Denver Homes and Real Estate in Denver CO

Who’s the Best Date in Denver? A Homeowner!

bbandy — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:48:01 +0000

If you invite that certain someone back to your place after a date, you’ll have a better chance of success if you own it rather than rent it. In fact, you’ll have a better chance of getting the date in the first place.

In a recent survey of 1,000 singles conducted for Trulia, over 33 percent of women and 18 percent of men said they would date a Denverhomeowner over a renter.

Stated a different way, only 2 percent of women and 3 percent of men said they would prefer to date a renter.

If you live alone in your Denver home, sixty-two percent of the surveyed singles would date you over an owner with roommates. And ifyou’re living with your parents, you’ll be lucky to even get noticed. Less than 5 percent of those surveyed would date someone living in their parents’ home.

Apparently your dating prospects also improve based on the amenities in your Denver property. Survey participants said they preferred homes with a master bath, walk-in closets, gourmet kitchens, hardwood floors, outdoor decks, and home theaters.

So if the investment and equity building of homeownership aren’t enough to move you to become a Denver home buyer, remember that you’ll also be first choice in the dating pool. So what are you waiting for?

Let the professionals at the Bandy Team help you buy or sell a Denver home, contact us for a no-obligation consultation. If you’re thinking about buying a home in Denver, we can show you some terrific properties in Denver, including homes in Denver Highlands and real estate in Washington Park (also known as Wash Park). You may also be interested in horse property in Franktown or homes in Parker, including a wide variety of homes in Canterberry and real estate in Stonegate.

Marianne Bandy

Denver Relocation

Positive Labor Market Good for Denver Buyers

bbandy — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:58:23 +0000

If you’re a current Denver homeowner looking to refinance or a potential Denver home buyer, the labor market has just given you something to smile about.

The recent Jobs Report confirmed that job numbers have gone up and the unemployment rate has gone down. More than 257,000 private-sector jobs have been created since the previous Jobs Report, and the Unemployment Rate has dropped by 0.2 percent landing at 8.3 percent—the lowest rate since February 2009.

And according to the Commerce Department, December personal incomes jumped up 0.5 percent, which was higher than expected and a vast improvement over November’s 0.1 percent. In fact, this is the largest increase in the past nine months.

So how does all this help with home buying and refinancing for Denver residents?Although it’s been one step forward and two steps back at times the labor market is slowly improving, giving people confidence that their employment won’t be pulled out from under them.

Combine this job confidence with interest rates that are still at near-record lows and you have a good scenario for folks to think about (and possibly make) larger purchases such as a home or a home refinance. And once the trend starts, more people will opt in causing prices to rise.

So now really is a great time to buy or refinance a home, and lenders are ready and waiting. If you act now, you’ll likely save yourself lots of money and get your pick of the many beautiful Denver homes on the market.

Marianne Bandy

Denver Relocation

Investors Tout Denver Real Estate Market for 2012

bbandy — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:46:02 +0000

If you’re looking for a great place to buy or invest in real estate, head straight to Denver, Colorado says Greg Rand, CEO of OWNAMERICA. Appearing recently on the FOX Business Channel, Rand discussed all the things that make Denver the choice of both real estate owners and investors for 2012 and beyond.

Living in Denver offers a quality of life that is drawing people in droves from the northeast, southeast and California to name a few. It has a low cost of living and a high quality of life that includes fresh air, outdoor sports, and a stable, young population with an average age of 31.

The city’s foreclosure rate is half the national average, and the 7.8 percent unemployment rate also sits well below national numbers. There’s been little over-development in Denver and it is home to nine Fortune 500 companies. The median Denver home price is $244,100 and the per capita income $29,844.

But according to Rand, what really “draws people like a magnet” to relocate to Denver is a very stable housing market which has not collapsed in the past 15 years. This stability, combined with some general housing shifts and all of Denver’s other assets, has also attracted the particular attention of Real Estate Investment Trusts or REITs, companies that use pooled money from investors to invest in real estate.

