When to move
Denver real estate discussions…
Over heard recently from an elderly couple selling their home. The Mr. just turned 81 and his bride was a young 74. After many years of searching for the "last home" they finally found the perfect one for them. Or at least settled for the closest thing to perfection. But not without some regrets.
The Mrs. told me they waited way too long. In her opinion by the time one is 65 years old, they should be in their "last home." Waiting too many years beyond that is just too difficult.
Home prices surged beyond their ability to purchase nearby their children. The shear relocation pieces in themselves brought on unnecessary stress and at times panic. The physical move even though it was orchestrated by family with the help of professional movers was difficult.
Downsizing from a huge home into a more manageable one takes time, patience and a strategy. Waiting until one HAS to move is a serious mistake.
Planning ahead wins out, once again.
Real estate photos are so important
Recently I closed on a home that should have sold for much more than it did. The home was a little dated but it was located on the most beautiful open space I’ve seen in a long time. My buyers and I both agreed the reason we were able to purchase it priced as well as we did was thanks to the amazingly crappy photo the listing agent used in the MLS!
The photo obscured the house to the point one only had to guess what the it actually looked like. In total, the agent only presented 5 or 6 photos of the house in the marketing materials. None of them did it justice!
I’d love to post it here, but I would not want to get anyone in trouble. I merely want to make a point.
Pay attention to what your listing agent is posting on the internet. If you have a listing agent who is not offering your home in the best light, it could come back to bite you!
Most people begin their search on the internet. The one and only one thing that pulls them into looking at your home are the photos. Buyers need photos, good photos and lots of them. Trying to market your home without a decent collection of photos is a huge handicap.
My buyers and I agreed, the listing agent’s mistake was our gain. Funny how that works!
Photos are the topic of concern on many websites these days. One of my favorite blogs to drop by is one by Athol in Connecticut. He has made an entire blog featuring Bad MLS Photos. Unfortunately for the consumer and our industry, the future of Athol’s blog fodder is secure…
(the photo is NOT of the home I sold. It is one pulled from my extensive collection of personal bad photos, it was taken through a screen.)
Crested Butte Wildflowers
Living in Colorado offers so many options when your schedule frees up for a day or two. My Lone Tree camera club announced a weekend trip to photograph the wild mountain flowers in Crested Butte, I jumped at the chance to go.
Crested Butte is located just north of Gunnison in surrounded by three wilderness areas: Raggeds, Maroon Bells-Snowmass, and West Elk. The drive from Denver is 4-5 hours of Rocky Mountain scenic beauty. We drove along the Arkansas river on Highway 50, turning north on Highway 135.
Our Colorado scenery is spectacular anytime of year. One can see for miles into the distance, this day was no exception. We watched in awe as thunder heads accumulated precisely over the town of Crested Butte. As if timed exactly for our visit, the clouds opened up with a heavy downpour, while we unpacked the car. The weather continued long after dinner and as we crawled into bed, but the next morning the sky cleared all but for a few misty fog clouds, perfect for composition!
My club members filled up two 4-wheelers as we headed for the hills. Lucky for us we head 4-wheel drive vehicles because we seriously needed them! Loaded down with a ton of gear we drove toward Schofield Pass via FR 734. We passed through Pittsburg (I only know this because I read the sign!) and the silver mining, former ghost town of Gothic. I say "former" ghost town, because it is now occupied. The charming western town was alive and kicking when we drove through.
Photographic groups I’ve learned travel with different priorities. Unlike typical day tourist, the group stopped at any and all photographic opportunities. With the scenery in the mountains this day, I can say we didn’t make good time, but we got some outstanding shots.
I really enjoyed the leisurely tempo of the day. We would stop for 20-30 minutes and take
photos to our heart’s delight. The leader would gently beep the horn, signaling for us to finish up, it was time to go.
I also enjoyed the camraderie of the people. We scouted out particular flowers or backdrops and shared them. I was handed a book of Colorado flowers and assigned the task of learning the names of flowers as others would ask. I must say I never realized how many different varieties of flora there is to be found in one area.
