Grain Bin Houses, For the Farmer In Everyone...

from pinterest.com

Historic Sea Fort Reborn as Luxury Hotel

cool property...from weather.com Built in 1867 to repel the French navy, the sea fortress Spitbank Fort located off the south coast of England has stood immovable for centuries. It has weathered winds, crashing waves and rising tides, housing cannons, muzzle-loading guns and later, breech-loading guns. Today, it houses a circular plunge pool and sauna in its former rooftop gun emplacement, and its ammunition store has been converted into a wine-tasting room. The historic sea-granite Spitbank Fort reopened as a luxury spa hotel and retreat in 2012, with eight bedroom suites offering sea views, bar, sunbathing decks, restaurant, and even fire pits. The fort-turned-hotel, however, maintains many of its of its original naval features. The gun ports have been converted to windows, which open so guests can sleep to the soothing sound of the waves, and some rooms even come with wooden ammunition hoists beside the dressing tables, according to the Financial Times. Located a mile out to the sea, the fort provides a peaceful getaway for vacationers searching for an island escape. The hotel provides boat transfers from nearby Portsmouth and Gosport in Hampshire, according to the Daily Mail. And the luxurious accommodation start even before guests set foot at the fort. Guests are served champagne and canapés at Spitbank's own departure lounge before their private boat transfer. "Even though we are only a mile away from land people feel like they are going on a long journey when they come here," Mark Watts, general manager of the hotel, told the Daily Mail. Exclusive use of the fort (sleeps up to 16) from around $7,690, and individual rooms are available on certain dates from $565 per person.

Gallup ranks best and worst cities for well-being-Boulder, Fort Collins, Loveland, All Towards the Top for Best Cities...

interesting reading from a recent Gallup poll.... The people of Provo, Utah, have the highest level of well-being and the folks around Huntington, W.Va., the lowest, at least according to the latest ranking of 189 cities and metropolitan areas from Gallup and Healthways. The 2013 rankings, released Tuesday, are based on more than 500,000 interviews in which people were asked about such matters as their emotional and physical health, job satisfaction, community safety and access to food, shelter and health care. This is the sixth year of the survey and the second time the Provo-Orem area has come in first; it's the fourth time the Huntington-Ashland, Ky. area has come in last. "It's some strong validation for what we already know here in Provo," says the city's Mayor John Curtis. "It's a great place to live." He says other surveys have named the people of his city "most optimistic" and "nicest." In that spirit, Curtis says Provo won't be trash-talking Boulder, Colo., which it knocked out of the top spot. "We have a lot of respect for Boulder," he says. Huntington Mayor Steve Williams says continuing low health and well-being rankings by Gallup and other organizations are "aggravating as can be" at a time when the city is recovering from an economic slump. He notes the city just got an upgraded credit rating. But he says the rankings — in which Huntington is called out for everything from high obesity rates to low access to fruits and vegetables — have "certainly been a motivator for us to take an honest look at ourselves and get busy." He says the city is expanding a farmers market, hosting 41 5K races a year and still promoting healthy eating at Huntington's Kitchen — the facility set up by British chef Jamie Oliver when he brought his Food Revolution show to town back in 2010. It's now run by a hospital. STORY: Report: The most miserable states in the USA Gallup-Healthways pollsters are well aware that some ratings can sting. "The goal is not to make any community or population feel bad about results," says Patrick Bogart, Gallup's director of client services. "Our goal is to get leaders thinking about how they can enhance well-being." Some highlights from the rankings: • Provo-Orem has the lowest smoking rate (7%) and Charleston, W.Va., has the highest (34%) • Utica-Rome, N.Y., has the highest job satisfaction (93%); Charleston has the lowest (81%) • People in Holland-Grand Haven, Mich., are most likely to feel safe walking alone at night (86%) and people in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas, are least likely to feel safe (49%). The top 10 cities for overall well-being: 1. Provo-Orem, Utah 2. Boulder, Colo. 3. Fort Collins-Loveland, Colo. 4. Honolulu 5. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. 6. Ann Arbor, Mich. 7. Naples-Marco Island, Fla. 8. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, Calif. 9. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif. 10. Lincoln, Neb.

What percentage of land in Colorado is owned by the Federal Government?

The United States Federal Government owns more than 1/3 of the land (15 million acres) in Colorado.

