Happy Holidays to All!

By Randy Simpson

As another years draws to close, it’s always a great time to reflect on the events of the past year. Here in Andover Glen, it has been a very busy year, with lots happening – some good, and some, well…let’s just say that some were very challenging to say the least. Even those challenges I believe have made Andover Glen a stronger and more cohesive community. Here are some of the highlights of the year:

So though the year has gone by fast, you can see it’s been a very active one for AG. On behalf of my family, and all the Andover Glen board members, we want to wish everyone the most joyous of holidays and a Happy New Year!

A Progressive Holiday Party Extraordinaire…

By Debra Jones

After last year’s amazing Holiday Party, I was pretty certain that no party could ever top it, but here we are a year later, and well…we topped it! This year’s get together was a progressive affair, where we started out for cocktails at one home, and “progressed” through the evening to dinner at another home, and then ending with desserts and refreshments at a final destination. The food, drink, and company at every location were absolutely wonderful! This event was by far the best attended of social events for Andover Glen in quite some time. A special thanks to: Chris & Cindy Wagner, Larry & Anne Stellmon, Dave & Andrea Kline, Dave & Patti Estes, and Mike Zabinski & ML Hanson for opening their homes to us for this event. If you didn’t make it out this year, no worries, its success guarantees a return engagement for next year so mark your calendars now! ~

Norm & Quink Arlt enjoy the company of Susan & Bob Stacy

Meet your AG Board: A profile of Board Member Royal Shields

This is part of a series of articles that appear each month in the Gazette, introducing you to your Andover Glen Board Members.

My name is Royal Shields and I’m the chairman of the Architectural Control Committee. I’ve been a resident of Andover Glen since September 1995. My wife Marian (Mim) and I have three daughters, Kelly, Jill and Heather and four grand children; Grayson, Campbell, Skylar, and Taite. I am basically retired now after nearly 35 years in real estate, I still own a real estate company (Royal Real Estate <how clever>) and still maintain my broker’s license. I taught real estate law and contracts for fourteen years for Jones Real Estate College. I was born in Boston and raised in Cleveland . I have a BA degree in Education and came to Colorado in 1971 and worked for the Xerox Corporation. Marian just recently retired from the Nike Corporation but prior to that was a partner in a geological mapping company. We love to travel and my passion is golf. Andover Glen is absolutely the best place we have ever lived. We just love our home and expect to be here for quite a while. I appreciate the opportunity to serve on your board of directors, and hope to get a chance to meet many more of my neighbors in Andover Glen in the coming months and years.

Royal Shields and his best friend, Schusabeckal J. McFadden IV

Straight Talk about the real estate market and choosing the right Realtor to sell your home.

By Royal Shields and Barb Powell

We believe the main mission of any homeowner’s association is to “protect and enhance the property values” within the community. To that end, we are providing you some information on past sales within our community to assist anyone who is considering selling in the near future.

When you are thinking about selling your most prized possession, your home, please do some research on not only the company, but certainly the REALTOR. It goes without saying that many people, within their own profession, seem to fabricate a bit when it comes to their professional accomplishments. There are those, or maybe just a few, who think that the REALTOR who lists the property is actually the one who sells it, i.e., brings the buyer to the seller. THIS SIMPLY IS NOT TRUE! In the Denver Metropolitan area, which includes Andover Glen, over 97% of the closed transactions involves two separate companies. I am sure most of us have been involved in transactions that included both a buyer’s and seller’s agent. The two companies share the broker’s fee (commission) but not necessarily 50/50 and then the agents involved are paid by their respective companies.

Your prospective REALTOR should provide you all the statistics on past sales in Andover Glen. Here are some important questions you and the REALTOR should ask:

Who was the buyer? Was he an investor or did he want to live here?

Who was the listing agent? What company? During the past 36 months, there were 13 transactions in Andover Glen. Out of those 13, there were 12 different listing agents with 12 different real estate companies. If a listing agent has multiple listings in our neighborhood; what is their track record? How did their sales compare to the other agents? As the market has improved, homes have sold for record prices in the neighborhood (three in 2007); has the listing agent been getting top dollar? THE MOST LISTINGS WILL NOT ALWAYS TRANSLATE TO THE HIGHEST PRICES. DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

Who was the buyer’s agent? What company? Out of the 13 transactions, there were 13 different buyer’s agents with 13 different companies.

