Commuting as a way of life
The Boulder metro area consists of not just the City and County of Denver, but seven other nearby counties. Arapahoe, Douglas, Jefferson, Broomfield, Adams, Weld, Denver are the closest surrounding counties and are all within a comfortable commute of Downtown Denver.
Denver has more than one business center, so working Downtown is not always a guarantee. Other business areas are Cherry Creek, relocation, Inverness, Interlocken, Denver Federal Center and Buckley Air Force Base.
If a Denver Tech Center to Denver is on your horizon considering the location you work and where you want to live is very important. As the metro area continues to grow so does traffic and travel times to and from work. Most people find living and working in the same general quandrant of the metro area the best bet for a more comfortable commute.
The Denver metro area has a few choices in public transportation. RTD has buses and light rail. Buses serve the entire metro area, but currently only the south is served by Light Rail.
Currently FasTracks is working at a swift pace to put another 119 miles of Light Rail into place all over the Metro Area. Projected completion dates are well into the future at 10 more years. Buying a home near the projected lines will not provide immediate effect, but long term benefits will be had, if the home purchase is a long term one.
Savvy home searchers have discovered using Google or MapQuest to plot the distance from a specific neighborhood to the work address is a good way to guessimate the commute. Such techical tools provide quick and easy answers to distance, but not always the actual commute time. 
Relos coming from high traffic areas such as Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. Boston or others are seldom phased by Denver traffic. Others coming from smaller cities find traffic and general city life are overwhelming. Relativity wins, most folks adapt to doing what is necessary and find after all the compensating factors, commuting in Denver is really not so bad.
Which comes first, the job or the house?
To those dreaming of making a lifestyle change that includes a new hometown, the initial endeavor can be overwhelming. If moving has never been a part of your life, or at least not in awhile, deciding which decision to make first is confusing.
There isn’t a day that goes by where my phone doesn’t ring with some sort of slightly confused person wants me to help them. Sometimes the questions are inquiring of neighborhoods with good schools, shopping, acreage or you name it.
More often than not the caller is getting ahead of themselves. How so? Well buying a home usually for most requires a loan. A loan requires a source of income. To most American home buyers, a source of income means a JOB.
JOBs are good things. They come with a paycheck attached. The paycheck enables the acquisition of many fine things, food, clothing and shelter!
The shelter part is where I can help, well that is if you plan to purchase a shelter. Most people like to purchase a shelter conveniently located to the JOB. Do you see a natural pattern here?
The Castle Rock metro area is not as large as many cities in the U.S. It is large enough that if you value your time, you will need to consider your commute.
Working in Golden and living in Littleton, could easily be a 50-75 minute drive, multiple that times 2 and you have lost 100-150 minutes out of your day. (times 5 days a week times 52 weeks a year times how long you plan to keep doing this insane thing!)
Now if you have to commute to a variety of places where you live won’t matter so much. Or better yet you are one of Denver’s many telecommuting non-commuter’s your address will be where ever you wish. Commuting from the bedroom to the den is never long, unless you buy a mansion.
Enough said as the point was more than illustrated…
Moving to the Denver metro area is an exciting proposition. When you start to formulate the plan, or when you want to test out if it would work or not or if you are coming and you know you are coming, call me. Let’s talk.
I can help you iron out a strategy. Denver is a big place, but you could also live in Denver, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Castle Rock, Parker, Broomfield or any number of the very fine communities that comprise the Denver metro market. We can talk about your lifestyle and the variety of housing options there are available.
So think job first, house next. Call me first last or in between.
First sign of spring
After however many days of snow on the ground, this welcome sign that spring is here made me smile today.
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the lovely lone daffodil, or course I had to turn the car around to get a picture.
I wanted to share my joy by displaying it here. One lovely, lonesome flower.
Irish Memories
Perspectives in Real Estate Investing
Investing in real estate is always a popular topic. Everyday I get calls from would-be investors with good intentions but unreal expectations. I thought a good way to learn about real estate investing in to chat with real live people who have a track record. One couple who comes to mind is Rusty and Frances Wehner. Here’s what Rusty has to say about his real estate investing strategy.
1. What attracted you to becoming a real estate investor?
A: I believe Real Estate is one of the best investments to accomplish most financial goals.
1. For my wife and I, Real Estate is one of the best ways to safely accumulate wealth in any Investment planning. Real Estate gives you leverage, tax favored investing, and hopefully cash flow. Most importantly, Real Estate historically has been one of the best hedges against inflation.
2. My wife and I use real estate to in our Retirement planning to hopefully accomplish financial independence. We plan our Real estate holdings and the mortgages on the properties around our future needs for cash and cash flow. Real Estate can be one of the best forms of an “annuity” for retirement; Rents have historically kept up with inflation and the value of this “annuity” also historically increases in value.