Denver bucks national trend in investor home purchases

interesting article...from Denver Business Journal...Denver defied a national trend in January by seeing a big uptick in the number of institutional investors buying homes here, according to a new RealtyTrac report. Nationally, the share of institutional investor purchases in January hit a 22-month low of 5.2 percent of all home purchases. In Denver, however, the share of institutional investor purchases rose 21 percent to 8.2 percent. Metro Denver also saw a 7 percent increase in residential home sales overall in January from the same month last year, with 70,758 sales, and a 10 percent year-over-year jump in the median sales price to $236,000. “The Denver metro area did not experience the typical winter slowdown that many markets across the country experienced and we continue to be very busy,” said Chad Ochsner, owner of Re/Max Alliance, covering the Denver market. “Our January year-over-year sales counts are up about 7 percent, which is really encouraging. I think it has a lot to do with improved consumer confidence and low interest rates.” The report also showed that short sales and foreclosure-related sales nationally — including both sales to third-party buyers at the public foreclosure auction and sales of bank-owned properties — accounted for a combined 17.5 percent of all U.S. residential sales in January, down from 18.7 percent a year ago. “Many have anticipated that the large institutional investors backed by private equity would start winding down their purchases of homes to rent, and the January sales numbers provide early evidence this is happening,” said Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac vice president. “It’s unlikely that this pullback in purchasing is weather-related given that there were increases in the institutional investor share of purchases in colder-weather markets such as Denver and Cincinnati, even while many warmer-weather markets in Florida and Arizona saw substantial decreases in the share of institutional investors from a year ago.”

$15,000 Grant Program for City of Denver Buyers

A great upcoming program....from the Denver Post Wells Fargo and city of Denver officials on Wednesday announced a program to provide $4.5 million in down-payment assistance to qualified homebuyers. The initiative will offer $15,000 down-payment grants for up to 252 homebuying families that earn no more than than 120 percent of the Denver-area median income. For a family of four, the maximum income is $92,050. The income limit for a one-person household is $64,450. Homebuyers interested in the NeighborhoodLift program must prequalify for a mortgage and attend a program-launch event taking place April 4 and 5 at the Colorado Convention Center. They also need to complete an eight-hour educational session. While the program is funded by Wells Fargo, participants can choose from a list of approved mortgage lenders. The bank has introduced similar down-payment assistance programs in 24 other cities nationwide. Wells Fargo also is providing $500,000 for the city of Denver to use in community development and neighborhood revitalization. "It's our responsibility to support our communities," said Shelley Marquez, senior vice president and community development manager for Wells Fargo. "If our communities aren't successful, then we aren't." Bank officials said the down-payment program is unrelated to a 2012 case in which San Francisco-based Wells Fargo agreed to pay at least $175 million to settle allegations that it violated federal fair-lending laws. That settlement called for the bank to offer $50 million in down-payment grants in nine cities where the U.S. Department of Justice had found discriminatory lending patterns. Although the new Denver program is structured similarly, its funding from Wells Fargo is not part of the settlement. Homebuyers that receive down-payment grants must live in the purchased home for five years. If they sell or refinance the home before five years, a pro-rated share of the $15,000 must be paid back. The $4.5 million program includes $3.78 million in payments to homebuyers and $720,000 in administrative costs. Wells Fargo's additional $500,000 grant to the city of Denver will support existing affordable-housing and community-investment programs. "Here in Denver, there is a strong need for additional workforce housing opportunities," said Mayor Michael Hancock. "We have to get extremely dedicated — and we are — to getting more workforce housing." How it works • Get information at crhdc.org or 303-428-1448. • Determine that household income is no more than 120 percent of median. • Prequalify for a mortgage from participating lenders. • Register to attend the program launch April 4 and 5 at the Colorado Convention Center. • Complete homebuyer education requirements. • A currently owned home must be sold before closing on a new purchase.

Study Reveals Top 10 Markets for Sellers

interesting article from forbes.com A new study by researchers at Zillow should help buyers and sellers understand the dynamics at play in specific markets. The analysis helps shed critical light on markets where buyers are favored and markets where sellers are in the driver’s seat. The result is an index that helps show the relative bargaining power of a buyer or seller within a given market. “There is nothing more frustrating than wanting to buy a home but being unable to through no fault of your own,’’ said Brendan DeSimone, a real estate expert. “In many markets across the country, there simply are more buyers than sellers and homes are moving quickly — sometimes for more than the asking price due to high demand and low inventory,’’ he said. Indeed, home buying is not as easy as seeing a new listing online, going to view it in person and making an offer. This is where expectations come in, and why the Zillow research comes at a good time as the spring selling season starts to heat up. “In a seller’s market the gloves come off and would-be buyers need to act fast, think outside the box and be prepared to work at the home-buying process,’’ DeSimone said. Top 10 Sellers’ Markets Those kinds of scenarios are taking place in cities like San Jose, San Francisco, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Seattle, Riverside, CA CA -3.26%, Denver, Washington, DC, Sacramento and Dallas. These are the Top 10 cities where buyers outstrip inventory and keep sales brisk. The Zillow study, released on March 18, shows that these “sellers’ markets” are characterized not by rising home values but where homes are on the market for shorter times and are less likely to get price cuts. In order, the top 10 sellers’ markets are: 1. San Jose 2. San Francisco 3. San Antonio 4. Los Angeles 5. Seattle 6. Riverside 7. Denver 8. Washington, DC 9. Sacramento 10. Dallas-Ft. Worth