Memorial Day is not just another day off. 0
I recently had the privilege of attending the funeral service of the father of a good friend of mine. I never met his dad but I was just trying to support my friend. Why do I say “the privilege of attending”? That almost sounds as if it was a good thing that his father died so I could go. Obviously that is not the case. I say it because my friends father was a Veteran of the Navy and served for 4 years during the Second World War. He was buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery with full military honors. I had never witnessed such a moving ceremony. It was a peaceful day in a part of the cemetery that is away from the roads. We were surrounded by rows and rows of white marble headstones, all perfectly placed with military precision to make a line, all equally spaced from the next. The headstones for higher ranking officers were not larger then the others. The lowliest private was laid alongside a commander.
It was good for me to be there because the Memorial day weekend is usually something that I consider just another day off. The thousands of marble headstones reminded me ?, on this Mewmorial Day weekend, that many have served this country in the Armed Forces. The Veterans of Worlda War Two are leaving us at the rate of thousands per day. Many of these headstones showed that there were some that did not have the chance to get old and die like my friends father did. They died while serving. I doubt if any of them wanted to die for their country but they were willing to, and that makes all the difference.
Should we be beating our swords into plowshares? Yea probably, If there was no other human being that wanted to gather an army and take away the rights and priveleges of others. If there were not people willing to kill other people to get what they want. If there was not humans that were willing to kill as many people as they can because of religious fanatacism, then we would not need our swords. But as long as there are those people in the world, I will be thankful that there are those that are willing to die for their country and the freedom of others.
Go to Fort Logan Cemetery on Sheridan Blvd just south of Hampden Ave in Denver somtime and be reminded that there are those who feel that what we have here is good enough to stand up for and even die for.
Rents are up…It’s time to buy. 0
In a post dated April 28, John Rebchook, of www.InsideRealEstateNews.com, stated that rental rates are up. I think that renters are getting sick of it and they want to buy a home. I have had 3 people call in the last week to get pre-qualified for a home loan because their rent was going up and they could buy a better home with a lower payment then the rent they were paying. “But Mark, people can’t qualify for a loan anymore, the underwriting is too strict.” There is some (but not that much) truth to that idea. Lenders are running scared because of the heavy government regulations and they don’t want to anything come back on them so they are they are putting their own restrictions on the underwriting (called overlays), over and above the guidelines of the program.
So loans are harder to get done and I have to ask my clients for documents they probably didn’t even know that had but loans are getting done. Even people with lower credit scores can get an FHA loan from sources like CHFA. Rates are still in the high 4% to low 5% range and many times a house payment is equal or lower then rent payments. So if a friend complains about their rent going up, have them get pre-qualifed with a good mortgage banker (by the way, I happen to be a mortgage banker, just in case…) But now is the time to buy a house.
Let me know if you have any comments or questions.
Then and Now: These two photos show the old Morrison School Building. It was built in 1875. Morrison was a mining town that started in the early 1870′s. It mostly mined gypsum and stone building blocks. There was a spur of the Denver, South Park, & Pacific railroad that ran up bear creek to haul the quarried stones to Denver. A small community soon built up around there and they needed a school. Now the school building has been remade into a personal residence. You can click on the pictures to see a larger version.
