Relocating to Denver?
Relocating to Denver?
Denver is nick named The Mile High City for a reason, it is 5280 feet above sea level. The ‘burbs are even higher in altitude. Many people who fly into to the city find they don’t physically feel very good for a day or two. Headaches and fatigue are usually the worse symptoms. This is not uncommon and with some preparation, can be avoided completely.
Prevention is the key!
Altitude illness is usually preventable if ascent to altitude is slow. Symptoms can range anywhere from annoyance to life threatening. Unlike many thing, being in excellent physical condition has no bearing on one’s ability to acclimate to altitude.
* Relax, take it easy! Don’t overdo it the first day or two. That could ruin the rest of your week. Stop early when you start to feel fatigue or any prolonged breathlessness. Just relax and don’t rush it.
* Drink Lots of Fluids…especially water!
* Avoid Alcohol, tranquilizers and sleeping pills for the first two nights if possible. All of these things slow your body’s adjustment to higher elevations. This is critical if you exhibit any of the symptoms.
* Take Medication that’s available to prevent altitude illness, its symptoms and to speed acclimation. There is prescription medication which helps prevent and treat symptoms associated with altitude illness and speeds up elevation acclimation.
The Reality is…most people fly into Denver and expect to spend the rest of the day looking at houses. While that may be a good plan for getting more done in a short amount of time, it doesn’t always work. The first day house shopping is stressful enough on its own. The best plan here is to take it slow so you don’t end up with a stress headache that takes you out for another day. Save the big day for Day 2 when you have had time to acclimate.
Taking this advice will assure you are relaxed and ready to make good decisions in your home purchase.
Denver’s Light Rail Offers Commuters More Choices
Searching for a home in the Denver Metro area can be frustrating. It’s not that there aren’t many homes to choose from, but often the home buyer’s requirements are at odds with reality. Personal tastes, budget constraints and commute time come into play every time. Today’s buyers are torn with choices finding they cannot have it all.
The optimum scenario for many home buyers is an affordable home in a good school district within 20 minutes to work. It is not surprising to learn, most people don’t care to spend extra time behind the steering wheel. No one wants to waste extra time or have to listen to talk radio any longer than absolutely necessary!
RTD Light Rail at Lincoln Station
When I tell my customers about the RTD Light Rail and how convenient it is to take they are delighted! One recent client is planning his home purchase around the Lincoln Light Rail Station. He determined his “commuting threshold” is 45 minutes plus 20 minutes by car to work. He’s fine with this because he plans to get extra work done on the Light Rail. In the past he hated commuting because every minute behind the wheel was a non-productive minute. Now armed with his notebook computer he can turn wasted commuting time into a slotted, regular work day.
Now before you pass judgment with this decision, let’s reveal the rest of the facts. This home buyer just purchased a brand new 2800 s.f. (plus basement) home, 4 bedrooms, den, enormous gourmet kitchen, 3 car garage, backing to open space in a pool community for $325,000! Oh yes and the brainiac daughter gets to go to the Douglas County High School so she can be in the IB Program.
The end result has pleased everyone in the family.
There is never only one answer to a problem. We find solutions to problems by considering all the alternatives then testing them out. I love working with my clients to solve problems and find new and interesting paths to their happiness.
Ax Your Utility Bill
A totally true saying in Colorado is “if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.” This past week 
was proof positive as we have enjoyed temps from the 40’s to the 80’s with both sunshine and rain.
As luck would have it, my relocation assignment this week came from sunny California to our rainy Colorado. It only rained for 1 and 1/2 days, the entire time he was here. Now I’m not making any accusations, just saying it was a terrible coincidence. My client must have had our weather on the mind, because every house he had even a slight interest in, he wanted to know the average utility bill. Funny how seldom people think about the cost of utilities when buying a house.
Of course now that energy costs are sky rocketing, everyone should be more cautious. It was easy for me to oblige my soggy client, thanks to the 24/7 service Xcel Energy provides. With just a quick call to them (even at 10:00 p.m.) I was able to fulfill my assignment!
What did strike me as odd was the HUGE disparity in average utility bills. The range for approximately the same size homes ran from $95 to $262 a month! Now in all fairness the $262 a month housed a family twice the size of the $95 a month. We didn’t take into consideration other factors such as energy efficient windows and such. Certainly that will account for significant savings. Also I recall the $95 a month home was southwest facing with lots of natural solar properties. I bet that helps in normally sunny Colorado!
