City Council – What, Me Worry?
by Osman Parvez ---- An email was posted on the City Council hotline providing staff's initial answers to Council Member Wilson's questions. Three items are of deep concern ---Questions of Deep Concern---(staff's responses are in italics. My responses are bracketed). 7. How would property values be impacted with an interim ordinance? I know this is difficult, but we should put some thought into it. Although we will not be able to address the economic impacts of an interim ordinance, we will try and research other communities' experiences since many communities across the country have enacted ordinances that limit the size [...]
House Size Limits – Get Involved!
by Osman Parvez ---- Do you care about City Council's recent efforts to limit the potential of your property? Here's two ways for you to get involved! 1. Join a group dedicated to understanding this issue and finding ways to address it. Email rationalplanning@gmail.com for details on how to join. 2. Take a survey. City Council wants to know about your specific situation, and how proposed regulations could affect you. Click HERE to complete an online survey (it should take no more than five minutes). The survey is anonymous. Questions generally refer to where you currently live and how the [...]
Can You Hear Me Now?
by Osman Parvez ---- If you ever want to speak in front of City Council, better show up early. At last night's meeting, sign-up began at 5pm but only the first 15 people were allowed to speak before the meeting's agenda commenced. That left dozens of people waiting nearly two hours before the public hearing was resumed. When I first started hearing the feedback, I admit I was a little concerned. A seemingly organized group of senior citizens, most living near each other, were among the first to the microphone. They spoke in favor of an immediate emergency measure to [...]
FAR Vote Delayed, Public Hearing Tonight
by Osman Parvez ---- The Camera is reporting that City Council has decided to delay the vote on the proposed ordinance to April 1st. Yes, April Fool's Day. Apparently it was the overwhelming response from Boulder residents that caused City Council to reconsider the urgency surrounding this issue. There will be a meeting tonight at 6pm to discuss the provisions of the ordinance. If you want to speak, you should come early. According to the City's website, the list to sign up for speaking opens at 5pm. ---- Like this analysis? Subscribe to our client research report. [...]
A Letter to City Council of Boulder
by Osman Parvez ---- City Council will hold a public hearing tomorrow on new restrictions to house sizes. I've encouraged residents of Boulder to voice their concerns by writing an email to City Council and by attending tomorrow's meeting. If you'd like to let city council know your thoughts on the matter, send them an email at council@bouldercolorado.gov. Here is my email to City Council: Dear City Council Members, My name is Osman Parvez and I live in Boulder. Together with my wife, I run a small, independent real estate brokerage. We own a small home in South Boulder and [...]
Boulder City Council Are Out of Control
by Osman Parvez ---- I attended last night's packed City Council study session. Before the meeting, I was under the impression that they were calmly studying the issue of a few oversized, out of character houses in Boulder and carefully considering reasonable options for addressing the problem. I was wrong. Dead wrong. Before I had a chance to write this post, Mark Hartwig provided the following comment: Osman, I'm not sure if you made it to the meeting tonight or not, but I was there. The city council means business. At least 5 of the city council members were in [...]
Pop and Scrape Map and Analysis (+Meeting Details)
by Osman Parvez ---- A commenter in my post on efforts to limit home sizes asked for more details on the meeting. Where: Municipal Building at 1777 Broadway When: Tonight, March 13th. 5:30pm to 9:00pm Contact: 303.441.3008 The earlier Pop/Scrape/Floor Area Ratios study and the more recent FAR subcommittee memo are particularly interesting. Here's a few tidbits I thought worth posting (a little fuzzy, but readable). Demolitions and additions citywide from 2001-2006 : Map of demolitions and additions 2001-2006: ---- Like this analysis? Subscribe to our client research report. Want to get blog updates via email? Click [...]
