Real Estate Questions Answered Here
by Art Santellen, REALTOR®
Q: I have plastic plumbing. My neighbor tells me I need to talk to a
lawyer. Why?
A: Well, most people in town have same plastic pipes somewhere in
their home's plumbing. In fact, the latest rage is to have white plastic
plumbing for water lines going out of the house. In other words, for the part of
the plumbing taking water away from your drains and into the sewer or septic
system. The type of plastic plumbing causing problems is called, "Polybutylene".
The stuff I've seen is grey in color and is used almost exclusively to move
water from the water heater to other parts of the house.
It seems polybutylene has a design flaw that makes it brittle and breaks when
exposed to either chlorine or changes in water temperature. As a result, many
problems were discovered near water temperature. As a result, many problems were
discovered near water heaters. It is found all over town in homes built from
1978 to the early 1990's.
Here, in town, I've seen or heard of houses with plumbing problems from the
South end of town, through Village Seven, and even into Briargate. It's in
single family homes and apartment complexes.
In the mid-1990's a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of the estimated
6 million homes in the United States that might have this stuff in the plumbing
system. The deadline for claims against the company that manufactured
polybutylene was back in August of 1996. Still, as late as 1999, I know of at
least one person who was still making claims against the company. As you can
imagine, there are loop holes to even this settlement.
Many home owners are not aware if their home have a ploybutylene plumbing
system. In addition, many real estate agents and home buyers are also unaware of
this potential plumbing problem. If you think the home you own might have this
stuff or if you're planning to buy a home and want to know if the home you're
interested in purchasing has a polybutylene plumbing system....you'll want to
talk to a plumber who is familiar with this type of material. Or, you can all
(800) 876-4698 and talk to the good folks at the Consumer Plumbing Recovery
Center.
Q: What's the latest on finding a place to rent?
A: The latest is that rents continue to go up in spite of the fact
that additional apartment units are being built. It seems that the vacancy rate
for apartments in Colorado Springs has ranged between 4% (in 1996) to 2% (in
1994) for the last 5 years. the latest data shows the vacancy rate sitting at
about 3%.
With so many units full, most landlords can afford to be picky about who they
rent to and what they charge. Those of you with pets know exactly what I mean.
That goes for some of you with dings on your credit report. Since many landlords
insist on having tenants that earn 3 times the rent, a lot of you find that even
with good credit you still are having a tough time finding a place to rent
because you don't earn enough.
As if things weren't bad enough, you also need to know that people are buying
and selling apartment buildings like they were hot cakes. That's because the
value of apartment buildings are streaking skyward. as a matter of fact, the
good folks at Hendricks & Partners announced this week that the 10 year
appreciation in apartment values was 160%!!! Do the math.
Where can you put your money in a savings account and earn 16% interest per
year over 10 years? Can you guess what happens to your rent when a new owner
buys an apartment building? That's right, rents usually go up. Don't believe me?
Well, the same good folks at Hendricks & Partners pegged the 10 year
increase in rents at 78%.
Now, all you that are renting need to pay especially close attention. If the
cost of shelter (rent) has gone up 78% over ten years...has your employer given
you increases in pay to match the increase in the cost of your rent? Hmm, I
didn't think so. So why are you still renting? Remember, when you buy a house
and get a 30-year fixed rate mortgage loan....that means your monthly house
payment stays the same for 30 years!! Stop kidding yourself. Buy a house. Call
me or any other Realtor in town and get started.
Q: So what can be done to get affordable housing in Colorado Springs?
Q: What do you think of Colorado Spring's urban sprawl? In fact, what
is urban sprawl?
Q: So Art, how's the real estate market in town doing?
The answers to these, and other fascinating real estate questions will be
answered here, in Hispania News, next week.
When you're ready to buy or sell a home, see a REALTOR®
Art is a REALTOR® with Heritage Realtors in Colorado
Springs.
If you have a real estate question you’d like answered, please send them to
Art Santellen, care of Hispania News,
PO Box 15116,
Colorado Springs, CO 80935
Art Santellen via e-mail
Asantellen@aol.com
Santellen@netscape.net
| 
