Cam Boyd Blog

 Garages. If you shutter when you hear the word, you're not alone. Your once beautifully maintained garage has since then probably become the black hole of your home; what goes in probably does not come out, and even if you wanted to find a long-lost object, you'd have to dig through piles, move boxes out of the way, and trip over a garden hose or two before you could reach the far corner where you just KNOW you stashed an item.

Sound familiar? Your garage doesn't have to be an explosion; there are many home remedies and do-it-yourself tips to organize your gadgets and still leave room for the car. In Steamboat Colorado, we love our sports, and sometimes sports gear is the most hazardous stuff we cram into our garages. Here are some organizational tips:

•   Full-sized cabinets with adjustable shelves; these are convenient for hiding away paint cans, season items like hoses, boots, or canned food that you may have been saving since the world was supposed to end in Y2K. 
• Hang overhead cabinets and label them "camping," "Christmas Decorations" or whatever other types of seasonal goodies you have to keep items out of sight but easily organized.
• Beneath the hanging cabinets, leave room for a work bench (be careful not to let yourself pile anything up on it!) and a peg board for hanging homeless tools.
• Did you know that garage repair shops even have tongue and groove hanging systems that are strong enough to hang your bikes from the wall?
• Use Pegs to hang skis and keep them from creating the "dominoes" effect and knocking everything over everything else in the garage
•  Ball holders, which may sound like a frivolous expense, can actually be an asset if you have a multitude of balls (and sports players) in your home.
• Ceiling systems  hoist kayaks, bikes, spare lumber, or other less used items up and out of the way.
• Spray coat your floor to help wash away car oil or spilled paint and cover the old stains, giving your garage a clean feel.

  For the more minimalist of folks that don't tend to store gear in their garages, you can also look at your garage as additional square footage to your home. Consider renovating your garage into a second living room (for the kids?) or create the much desired game room you've been hoping for. For rooms that you are intending to live in, you may need to consider the additional cost of adding insulation or additional heating systems. One neat home renovation idea is to swap your messy garage out for a private gym. I've personally seen (yes, in Steamboat!) quite a few garages that have been updated with workout equipment and televisions. My personal all time favorite is the indoor climbing wall. Even with low ceiling space, a home-made climbing wall that traverses around the garage can still offer a fantastic workout and keep your skills honed for summer climbing.

And for those who just arent' quite ready to face the monsters within your currently messy garage; here is a little humor for you. Fix it up with a paste on decal! (My favorite is the truck.)

The Steamboat Ski Area closed this past Sunday with a grand total of 433 inches of snow. Closing day, much like opening day, was a powder day with 8 new inches and more coming. Locals and visitors alike crossed their fingers in hopes that the resort would choose to extend its season, but alas, the fresh snow remained untouched on Monday at the top of Mt. Werner, save for the  few brave spirits who hiked up to enjoy it. According to the Steamboat Pilot, Mt. Werner exceeded last year's snow accumulation with 261.75 inches on January 31st.

Closing day festivities were summed up with the 4th annual Pond Skim; an event created for laughs and people who would probably participate in the Penguin Plunge (meaning they love swimming in cold water!) as participants shot off of a jump and 'skimmed' (dove, belly-flopped, fell) into the cold water below. The 2 best dressed participants won season passes for next year, and were warmed up from the activities with dancing and music provided by the Wailers.

What's next? Many locals will probably take to hiking the Ski Mountain for the next week or so as snow flurries continue to fly. However, spring is on the way, and with spring, the Ski Area will open its normally groomed winter runs up for summer Mountain Bikers. Steamboat, while known for its fantastic winters, is a mecca during all times of the year, with summer activities such as rafting, fishing, biking, hiking, and hot air ballooning.

Next Wednesday, April 13 from 6-8pm at the Stagecoach Firehouse there is a public open house to provide information about the newly drafted Stagecoach Management Plan of 2011-2021. The meeting hopes to go over the planning framework for setting management priorities and specific resources for the park. Feel free to stop by to learn more about our beautiful Stagecoach, and give your comments to the park staff. Read more about the Management Plan.

For those of you that don't know, Stagecoach is a beautiful State Park just South of Steamboat Springs between the town and Oak Creek. It is so popular, that "Stagecoach" has become a common area of reference for locals and also a popular area to live. With a stunning lake perfect for wake boarding, fishing, water skiing, and viewing local wildlife such as cranes, pelicans, river otters, and bald eagles, Stagecoach is a place that is highly frequented in the summer by Steamboat locals and outdoorsy visitors. A bonus to the park is that it usually is about ten degrees warmer than Steamboat Lake. Steamboat Lake, a favorite up North of Steamboat because of it's looming mountain views, is another great spot to enjoy boating, but it does tend to be slightly chillier than Stagecoach and a longer drive.

