Additional Dwelling Units in Colorado

Posted on March 1, 2019 by blogeditor

Additional Dwelling Units

Affordable housing is a priority for many Coloradans in this current economic climate. Tiny houses on wheels are not legal in Colorado. Good news, there is another option. You can take advantage of tiny homes built on foundations in your backyard, called ADUs. These Additional Dwelling Units (sometimes called granny flats) are self-contained apartments in an owner occupied single-family home or lot. Homeowners who want to make the transition into tiny house living can construct an ADU in their backyard, and live in the ADU while renting out the house.

The number of ADU permits issued annually in Colorado has risen and the trend is still on the rise. Make sure to research your city’s land use code to insure there are no hidden restrictions. In the past, cities have been known to ban ADUs. Likewise, some areas can have restrictions on size, owner occupancy, and parking. While many states are lagging behind, Colorado cities have adjusted their regulations to encourage more ADUs.

Benefits of ADUs

There are a lot of social and economic benefits of living in a tiny house. ADUs are great because they allow people housing flexibility over time. You can design your ADU to be more accessible to the elderly. This will allow you to stay in your neighborhood as you grow older, and at less cost. ADUs are also great for parents, caregivers, adult children, and grandparents. ADUs use fewer resources like gas and electricity due to their size. They’re often built in walkable and bikeable areas, so their residents generate less of an environmental impact. This includes traffic, harmful emissions, and noise pollution.

They greatly reduce the per capita residential footprint. ADUs help fill the need of one and two person households in cities. ADUs have a significantly less infrastructural impact on a city than most apartment buildings. Read more on Tiny Houses in Colorado on our blog. If you are looking for a horse property in Colorado, contact one of our horse-person realtors at Colorado Horse Property.

Is Tiny House Living Illegal in Colorado?

Posted on February 27, 2019 by blogeditor

Legal or Illegal?

The Tiny House Movement has been gaining a lot of momentum in the past couple of years. Many Coloradans are leaving the busy city life to a more quiet life in a small home. With fewer bills and material things to worry about, tiny house living might be for you. However, tiny houses are a controversial topic that begs the question: Is full time tiny house living illegal in Colorado? For some, the answer is just as controversial.

Despite the growth in the tiny house community in Colorado, is tiny house living illegal in Colorado? Technically, yes. If you have a tiny house on wheels (or THOW), Colorado considers that structure an RV. RV’s are not legal as a permanent address. Tiny house living is a legitimate means to address affordable housing problems in Colorado. However, they unfortunately have not gained widespread acceptance. A tiny house built on a foundation is legal, while a tiny house on wheels is illegal. You can still have a THOW, just not as a permanent address (in most zoning districts in Colorado). For example, in Parker, Colorado, a tiny house built on a foundation is legal despite its small floor size.

Land use codes differ by the district in the state of Colorado. If the land use code distinguishes between a THOW and one on a foundation, then the foundation option will be the legal one. For more information on tiny house living in Colorado, check out our article Build a Tiny House in Your Backyard in Colorado. Stay tuned to our blog for more information on tiny houses coming soon. If you are looking for a horse property for sale in Colorado or land for sale fit for a tiny house, contact Colorado Horse Property today!

Photo by Jessie Renée on Unsplash.

Build a Tiny House in Your Backyard in Colorado

Posted on February 26, 2019 by blogeditor

Backyard Tiny House

Do you own a house in Colorado? Need an extra space for relatives to stay? Wanting a detached home office? Looking to supplement your income by renting a space? Is your backyard large enough for a tiny house on wheels. If you answered yes to any of these questions, then there are some things you should know. There are some zoning regulations in Colorado that may effect your decision for building your backyard tiny house. Technically speaking, Colorado law does not define what a tiny house is. When it comes to zoning, tiny houses are usually considered a dwelling or an RV.

Tiny houses on wheels (or THOW, as they are known in the community) are classified as RVs in Colorado. Whether a THOW backyard tiny house is legal will depend on your local zoning regulations. Therefore, you need to carefully review the applicable zoning ordinance or talk to someone at your local planning department. Also, if this is not an option for you, try talking to a Colorado land use attorney.

Researching Tiny Houses

Colorado’s local governments individually set up zoning regulations. These development standards control the use of land in their area. These rules can be found in land use codes or zoning codes. For example, Fort Morgan’s zoning ordinance may be called “City of Fort Morgan Land Use Code.”

In other words, zoning is how land is separated into districts. Each zone has different regulations that affect land development. To determine what zone your property is in and what uses are lawful, review the appropriate land use code. The codes usually have zoning maps that shows the different zones in your area. To search through over three thousand homes and land for sale, check out Colorado Horse Property’s search page. Stay tuned to our blog for more information on tiny houses in Colorado.

Photo by Geran de Klerk on Unsplash.

Horse Property Loans

Posted on December 13, 2018 by blogeditor

Colorado Horse Property Loan Limits

We are here to tell you that there have been some changes to the loan limits on Colorado horse property loans. These changes could really benefit you. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (or FHFA) announced the maximum conforming loan limits. These limits are for mortgages from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2019. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy mortgages from lenders. They either hold these mortgages in their portfolios or package the loans into mortgage-backed securities (MBS) that may be sold. Lenders use the cash raised by selling mortgages to the Enterprises to engage in further lending.

