The Stress in Montrose

Look at this CRAZY commuting traffic in Montrose Colorado!

Saw an article the other day on yahoo at

http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/americas-most-stressful-cities-2009.html

Titled “America’s Most Stressful Cities 2009″ by Sarah Lynch with Forbes.com

She identified the following:
1.  Chicago, IL
2.  Los Angeles, CA
3.  New York, NY
4.  Cleveland, OH
5.  Providence, RI

Now I know very little about these places in general, but I have spent a fair time living in the Denver CO area so I have had to deal with bumper to bumper traffic jams and type A drivers, similarly I have experienced #2 Los Angeles CA traffic first hand on business or pleasure trips to Cali! 

Here is what I do know…

The picture above is driving into work this morning around 7:00 AM and the horrific traffic on Main St in Montrose Colorado… Scary isn’t it. 

Actually in all fairness, South Townsend is busier and the crowd here is more intense around 8:00 AM, occassionally you do actually have to sit through a cycle on a light, or the City of Montrose will redo a medium and block off two lanes of traffic to actually cause a slight increase in blood pressure… but overall Montrose is pretty mellow as far as traffic induced stress is concerned.  

Real estate prices and unemployment are another matter, while we are not in a free fall, It is definitely a buyers market. 

While we don’t have the highest unemployment rates, we are ahead of the state and behind the nation (per the official stats…)

If you work remotely like say your an internet marketer… a computer programmer… a vagabond… a trust funder… Be Creative! 

Then Montrose could be a perfect place…  If you are just looking for a job, its worth a visit to Montrose first.   It is probably a real good idea to land the job before you try to move here…

Or maybe you can make a bunch of money as a Money Trader with the Forex Ninja Mega Mega Bot:

http://budurl.com/ForexMBot

Definitely call when you have the cash for that million dollar mansion.

Good day!

Chris Ormsbee is a license Real Estate Broker in the State of Colorado.  He is not an Accountant or an Attorney or a Certified Stress Analyst, but he is a Person and an Internet Marketer.

Check me out as well at:

Tweeting on Twitter as:  ChrisOrmsbee, ProfRealEstate, YourCOREAdvisor
http://profile.to.ChrisOrmsbee
http://www.YourCOREAdvisor.com/blog
http://www.TheDivorceWorkshop.com
http://ideasthoughtswhatevers.blogspot.com/

Hello, if you don’t know my name is Chris Ormsbee. 

I am a Realtor working for Century 21 Action Realty in Montrose Colorado. 

We/I am located at 1245 E Main St and our office phone number is (970) 249-7777 (lucky sevens)… I have a partner too.  Her name is Diane Haynes so feel free to call her too… (970) 596-3521.  Our Team name is “The Montrose Gold Team”  and we have the website www.MontroseGoldTeam.com but I just checked and it is “parked” at GoDaddy… still… oops… Gotta fix that (put it on the todo list).  Will probably point it to www.SoldCORE.com my original website, which does point to this blog under the button on the right. 

BTW SoldCORE is kindof underconstruction as well.  If you want to search properties in the area, check out www.C21ActionRealty.com it has the IDX service all hooked up.  I am going to try to offload this to the office site soon from my site (its on the todo list…) 

Today is my Birthday!  Yeah I officially cleared another year!  Still breathing!  Still not perfect (but its a goal to keep getting better all the time - like fine wine, scotch or whiskey!) I am now 46 and have been selling Real Estate for over 4 years now.  Wow! 

On bad days, I Often I wonder why I picked this profession (the pay has been less than great lately), but deep down I know why… I love Real Estate, I love learning, I love variety, and I love people in general.  I especially like helping people. 

I hope my blog (this blog) helps people, including myself.  It provides a means for me to share what I know and what I want to know, with more than one person at a time (more efficient).  I have recently become addicted to Facebook and had a stint on twitter (that I need to revive as well).  I am trying to embrace social media in an attempt to educate as well as drum up business and I suppose make my life more fulfilling in general.

So here are other ways to keep up with me:

Facebook  - Name:  Chris Ormsbee  Web address:  http://profile.to/chrisormsbee

I kind of over twitterized and have several accounts (don’t think I have touched any since March sorry guys…)  but I had flavors of interest I was trying to use… think they all still work.  And I will follow you back eventually I need a tool here too.

