Although the city of Aspen Colorado is noted as the ultimate ski resort of the world, there is really much more that Aspen can offer than skiing, that is, the spirit of elegance and romance of Aspen Breakfast and Bed inns and lodgings. A number of Aspen Colorado bed and breakfast inns and lodgings are actually out there; almost all of them are noted for offering the great deals on quality and style. To mention but a few, below is a list of these Aspen inns.
Snow Queen Victorian Lodge
The Snow Queen Victorian Lodge was founded in 1886 and was named “The Jewel of Aspen” by the Historic Society. This place is just two blocks away from the heart of the town and within easy walking distance to Aspen Mountain ski lifts and shuttle buses to the three surrounding ski areas. The Snow Queen Victorian Lodge, as one of the best Aspen Colorado bed and breakfast inns greatly specializes in an affable atmosphere with western hospitality. This Aspen breakfast and bed inn features rooms that are named after famous silver mines in the town. All of their rooms are equipped with great amenities with state of the art designs. And, much to your surprise, sample homemade breads and muffins generally visit at breakfast, or after an activity filled day.
Glenwood Springs Victorian Bed and Breakfast
The Glenwood Springs Victorian Bed and Breakfast is particularly situated on the Colorado Avenue that provides lodging in the center of the historic downtown of Glenwood Springs and the Roaring Folk Valley. This Aspen Colorado bed and breakfast lodging was founded on 1909 and continues to offer the spirit of true Victorian elegance and modest which are particularly taken from its charming ’stick’ style. And, just like the other Aspen inns, most of the major attractions in the town like the caves, canyons, caverns, and adventure land are just steps away from this fantastic hub.
Hotel Lenado
Hotel Lenado is an Aspen Colorado bed and breakfast inn that features architecturally award winning 19 rooms. This wonderful Aspen inn is located in the downtown Aspen. It greatly offers gourmet breakfast that is worthy of compliments, as well as onsite bar, roof deck hot tub overlooking the Aspen Mountain, concierge, and even twice daily maid service. And, this Aspen Colorado bed and breakfast inn is also composed of warm and friendly staff that attends to your every need.
Aspen Colorado Breakfast and Bed Inns
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Austin’s Identity Crisis for Downtown Austin Real Estate
I don’t know if you’ve noticed— it’s certainly hard to miss— but the landscape around Austin is changing. As is the skyline. As is the… well, the feel of the city. The flavor.
Some Austinites are not excited about the changes going on. The corporations moving in, the family-owned and operated businesses go down while the thirty-six story condos go up. People who have lived here all their lives (or even just more than ten years) say that this is a different city than the one they remember. Back when they might not even have called Austin a “city.”
There was a time when Motorola was just a type of phone people had, not a place where they worked. When video games were a thing people played, not designed. Where Dell was a thing from a song about a farmer, not a computer company. In short, there was a time when Austin was a big, friendly village where everyone seemed to know everyone.
Now, it’s hard to see the sky without noticing the foreboding skeleton of an incoming condominium projects or a crane in your periphery. Developers are buying up land and displacing local businesses in order to get the best spot downtown for a high rise that will dwarf all the others, that will sell for more money, that will be nicer and closer to all the downtown Austin attractions.
But what are those attractions?
There will always be a Congress Bridge, and so there will always be bats. But will people want to walk from the Sheraton to see them, then get a drink at the Coyote Ugly Saloon franchise? Will they want to eat at the Baby Acapulco’s? What will make the town special when Las Manitas is gone, when all the little businesses that got us to this point are gone, and the only choices for restaurants are in the lobbies of the newest hotels?
What will make Austin Austin? It’s a good question.
It’s easy to see that the city has lost some its appeal. Its uniqueness, its originality. Big business has a way of doing that. But is it so bad? Is it really true that there will be nothing left?
