Mic Ortega

The focus of the U.S. real-estate market lately has been the number of foreclosures and people trying to purchase cheap housing. But Brian Wesbury, chief economist at First Trust Advisors, says that if Americans don’t start focusing on building new houses, the market will have a much bigger problem on its hands.

“We need one and a half million houses per year just to keep up with population growth,” Wesbury said in an interview with Steve Forbes. “And then if you throw in, you know, fires and tear-downs and just worn-out properties, we need 1.6 million or more per year. Right now, we’re down to about six and a half, seven months’ inventory whether you look at new homes or existing homes.”

Privately owned housing starts in December 2009 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 557,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 4% less than where it was in November, which had 580,000 housing starts.

Housing completion numbers also contribute to this dire picture, with privately owned housing completions reaching a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 768,000 in December 2009. That was down 11.2% from the 865,000 completions in November and down 25.3% from the 1.03 million completions in December 2008.

Some people might shrug these statistics off, considering the number of foreclosures on the market. “Yes there’s foreclosures coming into the market, but we’re only starting right now,” Wesbury says. “… We’re starting one-third of the houses we need just to keep up with population growth, and that can’t last.”

There were 315,716 properties last month with foreclosure filings, according to RealtyTrac. These filings include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. Though last month’s filings were 15% more than a year ago, they were 10% less than in December.

Jason Thomas, chief investment officer for Aspiriant, a California wealth-management firm, says he doesn’t see the foreclosure situation getting better until the labor market picks up. “So many people are getting to a point where they just can’t hold on anymore, and we may see another wave of that if we don’t see a pretty robust turnaround in the labor market,” he says.

The unemployment rate is currently 9.7%, down from 10% at the end of 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Thesis Fund Management portfolio manager Stephen Roseman says the likelihood of a housing shortage is slim to none. “You need to have an accurate housing turnover number, and right now we have anything but that,” he says.

There is some demand, though, from companies that are scooping up whole floors or housing developments because they have the cash on hand, Roseman says.

And for those people who can get a mortgage, homes are very affordable. The median price for U.S. existing single-family homes in metropolitan areas was $173,200 in 2009, according to the National Association of Realtors, compared with $198,100 in 2008.

Mortgage rates are also very low. For instance, both JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are offering 30-year fixed mortgages at 5%, and some can be found for a hair less.

“A mortgage is not difficult to get if you have the right income stream,” says Margaret Starner, senior vice president for the financial services firm Raymond James.

But even if you can get a mortgage, maintaining the income to pay for that mortgage isn’t easy. “There’s a lot of potential problems that can come out if unemployment continues to drag; people deplete their savings and their credit card,” says Michael Ervolini, head of behavioral finance at Cabot Research. “It appears to be more of an income issue than a housing issue that we’re going to be looking at for the next couple of years.”

Mic Ortega

The pop heard ’round the world when the housing bubble burst brought a lot of bad news — from plummeting home prices to mounting foreclosures.  We didn’t experience it as severely here in Denver as the rest of the country did, especially the east and west coast.  Regardless, it has had a lasting impact on our city and forever changed the way we deal with Real Estate.  The article below offers some really good insight into how the market has changed and what we can expect now to help us avoid the same mistakes in the future. 

But with all bad times comes a slew of good lessons to be learned, says Shari Olefson, author of “Foreclosure Nation: Mortgaging the American Dream.”

Depressed home prices and low interest rates may have you wondering if the real-estate market has reached its bottom. Even if the worst is behind us, it makes sense to take in the lessons of the past few years so we can avoid making the same mistakes again.

Lesson No. 1:Adjust your expectations. Years ago, people purchased a home, lived in it all or most of their lives, passed it down to their children and enjoyed a gradual increase in wealth as the home gained value. But in the last decade, people bought a house expecting it to increase in value about 5 or 10 percent in a couple of years, and they’d move on to something bigger, says Brendon DeSimone, a real-estate agent with Paragon Real Estate Group in San Francisco.

If the housing-bubble nightmare has shown us anything, it’s that you can’t count on a home to be worth more than you paid for it when you’re ready to sell. “It’s back to basics,” DeSimone says. “You have to be in it for the long haul and you can’t be looking at your home value every month to see how much it’s gone up.”

