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MetroBrokerIPTV: This is Metro Brokers TV. We are at the Habitat for Humanity project in Commerce City, Colorado and I am with Sharon Kratze and welcome Sharon.

Sharon Kratze: Hello.

MetroBrokerIPTV: How are you doing today?

Sharon Kratze: I am doing very well thank you.

MetroBrokerIPTV: So, which Metro Brokers company are you with and which office do you work out of?

Sharon Kratze: I am Metro Broker, Kay & Company and we are out of the Platt Park location.

MetroBrokerIPTV: Is this your first time with Habitat for Humanity on a project?

Sharon Kratze: Yes, it is.

MetroBrokerIPTV: And what have you been up to today?

Sharon Kratze: Well, we have been hammering in deadwood, so that the drywall has something to secure to it when they put it up on the ceiling.

MetroBrokerIPTV: Is this your first participation with the volunteer effort for Metro Brokers?

Sharon Kratze: Yes, it is and everybody should do it I might add.

MetroBrokerIPTV: Yeah, I think we should be involved in a lot more let's just say giving of our time versus giving of our monies in regards to projects.

Sharon Kratze: I agree completely.

MetroBrokerIPTV: Well, we really appreciate you being out here today Sharon. Thank you very much.

Sharon Kratze: Thank you. Thank you. Have a good day.

 

 

MetroBrokersIPTV: This is Metro Brokers TV and we are at the Habitat for Humanity project and I am with Ron Herdt and Ron welcome.

Ron Herdt: Thank you.

MetroBrokersIPTV: So, which office do you work out of Ron?

Ron Herdt: I work at downtown Metro Broker office. My company is called Cityscape Real Estate Metro Brokers.

MetroBrokersIPTV: Great. How long have you been with Metro Brokers then?

Ron Herdt: Six years.

MetroBrokersIPTV: Six years? How about volunteerism? Is this your first time you have been on a volunteer project for Metro Brokers?

Ron Herdt: This is my first time. It is very enjoyable. It is nice to see a project like this going on underway. It is going to be a part of it.

MetroBrokersIPTV: Yeah, I think it is a little bit different giving human power versus just dollars.

Ron Herdt: I agree.

MetroBrokersIPTV: So, what have you been involved with then today?

Ron Herdt: Well, I have been doing part of this painting up on the upper floor here.

MetroBrokersIPTV: So, you are driving a part of the Metro Brokers volunteer effort then and I think we contributed to a lot of causes in the past.

Ron Herdt: Yes, absolutely. Count me in for next year too.

MetroBrokersIPTV: Yep. Great. Well, Ron thanks for chatting with us and you are doing a great job here today.

 

MetroBrokersIPTV: Welcome to Metro Brokers TV and we are at a Habitat for Humanity project here in Commerce City, Colorado and I am talking with Michael Amoroso and welcome Michael.

Michael Amoroso: Thank you.

MetroBrokersIPTV: Hey, we are surprised to see all the work and help here and actually the real quality of construction that is going on in this project.

Michael Amoroso: Well, it is always kind of uplifting to have volunteers coming out here that have never really done anything like this before and especially when we are hitting record heat today as far as day in the 90s I believe and they are still paying attention to detail and getting the job done and keeping us on schedule.

MetroBrokersIPTV: Now, how long have you been with Habitat for Humanity?

Michael Amoroso: I have been working with Metro Denver for about almost three years now.

MetroBrokersIPTV: How did, you were in the private sector. How does it compare with private sector and what keeps you at Habitat?

Michael Amoroso: The, well, I worked in the private sector for a long time and I believe that here it is, there is a little more meaning behind the work and people take a little more pride in what they are doing. It is not all about speed and getting as many houses done as you can. It is more about putting a family in a good quality home that is energy efficient and when you are working with volunteers, they tend to pay a little more attention to detail. They are not so worried about just collecting a pay check at the end of the week and take a lot of pride in their work.

MetroBrokersIPTV: So, how important are volunteers to the projects you guys run?

Michael Amoroso: They are entirely the backbone of it. I couldn't do it by myself and the other supervisors I am sure feel the same way that it is just, there is a lot of work that goes into these houses. We generally build houses in about three months on average from foundation up and it is shocking to me everyday to come out and see volunteers that can actually get that amount of work done in such a short amount of time and not cut corners.

