The Power of Solar

Solar powered homes are becoming an increasingly common trend in the country, and Southwest Colorado is no exception. Of course, the common benefits make this feature appealing in our area as well. Many people are implementing solar to reduce their carbon footprint, as well as lower monthly electricity bills.

Available cost incentives motivate many individuals to implement solar. In our area, the La Plata County Electrical Association (LPEA) offers credits for solar, wind, or hydroelectric technology. See their website for the specific savings available, as there are details required to obtain the credits. http://www.lpea.coop/renewables/REC_payment.html

There is also a federal solar investment tax credit which generally allows up to 30% of the cost of installation as a tax credit (available until 2016). IRS tax form 5695 outlines the specifics, and of course a person should consult a tax professional for applicable details.

In our market, we are seeing an increase in solar homes in new construction, and as an added featured in existing homes. For example, new builds in Skyridge and La Questa offer solar and geothermal homes. Typically, we see solar in homes from the mid-priced range and higher. In our area, we generally do not see this feature in homes valued under $350,000, and they are more common on the high end of the market.

The cost-benefit analysis on solar becomes complicated—many factors go into this consideration. It seems this is a controversial topic across the country, and one with varied opinions. From a real estate perspective, it is certainly helpful for resale value, as it is more energy efficient and offers lower electrical bills. However, the cost to implement solar can be substantial. The cost to implement may not actually save money, but the intangible benefit of leaving less of a carbon footprint certainly appeals to many. Ultimately, it becomes a matter of priorities, but appears to be a trend that will continue to grow.

We wish you a very happy Labor Day, and we hope you have an opportunity to enjoy these late summer days.

If you have any questions for our team please give us a call or e-mail us.

Summer's Last Hoorah

Many of us look forward to Labor Day--the first Monday of September--as the official “end of summer” celebration. For some, this is a day to relax. For others, it is a day to BBQ and spend time with family and friends. But did you know the actual holiday originated in 1882?

The original goal of Labor Day was to celebrate American labor workers. Although the actual founder of the holiday is unknown (rumored to be Peter J. McGuire or Matthew Maguire), the Central Labor Union was involved in the first celebration. At this time, the Industrial Revolution required long, arduous hours by the laborers, and labor unions became more vocal. It became a holiday to celebrate the “working man.” By 1884, Labor Day became a federally recognized holiday.

Although traditions vary, locals will always correlate Labor Day weekend with the Four Corners Motorcycle Rally. Starting at the end of the week before Labor Day, the roar of motorcycles may be heard coming into town. The head of the rally is in Ignacio, but walking through Main Street in Durango over Labor Day weekend proves great motorcycle sightseeing. The town takes on a new life with the sounds and sights of all the motorcycles! We have always loved going out to dinner downtown and looking at all of the Harleys.

However you choose to spend the holiday, we hope you are able to relax and enjoy one last
hoorah before summer winds down and we look towards fall, football, and a slower time of the year.

Check out these links for some additional historical info: http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/labor-day; http://www.dol.gov/laborday/history.htm.

Off And Running

A few months ago we wrote a blog on how Katie (my wife) and I love to run and take advantage of the local races. Last we updated we were just getting started and now we are well on our way through the race season! It has been a good one so far--good weather (for the most part), and no injuries!
To update, Katie ran the Mother’s Day 10k, and what a sloppy muddy mess that was. It had rained all night before, and it rained during the race as well. One thing about running Horse Gulch is that rain adds a lot of character to that trail (and on Mother’s Day no less, a day we already celebrate the character of the mothers in our lives)!
Next after that was the Steamworks Half Marathon. We were both able to run that thanks to some heroics from Grandparents watching the kids. My Sister Jenny also ran that race--great job Jen! The weather was great, and hats off to the race directors for another great after party, Steamworks beer and food--you can’t beat that!
Next up was Kendall Mountain in Silverton, it had been several years since I had run this, and quickly remembered how steep it is! The weather was again perfect, although they changed the course a little since the last time. They added another ½ mile through town to the finish line. After 6+ miles of steep downhill, another ½ mile felt like a marathon in itself.
After Kendall came Kennebec, and both Katie and I ran. The race went well; it looked like it might be a rainy one, but cleared up just as the race started. That is just a beautiful trail to run. It was green and had lots of wild flowers. The beauty definitely helps distract you from all the suffering. Then there were the high mountain goat trails, I didn’t remember them being so thin and steep the last time!
We followed Kennebec with Mt. Sneffels, which is more of a cruiser run compared to some of the others. It is on a well maintained county road and you run from the Ouray to Ridgeway. The beauty of that race is the half-price tickets to the hot springs, which are always nice to soak in after a race.
We added another race to our series this summer--next weekend is the Thirsty 13. This is a new race for Durango, which starts in Hesperus, runs over CR 125 to CR 210 (the new road by Lake Night Horse), and finishes at Ska Brewing. After the race is the Brew Fest, so it’s another great excuse to drink beer after a run!
Yes, Imogene is on the horizon, and it just makes me nervous thinking about it! Hopefully the weather will be good, but in early September snow can definitely be a factor. Stay tuned for an update on these last two races as we wind our running season down and get ready for fall.

