Riverpointe Coffee shop in downtown Pagosa Springs
There are not many things in life that I relish as much as coffee. I can take all kinds… as long as it is good. By that I mean I am a coffee snob of sorts.
Coffee shops are an amazing mystery to me. Maybe its because they have a vibe all there own. I think mostly it is the ever present, oxymoronical element that almost always accompanies a coffee shop experience.
I go to relax, and get an over-dose of stimulant in a cup? When I crammed for my fixed wing pilots license I paid my dues at a busy Starbucks in the middle of San Antonio…to get a way from the noise? When I studied for my Real Estate license I emerged myself in several PeaBerrys so that I could concentrate?
I write this post after visiting one of our local legal liquid drug offerers known as River Pointe Coffee Cafe. Maybe I feel obliged to give them a little on-line boost since my 4 year old just gave their coffee table a new coat of “Vanilla Steamed Milk Varnish”. They jumped on it like johnny-on-the-spot and insisted that she have another cup.
I love River Pointe the most of all of our shops. Not necessarily for their coffee. I think they have a little work to do there. (reference the above mentioned coffee snobbery problem that I have) The location is hard to beat being just a few steps from the San Juan River and looking across to the Pagosa Hot Springs. I can sit and get the small amount of down-town vibe that is found there without being over run with crowds.
They have done a great job of cozyfying the place with plenty of lounging and table service too. The new owners are establishing an adjoing conference room of sorts that I think will be a great addition. I am planning on booking it for a few meetings later this year when it is complete.
From River Pointe Coffee it is a short walk to several restaurants, the Hot Springs, the River Walk and all of the activities that are found there.
Next time you are in the downtown area, give me a shout, maybe we can meet up for a little Java. I can tell you about how coffee introduced me to my wife!
Until then, support your local java provider, you may want to get job there before this economy crunch is over…you know, write a blog post about them or something.
Since it’s opening in January of this year, the Pagosa Mountain Hospital has experienced various changes. One of the biggest and best, I would have to say, is the hiring of Brad A. Cochennet as CEO in place of Dan Boatman this past May.
I just sat with colleagues at our monthly Pagosa Springs Area Association of Realtors luncheon and listened intently as Brad shared challenges, victories and most importantly- a strong vision for the future of the Pagosa Springs medical campus.
The PR pitch was aimed appropriately at enlightening us on the benefits of the hospital, what services can currently be handled, and what to expect in the immediate and distant future. It seems at this point in the ballgame there is simply a void of understanding by the general public of what we have in our rural hospital.
Pagosa Mountain hospital currently has 11 beds and is operated as an acute care facility, open 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Employing currently 56 employees with 5 local doctors and the addition of 3 regional doctors who rotate from Mercy Medical Center in Durango approximately one day a week. (I think that I have the facts straight on that one) They are able to perform a variety of services including MRIs, CAT scans and very soon will have the ability to begin surgical procedures.
Among other things, Cochenet cast a vision for a varied medical campus with the ability to have more health care diagnostics which can greatly aid in preventative care for a largely increasing ”Baby Boomer” population.
Brad has my vote as a competent, well spoken, and capable leader to a fledgling but wonderfully functional new medical facility. Thanks Brad.
If you are in my business (or any related business for that matter) your ear has been tuned well to pick up any chatter of real estate market activity. Some of the coffee shop talk that I have found myself in lately has been aimed at the seepage of information coming from Southern California about the jump in home sales from August to September. The real estate boom that we experienced in the first half of this decade was tied closely to the California market…as was the real estate slowdown. Many times over I have customers contact me from various parts of the West declaring they are going to buy in Pagosa whenever they sell in…fill in the blank.
The most recent uptick in the markets out here in the West has not made a lot of press as of yet. It is still too early to say “the market is changing”. (no one wants to risk crying wolf) One thing is becoming apparant - CASH investors are dipping their toes in the water, and testing the new lows. Pat Kitano has outlined some of these resourvces in one of his recent posts.
One of my sources, recently let me know that Pagosa has seen about a 66% increase in foreclosures in 2008 compared to 2007. As a Realtor® one of the more frequent inquires that I am getting is about new foreclosures in our market. in response to this, I have provided a way to automatically e-mail my customers and clients foreclosure properties as soon as they become available on the market.
If you are interested in getting foreclosures E-mailed to you when they become available on the market, join my E-mail list below, and when prompted choose the “Foreclosure Information” option.
I just added another potential buyer to agrowing list on my IGoogle homepage. I am running into the same scenario time and again, and I am hearing my colleagues say the same thing. This summer and fall I have had many customers head down the exploratory road with me, get excited about purchasing a property or two, and then opt to sit on the sidelines. I don’t really blame them for being a little timid or even confused at all of the mixed economic signals floating around out there. What goes up must come down, and we have been watching prices slide slightly for a while now. Even on a National level August gave us a breath of fresh air with a higher than expected pending contract report.
