Keller Williams Realty of Northern Colorado

Fort Collins, Colorado has received a distinctive national honor! The National Trust for Historic Preservation chose Fort Collins as 1 of 12 2010 Distinctive Destinations. Fort Collins was chosen because of the unique experiences the city has to offer visitors - from an evening in vibrant Old Town to exploring the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

Vote for your 2010 Fan Favorite!
For the first time ever, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is allowing the public to choose a “2010 Fan Favorite” out of the 12 cities on the Distinctive Destinations list. Click here to vote for Fort Collins as the “2010 Fan Favorite!” Note that you will have to create a PreservationNation account…it is free. The competition is tough so vote now!

Fort Collins’ selection as a 2010 Distinctive Designation, along with past selections as Money Magazine’s best place to live, gives all the more reason to consider northern Colorado for relocation. Lori Juzak mentioned in a recent interview, “We LOVE it here, and are so glad we chose Fort Collins.”  She also noted Fort Collins winning “best place to live reports” as part of her reason for checking out the area.

If you or someone you know is looking to relocate to the area, contact us today. We love the area and the people we serve!

Thanks for reading our Fort Collins Real Estate Blog!
Posted By: Keller Williams Realty of Northern Colorado - Fort Collins CO Realtor,
specializing in Fort Collins CO Real Estate and Northern Colorado Real Estate
Are you relocating to Fort Collins? Contact us today!

970.377.3700

On January 26th, Fort Collins Mayor Doug Hutchinson and City Manager Darren Atterberry presented the Fort Collins 2010 ‘State of the City’ address. If you were unable to watch live, you can still access the video at: www.fcgov.com/stateofthecity or click on the video link below:

Some of the recent city accomplishments:

• The city recently launched Open Book which opens the City’s books up to you. Open Book is on the City website and it posts every dollar the City spends for the public to examine. The City of Fort Collins is one of the first in the United States to offer this level of information to its citizens. You can access the Open Book program at: http://www.fcgov.com/openbook/
• Last year the city released Fort Collins’ first-ever community scorecard which reported progress in reaching community goals.
• Fort Collins unemployment rate of 7% is lower than the state, and significantly lower than the national rate which hovers at 10%.
• The revitalization of North College has broken ground and jobs are being created as a result.
• The Mason Corridor project has changed from a transportation project to an economic health initiative enabled by transit. The shift allowed the city to leverage approximately $60 million of federal funds and kick-start economic activity along the corridor.
• Advanced Energy recently opened a new manufacturing facility in south Fort Collins to serve a growing demand for alternative energy products.
• The Rocky Mountain Innovation Initiative – or RMI-squared – expanded significantly. They are providing services to more entrepreneurs, which in turn creates and supports high-paying jobs.
• In 2006, the City was a driving force behind the creation of the Northern Colorado Clean Energy Cluster. Since its creation, clean energy jobs have increased by 19%. The 60-some businesses now within the cluster have set a goal to add an additional 1,650 new primary, clean-energy jobs over the next five years.
• The federal government awarded FortZED $6.3 million to create a zero-energy district that extends from CSU’s main campus through downtown.
• Through efficient buildings, lighting retrofits, increased recycling, and other efforts, the city reduced the city’s government operating expenses by $250,000 last year alone.

Looking Ahead

• A reality the city is tackling head-on in 2010: the city does not currently have the resources to fund our well-defined needs in police, fire, transportation, and parks.
• The city is working to diversify revenue, but sales tax is still their primary source. So, the city may need citizens to consider a sales tax increase this year.
• The good news: our current city sales tax rate currently is the second lowest among comparable Front Range cities and our base sales tax rate has not been changed for almost thirty years. A penny sales tax increase would generate $20 million annually. It would add a dime to every $10 a consumer spends.

Thanks for reading our Fort Collins Real Estate Blog!
Posted By: Keller Williams Realty of Northern Colorado - Fort Collins CO Realtor,
specializing in Fort Collins CO Real Estate and Northern Colorado Real Estate
Pictures of Fort Collins

970.377.3700

During the holiday season, the Fort Collins Board of Realtors (FCBR) engaged local Fort Collins real estate companies in a healthy competition to see which office could raise the most food and/or money for the Larimer County Food Bank. The Keller Williams Fort Collins office is excited to have earned three top awards in the competition:

• Total Money Raised Winner by Office First Place Award in the 2009 FCBR food drive to benefit the Larimer County Food Bank
• Top Winner by Office First Place Award in the 2009 FCBR food drive to benefit the Larimer County Food Bank
• Total Money Raised by Staff Third Place Award in the 2009 FCBR food drive to benefit the Larimer County Food Bank

The Larimer County Food Bank is the only Feeding America clearinghouse for donated and rescued food in Larimer County. They were founded with the intent to avoid duplication of food collection and distribution efforts by non-profit agencies. You can learn more about the organization at: http://www.foodbanklarimer.org.