The Wells Group Listing Guide

 

This publication is one of our premier advertising pieces, and it is currently published four times per year. It is a glossy magazine and features all of our residential and commercial properties, and farm and ranch listings. It is broken down by area, so each market segment is featured. There are sections for luxury homes, Durango residential, resort residential, Hesperus residential, Bayfield residential, and additional segments. Although vacant land is not featured in the publication, all other Wells Group listings are noted. The listings display in order of price, from lowest to highest, in each category.
A couple weeks ago, we outlined The Durango Team’s marketing advantage. One of the aspects we mentioned is The Wells Group listing guide magazine, which will be published and distributed right before Labor Day weekend.
As we discussed a few weeks ago, the Wells Group brokers sell more properties and represent more buyers in the Durango area than any other brokerage. We were actually the first brokerage to offer a glossy magazine of listings. Due to these facts, we are confident that our Wells Group clients benefit from our marketing advantages.

When the magazine is published, 10,000 copies are printed. A copy is inserted in the Durango Herald on the Sunday of the weekend of print, and the remainder stays at the Wells Group office, available for the downtown Durango foot traffic. Our office location at 9th and Main allows substantial window shopping and potential interested clients.

The next publication of the Durango Area Real Estate listings will be printed and distributed on August 24. We are excited to showcase our listings, and generate additional publicity for our clients. The busy Labor Day weekend in Durango will allow excellent exposure for these properties. We look forward to sharing our listings with you!

A Weekend Of History & Scenery

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of out of town company in Durango. Our friends, Bob and Laura (my son Kyle’s in-laws) visited us from California. We took the opportunity to show them some of the best of southwest Colorado.

We took a drive to Creede, and stayed overnight in at the Antlers Rio Grand Lodge.  We enjoyed an amazing scenic dinner on the river, and the quality of the dining experience was excellent. Creede is actually home of the well-known Creede Repertory Theater, visitors from all over take in the show, and in a future trip, we hope to have the opportunity.

On Saturday morning, we drove over Slumgullion pass to Lake City, and stoppped for breakfast.  Following breakfast, we drove to the Gunnison area, with a scenic ride along Blue Mesa Reservoir.  We then continued over then to Montrose, then back over Red Mountain Pass to Durango. As many locals know, this is some of the best scenery in the country! I love driving through Ouray and Silverton. The trip was 124 miles to Creede, then from Creede to Montrose another 151 miles, and finally another 107 miles back to Durango. Although it was a lot to cram into one weekend, we had a great time.

The combination of history and scenery make this an unforgettable experience. At the end of the day, it was great being back home, and I finished the day with fly fishing on Hermosa Creek.

This trip (although a lot) offers some of the best scenery ever imaginable. It’s beautiful at all times of the year. It is so much fun to share this beauty with out of town visitors, and to appreciate the place we live even more

Latest La Plata County Real Estate Numbers

This week we have the final July real estate numbers for La Plata County. A few trends are still apparent upon viewing the results.

At 105 total sales for the month of July, we see this is higher than last month (90 total), and just slightly lower than July of 2013. This number is still good news for the market. As we have discussed over the last few months the market has stabilized, and it is down a little from last year, but it is still producing solid results.

The median price is up from last year, which reflects positively on the market in the county. Ultimately, this means our market volume is going up some, while are number of sales are declining a little.

Year to date, we are still seeing the majority of transactions in the $200K-$400K market category, which is typical for our market.

Overall, we are seeing the same trends we have discussed over the last few months. Consistency is displayed, as well as a higher median price, so we remain confident in the remainder of 2014

Mmmmm ... Rocky Mountain Chocolate

Did you know…the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory started in Durango? This is one of the most successful businesses to originate in Durango. Although some could assume, based on the name, that these chocolates originated in Colorado; many do not know Durango is the place it all began.

Frank Crail and his wife moved from Southern California to Durango to “semi-retire” and raise a family. After literally walking up and down the street and asking what Durango needed, he decided on a candy store. In 1981, the first Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory opened.

He and his partners made the first batches of chocolate, and were barely ready for the business to open on its first day. After having success the first day, they continued with the journey. They then opened other stores in Colorado—Breckenridge and Boulder. After success in all of those locations, they began the process of franchising the stores. In 1985, the company went public trading under RMCF on NASDAQ. They are now the largest chocolate store chain in the United States.

There are usually around 300 varieties of candies and confections made by the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Many of these are made on location at the factory in Durango. However, the rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory also creates several confections right in front of the customer using copper kettles and marble slabs.

The initial benefit of the storefront location was the proximity to the train station and tourist foot traffic. They now attempt to place stores in similar locations—malls, tourist areas, regional malls, and street fronts. In fact, if you are ever somewhere else and look on the back of the chocolate boxes, they will say they are made in Durango, Colorado.

We love this success story because it is the ultimate American dream, and it happened here in Durango. We see so many people move here for the same reasons—to raise a family and start a business. In fact, that’s what we did when we came here. Durango is a great place to live, and we love having the heritage of such a successful business in our hometown.