Happy Thanksgiving

Design Highlight: Vertical Light

When light is installed nearly blush against a vertical surface, walls come to life much like a 3D movie; this design highlight is referred to as wallwahing. Consider the effect light has when used as an accessory rather than a simple necessity. The below images capture wallwashing in residential spaces.

//Smooth glass blocks take on new angles and shadows.

//Wood becomes exotic in color.

//Textured walls become visually tactile.

Perfect Season

Have you noticed the beautiful fall days, with a hint of chill in the air in the morning, and warming to a comfortable temperature during the day? How about the deep blue skies and the clear rivers and streams? Even as the fall colors are beginning to dwindle, I marvel at what a perfect season fall is in Durango, Colorado.

It is also the perfect season for real estate. What makes a perfect season for real estate? The market must have adequate choices; just a few years ago, there was a low inventory, and few choices for buyers. Today, the number of homes available is great, and buyers have significant choices. Second, this is a great time for negotiation, as there is competition in many neighborhoods, and we are still in the fall selling season prior to winter. Third, if you have solid credit, an adequate down payment, and most important, a good credit score, money is available, and interest rates are low. The low cost of money, many great choices, and a strong negotiation position makes this the perfect season to buy!!

Last, this is the perfect season in our life! We are fortunate to live in a great country, with all of our freedoms, and to wake up each day to a bright and wonderful future. We need to be thankful for those serving in the armed forces that protect our freedoms, and be thankful for those in leadership of our nation, state, country, and city for their commitment to give of themselves to better our opportunities. Most importantly for those of us that call Durango home, we live in the best place in the country, and there are people all over this nation that wish they could be here.

This is truly a blessed season. Enjoy and make the most of it, and don't forget to vote.

Don

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me. You can reach me, Don Ricedorff, at The Wells Group 970-375-7014, don@frontier.net, or at my website at durangorealproperty.com.

Don Ricedorff is a licensed real estate broker in the State of Colorado, with 18+ years of experience, and he resides in Durango Colorado.He has numerous real estate designations, which have provided him with an unparalleled education to assist his clients. The designations include:

CRS, Certified Residential Specialist
CRB, Certified Residential Broker
CCIM, Certified Commercial Investment Member
CDPE, Certified Distressed Property Expert
ABR, Accredited Buyer Representation
GRI, Graduate of Realtor Institute
RSPS, Resort and Second Home Property Specialist
CIPS, Certified International Property Specialist
SRES, Senior Real Estate Specialist

He is also an active volunteer in the community and his church. His highest aspiration is spending time with his wife, Janet, and his three children Kelly, Katie, and Kyle. His other interests include playing tennis, fly fishing, hiking, boating, and water skiing.

Fall in Durango

The Fall real estate market in Durango has been somewhat slow, although we continue to see signs of recovery in real estate and have optimism for the future. As always, we count our blessings that we live and work in Durango, Colorado, which continues to shine even in these difficult times. Here is a little description of our fair town from the DowntownDurango.org website:

"Marketing professionals have long sought a clever phrase incorporating terms shared by guests – charming, vibrant, “fun.” The resonating word, however, which perhaps most aptly describes Durango’s appeal is “real.” Durango is a “real” town. Simply stroll down Main Ave. or relax in a coffee house or local brewpub and you’ll feel the energy. Though Durango has all the beauty and activities of mountain resort towns across the West, this is a place where people truly do live – and love it."

Upcoming Downtown Durango Events:

This weekend: Seuss on the Loose Exhibit; Rocky Horror Show

Nov. 18 - Dec. 28: Polar Express

Nov. 18 - Dec. 29: Winter Solstice Artisan's exhibit

Nov. 25 - Jan. 1: HoliDazzle

Dec. 2 -3: Holiday Arts Show

Dec. 2 -4 and Dec. 9 -11; Festival of Trees

Dec. 2 -18 Hark the Neville Angel Sings

Dec. 3, 10, 17 The Eight Reindeer Monologues

Dec. 9 - 11 Nutcracker Ballet

Dec. 19 Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's Holiday Party

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me. You can reach me, Don Ricedorff, at The Wells Group 970-375-7014, don@frontier.net, or at my website at durangorealproperty.com.

Don Ricedorff is a licensed real estate broker in the State of Colorado, with 18+ years of experience, and he resides in Durango Colorado.He has numerous real estate designations, which have provided him with an unparalleled education to assist his clients. The designations include:

CRS, Certified Residential Specialist
CRB, Certified Residential Broker
CCIM, Certified Commercial Investment Member
CDPE, Certified Distressed Property Expert
ABR, Accredited Buyer Representation
GRI, Graduate of Realtor Institute
RSPS, Resort and Second Home Property Specialist
CIPS, Certified International Property Specialist
SRES, Senior Real Estate Specialist

He is also an active volunteer in the community and his church. His highest aspiration is spending time with his wife, Janet, and his three children Kelly, Katie, and Kyle. His other interests include playing tennis, fly fishing, hiking, boating, and water skiing.