As homeownership in general has dropped, the demand for rentals has begun to grow and caused rents to rise. This in turn has driven up the values of apartment complexes because their value is based on rental rates. However, prices of single-family homes, two-to-four family homes and condos are going down. Rand believes that this will move both public and private REITs to invest billions in the single-family housing market in 2012—and homes in Denver will be of prime interest.

So if you want a fantastic place to live, great investment opportunities—or both—Denver should be at the top of your list.

To see the entire interview with Greg Rand on FOX, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9frmEv-vPA&feature=share.

Marianne Bandy

Denver Relocation

DENVER REAL ESTATE MARKET UPDATE – DECEMBER 2011

bbandy — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:23:30 +0000

Market Metrics:

The inventory of active listings at November month end hit a new low at 12,634 units, a decline of 11% month over month and 37% year over year. Buyer demand continues steady at a seasonally adjusted rate for the holiday season. Declining supply and steady demand could indicate that we are poised for firming prices in the next six months.

Monthly Market Recap:

Single Family:	Condos:
Active Inventory is 10,213 units at month end	Active Inventory is 2,421 units at month end
Sold units is 2,468	Sold units is 600
Average Days on Market is 99	Average Days on Market is 105
Median Sold Price is $230,300	Median Sold Price is $125,000
Average Sold Price is $275,951	Average Sold Price is $153,526

November Year-to-Date Market Recap (2011 versus 2010):

Single Family:	Condos:
Active Inventory 10,213 versus 15,232 (↓33%)	Active Inventory 2,421 versus 4,649 (↓48%)
Sold Units 28,906 versus 28,355 (↑2%)	Sold Units 7,325 versus 7,439 (↓2%)
Median Price $229,900 vs $230,250 (↔)	Median Price $125,000 vs $133,000 (↓6%)
Average Price $280,230 vs $282,717 (↓1%)	Average Price $158,520 vs $160,533 (↓1%)
Sales Volume $8.1B versus $8.0B (↑1%)	Sales Volume $1.1B versus $1.1B (↔)
Days on Market 105 versus 89 (↑18%)	Days on Market 117 versus 95 (↑23%)

Average Price versus Median Price:

By definition, Average price is derived by adding all of the individual home sales prices to get a total sales volume ($) for the period. The total sales volume ($) is then divided by the number of sales transactions which results in the Average Price.

By definition, Median Price is derived by ranking the highest individual home sales price to the lowest individual home sales price. The point where one half of the transactions are either above or below this price is known as the Median Price.

Real estate is local. While the above is a representation of the Denver market as a whole, please contact me to better understand your specific real estate market.

Advice to Sellers:

Don’t wait until Spring to put your property on the market. There is a shortage of inventory NOW, especially for nice properties, well prepared for market and priced appropriately.

And you should keep two items in mind. One point is that the home must be kept in “ready to show” condition. The second point is that more interior photos are needed for marketing to prospective Buyers.

Is it a good time for your home to be on the market? Contact me to discuss the options available to sell your home during the first part of the year.

Advice to Buyers:

The number of active listings, those homes available for sale, is the lowest it has been in years and interest rates are at an all time low. Therefore, the serious Buyers now have fewer homes to choose from. When you see a property that works for you, make an offer, don’t wait. We are no longer in a “Buyer’s Market” and are rapidly shifting to a “Seller’s Market”. You need to know that what’s happening nationally is not what’s happening in the Denver Metro market. Call me to discuss how to make an appealing and as strong and offer as possible in this shifting market .

Rents continue to rise in theDenvermarket and home prices continue to stabilize.

Give me a call today to talk about your Lifestyle preferences, the benefits of home ownership, and home affordability.

Until next time,

Marianne Bandy

www.BandyHomes.com

303-746-7799

Denver Relocation

House Flippers Impacted Current Denver Home Prices

bbandy — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:55:21 +0000

If you thought you knew all the reasons why your Denver home has lost value, think again. As the Government continues to investigate the recent housing crisis, they have discovered something rather interesting. A report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that speculative real estate investors, commonly known as “house flippers,” may have had a larger impact than first thought in the housing bubble that helped create our current economic mess.

