Monday Soup: Mulligatawny - huh???

Yes, you read that correctly - Mulligatawny, pronounced like this. Mulligatawny is from the Indian Dravidian language and means "pepper water". It was popular with the British stationed in India during the colonial times and when they returned home, they brought the recipe back with them to England. Although the recipe has changed to suit different tastes over the years, it is usually based on chicken or turkey broth, curry and cream with pieces of chicken, onion, celery, apples and almonds. It can be garnished with rice.  How is that for a little history lesson? Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 medium tart apple

¼ cup each chopped carrot, celery, and onion

¼ cup butter, cubed

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon curry powder

½ teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground mace

6 cups chicken or turkey broth

2 cups shredded or cubed cooked chicken
1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped 

½ cup chopped green pepper

2 whole cloves

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

1 cup cooked rice

Directions

In a Dutch oven, saute the apple, carrot, celery and onion in butter for 5 minutes or until tender.

Stir in the flour, curry, sugar, salt, pepper, and mace until blended.  Gradually add broth.

Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Add the chicken, tomato, green pepper, cloves and parsley; return to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add rice; heat through. Discard cloves.

Yield: 8 servings (about 2 quarts)

Nutrition Facts
1 cup equals 160 calories, 8 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 31 mg cholesterol, 925 mg sodium, 15 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 8 g protein.

Soup Monday

Today's Nutritious and Delicious Soup Recipe

Smoked Salmon Chowder with Jalapeños & Fresh Salsa

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

2 celery ribs, thinly sliced

2 cups chicken, fish or vegetable stock

1-1/2 cups 1% milk

1 cup half-and-half

2 cups red potatoes, peeled and cut into ½” pieces

8 oz. smoked salmon, broken into chunks

1 cup fresh or frozen corn

1 tablespoon canned jalapeno peppers, minced

¼ cup fresh salsa

Fresh cilantro for garnish

Directions

Add oil to a large saucepan over medium-high heat. When hot, add onion, carrot and celery and sauté for 5 minuets. Add broth, milk, half-and-half and stir. Add potatoes and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over lowest heat for 15 minutes. Add salmon, corn, jalapeno peppers and salsa, stir and cook uncovered for 5 more minutes. Serve and sprinkle with fresh chopped cilantro.

Bon appetit! 

Sewer-Oscopy - a necessary part of your Home Inspection

That's right a Sewer-oscopy or more commonly known as a Sewer Scope. 

Sewer lines are often a forgotten part of a property and during your home inspection you really ought to give them a second thought. They are pipes. They can break. They can crack. They can clog with tree roots. They can have low lying sections that will cause sewage to back up into your home. This can happen to old homes, new homes, small homes, large homes. Bottom line: if it's a home and it has a sewer line, it can happen. If gone undiagnosed, the unfortunate repercussions to you, the new owner, can be costly (and potentially quite stinky!). Hiring a reputable company to complete a sewer scope is simple insurance to the buyer that all is working properly and no costly repairs are need.

We have used several companies in our past transactions for sewer scopes. Recently, we used a company called Hydro-Physics, Inc. They first locate the main sewer line or access the line through a toilet, if necessary.

Using a high resolution color camera system, they push the camera through the pipe viewing the pipe in "real time" (much like the well-known colonoscopy method). All information is recorded at the time of inspection for future reference. If there are problems, they determine the problem and provide all details including the precise measurement of where the problem exists. This way, they can locate the surface position of the problem for repairs. Since pipes rarely run in a straight line, they additionally use a location transponder to track the pipe from the surface. At the completion of the sewer scope, Hydro-Physics provides you with a DVD of your scope and a bag of popcorn (creative and quite gross).

The cost? Reasonable. A typical sewer scope costs roughly $185 and an additional fee up to $45 if they need to remove a toilet for access.

Our friends at Home Systems Data, Inc. provided us with a Sewer Line Maintenance Tip:
Once a month, fill your washing machine with hot water, but no soap and empty. This will help keep grease build-up in the sewer line under control.

It’s Monday!

And … Monday’s in our office means SOUP! Every Monday, one of our lovely brokers, Mo Clark, provides homemade soup for the entire office … and to date, she has not repeated one recipe twice. This has become somewhat of a big deal in our office. We have an official Soup Board, a recipe clip and custom made soup bowls for every person in our office. No doubt, we love our Soup Monday’s.

We thought it would be fun to share with you the recipe each week – enjoy! So – retroactively, we will post this week’s soup recipe and moving forward, we will provide you the recipe each Monday. Enjoy!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Vegetable Beef Barley

Ingredients

1 boneless beef chuck roast (2.5-3 lb.)

4 quarts water

1 cup medium barley

1.5 cups chopped onion

1.5 cups chopped celery

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained

1.5 cups chopped carrots

1 package (16 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables

¼ minced fresh parsley

½ tsp. dried basil

¼ tsp. dried thyme

¼ tsp. garlic salt

Directions

Place roast in a large Dutch oven. Add the water, barley, onion, celery, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1 1/4 hours or until meat is tender.