Those small, local places brought people here, it’s true. And they certainly gave Austin its flavor. But millions more people are here now. The city has grown by leaps and bounds. People still need places to live. And the more people there are, the more money is being spent. There is much to be thankful for when we think about this new “bigger” Austin. The Austin real estate market values go up. Many businesses prosper. The city has more money to improve infrastructure and city services like parks. Its hard to allow it to change some of what we love, and some of the changes I’m not happy with. But overall I think it will be okay.
The key is that the people are still here. The same people that made Austin the coolest city in the… well, in my opinion in the entire country —are still here. They’re still waving at you from their yard, still smiling at you on the street. The buildings aren’t the personality in the city —the people in them are. So let’s make sure those people don’t go anywhere, and we’re all gonna be just fine. Yes, we may have to part with a couple businesses and landmarks dear to our hearts, but as long as Austinites keep true to what we love about this city, we will retain the part of our identity that is the most important.
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Mortgage Loan Approval Sometimes Need a Human Touch
In the mid 1990’s, the mortgage industry saw the credit score and its predictive power to assess a borrower’s ability to repay a mortgage step into the limelight as one of the most indicative factors for loan approval. After conducting statistical test after statistical test, Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie, the 3 big lending institutions, mandated that the credit score should be used in conjunction with manual underwriting to assess loan approval. Not too long after, automated underwriting systems (AUS) were developed that expedited and streamlined the underwriting process even further for lenders. A loan officer today simply inputs a borrower’s key information into the preferred underwriting automatic engine, such as his/her credit score, income, amount being borrowed, cash reserves, employment and housing history, and the value of the property. A response is returned by the underwriting engine recommending approval or denial for the loan.
If your loan receives a denial from an AUS, the buck doesn’t necessarily stop there. Life happens to people, and oftentimes it’s going to take a real live person understanding the nuances of a file to make an underwriting decision. That’s when your lender may suggest submitting your file to underwriting for a manual review. After all, not everything in life can be automatic, right?
A perfect scenario for a manually underwritten file would be someone who has no credit scores. No credit scores? Yes, it is possible. I’ve had customers who, being old school and always having paid for everything in cash, had never established traditional credit lines that reported to credit reporting bureaus. In a case such as this one, I had to submit non-traditional lines of credit to underwriting, something a machine can’t assess. This means I had my customer bring in bills he had paid on time for the past year to create a credit history. Typical ones used are car insurance, utility bills, cell phone bills and cable bills. You can expect to have to provide 3-4 different trade lines if you haven’t established a traditional credit history and score.
“The most typical reason we see a file submitted to us for manual underwriting is for either no credit score or an error reported on a credit report,” reflects Patricia Haynes, onsite Government Underwriter at Mortgage Investors Group. “For instance a judgement that doesn’t really belong to the borrower. Maybe it’s really Dad’s judgement reflected on the son’s report because Junior and Dad have the same name. That’s when I can overwrite an AUS decision because I have the documentation to support my decision to do so in front of me.”
Another very common reason to submit a loan for a manual underwrite is when your customer’s credit score is below 620 and gets an AUS denial. If this is the case with your loan, be prepared to provide more than average documentation about your credit history, as well as written explanations as to why your credit score has suffered recently. Maybe two years ago you had a financial meltdown due to a medical illness, but in the last twelve months, you can prove you are back on your game and have been repaying debt. However, your credit scores haven’t exactly caught up with your actions. An underwriter is going to piece together the different aspects of your file and see if it makes sense. Your home lender should be able to review your file and guide you as to what documentation an underwriter will want from you to grant you loan approval.
Naturally, if your credit score is really low and you have very little explanation for your state of credit affairs other than you failed to pay your bills on time, don’t hold your breath for loan approval. An underwriter can see through smoke and mirrors. After looking at files as long as they have, they can basically sniff out a loan that has merit from the ones that are too risky.
So, even as our world gets more and more automated every day, it’s nice to know that you can’t replace genuine common sense, even in the mortgage industry. And it’s nice to know that you can plead your case for credit worthiness to a real live human being.
