Wednesday, January 30, 2013


Great Vail Valley Schools


Along with our great lifestyle here in Eagle, and the Vail Valley as a whole, we also have great schools for our kids to thrive in. Five schools in the area won awards in 2012 for their scholastic achievements and progress. Brush Creek Elementary and Eagle County Charter Academy won the John Irwin Award while the Governor's Distinguished Improvement Award was given to Edwards Elementary, Eagle Valley Middle School and Gypsum Creek Middle School.

The John Irwin Award is given to schools that demonstrate excellent academic achievements by exceeding expectations on the state's academic achievement indicator and the growth gap indicator. Both Brush Creek and Eagle County Charter were among 151 Colorado Schools chosen for this honor because of their continued growth in the fields of reading and math among the whole student body. This means that both schools have been great at narrowing the gap between their highest and lowest achieving students.

The Governor's Distinguished Improvement Award is given to the top 8% of public schools that have had great performance by growing their schools standards and shrinking the gap between students. This award was earned by Edwards Elementary, Eagle Valley Middle  and Gypsum Creek Middle Schools by having 97% of fifth and sixth graders score proficient or advanced in statewide tests; these scores were among the best in the state.

Congratulations to these schools! For a closer look at school ratings go to The Colorado Department of Education website or visit other valuation school sites by visiting schoolview.org and coloradoschoolgrades.com. You will see on these websites that we are fortunate to live in a beautiful area with many great activities as well as having schools that can prepare our kids for anything.

If you would like to talk further about Vail Valley schools please contact me anytime.










Saturday, January 12, 2013

Slifer Smith & Frampton Broker of the Week



Hi Everyone, I hope you all enjoyed your Holiday Season. I enjoyed mine with my family and am excited to begin the new year. A great way to start is that I was fortunate enough to be named Broker of the Week by Slifer Smith & Frampton. My profile will be featured on our Facebook page where you can also enter a sweepstakes to win a 2-night stay at the Four Seasons in Vail, Friday March 29 – Sunday March 31, 2013. This prize will give you a great weekend in Vail and also include parking & complimentary breakfast, and 2 VIP passes to the Vail Film Festival! You can visit my website to search for listings  our Facebook page to enter the Sweepstakes and the SSF Blog to keep up on happenings in the Vail Valley by clicking the links below.

To view my listings visit KimBradleyRealEstate.com.
Enter to win the Vail Premier Weekend sweepstakes by visiting the  SSF Facebook Page.

Thursday, January 3, 2013



What is a Fixture?


With so many homeowners remodeling their homes and adding new hardware it may cause some confusion about what sellers can take and what buyers are entitled to upon the sale of the home. As a general rule, anything permanently fixed or attached to something is a fixture. A thing is considered affixed to real property when it is attached to it by roots, imbedded in it, permanently resting upon it, or permanently attached to what is thus permanent, as by means of cement, plaster, nails, bolts, or screws. If you need tools to take it, the object probably belongs to the house. 

This is not to say that you can't keep the antique mirror you have on you wall... just make exclusion clear in your listing contract as well as the purchase contract. A better option than that is to completely remove the item from the home so buyers don't even have the item on their wish list. As is human nature, when buyers see something like a mirror and are told they can't have it, they will want it even more. Buy a cheap mirror or something else to take the place and then put the treasured item in a safe place to alleviate all confusion.




Another place where confusion could arise is with landscaping. Many homes have expensive landscaping formations and gardens that the sellers have put in place and want to keep. Unless they remove these things before the listing period starts, or specifically exclude them in the listing, they come with the house. So that beautiful trellis of roses you may want after moving out is considered a fixture and part of the sale of the home.

A good way to avoid all of the issues that may come up is to walk through your home with your broker before putting it on the market and look at each item to decide what stays and what goes. If you, as the seller, want to keep something either make a note in the listing agreement or even better, take it out of the home for safe keeping. The earlier you address these issues the better off you will be when a buyer comes in.

If you have any questions about fixtures or real estate in the Vail Valley in general please contact me anytime!