Archive for Uncategorized
I Needed A Realtor
Posted by: | CommentsBy Doug Hutchins, Castle Pines Realtor
I give good advice to my clients at closings but I needed a Realtor to get to my own closing.
I recently purchased a home for myself and the one re-occurring thought I had during the process was “I need a Realtor!” Is that an odd statement for a Realtor to make?
Not really. Some say: The home buyer who represents himself has a fool for an agent. Of course, the temptation and instinct is for the Realtor to ignore that good advice because, after all, “I am good at what I do”. Read More→
Modern Denver Loft Furniture
Posted by: | CommentsBy Brian Lehnerz & John Stegner
Best Sites for Denver Loft, Condo Furnishings
Modern furniture for Denver Lofts and Condos
After spending months researching and looking at lofts and condos in Downtown Denver with your poor Realtor, you finally bought your new loft in Denver’s Uptown neighborhood! Now comes the fun part; furnishing your new Denver home!
Modern furnishings look great in a modern, open loft or condo layout. The simple lines and elegant design play well against the clean, sleek look of modern furniture. Here are the 5 best online sites for modern furnishings in Denver. Read More→
Home Inspector Selling Tips
Posted by: | CommentsCarl Brahe, CHI, CCI
One of the quickest, easiest ways to improve the looks of a kitchen or bathroom is to update the faucets and shower heads. Faucets and shower heads are no longer just pipes where water comes out. There is beauty and artistry in design never available before. Updated faucets and shower heads can instantly add improvements that set your baths and kitchen apart from your neighbors without major remodeling. Read More→
Inspection Tips for First Time Buyers
Posted by: | CommentsBy Carl Brahe, Certified Home Inspector
Carl Brahe, Denver Home Inspector
Many people are taking advantage of tax incentives for first time home buyers. New home owners are discovering that along with the joys of home ownership come challenges. Ex-renters are finding that maintenance that was taken care of by landlords, or property managers, is suddenly their own responsibility. When problems arise Read More→
Glut: Big Homes in Castle Pines North
Posted by: | Commentsby Doug Hutchins, Castle Pines North Expert
Castle Pines North inventory of luxury homes expands.
I am extremely concerned with the level of inventory available in Castle Pines North, Colorado for homes priced above $500,000. Homes are commodities and pricing is driven by supply and demand. If there is an oversupply of homes, prices will drop. I have been warning for the last several quarters that the high levels of inventory would lead to a reduction in home prices. Unfortunately, that prediction is coming true for larger homes in Castle Pines North.
This could suggest that seller’s of larger and more expensive homes will be forced to lower prices if they want to sell in the foreseeable future. Most likely, only the most aggressively priced homes will sell at all. Read More→
Second Quarter Denver Home Prices
Posted by: | CommentsBy Charles Roberts and Lon Welsh, Your Castle Real Estate.
Comparing 2007 to 2008, the average home price across the metro dropped 13%, to $267,000: a 13% decrease. Comparing the 1Q of 2008 ($271,000) to 1Q 2009 ($241,000), we saw an additional 11% drop. 2Q looked much better, only a 5% drop. As with many of the national headlines, things may still be getting worse, but the pace of the decline has slowed significantly.
Notice the recent home price trends in North Aurora North (AUN and Denver Southwest (DSW).
While it’s certainly too soon to call it a trend, we noticed Read More→
Denver Is Best City, Again
Posted by: | Comments
Forbes Magazine: Latest to pronounce Denver as "number one."
Where would you like to live? For many years independent surveys have asked that question and it seems like the answer was always somewhere on the coast. Seattle or San Diego were most often mentioned. Now, Shangri-La has moved inland.
Two more independent surveys have now ranked Denver the most desirable city in America. Maybe that’s why in the midst of this recession, the Denver real estate market has held up better than most and is even showing signs of recovery. The latest to surveys show that most Americans would rather live in Denver than any other place in the United States. As a Realtor working in Denver since 1978, I’ve often extol the virtues Read More→
May 2009 Home Sales
Posted by: | CommentsBy Lon Welsh, Real Estate Broker and Statistician
Throughout the entire Denver metro area, May 2009 sales results for detached, single-family homes (DSF) were very similar to the trends we have seen all year.
Price highlights:
- - The average sales price increased from April to May, as it usually does
- - The average price is down 8% in 2009 vs. first five months of 2008
- - The 2008 vs. 2009 price gap was very high in January and February; it has been smaller in the last three months. This is probably an indicator that pricing is starting to firm up
- - The largest 10% of the homes (those with more than 2875 square feet) saw prices drop 17% in the Jan-May 2009 vs. Jan-May 2008. The smallest 10% of homes (those under 910 sq ft) only dropped 2% in that time period. Still, larger home prices dropping less than they have recently.
Carbon Monoxide Detectors
Posted by: | CommentsBy Carl Brahe Certifed Housing Inspector, CCI
Carbon monoxide detectors are about to be required in Colorado.
I came home one afternoon. There was a strong smell of smoke. The wood stove chimney pipe had become clogged with creosote. My wife lit a fire in the stove. When smoke began to leak from the stove pipe joints she poured water on it to douse it and threw the smoking logs outside.
When I came in she was giddy and seemed confused. The dog was unresponsive. When I made the dog get up and go outside he refused to come back in. They were suffering from the early phases of carbon monoxide poisoning. Read More→
Supply of Homes Drops
Posted by: | Commentsby Lon Welsh, Your Castle Real Estate
Lon is a statistician, Denver Realtor and a great Dad.
Supply and demand rules every market including real estate. Too often, we only discuss the demand for homes. How many homes sell every month is important. But, equally important is how many homes are for sale in proportion to how many sell. That ultimately determines the direction of prices.
The overall inventory of homes available for sale has been declining for over a year in the Denver real estate market. We currently have five months of inventory. Here’s how that works: Read More→
