Belle Creek to Break Ground on Playground Wednesday!

Excavation on the Belle Creek playground will start this Wednesday.  The excavation of the site and installation of the playground is projected to take 2 weeks.  With that in mind, we are planning on doing a mulching day on August 7th starting at 8 a.m.  Please let me know if you will be able to help out.  With enough help, it should only take us a couple of hours to complete the project.  I also hope to have enough volunteers to plant two trees on that that day for shade behind the benches.  We will need wheelbarrows, rakes and shovels.  It would also be good for workers to wear gloves.  

Improve Your Home's Indoor Air Quality

An EPA study shows that close to dozen common air pollutants are 2 to 5 times more concentrated indoors versus outdoors, regardless of whether the home is is located in Rural America, or in an industrial zone.

The cause is volatile organic compounds, more commonly known as VOCs.

VOCs are gases emitted from certain liquids and solids including paints, cleaning supplies, pesticides, air fresheners and permanent markers, among others. In the short-term, can cause respiratory irritation. In the long-term, VOCs can lead to "Sick Building Syndrome", cancer and other illnesses.

There are a number of ways to keep VOC levels in your Belle Creek home to minimum and the EPA published some tips to help with home health safety. The advice includes:

1. Meet or exceed all product label precautions
2. When buying paints and chemicals, don't buy bulk. Buy only what you need. Dispose of the rest.
3. If a product label says "use in well-ventilated area", move to the outdoors or use a fan

VOC levels can remain elevated for long periods of time even after the VOC-generating activity is completed.  Therefore, take care to protect your home and your health.

Read the EPA's complete guide to volatile organic compounds on its website.

Oakwood Homes Opens in Belle Creek

Oakwood Homes is Excited to Be Part of Belle Creek – The Perfect Place to Call Home!

Henderson, CO---Oakwood Homes, Colorado’s largest privately held hometown builder, celebrates its grand opening at Belle Creek this Sunday.  Once you visit Belle Creek, you won’t want to leave.  Community gardens, retail shops, school and open parks are right outside your doorstep.  Yet- the hustle and bustle of Downtown Denver is just minutes away.  The Belle Creek collection showcases 6 floorplans including delightful front porches, spacious kitchens and dynamic master baths.  These classic architectural designs offer up to five bedrooms, three baths and two-car garages on both the four alley load plans and two front load plans with pre-model pricing from $179,500 to the $218,600 with up to approximately 2,100 square feet. 

Visit Oakwood’s Belle Creek sales office Tuesday through Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm and Mondays from Noon to 6 pm to experience The Perfect Place to Call Home!  For more information or to schedule a community tour, contact Dwayne Montoya at 303.486.8728, or visit Oakwood Homes online at www.HomesPeopleLove.com. 

Good News For Sellers : Housing Starts Fall To 1-Year Low In May 2010

Single-family housing starts plummeted to a one-year low in May, just 30 days after soaring to a 20-month high.  It's no wonder home builders are confused.

Against a revised April figure, Housing Starts fell 97,000 units in May, a figure representing almost one-fifth of the total market size.

It's the worst showing for Housing Starts since May 2009, a surprise to builders and economists alike.

Furthermore, single-family Building Permits plunged in May, too -- down 10 percent from April. A permit is a certification from local government that authorizes home construction.

Housing permits are a precursor to Housing Starts with 82% of homes starting construction within 60 days of permit-issuance. Fewer permits, therefore, directly reduces the number of new homes coming to market in the coming months.

For home buyers in Henderson , this should create a sense of urgency.

Home prices are based on supply and demand and supply appears to be falling about the same time that economists predict a surge in home demand.  It could spell rising home prices and a complete loss of negotiation power with home sellers.

For now, though, home affordability remains high with properties cheap and mortgage rates near all-time lows. If you plan to buy a home later this year, the May 2010 Housing Starts data may be a reason to move up your timeframe a bit.

Uncharted Territory- the End of the Tax Credit

The end of April marked an historic event.

Think about it.  Never before in American history has there been a homebuyers' tax credit.  On April 30th, it expired.

We are in uncharted territory

If you were planning on buying your first home, or even replacing the home that you had lived in for 5 of the last 8 years, you would get FREE money from the government if you were under contract by the last day of April.  That contract would have to close by the end of this month to qualify for the tax credit.

So, what impact will this have on our market?  No one actually knows.  The first deadline for the credit was scheduled for the end of November, 2009.  Eager first time homebuyers rushed to the closing table to make the November 30 deadline- in spite of the holiday weekend that bumped right into the deadline.

This time, however, the impact seemed slightly less notable.  Many houses went under contract well before the April 30 deadline, and closings were spread out over April, May and June.  There is speculation that some home sales were "borrowed" from the coming months because of the tax credit, and this certainly has some merit.  

Meanwhile, showings of for sale properties dropped.  If you are trying to sell a home, you have seen this effect.  It's time to sit tight and have patience.  

As I said, we are in uncharted territory.

Summer Events In Belle Creek

Get Ready for Summer Fun!

There are a lot of great things happening in Belle Creek this summer.  Starting next weekend, there are plenty of great family activities to keep us all smiling:

June 5:  Community Garage Sale and Community Fair
Got Stuff?  Need Stuff?   Saturday, June 5 is the Annual Community wide garage sale.  Set up your sale in your garage, alley, or front porch- or rent a space on the central park.  Contact the Belle Creek Family Center to rent a spot.
Also at this time will be the Belle Creek Vendor Faire in the Family Center Gym.  Pick up a gift for someone special- or yourself!
The Neighbors to Neighbors group will be selling cold water and manning the jumpy castle at the central park.

June 19: BLOCK PARTY
There will be 3 Block Parties  this summer, sponsored by Neighbors to Neighbors of  Belle Creek.  The first will be at the pocket park at Dayton Way and 106th, on the south side of the neighborhood.  ALL are invited to attend.  More details will come soon.

Look for more events here, including National Night Out (August 3), Block Parties, Belle Creek Movie Nights, and other community events)

First Belle Creek Movie Night- Finally!

What a great night for a movie!
Friday was calm and the weather was perfect to sit in a sleeping bag and enjoy "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs".  Belle Creek Movie Nights are back after a non- start.  The original launch of May 14 was rained out in a big way, but now we know it's summer in Belle Creek.
The next movie is "Tarzan" on June 11, starting at around 8:28 (sundown).
See you at the movies!