When down payments were low, house flippers used subprime credit and relaxed lending requirements to purchase multiple properties in Denver and throughout the country. More than one-third of home mortgages in 2006 were obtained by those who already owned at least one house. In fact, the fastest growing segment of U.S. homeowners between 2000 and 2006 were those owning three or more properties. This buying spree caused prices of owner-occupied single family homes to more than double from 2000 to 2006, particularly in Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada.

However, when home values began dropping, the house flippers began to default in record numbers. In 2006, more than 25 percent of extremely delinquent mortgages in the U.S. were held by multi-home investors. U.S. home values then plummeted below homeowners’ original purchase prices, leading to myriad foreclosures because folks couldn’t—or wouldn’t—pay their underwater mortgages. Residential home construction also fell off at this time causing high unemployment among construction workers.

To prevent future housing bubbles and their disastrous results, the report states that speculative borrowing must be limited by higher down-payments and higher mortgage rates for investment homes. The questionable lending practices of the time made it very easy for house flippers to buy numerous homes, and they simply took advantage of a great opportunity—but no one was minding the store and the result was a huge negative hit to the economy.

Tougher lending requirements along with serious cash investors are helping the hardest-hit states to recover little by little. Hopefully this will work its way into the overall economy to help homes in Denver and across the U.S. to recover their value.

Marianne Bandy

Denver Relocation

Worst Denver Home Upgrades That Won’t Pay You Back

bbandy — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:10:42 +0000

Denver homeowners remodel for many different reasons and justify the expense as an “investment” that will be returned when the house is sold. This, however, does not always come to pass, especially if you do an “over-the-top” remodel.

If you’re planning a Denver home renovation or addition, here are the six projects that generally have the lowest return on investment when the home is sold.

Home Office – Studies show that a home office remodel has the lowest resale value of any project. The average cost for this upgrade is $28,888, but only 45.8 percent of that figure will be returned when the house sells.

If you do create office space in your home, make sure it can be easily changed back into a bedroom, den, or whatever else the space was used for. When selling, don’t call it an office; name it a den, study, or hobby room so potential buyers will see more possibilities in the space.

Generators – A high-quality back-up generator system can cost as much as $14,718 but returns only 48.5 percent of that amount at resale. Since not every Denver home buyer will see the generator as a valuable option, go with a less expensive model that will meet your needs.

Adding a Sunroom – While this can be a way to add space to your home, it will take a huge bite out of your wallet. Sunroom additions on average cost $75,224 and return about 48.6 percent of cost when the home is sold. Do this only if it really improves the overall space and attractiveness of the home.

Master Suite Addition – This is another good way to add more living space, but for high-end work expect to pay $232,062 on average and recoup around 52.7 percent. The room might entice buyers to make you an offer, but it probably won’t include the remodeling costs—especially when they could buy a newer home with similar features and a better layout.

Adding a Bathroom – Expect to hand over about $21,695 to add a moderately equipped bathroom to your home and $40,710 for something more upscale. When you sell your Denver home, you’ll recover about 53 percent of either project. Most buyers don’t feel another bathroom is worth adding $20,000 to their offer. If you can reconfigure your existing space to add that second bathroom you’ll pay less and possibly recover more.

Garage Rebuild – A new detached two-car garage with lots of special amenities can set you back $90,053 and will return about 53.6 percent at resale. Most buyers will not really care about having a decked-out garage and so will not want to pay extra for it.

If you really feel that your Denver home will benefit from a remodel—or if you just want to enjoy your home more—then forge ahead. Just remember that not all renovations are equal in what they will return to you when you sell. To check cost versus value averages for your area go to this website: http://www.remodeling.hw.net/2010/costvsvalue/national.aspx.

Marianne Bandy

Denver Relocation

Is Your Denver Property in a Flood Zone?

bbandy — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 02:16:38 +0000

You probably think that if you live in Denver or other areas of Colorado, you are safe from the threat of flooding. After all, Denver gets very little rainfall annually and is 5,280 feet above sea level. Yet over 2000 people in Denver live on a flood plain, and the area has been hit with damaging floods in the past.

The truth is that Denver residents have a greater chance of losing their homes to a flood than to a fire. The Colorado Water Conservation Board states that over the span of a 30-year mortgage, there’s a 26 percent chance that a home will flood but only a 1 percent chance it will burn.