As energy cost rise I’m thinking all buyers should be considering the average utility bill before making a home purchase. The reality is a well-built home that uses all the right construction materials over a home that doesn’t should be part of the home buying decision. So many times buyers purchase with their HEART instead of their HEAD.
I do believe the times they are a changin’.
Note the photo! This too came my way just this today in fact. I was up in Conifer when out of the corner of my eye I noticed this amazing wood pile. Someone plans to be toasty warm this winter.
Wonder what a cord of wood costs? On second thought I betcha this one cost the cutter a few gazillon calories!
Home Inspection
Saturday evening, most people are relaxing after a satisfying work week. Some may even be popping the corks off wine bottles celebrating a moment or just enjoying life.
Tonight I was at a celebration of a different kind, a home inspection. This week I worked with a buyer who is relocating here from the Washington D.C. area. It was her second time out and the first time to seriously look at homes.
We spent two days touring all the homes that fit her specific criteria in the Highlands Ranch area. On Thursday night we wrote the offer which was accepted late Friday. With one full day left before she went home, we scheduled a home inspection!
Much to my surprise, John Braddock the inspector who I can always count on agreed to do it Saturday night, the first time he had available! We were delighted at the prospect of my buyer being able to return home with her mission accomplished! So we accepted the appointment.
My hat goes off to the family with young children who agreed to leave us in their home for 3 hours on a Saturday night! They were most gracious and accommodating, in fact they left us fresh, home-made chocolate chip cookies! Yum!
The inspection went quickly as John called in his partner, Ryan. At the end we celebrated by clinking our water bottles in a toast to us and all the people that pull together to make a real estate transaction happen.
Thank you to the buyers, sellers, inspectors, listing agent, relo manager (who accepted the offer at home after hours), assistants and the future helpers; appraiser, title reps, closer and the neighbors who will welcome the new comers to Colorado!
Oh I forgot the mention Frances Wehner, the loan officer who took time out of her Saturday to travel to Park Meadows Mall to meet with the buyer as a convenience as to not interrupt her shopping!
Tomorrow my buyer goes home satisfied. She visited all the schools, registered the pre-schooler, shopped in her future grocery store, got a pedicure, went to the mall and purchased a home! All in 5 days.
Now that is what I call a productive week!
Welcome to Denver!
Denver’s housing market strong
Yesterday I received a telephone call from John Rebchook, the real estate journalist for the Rocky Mountain News. 
John shared with me some very good news contained in a report by PMI. You can read the whole news here; PMI Study: Denver’s Housing Market strong
Hearing the contents of the U.S. Market Risk Index is music to my ears. Finally an outside source who has a vested interest in providing good data is handing us a positive report! Denver continues to out-perform other Metro areas. As far as real estate is concerned we have a future and it is good.
Really.
There is not a day that goes by where I’m not talking and/or working with people who are relocating to the Denver area. So many are in a holding pattern until their homes sell in other areas.
No doubt our market isn’t going to light on fire anytime soon, but there are homes selling. In fact as in my example in the paper, we are finding more and more buyers are competing for the good homes.
Properties that are priced right and nicely cared for sell quickly. In fact I showed one last week to a client who couldn’t (actually wouldn’t) write an offer until his wife could see it. She can’t get here until this week. Well, you guessed it, the property is already under-contract. Congratulations to that seller, they did very well. I’ll just have to go find the Mrs. another home this week.
Yes, the Denver real estate market is selling. Prices may be down in some areas, but in others they aren’t judging the entire market by the overall stats is a HUGE mistake. Buyers and sellers have to look at the micro market in the area they plan to buy or sell. Assuming that statistics are a "one size fits all" rule, is harmful.
Call a pro, let your pro show you the facts, the whole facts. Then make your decision.
Colorado Bike Trail
Today is the first day of March and it was 70 degrees outside. Coloradoans were out in
droves, cycling, hiking and playing golf. I’m sure a bunch took advantage of the awesome weather and headed up into the hills for some winter adventures also.
The weather was so nice I got a very bad case of spring fever. All I wanted to think about is the good weather to come and what I would do when it arrives once again this spring. This thought process brought to mind the Colorado Front Range Trail I remembered hearing about awhile ago.
The Colorado Front Range Trail is an ambitious project initiated in 2003 to build new and connect existing trails together to create a multi-use trail along the front range of the Rocky Mountains. The trail is to stretch from Wyoming to Trinidad in southern Colorado.
When completed the trail will be approximately 876-miles long! Now my first response was, no Colorado is not that long! Of course (grin) I was right. The trail is not one continuous long line going from north to south, but a compilation of many trails taking interesting turns off in every direction.