Your House is Too Big
by Osman Parvez ---- 5 Questions About Limiting House Sizes in Boulder "Your House is Too Big." "What?" "Oh, you heard me. Your house is too big. You're ruining the neighborhood." Sounds pretty confrontational, doesn't it? Well that's precisely the path that Boulder City Council is taking. Beginning last summer, the city revived an effort to study maximum home sizes and has indicated it will pursue the issue aggressively. If you think you can be complacent, guess again. In January, City Council held its annual retreat during which members shared their priorities. Many want new restrictions on redevelopment put in [...]
Boulder Neighborhood Map
by Osman Parvez ---- I know postings have slowed down recently. I've been quite busy here over the past few weeks. The good news is that blogging will resume this week. I've got a few articles up my sleeve. To start off, here's a map we've created showing neighborhoods in Boulder. Thanks to Adam Sharp for your efforts putting this together. Clicking on shaded areas will pull up a few relevant statistics. Play around with it and let me know what you think. I suggest clicking the larger map link before clicking the shaded areas. View Map Here ---- Like [...]
An Expert’s View on Boulder – Lawrence Yun’s Slides
by Osman Parvez ---- It appears that Lawrence Yun, the Chief Economist of the National Association of Realtors has put out a presentation on local market conditions here in Boulder as well as other parts of the front range. Here's a selection of slides from the presentation. The comments are mine. 2007 looks a little optimistic to me, but the NAR might be using different data. I expect the estimate to be a revised downward. See my index analysis for more details and a better dissection of Boulder's market. Subprime delinquencies are at a record high. Interestingly, delinquencies were quite [...]
Rough Waters
by Osman Parvez ---- Looks like the Camera is finally reporting what I told readers about a month ago... From Rough Waters: Nationally, 2007 was a disastrous year in the residential real estate market, with new home sales plunging 26.4 percent, median sales prices barely gaining and foreclosures skyrocketing 75 percent. While it was rough in Boulder and Broomfield counties, as well, things weren't nearly as bad locally as on the national scene. In Boulder County last year, sales of new and existing homes dropped nearly 7 percent and foreclosures jumped 28 percent to hit a record high. Home sales [...]
Lying to Barack Obama – Kash’s Book Corner
by Osman Parvez ---- As you might guess, I'm a insatiable reader. Seems as soon as I could read, I was visiting the local library. I will never forget the little library in the town where I grew up. I still remember the day I got my first library card. As a kid, I spent endless hours in that building, voraciously devouring books on countless subjects. Books will always fill a special place in my life. One of the things I love about our community here in Boulder is the number of strong independent businesses. They run a wide spectrum [...]
Toxic Waste: Mapping Boulder and Beyond
by Osman Parvez ---- When we help you buy a house, we'll advise you to complete your due diligence before purchasing a property. Typical items we recommend include simple steps, like walking nearby streets and talking to neighbors. We'll even walk the streets with you, if you'd like. Some of the check list items we recommend include calculating your commute, distance to grocery stores, and local schools. Articles posted on this blog are one of the ways we help people find the tools to do a better job at investigating the facts. From the list of labels on the right, [...]
Beetle Epidemic
by Osman Parvez ---- Yesterday the Daily Camera had a piece on the Pine beetle epidemic. From the Camera: "It's started to move into the ponderosa pine and forest," said Kevin Zimlinghaus, who works for the Forest Service's Boulder Ranger District. "That could pose a problem. If the beetles do get into the ponderosa pine and continue to move, they could come all the way down to the plains." The tree die-off could have major social and economic impacts on the state. No kidding. How long have we known this? For those following the issue, be sure to read Myths [...]
The Land Grab: What Would You Do?
by Osman Parvez ---- A friend and I had a good discussion this morning over breakfast at Lucile's (highly recommended by the way). Let's say you found yourself in the position of the Boulder couple who won judgement of their neighbor's land using adverse possession. Little did you expect to draw the ire of the community, much less the attention of the nation. Now what? When most people act, they usually think they're doing the right thing. Although it may seem reprehensible to most of us, when Richard Mclean and Edith Stevens took legal action against their neighbor they more [...]
