PARK CITY, UTAH (Nov. 28, 2012) — The Group, Inc., one of Colorado’s most innovative and successful real estate companies, continued its long tradition of giving back to the communities it serves by launching the “Group Gives” charity foundation at a gala event to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association on Saturday, Oct. 13.

The event, called “Ales for A.L.S.” — or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease — featured a wide range of delicious craft beers donated by Grimm Brothers Brewery. By the end of the night, the gala had raised over $20,000 for A.L.S. research, more than twice the event’s fundraising goal.

“We are thrilled with how successful this fun event really was,” The Group president and CEO Eric Thompson said. “It once again shows how deeply committed The Group is to investing in the communities that we serve. We were recently named a ‘Top Giver’ by the United Way of Larimer County, and we expect that our Group Gives foundation will continue and expand our tradition of charitable giving.”

The Group’s own Bill West, a partner in the firm, served as master of ceremonies.

“Bill made sure everyone knew what was happening, and he did an amazing job interviewing our special guest, Dan Evert, who is living with A.L.S.,” Thompson said.

The Group consists of nearly 230 owners in five offices in Northern Colorado who work together to best serve their customers and communities. The company performed more than 34 percent of all real estate transactions in Northern Colorado last year, and it is regularly named a Top-200 real estate firm by Real Trends Magazine.

For photos from the gala, check out the Ales for A.L.S. album on the Facebook page for Heidi Muller Photography, www.facebook.com/HeidiMullerPhoto. Muller donated her time to shoot the event.

For more information about The Group, Ales for A.L.S., or Group Gives, visit the firm’s website at www.thegroupinc.com, or contact Christa Graff, of Graff Public Relations, by calling 435-640-7921 or emailing christa@graffpr.com.

The Group Gives Back project recently helped to raise approximately $4,000 in gifts for needy families and charitable causes across Northern Colorado. Forty administrative staff at The Group Inc. each received $50 from the company, with the charge of using the money to help a worthy cause in the community. The company’s initial gift – totaling $2,000 – combined with the creativity of the staff, eventually doubled to around $4,000.
 In one case, 12 Group employees combined their funds with matching donations from Group Realtors to assemble $1,200. The funds were then used to help two needy families buy shoes, coats, blankets and food.  An alliance of eight employees leveraged their $400, getting Realtors to contribute another $1,200. The resulting $1,600 was donated to the Homelessness Prevention Fund.
 Among the other distributions:
• Twelve employees pooled $600 to buy two $300 gift cards for needy families.
• One employee matched her own $50, and then donated $25 each to Pets Forever, Northern Colorado Chapter of the MS Society, the Northern Colorado Alzheimer’s Association, and the Northern Colorado Aids Project.
• One contributed $50 to a church fund that’s used for urgent community needs.
• One donated $50 to Hearts and Horses, and also joined the organization as a volunteer.
• One provided $50 to buy dog and cat food for a no-kill animal shelter.
• One gave $50 to Puppy’s Voice.
 
Eric Thompson, President of The Group Inc., said “The idea for The Group Gives Back initially came from OtterBox who had a similar program for their employees.  I thought it was a perfect fit for our company and was really excited to see creativity and teamwork that our staff used to touch quite a few lives here in Northern Colorado.  This is a place that has given us so much and we are honored to play a role in giving back to those who are in need.”

The Group, Inc., Real Estate, announced that Mary Roberts, has joined their Horsetooth Office as a Broker Associate/Partner.  Mary is a ten year veteran of the Northern Colorado real estate market and was named Rookie of the Year in 2000 by the Fort Collins Board of Realtors.  She has earned the GRI and CRS designations. She is a graduate of CSU with a degree in Technical Journalism.  She is just finishing her Master’s degree in Communication Development at CSU.

Mary has two children.  Her daughter Sarah, is a third-year law student at the University of Denver.  Her son, Dan, was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the June 2009 draft.  Mary is involved in a number of animal welfare organizations in Northern Colorado.  She frequently jogs on the bike path with her three rescue terriers.
She can be reached at 375 E. Horsetooth Road, Fort Collins, 970-223-0700.

Residents of Northern Colorado give alot of their time in our communities. The Loveland-Fort Collins area ranks seventh among the nation’s mid-sized cities in volunteering, according to the newest Volunteering in America report. The report analyzed data from 2005 to 2008 collected in a monthly survey of about 60,000 households by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Loveland-Fort Collins metro area tied with Greenville, S.C. with a 38.3 percent volunteer rate. Provo-Orem, Utah, was the top mid-sized area with a volunteer rate of 62.9 percent. Greeley ranked 25 out of the 75 mid-sized areas with a 32.8 percent volunteer rate.

Loveland-Fort Collins volunteers contributed $200.7 million worth of volunteer time from 2005 to 2006 while the value of Greeley’s volunteerism was $192.9 million.

Partners at The Group, Inc. pride themselves in their volunteer work. Nearly everyone in our company gives their time to one or more organizations.

