, donations will be accepted on November 12 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, November 13 from 3:00 to 6:00 pm., and November 14 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm at the Mill. All proceeds benefit the Arvada Historical Society! Quoted from the Arvada Historical Society's web site:   "Come visit us at 7307 Grandview Avenue - we'll put on the coffee pot and chat about Arvada, or perhaps look through the photos. Maybe you'll recognize a face or place. There's nothing bett... 11/04/2012

See current market reports for Arvada, Westminster, and Broomfield CO (click the link) What this Arvada Home Sales report tells you:  Days on market continue the year-over-year improvement for this price range, but the absorption rate is over 5 months.  Need to move some inventory before homes in this category can be considered a 'sellers market'. Click this link to see Arvada Home Sales in the other price categories. This report includes only detached single family Arvada homes listed or sold between $400,000 and $500,000.  I’m using the term ‘distressed sales’ to refer to short sales and foreclosures. A ‘regular’ sale may also have been ‘distressed’ in the sense that the home was in need of major work. Currently, there are 53 Arvada homes for sale in this price range (vs 48 last month... 11/02/2012

See current market reports for Arvada, Westminster, and Broomfield CO (click the link) What this Arvada Home Sales Report tells you:  Arvada homes sales at $500,000 are showing a big improvement in days on market, but not selling in numbers good enough to clear out the inventory.  Absorption rate:  Nearly 8 months, still a tough price point in which to compete. Click this link to see Arvada Home Sales in the other price categories. This report includes only detached single family Arvada homes listed or sold for more than $500,000.  I’m using the term ‘distressed sales’ to refer to short sales and foreclosures. Currently, there are 55 Arvada homes in this price range for sale (down from 62 last month), none are short sales, two are foreclosures.  That's a 4% rate of distressed sales on t... 11/01/2012

Arvada home owners - recycle those leaves! Are you bagging up leaves and leaving them out for the trash collection?  Oh my - what a waste! Instead, dump those bags of leaves into collection containers at Timberline Gardens or Perma Green Organics. **When? Saturday, November 3, 10 and 17 between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm. No large branches or tree stumps. please. Timberline Gardens - 11700 West 58th Avenue, Arvada CO 80002 Perma Green Organics - 5520 Harlan St., Arvada CO 80002 The leaves will be naturally composted over the winter at Timberline Gardens. For more info please contact Sustain Arvada at 720-898-7500 or visit arvada.org/sustainability. Good idea?  Great idea!! **This is the schedule for 2012.  If you're reading this post some other year, check with Sustain Arvada for schedule. Th... 10/26/2012

Arvada parks - there's 140 of them!  I've heard it said that every Arvada home is only a five minute walk from a park, or less. The City of Arvada just dedicated two new parks this week, Thundercloud Park, and Davis Lane Park. I've lived near 80th and Wadsworth since 1993 (that's pretty much the northeast corner of Arvada, for those of you who are unfamiliar), so when I want a park I walk to Rainbow Park or Pomona Lake. A short bicycle ride will take me to Rainbow Park II or Lake Arbor. Last week I discovered Fireman's Park.  Should have visited there before now, I remember reading about the development of the park but never got there. Then there's Robby Ferrufino Park, which is a longer walk, but we walk there for the Kite Festival because parking fills up so we'd be walking half the d... 10/24/2012

Looking for a sweet man and or woman – or both to spend quality time together. I have been in a relationship , yet it seems, its time for me to find a new owner. I have been thru a few interviews ,  buy they have been a waste of time. I need some serious consideration.   I am an attractive 40 year old home with much to offer. I have recently had surgery on my kitchen and baths. I have to say they are very perky again. I love to share my tranquil back side on sunsets afternoons, did I mention my backside adjoins a golf course. I have a hold lot of space to share. I would love to show u my 4 bedrooms, 4 baths and yes my secredt 4th level . complete with a fireplace.   What ya say.. will you take a look .. Lets see how we get along,. Who knows.. it may be a relationaship of  a life time   ... 10/23/2012

There has been some misunderstandings from some of our clients looking at Arvada foreclosures regarding the $100 down payment program being offered on all Denver HUD homes. This program is available for all homes in the Denver metro area and is not confined to the city limits of Denver itself. This program is an incredible opportunity for home buyers using an FHA mortgage allowing a down payment of only $100 as opposed to the standard 3.5% of the purchase price. This frees up cash for buyers to use on any repairs or upgrades on any of the available Denver HUD homes. Whether you are looking at Arvada foreclosures specifically, or considering all Arvada homes for sale, this is a program you have to check out. Give our team of experts a call today at 303-726-1874. our team is registered wi... 10/21/2012

Bringing Outdoor Plants In (From O'Toole's Garden Center in Westminster, CO) A great way to extend the life of your patio pots is to bring them inside during the winter. You can bring in just about any tender plants you'd like to protect from the frost; begonias, geraniums, coleus, impatiens and tropicals just to name a few. Before you bring your plants inside, be sure to check them for any signs of bugs, especially fungus gnats (outdoor bugs love to stow away in plants for a free ride inside). Make sure you clean up any dead plant material or debris that can hide pests. Treat your ornamental plants with a systemic houseplant insecticide before bringing them indoors and add about 1/2" to 1" of sand on the surface of the soil. The systemic will control any insects that feed on the plant ... 10/16/2012

  Joetta’s Neighborhood Newsletter September/October 2012 To All My Friends & Neighbors –         I’m writing this on the afternoon of our first snowfall. I was able to get out into my backyard yesterday and bring in sweet peppers, jalapenos, apples, and tomatoes before the frozen white stuff came down.  Next time it warms up a little I’ll get those gardens tucked in for winter. I’ve had the extreme pleasure the past few weeks of visiting several of you, my long-time readers in their homes.  It seems that many people who have been waiting until the market improved to sell their home have decided now is the time, or maybe some time in the next year. And I agree. But we agents always say that, right?  Well, there’s a lot of statistics backing that up, some you can even read on my blog pos... 10/11/2012