Lesson No. 2:You can’t time the market. When home prices were skyrocketing, many people bought homes they could barely afford — or couldn’t afford — thinking they’d ride the wave of rising equity since the market was on the upswing. Likewise, today, many potential homebuyers are sitting on the sidelines waiting for the market to reach its ultimate low.

“You will never sell at the all-time high and you’ll never buy at the all-time low by planning it,” says Tim Burrell, a real-estate agent for Re/Max United in Raleigh, N.C. “The market will time you. You will sell, and on occasion you may happen to hit the all-time high or happen to hit the all-time low, but to study it and plan it and figure out and actually do it — it doesn’t happen.”

Instead, take a long-term approach to real estate and look for a home that enhances your life and will increase in value over time.

Lesson No. 3:Don’t treat your home like a piggybank. At the height of the real-estate market boom, “We had a whole bunch of people refinancing high-interest credit cards with a low-interest second mortgage on their homes,” Olefson says. Today, some of those people have lost their homes or are in danger of doing so because they were unable to handle the mortgage debt.

“As a country, we’ve all gotten way too comfortable with credit and having debt in our lives,” Olefson says. “But the problem really came when that morphed into our homes.”

As the market rebounds, “We need to promote the value of owning your home free and clear again, because residential real estate really is the backbone of our country. It’s the biggest asset for most people,” Olefson says. Likewise, instead of depending on your home for all of your wealth, continue to build up your cash reserves, Burrell suggests.

Lesson No. 4:Do your own research. Some people ran into trouble before the real-estate market crash when they took the advice of mortgage professionals without doing their due diligence and making sure the advice was in their best interest. The wisdom of speaking to a financial adviser, calling a nonprofit housing agency or even reading books on real-estate transactions before signing on the dotted line became apparent as homeowners struggled with changing terms on mortgages that they didn’t understand. It also makes sense to check the credentials of anyone advising you. “Be careful who you trust, take time to educate yourself, and first and foremost, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” Olefson says.

Lesson No. 5:Think long-term financing. Adjustable-rate mortgages appealed to those who wanted the lowest possible interest rates and expected to be able to either sell their homes or refinance them before the mortgages reset. However, after the real-estate market crash, many didn’t have enough equity to refinance and houses began to sit on the market as prices went into a free fall. When it comes to financing, “you can’t just look at the next six weeks or two months or next year,” DeSimone says. “You have to say, ‘What happens to me in five years?’”

Ultimately, the real-estate market collapse was a lesson in learning to adapt, experts say. “When you see overexuberance, expect that it’s going to change,” Burrell says. “The only thing constant is change.”

Mic Ortega

I had never heard about either of these streets until our office toured a home we just listed on Colfax A today.  And I have to say, I am impressed.  Looking into it further, it turns out it is quite the hidden gem in Denver.  Both Colfax A and Colfax B are located in the historic Snell District just south of Colfax between Madison and Cook in Congress Park.  It is a magnificent street lined with immaculate Denver Squares and more charm than you are likely to find anywhere else.  If you are in the area, swing by and discover this hidden pocket of Denver.

To view this stunning Denver Square currently for sale, click here.

Mic Ortega

Sometimes when I am out and about showing homes, I will run across homes that I am sure I saw on the news in the past year.  Other times, I will be trying to find a home, and the so and so block of blank street will pop into my head and remind me of a news story of a crime committed somewhere around.   Knock on wood, I have yet to run across a true “murder” home, but seeing this article today got me thinking about the impact a horrible crime could leave on a home.  

It made me wonder if I would personally still be interested in a home if I knew a heinous crime had been committed there, or if it would be too much to keep me interested.  Based on this article, murders can significantly impact the resale value of a home, especially if it is public knowledge, another factor to consider beyond the emotional impact.   Take a look through the article below and try to imagine how it might impact your decision to buy or not.

The addresses could be in Any Town, USA where anyone might want to live: 2854 Robert Drive. 965 Fifth Ave. 215 Missouri St. Or 4250 Faria Road.

