Archive for the 'Buyer Info' Category

100% Financing in Littleton Still Exists

No Money Down Loans in Littleton???

I received a mail from local mortgage broker in Littleton the other day.  She works for KeyBank as a loan officer. She was telling me about a loan program that allows borrowers to get up to 100% loan to value. This is an amazing loan program because most loans today require at least 3.5 percent down just to go FHA.  On top of 3.5% down the FHA loan also requires PMI insurance and an up front funding fee of 2.25%.  The loan from Read the rest of this entry »

How To Search Douglas County Assessor Information

What did your neighbor really pay and how big is their house?

Douglas County keeps all of the information about your home and mine public on their website.  The website is actually pretty advanced as far as county websites go.  Just compare it to Adams County and you will get an idea of what I mean.  The Douglas County Assessor website is where I spend much of my investigative time when looking for real estate information that Metrolist does not offer.  ( Metrolist is the Denver MLS service where realtor’s Read the rest of this entry »

A Kinder and Gentler Bank of America Short Sale

Bank of America Short Sales in Denver Getting Easier???

Ask any agent who has had to deal with Bank of America on a short sale during the past few years and they will have war stories of hours, weeks and months spent in vain trying to get a short sale approved. There is nothing worse than investing hours, advertising dollars and more for months on end only to never make a dime when it goes to foreclosure. I can tell you that I would tell my home buyers to avoid them if I found out they were the lien holder. I am assuming that most of America now knows that a short sale is an attempted sale of a property where the loan is greater than the value of the house. The seller wants to / has to sell and the bank needs to take less than what is owed on the loan. This last week Bank of America took me by surprise and they seem to have finally gotten their act together.

Bank of America now using the equator.com platform for Short Sales

equator.com is a website where banks process thousands of foreclosed properties Read the rest of this entry »

New Construction Homes in Parker Worth a Look

Parker New Homes vs Foreclosure Properties

So I get to meet a new client that is in a relocation from California today and set up to see about seven properties to get a feel for areas and price ranges.  He works in Inverness near DTC so we decided to stay within a 10 minute drive to the office. He wants to stay under the 300K range and isn’t looking for anything too big so I chose a few neighborhoods that would work.  We had never met before so we started at a neighborhood closest to his office.

Walnut Hills and Willow Creek in Cherry Creek School District

Our first stop was in Walnut Hills where the homes were built in the 1960′s and 70′s and range from 170K to 280K.  There are many bi-level, ranch and tri-level homes in this area.  The lot sizes are pretty big Read the rest of this entry »

Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree Sales Increase in 2010

Existing Home Sales In Highlands Ranch Increase 50% Over First Two Months of 2009

Great news for Real Estate in Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree so far this year.  In 2009 there were 110 closed sales from January to February. So far in January and February we have had 167 closed sales in the same time frame according to information in Metrolist. ( A Multiple Listing Service – MLS in the Denver Metro Area )  There are several factors that have contributed to the rapid increase in closed sales. The historically low interest rates combined with government incentives for first time home buyers and move up buyers has helped people get off the fence and into a home.  We have also had a relatively mild winter as far as snow goes which makes it easy for us to get out and look at homes.

The Average Sale Price Increased 8.9% over February 2009

Not only were there more sales in the area, but the average sale price also had an upward trend.  In 2010 the average sale price was $334,635 compared to  $307,185 in February of 2009.  One month does not make up a whole year Read the rest of this entry »