MetroBrokersIPTV: Well, I know Metro Brokers has been involved in this project for a couple of years and we always seem to have pretty good turnout and most of the people seem really fulfilled being involved in a project.

Michael Amoroso: Yeah, it is great to have them out here and they have been doing a good job and they are bearing with us in the heat today.

MetroBrokersIPTV: Well, Michael it has been a pleasure speaking with you. You guys do great work. Thank you.

Michael Amoroso: Thank you. Appreciate it.

 

Wendy Smith on Habitat for Humanity

MetroBrokersIPTV: Welcome to Metro Brokers TV. I am with Wendy Smith with Metro Brokers Cherry Tree Properties and Wendy Smith welcome.

Wendy Smith: Thank you. Hello.

MetroBrokersIPTV: Just curious how things are going out here today at the Habitat project.

Wendy Smith: Oh, it has been fine. It is going very well.

MetroBrokersIPTV: What kind of things have you been involved in?

Wendy Smith: I am painting. So, we are painting the rear of the house and the second story. We set up scaffolding and now we are actually getting the paint on the house.

MetroBrokersIPTV: Okay. Have you worked with Habitat projects before? Is this your first time?

Wendy Smith: This is my very first time with Habitat.

MetroBrokersIPTV: So, what do you think?

Wendy Smith: I love it. It is very...

MetroBrokersIPTV: It is great seeing you out here. It is nice to see Metro Brokers involved in the community and pitching into a great project like Habitat.

Wendy Smith: Yeah. It has been a lot of fun. Very rewarding.

MetroBrokersIPTV: All right. Thanks Wendy.

Wendy Smith: Absolutely.

 

MetroBrokersIPTV: This is Metro BrokersTV, with Metro Broekrs, and we are at the Habitat for Humanity project out here in Commerce City, Colorado and I am with Allison Moe and welcome Allison.

Allison Moe: Thank you.

MetroBrokersIPTV: I understand you are the construction superintendent.

Allison Moe: Yeah, supervisor out here.

MetroBrokersIPTV: So, how did you get that position? Did you go to college?

Allison Moe: I did. I studied architecture and social theory in college and when I got done I wanted to learn how to build houses, not just how to draw them. So, I got myself involved through AmeriCorps, which is a national service program and from there, they hired me on as a full time staff member.

MetroBrokersIPTV: Well, so long have you been with Habitat then?

Allison Moe: Three years overall, two years here in Denver.

MetroBrokersIPTV: How many other projects do you think Habitat has going on in the Denver metro area now?

Allison Moe: We right now are probably doing about 12 units. Now, that is only on a couple of different sites; this for example is a duplex, so it is two units on one site, but at any given time, it is between 9 and 13 or 14.

MetroBrokersIPTV: Well, so, how about the materials here. I am curious. How do you guys get your materials? Are they all donated or you buy them?

Allison Moe: We do have to buy probably about 90% of the materials that we use on the houses. There are some that are donated; it is a nation wide sponsorship. Dow Industries donates a blue R3 insulating foam. It is also a vapor barrier. Whirlpool donates appliances. Again, this is done for every Habitat house built in the country. So, we benefit from that partnership greatly and then every once in a while somebody would donate shingles or paint or something like that, but we plan on purchasing everything.

MetroBrokersIPTV: So, the rest of the money then you said, you got about 10% in donations, where is the other 90% come from to build these homes?

Allison Moe: A lot of it is individual donations and sponsorships. Every house does have to have a sponsor to help us with some of those costs, but we are a home ownership program, which is a big miss conception, so, our homeowners buy these homes and they make monthly mortgage payments to Habitat. We act as the bank and so we use the money that they are paying every month to help us build more houses.

MetroBrokersIPTV: That's interesting. I didn't realize that Habitat was actually acting as a financier for these projects.

Allison Moe: Yeah. That's the way we are working. So, what is nice is that the more houses we build, the more houses we can afford to build in an area, so it is sort of a self sustaining and self growing process.

MetroBrokersIPTV: Yeah, that's interesting. What kind of rate structure do you use as compared to say, are you familiar with interest rates and so forth?

Allison Moe: We are a zero interest mortgage company. Well, nonprofit, as a nonprofit, we do not charge interest.

MetroBrokersIPTV: Wow. That's great. Well, thank you very much Allison. You answered some great questions.

Allison Moe: Yeah.