Colorado is rich in beauty, I hope you take time to enjoy it!
Douglas County Schools
The Douglas County School District is in the preparation stages to offer a World Language initiative that will teach Spanish and Mandarin Chinese at the elementary level. The District is preparing a curriculum that will provide a strong foundation for the students as they carry on with language training into the upper classes.
Phase one of the initiative includes 13 schools in the program. More schools will participate in the coming years.
ASL, American Sign Language will also be taught at several Douglas County high schools beginning in the 2007-2008 school year.
Beginning a new language early in life is much easier than later. With today’s global economy our students need to know at least one additional language other than English in order to compete. Douglas County should be commended in their efforts to prepare Castle Rock for the future.
An information meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 23, at 5 pm in the Wells Fargo Room of the Philip S. Miller Library in kids. All interested citizens are welcome to attend. More info can be found at the District’s web site.
Douglas County
The Castle Pines metro area consists of 7 close by counties. One of the most popular counties to reside in this decade is Douglas County, home to Highlands Ranch, Parker, Lone Tree, Castle Rock, Castle Rock, Larkspur and Parker.
Currently Douglas County is the 6th fastest growing county in the U.S. down from #1 of previous years. Growth has slowed down a little, but the popularity of Douglas County has not slowed at all. National media agrees, read on:
Castle Rock of Douglas County is featured the August 2007 issue of Family Circle Magazine for being one of the 10 Best Towns for Families. The criteria for being considered was to "blend affordable houses, good jobs, top-rated schools, wide-open spaces, and a lot less stress." Castle Rock certainly qualifies with all those features!
Sedalia is located south of Denver on I-25. It is midway between Denver and Colorado Springs making it an excellent choice for families who may work in each of the major Colorado cities.
Douglas County was featured in Money Magazine as one of the "skinniest" counties. It ranked 18th on the list for job growth.
Denver, another popular Douglas County hometown, was ranked 30th on the "100 best Places to Live" list.
Douglas county as a whole offers a nice blend of both town and rural living. Residents enjoy close proximity to the recreation in the mountains and the sizzle of Denver culture, all never more than 60 minutes away.
The Douglas County School District is headquartered in Castle Rock and is officially the 3rd largest school district in Colorado. As a result of the influx of new students, the district is in the process of building more schools. Students in Douglas county can almost count on attending a new or fairly new facility.
Academic achievements of students in the Douglas County school average well above the overall Colorado state averages in all grades. Douglas County is a destination for parents wanting to place their children in an excellent learning environment.
Need more information about Douglas County real estate visit my website!
Denver Celebrates Blog Tour USA Fiesta
A group of bloggers from all over Colorado got together today to welcome the Sellsius guys from NYC. Joe and Rudy have been touring the USA in an RV, meeting with bloggers and anyone who will take the time to talk to them.We had a great time networking and getting to meet people we had only known online, up until now. Bloggers are a friendly, helpful bunch, that of course made the day even more thrilling.
One thing we all agreed upon, we need to do this more often. There is a strong need for us to learn how to be better at blogging and to keep up with the technology. From today’s Fiesta, I believe something more organized will come.
Are you a Colorado Blogger? A beginning blogger? Interested in networking with other bloggers? Drop me an e…
We’ve only just begun!
Denver real estate in the news
The headline reads, "Home sales afloat - but flat. An economist says Colorado is faring better than much of the U.S., where prices rose up to 102% over the past five years."
True our market is not blazing hot like many people expect, but we are selling houses, more houses than the year before.
Some neighborhoods are doing far better in sales than others. What I see are the areas that have the outstanding schools and a reputation for being a good investment are selling within 99% of the list price.
We have many homes on the market, the competition for sellers is tough. The sellers that do well are the ones that take the time to present their home well, price it to sell and make the home available for showings as needed.
These homeowner can expect to sell much quicker than those sellers still speculating for a higher price and not bothering to properly present their homes.
Smell the roses
After a long and trying week, don’t forget to take some time to sit and relax.