The 3-bedroom, 2-bath foreclosure home on Faria Road in Ventura, Calif., for example, has a brick fireplace and built-in bookshelves, as well as wood floors and stainless appliances in the kitchen. There is an open-beam ceiling living room with lots of natural light from patio windows overlooking 44-feet of ocean frontage. But you might want to think twice before you put an offer on this home or any of the others. That’s because behind all of their doors, gruesome murders occurred.

What is the fate of a murder house once the blood splatters are cleaned, the crime scene tape is discarded and the media cameras are gone? And how would you know if that dream home you’re eyeing was once the scene of a grisly crime?

The fact is, you probably wouldn’t, but there are ways to find out.

About half of the states in the U.S. have formal seller disclosure laws, and for many of them sellers and their agents do not have to disclose if there was a murder on the premises unless the buyers ask. And even then, typically they do not have to reveal it if the crime happened more than a year or so ago. Seller disclosure laws mostly focus on structural and material defects on the home, such as termites, mold and squeaky floorboards.

If you’re the squeamish type and would like to avoid a house linked to a death, however, your best bet is to simply ask around. Neighbors generally would know if a home had been the scene of a grisly murder. You can also pull police records by address at the precinct serving that neighborhood. If anything looks suspicious, you can ask an officer for more details. These days, even a Google search of the address or “block of” can be revealing.

The Faria house was on the market for $3.25 million in the days leading up to the May 20, 2009 fatal stabbings of a father and his pregnant wife, and there isn’t a buyer in the area who isn’t aware of that house’s stigma, the home’s former listing agent Gary Goldberg of Coastal Propertiestold HousingWatch.

“The value of a murder house goes down dramatically, right away, like OJ Simpson’s house,” said Goldberg, whose agency also had the listing when the couple bought the house in 2006 for $2.57 million and subsequently gutted it and remodeled extensively. But no amount of renovations and price drops will make the home more appealing to most prospective buyers.

The way most states look at it, though, is that if you’re creeped out knowing a murder or suicide occurred on a property, well, that’s your own issue.

The National Association of Realtors has a name for psycho-laden places like these: stigmatized properties. The group has even published a “field guide for dealing with stigmatized properties.” Tainted real estate can be harder to sell, and the goal, of course, is to move properties for sellers and buyers. If a murder is disclosed, the home could take 5 percent longer than comparable homes to sell, and it could price at an average of about 3 percent less, according to an analysis of 100 “psychologically impacted houses” by Wright State University professors James E. Larsen, Ph.D. and Joseph W. Coleman.

Recently soldis a 2-bedroom home with updated kitchen on Potrero Hill in San Francisco. It was the scene of a November 2008 murder-suicide, where the owner-boyfriend is suspected of shooting his girlfriend and then himself. He bought it for $985,000 and it sold for $894,500 in October. When the murder is more high-profile, the real estate impact can be more devastating. The Brentwood, Calif. home where Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were murdered in 1994 hit the market the following year with a $795,000 price tag. It sat on the market for more than two years before selling for $595,000, ABC News reported.

In other cases, the address of stigmatized homes have been legally changed, or the exterior given a facelift in an attempt to eliminate the blemish. Other homes were torn down, such as John Wayne Gacy’s suburban Chicago home, where he hid 29 victims in crawl spaces and the walls. The lot sat empty for a decade before a new home was built on the site. Jeffrey Dahmer’s Milwaukee apartment building, where he killed 17 people, was razed and still remains an empty lot, reported USA Today in 2006.

For the full article, click here.

Mic Ortega

Just a few years ago you could count on getting the bulk of your money back for almost any home-improvement project you took on. Today merely replacing a toilet seat can feel like throwing caution, and cash, to the wind. According to a study from Remodeling magazine, the average return on value for an upgrade declined from 87% in 2005 to 64% in 2009. But these six new rules will help you maximize your return on your remodeling investment.

