The reddish-brown lodgepole pine tree makes up about 8 percent of the 22 million acres of forest found in the state of Colorado. In fact, just last year alone, the state lost 374,000 acres of lodgepole trees. Sadly, it doesn’t look like things are going to get any better any time soon.

“In the next two to three years, areas of lodgepole pine along the Front Range and south of Leadville are expected to see an increase in mountain pine beetle activity,” said Ryan Lockwood of the Colorado State Forest Service. “An infestation of this magnitude is unprecedented in our recorded history.”

Although beetle infestations are hardly anything new, as they have been a problem for pine forests for thousands of years, the milder winters and the drier summers the state has been enjoying over the last couple years has allowed them to significantly increase their numbers. Since the beetles tend to target those trees that are old and stressed, there is one positive side-effect to these infestations: they kill off those trees that are weaker, which allows more nutrients, sunlight and water to reach the smaller trees that will eventually grow into a new forest. In the meantime, however, these dead trees serve as fuel for forest fires.

According to Marion Murphy, who is a founding member of the Sustainable Forests Trade Association, the increased potential for forest fires may also have an effect on the state’s water supply. In fact, she reports that around two million people in the Denver metro area are dependent upon water that comes from areas that are affected by mountain pine beetles.

“Most of Denver’s water comes from a watershed around Grand Lake, which is one of the epicenters of the pine beetle infestation,” continued Murphy. “Losing this has enormous repercussions: no water, no farms, no food.”

Despite the concerns surrounding the infestation, other Coloradans are looking for creative ways to make use out of the fallen trees. For example, Gilpin County Commissioner Jeanne Nicholson lives in a log cabin that was built from beetle-kill wood. Drew Witmer, who owns J+Clay Environments based in Grand Junction, has also been experimenting with ways to use the wood in custom light fixtures and furniture for the past couple of years.

“It’s so visually appealing. It refines the traditional rustic look of pine,” said Witmer. “Using MPB creates industry locally and furniture made with it has a much lower carbon footprint because it isn’t traveling great distances.”

The Breckenridge-based Full Circle Design Group is also looking for creative ways to use the wood in cabinetry, flooring and custom furniture.

“The customer response [to products made from MPB wood] has been fantastic,” said Charise Buckley, who is the owner of Full Circle and who donates a percentage of sales toward reforesting efforts. “Plus, people are glad to see us doing something with wood that’s dead on the side of the road.”

* Above photo taken by my dear friend, Pahmela Lovel Udick, on the Western Slope near Rand, CO.

The FIABCI-USA Fall Business Conference “Connecting Continents” is coming up quickly.  The 2010 gathering of  local, national and international professionals is to be held in Seattle, WA, September 23-26, at the Edgewater Hotel located right on the water.  Last years conference was a great success and was held in my hometown, Denver, CO.

Why should you invest your time and money to attend the upcoming national meeting?  From my experience, in additional to receiving referral business, I have gained many new friends and expanded my opportunities well beyond my dreams.  Here are some additional reasons why you should consider joining us in Seattle:

1. To expand your business network and make connections around the world
2. To learn new ideas and best practices from speakers and colleagues
3. To set yourself apart from your competition
4. To take advantage of the membership benefit and make a marketing presentation
5. To show your clients and prospective clients how much broader your reach and knowledge are because of your FIABCI-USA involvement
6. To share your expertise, listings/services, challenges, and successes
7. To learn about Asian markets, international market risks and opportunities, foreign investment in Seattle, and to gain practical tips you can apply to your business right away
8. To make friends for life who will help you when you need it most
9. To enjoy camaraderie in our special, internationally-focused group that is small enough so you can get to know most people yet large enough so you’ll be sure of meeting new colleagues
10. Because you are invited and will be warmly welcomed!

FIABCI-USA is a chapter member of FIABCI, the International Real Estate Federation which is a non-political entity whose objective is to help its members add an international dimension to their businesses. With representation by chapters in 48 countries, with five official languages: English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish, the professional organization represents all real estate disciplines for all properties including brokerages, property management, valuation/appraisers, property development and consulting, lawyers, insurers, architects, and urban planners.