The Stagecoach area is quickly growing, and is a fantastic area to snatch up some well priced land if you are looking. Many locals choose Stagecoach as a place to live both because of the proximity to the lake and also because land and homes are much cheaper than those listed directly in town. The drive really is not too bad; it takes roughly fifteen minutes to get to most of the housing subdivisions in Stagecoach, and many of the lots have beautiful lake views.

View from an available lot in Stagecoach State Park: .94 acres with exceptional access to the boat ramps and trails. MLS # 126497 $75,000

My wife, Jill, and I are celebrating our 16^th wedding anniversary this week so Jill surprised me with a day of cross country skiing at the Home Ranch, one of the best Dude Ranches in Colorado.  It was a beautiful setting with snow falling (surprise, surprise) as we skied along the tree lined trails.  We ended it with a gourmet lunch next to a roaring fire in the rustic dining room.  I ate so much that I wondered if I should go back out and ski some more.  If you haven’t tried it before, it’s definitely worth the drive up there!

Image ©HomeRanch.com

The Steamboat Springs weather has been flipping a switch from hot to cold, hot to cold! Friday's and Saturday's warm weather was celebrated with locals skiing on Mt. Werner in, well, lets just say clothing that is better suited for the beach or a different time era. Friday marked the Annual "Look as ridiculous as possible" April Fools Day, while Saturday brought out a crowd of bikini-donning skiers and snowboarders, all of whom apparently received very nice sunburns for their first exposure to the sun. As the second to last weekend that the ski mountain is open, everyone was in high spirits and enjoying the warm weather.

Mother nature, apparently, decided it truly was an "April Fool's" kind of weekend and is fighting the Steamboat Ski area closure on April 10th by suddenly and unexpectedly bringing back the snow. The skies have been absolutely dumping since Saturday night, and it is still coming down! A Ski Patroller on Sunday said that he thought there was close to a 200 inch base at the summit of East Face; unheard of in April!

At some point though, the clouds will break and Springtime will come to the 'Boat. One of the best things to do is sit out on your deck or porch and enjoy those fantastic warm rays of sun and soak up some much needed Vitamin D.

What if you don't have a deck or porch? According to the Realty Times, adding this "livable" space is quite an asset to your home! These days, even a patio is looked on with good favor, so if you don't have some kind of outdoor seating space and are hoping to sell your home, think about adding one! Take a look at this great article by Carla Hill, and see if a porch addition will help your home out.

The best piece of paraphrased advice that Hill offered in her article goes for all home additions; "You don't want to outdo the Joneses next door, you want to keep up with them!" Adding something that overly outdoes your competitor won't bring a buyer drooling to your door; they'll probably turn to a comparable home with a regular deck (as compared to your savvy redwood deck) for a fraction of the cost of your home. Read Hill's Full Aricle.

Hoping to find a home with a great deck already attached? Here are four of our listings that have fantastic decks ready and waiting for your sun chair and BBQ grill!

www.BigValleyRanchHome.com This stunning deck has an awning and 360-degree views all around. With a professional garden down below, summer scents and colors will dazzle you as much as the sun! Warm Southern exposure. 4-bedroom home with new media room and game room.

Fish Creek Falls Beauty This elegant multi-level deck is attached to a 4-bedroom home complete with a classic barn. Enjoy the beautifully wooded side yard and close location to Fish Creek Falls!

Casa Feliz; Wooded Serenity Feel secluded in the woods on this multi-level deck, which wraps around the home and even incorporates growing trees into its design to make you feel 'at one' with the beautiful trees and glade surrounding this 5-bedroom cabin. Only ten minutes away from the hustle of town.

www.StunningMonarchRidge.com Feel like the king of it all from this covered wrap around porch that also features a lower deck and hot tub. With endless views of the Yampa Valley and 43.5 acres to accompany your 3-bedroom homestead, you'll love watching the wildlife and stunning sunrises that the Yampa Valley has to offer.

Check out this great article on Yahoo, which gives you tips about how to improve your home for $1,000 or less. Unlike most articles, which tell you not to install swimming pools or paint your rooms in your favorite colors, the writer of this one did some research and even tells you where to buy items that he/she raves about. With tips like how to makeover your cabinets, build an office in a closet, and tidy up your garage, this article is not only great for a makeover before you try to sell your home, but also for helping you to enjoy the space while you live there. Take a look, and give your home a makeover!

