2007 June

Street art in Denver

Posted by kristal on June 21st, 2007

Art takes to the street this weekend when artists demonstrate their talents in the 5th annual Comcast La Piazza dell’ Arte show.

The popular Larimar Square will become a street museum for the weekend. There will be food and drink served along with fun.

The festival will be located between Speer Boulevard and 15th Street, and 14th Street from Market to Lawrence Streets.

For more information and photos from past events visit the Larimer Arts site

Street art in Denver

Posted by kristal on June 21st, 2007

Art takes to the street this weekend when artists demonstrate their talents in the 5th annual Comcast La Piazza dell’ Arte show.

The popular Larimar Square will become a street museum for the weekend. There will be food and drink served along with fun.

The festival will be located between Speer Boulevard and 15th Street, and 14th Street from Market to Lawrence Streets.

For more information and photos from past events visit the Larimer Arts site

Occasionally my imagination gets a workout when I’m driving down the
highway. I see a moving van and wonder who’s possessions are inside.
Where are they going? Where are they coming from? How long (if ever)
will it take them to sort through the boxes to assemble order to their
lives?

I’ve personally moved more times in my life than I care to count. Most
moves were only from one neighborhood to another nearby. Two, no
three moves were across country. Never were these moves made easier
for me and my family by us having professional help. We always did the
"do it yourself" thing, packing, driving and unpacking ourselves.

Moving for us was always an adventure of sorts. I remember being
excited about driving the enormous U-Haul truck by myself. No, it
wasn’t so much the driving the truck part that excited me, it was the
"by myself" part. My three little kids, who I love dearly were also a
pleasure to be separate from at times!

On that same trip I came close to it being "my final destination."
After stopping for food, I restarted the journey with the emergency
brake on. Not having deep experience of feeling for the truck, I
didn’t even notice! It wasn’t long until my trailing husband cut me
off, making me pull off the road. He motioned me out of the truck and
jumped inside. He drove off through a huge mud puddle, thankfully
putting out the fire that had started from the burning brakes!

Adventure like this is one I can live without!

Moving to a new home should be an adventure, maybe not as wild as my experience, but an adventure of finding a new neighborhood with new friends and new activities. So bring your familiar possessions, the spouse, the kids and pets (if you have them), then embrace the experience as a mission in making memories.

BYOHT means Bring Your Own Hot Tub (see the photo above) my inspiration for this post.

The cost of elbow room

Posted by kristal on June 18th, 2007

Homeowners from parts of the country where the lots are large always want a large lot. "I need elbow room," they say. But of course it is natural to want to duplicate the conditions they are used to.

But let’s discuss this first. Denver and the metro area is high plains desert. What that translates to, is a different kind of climate than most people are used to. We have places not to far from the city where there is vacant land as far as the eye can see. But the land is dry. Yes, dry and dusty.

So my friend if you want land you can have it. But if you want anything green you will need to water it.

Mr. Transferring Buyer the green acre you want will need to be 1) on an automated sprinkler system. 2) mowed 3) watered.

Last year I sold a home to a couple who had to have an acre in a nice neighborhood. We found them the home, they bought it. 5 months later they called me to resell it. Why? There was nothing wrong with the house, it was the water bill they couldn’t live with. At a clip of $300-$400 a month, they decided the cost of elbow room just wasn’t worth it.

The good news is…

Denver metro neighborhoods are planned communities. Most of the lots have been scaled down to allow for a modest yard that offers some space at an affordable, sustainable cost. The county planners also provide many parks and open spaces throughout the neighborhoods. In fact some counties pride themselves on maintaining a large percent of land designed as "open space" never to have buildings on it.

My job as a relocation specialist is to help transferees find an acceptable home that allows them to feel comfortable with the Colorado lifestyle and still be able to manage the budget. Finding the right home in the right neighborhood is a process. Like putting the pieces of a puzzle together until you have the whole picture, we take one step at a time.

Colorado Swimming Pools…a home amenity or not?

Posted by kristal on June 17th, 2007

Backyard swimming pools as nice as they are when the weather is hot, aren’t necessarily a hot commodity across the country. The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was answering a question in his blog today. Questions like this are ones I deal with frequently when hearing about homeowners wish lists who are relocating to Colorado.

It is a natural tendency for people to want to have a home that is better if not equal when they move to a new place. Homeowners transferring to the Denver metro area often come with plans to have a nice back yard swimming pool like they had back _________ (fill in the blank).

Now there is nothing wrong to want to improve your homeownership position, an owner must consider that some things aren’t considered an "improvement" here. Swimming pools are often considered a negative amenity in the Denver metro area. Why?

