December 27th, 2007 Bob
I just had a conversation with a rich guy. I can sum up our hour-long conversation with these words: debt is always debt.
Yes, even your home. Deep down we all know that Rich Guy’s advice is right. You just know it makes sense to get rid of ANY kind of debt. Can the majority of us really afford a home without a mortgage? Not in my experience. But Rich Guy did make a strong argument for paying down that mortgage as quickly as possible. It’s food for thought anyway.
I’m sure you know that if you make one extra mortgage payment per year on a 30 year mortgage then you will knock about 7 years off of your payment time frame. That’s a bunch of money. And don’t be fooled into thinking that you need to pay some company to set this up for you. Simply make an extra payment, and be sure to include a note to your mortgage company that you want the principle reduced by the extra payment amount.
As evidenced by the recent and ongoing collapse of the sub-prime market, home ownership does come with pitfalls. The first step towards being able to pay down your mortgage is having a mortgage that is small enough: buy only what your can afford. The Denver real estate market has lots to offer the careful home shopper right now. Do your research. Take your time. Put 20% down if you can afford to.
Don’t Gamble!
If you are a first time home-buyer, or a first time investor my advice is that you should NOT try to time this housing market. Don’t buy a home like you’re buying a stock- thinking that you’ve got this market figured out and that you should be able to flip a house within two years, timing it for the inevitable market upswing. Can you afford to be wrong? Can you afford to pay the mortgage on your investment property or your first time home should the market take longer than 2 years to correct? If you have plenty of cash in the bank, then maybe you can. But if you’re doing a 100% finance mortgage, live paycheck to paycheck, and don’t have much in savings, then the answer is no, you can’t afford to take that risk.
You can always find a renter to pay the mortgage for you, right? Maybe. Maybe not. Have you driven around Denver lately and seen the signs for free rent? Can you compete with that? If your rental property has some clear advantage like a location right near a college, or a very desirable neighborhood for renters like Wash Park, Platt Park, or Highlands, then maybe you do have a clear advantage over the big multi-unit apartment complexes offering free rent. Do your research. Go on craigslist and check that your rental competition is in a certain neighborhood before you base a purchase on the fact that you will certainly find a renter at the exact price you need.
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December 19th, 2007 Bob
Hop off the Boulder Turnpike at Table Mesa Drive and head towards the hills. Take a look up, anywhere, and you’ll see the majestic Flatirons staring down at you. Then you’ll understand why Boulder real estate shoppers flock to the Table Mesa neighborhood.
There’s a ton of open space, and easy access to some of the best hiking and biking that Boulder County has to offer. You could stumble out of almost any home in Table Mesa and simply point yourself uphill and you’re bound to run into a trail head that will have to huffing and puffing up the mountains in minutes.
Our spotlight property of the week for Table Mesa falls on 832 Ithaca Drive presented by MB/American Guarantee. Three beds, three baths, and three thousand square feet greet you in this environmentally redesigned beauty. Radiant heating, bamboo floors, and organic insulation are some of the green features. Give us a call at 303-415-2541 if you’d like to set up a private showing.
And remember, Real-a-Save offers home buyer rebates on all purchases through our company. That equals about $15,000.00 on this particular home.
Not your style? Ok, then take a look at all the current MLS listings in Table Mesa.
For more Boulder neighborhood information go to Real-a-Save’s neighborhood pages. We’ve done our best to put together a great resource for your to find out all you can about almost any neighborhood in the Boulder/Denver area.
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December 13th, 2007 Bob
Take a drive out to Quebec and Montview and turn into the Stapleton neighborhood. It’s perfect for folks who just don’t want to commit to the suburbs, but want the suburban lifestyle perks like newer construction, parks, open space, and lots of bang for your buck.
The Denver real estate market has cool downtown areas like LoDo, and great suburban hoices like Broomfield. If you’re sort of stuck between those two extremes, then Stapleton just may be for you. Take a look at an example of what Stapleton has to offer. Our spotlight property of the week for tapleton falls on 8700 E 29th Ave presented by ReMax. This beauty has 4 beds and 5 baths, not to mention an incredible kitchen with all the perks.
This one not your style? Take a quick look at a map showing all the properties currently for sale in Stapleton. I’m sure you’ll be surprised at the variety and great choices.
Remember that your cash rebate from Real-a-Save if your purchase this property using us as your agent is around $9700.00. Give us a call at 303-415-2541 if you’d like to schedule a private tour.
Real-a-Save has created a great resource for folks looking for Denver neighborhood information on our neighborhood pages. Check them out if you’re interested in researching other areas of Denver.
