Conference on World Affairs

Living in a college town is great, and the annual  Conference on World Affairs is the cherry on top of the sundae.  Each year the Conference on World Affairs (CWA) brings together 100’s of participants, discussing 100’s of topics, in front of thousands of inquiring minds. Photo by Larry Howard

The format for most topics are a panel with a moderator.  The topics run the gamut from comic books to the U.N.  If you cannot find a topic that would be of interest, you are either not trying very hard or are quite set in your ways.

For a detailed video about the conference click here.

For the daily schedule click here

For a webcast click here

Public Art in Boulder, Colorado?

Boulder, Colorado is a cultured place.  No you don’t see many ties when you’re out to eat (actually you see more blue jeans than anything else), but there are many art galleries, a few museums and a good selection of public art.    I am actually working on a slideshow showing the public sculptures around town but I was once again sidetracked by the renovation of Casey Middle School.

As you may know from a previous post, Casey is closed for a year and a half so that a new, modern school can be rebuilt.  The school will be a showcase of modern amenities and sustainable practices including geo-thermal heat and passive solar, but from the street it will still look like 1927.  The west and south facade’s are being preserved.  As I was driving yesterday I saw the old walls being held up by fifty or more steel beams tied to a new footer wall.  The view was quite surreal and the building looked like it was being attacked by a giant octopus.

This gets me back to public art in Boulder.  Back when I was a kid in the late 70’s or 80’s the city erected a huge metal sculpture at the intersection of Baseline and Broadway, near CU’s law school.  The sculpture was hideous!  It looked like a giant octopus emerging from the ancient depths.  The sculpture lasted for a few years at its first location and then I believe it went into storage.  It has since been resurrected directly across from the Boulder Jail.  This freedom of expression is the last view of freedom the inmates get before being locked away.  I’d say that’s cruel and unusual punishment!  If any of you know more about the history of the sculpture I’d love to hear about it.  Just leave a comment below.  As I said I will follow up with some really good public art in the near future.

Five Year Return: Boulder Real Estate vs. Dow Jones Industrials

I’m a nice guy so I don’t usually like to kick something while it is down, but today I will make an exception.  We all know that the stock market has been really tanking for the past six months.  The losses have cut our perceived wealth by the trillions and shaken our collective confidence like nothing I have seen.  It is times like these when we get back to the basics and remember what we should have been doing all along. 

Personally I have both financial and real estate investments.  I believe in diversification and have a very long term view of investing.  When I compare my personal investments over the past 15 years, I see that I have done much better in the real estate market than I have in the stock market.  I see a few main reasons for that: one I know real estate and am “in the market” every day.  Secondly, the Boulder area has been a great place to invest in real estate.

 

Since 1993 home prices in Boulder have gained on average 185%.  The median price for a single family home in Boulder in 2003 was $189,000, now it is $538,000.  During that same time frame the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 134%.  On December 31, 2003 the average closed at 3,754.  On December 31, 2008 it closed at 8,776.  In the past 2.5 months it has lost 17%.

Values are holding in Boulder and our market is slowed but certainly not rife with volitility.  Here are some of the reasons why the Boulder Valley is a great place to invest in real estate.

  • It’s a great place to live and in real estate location is everything.
  • Limited supply of new homes.  Boulder, Louisville and Superior have very limited supply of land on which to build new homes.  Basic economic theory would say that prices will go up in the long run if more people are moving in and there aren’t enough new homes to house them all.
  • Boulder is a University town.  Nearly 30,000 students, plus all of the staff and faculty provide a dynamic market for rentals and low end sales in town.  This trickles up the price chain.
  • The Boulder Valley is a dynamic place to do business.  We have a varied economic base which includes many new and growing industries.

I have recently identified some great investment property in the City of Boulder.  There are multiple unit properties available with renters in place.  If you are looking for a good place to invest some of your hard earned money, I’d love to share these opportunities with you, just give me a call.

 

 

Top 13 Ways to Save Energy and Boulder’s Kyoto Connection

The City of Boulder has a decision to make.  Either the City Council will vote to spend (and raise) a bunch of money to try to fufill the terms of the Kyoto Protocoll or they will need to let the deadline pass without reaching its goals.  Right now the City is on track to get only half way to Kyoto’s goal of reducing carbon emissions to a level 7% below 1990 levels by 2012.   

In 2006 Boulder’s voters passed the Climate Action Plan Tax giving the City the right to tax its citizens on electricity usage among other things.  So far the City is taxing electricity at the lowest level, this might change.  Even if the City increases the tax and the budget by over $400,000 we would be on track to get 85% toward the goal.

It doesn’t look like we will make it and I don’t think that is the end of the world.  I think the G8 will still visit the Dushanbe Teahouse if they happen to be in town.  So, it might just be up to us to make up the difference and I am here to give you the top 13 ways you can reduce your carbon footprint.

  1. Turn your thermostat down.  To 68 or below in the winter and 78 or below in the summer.
  2. Purchase and use a programmable thermostat.  Don’t heat your house when you are not there.
  3. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs.
  4. Take a shower instead of a bath.
  5. Drive less often, combine trips and carpool.
  6. Walk or ride your bicycle.
  7. Add insulation to your home.
  8. Install energy efficient doors and windows.
  9. Turn off your computer when you are not using it.
  10. Turn down the temperature setting on your water heater.
  11. Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes.
  12. Let your dishes air dry – heated settings use a tremendous amount of energy.
  13. Purchase energy efficient appliances.  Look for energy star rated appliances.

Are Your Eligible For Stimulus Loan Modification or Refinance?

The government has approved billions of dollars of aid to programs as broad as “renewable energy” and as focussed as bailing out the insurance giant AIG.  Just this week the details of the administrations plans for helping the millions of at risk homeowners.  The help is coming in the form of two initiatives: refinancing and loan modification.  I won’t go through the details of each but will touch upon the program highlights and point you toward some good resources on the web.

Refinancing Initiative:

You may be eligible if:

  • You own and currently occupy at one to four-unit home.
  • Your mortgage is held by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.  To check click here.
  • The amount you owe currently cannot exceed 105% of the current value.
  • You must have stable income sufficient enough to support the new mortgage payments.
  • If you would like to participate you can call the lender of your choice – you do not need to work with your current loan company and there are no “approved providers”, so don’t get scammed.

The refinance initiative is not designed for:

  • Homeowners who are delinquent on their mortgage payments.
  • Homeowners who owe more than 105% of their homes current value.
  • People who want to get cash back from their refinance.

Loan Modification Program:

Requirements:

  • Owner occupied homes only – no vacant homes – no investor homes.
  • Current balance of loans must be equal to or less than $729,750 for a single family home.
  • Borrower must be screened for hardship.  Your assets and income will be checked.

Loan modification is designed to help homeowners who are in trouble.  The goal is to avoid foreclosure by providing incentives and a framework for mortgage companies to re-write loans instead of foreclosing on them.  The government participates by matching mortgage company incentives and providing payments to those companies who participate in the program.  Borrowers who are successful in the program are also rewarded overtime.

For more details on this program look at the following links:

Treasury Dept. Loan Modification Press Release

Freddie Mac – Avoid Foreclosure

Homeowner Stability Act Question and Answer