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August 30, 2009
According to Trulia, the average price per square foot for Denver was $185, an increase of 6.3% compared to the same period last year. Digging deeper into the statistics, the median sales price for homes in for the period of May 2009 to Jul 2009 was $179,000 (based on 3,627 home sales). Compared to the same period one year ago, the median home sales price increased 8.8%, or $14,500, with virtually the same number of home sales.
There are currently about 5,880 resale and new homes on the market in the city of Denver. The average listing price was $438,409 for the week ending Aug 19, which represents a decrease of 0.3%, or $1,224, compared to the prior week.
August 27, 2009
Make sure you’ve got Saturday, Sept. 12 on your calendar for the return of the year’s best music festival. They’ve put together another amazing Main Stage lineup of eclectic musical genres:
10:00 Kent Denver School
11:00 Jessica Sonner
12:30 Oakhurst
2:30 Ode to the Marionette
4:30 Mohammed Alidu & The Bizung Family
6:30 Dub Skin
Meantime… Beat the crowd. Order your SMF T-Shirt today! Wear your t-shirt to the 7th annual Sunnyside Music Fest already broken in. Order online, save $2 and beat the rush. Go to the Sunnyside Music Festival Website and use Paypal to order. You can pick up your t-shirt starting Sept. 2 at the SMF office, 4900 W. 29th (at Xavier St.), Denver, CO 80212, or at the SMF booth at the festival. Early bird prices are $13 per t-shirt. Day-of prices go up to $15 at the festival.
The Berkeley neighborhood is having a party for the whole city with live music, a scavenger hunt for prizes, art, kids activities and more.
Tenn-Low Turismo is a scavenger hunt throughout participating stores in the Berkeley neighborhood.
Art in the Park is for art lovers of all ages – those who appreciate, buy and create art. And, it will be the perfect venue for kids and spouses while the “shopper” of the family completes the scavenger hunt.
Hunt and festival attendees will be entertained with live music, food and drink, and activities such as face painting and caricature artists. There will also be activity stations for adults and kids to test their artistic abilities.
Visit the website www.tennlowturismo.com and register as an individual or team and receive a map with the double value locations which will ONLY be emailed!
Proceeds will benefit The Delores Project.
A new zoning code is coming our way! It is a significant reformat and reorganization from the current zoning and deserves everyone’s attention! The New Zoning Code changes Denver’s 53-year-old, unwieldy, patch worked zoning code. Ideally, the new code will support a growing economy, a sustainable environment, a diverse mix of housing, strong neighborhoods and a high quality of life. However, it’s not without its controversy. Much of Northwest Denver is being downzoned to only allow only single family homes, a move that could have a significant negative impact on property values.
The first draft of the New Zoning Code was presented at a series of public workshops sponsored by Denver City Councilmembers in the months of June and July. Community input from these meetings was incorporated into revisions of the second draft code and draft map that is being reviewed at public workshops in each Council District. Find information on your local meeting here.
In an effort to increase public awareness, the city has sent a postcard to every owner of property in Denver. The postcard outlines important information about The New Zoning Code, including what zoning determines and why Denver is updating its zoning code. The postcard also points to the project website at www.newcodedenver.org, as a resource to find further information and ways to get involved.
The website allows users to comment on both the language and maps of the second draft of The New Code, and also features information on the ideas and concepts behind the zoning fix, zoning blogs from the city planners and task force members, and a Frequently Asked Questions page, which is updated to include the latest questions from visitors to the website. Visit the site! Express your opinion!
“The comments collected at the public workshops and through the website have been instrumental in shaping our revisions to The New Code drafts,” said Peter Park, manager of Community Planning and Development. “We hoped the postcard would bring more Denver citizens into these discussions, and based on the surge in visits to NewCodeDenver.Org since the post card was mailed, we have succeeded.”
August 25, 2009
Great news for Denver and the country as a whole. According to the Standard & Poor’s /Case-Shiller’s U.S. National Home Price Index released Tuesday, prices rose nearly 3 percent from the first quarter of 2009. This is the first quarterly increase in 3 years, signaling the housing market has turned a corner. All but two cities, Las Vegas and Detroit, saw home prices rise, and Dallas and Denver clocked their fourth-straight monthly increase. We still have a long way to go to full recovery, but this news we keep hearing on a weekly basis sure is helping. Read the full article here Home prices post first quarterly rise in 3 years
August 24, 2009
Yes, I am here to tell you, it really does. Just like moving 29 times between high school and my first home purchase sucked. But it is just part of life - and unless you want to live in the same house for the rest of your life, it is something that you are going to have to deal with.