In most of the U.S., the 2019 maximum conforming limit for horse property loans will be over $484,000. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) requires that the baseline conforming loan limit be adjusted each year for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This is to mirror the difference in the average U.S. home price. According to FHFA’s seasonally adjusted, expanded-data HPI, house prices increased by nearly 7%, between the third quarters of 2017 and 2018. The baseline maximum conforming loan limit in 2019 will increase by the same percentage.

Therefore, areas in which 115% of the local median home value exceeds the baseline conforming loan limit, the maximum loan limit will be higher than the baseline loan limit. Median home values generally increased in high-cost areas in 2018, driving up the maximum loan limits in many areas. So, the new ceiling loan limit for one-unit properties in most high-cost areas will be $726,525—or 150 percent of $484,350. For more information on how this can benefit you, contact at horse-person realtor today at Colorado Horse Property. For more details Colorado horse property loan, check out our Real Estate Resources page.

Photo by Michael Bourgault on Unsplash

20 Things To Look For When Buying A Colorado Horse Property

Posted on November 6, 2018 by blogeditor

Buying a Colorado Horse Property

(1) Be prepared. Buying a Colorado horse property will be one of the most significant decisions in your life. Colorado has seen a broad trend in horse property ownership in the last decade with people making a move out west to learn how to care for horses and build their own equine legacies. If you are looking for a horse property in the state of Colorado, contact Colorado Horse Property today. As horse-person realtors, let us be the first to tell you that not all horse properties are equal. Below is a list of things to keep in mind when searching for a horse property. For more information, check out our article What to Look for When Buying A Horse Property.

Things To Look For When Buying A Colorado Horse Property

You can also ask, how old are the existing horse stalls and buildings on the property?
What surplus buildings does the property have, such as tack rooms, feed storage, and a grooming stall? Depending on how many horses you have or how many you plan to get, this is important to know.
Do the buildings have electricity and hot water? You don’t want to buy a property without these necessities.
What percentage of the acreage is wooded vs. pasture?
Do you have any problem with flooding or standing waters?
What work has to do done in the future? Like we said, getting a horse property is a big responsibility and looking ahead a few years with the property should factor into your decisions.
Is that a bank barn, pole barn or shedrow? Know what you are getting into so that if you need to make repairs or construct your own buildings, then you will know where to start.
Does the property have proper fencing?
Are there nearby riding trails or areas on the property?
What is the composition of the area? Some soils are better than others for keeping horses.
Also, what are the accesses to vets, farriers, and trailers?
Look for farm equipment storage and parking.
Always have a severe weather plan in mind when looking into Colorado horse properties.
Evaluate the safety of existing horse stables—if the building were constructed years ago, they may need repairs to be safe and/or brought up to code.
What type of feed and tack stores are nearby?
The effect any possible zoning laws will have on your plans—not all areas are the same so make sure to bring this up with your horse-person realtor to avoid problems down the road.
Is there an adequate supply of water is on the property?
How much acreage you’ll need to accommodate each horse?
Has the property been adequately maintained over the years?

What to Look for When Buying A Horse Property

Posted on October 31, 2018 by blogeditor

Buying A Horse Property

Before contacting an agent, there are some things that you can look for that might save you some time. If you want to look into buying a horse property, but don’t know what to look for, this is the article for you! When searching horse property sites like Colorado Horse Property, which boasts over three thousand listings in the state, there are a few things to keep an eye on in prospective horse properties. You will want to know that the property has the appropriate amount of space, including the condition of the barn or stables and the size of the included pastures. You should also look at the property as a whole and consider its overall layout.

What to Look for

The first thing you should do, is figure out how much land you will need before you start looking at properties. This will all depend on how many horses you have, or plan on getting in the future. Colorado Horse Property horse people will recommend two acres for the first horse and one additional acre for each additional horse. If the property already has a barn or horse stables, there are a few things you should look into. You should know the size of the stalls, the strength of the stall partitions, and the design of the hayloft.

When it comes to the pastures on the land, look at the quality of the grass. This may be hard to do when looking at pictures online. If you can’t tell what the grass quality is by the photo, sign up with the website and talk to an agent—it’s free to sign up with Colorado Horse Property and costs nothing to talk to a qualified horse person professional. Also, look at the overall layout. The barn should be located behind the house so that any visitors need to drive past the house to access the horses. For more help, contact Colorado Horse Property today!

Photo by John Reed on Unsplash

Fireproofing Your Home with Aflecktos

Posted on April 4, 2018 by blogeditor

In 2012, 4,000+ acres in Black Forest near Colorado Springs burned. This occurred during the biggest wildfire that Colorado has ever seen. The local fire departments acted fast and contained the problem. This cost over five hundred families their homes. Nowadays, there are products out there that you can use for fireproofing your home in the event of a wildfire. Barricade II Fire Gel is one of the best out there. Recently, professionals tested and approved this fire gel for use in an array of firefighting functions.

