The New Company Town

Durango, Colorado is featured on the Forbes list of new company towns - featured on MSN.
http://realestate.msn.com/the-new-company-town#9

An Excellent Opportunity

The Importance Of Flood Insurance

This week we want to discuss briefly the issue of flood insurance and its importance in the selling process.  With so many rivers, streams and creeks in this area, many properties are considered to be in flood zones.  It is critical to know if your property is such a property because it impacts the premium cost of flood insurance for a potential buyer.  Please don't stop reading because you think this is not an issue for you.  In 2010  the Federal Emergency Management Agency

(FEMA) did redistricting in the Durango/Bayfield area and as a result many properties that previously were not categorized as being in "high risk" flood zones now are so designated.  Everyone lives in a flood zone–it's just a question of whether you live in a low, moderate, or high risk area. 

All Sellers should check with a knowledgeable insurance agent regarding the issue of flood insurance.  Even if you have never had to purchase flood insurance before, it is important, we believe, to know whether your home is in a low, moderate or high risk flood area per the new FEMA zone maps.  We have had instances in the last couple of years where a buyer of a property found out through the loan process that their lender would be requiring flood insurance on a property that had not had a requirement for such insurance in the past or where the premium cost was going to go up for the new owner by thousands of dollars over what the current owner was paying.   The new premium cost of high risk flood insurance policy can be as high as over $4000.00 per year.  Obviously, this can be a deal killer for some buyers. 

If you go to the link below you can enter your property address and in most instances determine if your property is in a high risk flood area.   If it is, this is a disclosure issue for a potential Buyer who will most likely have to obtain flood insurance as a part of their loan process.  The sooner this issue is identified the better with respect to making it to a successful closing.  With the help of a knowledgeable insurance professional there may be options to help keep the annual flood insurance premium at a more affordable rate. 

http://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/

Please call us if you have any questions.

Durango Colorado Real Estate & Mortgage Rates

The real estate market in Durango is heating up with increased sales of properties, and increases in values over the last six months.  Much of this activity is driven by the availability of low interest rates.  As the real estate market in the nation continues to heat up, many are concerned about the cost of future mortgages. For most borrowers, an increase of 1% in the mortgage rate has an impact of approximately 10% in what they can afford!

In the local Durango market, we are seeing low inventories in modest priced homes, and some multiple offers.  Prices in these lower price ranges will increase in the near future, as there will not be the necessary inventory of homes to meet the demand.

There is an excellent article in Bloomberg Businessweek about the anticipated cost of future mortgages.  It does suggest a slow increase in mortgage rates over the next two years, but it is their opinion that rates will remain historically very low.  Please see the actual article per the link below:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-01/how-high-will-mortgage-rates-go

Regardless, buyers should find the best opportunities in the market today, to take advantage of the current market pricing, and the best interest rates possible.