As a Denver homeowner, it’s critical to know your flood risk to determine whether to purchase the necessary insurance to cover damages should a flood occur. FEMA recommends that all property owners carry flood insurance, regardless of their risk.

To that end FEMA offers a free flood map service to let you know whether or not you’re located in a flood zone and what level of insurance protection you need. The site has a tutorial on how to find your location on the map and then how to drill down to your particular flood risk. There are also links to various insurance agents as well as real estate/flood determination agents.

Our homes are susceptible to so many things beyond our control, but knowing the risks means we can take the proper steps to be covered in the event of a disaster. Checking out the FEMA site is a good first step.

Marianne Bandy

Denver Relocation

Keep Your Credit Scores High to Buy Homes in Denver

bbandy — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 11:35:07 +0000

If you’re planning any sort of large financial transaction—such as refinancing or buying a home in the Denver area—be aware of your credit score. Higher credit scores can mean a better chance of getting approved for a loan as well as a lower interest rate.

Here are five things you can do to help bump up your credit scores and keep them working for you whether you live in Denver, Seattle, Boston or anywhere in-between.

1. Get and Check Your Credit Report Scores – Specifically, you want to look for any accounts or late payments that are not yours, for duplicate past-due items, for an incorrect Social Security number and/or date of birth, and for any entries more than seven years old. Items older than seven years are supposed to be removed from your report regardless of whether they are positive or negative entries, but you definitely want to nix the negative ones.

2. Argue for Error Fixes – Once you bring a mistake to the attention of the credit bureau, the law requires them to investigate and provide you with feedback. Usually, the credit bureau will ask any creditor reporting past due information to check its records. If the creditor doesn’t respond or can’t prove the information, that item is (or should be) deleted from your credit report.

3. Time is Money – Specifically, if you pay your bills on time you’ll be eligible to save money. Payment history makes up a large part (about one-third) of a credit report, so paying bills on time translates to a better score and better terms on loans. Set up automatic bank payments if that will help you be on time.

4. Lower Debt – If you have two or more credit cards and are close to the limit on all of them, lenders assume you’re not in good financial shape and will probably not qualify you for a loan. A good rule of thumb is to keep balances below 50% of available credit, and lower if possible.

5. Don’t Close Old Accounts – Older accounts are valued more than new accounts, and closing old or inactive credit accounts/credit lines reduces your total amount of available credit, which in turn can lower your credit score.

The site www.annualcreditreport.com is a government-authorized website that can provide you with a free copy of your three major credit reports. You can use this site to get a free credit report once every 12 months, and a good rule of thumb is to review them all once a year for mistakes or old entries.

Being vigilant and following the steps above will help keep your credit in great shape—and let you live in that beautiful Denver neighborhood of your dreams.

Marianne Bandy

Denver Relocation

METRO DENVER REAL ESTATE MARKET UPDATE – NOVEMBER 2011

bbandy — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 23:31:02 +0000

Market Metrics:

In October, the unsold inventory of active listings in metro Denver hit a new low at 14,156 units, the second month in a row for setting a new low record. As we are moving into new territory, there is steady demand by buyers and low inventory. When one compares the Denver housing market to the nation, Denver continues to hold its own. When compared to October of last year, # of sales is about even, prices are about the same, while inventory is down 30% for single family homes and down 46% for condos/townhomes. Since demand is holding steady and inventory has dropped sharply, these fundamentals point to what should be firmer or increasing prices in the months ahead.

Monthly Market Recap:

Single Family:	Condos/Townhomes:
Active Inventory is 11,504 units at month end	Active Inventory is 2,652 units at month end
Sold units is 2,482	Sold units is 701
Average Days on Market is 102	Average Days on Market is 102
Median Sold Price is $226,021	Median Sold Price is $125,000
Average Sold Price is $269,503	Average Sold Price is $160,723

October Year-to-Date Market Recap (2011 versus 2010):