Improving Your Home for $1,000 or Less

A fellow realtor sent this great video around reminding us all to be happy, and to not take for  granted all the small things we have in life. Watching this video ofNick Vujicicis a great inspiration and attests that a positive attitude can change a situation from dire to great.

 Nick was born without arms or legs in 1982 in Melbourne, Australia, and spent his life overcoming his differences. Today, Nick is a successful young man who has moved to the United states and has a motivational speaking company; Attitude Is Altitude. While his story is moving on it's own, his ability to connect and laugh are even better. Take a look, and let your day be brightened and inspired!

Nick Vujicic: Attitude Is Altitude

 At tax time, it's critical to know what you're entitled to, so you can claim it. So, here are four essential need-to-knows about home-related income tax tips to help you get the most tax-reducing bang out of your home-owning buck – and to avoid hefty home ownership-related tax traps.

1. You Have to Itemize Your Return to Claim Your Deductions
During the recent debate on Capitol Hill about whether the mortgage interest deduction should be eliminated (it won't be, not anytime soon), it came out that nearly 40% of homeowners lose out on their major tax advantages every year when they fail to itemize their income taxes. Make sure you answer the questions on tax software like TurboTax, which will automatically do the math on whether itemizing or taking the standard deduction will result in the lowest tax bill – or the highest tax refund – for you.

2. Don't Forget Those Closing Costs
If you bought or refinanced your home in 2010, you may be so focused on your mortgage interest and property tax deductions that you forget all about your closing costs. Any origination fees or discount points that were paid to your mortgage lender at closing are tax deductible on your 2010 return, get this – even if the seller paid your closing costs. If you can't figure out exactly what you paid, look for your HUD-1 settlement statement. Can’t find it, drop your real estate agent or loan officer an email; they can usually get a copy to you quickly.

3. Plan Ahead and Be Strategic When Taking a Home Office Deduction
According to the Small Business Administration, the average home office deduction is $3,686 – multiply that by your tax bracket – 15%, 20%, 30% or whatever it is, and that's what you'll save on your taxes by writing off your home office. Consult with a tax advisor on how claiming a home office can have capital gain consequences at time of sale when you have a gain though- it may not always be best to take this deduction.

 4. Tax Relief for Loan Modifications, Short Sales and Foreclosures Is Only Around Through 2012
While the long-term housing outlook is beginning to look up, 2011 is projected to be the peak year for foreclosures during this market cycle. Distressed homeowners who are on the brink of a short sale, loan modification or foreclosure should be aware that normally, any mortgage balance that is wiped out by one of these outcomes is taxed as what the IRS calls Cancellation of Debt Income, or CODI.

Under the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Relief Act of 2007, the IRS is currently not charging income taxes on CODI incurred through a loan mod, short sale or foreclosure on most primary residences through 2012. But right now, banks are taking many months, or even years, to work out mortgages in all of these ways; the average foreclosure in New York state right now occurs only after 22 months of missed mortgage payments. If you foresee any of these outcomes in your future, don't put things off. Do what you can to get to closure on your distressed home and loan, ASAP, while you won't have income taxes to add as the insult on top of your significant housing injury.

Thanks to Greg Long, Area Sales Manager at FirstCal for sharing this great information with us!!!!!

Warm weather is starting to approach, and as it does, the bright sunshine is giving people the encouragement they need to play outside. After all the snow this winter, people are really coming out and enjoying the spring skiing, hiking, and playing that the sunshine inspires. While the past couple of weeks have been gloriously sunny, don't forget that we live in Steamboat Colorado and a storm can roll up on you before you have a chance to sneeze. While usually this means little and we return home quite easily, there have been quite a few calls to Search and Rescue this winter due to white out conditions. It is good to be prepared to at least wait out the storm, or stay overnight, even if you were planning on just taking a short hike for the day. Most of us have heard the typical rules of thumb, (Don't wear cotton, bring layers, and always tell someone where you are  going), but I'd like to go a little bit more into depth about what you should carry with you at the bare minimum, even on a sunny day.