In total, the Keller Williams Fort Collins office generated 3,402 lbs of food for the food bank. Agent Nate Bainum, who spearheaded the Fort Collins office effort, said “I’m very proud to be part of KW. I believe that our participation for such a worthy cause speaks volumes about the caliber of people we have in our Family.”

Thanks for reading our Fort Collins Real Estate Blog!
Posted By: Keller Williams Realty of Northern Colorado - Fort Collins Real Estate Agents,
specializing in Fort Collins Real Estate and Northern Colorado Real Estate
Pictures of Fort Collins

970.377.3700

2009 has drawn to a close and with that companies are busy reviewing their year-end performance and setting 2010 goals. If 2009 is any indicator, Keller Williams Realty has more than a few things to be excited about heading into the new decade.

In REAL Trends 2009 annual 500 report, Keller Williams dominated two important lists. First, of the major real estate companies studied, Keller Williams outpaced all others in the following categories: change in total # of sides, change in total # of offices, and change in total # of agents. See graph below:

Second, Keller Williams Realty brokers had the largest share of the market of transaction sides. See graph below:

Keller Williams Realty of Northern Colorado is optimistic about the year ahead. If you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell real estate, contact one of our Fort Collins Real Estate Agents today to get started!

Thanks for reading our Fort Collins Real Estate Blog!
Posted By: Keller Williams Realty of Northern Colorado - Fort Collins CO Realtor,
specializing in Fort Collins CO Real Estate and Northern Colorado Real Estate
Pictures of Fort Collins

970.377.3700

Source: Keller Williams Realty, “What Really Matters in Real Estate: A White Paper”
http://images.kw.com/media/shared/kw/white_paper_7-30.pdf

Due to recent federal changes to their short sale guidelines, “short sales” may start living up more to their name.

A short sale occurs when a lender accepts less than a borrower owes on a loan. As part of the Foreclosure-Prevention Program, the government modified their short sale guidelines to make short sales more attractive alternatives to foreclosures. Short sales can frequently produce higher sales prices for distressed homes and are less harmful to communities than foreclosures. To-date, however, short sales have been cumbersome and difficult to complete.

The changes in guidelines are aimed to help distressed homeowners who are eligible for the loan modification program, but:
Read the rest of this entry»

The Fort Collins North College Avenue landscape is rapidly changing. Ground has already broken on major construction projects concentrated at the intersection of College/Willox Lane. The overall plan for improvements, however, stretches from the southern intersection of College/Vine to the northern intersection of College/Willox.

The two main projects that have broken ground are the North College Marketplace and Union Place. The North College Marketplace is a 26-acre shopping center anchored by King Soopers. Businesses in the marketplace are anticipated to open doors for business in 2011. Union Place is a primarily residential project that covers 10 acres. The first homes are projected to be move-in ready by the end of 2010.

The underlying objective behind the North College Avenue changes are to improve the safety, operations and aesthetics of the area. To learn more about North College Avenue, you can visit the city website at: http://www.fcgov.com/northcollege.

Thanks for reading our Fort Collins Real Estate Blog!
Posted By: Keller Williams Realty of Northern Colorado - Fort Collins Real Estate Agents,
specializing in Fort Collins Real Estate and Northern Colorado Real Estate
Pictures of Fort Collins

970.377.3700

Source: http://www.fcgov.com

Local Health Provider Wins National Award

On December 2nd, Poudre Valley Health Systems (PVHS) was presented with the 2008 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The President of the United States gives this award to organizations that exemplify extraordinary performance in seven categories: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; workforce focus; process management; and results.

The Malcolm Baldrige awards program was started by Congress in 1987 to recognize businesses that excel in quality and performance. PVHS was the only health care organization to receive the 2008 Baldrige award. The organization provides services for northern Colorado, southern Wyoming, and western Nebraska. Fort Collins is home to two PVHS hospitals and PVHS’s Medical Center of the Rockies just recently opened their doors in Loveland.

Superior health care is just one more reason it is great to live in northern Colorado!

The Miliken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners recently released their 2009 Best-Performing Cities Index and the Fort Collins-Loveland area came in at #22. The ranking is based on the institutes evaluation of 200 large metro areas around the country. Each area was evaluated in the following categories: job, wage, salary and technology growth.

One of the major forces driving Fort Collins-Loveland area’s success is the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corporation (NCEDC), which took shape in 2001. The NCEDC is a  501(C)(6) non-for-profit corporation driven by their mission to create primary jobs and promote economic growth in Larimer County. The corporation has been involved in creating over 3,163 primary jobs in the area since 2004, injecting the economy with $215.17 million in wages. To learn more, you can visit the NCEDC website at: http://www.ncedc.com.

Fort Collins-Loveland was not the only Colorado area to make the list. Greeley came in ahead at #20 and Boulder at #44. You can see the complete list at:  http://bestcities.milkeninstitute.org/bestcities2009.taf.

Source: Miliken Institute, “2009 Best Performing Cities,” data pulled 11/25/2009