Register by August 31st to save the most money.  Open the attachment or click here for everything you need: http://www.fiabci-usa.com/fallmeeting2010.html.

See you in September – in Seattle!

• The strength of the U.S. dollar
• The overall value and level of desirability of real estate in the United States
• The apparent emergence of an economic recovery

“While all real estate in the U.S. is local, the same is not true for property owners,” said Vicki Cox Golder, who is the President of the NAR as well as the owner of Vicki L. Cox Real Estate in Tucson, Arizona, in a REALTOR®Mag article. “The. U.S. continues to be a top destination for international buyers from all over the world. Foreign buyers understand the value of owning a home in this country and can rely on REALTORS® to help guide them through the complex process of buying property in the U.S. With expertise, knowledge and experience, REALTORS® have a global perspective.”

The survey analyses investor interest from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010, during which time foreign investors purchased an estimated $66 billion worth of residential property in the United States, representing 7% of the residential market. Those included in the “foreign investors” category include those who remain residents outside of the United States as well as recent immigrants and temporary visa holders. Furthermore, 28% of REALTORS® report having worked with at least one international client over the past year, representing a significant increase from the 23% reporting to do the same in the June report. Furthermore, the report estimates that 18% of REALTORS® completed at least one sale with a foreign buyer, compared to 12% last year.

“Several factors have contributed to an increase in international buyer interest in the U.S.,” continued Golder. “A larger majority of REALTORS® report the changes in value of the U.S. dollar have had a strong impact on the international real estate business. In addition, perceptions abroad about trends in the U.S. real estate market have led many international clients to believe purchasing a home in the U.S. is more affordable than in their country and holds more value.”

Although international buyers during the period analyzed came from 53 different countries, Canada, the U.K., Mexico and China/Hong Kong were the top four investors. In fact, 23% of foreign investors came from Canada, which has been the largest foreign investor over the past three years. Mexican investors have been on the rise, however, having replaced the U.K. as the second largest group of buyers in 2010 and holding 10% of the market. While buyers from the U.K. dropped from representing 10.5% to 9% of the market, its investors still held a strong showing. Investors from China/Hong Kong, on the other hand, represented 8% of the foreign investment market.

According to the report, there were two factors that were particularly important to international buyers who were interested in purchasing property in the United States. One factor was the proximity of the property to their home country, while the other was the convenience of air transportation. In general, Canadians, South Americans and Europeans were interested in Florida, while Europeans showed interest in the East Coast. Asian buyers were most interested in the West Coast, while Mexican buyers were primarily interested in the Southwest. While international buyers expressed interest in a total of 39 different states in 2010, the majority of interest was expressed in Arizona, California, Florida and Texas. In fact, 53% of foreign purchases took place in these states, with California and Florida being the top two destinations.

While the median price paid by foreign buyers dropped from $247,100 to $219,400, these figures are still much higher than the overall median price within the market. In fact, foreign buyers tended to purchase at the higher end of the market, with 16% of purchases being properties priced at $500,000 or more. Furthermore, while 66% of foreign investors did purchase single-family detached homes, 23% purchased condos compared to 7% of domestic buyers. Similarly, only 44% of international buyers purchased their homes with a mortgage, compared to 92% of American buyers. REALTORS® reports that the majority of foreign buyers choose to pay with cash due to the difficulties associated with establishing international credit in the states. This is illustrated by the fact that 34% of potential foreign buyers were unable to complete their purchases because they were unable to obtain the financing they needed in the United States.

While this deal is interesting from the Yahoo side of the deal, as they move out of search and look to cut costs and raise revenue by becoming more of a “virtual portal”, the implications for the real estate industry may be big.

With the traffic of Yahoo Real Estate and Zillow combined, Zillow is now poised to take the #1 spot away from REALTOR.com and move into the position of being the #1 Real Estate 3rd Party lead syndicator.

