This is a revealing look at how banks process transactions. One good thing is that some banks (like Wells Fargo, who I use) have stopped using the automatic overdraft system and will simply not process a transaction that puts you in the red.

(source: Denver Post)

"A chemist with a bachelor's degree in microbiology, Lynn Egan is pretty savvy when it comes to numbers.

Like many, though, she's been treated unkindly by the economy, and she battles to stretch her dollar, keeping track of every dime.

That's why the Loveland mother of three "lost it," as she says, when she figured out how Wells Fargo Bank dinged her for seven overdraft fees instead of just one."

Read the rest of the story

(source: Denver Business Journal)

"Denver is the 11th-best place for job seekers among 50 large U.S. cities in the latest ranking by career search engine Juju.com, released Friday.

Denver's No. 11 ranking for August is the same as for July, but down a notch from the city's 10th-place June ranking.

Juju’s Job Search Difficulty Index is based on the ratio of jobless workers in a given market to job openings advertised online, which Juju compiles and lists on its website."

Read the rest of the story

I thought this was a really interesting (and sometimes eye-opening) look at the evolution of communication...
http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/the-shift-in-communication/

Will email become obsolete? Probably not.

Kids aren't talking on the phone as much these days, but is that necessarily a good thing? When a phone call is over, it's over (ok, my kids aren't teenagers yet so maybe I'm way off base) but with texting, it's ENDLESS!

There was a study done by the Colorado Association of Realtors lately that said that Denver real estate values increased 7.1% between 1999 and 2009. That's 7.1% TOTAL. Clearly that's not the case, so here are the facts...

Your Castle Real Estate analysis found that the average price for a home in Denver metro grew from $187,000 (1999) to $265,000 (2009). That’s an average of 3.5% PER YEAR, a total of 35%. Different studies have come up with different figures (45%, 52%) depending on the methodology and data used, but the fact is that it's not 7%, or anything close to that.

Apparently, the research group is standing by its findings.

For the full story, check out Rebchook's article.

And the follow up article.

Data courtesy of Lon Welsh, Your Castle Real Estate

Between 1/1/2008 and 6/30/2010:
- Sales were up in 2Q 2010 vs. 2Q 2009 (+13%).
- The number of REO (bank owned foreclosures) sales peaked in 1Q 2009, and has declined since then.
- The number of S/S (short sales) has been climbing steadily since their debut in 3Q 2008.
- For the first time, there were more luxury home S/S than REO sales in 2Q 2010.

This tells me that banks and sellers are both trying to avoid costly foreclosures and work out more short sales. The anticipated "crash" of the high end doesn't appear to be happening as we thought it might last winter. Prices are certainly down for the "distressed" properties, but the overall luxury market appears fairly solid.