Brian Lloyd Pikes Peak Colorado Area's Expert

It's a great time to buy your dream vacation home--that retreat by the sea or in the woods where you one day might retire. Mortgage rates are low, prices are down and boomers will resume shopping for retirement retreats soon.

But, only in certain areas like the Pikes Peak Area of Colorado. Prices in certain overbuilt Sunbelt areas, such as Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale and parts of Florida, are expected to fall another 20% or more and won't begin to recover until 2011, Moody's Economy.com predicts.

Then there are foreclosures. Fort Myers, Fla., has one of the highest rates in the country. Prices have plunged 31% from their 2006 peak in this balmy corner of the Gulf Coast, which includes Naples and Coral Beach.

In Depth: Top Tips For Vacation Home Buyers

This sort of drop has brought a slew of problems. A quarter of the houses now on the market there are short sales--where, for example, a home is listed for $250,000 but the seller owes $300,000--says Connie Gustafson, an agent with Prudential Florida WCI Realty. Buyers may be getting a bargain, but short sales are notoriously difficult to close. Lenders are holding up transactions, sometimes for months, rather than committing to taking a loss on the loan.

"We can't get a solid number out of them until we get an offer," she says of cautious lenders. With 14,600 existing homes for sale in Fort Myers, and thousands of half-finished condos, Moody's Economy.com believes prices will continue falling for another two years.

Sunnier Skies
Contrast that with Napa, Calif. Prices in wine country are back to 2004 levels. Foreclosures in the newer exurbs of San Francisco mean you can buy a house for less than $500,000--something almost unheard of a few years ago.

If you want to live close to Napa's legendary vineyards and within driving distance to San Francisco, half a million won't buy you much, but you will be buying something unique: Land-use restrictions prevented the kind of rampant overbuilding plaguing Florida, Nevada, Arizona and Southern California and that will support a recovery in Napa.

But whether Napa is a bargain depends on your budget; most second-home buyers in wine country are looking at small vineyards, gated golf-course communities or historic homes in Napa city where prices are well over a million.

If Napa is too pricey, your money will go further just about anywhere else in the country. Woodland Park, Co., around the corner of Pikes Peak, has beautiful weather in the summer, any pretty mild snow fall in the winter (120 inches last year) and mountain views everywhere.

One California couple recently sold their vacation home in Lake Tahoe, Calif., for $670,000 and traded down to a four-bedroom vacation house in the Pikes Peak Area of Colorado for $250,000, says Brian Lloyd, a local Realtor in Colorado. The Mountainus area is a favorite getaway for residents and vacationors alike.

Many bargain hunters go straight to the most bottomed-out markets. But some of the best values aren't necessarily where destruction has been the greatest.

How is the weak housing market affecting your community? Weigh in. Post your thoughts in the readers comment section below.

If you're ready to look for a year round cottage or mountain retreat in the Pikes Peak Area of Colorado contact me today and let's get you in while the gettings good.

Brian Lloyd 719-243-4057

The Bush administration's seizure of troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is potentially a $200 billion bet that it will help reverse a prolonged housing and credit crisis.

The historic move announced Sunday won support from both presidential campaigns, but private analysts worried that it may not be enough to stabilize the slumping housing market given the glut of vacant homes for sale, rising foreclosures, rising unemployment and weak consumer confidence.

Officials announced that both giant institutions were being placed in a government conservatorship, a move that could end up costing taxpayers billions of dollars. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said allowing the companies to fail would have extracted a far higher price on consumers by driving up the cost of home loans and all other types of borrowing because the failures would "create great turmoil in our financial markets here at home and around the globe."

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com predicted that 30-year mortgage rates, currently averaging 6.35 percent nationwide, could dip to close to 5.5 percent. That's because investors will be more willing to buy the debt issued by Fannie and Freddie _ and at lower rates _ since the federal government is now explicitly standing behind that debt.

Colorado Real Estate buyers can now feel more protected and

"Effectively, the federal government has now become the nation's mortgage lender," he said. "This takes a major financial threat off the table."