I feel like many buyers are waiting for the signal, the checkered flag of real estate….The proverbial “bottom”. The slight problem with that is that no one knows the bottom until it has already come and gone.
I do however know that the investors who are prudently looking at price but also looking at other factors such as optimal financing, time of year, and practical circumstances are winning in our current market.
The overall economic grey sky is causing some sellers to get really serious about home pricing. For example-This 3 bedroom 2 bath single family home hit the MLS just this morning for $125,000. In an area where average home sales are in the mid $250’s, this home is priced well enough to stand out far and away from it’s competition.
This home is listed by Jan Pitcher Real Estate and not Jerry Driesens Real Estate
Someone will grab this little house up, possibly rent it for a cash-flow profit or simply have a great little starter home…..It may be my potential buyer #15…or someone else’s.
During my recent conversations about the market I have found myself using the phrase “There are some good buys in our market right now if you are in the buying mode.”I generally try to stay away from this type of talk and just let the market and facts speak for themselves…I just don’t really want to come across as being salsey. However, I feel like there are great buys right now for the savvy purchaser.
Sales jump 7.4%
Well apparently so does the national market… I ran across this article on MSNBC during my 3rd cup of coffee and found it share-worthy.
WASHINGTON – Pending home sales rose 7.4 percent from July to August, an unexpected piece of positive news for the battered U.S. housing market.
The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday its seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes rose to 93.4 from an upwardly revised July reading of 87. The reading was the highest since June 2007.
Thanks to your tremendous support and participation, our first annual Mountain Chile Cha Cha trail race was a sizzling success! 105 runners toed the line Saturday to begin what would quickly be recognized as a challenging and beautiful course. Hard to imagine just steps from downtown. Runners ranged in ages from 19 month old Owen Hull to 72-year-old, 15-mile finisher, Ross Westley. Of the 105 participants 57 were Pagosans and 48 came to visit from Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arizona and Florida.
Fifty-eight-year-old Beth “Hurricane” Carter from Crested Butte reported: “In all my career wins and top finishes …Read More
While working in Pagosa Springs real estate I often get the question what will (fill in the blank) buy me in your area? I get it often enough that I thought it might warrant a little blogging on the topic. So here is the first post of my WWMMB? series.
Single Family Residential
This is the begginging price range for single family homes in the “PLPOA” or Pagosa Lakes Property Owner’s Association. This area is what some refer to as the core area of single family living. It is comprised of several subdivisions that are in close proximity to fishing, golfing, hiking, biking, x-country skiing, grocery, coffee shops and other shopping.
For the condo buyer this offers the second tier of buying options with many used and new units, up to 3 bedrooms, mountain views and extremely convenient locations to service your vacation or part time living desires. Many of these units offer a garage for super convenience during the winter months.
I only have one meeting today. Good. I just left a meeting as part of a sub committee of the AEDA board of directors concerning PR. It’s not that I don’t like meetings, it’s just that my mind gets a few pieces of fodder to chew on, and then automatic brainstorming overdrive takes hold. It hurts after a while.
Hot water= economic growth?
At one point in our meeting the discussion surfaced about the current planning stage of our towns geothermal project feasibility study. There are many ideas of what this might look like ranging from a vegetable grow dome that employs locals and sells fresh produce to the surrounding markets, to a geothermal-esc water feature for tourist to walk through and be educated. A kind of art museum meets science project feel. This kind of stuff gets my mind whirring. A project that effectively uses our natural resources for positive, economic, clean growth that aids in providing other positive benefits such as organic food to sell and consume….that’s pretty cool!
It’s nothing new, and we are not the only ones.
There are others in the southwest looking more intently into geothermal resources. Ouray is one of them. Here is an excerpt from a recent article published in Colorado Energy News about ouray taking a second look at utilizing there geothermal mineral springs.
The City of Ouray is examining the viability of harnessing power from its geothermal hot springs…Pagosa Springs is the only municipality in Colorado with a geothermal heating district. The system provides heat to schools, churches and other customers, as well as hydronicb heating for sidewalks during the winter. Other communities such as Steamboat Springs are investigating new uses for their geothermal resources, both for environmental and economic reasons.
If you have ever visited Pagosa Springs you know that we are known for our hot springs soaking facilities which are growing every year. I appreciate the springs for those uses. However I am very excited about being a part of a group like the Archuleta Economic Development Association that is thinking and acting creatively to leverage these geothermal resources in such a way to make a positive economic impact on the future of my town.