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December 7th, 2007 Bob
Well, that about sums it up for LoDo. If you are in the market for Denver real estate that has everything this amazing city has to offer, then look no further. LoDo is the place for you.
Step out to Coors Field for a day at the ballpark, then head over to Lodo’s Bar and grill for a Coors and some game-chat, stay out late at Rise, then wake up with some help from Elixir. Denver is a city with something for everyone
Our spotlight property of the week in LoDo is 1735 19th Street presented by Kentwood City Properties. This city-dream has 3 balconies so you can take in the stunning Denver views, as well as granite, hardwood, 3 beds and 3 baths. It’s worth a look if you’re in the market for a place that has it all, and is close to it all. Give us a call at 303-415-2541 if you’d like to schedule a private tour.
And remember, your cash rebate on this purchase is approximately $16,000 from Real-a-Save. See our buyer’s information page for more details on our homebuyer rebates.
Real-a-Save has put together some of the best Denver neighborhood information on our neighborhood pages. Take a look if you’d like the latest on many popular Denver neighborhoods.
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December 3rd, 2007 Bob
I believe we’ve created the best home search feature in the entire state of
Colorado here at Real-a-Save. Our newest feature is Text
Search.
Text Search allows a person to enter any word or phrase as a search
criteria. Here is an example search with the following criteria:
- Boulder real estate, single family house
- priced between 750,000 and 1,250,000
- two bedrooms or more
- two garage spaces or more
- must have access to trails nearby as you love to run
With Real-a-Save’s search feature the following search is really easy to
do. See this link for the homes fitting the above criteria.The phrases or words you can
put in the text search are unlimited. Try it out.
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November 30th, 2007 Bob
Cherry Creek has all the best that Denver has to offer. Custom homes right off the pages of national magazines, excellent dining choices (umm, Campo Di Fiori), amazing shopping and spas. Search the Denver real estate listings from top to bottom and you’ll find some of the coolest, most unique homes in Cherry Creek.
Our spotlight property of the week in Cheery Creek falls on 285 Jackson Street presented by Kentwood City Properties. Built in 2002, this 3 bedroom, 4 bathroom beauty is worth a look. Granite, stainless steel, plantation shutters, and an eye-popping exterior greet the curious Denver real estate shopper.
Your cash rebate from Real-a-Save is approximately $16,000.00 if you purchase this home through us. Give us a call at 303-415-2541 if you’d like to schedule a private home tour.
Real-a-Save has created a comprehensive guide to Denver
neighborhood information. We also have the best way for you to search the Denver MLS. We feature an intuitive Google map, and an easy way for you to receive email updates for new listings in any Denver neighborhood.
And remember, our company offers cash rebates averaging $7,000.00 per client when you purchase any Colorado home through us. Give us a call for more information.
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November 27th, 2007 Bob
Is that like saying “robust paradigm”? I hate to sound like an overpaid management
consultant, but we’ve really tried to pack our new website with lots of
features. We’ve tried to make it (ack) a feature rich environment.
One of our goals when we launched Real-a-Save was to make it as quick and
easy for visitors to get as much information as possible, without forcing our
visitors to jump through hoops to get that information. We also wanted to offer
home buyers and sellers all of the information they’d need in one convenient
place. We tried to follow the “build it and they will come” philosophy made
famous in that little baseball movie.
Here are a few of the features offered on our site:
- Search the entire Front Range MLS from Ft. Collins real estate, Boulder real estate, and Denver real estate, all the way down to Colorado Springs real estate and beyond.
We’ve created an easy-to-use map-based search feature that allows you to hover
over the area you want to search, set your criteria, and then see all the
available properties.
- Preview the property without leaving the map page. This feature allows you
to get a quick feel for the property without losing the context of where the
property is located or navigating away from the main search area. If you don’t
like the property, just click the next pin on the map and continue your
search.
- Save searches and email updates. You can save as many searches as you
want, in as many areas as you’d like, and our system will automatically send
you alerts when a new property is listed in your area.
- Show comparable properties and recent sales to help you understand if a
property is priced right.
- Ask an agent a quick question right from the details page.
- Comprehensive neighborhood information. Just a click away on our
neighborhood pages is lots of Boulder neighborhood information, and Denver neighborhood iformation. You can get a feel for the neighborhoods, see some pictures, find out what restaurants, shops and clubs are in the area right from our site. You can also see school statistics and community statistics as well.
We’ll continue to add features to our site. Feel free to email us if you have any suggestions.
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November 26th, 2007 Bob
Wonderland Lake is at the heart of this beautiful Boulder
neighborhood, with convenient access to hiking and biking trails. And
residents of Wonderland Hills are just a short hop to Downtown Boulder. A
more wonderful corner of Boulder is hard to imagine.