3. My wife and I have two kids and we have used Real Estate to save for their college needs. When our kids where first born, we purchased a property and have used the cash flow and mortgage management to help save for educational needs. When the time comes we can either use the cash flow, refinance the property and pull cash out, or sell the property for college.
4. Most importantly, Real Estate is one of the last tax favored investments left for most people.
2. How long have you been investing in Real Estate?
Over 20 years.
3. What do you look for in an investment property?
My wife and I look for:
A. Properties that we can fix up and increase the going rents for increased cash flow.
B. Properties that can be split and the parts sold off.
C. Areas that have good rental demand. Many of our rental are close to hospitals and schools.
4. Do you prefer to “fix and flip” or buy and hold?
We have done both, but we prefer to hold on to properties and use them as long term investments. Holding onto a property for one year gives you a long term capital gain vs ordinary income. So many times we will find a “fix and flip” home and we fix it up and hold onto it for a year and then sell the home.
5. What advice can you give a novice investor?
Invest in a home for yourself first. In owning a home you get a better understanding of what it takes to manage your properties and I think that management is a big part of a successful investment. My first home was a duplex that I put 3% down, owner occupied, and I rented out and managed myself. I still own this home 20 plus years later.
6. The Denver metro area has a surplus of homes on the market. In your opinion is this a good time to invest in real estate?
Yes, I always think it is a good time to invest. I look for properties in good stable areas. I pay a little bit more for them, my cash flow is not as good, but in the loan run it is these properties that will hold their value and make great investments. In addition, I find that as interest rates have moved up, our rental market has firmed up. I am finding that I can be pick and choose my tenants more than I could a year ago.
7. Can you give an idea of how much money, a first time investor should expect to invest?
That is always a loaded question. Each investor’s goals are different. You can invest almost nothing into a property, but then the cash flow may be a problem. I always recommend that the first investment should be in a property that you live in. On an owner occupied property an investor will get the best rates, an investment that you can work on in your spare time, and great tax benefits when you sell it.
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Rusty & Frances, Thank you for taking the time to share with the readers of this blog your theories on investing. The Wehners are involved not only in real estate investing but work helping others obtain home financing. As Certified Mortgage Planning Specialists, they consult on mortgages that will best meet your financial needs. Rusty and Frances can be reached at 303-601-5807 or 303-515-5756
Average Days on the Market Colorado
Real estate information and statistics is abundant on the web. Just about anything you want to know can be found, IF you know how to search.
Today I checked my log files and discovered someone was searching for the term, "Average Days on Market Colorado." Now as a Boulder I can immediately tell you this term is not something you will find defined as asked for.
The problem is the search is requesting a statistic for the entire state of Colorado. Statistics are compiled by the MLS data. There are many different MLS’s in the state.
I am assuming the person searching is really wanting to know what the average days on market is for a specific area. If this is the case, use the name of the area, not the state. i.e. "days on market Broomfield."
Each month I post the Denver Sales Statistics on my personal website. You can learn more about what’s happening in the real estate market there, including average metro denver prices, number of homes for sale, median sold prices and absorption rates for the Denver metro area.
Please note when we quote these statistics the area includes the counties of Arapahoe, Douglas, Jefferson, Elbert, Adams, Realtor and parts of denver.
Larry McGee Quoted in Denver Post
Real Estate in the year 2007 has gotten off to an unusual start. Berkshire residents who seldom see snow unless they drive to the mountains, got more than their fair share in December, January and February.
Margaret Jackson, Staff Writer of the Denver Post did a story on the real estate market, interviewing The Denver Group Realtors’ Managing Broker, Larry McGee.
Larry was quoting not only the affect of the weather, but also about homeowners, here’s what was said,
Another factor contributing to the declining market is the number of people taking the equity out of their homes to pay for vacations or expensive toys, said Larry McGee of The Berkshire Group.
"If you use your house like an ATM it may be hard to sell it," McGee said. "Unless prices go up, you’re in trouble. It’s irresponsibility of the public."
Bauer and McGee agree that cold, snowy weather in the first part of February contributed to the drop in sales.
"When you’ve got 60 days of snow on the ground and repetitive snowstorms, it dampens people’s desire to go look at houses," McGee said.
The Bauer quoted is Gary Bauer. To read the entire article (you may have to pay a fee) follow this link, "Home Sales slide in February"
Let’s talk statistics
The February sales statistics are out (see my previous blog report).
Overall in the Denver Metro area prices have dropped.
Days on market increased from 120 last month to 125 in February.
The absorption rate increased by 5 weeks over February. I suspect, no I know the 60 days of snow on the ground had an effect on business.