Smell the roses, put your feet up, enjoy life’s bounty.
You earned it.
Denver Golf Courses
Denver plays golf on any one of the 90+ golf courses located throughout the metro area.
Golf is a big attraction in Colorado, particularly in Denver. There are many places to choose from, both public and private.
Some homeowners prefer to purchase a home right on the golf course. This is definitely possible. Other people feel being in a country club community is enough for them, they don’t have to be, nor want to be exactly on the golf course.
As for me, I wouldn’t mind living on a golf course, as long as my house wasn’t located on a dog leg! Been there, done that! It might be an excellent way to never have to purchase golf ball…players made sure to hit plenty into my yard, my house and even on my back porch. We actually had a huge trash can full of errant golf balls!
Sunday mornings were the worst. The golf balls hit the house like mortars, there was no peace sleeping in that home!
Ah, but I digress…Denver residents have lots of choices when it comes to golf communities. So many in fact, I have a spread sheet I use to help me remember all the golf course communities. It helps my memory when I have a buyer who prefers to live close to a country club.
So if you are a golfer looking to purchase a home in a golf club community, that was a hint! Do I need to say more? 
Relocation logistics
House hunting is very intimidating when there are so many homes to choose from. I’ve been working with a buyer, let’s call her Mary. Mary is moving to the Denver metro area and was very concerned about "finding the perfect home in the perfect neighborhood." Mary’s desires are very typical of just about everyone moving into a new home, particularly when they are relocating from a different part of the country.
When we first started working together, long before we actually met, Mary felt the only way she could ever feel comfortable about making a decision was to move here and rent a home for a few months. That way she could investigate all the areas, see all the homes that were available before ever committing to purchase one.
The rent now-buy later strategy is a very popular one. Typically first time transferees find comfort in this plan, because they have never made such a major transition before.
However Mary, being an experienced mover, had relocated more than once. She was a savvy mover, but for some reason was letting the "bad press" about foreclosures in the Denver metro area get to her.
We talked on the phone on several occasions and I could feel Mary was being to feel more comfortable with the move and less comfortable with her plan of torture of making a double move. Her dream was to be able to visit Denver for a few days or more and find the perfect house in the perfect neighborhood and make a door-to-door move when her home sold back east.
I agreed with Mary that this was the perfect situation and we should try to make her dream come true. I assured her I would never push her to make a decision. My part in her plan was to supply her with as much information about the potential areas as possible. She would have time prior to the move to study her top priorities, which were good schools, a youngish neighborhood where children would have plenty of playmates and she really didn’t want to travel more than 7 minutes to a grocery store.
No problem!
Mary scheduled a 4 day trip. She was still apprehensive about getting the job done in 4 days. I knew by her description there were several areas that would fit the bill.
The first day out was the usual reality check. Mary learned quickly what the Denver ‘burbs had to offer.
Day Two the whole plan came together beautifully. We were able to target 2 homes she would be perfectly happy in.
Just for grins on Day 3 we looked at the other competing homes in Mary’s favorite neighborhood. We wanted to be sure we weren’t missing The House.
On Day 3 we were finished looking and ready to write an offer.
As it turned out Day 4 was not necessary for house hunting, but Mary used it to visit the schools and the mall.
Mission accomplished!
The reality is we have 30,256 homes on the market in the Denver metro area (as of June 2007). This is a combined number of both single family detached and attached homes. The metro area is geographically huge, probably more than 40-50 miles in each direction.
When you take that many homes, divided them up by price range, number of bedrooms and other criteria there may only be a total of 20-40 homes that fit a buyer’s needs.
Once you start house hunting, it is important to continue the search at a pace to be able to make a decision before the home you like gets sold. Stretching that decision over weeks or months only means you become a career looker.
Mary learned the best strategy is to push forward, learn quickly and make a decision in a timely fashion. She will be making a door to door move.
And just for the books, Mary is delighted with her decision.
I love it when a plan comes together!
This site brought to you by Kristal Kraft, a licensed Colorado Real Estate Broker