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 Denver 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 Highlands Ranch!
Colorado Foreclosures Maybe Heading for Time Out Room!
Two lawmakers in Colorado are introducing a bill to enable judges to extend a foreclosure for up to 90 days. The extra time could be used to work out a settlement as opposed to the homeowner losing their home to foreclosure.
The problem with mortgage workouts is time. So much of what needs to be done takes an extraordinary amount of time. The workload of the persons dealing with homeowners is overwhelming I am told. In fact much of the time the bank is trying to determine who actually owns the loan and who has the say in what can be worked out or not.
Homeowners facing financial issues should not delay in contacting the mortgage holder. The longer you wait, the less likely you will be able to work out a solution.
Many homeowners do not realize as soon as the bank files a Notice of Election and Demand for Sale, the clock starts ticking. The homeowner must redeem the property by making up the back payments or coming to an agreeable settlement with the mortgage holder. All this takes time.
The Clock Keeps Ticking…
Homeowners do have alternatives to foreclosure. Forbearance agreements can be arranged so the homeowner can pay the delinquent payments on the "back end" of the loan. Some mortgage companies will restructure the loan so the homeowner can stay in the home.
Colorado provides a Foreclosure Hotline to the public seeking to AVOID foreclosure. 1-877-601-HOPE Trained counselors help those in trouble find alternatives in repayment plans, modifications to the mortgage agreement or selling the home prior to the foreclosure.
Home Improvements
Home improvements are often very costly, both in money and the time it takes to undergo a renovation. I’ve had
clients who actually moved out of their homes while the home was being redone, thus absorbing a double cost of living, in addition to the cost of renovation.
When you are spending money like that you want to be sure you 1) really love what you are doing to the home 2) understand what the ROI will be when you go to resell 3) the renovations will appear to others, not just you and your family! Many times the cost of renovations far exceed the return on investment upon sale. When that occurs the homeowner must understand the renovations are for his pleasure only.
Recently I was showing a daring home an investor had purchased as a "fix and flip". As I toured the home with my clients, we were excited about it possibly being The Home! Then we got to the main bathroom. This is where our excitement ended.
The bathroom was very narrow. It was an old house where the main floor bath was the bathroom that serviced the house, including 3 bedrooms and the visiting guests. In the bathroom there was a toilet, sink and a bathtub, all very normal appointed, but the issue was the space.
The toilet was squished very close to the tub. A person of normal height could not easily use the toilet without their legs being pressed up against the tub.
Why on earth would any builder in their right mind complete a renovation with this very obvious negative arrangement? Perhaps the builder himself was 4′9"! A person of this height might be able to use this toilet in comfort.
Functional Obsolescence occurs in real estate frequently because styles change, tastes change and in the case of the squished toilet, people get bigger!
When renovating a home, take into account today’s taste in style and what is appealing to the broadest audience. They are your future buyers, ignoring them may cost you.
There are other faux pas home renovation homeowners make when trying to improve their homes. Most recently I’ve been seeing many beautifully finished basements with game rooms, extra bedrooms serviced by a 1/2 bath. Yikes! The rule to follow here, if you have a bedroom the bathroom needed to make a completely sweet finish must be at the very least a3/4 bath. The best scenario would be to have a full bath, that means a toilet, sink and tub/shower.
My clients have passed up at least 4 lovely homes that didn’t follow this rule!
Yes, full bathrooms cost more, but if you are going to renovate, do it right or don’t do it at all!
Another important rule to remember in real estate is one we Realtors learn early on.
Cost does not equal value.
Just because a renovation cost "$X" doesn’t mean your home will increase by "$X!" In the cases above, I would venture to guess the renovations SPOILED the home, not improved it!
Before you renovation, do your research. Talk to your Realtor about the lastest trends and styles. Pretend the renovations are finished and you have to sell your home. Will the neighborhood uphold the current value you have in the house? If not, are you OK with that?
Over-improving for the neighborhood is a fatal sin that cannot be forgiven. Well it will be forgiven if you throw enough CASH at it! Only the homeowner can determine if that is OK, it’s his cash after all!
Remodeling Magazine publishes the latest Cost vs. Value Reports each year. The values vary in different parts of the country, so they compile the trend reports accordingly. Research into the appropriate renovation will provide valuable insight as to whether the whole idea is a good one or not.
If after you examine the facts and the renovations are for pure personal enjoyment because you plan to live in the home for a long time, then go ahead renovate. A home is a castle, if we can’t enjoy living there what’s the point. Just remember when you go to sell, your enjoyment may have come with a bigger price tag than expected.
Denver Real Estate Market Trends
While much is being said about Denver real estate trends, the statistics are not looking all that bad. As of March 2008:
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While the combined average price in the Denver Metro area is $21,000 less than a year ago, the drop in values began to level off from February to March this year with a loss of only $1300.
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The total available inventory for sale decreased 3.46% from the same time last year. With builder inventory at the lowest in recent history, sellers can expect values to begin increasing soon.
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The Absorption Rate dropped considerably from February, down 6.4 weeks, with the average days on market receding to 111 days from last March’s 119 days.
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The Median Sold Price increased to $224, 900 in March. The February median was $221,500.
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The total number of all homes and condos contracted for sale was 5,874 just 246 less than March 2007 total of 6,122. Sales are still strong.
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The national average 30 year fixed mortgage interest rate as reported by Freddie Mac was 5.88% on April 10. The 30 year rate has held steady under 6% for the last 30 days.
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.
Street View
Technology continues to deliver new and better ways to assist in the sale and purchase of real estate. The latest WOW tool is being delivered via Trulia and Google, called Street View. Lucky for us Denver is one of the top 20 communities to have the service.
Naturally, I had to look up my latest listing at 2622 Gaylord Street in City Park. The system delivered for me, big time. See for yourself…
Be sure to move the cursor around to view the street in front of the home for sale. Too bad Google didn’t take the photos AFTER my real estate sign went up!
Wow this is very cool. Now I can show people the neighborhood around my listing and the lovely City Park Golf Course (see bottom photo).
Thanks Trulia, this is the best!
Here’s City Park Golf Course
Builders Fumble the Ball
In the never ending effort to know what is on the market, I am constantly touring new homes. My endeavors often deliver mixed results. Some on-site greeters are there to meet me offering a warm welcome and information. Other times I find there is no one home, even when a person is standing in front of me.
New home builders have taken to hiring temporary workers to "babysit" the models in order to give the "regular" person a day off. The so called "babysitters" often tell me straight up, they don’t know anything about the home and if I want to know something, I’ll have to come back later. Hearing these words generally makes me cross the builder off my list. I already made the effort to show up, now give me the courtesy of respect and tell me about your home!
Sunday the Denver Post columnist Al Lewis wrote a good piece about market testers having similar experiences. It seems "real buyers" are finding nobody home at the models too.
What I find curious is why do builders spend so much money attracting consumers, then drop the ball at the most important point, first contact?
I wonder if builders shop themselves. Maybe if they did, they would find ways to improve the system.
A good builder representative knows the product inside and out. They will talk to you about the home, the construction techniques and what’s in store for the neighborhood. A good rep can make or break the sale.
My suggestion to builders is to partner with agents who would love to learn about their product and sit in the model on the off days for the regular on-site person. They in turn could be helpful in listing the homes of the builder’s new buyers. Of course builders might think this is a conflict of interest for them (wolf in the hen house). That might be right, depending on the ethics of the agent.
Of course the alternative would be to hire those sign twirler guys. Actually I think the sign twirlers would be as informative as the temps, at least more entertaining.
This site brought to you by Kristal Kraft, a licensed Colorado Real Estate Broker