But you can read the stats for yourself and see that. What I want to point out here comes from February’s Monthly Summary for the Denver Metro Market. (see graphic above). These percentages are a breakdown of Total Days on Market before a home sells.
19.96% of the homes that sold, sold in 1-30 days at 98.61% of list price.
51.83% of the homes that sold, sold in OVER 90 days at 96.60% of list price.
Even though we have an average 125 Days on Market, there are homes selling in 30 days or less, 20% of them in fact! These homeowners net more, sell quicker and move on to their next destination at least 3 times faster than there counterparts who speculate on the market.
Let’s do some math:
On a $300,000 home the difference in the average List/Sale ratio means $6210 more in the homeowner’s net. It doesn’t take into account the added aggravation of more days on market. This is aggravation a homeowner DOESN’t get paid for, they get less.
The statistics prove yet another case for pricing your home correctly IN THE BEGINNING, staging it to perfection and enjoying the success of your wisdom.
Selling a home is more than putting a sign in the yard. Hire a professional who knows the market inside out, then listen to them. A professional is one who can back up what the market is doing with facts, not fluff.
What could be easier than that?
Denver metro market statistics for February 2007
February 2007
Metro Denver Prices:
| Single Family Average Price: (Detached Dwelling) | Feb 2007 | $292,143 | |
| Jan 2007 | $297,368 | ||
| Feb 2006 | $305,017 | ||
| Condo Average Price: (Attached Dwelling) | Feb 2007 | $169,498 | |
| Jan 2007 | $170,440 | ||
| Feb 2006 | $175,422 | ||
| Combined Average Price: | Feb 2007 | $265,272 | |
| Jan 2007 | $266,066 | ||
| Feb 2006 | $276,746 | ||
| Percent of Sales Price Change: from February 2006 to February 2007 | Single Family: | -4.22% | |
| Condo: | -3.38% | ||
| Combined | -4.15% | ||
| Total Combined Number of Homes for Sale: | Feb 2007 | 24,838 | |
| Jan 2007 | 24,350 | ||
| Feb 2006 | 25,484 | ||
| Percent of Change in Available Inventory: (Feb 2006 vs. Feb 2007) | -2.53% | ||
| Number of Combined Homes Sold this month | Feb 2007 | 3,090 | |
| vs. previous month | Jan 2007 | 3,540 | |
| vs. same month last year | Feb 2006 | 3,273 | |
| Average days on Market: (Combined Sales) | Feb 2007 | 125.22 | |
| Jan 2007 | 120.45 | ||
| Feb 2006 | 109.58 | ||
| Absorption Rate: (number of weeks necessary to sell current combined inventory at current rate of sales) | Feb 2007 | 34.83 weeks | |
| Jan 2007 | 29.81 weeks | ||
| Feb 2006 | 33.74 weeks | ||
| Median Sold Price:Single Family | Feb 2007 | $235,000 | |
| Jan 2007 | $236,000 | ||
| Feb 2006 | $238,500 | ||
| Condo | Feb 2007 | $144,950 | |
| Jan 2007 | $154,900 | ||
| Feb 2006 | $149,440 |
A Foot Bridge Connects the City
Highland Bridge
Downtown Denver and NW Denver are separated by a busy Interstate. Pedestrians who wish to go back and forth have had to use the auto bridges.
Now thanks to the new pedestrian bridge across I-25 folks can easily traverse the highway. The bridge is still undergoing some finishing touches, but it’s open.
The foot traffic doesn’t seem to mind that the bridge isn’t finished. In fact the day I took this photo, the traffic going back and forth was amazing. Walkers, joggers and cyclists were making their way back and forth.
Off hand I’d say this bridge is a huge success!
It doesn’t matter which way you are going there is something to do or see on both sides.
Northwest Denver is a very special part of the city with many retail shops, bakeries, and corner grocery stores.
On the Downtown side of the bridge the immediate neighborhood is known as Riverfront. Here one has access to Elitch Gardens a Six Flags Amusement Park, Invesco Field at Mile High (Go Broncos!), Coors Field (Yeah Colorado Rockies!), Downtown Aquarium, Pepsi Center (home to Nuggets and Avalanche) Children’s Museum, Denver Center of the Performing Arts and the REI store.
Cyclists using the bridge will be happy to know it is not necessary to dismount, just slow down and use the ramp. The Platte River Greenway is right there. You can go east to Cherry Creek, south to Chatfield or north to well let’s say Wyoming!
Denver is not only the Base Camp for the Rockies, but an awesome playground for anyone who wants to be active and enjoy the movement of life.
Get out and enjoy it!
This site brought to you by Kristal Kraft, a licensed Colorado Real Estate Broker