Fireproofing Your Home

Getting your hands on some of this powerful fire-retardant gel is now extremely easy with Aflektos. Aflektos is the leading distributor of Barricade II Fire Gel in the state of Colorado. Aflektos is run by Stephen Tivy, a local that is dedicated to helping his neighbors with fireproofing and fire mitigation. Tivy is passionate about bringing the community together. He brings awareness to Colorado homeowners on how to protect themselves from wildfires. Tivy was living in Black Forest in 2013 during the fire that has left many areas blackened still to this day, therefore he has seen what can happen when homeowners do not prepare for future disasters by fireproofing your home.

Not only does Aflektos sell the Barricade II Fire Gel, but it can also provide you with the equipment to apply it to your home and property. During many wildfires, the flames spread through the crowns of the trees. With Aflektos, you are now able to pump the fire gel up into your trees where the fire spreads to stop embers from catching fire to your home. For horse owners, it is important to know how certain chemicals can potentially harm your animals. Also, you will be glad to know that the products you get from Aflektos are approved by the EPA and will not harm your horses or the plant life on your property.

Lowering Debt Rates for Horse Owners

Posted on April 2, 2018 by blogeditor

Here is some important information about lowering debt in Colorado. We all know that horse owners have a lot of financial things to deal with. The last thing you want to worry about is debt when running a dude ranch in Denver. Credit card debt in America is back to levels prior to the recession. The average credit card annual percentage rate, or APR, is just under sixteen percent. This is according to CreditCards.com and the site’s Weekly Credit Card Report, a trusted place to get information from many agents of the real estate business.

Homeowners have an advantage over renters when it comes to conquering debt issues. With a little basic money management, you can take those higher debt rates and replace them with lower debt rates. Credit cards and assets—such as personal cars, boats, motor vehicles, and other personal property—usually have interest rates higher than that of real estate loans.

Lowering Debt Rates

How can you get a low rate of financing? Did you know that borrowing against your home typically can give you the lowest rate of financing of anything else? An advantage of borrowing against a home is that the interest could be tax deductible. You could refinance your home mortgage to take cash out to retire personal debt as one option. Another way to do this would be to secure a home equity line of credit or HELOC.

Qualified mortgage interest includes acquisition debt. This can only be used to buy or improve a principal residence. Of course, this is only up to one hundred thousand dollars of home equity debt and it can be used for any purpose. We would all certainly like to become debt-free, paying the least amount of interest that you possibly can is a great first step to meeting that goal. Owning a home provides an asset that allows for options not available to renters. Seek professional advice from your friends at Colorado Horse Property.

Horse Property Market Value

Posted on April 2, 2018 by blogeditor

If you are selling or buying a horse property in Colorado, then you should be aware of how market value works. This explanation of the Colorado market value is simple enough, but there are certain nuisances that make it more complicated. For example, homeowners could order an appraisal before they put their home on the market. However, they would incur the expense of it themselves. Also, it can’t be used by the buyer or their lender in the home buying process.

Licensed appraisers look at Colorado market value in three ways—The market data, the replacement cost and by income. A part of being an appraiser is determining which of these three ways they will use. The replacement cost looks at what it would cost to rebuild the property. The income way uses a capitalization rate based on the net operating income of a property to determine value. The market data way relies on recent sales of similar properties nearby.

Colorado Market Value

Real estate agents use a similar approach to determine fair market value. They perform a Competitive Market Analysis or CMA. This analysis it looks at recent sales of similar properties, considering properties currently for sale and what homes actually sold. Both appraisals and Competitive Market Analysis reports have a distinct advantage. One is based on the personal opinion of a professional and the other is based on online website estimates using raw data and mathematical formulas.

Though this information is important when selling a home, it is not the “end all, be all” so to speak. Regardless of which method is used, it is just an estimate. Obviously, some estimates are more accurate based on the experience of the person making the estimate. If you need help finding an experienced appraiser that can give you accurate Colorado market value estimates, contact your friends at Colorado Horse Property today.

Home Deductibles for Horse Owners

Posted on March 30, 2018 by blogeditor

Deductibles are essential homeowner tools and here’s why.

Owning your own home is an amazing thing. You have a lot more control on what goes on in your own home. You are building up equity for your future. Owning your own home as a horse owner is even more amazing. You don’t want to be relying on a landlord when it comes to your animals. However, it is nice to know that someone has you covered in case something happens to your property and this is where deductibles come in.

The idea behind insurance is to that the risk of loss and give it to a company, and all you need to do is pay a premium. Most policies have a deductible. These reduce the amount of the claim. For more information, contact Colorado Horse Property for professional help.

Policyholders often consider higher deductibles to lower the premium. Lower deductibles mean less money out of pocket if a loss occurs but higher premiums. Higher deductibles result in lower premiums, but you bear a more significant part of the loss. Reviewing your deductible is essential. Discuss risks with your property insurance agent so that you’re familiar with the amount. Make any changes that would be appropriate before a claim is made. The FEMA website has information and frequently asked questions about flood insurance.