VAIL - Habitat for Humanity of Eagle & Lake Counties is accepting applications in Colorado's Vail Valley. A community information night will be held on May 12 at Colorado Mountain College's Edwards campus. Important information about the application process and about Habitat home ownership will be provided.
The meeting will be held in English from 5:15 p.m. to 6 p.m. and in Spanish from 6 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. Applications will be distributed following this meeting.
The application deadline is 5 p.m. June 1. Those interested in getting an application before the community meeting can stop by the Habitat office in Eagle-Vail, by calling to have one mailed or by downloading it off the organization's website.
Habitat for Humanity selects families based on three criteria: degree of need, ability to pay and willingness to partner.
For more information about the family selection process, contact Emily at Emily@habitatvailvalley.org or at the Habitat office at 970-74

VAIL VALLEY, Colorado - Home loans have been harder to get ever since the nation's housing bubble burst a couple of years ago. But money's still out there, for the right borrowers.
The Vail Board of Realtors' general membership meeting Tuesday featured a panel of speakers from the lending industry to answer questions about home loans. The group - Scott Prince of Millennium Bank, Jeff Koch of Colorado Resort Lending and Jeff Wilson of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage - were asked about the future of interest rates and whether the current wave of foreclosures has crested. But they also answered questions about whether or not people can get money for home loans.
Wilson said reports that home loans have dried up are just "sensationalistic headlines," adding that Wells Fargo is writing mortgages for all kinds of property all over the nation.
Buyers are paying historically low interest rates, too. YahooFinance.com Tuesday pegged the average rate o

VAIL, Colorado - Lottery applications for two deed-restricted homes under construction in Vail are now available.
The price for Unit A of the Arosa Drive duplex in West Vail is $395,000, and Unit B is $405,000. Each half of the duplex has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a mud room, attached two-car garage, approximately 1,600 square feet of living space, a vaulted ceiling in the living room, gas-burning fireplace and forced air heat.
Floor plans are available at vailgov.com. The homes are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified, ensuring the highest degree of environmental construction and operation. The town will conduct an open house at the duplex Dec. 15, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., for interested buyers. No appointment is necessary. The site will otherwise remain closed to visitors due to safety concerns while construction continues.
Application packets for the housing lottery are available at vailgov.com or may be picked up from the Community D

AVON, Colorado - It's official: short-term rentals will be allowed in downtown Avon, Colorado.
The Town Council approved those rentals Tuesday night after hours of debate and public comment.
The change will not apply to areas north of Interstate 70 or so-called "planned unit developments" such as Wildridge.
The council voted 4-2 to approve a zoning overlay allowing the short-term rentals. Brian Sipes and Richard Carroll cast the "no" votes, saying they were leaning toward a case-by-case approval process for short-term rentals. Previously, renting out homes for 30 days or fewer was forbidden in town.
Avon, Colorado, resident Judy Neuharth, who rents out her home on weekends to cover her mortgage, has said she would lose her home if she could not rent it out on a short-term basis. She applauded the council's decision.
"I'm psyched," she said. "I can see that I can keep it (my home). Really I bought it as an investment

AVON, Colorado - Judy Neuharth said she would lose her home if she couldn't rent it out on a short-term basis.
"When the economy crunch happened and my salary want to a quarter of what I made two years ago, I thought, 'The only way to keep this place is to short-term rent," said the 65-year-old Avon, Colorado, resident, who sells furs for a living.
Neuharth said she rents her home on weekends to cover her mortgage, and she was among a crowd of people who spoke out in favor of short-term rentals at Tuesday's Town Council meeting.
The council approved short-term rentals in Avon's downtown along with neighborhoods north of Interstate 70 on a first reading of the law Tuesday. The matter is slated to come before council for a final vote Oct. 13. Town staff is looking into whether the change can apply to Wildridge and Wildwood, as well. Short-term rentals would be forbidden in deed-restricted housing.
Previously, the law prevented owners from renting their homes f