There are, however, some things that you can do to make it easier on everyone - you, your family, your Realtor, your prospective buyer…you get the picture.
1. Every showing could be THE ONE. Even if your home is shown 50 times, you only get one chance to make an impression on each prospective buyer. As Buyer’s Agents, we TRY to give sellers as much notice as possible when we are going to show your home, but sometimes, we are driving by and our client asks to see a home at the last minute - if this happens, please allow the showing, even if it is inconvenient.
2. Leave the house looking like it is Open House Day - every day. You never know when a prospective buyer is going to pop in, and you might not have time to go home and tidy up before. So, make the beds, do the dishes, and keep the dog somewhere else, every time you leave.
3. Speaking of dogs. Please, I know that you love your dog, but not everyone does. Please consider keeping Fido somewhere else, anywhere else, while your home is on the market!!
4. Stage your home. If you can’t do this effectively, find someone who can. You might love playing ping-pong in the dining room and having your home office on the kitchen counter, but if a prospective buyer can’t picture their stuff in your house, they are not going to buy it.
5. The outside is just as important as the inside. Consider borrowing a lovely patio set if you don’t have one, and place some pots of beautiful flowers or evergreens strategically to make the most of your outdoor space, no matter what time of year it is.
But, and this is the most important thing, when people want to look at your house, LET THEM. Don’t cancel or reschedule showings - this not only tells the buyer that your house isn’t always perfect, it also tells the Buyer’s Agent that you are going to be difficult to work with throughout the purchase process. They are going to assume that you are going to be inflexible with inspection issues, that you are going to be tough to negotiate with, and that you are going to find a way to make the deal difficult, and they are going to nudge their buyers in another direction. If you don’t really WANT to sell your house badly enough to let people see it, then they are not going to want to sell it, bottom line.
 Selling your house sucks. Getting a call from the showing service at 8:09 a.m. for a 9 o’clock showing on a Saturday morning when the kids are actually sleeping late for once bites. Being forced out on a snowy Sunday afternoon so that your house can be shown blows.
But suck it up and deal with it, because even the most inconvenient showing could be THE ONE that sells your place!!
August 21, 2009
In the past week, I have had numerous calls from first time buyers asking how much time is left before the tax credit deadline is up. Maybe it is the fact that it is getting more media coverage or that fall is just around the corner and December 1st is really not that far away. The answer to the question is that first-time buyers must be closed on their home by December 1st, 2009. So with all the new mortgage and appraisal regulations, time is really of the essence. With most loans are taking up to weeks to complete, factor in time for house hunting, negotation, possible failed contracts and the rest of America that is going to be scrambling to meet the deadline. I would say that between now and the end of September is the time to find that perfect home. Most experts are saying that to be safe, you should be under contract on your home by October 15th. But why wait? There are still great deals to be had and interest rates are great. We are seeing more and more homes with multiple offers and I imagine it will only continue as the clock keeps ticking on this tax credit we may never see again. For more details on the tax credit, visit the official website here, First-Time Buyer Tax Credit.
August 19, 2009
I was recently talking to a potential buyer who happened into my Open House, and she commented on the seriously varied types of architecture that can be found in Highlands - and we agreed that was part of the beauty of the ‘hood - the mix of new and old, the beauty of a 100+ year old tudor 10 feet away from a spanking new modern “green” house and across the street from 3 beautiful old Victorians.
Now one of the major developers in Riverfront is bringing that some of that same cool juxtaposition to the Valley - I wonder what style of home he will build?! Can’t wait to see it…
From today’s Denver Post…
A plan is in the works to build a single-family home amid the sea of condos and townhomes that have sprouted up in the Central Platte Valley near downtown.
Riverfront Park developer Mark Smith’s home will be the only detached residence in the neighborhood.
“It’s just something I kind of thought would be fun and different and interesting,” said Smith, head of East West Partners, which developed Riverfront Park.
Smith said he has been working with 4240 Architecture Inc. to design the home but isn’t likely to start construction until the market improves.
The 6,500-square-foot lot, which Smith bought in December, is in front of the Glass House condominium tower at Little Raven and 17th streets overlooking Commons Park.