According to the Colorado State Parks website,
The 876-mile trail will link diverse communities, scenic landscapes, cultural and historic points, parks, open space and other.
The CFRT is a unique legacy that will enrich Colorado’s tourism and recreation resources, as well as our heritage and health.
At the present time the Colorado Front Range Trail is 30% complete. A quick look at the maps on the Colorado Parks website shows the planned route. Some of it is still in conceptual stage, but much is completed. This month another milestone has passed; two million dollars was approved to start the construction and/or land/easement/right-of-way acquisition of segments of the CFRT.
Construction…sweet words to my ears! I hope it won’t be long until I can take one of these lonely bikes off the wall and head for the trail. It would be a blast to be able to spend a week or two riding, never leaving the safety and protection of the trail for more than a short time. I can hardly wait!
The concept is wonderful in so many ways. The citizens of Colorado will be able to enjoy a wonderful resource right in our own back yard. I suspect people will come from out of state to join us once they learn how wonderful it is!
Sound like a dream come true? It will be only in a matter of time.
Colorado I love you! Let me count the ways…
Home Buying Blues Dealing with Disappointment
The search for a home today ended with disappointment for my buyers. Yesterday we
were ecstatic to learn the home we lost 2 weeks ago had come back on the market. As soon as I learned of the other buyer’s deal falling, I hustled my clients over to the house to take another look.
It seems the buyers that beat us out discovered an issue with the furnace, it didn’t work. The seller opted to replace the furnace, but other details unknown to me caused the buyers to back out of the deal. My guess? Someone’s ego got in the way.
Their loss was our gain. My clients have been in mourning over losing this house. Imagine my excitement to learn the home was back on the market!
This time we managed to rewrite our offer, raising our offer price to match what the seller had previously agreed too. I wasn’t sure this offer would now be good enough since the seller had additional expenses to improve the home. Needless to say, we decided to start at a fair price, higher than when we left off.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work. Another offer came in with a better bottom line for the seller. He sold the house to them.
Again we are left out in the cold.
So what did we learn?
Denver has significant inventory of houses on the market. Most of which are not priced well and/or show poorly. In my experience if we tour ten homes, one out of that ten will be far better than all the others. This one home will be clean, neat, well kept and generally show it has been “loved!” This home will be the one that sells.
What I am seeing in the Denver real estate market are quite a few buyers looking for this specially “loved” home. When found it is not unusual to have competition in the bidding of the home.
Strange as it seems, it does make sense. Buyers sometimes fail to remember they aren’t the only consumers searching for The Home! Others are searching at the same time, looking at the same poorly positioned inventory as you. When the “loved” home is found, everyone wants it!
Lessons can be learned on both sides of the real estate transaction.
As a seller, it is obvious to take the time to make your home stand out. Make it better than the competition. By taking the time to make it shine, you will lesson your DOM (days on market). Proper presentation will result in a quicker sale, most likely at a higher price, most every time.
Buyers lessons are a little more difficult;
- Time is of the essence. If you find The Home, don’t delay, write it up before someone else does.
- Be prepared to move (physically) to match the seller’s needs. By being prepared to work with the seller on this negotiation item, you stand a better chance of gaining on an alternative negotiation item.
- Don’t be lured into a false sense of security because of what you read in the newspapers. The news you read is about a collective real estate market. The Denver real estate market is anything BUT collective. Each sale in each neighborhood is as unique as your finger prints. Homes are selling. Proof is easily found by looking at the sold comparables in the neighborhood.
- Leave your ego locked in the car. Buyers and sellers get crosswise for the darnedest reasons. Take care not to let an ego item quash the sale of a home that meets your criteria. It really isn’t worth walking away from a home over a silly emotion.
So you are probably thinking, why did we miss out? That is a question that crosses my mind frequently. Part of the problem was lack of trust.
Trusting the system is very hard to do. Believing what we were hearing was a leap, the home had been on the market well over 100 days, so why now were we expected to accept there were multiple offers? Well I could tell by several clues the house was being shown, so I knew the agent probably wasn’t lying.
Conveying this knowledge to the buyer didn’t help, they didn’t trust the information was true. They believed the other agent was delivering a “sales pitch.”
I don’t blame my clients for not trusting the other agent’s information. Sales pitches in real estate are part of life, unfortunately… but Life leaves clues. We must learn to look for and trust the clues.
