We’re doing more and more shortsale and foreclosure properties. The Denver real estate market is ripe with these types of deals. Too bad that it still seems like the Wild West in regards to the “process” of submitting offers and these types of properties. Seems like every lender has their own set of rules…and they take their own sweet time when responding.
Golden is one of those towns that everyone seems to love. But it’s more than just a beautiful, old-fashioned downtown. Golden is quite expansive- extending up into the foothills quite a ways.
Our Denver real estate spotlight property of the week is 22204 Forest Hills Drive in Golden. This 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom beauty is in the lovely neighborhood of Riva Chase. You’ve probably looked right at this neighborhood a thousand times. Every time you drive some friends up to the mountains for skiing and you point out “The Woody Allen house” from Sleeper (you know, the one that looks like a flying saucer on a post) then you are looking at and over Riva Chase. Bet you didn’t realize you were looking into Golden, did you?
And remember, if you use Real-a-Save as your buyer’s agent to purchase Forest Hills Drive then you’d receive a case rebate of around $17,000.00. For more information on our cash rebate programs just visit our website.
If you’ve spent any time investing in the stock market then you know what an emotional sell-off looks like. It’s also easy to see what a protracted market down-turn looks like. What do these two markets have in common? The fact that there are still people making money in them.
Experienced investors who’ve made lots of money consistently in the stock market will buy when everyone else is selling. Everyone THINKS they can or will do this, but the fact is that most investors sell when everyone else is selling and buy when everyone else is buying.
The Denver real estate market is in a confirmed buyer’s market. Prices and inventory continue to drop and climb respectively. So nobody is buying, right? Of course people are buying. People continue to buy homes as a place to live and raise a family. But there is another type of buyer out there right now: the investor. Bad time for them to be buying? Does it say anything about their track records if they’re using cash to purchase multiple properties? Makes me think that I’m seeing smart investors who’ve already made money buy in a market where few investors are brave enough to pull the trigger. Remains to be seen if they’re making a wise choice.
The CBS News Magazine did a piece last night on the foreclosure debacle in this country. Much of the segment focused on Stockton, California. The Denver real estate market was not mentioned.
I think we’re all getting accustomed to hearing about the sub-prime mortgage mess, but what I found interesting about last night’s report was the financial analyst who explained why this crisis is NOT simply an American crisis. These sub-prime mortgages were packaged into mortgaged backed security packages and then sold (as part of a complex basket of securities) to financial institutions all around the world including unions, pension funds, national banks, etc. Yes, national banks. Meaning foreign countries are currently holding large chunks of this mess. Meaning that if we head into a recession there is the real possibility that other countries may follow us to the extent that they hold these security packages sold to them by the big investment houses on Wall Street. A frightening prospect indeed.
News this morning of BuySide Realty’s sister company Iggy’s House withdrawing its IPO.
Iggy’s House is a company that allows home sellers to put their home on the MLS for free. The problem with that model is that it is so bare bones that it leaves way too much to chance. I would not even classify Iggy’s House as a discount shop, I’d classify them as a fringe concept. Lots of home sellers resent Realtors for the fat paychecks they get for selling a home. Iggy seems like an attempt to capitalize on that feeling and offer sellers something of perceived value for nothing.
Our Denver real estate company is a discounter. Real-a-Save proudly offers discounted fees. But we don’t discount our service. On the buyer’s side we’ll take our clients on as many home tours as they need. We handle all the paperwork as well.
On the sellers side about the only thing that we don’t offer is open houses. Open houses are a great way to let your neighbors satisfy their curiosity and see what’s in your closet. They’re also a great way for rookie agents to TRY to pick up buyer clients. Have you ever walked into an open house and been accosted by the agent? Asked aggressively for your contact info, then hounded to let them show you some other homes in the area. Me too. That’s why we don’t do them.
The take away here is that you can come up with great sounding concepts but to be successful you have to get your hands dirty and spend time with your clients making sure each one is treated like royalty. Concepts alone don’t make money.
Imagine walking into your favorite restaurant and ordering your favorite meal. Then, the waitress smiles at you and says, “Sure, no problem. I’ll ask the chef. He’ll let you know tomorrow if he thinks he can make your order.”
Well, that is exactly the situation when you deal with short sale properties and foreclosures. The bank has decided to sell a home. They put a sign out. They list it on the MLS. You make a reasonable offer. Now they make you wait for a month or more for a response.
