Winter Fun in Denver 

One of the things that we love about Denver is all the wonderful things to do year-round.

For you holiday lights lovers, there are fun things like the Denver Zoo lights, the Blossoms of Light at the Botanic Gardens and the 9 News Parade of Lights.

Of course, the Colorado Ballet is performing the Nutcracker over the holidays, which usually gets us in the spirit!

Don’t forget the Polar Express train ride at the Colorado Railroad Museum, which is a great time for the kids.

For the adults in the crowd, CU South is hosting Movie and Martinis, where you can drink your stress away and watch Christmas Vacation with your friends.

These are just some of the fun events in Denver this holiday season. For a complete list, visit the folks at Denver.org here.

Denver Housing Downturn?

All good things must come to an end. Or at least that is what we have heard.

Most of you probably have not-so-fond memories of the 2008 housing downturn. Hard to believe that was over 10 years ago.

It hit us hard, but as you can see from the graph above, we have rallied as well as any market in the United States….so what now?

Many experts have speculated on what might happen in hot housing markets like Denver‘s.

The folks at Redfin published a great article about housing bubbles and the likelihood of a downturn in the near future.

Fortunately, Denver is outside of the top 10 areas to be concerned with, but that doesn’t mean we are out of the woods.

To learn more and to see the cool interactive chart, visit the full report here.

Holiday Coping Skills

We have covered some fun things for you to do this winter, but what about those of us that get stressed at the holidays?

We read a study that 45% of Americans would prefer to skip Christmas entirely.

Nearly a quarter of Americans reported feeling “extreme stress” come holiday time, according to a poll by the American Psychological Association. Holiday stress statistics show that up to 69 percent of people are stressed by the feeling of having a “lack of time,” 69 percent are stressed by perceiving a “lack of money,” and 51 percent are stressed out about the “pressure to give or get gifts.”

So how do we cope?

We found a nice list from the folks at the Mayo Clinic (they are super smart) here.

Our favorite site that we found is chock-full of tips about how to beat the holiday doldrums. They cover everything from mindfulness to healthy boundaries. We found it useful and it can be found here.

Here’s to a low-stress holiday season this year!!

Green Living this Winter

By Guest Columnist Frances Black

When the thermometer plummets, challenges abound for keeping your green-cleaned house environmentally friendly. In Denver, where the weather changes in an instant, these challenges are amplified. A few steps can help

1. Be window wise. During the day, open curtains on south-facing walls to let in the warmth. At night, close them. Consider using thermal curtains.

2. Chill out. When you’re asleep or away, lower your thermostat 10 to 15 degrees. A smart thermostat makes this easy.

3. Plug the leaks. Caulk and weather-stripping stop heat loss from doors and windows. Don’t forget to look for leaks around utility cut-throughs, chimneys, and recessed lights.

4. Service your system. Clean your furnace or boiler and replace filters now. Keep flues and wood-burning fireplaces clean. Close the damper when not in use. Purchase grates of C-shaped metal tubes to circulate the fire-warmed air. Shut the doors and lower the thermostat to 50 and 55 degrees.

5. Drain the sprinkler system. Denver’s lawn watering restrictions are in effect from May till October. But a frozen pipe can send water gushing into the street, resulting in a fine and wasted water in the winter. Turn the sprinkler system off and drain all pipes.

For more tips, download the Energy Saver Guide. Going green this winter can save you a lot of green in the long run.

Monthly Award Winners

Please join me in congratulating our best performers for October 2019.

Our top Cleaning Associates for the month were Aurora Dominguez, Maria Zapata, Josefina Puga, Josefina Quinonez and Paz Jimenez.

In the Team Leader ranks, our top Team Leaders were Rosa Chavez and Socorro Ibarra.

Thanks to all our team members for their hard work, and a special thanks to our award winners!

Congrats ladies!

Queen Bee Corner

by Angela

At the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon it seems to me that Thanksgiving is losing its pride of place in our holiday roster.  It’s but a shadow of its former self; more a stepping stone to Christmas than a stand -alone celebration.

Granted, the traditional Thanksgiving didn’t incur a lot of spending, which may have made it less exciting. Basically, food and travel, which I always equated in my mind with family.  Food plus travel equals family gathering.

Black Friday has shifted closer and closer, impinging on the long languid feast and after dinner nap in favor of – once again – spending.

I see a future where we just grab a turkey leg at the courtyard in the mall and keep on going.  Until then I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving!!

Bee

Partners We Love

As our regular readers know, we love to feature true professionals in our “Partners we Love” section.