Real-estate broker Deviree Vallejo lives in the nearby One Riverfront building and has a listing on the 12th floor of the Glass House. She said the question she was asked most during a recent open house was: “What’s going to happen on that lot?”
“If (Smith) builds a single-family home, unless it’s seven stories tall, that will make a lot of people in the Glass House happy,” she said. “The only question mark was that lot.”
Built around an internal courtyard, the 4,500-square-foot, two-story home will have views of Commons Park, the 17th Street corridor and the mountains. It will be contemporary in style and use stone, glass and brick similar to the materials used for the development’s other buildings.
“It’s a beautiful little addition to the architecture down there,” said Randy Johnson, principal of 4240.
The architecture firm also designed many of the buildings in Riverfront Park, including Park Place where Smith currently lives.
“It’s a real testament when a developer wants to put his private home in the midst of his development,” Johnson said. “It’s also nice in this economy that he’s still working on stuff.”
August 18, 2009
 Calling all artists. Friday, August 21st is the deadline to register for Art in the Park. Art in the Park will be held this year at Cesar Chavez Park at 41st and Tennyson in the Berkeley Art District. It will be held in conjunction with Tenn-Low Turismo, a neighborhood scavenger hunt which last year saw hundreds of people joining together for an amazing neighborhood event. With attendance expected to double this year and with awards being given out for best of show valued at $1,000, what a perfect time to share your art with this thriving neighborhood. Click the link below for more information on the event and to register.
Tenn Low Turismo and Art in the Park
August 16, 2009
 So you’re selling your first place, it’s time to move up, or move on, or just plain move out. For whatever reason, you gotta go - and if you bought your house in the last two or three years, chances are you don’t have a ton of wiggle room - and even if you have made a ton of improvements, or at the very least haven’t taken value away somehow - you’re probably not going to make a TON of money off the sale of your home, and on top of that you are going to have to pay someone to sell your house for you - and you are going to have to pay a closing company to handle the titlework and closing process. Break even? In some cases, you will be lucky to get out of your house without bringing money to the closing table.
Which is why it’s SUPER important when hiring someone to list your property, that you find the person who will get it right the first time. It’s a great idea to research the heck out of them - which should be dead easy, with a little bit of amateur detective work. Google them. Facebook them. Look for them on Twitter and Active Rain. Read their blog. Check out their company’s website, and their personal website. Are they using all of these tools not only to connect with people but to tactfully market their listings? They should be.
Next, pull up one of their listings. Then look for it on Trulia, Zillow, and Craigslist. If it’s not there, and if it doesn’t have loads of photos and information available, that’s a red flag that the agent is not marketing their listings properly online. Type in the address of the listing, www.123mainst.com - does the property have an individual website at that URL with information and photos, as well as info about the neighborhood, local schools, etc.? It should!
Speaking of their listings, how many do they have? There is a delicate balance between an agent with experience and an agent that has so much business they can’t possibly give your home the attention it deserves. If they do have a ton of listings, do they have a support team that can help you when they aren’t available? They should.
When you finally sit down with your top 3 or 4 choices for a listing presentation, pay attention to their knowledge of your area, to their marketing menu and how well they seem to know it, and to their all-around vibe. Are they comfortable talking about what they do - and does it seem like they are being honest with you about what it is going to take to sell your place?
Do their marketing materials stand out from the crowd? Is there a good mix of social media, internet, print, etc.? Are they innovative and modern, and will they attract the right buyer for your place?
Do they recommend staging, or at least de-cluttering? Do they take a close look at your home’s upgrades and special features? Do they point out the things that would help it sell fast and for top dollar?
It’s easy to sign a contract with a pushy agent who seems to know their stuff - but it’s really hard to get out of it, so make sure you are hiring someone who shares your style of communication, whatever that may be, and who seems willing to work with you to make sure that everything is done to sell your home in a timely and effective manner.
Having your house on the market sucks, but there are things that can make it easier on you - a professional showing service that emails or calls you to notify you of showings depending on your preference is a start. Constant communication is another. Do you want feedback from every showing? Do you want to know when new comps pop up that might affect your home’s value and sale price? Or would you rather not hear from the agent until you get an offer? However you want to work it out is fine, but make sure that the agent you hire is cool with this as well, or huge problems could come up during the sales process.
Bottom line, take your time when finding your listing agent - it’s an important relationship that could make or break your profit from the sale of your place.
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