The agent sent the e-mail because he is searching for Congress Park homes (priced between $400k-$625k) for his prequalified buyer. The buyers are looking for a home that falls within the boundaries of certain schools and streets.

This e-mail is proof of how quickly the Denver real estate market has turned around. I have not received many emails like this one over the past eight years, with the exception from cash “flippers.” Because of the low inventory of Denver home available (37 percent fewer homes are for sale than last year at this time) and pent-up buyer demand, many Denver agents have changed their marketing methods from sending out traditional listing announcements to advertising their particular buyers’ needs.

It is surprising how quickly the tide turned in favor of sellers from last October to present. The question is if this will be a sustainable trend?  We can only wait and see.

For more information on the state of the Denver real estate market, please contact Drew Armbruster at 720-840-1182.

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Here are a few happenings in the Denver housing market this month:

• According to the Denver Business Journal, there were 5,681 Denver homes placed under contract in April, which is a dramatic 20 percent increase percent from April 2011 and a 7 percent increase from March of this year.
• The inventory of Denver homes and condos available for sale in April declined 37 percent from April 2011.
• According to the Denver Post, foreclosure filings in Colorado’s metropolitan counties declined one percent during the first four months of 2012.
• The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to a historical low this month (averaging 3.84 percent), which is providing extra incentive to Denver homebuyers.
• According to the Apartment Association of Metro Denver and the Colorado Division of Housing, Denver rents rose 4.5 percent during the first quarter of this year ($952) from the first quarter of 2011 ($911).  As rents continue to rise, purchasing Denver homes becomes an even more attractive option to Denver renters.

All of this is great news for the Denver real estate market. It is a great time to purchase or sell Denver homes since you can take advantage of historically-low interest rates and purchase your dream home before prices start to increase. For information on the Denver housing market, or regarding Denver homes for sale, please contact Drew Armbruster at 720-840-1182.

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As the inventory of homes for sale in Denver has steadily dropped over the past few months, every local agent  reports the same problem: there is no inventory of Denver homes for sale and buyer demand is growing steadily.

What is next for this Denver housing market? Find My Home Denver’s prediction is that price appreciation for Denver homes will occur across the market’s median price point.

Here is a real life example of what we are seeing out there. Find My Home Denver’s listing at 394 S. Washington St. (five blocks from Washington Park) went back on the market last week. This home was listed last year for awhile before the sellers decided to test the waters at a later time. What happened when this house went on the market last Wednesday? 11 showings and three offers in three days!

Interest rates are still low and Denver home prices are very affordable, but with waning home inventory, Denver buyers are going to have to work harder and harder to find their next home. Don’t be surprised if the tradition of sellers paying closing costs and bending backwards at inspection to assure a closed deal starts to slide the other way. We expect to see a much more competitive year on the homebuyer front. This is good news for Denver home prices and for Denver home sellers.

For information regarding Washington Park homes, or regarding the Denver real estate market, please contact Drew Armbruster at 720-842-1182.

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There could be more change in store for the Cherry Creek North neighborhood. According to a recent Denver Business Journal article, the Western Development Group released details this past week on its contested eight-story office and luxury condominium project, dubbed 250 Columbine. The project, which will span the 200 block of Columbine Street, is slated to include 38,000 square feet of retail space, 70,000 square feet of high-end office space, a restaurant and high-end Cherry Creek North condos.

Local homeowners and business representatives are concerned about the buildings’ height (eight stories), density and the extra traffic that the large project could generate to the Cherry Creek North neighborhood. There is also an increasing concern that the Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District is changing its plans for the area and is now favoring taller buildings.

Proponents of the project argue that the project will generate less traffic than smaller retail locations and that it could potentially attract prestigious business firms to the area, which would be beneficial to the local economy.

The project is dependent on a zoning change from the City of Denver, which will be heard on March 7th. We will have to wait and see what happens since apparently there are two different visions for Cherry Creek North.

For information on Cherry Creek North Homes, or regarding the Denver real estate market,  please contact Drew Armbruster at 720-840-1182.