Durango Colorado Real Estate Statistics - Thru Sept. 2011

Hello Friends,

Below is the preliminary information for real estate sales in the La Plata County, Durango Colorado real estate market.

As an overview, the La Plata County residential real estate market has continued to recover from the bottom of the market, which was September 2009. The residential real estate sales for the nine months thru 2011 totaled 527 transactions with a median price of $308,000 compared to the same period in 2009, which was 386 transactions and a median price of $292,500. As compared to the same period last year, the La Plata County residential transactions were up 10.2%, with the median price up .7%, the Durango In Town residential transactions were up 9.3%, with a .4% increase in the median price, and total Bayfield residential transactions were up 27.9%, but the median price fell 5.9%. The number of land sales improved 45.2% over last year, with a 21.7% increase in median price, and the commercial transactions increased 45.4%, with a median price increase of 20.4%.

Although this is encouraging news on the market, the number of transactions is still approximately 1/2 of the the number of sales in the top of the market, which was 2005, and still lower than the numbers for 2008 (same 9 months). Prices continue to be challenged in the market place due to the excessive inventory of properties for sale, and by distressed properties that are offered below market value.

Don Ricedorff is a licensed real estate broker in the State of Colorado, with 18+ years of experience, and he resides in Durango Colorado. He has numerous real estate designations, which have provided him with an unparalleled education to assist his clients. The designations include:

CRS, Certified Residential Specialist

CRB, Certified Residential Broker

CCIM, Certified Commercial Investment Member

CDPE, Certified Distressed Property Expert

ABR, Accredited Buyer RepresentationGRI, Graduate of Realtor Institute

RSPS, Resort and Second Home Property Specialist

CIPS, Certified International Property Specialist

SRES, Senior Real Estate Specialist

He is also an active volunteer in the community and his church. His highest aspiration is spending time with his wife, Janet, and his three children Kelly, Katie, and Kyle. His other interests include tennis, fly fishing, hiking, boating, and water skiing.

You can reach Don:

Don Ricedorff

don@frontier.net

970-375-7014

Living In Durango. Marketing To The World.

One of the more challenging aspects of marketing real estate is finding a balance in the different mediums. How much print advertising is enough? Are we reaching the correct audience with the internet marketing?

Our approach to each property we promote is to coordinate all of the marketing we will publish at the very beginning. Each property has its own unique qualities and the marketing we create for each property is as unique. The design created for each property runs through all print and digital media.

Our print advertising begins with the printing of full color, multi-page brochures. We also reserve a space in The Durango Herald for a print advertisement and a real estate exchange cover position. Properties also appear in The Wells Group’s Listing Guide – a full color magazine featuring all Wells Group properties.

In addition to our print advertising with the Herald, we dedicate space for a web ad for the properties that we represent. The properties are shown for 1 week on a rotating basis and appear on the local and regional news pages.

On average, our advertising on www.DurangoHerald.com receives 9974 impressions. Out of those impressions, our ad receives 38 click throughs. This means that 38 people were directed to our website, www.DurangoRealProperty.com, for the information specific to the property featured in that week’s ad.

Additionally, each property is featured on our personal website, the Wells Group’s website www.wellsgroupdurango.com, and sites such as Trulia.com, Zillow.com and more.

As comprehensive as we feel our marketing is, we know that it is only a means to an end. The real results are seen once we are in contact with the prospective buyers and can put our expertise and customer service to work.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me. You can reach me, Don Ricedorff, at The Wells Group 970-375-7014, don@frontier.net, or at my website at durangorealproperty.com.

Don Ricedorff is a licensed real estate broker in the State of Colorado, with 18+ years of experience, and he resides in Durango Colorado.He has numerous real estate designations, which have provided him with an unparalleled education to assist his clients. The designations include:

CRS, Certified Residential Specialist
CRB, Certified Residential Broker
CCIM, Certified Commercial Investment Member
CDPE, Certified Distressed Property Expert
ABR, Accredited Buyer Representation
GRI, Graduate of Realtor Institute
RSPS, Resort and Second Home Property Specialist
CIPS, Certified International Property Specialist
SRES, Senior Real Estate Specialist

He is also an active volunteer in the community and his church. His highest aspiration is spending time with his wife, Janet, and his three children Kelly, Katie, and Kyle. His other interests include playing tennis, fly fishing, hiking, boating, and water skiing.

Location, Location, Location!