Jimmy Buffett has announced that he is opening his new Margaritaville hotel in Pensacola, Florida as scheduled, oil or no oil!  He plans to go ahead and fully staff the new enterprise and essentially said that the area that was just getting back on it’s feet following Hurricanes Ivan, Rita, and Katrina would survive the BP Oil disaster as well.

Free Concert to support the Gulf Coast

In addition, Buffett and the City of Gulf Shores, Alabama announced yesterday that he would headline a free concert in Gulf Shores on July 1st along with Kenny Chesney, The Zac Brown Band, and other famous acts.

There will be around 35,000 free tickets distributed via Ticketmaster beginning at 10:00 AM June 22nd.

You can access information to obtain tickets here.

It is hoped that the Gulf Coast area business’s, restaurants, hotels, and rental condos will be given a positive shot in the arm after the negative impact that they have suffered by the uncertainty of the continuing oil spill.

While the area from Gulf Shores all the way to Panama City has seen some impact, it has not been near the impact as has been seen in the Louisiana Delta area.  Many envision the beaches being covered in black oil and that is simply not the case so far and hopefully it will not be.  For up to date information on beach conditions, visit www.thebeachfacts.com .

Thank you Jimmy Buffett for coming home and supporting your old friends and family!

We currently have calls in to all parties involved and will update this post as more information arrives. If true, what this does emphasize is that a) regardless of whether you hire an independant party to create your advertising copy, it needs to be vetted to make sure that no copyright issues are involved. b) even when you are careful, copyrights can be challenged where people have such open access to each other. (In this case, it was apparently a comment made in an online forum that led to the issue.)

According to the blog post linked above, Nicholas Thiele, RE/MAX’s director of their Australia region, claims that they would not knowingly infringe on a copyright.

More news as it arrives…

Mr Foltz has denied the allegations through his attorney claiming that this is an employment contract dispute and that Mr. Foltz is due all of the compensation as included in his contract with the company, which runs through 2015. More news on this story as it becomes available.

Ajay Jain, who launched the website, is a 29-year-old real estate professional who once worked in land acquisitions for SmartCentres Inc., one of Canada’s largest shopping-center developers. He said his goal is not to lower commissions. A seller might choose a person with the most experience over the one with the lowest commission, he said. “The general concept is, if agents compete, the homeowner is going to win,” he said.

The business plan calls for the real estate agent to pay an average of $30 to make a proposal to a homeowner. To participate on the site, a Realtor needs to be a member of CREA with access to the MLS. The company will require that all licenses be verified by the agent’s brokerage.

Phil Soper, chief executive of Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., said referral websites like Jain’s already exist in the United States. An example of which includes HomeGain.com, based in Emeryville, California, this 11-year-old company is a provider of online marketing programs that connect real estate agents and brokers with homebuyers and sellers. In Canada, consumers looking to compare proposals from agents must do so on their own.

This World Congress will feature keynote speakers from various countries from around the world.  The presenters come from various professional and industrial backgrounds from government officials to company executives to business people from various economic, cultural and social sectors.

The conference will feature an exciting program filled with cutting edge and timely information with numerous opportunities for business development and networking focused on Green Technologies and Environmental Sustainability.  Topics will include “The Eco-Property, Continuous Real Estate,” “Green Tourism, Nature’s Limits and Opportunities” and “Innovations in Real Estate.”

FIABCI (The International Real Estate Federation) is an apolitical entity represented by chapters in 48 countries.  The entity serves as the umbrella of 120 professional real estate organizations representing more than 1.5 million professionals and 3,300 individual real estate practitioners worldwide.  FIABCI’s strives to assist its members in acquire knowledge, develop networks and broaden business opportunities.  For more information, visit the FIABCI website.

Don’t wait, like me, it’s never too early to begin planning  for attending next years FIABCI World Conference.

This monthly series is hosted by Byron Ellington and Jay Papasan.  Jay coauthored the Millionaire Real Estate Agent book with Gary Keller and Dave Jenks of Keller Williams Realty International.  Viewers of this video will find timely information about what is going on in the current real estate market.

Click here for the This Month in Real Estate video.