Rule No. 1: Repairs get the biggest returns

The smartest money now goes into “undeferring” needed maintenance. That’s because while buyers might appreciate enhancements like Jacuzzis and Sub-Zeros, they won’t tolerate a house with a leaky roof or antiquated plumbing. “If a property is known to have issues, today’s buyers won’t even look at it,” says Austin real estate appraiser Jim Amorin.

And trying to keep problems a secret can cost you big-time. If buyers discover them during inspection, it’s now common practice to ask sellers not only to pick up the tab for the repair but also to pay a penalty to compensate the buyer for the inconvenience of having work done.

So the $20,000 you saved by putting off a roof repair, say, could turn into a $30,000 credit to the buyers at closing, says Amorin.

Rule No. 2: Remodeling beats adding on

McMansions have gone the way of the SUV — and large additions don’t pay off either. “There’s been a fundamental shift toward quality over quantity,” says Warwick, R.I., real estate agent Ron Phipps.

Having a big, formal living room plus an everyday family room is less desirable than having one multi-use common space. So rather than adding on, you’re better off repurposing existing square footage by reconfiguring the floor plan or capturing unused basement or attic space.

Want an eat-in kitchen? Knock down the wall between the kitchen and dining room ($2,000 to $8,000, depending on whether it’s load-bearing or contains plumbing). That will instantly create a large eat-in kitchen and give the whole house a more open feel — without a huge investment to make up at resale.

Rule No. 3: Eco-friendly upgrades can save cash

Some green improvements pay you back long before you sell your house. Install energy-efficient features, such as EnergyStar appliances and extra wall insulation, and you’ll see lower energy bills every month.

Add in the federal tax credit of up to $1,500 that lasts through 2010, plus many local rebates and tax incentives (see dsireusa.org), and the work may pay for itself in just five years. Green features are also increasingly a selling point, says Phipps. “Most people in the market right now are first-time homebuyers in their thirties, and they’ve been raised to care about carbon footprints and being ecofriendly,” he says.

The best way to go green is with a while-you’re-at-it job: When it’s time to replace your furnace, for example, upgrading to super-efficiency might add only $500 (after tax credits), compared with standard new equipment, but it will save you — and your buyers someday — $150 or more in annual heating costs.

Rule No. 4: Tech infrastructure trumps cool gadgets

Home electronics seem like a deal, since prices have fallen about 50% over the past three years and continue to drop, according to Stephen Baker, president of industry analysis at NPD Group, a market research firm.

Still, that doesn’t change the fundamental problem with expensive built-in technology: Put in a $10,000-plus dedicated home theater today, and something better will come along tomorrow and make your system look as if it’s from the Mesozoic Era. With buyers seeking any excuse to low-ball their offers, they’re not going to reward you for an out-of-date system.

Tech infrastructure is different, however. Anytime you’re opening up walls for a construction project, have cabling and Ethernet ports installed. At about $80 a room, it’s a low-cost way to provide the capability for whatever technologies come along.

Rule No. 5: Let the Joneses be your guide

During the boom, you could be the first on your block to have a luxury kitchen, spa bathroom, or in-ground pool and count on others following suit. And even if the neighbors never took your lead, there was plenty of equity growth to cover your costs.

Nowadays that fudge factor is gone. “You really have to keep your house’s amenities in line with the neighborhood now,” says Kermit Baker, director of the remodeling futures program at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

If other houses on the block have real marble countertops, by all means add one to your house, but if everyone still has faux blue-marble Formica from the ’70s, you’re not getting your money back.

Also, keep your projects design-neutral so they’ll appeal to the greatest number of people. Choose neutral colors and traditional electrical and plumbing fixtures unless your house has a modern architectural style.

Rule No. 6: The new payback time is five years

As with any volatile investment, the longer your time frame, the lower the risk. Don’t take on a big project if you’re likely to move in less than three to five years. There’s just too much chance that any money you put in — aside from necessary repairs or superficial cosmetic work — could be lost while the housing market continues to meander.

But if you plan to stay awhile, don’t delay starting a project. Home improvements are a bargain right now, with contractors bidding 10%, 20%, even 40% lower for the same work than just a year or two ago, says Bernie Markstein, senior economist for the National Association of Home Builders.