These are people that share our values when it comes to getting things done for their clients and operating in a professional and ethical way.

Our friends at Colorosa Commercial Properties/Keller Williams Commercial did a fabulous job managing the sale of our commercial property last month.

They managed the process, and our expectations masterfully throughout and adapted quickly when the inevitable curveballs came our way.

They are also great negotiators and understand the true art of “win-win” outcomes.

If you are looking for advice on a commercial property sale, or just want to know what is going on in the Denver commercial real estate world, please look up our friend Rachel Colorosa.

She is the managing partner and can be reached at 303-886-8154, or at [email protected].

5G Is Coming

Most of us have heard of 5G, but what does it mean for us practically?

Dish Network made headlines with a 2023 deadline for complete rollout of its 5G plan, including its partnerships with T-Mobile and Sprint.

While Denver isn’t fully implemented yet, we have seen the icon pop up on our phones, so we know something is up. Verizon seems to be leading the way in Denver, though.

In a nutshell, 5G provides more bandwidth than 4G (or 3G) for cell phone data users. This means speed increases of 5-10X!

On the other hand, the increased bandwidth will likely come with some coverage gaps, so all the coverage we have grown to love with 4G/LTE may not extend to the 5G network.

To fully understand the pros and cons of 5G, we found this article which lays it out nicely.

For a comparison of the speed difference that we can expect, the folks at Digital Trends came up with this informative piece.

We are always excited when technology takes a leap forward. For a list of where 5G is currently available and when it might be coming, by carrier, check this out.

Happy surfing!!!

Tax Evasion..Wait, What?

No, we do not advocate tax evasion.

However, we found an interesting article about the 2010 law that was passed that attempted to discourage hiding of income in foreign accounts.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, required all foreign financial institutions to automatically provide the Internal Revenue Service with information on any accounts held by U.S. citizens.

This made it much harder for rich Americans to avoid U.S. taxes by hiding their money, and the investment income it generates, in foreign banks and opaque shell corporations.

Of course, there are always unintended consequences of ideas like this.

Folks have gotten more creative and are using new tactics like investing in real estate and art to skirt these requirements.

This article by the Stanford Graduate School of Business sums it up perfectly.

The bottom line? Folks will always look for creative ways to reduce/avoid taxes. Some legal ways to do this can be found here.  If you are lucky enough to be in the top 0.5% we found these strategies as well.

Is Grit better than IQ?

Our friend Heather Klutznick at Trilogy Financial posed that question in her monthly newsletter, and it caught our eye.

We have never been the smartest folks around, but we have always worked really hard. In fact, it’s always been our goal to outwork everyone around us.

The funny thing is when you do that, you end up ahead of at least half the people and companies you are competing with. Most people give up way too easily.

From her newsletter, “It turns out that intelligence might not be the best indicator of future success. According to psychologist Angela Duckworth, the secret to outstanding achievement isn’t talent. Instead, it’s a special blend of persistence and passion that she calls “grit.”

The full article from Forbes can be found here. We also ran across a short piece on medium.com that echoes this sentiment.

The bottom line? You cannot control your IQ, but you can control your effort and your attitude!

Thanks to Heather for publishing and sharing this information. To learn more about Trilogy Financial and the great work Heather does, she can be reached by the links above!

Stay gritty Denver.

Monthly Award Winners

Please join me in congratulating our best performers for July 2019.

Our top Cleaning Associates for the month were Aurora Dominguez, Josefina Quinonez, Sandra Puga, Sandra Vidales, and Maria Zapata.

In the Team Leader ranks, our top Team Leaders were Natalia Olivas and Rosa Chavez.

Thanks to all our team members for their hard work, and a special thanks to our award winners!

Congrats ladies!

Queen Bee Corner

by Angela

Just for fun I thought I’d throw out a few interesting facts about our employee training procedures

Very important!  We don’t have to teach our employees how to clean. We hire ladies who like to clean.  We guide them and teach them about product and equipment usage and safety measures in the homes.

Our ongoing challenge is to increase their awareness of the interior placement of objects and furniture.   The natural tendency is to move everything to clean, then put everything back – somewhere.

The total focus is cleanliness.  Throws, pillows, decorative items, toiletries; secondary. I know this is perceived by the client as the ladies imposing their own preferences, but truthfully, they just see the shining counters and clean floors.

One thing our ladies need no training in is their polite and pleasant demeanor, whether in your homes, amongst themselves, or with the office staff.

I honestly thank each Team Leader at the end of whatever conversation we have throughout the day, and I always pass along the kind comments of our clients. So thank you too!

Bee