Twitter 1 - ChrisOrmsbee - To be or not to be an internet marketer!  (to peddle real estate and whatever I can believe in and make money off of).

Twitter 2 - ProfRealEstate - Professional Real Estate (”dude” I guess!)

Twitter 3 - YourCoreAdvisor - To tie into and brand with this blog (I hope!)

Twitter 4 - ProForeclosure - (Trying to niche in on foreclosures - but a lot more money is to be made investing in foreclosures, than as a Realtor… Takes lots of time with a lot of uncertainty of return, still I know a lot about the process and how to deal with the various issues… and help people in this situation)

So follow me or be my friend there!  I am pretty friendly, but sometimes strange (especially my sense of humor), and I am definitely opinionated and most of you will probably not agree with all of them (but thats cool).

Other social sites to come (once cloning is a reality or I find a tool to integrate better across the sites to share my thoughts and ideas…)  Or if someone gives me a personal geek for my Bday!  haha (did you know I used to be a geek [I have a BS in Computer Science from CSU 1986], so I like it.  I just don’t have enough waking hours to do it all).

So here it is! 

I was never big on New Years Resolutions so I am going to do a

Birthday Resolution…

As we get older “regularity” can be a problem for some, so I am going to try to dedicate some time on a regular basis to tweeting, sharing my thoughts on facebook and posting here.   My goal is 8 hours per week as follows (2 hours for blog posts, 2 hours for tweeting, 4 hours for facebook (cut back from about 16 now), and 2 hours for other social media (TBD).   I am going to post this “Schedule” on my wall. in an effort to make it a reality.   And of course about 40-50 hrs/week straight up real estate dealing.  The rest is mine, and my kid’s and my girl friend’s…   Its a lofty goal and so often we just jump when a client calls (so it kills our schedules), but I am going to try real hard to be more regular as I age…

Your job is to send buyers and sellers to me, or if thats you call us!

Also please make helpful suggestions (like how to stop the viagra spammer comments) and where you think I should focus (for your benefit).   BTW Diane is less than convinced that this Social Media is worthwhile - so please feel free to drop her an email to convince her otherwise (NO SPAM PLEASE).  She can be emailed at: DianeHaynes@C21ActionRealty.com

I can be emailed at ChrisOrmsbee@SoldCORE.com

Thanks in Advance!  Chris

Diane Haynes and Chris Ormsbee

Here is a couple photos driving down Main Street in Montrose.   (I was going to post a whole series but ran out of time and had this saved in drafts since June…)  But as Arnold Schwarzenegger, said in “The Terminator”  “Ill be back”

I often like to use photos to capture for rent signs and phone numbers, for sale signs, FSBO signs, etc.  One brilliant teacher’s program I bought (whom unfortunately I forget which one so I can’t give credit right now) also suggested taking a small (8×12) white board and writing the address on the white board in large print and then holding it up to take the photo of the property or house.  This way you have all the pertinent information and as “they” say “a picture is worth a thousand words”.

Anyway, while I don’t claim to be a professional photographer, I like to shoot lots of digital photos and hope to get lucky and sometimes it works, but for informational purposes, like what does the street look like, town etc. I think the drive by shootings (of photos) are often sufficient. 

I even shoot through the windshield as you will see (reflections) or hold my camera up through the sunroof, so cut me a little slack on the quality or composition, we can call them informational photos…

Great Property & Location for Restaurant/Bar

Drive by shooting of McDonalds on Main St Montrose

Looking West on Corner of Main and Locust

The Red Barn Restaurant - Good Food & Good Times!

Century 21 Action Realty (My Office) Corner of Main and San Juan Ave

Dominos Pizza at NE Corner Main and Nevada

Half of the Coffee Trader (Sorry) at Main and Junction

Old Hallmark Building NW Corner Main and Cascade

Thats all for now!

The easy answer is the sky!  The rain, snow, hail and sleet… But mostly snow because it is the convenient method of storage mother nature provides… From there it gets a little tricky…

On the eastern slope (or east side of the Continental Divide) much of it is diverted through tunnels from the Western Slope to the Eastern Slope…

Check out this video about Transmountain Diversion:

HURRY HURRY…. YOU ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!  GET YOUR $8,000 WHILE YOU CAN.