Grab them while they’re hungry for work and make it clear that you’ll be getting multiple bids so they’ll be motivated to undercut one another’s prices. You’ll fulfill the first rule of investing: Buy low. Then hope that when you’re ready to move, you can sell high.

For the full article, click here.

Mic Ortega

As Realtors, it seems like we almost always have an answer for your question, or at least know where to find it.  The one question that we can’t answer  is the one we get all the time, is this neighborhood safe?  Constrained by fair housing laws, we aren’t allowed to declare neighborhoods safe or “bad mouth” them either.  All we are allowed to do is suggest that you check out any area you are considering buying.

So the next question we obviously get is, where do I find out the safety of a neighborhood?  To get cold hard facts, you can always go online to get the latest crime statistics and reports.  These will give you a sense of crime rates, but if you aren’t familiar with the graphs and plots and what the numbers really mean, it can be quite confusing.  Luckily, I ran across this article on msn.com about what to look for in a safe neighborhood and found many of the points valuable.  There is no definitive way to know absolutely that a neighborhood is “safe” but these steps can certainly help give you a much better idea of what a neighborhood has to offer.

Trust your Gut

It’s what police have long said, for many situations: pay attention and trust your gut. Homebuyers certainly rely on it, often by taking a drive. Even safety officials reiterate the concept.

“I always feel like if your gut says there’s something wrong, there’s something wrong,” says Robbi Woodson, manager of the National Sheriffs’ Association Neighborhood Watch program, at USAonWatch. “If things don’t look right, then most likely they’re not right.”

But the gut is driven by real information, even when people aren’t aware of it. And some of that information may, in fact, be off, colored by preconceived notions of what a “safe” area is supposed to look like.

To be certain, experts say, prospective buyers need to know what to consider and apply the same methodical inventory they use to evaluate the home. Check off the boxes.

“A lot of people spend so much time looking at the physical configuration of the house, but they forget that they don’t just live in the house, they live in the neighborhood,” Saville says. “Their life is affected by the neighbors.”

A neighbor who cares
If you’ve been paying any attention to the news since the 1990s, when community policing came into vogue, then you’re familiar with the broken-windows theory.

Broken windows, nearly all criminologists agree, along with dilapidated buildings, abandoned lots, missing street lights, rampant graffiti, unkempt yards — basically any signs of neglect — attract crime. The reasons are both practical — dark, lonely spots sit out of view – and psychological — would-be vandals are, ironically, less apt to mess with nice stuff.

As a prospective resident, though, you have to consider an underlying question, too. Will people who let their lots fall into disrepair treat you badly as well? After all, it’s the neighbors, not the police, who will serve as the first and best line of defense.

Areas designed with safety in mind
Now, do you see people? Are they out and about? Can you clearly see the children playing in the park and the man walking to the store?

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, a program that brings safety considerations to the drawing board, asks these questions, and the solutions usually align with the adage “There’s safety in numbers.” Safe neighborhoods are those in which people are physically able to see each other. It means they need desirable places to go, and places that are visible from sidewalks and windows.

If you’re walking the neighborhood, here’s what to look for:

• Multiple-use areas: A park is used – and watched – when it’s near a coffee shop or post office. Think about it: Would you rather send your kids to a playground bounded only by tall shrubs and the backs of a few homes?
• Recreational areas with clear entries and exits: This is a form of marking territory. Places that have marked, visible entrances give users a sense of ownership and are less likely to be hijacked for criminal use. It need not be a tall fence, just a clear boundary.
• Land and buildings that are well-maintained: A homeowner, or homeowners association, that takes the trouble to maintain areas will be heavily invested in protecting those areas from crime.
• Unobstructed lines of sight:Shrubs and fences that border walkways should not be taller than 3 feet. Places where people walk and play should be visible from house windows. You want eyes on the street, Saville says.
• Real house fronts:Wait, don’t all houses have fronts? No, some have driveways and giant doors that are always shut. “If I drive down the front of a residential street and all I see is garages, that tells me the life of the house is in the backyard,” says Saville, who also blogs on safe neighborhoods. “What it does is it abandons the life of the street to the cars.”
• A neighborhood nightlight: “Do people keep their porch lights on? They don’t have to be high, bright lights that suck the energy out of the grid,” Saville says, just enough to see approaching figures, as if under a full moon.
• People out walking:“The more walkable a street is, the more likely it is that people are outside to watch you and protect you,” Saville says. “An active street life is one of the best defenses against street crime.”