Is that hard to believe? The Denver real estate market is saturated with short sales and foreclosures right now. It seems like we always have a few of these deals pending. And each and every time I will warn my clients that they are in for a long wait. But each and every time it still shocks me that it takes more than a month to look at a number and say yes or no. We’re currently well into our second month of waiting on a couple of deals we’re doing.
This is one area where the government actually has a more efficient model than the private sector. If you put an offer in on a HUD owned property, then you can expect an answer in about a day. Private bank? You’re gonna wait 3-6 weeks for a response.
Yesterday was quite the day on the stock market. Down around 300 points, reporters are now tossing around the word “recession” like it’s a foregone conclusion. Even the Presidential race is taking on the economy as a more pressing issue than the war.
What does news like this mean for the Denver real estate market? I’m guessing that we have another 18 months of increasing inventory, flat to decreasing prices, and continued foreclosures and short sales.
The truth, however, is that people will always need to buy and sell houses for one reason or another. The possible economic downturn does not mean the bottom will fall out of our local real estate market, rather I believe it means more of what we’re currently seeing, for longer than we initially expected.
It may be a good time to get into the market if you are a real estate shopper looking for a home to live in (as opposed to invest in) then you will find lots of inventory with really good prices. My advice is that you should be buying for the 7-year range at a minimum.
This is important: unless you are a professional you should not be purchasing homes to fix and flip. I’m seeing a decrease in the number of first-time investors who want to give fixing a try. and I’m advising the first timers that I do speak with to rethink their plan entirely and to sit things out for now. There are, however, lots of professionals making a living fixing up homes and selling them. But these are pros. The ones I am seeing are small operations who do much of the work themselves, with low overhead and a realistic sales price and time frame as an exit strategy. You need to have cash on hand to sit on your fixed up house for a longer period of time than in years past. The ones who realize this and can keep ALL of their costs down are still making money in this climate.
But there is also disturbing evidence that investors continue to make the worst rookie mistake possible: running out of money. Not a month goes by where I don’t show at least a couple homes that are half-way fixed up. Possibly on their way to a short sale, evidently because the owners ran out of money right in the middle of a fixer.
If you are buying for the mid to long term then you will find a great market and many prime buying opportunities. But investing is another story. Like Aretha says- you better think. Think before you make a huge gamble in this market.
Yes, yes, Denver real estate shoppers have many wonderful neighborhoods to choose from. Great places like Stapleton, Lowry, Wash Park, Platt Park, and Highlands.
But if you are looking for a place that is slightly more removed from the congestion of downtown Denver, then you may want to consider Broomfield.
Take a look at our spotlight property of the week: 14143 Fairway Ln, Broomfield presented by Real Estate of the Rockies. Five bedrooms and five baths spread out over 5,200 square feet all for only $899,000.
If this is not your style, then just check out all of the other active listings in Broomfield.
You can also search many other Metro Denver cities and towns on our new information pages.
Not a great day for real estate news was it? Seems like there is a new forecast out every other day in regards to the impending recession. The Denver real estate market continues to see an increase in inventory as well as relatively flat prices.
One of the things that keeps me going in this business, regardless of the market forecast, is the simple fact that no matter what type of economy we are in people will always need to buy and sell homes, and Real-a-Save can be a positive force on our clients lives during this difficult market. We can save them money. Instead of sticking to the traditional old song and dance about how sellers need to pay full commission during difficult times because it’s so hard to sell a house, we can use all the same tried-and-true marketing techniques that have proven effective in selling homes for decades and simply offer them to our clients at a massive discount.
It’s really a simple concept: offer a good product at a reasonable price.
I would encourage any home seller who is considering listing their home at the ghastly rate of 6% a simple question: what is driving their decision? Is it fear? Did that listing agent put the fear of God into you during the presentation with tales of homes that sit on the market? Did they then tell you how much more quickly their homes sell? Goodness. They must have some secret, right? Probably not. It’s probably just a slick sales pitch. The politics of fear, if you will.
But take a long look at what they are pitching. What services are they really offering? Compare them to what we offer at a discount. I’m confident that our company offers the best marketing, support, advice, and expertise in the state. And we do it for a discount. Discount is not a dirty word unless you are trying to sell something.
We’ve just launched an additional resource for Denver real estate shoppers on our website. We’ve expanded our Denver neighborhood information pages to include a section with Metro cities including:
Thanks to all of our users for suggesting this expanded coverage. We’ll continue to listen to your feedback and add new cities, towns, and neighborhoods as the need arises.
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