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Archive for the 'City /Neighborhood Events' Category

REALTOR Nationwide Open House in Highlands Ranch

Highlands Ranch Open House April 10th and 11th

There will be more Open House signs than Garage Sale signs in Highlands Ranch this weekend.  I plan on holding my listing at 9215 Mountain Brush Ct. in Highland Ranch Open on Saturday from 10 am to 2pm. ( Come by and See Me ) This is an effort by the National Association of Realtors to get the message out that there are some great deals out there for home buyers.  There will be thousands of homes in Colorado 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 »

New Construction Homes in Parker Worth a Look

Parker New Homes vs Foreclosure Properties

Parker New Home Vs Repo

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 »

Highlands Ranch Going Green?

Will all the medical marijuana media attention effect Highlands Ranch property values?

First of all, why would a marijuana grower in a residential neighborhood with tons of covenants go on television and brag about making 400K a year growing pot in his basement?  Was he high? Really?  Now that I have that off my chest, how will this effect real estate values? The media hype and flash will subside and I doubt there will be any lasting effect on home values except for the homes really close to the property.  The house will be labeled ” The Pot House” and it will stigmatize the house and possibly those next door to it.  Some people aren’t going to care but believe me there are some who will.  If I were the neighbor, I’d be pretty upset at Bartkowicz.

NIMBY is a term that most of us are familiar with. ( Not In My Back Yard )

Highlands Ranch Community Association sent me the following email

Reported Marijuana Growing Operation in Highlands Ranch

9News is reporting that there is a medical marijuana growing operation in Highlands Ranch. Read the rest of this entry »

North Star Academy West Coming to Highlands Ranch

Charter schools are in high demand in Douglas County

Your may want to learn about a new Core Knowledge preschool – 8^th grade charter school is coming to Highlands Ranch.  The original vision for the school was created in 2004 by a group of Highlands Ranch parents with a strong desire to create a more challenging and meaningful educational program for their children and the community at large.  The founders successfully opened North Star Academy in Parker in August 2006.

Familiar Faces at North Star Academy West

Many individuals from the original founding team have joined our NSA West Board of Directors and parent volunteer base to ensure a successful opening. Read the rest of this entry »

How To Get Free Snow Removal in Highlands Ranch

South Facing Reality About Snow Removal

I love getting things for FREE.  Why do you think one of the most popular categories on Craigslist is the FREE section?  You are probably an el cheapo like me and that is how you ended up on my blog looking for free stuff.  Maybe you thought that it was a teen youth group doing good deeds to reach out to the neighbors.  It’s not even that complicated.  All you need to do is buy a house or town house with a south or southwest facing driveway and a little patience.  In fact if you are REALLY patient it doesn’t matter what Read the rest of this entry »

But Uncle Fred Got His House for $40,000 Under List Price in Highlands Ranch

Fact or Fiction

If I had a quarter for every time I hear somebody brag about the killer deal that so and so got just last week I’d travel to Alaska.

I mean really, how do you expect me to respond to that?

“Uh okay lets offer $40K under asking price on that new listing that just came out on the market with 3 offers on it asking for highest and best.”

So now that I have that off my chest lets talk.

The Facts

There are some fantastic deals out there in Highlands Ranch and the low financing rates make it more affordable than it has been in a long long time.

The statistics say that the average house in Highlands Ranch sell for 97% of the asking price.  If the average sale price is close to $330,000 then you can expect close to 10K in discounts or incentives.

The Lesson

I appreciate that you need to ask advice from trusted friends when it comes to making a big decision like buying a house.  Just make sure that the person giving you advice on value has enough CURRENT experience to advise you correctly.

Is it Good or Bad to own the Newest and Nicest Home in a Development?

Who wants to just keep up with the Jones’s? Isn’t it better to make them keep up with you? As far as your sports car, manicured lawn and super white teeth go, I leave that up to you. But I can help you with owning a house in Littleton that will make them jealous with envy. And to top it off you can own it for less than most of them paid for their smaller less desirable houses. Just check out the video below of the property on Jamison. The owner has recently added new carpet and paint along with a host of other upgrades. It also has a full basement just waiting for your finishing touches.

And just to make them squirm with envy, I’ll throw your welcome to the neighborhood “Open House” party and tell all of them what a screamin deal you got in Southbridge.

Looks Like A Home, Smells Like A Home, Feels Like A Home. Must Be A Home.

If you have spent any time lately trying to buy a home in Southeast Denver or Aurora under 200K you will know what I am about to tell you is true.  Be prepared to offer more than the list price and still be frustrated when you get outbid.  I get calls on properties that I advertise from buyers that are frustrated that they haven’t been able to buy a home after placing multiple offers on several different homes.  I’ll share with you a few of my real estate tricks that sometimes lean offers in my favor and uncover potential deals that most agents will never know about.  And after all of that I will encourage you to consider a second option that may just get you more square footage for less money.

Tip #1  Use and escalation clause when making an offer on a house.  Are you willing to offer $2,000 more than anybody else up to say $175,000?  Then make sure that your real estate agent communicates that to the listing agent.  I usually send it in the body of my email when I send the offer,  I call and tell the agent directly and I place that information in the additional provisions of the contract.  Some bank owned agents reject these clauses but I have gotten deals this way so give it a try.

Tip #2  Send an email to the agents with pending sales in the area and price range that you are interested in.  Make sure the address of the property is in the subject of the email.  I don’t write a book in these emails.  It usually looks something like this.

Maria,

I see that you have an offer on this property.  My buyers are super interested and super qualified.  If anything happens to your deal, please let me know.  They can go up to 160K to make the deal work.  They must close prior to end of November.  They could close next month easy if we could just get them a house.

Thanks,

Matt Kuchar 303-710-3810

Most of the responses say they will let me know if the deal gets shaky or that the deal closes in a few days.  But one out of about every 20 emails gives me a response like this:

” Buyers is having trouble with financing and deal may go south.  I’ll let you know.”  In those cases we go in and look at the property and put in a back-up contract right away.

Tip #3  If you are going to even consider a short sale.  Your agent needs to call the other agent and ask a few questions before dragging you out there to look at a property that you cannot possibly purchase.  I email these questions to the agent and call them before wasting my client’s time.  Again place the address in the subject of the email.  Then place something like this in the body of the email.

Bonnie,

I’ve got a buyer that has an interest in this property.  How far along in the process is the short sale?  We need to be in a property by the end of November.  Is that a possibility? Do you have offers already?  Has BPO been done?

I usually get a response like this actual email:

“Hi Matt,

We have a contract in with the bank on this property and have 4 solid back up offers and 15 behind those !”

But once in a while I see this:

Matt, I will definitely let you know.  The buyer has been waiting FOREVER on this and is rapidly losing patience so…. stay tuned.

So What Looks Like A Home, Smells Like A Home and Feels Like A Home?  A Town Home.

There are two main reasons some people shy away from these great opportunities.

HOA Dues and Rules and Regulations.

HOA Dues aren’t that bad.  Add up what you pay in insurance, water and sewer, painting the exterior every 5 years and lawn care and I bet there isn’t much difference between what you pay and the monthly HOA dues at many townhomes.

Rules and Regs can also be a plus.  Drive through some neighborhoods under 200K in SE Denver and Aurora and tell me they couldn’t use a few more rules and enforcement.  For instance check out the video of this Town Home in Denver that I have listed for sale.  It is in Cherry Creek School District and has a garage.

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