Remove meat, cool and cut into bite-sized pieces.  Skim fat from the broth. Add the beef and remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover & simmer for 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Yield: 18-20 Servings (6 Quarts)

Nutritional Facts:  

Serving Size: 

1 ¼ cup163 calories

6 g fat (2 g saturated fat) 

37 mg cholesterol

235 mg sodium

15 g carbohydrate

4 g fiber

13 g protein

Recipe Courtesy of: Taste of Home, Heartwarming Soups!

It's Time to be a Seller

Dale and I have known for sometime that inventory has steadily been decreasing the last quarter of 2011. Well, MLS stats report that home inventory, right now, is down by over 30% in the Denver metro area than past years at this same time. Interest rates are low low low, banks are lending and buyers are in the market place. If you are considering selling - now is the very best time to put your property on the market. Many people think spring is the best time because the flowers are blooming and the grass is green - but the buyers who want to move this spring and summer are looking right now. 

In our office we have what we call "Power Wants and Needs". For the past several years they have been consumed with SELLER related needs. Below is a list of this past week's Power Wants and Needs:

•  Buyer looking in Denver/Observatory Park/Bonnie Brae/Lowry/Hilltop for a home with a main floor master or nice main floor bedroom suite, price up to $1 million.

•  Buyer looking in The Preserve/Cherry Hills/Greenwood Village for a home in the Cherry Creek school district. Age 2000-2011, price up to $1.4 million.

•  Buyer looking for a Cherry Creek North townhome up to $525,000, 2 bedroom. Tuscan finishes.

•  Buyer looking in Bonnie Brae/Cory Merrill for a ranch. Wants lot & location, going to build/remodel.

•  Buyer looking in Observatory/Hilltop/Country Club/Bonnie Brae for 4+ bed/4+ bath, 3-car-garage, 7,000 sq ft. lot

•  “In Town” Buyer up to $850k 3 bed minimum 3-car-garage, newer home preferably

•  Buyer wants a Cherry Hills Village lot, preferably 1 acre up to $1 million

See any consistency? Buyer needs this, buyer needs that … that means, we need some SELLERS!

There is no doubt the market has not completely recovered … There are still soft prices in some areas, still foreclosure and short sale opportunities. Sellers still must follow some basic Seller 101 Tips. However, with rates as low as they are and inventory down – now is undoubtedly the best time we have seen in a long time to be a seller.

Everyone's real estate dream is to “sell high” and “buy low”. In reality, that time never really exists in the same market at the same time. However, it has become true that right now is a time you can “sell fair” and still “buy low”. What a great way to head into the new year!

So … if you do want to be a seller right now – keep in mind a couple of basic Seller Tips that will help you obtain a fair sales price quickly! 

#1 Price it right from the get-go

In most cases, the old-school strategy of real estate sellers holding out for a better offer will be brushed off by most homebuyers simply because there are still some short sale opportunities and because the buyer’s mindset has not quite shifted to be a seller’s market quite yet. According to the National Association of Realtors sellers accepted less than 90% of their asking price and properties took on average 4+ months to sell. Buyers still believe this to be the case – so, pricing you property fair from the get-go is still the best and most efficient path to a sale.

#2 Put your best footage forward

Dress your home up for the ball. Prep, paint, stage, scrub, improve,repeat. Efforts can include caulking, plastering, planting flowers, adding potted plants, making the windows spotless, pressure washing that oily driveway, edging the walks, trimming the bushes and trees and mending the fences. None of these is excessively capital-intensive, but when applied en-masse, they say "buy me” first.

#3 Be flexible

We are not suggesting you bend over backward to accommodate potential buyers, you should also bend forward and sideways too. The low inventory and low low low rates are contributing to the fact you should “sell now”; however, they have not created a seller’s market quite yet. Be prepared and know your bottom line, be willing to offer extras: contributions towards closing costs, pre-paid property tax credits, remodel work, pre-paid HOA fees, etc. Just something to go the extra mile and to give the sale of your home an edge in the market. Additionally, be willing to listen to feedback and adjust where you can.

#4 Trump and delegate your techno-fear

Hire a listing agent steeped in mobile platforms. Sellers and buyers are routinely using Facebook and other social media to sell and seek, not to mention dozens of online selling sites. Some agents (like us!) are even making YouTube videos to showcase their homes, making it easier to quickly link topotential buyers via email. There's also an abundance of smartphone apps cropping up to review real estate listings and refine searches. Don't worry - April & I have this one covered!

There are other items to be considered in the purchase or sale of a home.  This may well be the year to make the move!  Inventories are shrinking, and rates are low.  If you have ever wanted to sell at a fair value, and buy at a fair value, that window has opened!

April & Dale