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What does this mean for prospective Denver sellers? It’s simple. There is less competition to sell your home, which means there is a good chance that you will receive a quick offer at the price you want.

Here are a few facts about the current Denver real estate market:

• There are currently only 6,200 active Denver homes on the market, which is a twelve-year low.
• There are only 460 bank owned homes on the market, which makes up only 7 percent of the market.
• There are only 640 short sale listings, which is surprisingly low.
• There are almost 4,000 Denver homes that are listed as “under contract” or “pending.”

It is a great time to be listing a house, especially if it is priced under $250,000, which is currently the strongest market. For more information on listing your Denver home for sale, please contact Drew Armbruster at 720-840-1182.

What is Your Home Worth?

Highpointe in Southeast Denver: A recent Denver Business Journal article, “Plans unveiled for new Denver mixed-use project,” caught our eye, since we have been following the new Highpointe project for quite some time.  Construction on the southeast Denver project, located at the corner of I-25 and East Hampden Avenue in southeast Denver, is slated to begin as early as this spring or summer. The project will include both commercial and residential sections. The commercial portion, including the Shoppes at Highpointe, will sit on the site of the old Four Points by Sheraton, which was demolished in 2010. The project will also include luxury apartments and an assisted living community.

Riverwalk Entertainment Complex in Glendale: Estimated to open in about to two years, the Riverwalk Entertainment Complex will consist of nearly 20 acres along Cherry Creek. It is slated to feature two hotels, a cinema complex, a World Rugby Hall of Fame museum, restaurants, an amphitheater and a parking structure. It is estimated that nearly 1.5 million visitors will visit this attraction each year.

We will continue to follow the progress of new Denver projects. For information on Denver homes, or regarding Denver neighborhoods, please contact Drew Armbruster at 720-840-1182.

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Pros for Staying In the Home While Doing A Short Sale

• An occupied home tends to show better and sell more quickly, since buyers can visualize themselves in the home. This tends to produce higher contracts and more serious buyers.
• If you are currently behind on payments, staying in the home while the short sale is negotiated can relieve some of the financial burden.
•  If the bank becomes aware that the home is vacant, it sometimes “winterizes the home,” which involves boarding up the pool or changing the locks. While this is only a minor hiccup in the grand scheme of things, it might delay the sales process.

Pros For Leaving The Home During The Short Sale Process

• If you are behind on your mortgage payments, the longer you wait to find a rental property, the harder it becomes. Because of this, I usually recommend that homeowners secure a place as quickly as possible.
• The amount of time it takes to get an approval on a short sale varies. While normally it is a longer amount of time than expected, an approval can come in sooner than expected. If you are living in the home when an approval is received, you usually will have to vacate it within 30 days or less. This can be very stressful if you’re not prepared.
• Sometimes living in the home while a short sale is being processed is stressful and emotional since you are preparing to move out.

Since there isn’t a “right answer” that works for everyone during the short sale process, I advise my clients to evaluate the pros/cons above and choose the option that works best for their families.

If you have any short sale questions, or other Denver real estate questions please don’t hesitate to contact Drew Armbruster at 720-840-1182. My team and I are here to help you through this challenging time.

When my fiancé and I began looking for a home in the Denver real estate market, I was living in Aurora and he was living in Lakewood, so we were open to different locations. We drove through many neighborhoods and pulled flyers from various Denver homes for sale. One thing that I noticed was that the prices for similar homes in different neighborhoods varied greatly, even though none of them were affected by busy streets or other external factors.

It is easy to find similar styles of Denver homes in different areas but the prices do vary greatly, so do your homework. The northern and eastern sections of the Denver metro area are the most affordable, including Thornton, Northglenn and Aurora. There are also fantastic values in Commerce City’s new area, Reunion, which is located just east of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal.

We ended up buying a home in Thornton. We purchased in this area because we got the most home for our money and it is simply a great place to live!

