Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Community Garage Sale

Hello Prides Crossing Community!

Our next garage sale will be taking place here this weekend (June 8th through June 10th). The HOA will be placing banners near the community entrances this week as a friendly reminder.

Your Board of Directors

Trash Services

In observance of Memorial Day, your pickup schedule will be delayed by one day. Please put carts out for service one day later than usual. Remember to position your cart four feet from any other objects, including fences, trees, mailboxes and other carts, so that we can service it safely.

Cooking with gas? Trade in empty propane tanks at a designated retailer or dispose at a household hazardous waste event. Do not put propane tanks in your trash or recycling: they can explode when compacted in the back of a truck.

Remember to designate a separate container to gather bottles and cans during your outdoor celebration. Place it near the trash but clearly label as recycling only (“Recycle empty bottles and cans”). Keep food, liquids, bags and trash out of the recycling.

Thank you for doing your part to help keep our community safe and clean. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

What is my home worth?

Pricing your home in a “Seller’s Market”’

By now you’re probably acutely aware that Colorado is currently in a “seller’s market”. Additionally, spring and summer months in Colorado are indeed the best time to sell a home. There are simply more buyers looking for homes to purchase than there are homes for sale. Although it might be easier to sell a home in this “hot” market, proper pricing is still the key to creating demand. Ultimately, it’s the demand that drives competition. The larger the number of buyers for your home, the higher the odds you’ll make more money.

Proper pricing requires strategy. If you set the price a bit under market value, this will attract more buyers. It also will leave some upward negotiation room for buyers to begin bidding over the asking price. It helps to think of your house listing price as a “minimum bid” price. If the price is attractive to multiple buyers, then more buyers will ultimately make offers on your home and “bid” it up to the final market price. Setting the price too high will draw in fewer buyers and may set you in a downward negotiating pattern from the beginning.

Proper pricing of a home has many benefits to a home seller. Benefits such as: fewer days on market (less hassle to the homeowner), multiple offers (which could drive up the sales price), and better terms for the seller (waived contingencies, ideal closing dates, post-closing possession for a seller moving to another home).

In terms of pricing, there is a lot of data out there on the internet in regards to the value of your home. However, online valuations just provide a general idea of a home’s value. Their margins of error can fluctuate by upwards of 10%+ (think being “off” by $50,000 on a $500,000 home!). Having hyperlocal professional and precise data based on the most current sales and market trends in your specific neighborhood is crucial to proper pricing.

A Refreshing Look at the Question “What is my House Worth?”

Let’s take a look at some of the stats for our area to get a better idea of what is going on in the local housing market!

In Arapahoe County for April 2018, the average sales price* was:

$395,000 for Single Family Homes (up 8.2% from 1 year ago)
$245,000 for Condos/Townhomes (up 11.4% from 1 year ago)

In Douglas County for April 2018, the average sales price* was:

$491,000 for Single Family Homes (up 8.0% from 1 year ago)
$325,500 for Condos/Townhomes (up 10.3% from 1 year ago)

I have access to detailed stats across Colorado and can help you find out the worth of your property any time. I can also help you determine what your home is worth even if it’s in a different area. As always, I am here for you. If it’s time for you to buy or sell, let’s talk.

*Median sales price based on a six-month moving average

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Article on US trash problem

Photo Credit: Getty Images / China Photos

For years, China was the dumping ground for more than half the world's trash, importing as much as 47 million tons in 2015. But China has stopped taking in a majority of that trash, and it's causing problems for the U.S.

China first started buying up garbage during the 1980s to create recycling and waste processing industries to boost its economy. It would collect other countries' scrap paper, metal and plastics and use them to make new goods that could be exported. In 2016, the U.S. sent about half of all its recycling to China — about 17 million tons worth $5.5 billion.

SEE MORE: China Retaliates Against The US With Even More Tariffs

But dealing with all that junk caused drastic environmental problems for China, and in an effort to curb pollution, it announced it would no longer accept 56 types of solid waste. In the short term, that's led American trash companies to export to other south Asian countries. But they can't take in as much trash as China, and they pay much less for it.

That's caused financial problems in the U.S. The CEO of Waste Management told Bloomberg that since China put bans in place at the start of the first quarter this year, the company lost $45 million on its recycling business. Another disposal company in Virginia said it used to be able to sell paper to China for $150 a ton, but since the ban, it's been sending it to India — and getting only $13 a ton.

What's more, the U.S. and other Western countries don't seem to have long-term solutions to the problem, which is leading to massive pileups of garbage. Waste Management's CEO said while it used to send about 75 percent of its cardboard to China, it's only exporting about 2 or 3 percent now.

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Tall Grass & Weeds

Spring and summer means grass and weeds will be growing, and with all the moisture we typically see in the spring, you can expect them to be growing tall before you know it!

The City of Aurora would like to remind residents about its municipal ordinance dealing with weeds and tall grass. Any non-native grass or weeds over 12 inches tall must be cut. We recommend that noxious weeds be pulled or sprayed as mowing them won’t remove the threat of spreading.

We also ask that all residents take a moment to look over their front, side, and back yards, to ensure they are free from tall grass and weeds. If your property does have tall grass and weeds, please take care of them as quickly as possible and continue to maintain your property through-out the year.

Community Mowing on Turf areas will be performed weekly. Turf Areas will also be treated monthly for weeds now through October.

Any Homeowner in violation of this ordinance could result in a fine up to $499 per day that the violation exists. Undeveloped or Native property areas are permitted to grow native and other acceptable vegetation to naturally occurring heights. Please contact the City of Aurora Neighborhood Services and Enforcement for more information at: 303.739.7280

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Arapahoe County News

Posted on: May 1, 2018

Name your new regional trail along E-470 corridor

Vote today at http://bit.ly/NameThisTrail.

The E-470 Public Highway Authority recently built a regional trail along the west side of their tollway from Quincy Avenue south to Ireland Way. This regional trail is a tremendous asset to our community and is an important part of the multi-use trail network in the Denver Metropolitan Area. Arapahoe County Open Spaces and the City of Aurora, along with many of our partners, have plans to add neighborhood trail connections to the regional trail.

Several of these trail connections will be constructed this year (2018), along with wayfinding signage. This is all just the first part of a multi-year phased approach to connect the new trail and expand the regional trail network.

Plans are already underway to extend the regional trail west from Ireland Way to the Cherry Creek Trail and north to the Triple Creek Trail and beyond.