As a hefty bonus, all of the above also help create a sense of community. This improves the quality of life and bumps up home values.

Crime data on the Web
Now back to the crime data online. A growing number of sites are incorporating crime statistics into informative – dare we say, at times visually stunning – maps that can be searched by neighborhood, date and type of crime.

We’ve noted a few. Just keep in mind, says Saville, the former cop, that these don’t tell the whole story. Incidents are logged only when a person has reported a crime, police have responded and an officer has filed a report. This can skew the results.

The best bet, real-estate agents say: talk to your prospective neighbors. Or, rather, let them talk. Chat with a few and a decent picture of neighborhood concerns will become clear.

Still, the sites do offer useful comparisons. Many area police departments have their own, so check there. Here, too, are a few more:

• EveryBlock.com: Owned by MSNBC, the site compiles news and data for neighborhoods in 15 cities and includes a section for crime. Users can specify an area (up to an eight-block radius) and search by date and types of crime. The crime reports also appear in list form.
• CrimeReports.com: A national site that’s expanded to include information from 600 law-enforcement agencies in North America. Offers free searches.
• NeighborhoodScout.com: A multipurpose site that compares your neighborhood criminal stats with those of the city, state and the nation. It relies on statistical modeling to do so, but claims 87% effectiveness.
• Oakland Crimespotting: An easy-to-view, integrative map that shifts before your eyes. The developer appears to only have a map for Oakland, Calif., but the model could be adopted by other cities.
• National Sex Offender Public Web Site: A U.S. Department of Justice site that links to the public registries for all 50 states, the territories and the tribes.
• Family Watchdog:A national site, searchable by neighborhood, that shows where offenders live and work, and provides e-mail updates. Points out that nine out of 10 sexual assaults against children are committed by a person the child knew.

Mic Ortega

With more Americans nesting — the Census Bureau, no surprise, reports that far fewer people moved to a new home in 2008 than 2007 — and money tight, budget remodeling is in. Homeowners want to be comfy in their nests.

So what home improvements are hot, and which can you do on the cheap that will add value to your home? There are, in fact, improvements that cost less than $5,000 that will enhance your home — while you’re nesting and when you’re selling — and leave change in your pocket. Two of the hottest trends: new materials and kitchen and bathroom tweaks.

Bye, bye granite

New materials are pushing granite out of the kitchen and bath. “I’m seeing more natural stone like travertine, slate and limestone,” says Dean Bennett, president of Dean Bennett Design and Construction Inc. in Castle Rock, Colo., “in addition to colored glass tile on kitchen backsplashes and in showers.”

That’s not the only change in kitchens and bathrooms. “The bathroom tub is extinct,” says Michael Sauri, owner of TriVistaUSA, a design and building firm working in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. “Unless we’re remodeling for a family with young children, no one — but no one — wants a bathtub.”

Instead, homeowners are creating a spa feel in the bathroom. “People are going for larger or more open showers, dual showerheads and full body sprays, and full benches in showers,” says Marlaina Teich, owner of Marlaina Teich Designs in Merrick, N.Y.

“The big thing is heated floors,” adds Bernie Smith, CEO of Masterworks, a remodeling firm in Atlanta. “It’s not as expensive as it was in the past, and it’s luxurious,” concurs Teich. “Some people are even bringing it into the kitchen.”

Creativity in the kitchen and bath

Speaking of kitchens, they’re migrating. “Homeowners are moving their kitchen — or at least a part of it — into their master bedroom to create a mini ‘breakfast’ kitchen,” says Teich. “All you really need is a counter area for a coffee maker and a mini refrigerator underneath for milk or juice.”

Or, consider minor enhancements in the kitchen. “You can save a lot of money by refinishing kitchen cabinets,” says Teich. “In one kitchen, we saved thousands of dollars by stripping and refinishing the cabinets and changing the hardware and backsplash. It was a brand-new kitchen for under $5,000.”