Owning real estate is all about location, location, location. And although times have been tough, one of things we can boast is the tremendous continuing appeal of Durango, Colorado. Towards the bottom of this message I've reproduced an article from the Durango Herald reporting yet another "top" award given to Durango. I must confess that I'd never heard of a "micropolitan" area, but, according to the below article, it is an area of less than 50,000 in population and Durango ranked no. 1 out of 576 of such areas. The award is for consistency in both size and quality of economic growth. So, a great big "shout out" for Durango, and while I'm at it, below you'll also see a partial list of other awards Durango has won over the years.

Durango Area Awards:

2011 "Best Town," Outside Magazine

2011 "Top 'Micropolitan' area in US," Policom

2011 "One of Coolest Towns in America," Men's Journal

2011 "Top Ten Western Towns," True West Magazine

2011 "Green Power Community," Environmental Protection Agency

2010 "Top Small Town for Meetings & Events," Meetings & Events

2010 "Governor's Award"

2010 "Top Ten Ski Resorts to Down a Local Beer," Away.com

2010 "The Top 20 Ski Resorts in America," Aroundme.com

2010 "Town to Watch," True West Magazine

2009 "Top 10 Places to Raise an Outdoor Child," Backpacker Magazine, CBS News

2009 "Best Places to Live in Rural America," Progressive Farmer

2009 "Top Ten Train Rides," Society of American Travel Writers

2009 "The West's 20 Best Small Towns," Sunset Magazine

2009 "Top 20 Romantic Getaways," Sunset Magazine

2009 "American's 200 best Hunting and Fishing Towns," Outdoor Life

2008 "Top Ten Western Towns," True West Magazine

2008 "7 Great Mountains to Ski with Your Kids," Ski Magazine

2008 "Governor's Award for Historic Preservation," Colorado Historical Society

2008 "Silver Level Bicycle Friendly Community," The League of American Bicyclists

2008 "Colorful Colorado Award," Governor's Award for Downtown Excellence

2008 "Top 10 Christmas Towns," HGTV

2008 "Top 20 Resorts," Conde Nast Traveler

2007 "American's Dozen Distinctive Destinations," National Trust for Historic Preservation

2007 "next Best Places to Ski, Live, Invest and Retire," Ski Magazine

Durango named top ‘micropolitan’ area in U.S.

By Jordyn Dahl
Herald Staff Writer

---

It’s about quality, not quantity, is the takeaway message of an economic study that named our community the top “micropolitan” area in the United States. A micropolitan area is defined as one with a population of less than 50,000 people. Policom, an independent economic research firm specializing in local and state economies, did an analysis that ranked Durango No. 1 out of 576 micropolitan areas studied. Data used for the study included not just Durango, but all of La Plata County. “It’s outstanding that La Plata County is ranked so high,” said Joanne Spina, interim county manager. “We’ve been in the top 10 for the past four years and (the ranking) speaks to the diversity of our economic base.” Durango debuted in the top 10 in 2008 at No. 8. The city has continued to climb, reaching No. 3 last year. “It’s not unusual for Durango to go to the top,” said William Fruth, president of Policom. “Over an extended period of time, it’s shown a tendency of having consistent economic growth in size and quality.” The study looked at 23 different economic factors, including wages and earnings. The amount of public assistance going into each community also was factored in. Durango scored low in this sector, which reflects a strong economy, Fruth said. The Durango area has the second lowest per capita amount of Medicaid dollars coming in of any micropolitan area and one of the lowest per capita amounts of welfare dollars. Durango also scored well in earnings and wages, despite the city’s reputation of requiring people to have two or more jobs to make ends meet. In 2009, Durango’s average wage was 76 percent of the national wage. “Durango has improved relative to the national average wage every year for 10 years,” Fruth said. “It’s a sign that the quality of the economy has been improving.”

What industries pushed Durango to the top? The No. 1 primary industry in the Durango area is “mining,” or the extraction of natural gas. It accounts for 33 percent of the economy, with state government close behind. Farming accounts for about 10 percent, according to Fruth. Despite the decline in natural-gas prices, Durango Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jack Llewellyn thinks gas will continue to stimulate the economy, and BP, the county’s largest producer, will remain for the long haul. “BP will continue drilling in La Plata County as San Juan produces the most natural gas with the least amount of wells,” he said. “BP took rigs to Pennsylvania, but they are still using rigs to clean up wells here.” Another Colorado city, Edwards, fell from first to ninth for micropolitan areas and is the only other city in the state to make the top 10.

The study measures economic factors over a 20-year period. This year’s study took data from 1990 to 2009 – the most recent data released. Data analyzed was from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Policom first ranked micropolitan areas in 2002.

jdahl@durangoherald.com