Our spotlight property of the week in Wonderland Hills falls on 619 Quince Circle
presented by Coldwell Banker. This stunner has ready access to hiking, biking,
and views as it backs to open space. Four beds and four baths in over 3200
square feet make this piece of Boulder real estate worth a second
look.
Keep in mind that if you purchase this or any other property through
Real-a-Save you will receive 2/3rds (66%) of our commission. The cash rebate for this georgeous home works out to
approximately $16,000. So give us a call at 303-415-2541 if you’d like to
schedule a private tour.
Search the Colorado MLS on our
company website. We have the most user-friendly, intuitive, and
comprehensive home search tool in the state of Colorado. With easy access
to all the listings, community information, school reviews and profiles, as well
as recently sold data.
We’ve also create a comprehensive guide to Boulder
neighborhood information on our neighborhood pages.
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November 24th, 2007 Bob
There’s lots of feedback coming in from people who are using our great new home search tool. We’ve heard from a number of people looking for Denver real estate that our mapping feature offers the best information and most user-friendly interface of any search feature available. Thank you. We’ve worked hard on this feature and we truly value your feedback.
We’ve made several improvements as per your suggestion. One of our users searching the Boulder real estate market asked that we make the “View Full Details” on our preview area more obvious. There is so much useful information including past sales for comparable properties, value estimations, school and neighborhood information available on our Full Details Page that we took the suggestion seriously and made a new button just below the picture on the preview screen. We’ve seen a dramatic increase in traffic to the full details page since then- thanks for the suggestion.
We’ve also gotten a surprising number of folks writing in with compliments about our new Colorado Springs real estate search. We recently expanded our search to include the Colorado Springs area, and so far the response has been very positive.
Please feel free to send us feedback and suggestions for ways to improve the site. We take all of them very seriously.
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November 20th, 2007 Bob
I’m a visual learner. From my many years as a high school teacher I know that many of you are probably visual learners as well. I’ve found that once I have a mental “picture” of an idea then I really own it.
Picture a small snowball rolling slowly down a hill. The bottom of the hill is about 50 miles down. Parts of the hill are really steep, parts are pretty flat. As the snowball rolls down the hill it will continue to get a little bigger with each roll. When it’s rolling fast, it grows faster. When it’s rolling slow, it grows slower. But it’s just about always growing.
Now picture trees and rocks lining the sides of the hill. Down the middle of the hill it’s clear. Along the sides there are trees and rocks. When your snowball bumps up against a rock or tree part of the snowball falls off. Sometimes it’s a small piece, sometimes a big piece.
This is my understanding of Warren Buffet’s investment strategy and his concept of frictional costs. Everyone knows that Buffet is the buy-and-hold guy. Buy an undervalued company stock. Hold it for the long run. Big returns. Buffet warns investors to steer clear of frictional costs. What’s a frictional cost? Well, every time you trade a stock you are charged a fee. That’s a frictional cost. Maybe you don’t trade your own stocks, maybe you have someone manage your money. Your money manager’s fees are a frictional cost.
The rocks and trees in my little mental picture are the fund managers and trading fees. The snowball is my money. The 50 mile hill is my investment life. Start with a little snowball and get rolling. Over time it will get bigger. Just stay away from as many rocks and trees as you can.
This picture popped into my head today as I was reading a couple of blogs and real estate forums where people were asking if it was a good time to buy Denver real estate. So many of the respondents simply said that it was a good time to buy. It made me wonder. A brokerage house makes money every time an investor buys or sells a stock. Doesn’t matter if the stock went up or down. The house makes money.
I think a more honest answer to the question: is it a good time to buy real estate in Denver, is: it depends on you. I don’t know if the market is at a bottom. I do know that real estate generally goes up over time, and that if you as an investor are planning on holding real estate as part of your overall investment strategy then it might be a good time to buy. Especially if you are sensitive to your frictional costs. When you are selling real estate your major frictional costs are taxes and real estate commission fees.
Just think of the snowball. If you start rolling a little snowball down the hill and you only let it roll for two miles before it bumps up against a tree and a rock, how much of the snowball will be left? Depends on how steep the hill is, right? Yes, to a certain extent it does. But isn’t it also clear that if you simply let the ball roll for a few more miles that it will likely get a lot bigger?
I don’t think it’s a great idea to buy a house with the intent of selling it in a year or two. Especially now when we can’t tell how steep the hill is. Be smart about your investing. Avoid the trees and rocks as much as possible and let it roll for as long as you can. There’s no arguing that the odds will swing in your favor the longer you let that snowball roll.
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