Our season isn’t long enough to warrant pool maintenance for just a few months. Year round maintenance is very expensive. Pools take up a lot of space. Most neighborhoods have community pools, which are included in the cost of HOA dues therefore others take care of them.

Of all the reasons above, I do believe because of Colorado’s climate, pools just aren’t as necessary. When the sun goes down in Colorado, so does the temperature. The temps drop low enough to be refreshing, we don’t need to jump in a pool.

I have listed homes, perfectly lovely homes that did not sell until the in-ground pool was filled in. Homeowners seldom want to assume the cost of maintaining a pool. Finding a buyer that does is difficult to do in a timely manner, so the pool ends up being an albatross to the seller. It is easier to make it go away then to wait for a buyer who desires a pool.

Other parts of the country a pool is a huge asset. Two homes side by side, the one with the pool would sell sooner than the one without. Not so here in Colorado!

Once again this twist of reality proves that real estate is local. Moving to a new area takes more research than relying on what worked well in the past. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. It is always good to ask.

Bumper Stickers

Posted by kristal on June 7th, 2007

Bumper stickers don’t seem to be as popular as they once were. Now
a days it seems the people who have them have tons of them so many you
can’t even begin to read them all while driving down the street.

Today I grabbed a glimpse of out that said, "Where are we going? And why am I in this hand basket?"

Have you seen any good bumper stickers lately?

Denver Real Estate Statistics ~ May 2007

Posted by kristal on June 6th, 2007

May 2007

Metro Denver Prices:

Metro Denver Prices:

Single Family Average Price: (Detached Dwelling)	&nbsp	May 2007	$318,904
&nbsp	&nbsp	Apr 2007	$322,510
&nbsp	&nbsp	May 2006	$315,257
Condo Average Price: (Attached Dwelling)	&nbsp	May 2007	$183,896
&nbsp	&nbsp	Apr 2007	$182,549
&nbsp	&nbsp	May 2006	$189,986
Combined Average Price:	&nbsp	May 2007	$288,905
&nbsp	&nbsp	Apr 2007	$293,016
&nbsp	&nbsp	May 2006	$287,327
Percent of Sales Price Change: from May 2006 to May 2007	&nbsp	Single Family:	1.16%
&nbsp	&nbsp	Condo:	-3.21%
&nbsp	&nbsp	Combined	0.55%
Total Combined Number of Homes for Sale:	&nbsp	May 2007	29,110
&nbsp	&nbsp	Apr 2007	27,858
&nbsp	&nbsp	May 2006	30,457
Percent of Change in Available Inventory: (May 2006 vs. May 2007)	&nbsp	&nbsp	-4.42%
Number of Combined Homes Sold this month	&nbsp	May 2007	5,081
vs. previous month	&nbsp	Apr 2007	4,399
vs. same month last year	&nbsp	May 2006	5,010
Average days on Market: (Combined Sales)		May 2007	102.44
&nbsp	&nbsp	Apr 2007	109.90
&nbsp	&nbsp	May 2006	96.58
Absorption Rate: (number of weeks necessary to sell current combined inventory at current rate of sales)	&nbsp	May 2007	24.83 weeks
&nbsp	&nbsp	Apr 2007	27.44 weeks
&nbsp	&nbsp	May 2006	26.34 weeks
Median Sold Price:Single Family		May 2007	$251,155
&nbsp	&nbsp	Apr 2007	$248,000
&nbsp	&nbsp	May 2006	$250,943
Condo	&nbsp	May 2007	$155,000
&nbsp	&nbsp	Apr 2007	$148,900
&nbsp	&nbsp	May 2006	$160,000

The Two Laws of Real Estate

Posted by kristal on June 6th, 2007

We all know the law right? When it comes to real estate the 3 most important things to focus on are; Leading Indicators ~ notes from class

location
location
location

What about the second law? Everyone knows that;

timing
timing
timing

Actually
everyone doesn’t know the second law. In fact I have investors tell me
all the time how they have the bad habit of buying high and selling
low. Sad but true, sometimes we make mistakes that can be avoided.

The
market actually does present us with clues. Of course clues aren’t
hard set rules, but they are indicators that have been tested over time
and found to have a certain amount of truth to them.

Leading indicators (12-18 months prior - signal market is at bottom)

Blood in the streets i.e. discounts available, dump & run builders
Discounting & foreclosures
Press "horribalizes" data
Rising employment
Declining supply
Low interest rates
Investigation & indictments

As a market moves out of a slump and things begin to look more "normal" or "neutral" there are indicators that Coincident Indicators for buyer real estate will signal this happening.

