Didi you know that the average American household spends $2000 annually on energy costs? That’s more than on either taxes or homeowner’s insurance. A new bill before Congress would require mortgage underwriters to recognize this expense when calculating a borrowers ability to service their mortgage.

The aim of the bill, the Sensible Accounting to Value Energy Act (SAVE), a bipartisan effort sponsored by Sens. Bennet (D-Col.) and Isakson (R-Ga.) is to enable borrowers to finance cost-effective energy upgrades as part of their mortgage, while giving lenders a more complete picture of a borrower’s ability to service their mortgage.

While on the surface this might seem like a good idea, there are naturally other issues to be considered. Energy consumption varies widely from household to household, and is often as much a reflection on lifestyle as a home’s energy efficiency. Just ask anyone who has wrestled with their spouse over where to set the thermostat in wintertime. The SAVE Act would seek to work around this anomaly by comparing energy bills from household to household, not borrower to borrower.

Opponents counter that  promoting efficient energy consumption falls in the domain of local government working in tandem with local building codes, not mortgage underwriters. While it would seem that adding another layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine process of mortgage underwriting might make both lenders and borrowers nervous, any debate that focusses attention on energy consumption, and how we as individuals, communities and a nation confront the twin specters of rising energy costs and dwindling natural resources, seems to be a debate worth having.

For more on this story, read here.

As law-makers in Washington grapple with the twin issues of rising national debt and falling tax revenues, one of the proposals on the table before the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is the elimination of the mortgage-interest deduction provision in the current tax code.

This provision allows home owners to lower their tax liability by claiming the interest they pay on their mortgage as a tax deduction. Proponents, such as Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, argue that the deduction effectively lowers the cost of home ownership, in his opinion one of the cornerstones of a stable, democratic society.

Others studies counter that the deduction conversely inflates the cost of housing by as much as three to six percent, and favors those with the ability to buy larger, more expensive homes, and is to the detriment of those in lower income tax brackets.

It would seem that if Congress is to make any moves to repeal the mortgage-interest deduction, it is likely be phased out over time, and be offset with a universal tax credit. This would assist all level of income earners equally, while still yielding significant savings for the Federal Government – the current deductions cost Uncle Sam approximately $100 billion per year.

Regardless of the outcome of the debate, now is still a great time to buy a home. Prices are continuing a steady decline, and interest rates are at all time historic lows. It seems buyers looking in Chaffee County are taking advantage of these factors. According to Chaffee County MLS figures year to date, 2011 is seeing a modest increase in sales volume over 2010. It would seem things like quality of life and value for money never go out of fashion.

When I first came to Salida, some twenty years ago, like many I was struck by the small town charm and atmosphere. Writing a letter to friends back in New Zealand ( no email in those days ) I described Salida as the kind of town where I expected to bump into Andy Griffith wearing a sheriff’s uniform.

This sleepy, leafy charm was reinforced by reading through the headlines in the local newspaper, The Mountain Mail. While the lives of others living in larger metropolitan areas take place to the background noise of dramatic events and conflicts, here in Salida our concerns are generally of a more mundane nature.

Right now, with an election looming in November, ballot issues are beginning to dominate the headlines, in particular a County sponsored initiative to increase taxes to offset loss of revenue that is affecting the County’s ability to maintain traditional services.

Cristo’s Over The River project is never far from the front page also, and I cannot think of a single event that had caused as much controversy in the time I have lived here. In 1994 I took some folks from Cristo’s team down the Arkansas River where they set up weather stations to ascertain the best locations to drape the fabric over the river, so this project has been in the pipeline a long time.

Opponents state negative impact on wildlife, disruption to their daily lives – particularly traffic congestion on the Highway 50 corridor, and lack of access to the river for fly fishing and other recreational pursuits as reasons for opposing the project. Proponents point to the overall boost to the local economy such a major event will have on the region, as well as shining the international spotlight on the Arkansas valley as reasons to proceed.

And then there was last week’s early season snow storm, which brought significant snow to the mountains, and allowed residents to awake on Saturday morning to a winter wonderland. As is typically the case here, the snow in town melted off pretty quickly, but the mountains retain their covering, boding well for the coming ski season.

So, while our headlines here may lack the attention-grabbing aspects of other media outlets, in a way that is the point of why we choose to live here. Long may it remain so.

Susan Dempsey-Hughes, owner / broker of Pinon Real Estate Group, was recently voted by her peers as Realtor of the Year for the Chaffee County MLS district.

Susan is a native of Palm Beach, Florida, and like many residents of this valley, came here for what was intended to be a short time but wound up falling in love – both with the community, and her husband Zach, whom she met while kayaking in 1996. They have two young daughters, Isabelle ( Izzy ) and Margaret ( Maggie ).

Initially working as a river guide and kayak instructor, Susan gained her real estate license in 2002, and rapidly became one of the area’s top producing brokers. She joined Pinon Real Estate Group in February 2008, and became owner / broker in January 2010.

“I am humbled at the recognition, especially satisfying as it came from my peers,” says Susan. “I look on it more as an acknowledgement of all the good work our company does in the community. I feel privileged to work with the people I work with, and to live where I do.”