Incorporated in 1953, Thornton has grown into a vibrant city boasting four golf courses, 81 parks and nearly 2000 acres of parks and open space, including over 80 miles of trails. Thornton also has two recreation centers, including the Community Center and the Margaret Carpenter Recreation Center. ThorntonFest, HarvestFest and WinterFest are three annual festivals hosted by the City of Thornton.

Please contact me today so I can help you find the best Denver neighborhood for you and your family.

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Belinda Lovins ABR,CRS,GRI,MRE
303 450-5171
303 641-2689

Our team at Find My Home Denver would like to extend a warm welcome for the New Year and thank you for your past support and business. Because of your patronage, 2011 was a record breaking year for our team and we look forward to another great year in Denver Real Estate. It is because of our relationships with you that this business is enjoyable.  We cherish the interactions that we are entrusted with each year to accomplish your real estate plans, strategies and success.

The biggest overall trend we saw in the 2011 Denver housing market was declining home inventory.  This is a very good sign for price stability, which adds hope to future price appreciation.  However, limited inventory has caused issues for home buyers, as they have been accustomed to a broad range of home options.

My neighborhood near City Park, specifically named Whittier, had nearly its entire housing inventory sell in 2011. Those buyers looking for the popular Denver square architecture had a very limited selection.  Almost every Denver square sold in the price point under $400,000 leaving some home owners in a predicament that has not been seen since the early 2000s. Home sellers who had found a buyer for their home were sometimes forced to rent while they waited for a suitable replacement home to come on the market.  Many Denver neighborhoods and sub areas experienced a similar trend and one that we expect to continue into 2012.

Another important overall housing trend in 2012 was the falling interest rates. I am surprised I can say that as the previous few years offered the same, but 2012 saw the 30 year interest rate occasionally dip into the high 3’s.  This creates an amazing opportunity for households to lower their outgoing housing liability and has added to the falling inventory by allowing home owners to refinance and stay put. One big complaint I hear from Denver home buyers is the fact that our market has not depreciated as much as the rest of the country.  Hence, the opportunities to buy are not as great.  I like to bring up interest rates and help explain how rates dropping from 5% to 4% equate to a 20% discount in monthly mortgage payment.  As a quick footnote to this mortgage trend; qualifying for loans has continued to be difficult.  As a result, this has choked the housing recovery, yet is a necessary evil if the housing recovery is going to be healthy and sustained.

We look forward to working with you in 2012.  Please reach out to us and let us know how we can help with any of your Denver real estate and housing needs.  With another year quickly gone by it becomes more and more apparent that life is short and the most important “things” you can have/share are relationships.  It is our goal at Find My Home Denver to soak in the time we share with you in 2012 and listen to what is important to your Denver real estate needs.

Thank you again for all your support.

Sincerely,

Drew Armbruster, Andrew Darlington and the Find My Home Denver Team

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Two Ways to Make Money!

It is a proven fact that there are two ways to produce an income:

*1 You Work
*2 Your Money Works

Most people are so busy working right now that they often forget to put their money to work! My husband and I work very hard, but we are lucky that our home has also paid off for us. We were able to earn $40,000 in equity over a five- year period, purchasing it in 1991 for $70,000. By 1996, our home was worth $110,000.

Like it or not, you have to pay rent or a mortgage payment as part of your monthly living expenses. So, the first way to put your money to work is to exchange your monthly rental payment for a monthly mortgage payment. The main reason for this is that ninety-five percent of a mortgage payment is tax deductible, including all of the interest paid on the loan, along with the real property taxes.

I recently conducted a home value study over a 30 year span. I chose the matchless Model, which PERL-Mack built in Northglenn back in 1963. This wonderful starter home originally sold for $15,000, but in 1993, the home sold for $75,000 – five times its original value. Does this mean that in 30 more years, the home will be worth $350,000?

Fast forward to today. The same home is worth $150,000, ten times its original value!

Why not invest your rent money into a home of your own, especially since interest rates are lower than ever and there are numerous programs available to assist with the down payment.

Call today so I can introduce you to affordable Denver homes!

Belinda Lovins ABR,CRS,GRI,MRE
303 450-5171
303 641-2689

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