NOTE: THERE ARE MANY REAL ESTATE SALES PEOPLE WHO FABRICATE THEIR “RESUME” BY TELLING THE PROSEPCTIVE SELLERS THAT THEY HAVE SOLD SO MANY OF THEIR OWN LISTINGS OR THAT THEY HAD SO MANY SALES AND LISTINGS IN A PARTICULAR NEIGHBORHOOD. AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE.

How many days were those properties on the market before it closed? In the past 36 months, the average number of days ranged from 10 days to 253 days in Andover Glen. Of course the market was different 3 years ago.

What was the percentage differential between the original listing price and the FINAL sales price?

During the past 36 months and 13 transactions, the average percentage differential was 93.95% of original list price ranging from 84.9%.to 98.7%. I guess some agents list high and sell low but PROMISE THE SELLERS THEY WILL GET TOP DOLLAR TO GET THE LISTING. Then convince them to keep reducing the price to that number which will attract a buyer. It’s your money they’re playing with and in our neighborhood it could come out to $30,000 or more.

There are too many REALTORS who use the THREE P METHOD IN SELLING REAL ESTATE---

THEY PUT UP A SIGN, PUT IT IN MLS, AND PRAY.

As a retired real estate broker with 35 years experience, I suggest you do your homework when hiring a real estate broker to sell your house. Hire one who can prove what they have done especially in this neighborhood. Be as selective with them as you would be with you doctor, dentist, financial planner, etc. Hire someone who will be aggressive in the sale of your most important and valuable asset – your home. ~

Special Feature Article:

10 Ways to Save on Your Gas Bill

By Donna Foerster, GRI

Keller Williams Action Realty, LLC

Make the most of your energy dollar.  Just follow these simple guidelines and enjoy lower gas bills this season.

1. Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable in the winter.  For each degree you raise your thermostat setting, your fuel bill climbs 3%.  So dress accordingly, consider slipping into a sweater before you crank up the temperature.

2. Clean or replace filters on the furnace once a month, or as needed.  A simple task like this, combined with #3, could improve your systems’ efficiency by 10%.

3. Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters and radiators as needed; make sure they’re not blocked by furniture, carpeting or drapes.

4. Bleed trapped air from hot-water radiators once or twice a season; if in doubt about how to perform this task, call a professional.

5. Place heat-resistant radiator reflectors between exterior walls and the radiators.

6. Use kitchen, bath and other ventilating fans wisely; in just 1 hour, these fans can pull out a houseful of warmed air.  Turn fans off as soon as they have done the job.  Try to keep the humidity level between 30% and 60%.

7. During the heating season, keep the draperies and shades on your south-facing windows open during the day to allow sunlight to enter your home and closed at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold windows.  During the cooling season, keep the window coverings closed during the day to prevent solar gain.

8. Close an unoccupied room that is isolated from the rest of the house, such as in a corner, and turn down the thermostat or turn off the heating for that room or zone.  Some programmable thermostats now come with temperature zoning options.  However, do not turn the heating off if it adversely affect the rest of your system.  For example, if you heat your house with a heat pump, do not close the vents; closing the vents could harm the heat pump.

9. Consider installing double-pane windows with protective coating that reflects heat back into your home during winter.  If such a retrofit is not in your budget, cover your windows with clear plastic film.  At a typical cost of $4 to $6 per window, the film creates an insulating air pocket between the plastic and the window, reducing heat loss through windows between 25% and 50%.

10. Caulk and weather strip around exterior seams, cracks and openings.  Pay extra attention around windows and points where various exterior materials like wood, brick and vinyl siding meet.  And on the inside, caulking and weather-stripping around windows and door frames will cut down on drafts. ~

Morning Coffee Club Returns     

The Andover Glen Morning Coffee Club is officially returning!  If you’d like to meet some of your neighbors and relax for fabulous conversation and goodies over morning coffee, the next time we meet is on Friday, January 25th at 10 a.m. at Anne Stellmon’s house. For information call Anne at 303-699-8567. ~

AG Board Specifies “Letter of Standing” Fee

By Randy Simpson

As provided for in the AG declarations and by-laws, our Association has the ability to charge a fee for providing a “Letter of Standing” to the title company when a property is sold in the Association. This letter is to officially notify all interested parties of the “standing” of owner the property related to their payment of dues. This is a normal fee in all real estate transactions involving associations such as ours. To provide consistency in the collection of this fee, at the November board meeting, the board officially specified the amount of this fee to be $100. This fee may be paid by either the buyer or the seller, and those terms can be negotiated between agents at closing. ~

If you have an ad or notice you’d like to place in the Gazette under the Neighbor to Neighbor section, or even an informative article for the Gazette, please contact Randy Simpson at rgatess@yahoo.com