Futures on all major stock indexes rose about 2 percent in electronic trading Sunday night, another sign of investor relief about the takeover plan

The companies, which together own or guarantee about $5 trillion in home loans, about half the nation's total, have lost $14 billion in the last year and are likely to pile up billions more in losses until the housing market begins to recover.

The Treasury Department said it was prepared to put up as much as $100 billion over time in each of the companies if needed to keep them from going broke, in exchange for senior preferred stock. Treasury will immediately be issued $1 billion of such stock from each company, which will pay 10 percent interest. Further purchases of preferred stock will be triggered if quarterly audits find that the companies' capital cushion is below prudent standards.

The government, which will receive warrants representing ownership stakes of 79.9 percent in each company, is hoping that its moves will reassure nervous investors that they can continue to buy the debt of the two companies.

In a statement, President Bush said, "Americans should be confident that the actions taken today will strengthen our ability to weather the housing correction and are critical to returning the economy to stronger sustained growth."

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama issued a statement agreeing that some form of intervention was necessary, and promised, "I will be reviewing the details of the Treasury plan and monitoring its impact to determine whether it achieves the key benchmarks I believe are necessary to address this crisis."

Republican presidential nominee John McCain also voiced support while his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, said that Fannie and Freddie "have gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers. The McCain-Palin administration will make them smaller and smarter and more effective for homeowners who need help."

The conservatorship will be run by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the new agency created by Congress this summer to regulate Fannie and Freddie, a move taken at the same time that Congress greatly expanded the power of the Treasury Department to make loans to the two companies and purchase their stock.

The executives and board of directors of both institutions are being replaced. Herb Allison, the former head of the TIAA-CREF retirement investment fund, was selected to head Fannie Mae, and David Moffett, a former vice chairman of US Bancorp, was picked to head Freddie Mac.

Paulson was careful not to blame Daniel Mudd, the outgoing CEO of Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac's departing CEO Richard Syron for the companies' current problems. While both men are being removed as the top executives, they have been asked to remain for an unspecified period to help with the transition.

Fannie and Freddie both purchase home loans from banks and then repackage those loans as mortgage-backed securities which they either hold on their own books or sell to investors around the globe. This process provides banks with more money to make more home loans, greatly expanding home ownership.

The impact of the government takeover on existing common and preferred shares, which have slumped in value in the last year, will depend on how investors react to Paulson's assertion that they must absorb the cost of further losses first. Under the plan, dividends on both common and preferred stock would be eliminated, saving about $2 billion a year.

After the Treasury Department's announcement, credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Fannie and Freddie's preferred stock to junk-bond status, but reaffirmed the U.S. government's triple-A rating.

The Federal Reserve and other federal banking regulators said in a joint statement Sunday that "a limited number of smaller institutions" have significant holdings of common or preferred stock shares in Fannie and Freddie, and that regulators were "prepared to work with these institutions to develop capital-restoration plans."

The Fed released a letter from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to James Lockhart, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, in which the Fed chief said he concurred in Lockhart's decision to take control of Fannie and Freddie saying the action "will help ensure the safe and sound operation of the enterprises."

Analysts were split on how much the takeover could eventually cost taxpayers although they all agreed the up-front costs will be substantial, possibly hitting $100 billion as the Treasury is called upon to bolster the capital cushions at both institutions.

However, if the plan does the trick of stabilizing the housing market and home prices stop falling and rebound, then the assets of both Fannie and Freddie should rise in value and the government should be able to sell off the companies and recoup its investments.

But it could take a long time to work through that process given all the headwinds facing housing at the moment from the plunge in home prices to soaring defaults on mortgages which are dumping more homes on an already glutted market. The weak economy has pushed unemployment to a five-year high of 6.1 percent, further reducing demand for homes.

"I think the government will end up having to put in far more money then they are planning right now (given all the problems facing housing) but the important thing is the agencies have been taken over by the government," said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University Channel Islands. "That means there will be less panic in financial markets."