1. Always have at least 2 ways to start a fire with you, one in your pack, and one on your person (in case you lose your pack in an avalanche, set it down and become separated from it, or feed it to a bear in a last attempt of distracting it from eat you.) Fire is the ultimate life saver. There are three reasons you might want to be able to start a fire easily this winter; 1. you get lost and a fire is easily visible. 2. You run out of water. 3. You disregarded the common tips and wore cotton, or left your down puffy at home and are freezing. So what should you carry to be able to quickly start a blaze? Personally, on my person I carry a lighter and a film canister that holds (and keeps moist) cotton balls soaked in vaseline; these start up quickly and burn for quite some time. In my pack, I carry a saw, waterproof matches (dropping the lighter once in the snow will kill it, and you can waterproof your matches by dipping them in nail polish) and my favorite secret; hand sanitizer. With something like a 90% alcohol base, hand sanitizer lights up pretty darn quickly and makes short work of the annoyance of starting a fire. If you are a snowmobiler, carry tampons. (What? You're a dude and just won't do it? Get ready when your lady friend conveniently dips a tampon into your sled's tank of gas without getting gas on her hand, and then has a blazing fire-on-a-string ready before you can finish saying you won't touch it.) If you really want to be proactive, throw some fire sticks or flint/steel into your pack, and you're set.

2. An empty coffee can and a $1 bag of instant rice. The food can stores all my fire making goodies and keeps them dry, and with a wire attached to it for hanging on a branch, works great for setting in the fire to melt water. Or, cook your bag of rice so at least your stomach isn't upset at the situation.

3. Basic first aid kits. What should these include? in addition to the 'I have a splinter and it is bleeding' items, a SAM splint is great for stabilizing a broken bone, and a feminine pad or diaper (who knew?) is the best thing you can get for putting pressure on a bleeding wound. Don't forget the superglue, you never know what you need to hold together.

4. An emergency survival blanket. Don't get the solid silver ones, they don't work. If you want cheap and light, the colors you need to look for are orange and silver and they are usually sewn into a bivi sack ($8). If you want durable and reusable, look for solar tarps (around $18). Again, silver and a color, but much thicker and larger. Both of these can be used to A: sleep in and conserve heat, B:reflect heat up from a fire towards your body, C: used as a shelter, D: Used as something to sit on.

5. Duct tape, zip ties, string. If your snowshoe or ski breaks, you can use zip ties to secure a pine bough to your foot instead. Lose your ski skin? Wrap string around your ski to help you get traction and hike out.

Get out there, have some fun, and enjoy the last month of winter! Spring is right around the corner, and soon we'll be down to shorts, cotton, and flip flops!

Steamboat Springs was a touch sunnier last week with the arrival of the Sunshine Kids on Sunday from Houston, TX.  Twenty-two kids fighting cancer were brought to Steamboat with the non-profit group to enjoy a week of snow and were encouraged to forget their illnesses. Following the group’s motto, their only instruction was to have fun being “just plain kids.”  Given Steamboat’s location, it’s not very hard to do that, considering Steamboat has the power and the powder to encourage just about all ages to forget their worries and play in the snow.

As their corporate sponsor, Prudential Real Estate helps to sponsor care for the kids and also help the kids to go on group vacations at different locations. New Orleans, Steamboat, New York and Orlando are just four of 8 national vacations that become a reality. In addition, 17 regional events and two dozen hospital parties are planned for 2011 as venues to raise spirits and help kids cope with hospitals and medications.  Locally, Steamboat’s own Prudential annually greets the kids that make the trip to Steamboat and organizes a week of fun, outdoor adventures for them to partake in.

Starting on Sunday, agents greeted the kids at the airport with gift bags and then enjoyed a Grammys celebration with them later that evening at a decadent party. The party was a great way to introduce the kids to different agents and prepare them for the week of outdoor fun they were excited for. Throughout the week Agents accompanied the Sunshine Kids on ski days, sledding nights, and snowmobile extravaganzas. There was also a game night and a Mardi Gras party for their departure and at the end of the week The Kids who spent the week learning to ski and snowboard held their own ski races, with photos provided for each child by Prudential’s Paul Knowles.

Kid’s that grow up in Steamboat don’t think twice about skiing on weekends or partaking in the Winter Sports Club. For members of the Sunshine Kids, skiing is an activity that many have never even seen as a tangible dream, let alone one that could be fulfilled while they are going through the hardest thing of their young lives. Thanks to the Sunshine Kids, dreams come true and the kids realize not only can they still do many of the things “plain kids” can do, but they can do them with enthusiasm.

While the event was particularly special for the kids involved, it also was special for the volunteers. Seeing kids who have overcome and struggled with more than most adults have to go through is quite and inspiration, and a reminder about how each day should truly be cherished.

Learn more about the Sunshine Kids, and help them smile!