Bennett also does lower-cost bath remodels. “Do new fixtures, replace your toilet with a high-volume flush with an elongated bowl — which is more comfortable and has a bigger opening, and still conserves water — and change out the fan to a quieter fan, which is a big hit for under $300,” he says. “People are also switching from a Jacuzzi to a soaking tub, which is bigger and deeper. I’ve also put in a solar tube that diffuses the bathroom with light. It’s highly reflective and runs from the ceiling through the attic and out to the roof. For about $500 installed, it makes dark bathrooms light, and you’re not using light bulbs.”

Don’t forget the effect of minor accessories. “Change your whole look with lighting,” advises Teich. “Replace your chandelier and accent lighting, and add overhead lighting and floor lamps. That, along with a new area rug and accessories, can change the whole look of a room, even if you keep the same furniture.”

Stacie Staub

What’s your top 10?  I am always surprised, and a bit amused, when people start their home search looking for one type of house, and a list of “must-haves” which totally changes when they walk into that house that is “the one”.  I often start a home search by asking a bunch of questions - about lifestyle, mostly - because it’s important to hear from the buyer what is vital in their everyday lives, and what they think they want, but can most likely do without.  So what are the deal-breakers?  Of course, they are always different, but according to this article from Real Estate Magazine, based on findings from the experts at the International Builders Show - these are the Top 10:

Americans want smaller houses and they are willing to strip some of yesterday’s most popular rooms-such as home theaters-from them in order to accommodate changing lifestyles, consumer experts told audiences at the International Builders Show.”This is a traumatic time in this country and the future isn’t something we’re 100% sure about now either. What’s left? The answer for most home buyers is authenticity,” said Heather McCune, director of marketing for Bassenian Lagoni Architects in Park Ridge, Ill. Buyers today want cost-effective architecture, plans that focus on spaces and not rooms and homes that are designed ‘green’ from the outset,” she said. The key for home builders is “finding the balance between what buyers want and the price point.”

For many buyers, their next house will be smaller than their current one, said Carol Lavender, president of the Lavender Design Group in San Antonio, Texas. Large kitchens that are open to the main family living area, old-fashioned bathrooms with clawfoot tubs and small spaces such as wine grottos are design features that will resonate today, she said. “What we’re hearing is ‘harvest’ as a home theme-the feeling of Thanksgiving. It’s all about family togetherness-casual living, entertaining and flexible spaces,” Lavender said.

Paul Cardis, CEO of AVID Ratings Co., which conducts an annual survey of home buyer preferences, said there are 10 “must” features in new homes:

1. Large kitchens, with an island. “If you’re going to spend design dollars, spend them where people want them-spend them in the kitchen,” McCune said.

2. Granite countertops are a must for move-up buyers and buyers of custom homes, but for others “they are on the bubble,” Cardis said.

3. Energy-efficient appliances, high-efficiency insulation and high window efficiency. Among the “green” features touted in homes, these are the ones buyers value most, said Cardis. While large windows had been a major draw, energy concerns are giving customers pause on those. The use of recycled or synthetic materials is only borderline desirable.

4. Home office/study. People would much rather have this space rather than, say, a formal dining room. “People are feeling like they can dine out again and so the dining room has become tradable,” Cardis said. And the home theater may also be headed for the scrap heap, a casualty of the “shift from boom to correction.”

5. Main-floor master suite. This is a must feature for empty-nesters and certain other buyers, and appears to be getting more popular in general. That could help explain why demand for upstairs laundries is declining after several years of popularity gains.

6. Outdoor living room. The popularity of outdoor spaces continues to grow, even in Canada. The idea of an outdoor room is even more popular than an outdoor cooking area, meaning people are willing to spend more time outside.

7. Master suite soaker tubs. Whirlpools are still desirable for many home buyers, but they clearly went down a notch in the latest survey. Oversize showers with seating areas are also moving up in popularity.