Coincident Indicators

Rising demand
Declining Supply
Declining vacancy
Rising rents
Appreciation comes back
Multiple contracts common
Jail Terms

Lagging Indicators (signals to STOP buying and prepare to sell)

Scarcity of supply
Double digit appreciation (not sustainable)
Multiple contracts normal
Media euphoria
Greed - investors flood market
Builders start to oversupply
"Amateur Hour" - the Greater Fool Theory

Know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em!

When it comes right down to it, timing is everything, particularly in real estate. Serious investors study the Laggin Indicators in real estate market
trends and know when to get in and know when to stay put or get out.
Amateurs have a way of over inflating a market to an extent that takes
a long time to come back. Reviewing the appreciation rates over the
years, one can see the ups and downs as recorded by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight .

What do you see happening in your market?

The
Denver metro market is experiencing parts of both Leading and
Coincidental Indicators. There’s been a lot of "blood on the
streets". Builders have pulled back on inventory. Existing inventory
has incentives for buyers and some offer additional incentives for
agents to sell. Foreclosures are up, the press loves to bar-be-que
real estate daily. Interest rates were increasing for awhile, but are
now trending down…ever so slightly. Hearing news about
investigations and indictments is the best part. The bad guys need to
get put away.

The housing supply is not going down, but sales are
consistent. We continue to sell the same (or nearly) amount of units
as this time last year. Wise investors are in our market now, they
will be picking up the slack.

Coincidental Indicators in the
Denver Metro market are declining vacancies and rising rents. We are
seeing appreciation in some markets. Many markets have not declined,
they have held their own. The lovely jail terms for some are
occurring, with more, many more to follow.

Denver and Colorado tend to run counter-cyclical to the rest of the country. We will be putting out of this flat mode soon.

What’s a Homeowner/buyer to do?

Buying
right now is a good thing to do. If you are a seller and don’t have to
sell, you may want to consider waiting awhile. If you must sell, the
good news is, you may make out well enough on the "other end" to
compensate for any loses on the sale. The most important thing for a
seller to do right now is to be absolutely certain the home is priced
right for this market and it shows like a model. Homesellers are
getting lost in the crowd.

<Note: My notes and
inspiration for this blog are from the NINJA Leadership Class by Larry
Kendall of The Group, Fort Collins. I highly recommend this class as
any of the NINJA classes now being taught by the Residential Sales
Council>

Win-win wins

Posted by kristal on June 5th, 2007

When negotiating a residential real estate contract, there are
typically 4 items we "fight" over. Those are; 1) price 2) terms 3)
possession 4) personal property.

Buyers and sellers should
consider these items and rank them according to importance. Sometimes
the best transactions occur when we find the buyer and seller have
matching needs. For instance a seller may not want to close until a
date in the future, but is willing to take less for the house, just so
he doesn’t have to move twice. If the buyer is price sensitive but has
the time to wait, this could be a win-win situation.

Terms
include seller concessions to the buyer. This could be in the form of
paying closing costs, prepaids or even buying down a point. Buyers who
are "cash poor" but well employed welcome and need a seller’s
concession to make the transaction workable.

Personal
property should never become an issue in a contract negotiation. If a
seller wants to exclude personal property, i.e. a light fixture, it
should be replaced prior to a buyer seeing it. Many real estate
transactions have gone sour, due to the disposition of personal
property. A wonderful divorce attorney once advised me not to fight
over the toaster, since paying him by the hour was much more expensive
than buying a toaster! Same holds true in real estate, don’t be
fighting over the curtains. For want of curtains you can lose the
whole house!

Sometimes learning the position of the other side is
difficult. Oftentimes it doesn’t matter when you do, but frequently it
makes out for a very smooth and delightful real estate transaction.

How Absorption Rate is figured

Posted by kristal on June 4th, 2007

Knowing your area’s Absorption Rate, helps to track trends. Understanding the market and where it is headed is part of our job as real estate professionals.

Absorption rate is NOT an exact science. Figuring it is based on
the premise that one will be looking for a TREND. It is advised to
consistently do the numbers each month, to be able to track a trend.

Getting Starting…

You need to know 2 figures.

1) How many listings are currently on the market?

2) How many listings sold last month?

You will be counting under-contract or pendings as listings, since they are not SOLD yet.

Multiple the number of solds last month by 12 (months).

Divided by the current listings equals # of Units that would sell each week.

Divide the # or units that should sell each week into the number available = absorption rate.

The Definition of Absorption Rate:

Number of weeks it takes to sell the current inventory at the present rate of sales.