As an old time Realtor, I trust the clues, but I don’t make the decisions for my clients. I just deliver the information, it’s up to them to develop the strength to make the right decision.
They will.
For now we will regroup, look at some more homes. Eventually another home will come on the market and next time we will jump on it…with confidence.
Disappointment is just another emotion in the home buying process. We live, we learn we get on with the process of buying a home.
Besides I heard “the third time is a charm.”
Denver is a Cow Town…not!
Last week I had the sheer pleasure of dispelling my Denver real estate client’s belief that Denver is a cow town! Coming from the left coast he had never set foot outside of DIA! Imagine that! Now DIA is a world class airport, but it hardly makes up for all the terrific things our cool city has to offer.
I must admit the sounds of my client’s amazement was music to my ears. Showing off the city is one of my favorite things to do. What other city has so much to offer? We have every professional sports club you can think of. We have the incredible Denver Center for Performing Arts Center complex, multiple art, science and history museums, outdoor activities that span all four seasons, great shopping, a distinct art district, excellent public schools and Universities. As a western city with cowboy roots Denver is also entrenched in technology, conservation, green building, bio-medicine, medical research and space.
Package the activities together with some of the most affordable housing costs in the west, a awesome climate with lots of sunshine and place it at the foot of America’s playground, the Rocky Mountains and you have a recipe for a very attractive place to live.
,Don’t get me wrong, Denver does love cows, so much in fact each year we proudly parade them down 17th Street. The National Western Stock Show Parade is just another example of how well Denver blends the past with present.
Of course my client took very little time to agree with me. He is looking forward to relocation his family here very soon. Denver real estate is in fact alive and well. The best news is; People WANT to move to Denver!
That in itself says a lot.
Denver classic homes
Driving around the neighborhoods of Denver, its hard not to admire the lovely classic homes. Denver has many landmarked districts where the neighborhood relishes restoration instead of replacement.
Today on a chilly, winter morning we leisurely drove up and down Denver city streets enjoying a "bus man’s holiday." Yes, all week we deal with Denver real estate, and even on a day off we find ourselves drawn to exploring.
The good thing about doing a self tour is that you can start in any of the many fine neighborhoods; Seventh Ave. Parkway, Cheesman, Congress Park, Country Club, Cherry Creek are the areas we toured today. (Visit the Denver Classic Home Photo Gallery)
If you have a hankering for some International Colorado History, visit the Molly Brown House Museum at 1340 Pennsylvania Street. Molly was a Denver Socialite who survived the Titanic. Her lovely Victorian home is a delight to visit and a perfect ending to a Denver classic home tour.
Colorado Hospitals Report Card
This year I had the experience of spending time in two hospitals. Not as a patient, but once as a wife and another as a daughter. My husband ended up as a patient in Sky Ridge Medical Center located in Lone Tree.
A few months later, my father became ill and became a patient at a 100 year old hospital in N.J. In fact it was the Jersey Shore Medical Center, the same hospital I was born in a few million moons ago.
The contrast between the two hospitals was vast, I can hardly compare the differences. The Colorado Hospital was run like a hotel, it was spotlessly clean, with attentive staff who provided outstanding care. My favorite part was how my husband was able to call “room service” when he was hungry. He was there for nearly a week and didn’t have one complaint.
The N.J. hospital experience was less than wonderful. My Father’s care was abysmal. He was left unattended for long periods of time, developed bed sores and other infections. Now granted older folks tend to develop issues younger folks don’t get. The fact he was left unattended on a floor that was supposedly “intensive care” was unforgivable. More than once me or my sister had to run in search of staff for assistance.
Given a chance to choose which hospital to go, I can assure you based on this experience I would never go back to Jersey Shore for care. But aside from my personal experience, how does one know where to go?
In this age of transparency where consumers are demanding to have information in order to make choices, Colorado has now stepped forward to provide exactly that! Last month Governor Bill Ritter unveiled a new website intended to help consumers make more informed medical choices.
The Colorado Hospital Report Card is available for all to review. It provides information about mortality rates and lists the number of cases each hospital handles for 34 procedures.
The information will be updated annually. Colorado hospitals are required to report on clinical measures so consumers can compare.
Now consumers can research a hospital and pick the one with the best track record. No more do we consumers have to make choices based on Blind Faith!
It might also raise the standard of hospital care in Colorado by bringing competition into the picture.
Overall transparency is good for everyone.
Hooray for Colorado by leading the way in the fight to improve health care. As a Denver Realtor need I say, it’s just one more reason to call Colorado home. 
[where: 80124]
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