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Thanks to everyone - the XTROV Team, great clients, & super colleagues for all that you did to help make 2015 another record breaking year at XTROV Realty.

Katherine Chaffin, XTROV's Broker Owner finished among the top ten REALTORS in the Four Corners Board of Realtors for production in 2015!  There are currently 55 Realtors in the Four Corners Board.  What makes this accomplishment especially rewarding is that Katherine has been a REALTOR for only four years and four months at the time of this writing.   The credentials of the other outstanding REALTORS include many more years' experience. 

With the new 2016 Lisitng Services being rolled out now, Katherine believes that she and the XTROV Team will be able to serve more clients better than ever in the weeks and months to come!  Other updates are that she is now enrolled in the course of study to earn the Graduate Realtor Institute (GRI) designation, which is acknowledged and respected in the field nationwide as a credential earned by the top industry professionals.

XTROV's Property Management practice also continues to grow.  We fully expect to be, not only the best as rated by our clients, but the largest property management practice in the area.   Our technology, people, and experience are enabling us to step by step become the vendor of choice in Montezuma and Dolores counties.  We work to serve the needs of our property owners and rental residents.  Making a great match between the resident and the rental home is one of our keys to success.

It is wonderful to be a part of the lives of the people who choose Southwest Colorado as their home.   Happy New Year to All!

The Graduate Realtor Institute (GRI) symbol is the mark of a real estate professional who has made the commitment to provide a high level of professional services by securing a strong educational foundation.   It is a sixty hour course of study covering a wide range of topics to help the REALTOR provide best practice level of service.   Katherine Chaffin, the REALTOR who cares about YOU, is enrolled in the program and will earn her desgination upon completing the course work and passinsg all exams.

The GRI is a National Association of REALTORS designation and recognized across the United States.

XTROV Realty has partnered with the CO franchise of WE SELL RESTAURANTS.   What this brings to SW Colorado is a local presence, plus the most successful system and proven track record of We Sell Restaurants.   If you have a restaurant to sell, we need to talk.  It is not easy to sell a restaurant unless you have direct access to the people who are looking to buy.   We Sell Restaurants gets hundreds of inquiries and they are ALL from people who want to buy restaurants.  Kind of like fishing in a barrell....  Well maybe not that easy, but it sure helps to be able to attract the majority of all buyers and sellers within the industry.     XTROV brings the expertise in the real esate aspect.  You can buy a restaurant and lease the building or buy the real estate too.   We work with you to make the right match for your business model.  

TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures Rule known as TRID went into effect on Oct. 3, 2015. It establishes new disclosures and time lines for most mortgage applications received after this date. It is huge change on how most real esate loans will get done!   All lenders, title companies and REALTORS have to learn how to work with the new disclosure deadlines.

The primary changes are:

Loan Estimate replaces the Initial Truth in Lending and Good Faith Estimate.

Closing Disclosure replaces the Final Truth in Lending and the HUD Settlement Statement

The changes are designed to better protect the consumer by insuring timeliness of information flowing between buyer / Realtor / Seller and most specifically, the Lender.

It is extremely critical with such impactful changes underway to work with both a lender and a REALTOR who understands and can meet the new deadlines.

CALL XTROV for any questions and for a referral to qualified lender(s) who understand how to make all the dates and deadlines work for you.

Katherine and Brenda are teaming up with Beau Bradley from Major Mortgage to offer an information packed, FREE seminar on buying a home.

It could be your first or one of many.   Learning about YOUR buying ability is the first step for savvy home buying. .  Beau is excellent at helping people get the best possible home loan.    Brenda and Katherine know the real estate market and how to negotiate for your best interests!

Please Join Us.   Held at Four Corners Community Bank's Conference Rm at 77 West Main Street in Cortez, CO  81321.

Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015 at 10 am.   Refreshments served.

Why RENT when you can BUY!?!

The types of problems a REALTOR solves is unending and often not showcased.  Reason being - a good REALTOR makes it as painless as possible for their clients on both the buying and selling sides.  The ability and willingness to solve all kinds of problems without the clients being unduly impacted is a hidden value and often can mean the difference between a successful and unsuccesful transaction.

One area for huge problems that can slow or kill a real estate transaction is the Appraisal.   The lender orders the appraisal from a list of vendors through a third party firm.   The mundane problems that occur all the time are scheduling problems - is the appraiser coming soon enough to meet the appraisal deadlines and/ or does he or she show up when scheduled?  The question of value, meaning properties coming in at or above the purchase price is usually not the issue that causes REALTORS to move into full problem solving mode.  

The much more serious problems come in the form of something called "conditions." These are things appraisers include in the write up that goes back to the lender.     A few strokes of the key board can mean many hours of extra work to clarify and mitigate these conditions.

Recently, we had an appraiser write about a telephone pole.   The report said, that the "pole could be a potential safety issue and could potentially cause damage to the building."    The buyers were fully approved, with great credit scores, putting 1/3 of the purchase price down, but OH NOT ENOUGH - the POLE could have easily been THE END of the deal without the problem solving skills of the REALTOR.

Immediately Empire Electric was called and a very competent and nice man went out and inspected the situation. The pole is 34 feet tall and the building is 45 feet away.   He went on to say that there is "absolutely no hazzard from the pole."    When presented with this information, the appraiser recanted the remarks.    However, why were they made in the first place?  Unfounded Speculation.   

This is just one example of the many kinds of things that can appear at the last minute that have to be addressed, overcome, and worked through to help a buyer/seller have a successful real estate transaction.

When choosing a Realtor, a good interview question might be, "tell me about a situation where your actions directly impacted a closing going through that without your work, would not have been completed?"