Also a part of The Group’s culture is sharing our financial resources. We are getting ready to launch our United Way campaign for 2009. We have been recognized as one of the top 10 corporate donors in Larimer County for the past several years. Our ‘corporate’ donation to United Way does not come from our company, but rather all the individuals who work here. Last year we created this video along the United Way’s theme of ‘Live United.’

The Group, Inc. Real Estate – Live United

Parks and Recreation Named a 2009 National Gold Medal Award Finalist –  City of Fort Collins Honored for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management

For information on the Gold Medal program for 2010, please contact the NRPA Awards team at awards@nrpa.org. For online information, go to the National Recreation and Park Association Web site at www.nrpa.org/awards or the Academy for Park and Recreation Administration Web site at www.rpts.tamu.edu/aapra

History shows that job growth makes a positive impact in the residential real estate market over the ensuing 12-18 months. So, the pending addition of jobs in Weld County portends better times to come in the housing market. Upstate Colorado, Weld County’s economic development agency, has recently announced projects that will bring approximately 2,100 new jobs. Those projects include Hexcel, a supplier to the still-growing Vestas Wind Systems, as well as Leprino Foods, Abound Solar, and Cornell Companies.

Such job growth prospects are reinforced by the latest Manpower Inc. survey. The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, which anticipates hiring for the second quarter of 2009, predicts a “respectable pace” of hiring by northern Colorado employers during the period between April and June. In the Greeley area, 18% of companies surveyed said they will add jobs, while only 8% expected to reduce jobs. In the Fort Collins-Loveland area, 19% expected to add jobs compared to 10% that would reduce jobs.

This article appeared in the Northern Colorado Business Report.  This is just one sign of recovery in our area.

IRVINE, Calif. – Colorado dropped out of RealtyTrac’s top 10 listings of states with the highest foreclosure activity in January, slipping to No. 11. It was the first month since December 2005 that the state has not been in the Irvine-based foreclosure tracker’s top 10.

Nevada retained the No. 1 spot on the list, followed by California, Arizona, Florida, Oregon, Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Idaho and Ohio.

RealtyTrac reported that nationwide foreclosure activity in January was down by 10 percent from December 2008 but up 18 percent from January 2008. Colorado’s foreclosure activity rate was down by about 37 percent from January 2008. The state ended 2008 with the fifth-highest rate of foreclosure activity.

Adams County had the state’s highest number of new foreclosures in January with 680. Weld County had the fifth-highest number with 401 and Larimer County was eighth with 205.

“The extensive foreclosure efforts on the part of lenders and government agencies appear to have impacted the January numbers — particularly the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moratorium on all foreclosure sales that was extended through the end of January along with Florida’s voluntary 45-day freeze on all new foreclosure actions and scheduling of foreclosure sales that was announced at the beginning of December,” said James Saccacio, RealtyTrac CEO.

The following article appeared on the “Best Boomer Town” website.  Appearing in the list of 2009 Top 20 Places to Thrive is Fort Collins!

“You are a Boomer if you were born between 1946 and 1964. You are stylish, active and resourceful. You are searching for less stress and more living, you may be an empty nester, you prefer less traffic, fewer taxes and more fresh air and exciting activities!

There are no rocking chairs in your future – you prefer pilates, hiking, biking, volunteering, wine club, book club, university classes, surfing the web, telecommuting, yoga, golf, tennis, walking your dog and plenty of social activities.

Grab your Blackberry or iPhone and schedule your week!

I think it’s important for you to have a face, name and credentials on the site. Fourteen months of Boomer research and development have been compiled in one site to meet your needs. The 20 U.S. towns have the following key criteria: excellent health care, university, airport access, fine dining, low crime, cultural activities, beautiful weather, active lifestyle, average cost of living and a range of home sizes and prices.

The team at Best Boomer Towns has gathered research from AARP, DEL WEBB, Money, CNN, Wall Street Journal and local Chambers of Commerce to bring you the relevant data you need for your decision. Spend some time on the site, look at the book section from Amazon.com, read blog entries and subscribe to the newsletter. The monthly newsletter will begin in January with upcoming events from each city.

Each city has been chosen for the on-the-go active boomer. Every blog has been written to meet your needs and each book selected for your fabulous future!

This is not your parent’s retirement. We wish you the best in your next – and most exciting chapter of life!”

Visit  http://bestboomertowns.com to see the complete list.

Every market has its submarkets, and real estate has plenty: new and resale single-famly attached and detached; for sale and for lease office, industrial and retail space; residential rentals; residential and commercial land, etc.  And all of these have multiple other categories within them.  Usually when one submarket is struggling, others are offering investment opportunities too good to pass up.

The residential rental market is hot in Northern Colroado right now.  Colorado Apartment Insights LLC’s statistics show a vacancy rate of 5.15% for all of Northern Colorado, with the rate going as low as 3.69% in Loveland.  The following factors also make it a prime time to invest in residential rental property:

Changes in lending practices making it more difficult for some people to buy homes;

Apartment construction is down;

Job growth is up;

Echo boomers are coming of age to form their own households;

The supply of homes for sale is shrinking;

Vacancy rates are decreasing and rents are increasing;

Call a Group Realtor to learn about properties on the market that offer excellent investment opportunities.  And check out the list of foreclosure properties on our website.