HOW TO TELL IF YOU QUALIFY:

BASICALLY - from a very simplistic high level:

If you  and your spouse have not owned a home (personal residence) in the last three years or deducted home mortgage interest, then you are probably eligible to get a $8,000 Tax credit for the purchase of a primary residence by Dec 1, 2009.  

There are rumored methods to use this credit as part of the down payment.  I believe this is limited to specific lender programs…  So call your lender.   I will try to dig into this deeper for you.   But the basic plan is buy a home by Dec 1, 2009, then file your return and get to apply the credit of $8,000 - possibly getting a refund check of this $8,000.

HERE IS THE EXCERPT FROM THE www.IRS.GOV WEB SITE

HAPPY HOME BUYING!  

Remember if you are buying or selling in Montrose then call Chris (970) 209-0252 or Diane (970) 596-3521- The MONTROSE GOLD TEAM with CENTURY21 Action Realty, 1245 E Main St.  Montrose, Colorado 81401.

Barack Obama Speaks to the Nation

As the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama said

“we must begin the work of re-making America“.  

To grossly pharaphrase he went on to say that ”we must restore science… use sun and wind… restore our universities… Some suggest we cannot tolerate big plans, but we have done it before. ” 
We must “take the shortest route to our common good…. Our founding fathers faced perils we cannot imagine… Those ideals still light the world and we will not give up for expedience sake…  Know that America is a friend of each nation and we are ready to lead once more…  Power alone cannot protect us… We will not apologize for our way of life or waiver in its defense..  Our spirit is stronger, you cannot outlast us and we will defeat you…. But the world has changed and we must change with it.” 

Enough of my lousy Obama paraphrasing… but I think there are some pertinent facts relative to Real Estate and even Real Estate in Montrose Colorado…

Should I Buy a House or Sell a House Now or Just Wait and Hang On?

Even after this well delivered speech of Baracks, I honestly have no better idea of whether the economy will improve from here before it worsens, or what time frame such economic changes might take…  but I think the “concept of change” is oozing from the ether,  especially in the USA but probably beyond. 

Hopefully this committment and desire for change will result in improved or renewed: spirit, ideals, standards, beliefs, faith & trust in our system and our country and our Real Estate, our homes and our investments.

I personally think now (if you have a job and can get a loan) is an excellent time to buy in most markets, there are Foreclosures, Short Sales, REO properties (ones the bank took back - stands for “Real Estate Owned” - go figure a bank term acronym)…  These properties are typically selling at a steep discount to the market, which is what causes the market to drop.  In otherwords, there is a flood of good priced opportunities on the market…  There are motivated sellers everywhere that are unemployed, or underpaid to support their lifestyle. 

This spells opportunity…

Buying or Selling (if trading up)

Opportunity for new people to move into their place and it may be hidden opportunity even for the people in trouble, being forced or asked to leave…. It might just be what gets them off the fence, what gets them to take action, get a new job, pursue their dream career, change directions… Start over…

It Makes Good Economic Sense to Upgrade Now

Even if you just think you might want a bigger house for that new kid, pet or friend… Now is a great time to trade up, because the higher end homes in Montrose have been harder hit than the lower end homes, so effectively even if you are down on your home at say 200K the home at 400K is down farther, so when the market returns… You make more equity back on your Home and/or Investment.  Obviously you only want to do this IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT…

Take Action -

With CENTURY 21 Action Realty and Chris Ormsbee

I don’t think it matters half as much what we do, or how we do it, but the fact that we do something to improve our current situation… 

Lets all be positive, try to accept or even embrace change, evaluate it, chew on it, if it doesn’t taste good after a while then spit it out and make suggestions on how to further spice it up to improve it… 

and most of all take some kind of action (preferably positive).   Action yields results!

Have a good day!

Montrose Colorado Realtor - Chris Ormsbee

AKA “Your Trusted Real Estate Advisor”.  If I am not already Your Trusted Advisor then I sincerely want to be.  Similarly if No Action on Real Estate is your Plan please recommend me to friends or family who might be looking to buy or sell a house or commercial property in Montrose Colorado.  

Great Home Deals Abound!!!