Single Family:	Condos/Townhomes:
Active Inventory 11,504 versus 16,473 (↓30%)	Active Inventory 2,652 versus 4,887 (↓46%)
Sold Units 26,438 versus 26,213 (↔)	Sold Units 6,725 versus 6,915 (↓3%)
Median Price $229,820 vs $230,000 (↔)	Median Price $125,000 vs $133,500 (↓6%)
Average Price $280,629 vs $282,819 (↓1%)	Average Price $158,965 vs $160,186 (↓1%)
Sales Volume $7.4B versus $7.4B (↔)	Sales Volume $1.0B versus $1.1B (↔)
Days on Market 106 versus 87 (↑22%)	Days on Market 118 versus 93 (↑27%)

With the holiday season upon us, we continue to see a steady demand for housing. At a time like this, one needs to take into consideration employment, consumer confidence, and mortgage interest rates. Mortgage interest rates continue to remain low. Consumer confidence continues to improve, albeit slowly. Employment is a focus that is on everyone’s mind and definitely a conversation item on a daily basis. A recent article in the Denver Post compared metro Denver to nine other similar sized cities in terms of their economic strength. (http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_19415187 ). Denver ranked #3 overall, so it looks like we are poised for more growth. Welcome news indeed!

Remember, real estate is local. While the above is a representation of the Denver market as a whole, please contact me to better understand your specific real estate market.

Advice to Sellers:

Today’s home buyer is looking for his or her dream. What does this mean to you, the home seller? Well first of all, the home buyer is looking for a home that meets 100% of the home buyer’s expectations. The home buyer wants to move into his or her new home and have to do nothing but enjoy the home.

Therefore, deferred maintenance needs to be non-existent. The usual list of maintenance items such as painting and carpeting now also include updating the entire home. Should you consider updating the bathrooms or the kitchen? Talk to me about a cost benefit analysis of updates. I can advise you on how much a buyer would be willing to pay for the updates in the purchase price of the home.

These are a few suggestions for you, the seller, to help determine the pricing. To learn more, give me a call.

Advice to Buyers:

The number of active listings, those homes available for sale, continues to decrease. Caution is the theme, with caution rising along with the price point. What does this mean to you? Give me a call to obtain an understanding of the home market market you are interested in.

Manage your expectations by determining what you want in a home, what you can afford in a home, what are your lifestyle priorities, and asking if home ownership will allow you to achieve your personal goals.

Give me a call to talk about your Lifestyle preferences, the benefits of home ownership, and home affordability.

Marianne Bandy

Denver Relocation

Colorado is Third in Nation for High-Tech Jobs

bbandy — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 23:25:58 +0000

If you’re a high-tech worker, Colorado is a very good place to live. According to the recent Cyberstates 2011 report from the Tech America Foundation, Colorado has the third-highest concentration of high-tech workers in the country. There were 156,900 high-tech workers in Colorado in 2010, and the state’s high-tech payroll of $14.2 billion was 12^th highest in the nation.

States were ranked in several different ways, including total number of high-tech employees, total number of high-tech firms, and total high-tech payroll. In 2010, Colorado had 87 high-tech workers per 1,000 private sector workers, giving it the number three ranking behind Virginia and Massachusetts.

This is great news for Denver residents and those living in other large Colorado cities, since high-tech is a critical industry for the economy. Some feel it’s the basis for many of the ideas that develop into new inventions which then help create new jobs.

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment categorizes its high-tech segment as “advanced technology,” which currently numbers 172,600 employees. This is broken down into seven sub-areas including computer and electronic manufacturing, transportation-equipment manufacturing, and software publishing.

A high-tech worker living in Denver or anywhere along the Front Range earned $90,800 on average in 2010, which is 96 percent more than the average salary of fellow private-sector workers, says the study.

Because they are paid so well, high-tech employees spend more and help create more jobs in the support-services sector of the local economy.

Colorado did lose some high-tech jobs during the recession, but the high-tech industry is still one of the keystones of the state’s overall economy, offering many skilled workers for tech companies to hire. If the state’s schools and universities keep investing in math and science education, there will continue to be a cache of qualified high-tech workers in Colorado, which in turn will keep drawing technology companies to the state.

So whether you already live here or are considering relocating to the Denver area, know that Colorado’s strong high-tech industry makes this a great place to live, no matter what your skill set.

Marianne Bandy

Denver Relocation