8. Stone and brick exteriors. Stucco and vinyl don’t make the cut.

9. Community landscaping, with walking paths and playgrounds. Forget about golf courses, swimming pools and clubhouses. Buyers in large planned developments prefer hiking among lush greenery.

10. Two-car garages. A given at all levels; three-car garages, in which the third bay is more often than not used for additional storage and not automobiles, is desirable in the move-up and custom categories.

Mic Ortega

Should I rent or should I buy, the million dollar question in Real Estate.  The government sure has done its part in the past few months to encourage people to get out of their apartments and into a new home.  Whether to rent or buy is a complex decision, but timing is important. In many U.S. cities, the premium to buy–the difference between what you’d pay monthly to own a home, rather than rent–has dropped dramatically.

If that’s the case in your metro, Denver/Aurora/Broomfield ranked in the top 10, the next thing to consider is whether your home will appreciate. In these 10 cities the step up from renting to buying is a much smaller one than usual, according to data from Dallas-based Witten Advisors, an apartment market consulting firm, and the five-year S&P/Case Shiller home price outlook is particularly good.

To read more details on how these cities were chosen and go more in depth on the buy verse rent proposal, click here.  More great news for Denver and with the First Time Tax Credit set to expire, there has never been a better time than now to pull the trigger.

Metropolitan Statistical Area: Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colo.

Stacie Staub

Not sure if you will qualify for the Repeat Purchase (or Move-up Buyer Credit) if you buy another house this year?  The IRS has released the official guidelines for the $6,500 federal tax credit for repeat home purchases, which answer the questions that homeowners have  been asking.

Owners of existing homes — specifically, taxpayers who have occupied the same property as a principal residence for five consecutive years during the previous eight years — may now be able to claim a tax credit on a purchase of another house they intend to use as a principal residence.

The credit is for up to 10 percent of the price of the replacement home, capped at $6,500. The purchase contract must be dated from Nov. 7, 2009, to April 30, 2010 and the closing must occur no later than June 30.

Members of the armed forces and federal diplomatic and intelligence personnel stationed overseas get an extra year to claim the credit.

The maximum purchase price on houses eligible for the credit is $800,000.

Your modified adjusted gross income must be $125,000 or less if you are single, $225,000 or less if you are married and filing jointly. Above these limits, the allowable credit amount begins to phase down in increments and is eliminated once incomes hit $145,000 for singles and $245,000 for married joint filers.

Purchasers are not required to sell their previous home, but they must be able to demonstrate that the replacement house is or will be their principal residence.

On 2009 and 2010 tax returns, buyers should attach the following:  

– Form 5405, which can be found on the IRS website at  http://irs.gov

– A copy of the signed HUD-1 settlement sheet, including the contract sale price and the date of closing. This is to document that the timing of the transaction meets the program’s requirements.

– Evidence of long-term ownership and occupancy of the previous house to meet the five-consecutive-years requirement. This can be property tax records, homeowner’s insurance records or IRS Form 1098 mortgage interest statements for the five-year period.

– For buyers claiming a credit on a newly constructed home, for which a HUD-1 settlement sheet is not available, the IRS will accept a copy of the certificate of occupancy showing the purchasers’ names, the property address and the date.

– For buyers of mobile homes who are not able to get a settlement statement, the IRS will accept a copy of the executed retail sales contract showing the property’s address, purchase price and date of purchase.

Congress mandated all this extra documentation after audits uncovered widespread abuses by applicants for the $8,000 credit. Among these were fictitious home purchases in which taxpayers or tax preparers sought — or obtained — credits on properties that never were sold or bought. This time around, the IRS says it will rigorously investigate all claims filed, starting with a review of the documentation submitted. 

Consult with a tax professional if you are still unsure whether you will qualify for the credit!

An advisory posted by the IRS this month spelled out situations in which recipients of tax credits may have to repay them to the government. These include taxpayers who sell their houses within 36 months after purchase. Recipients must also repay the credit if they convert their principal residence to a rental or business property, or if their lender forecloses on the house.

With all the rules now available, here’s the action message to potential tax-credit seekers: Speed up your search for the house you want to buy. Get moving. There are only 14 weeks to sign a contract and just five months to go to closing.