Under government control, the companies will be allowed to expand their support for the mortgage market over the next year by boosting their holdings of mortgage securities they hold on their books from a combined $1.5 trillion to $1.7 trillion. Starting in 2010, though, they are required to drop their holdings by 10 percent annually until they reach a combined $500 billion.

In addition, officials said the Treasury Department plans to purchase $5 billion in mortgage-backed securities issued by the two companies later this month, the first of a series of purchases planned by the government in an effort to bolster for these securities, which was badly shaken a year ago when the credit crisis first erupted with soaring defaults on subprime mortgages.

Paulson said that it would be up to Congress and the next president to figure out the two companies' ultimate structure and the conflicting goals they operated under _ maximizing returns for shareholders while also being required to facilitate home buying for low- and moderate-income Americans.

"There is a consensus today ... that they cannot continue in their current form," he said.

Members of Congress will be watching in the coming months to see how the takeover works, but more housing legislation appears unlikely until next year given the few weeks remaining both Congress quits to hit the campaign trail.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. said the intervention was sparked by worries within the Bush administration that foreign governments would stop holding Fannie and Freddie's debt. "This was the prudent course to take," he said.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., announced his committee would hold hearings on the takeover to address a number of unanswered questions so that the American people will know "if this unprecedented proposal will help keep mortgages affordable, stabilize the markets and protect taxpayer interests."

Lockhart said that all lobbying activities of both companies would stop immediately. Both companies over the years made extensive efforts to lobby members of Congress in an effort to keep the benefits they enjoyed as government-sponsored enterprises.

Sunday's actions followed a series of meetings Paulson had with Bush and other top administration economic officials with Bush relying heavily on the judgment of Paulson, who was the head of investment giant Goldman Sachs before he joined the Cabinet in 2006.

"It is really an assent to Hank's direction, guidance and judgment," said a senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes deliberations.

Associated Press Writer Ben Feller in Washington contributed to this report.

This is great news for buyers in Colorado and around the entire united satets of america, So call me today and lets find you the Colorado home of your dreams. 719-243-4057

Ok here are some more pictures and a little history on donkey derby days in Cripple Creek Colorado.

Cripple Creek's best-known celebration, dates back to the 1930s. Local businessman Charley Lehew thought the town needed a celebration to attract people in the summer months. He didn't have to look further than the town's resident donkey herd, descendants of the donkeys that had been used for hauling to and from the gold mines. Lehew and two other business built a race track, solicited advertising, and arranged concessions and entertainment. The first Donkey Derby Days were a success. Today, in its 77th year, the two-day festival draws people from around the country. Here is some more photos i hope you enjoy and if you are looking for Real Estate in this area Check out my website for tons more information at Colorado Real Estate near Pikes Peak see you next year.

Want to see more photos of Cripple Creek Colorado 2008 donkey derby days? let me know i will post some more.

Sorry this took me so long to get these posted but i have been busy doing my job as a Realtor Selling homes and properties in and around teller county Colorado.

This was a blast and you bet i will be there in 2009 for more information about Teller County Colorado including Cripple Creek, Woodland Park Co check out my website at Woodland Park Colorado Real Estate

or give me a call at 719-243-4057

Wow things are getting good here in Woodland Park. By good i mean if you are in the market to buy a home or even vacant land in and around the Pikes Peak Area of Colorado now is the time.

There are so many good deals out here on homes in Woodland Park. I am seeing homes that would have and have sold for 200k last year now selling for around 120k. Why? Well i am sure you have heard all over the news about the high rate of forclosures nation wide and yes we have them here in this area to.

It is not as bad as many other areas of the contry but we still do have some homes in forclosure. Waht does this mean for you if you are a buyer in this kind of market? Well it means you will be getting the best deal in over 5 years in this area but only if you get the right property. There are many homes that are over priced and you need not fall into one of them or you will be doing yourself no good. So if you are looking for Homes and land for sale in Woodland Park Colorado Call me today and lets get you into some of these great deals that are out there.

719-243-4057

Brian Lloyd