Homes And People

The 29 th of September 2014 thunderstorm blew in without much warning during the Centennial /  Highlands Ranch, Colorado early afternoon rush hour. When softball-size hail smashed through the roof of a local restaurant, customer Steve Franklin headed for safety to escape falling debris and glass shards from exploding windows. Franklin, a National Weather Division veteran, knew this fall storm would make national headlines. “The hail punched right through the ceiling,” Franklin said. “The hailstones knocked ceiling tiles loose and rainwater cascaded down from the electrical fixtures. I hid out in the restaurant’s basement room along with the other customers and employees. I found out later the storm injured eight people.” An experienced weatherman, Franklin knew that the fierce storm had passed directly over his home in Centennial. “I called my insurer and the claim adjuster told me the roof had to be replaced. Afterwards, property insurance premiums went up fifteen percent in m...

I laughed so hard when I saw this picture. It has nothing to do with #RealEstate but if you have used the internet longer than 2 days I hope you will appreciate it as well.

First-timers can be eager to jump into home ownership. But real estate experts say they see them committing the same mistakes, time and time again. Here are some of the most common ones, as identified by experts in a recent CNBC article: Read Article 1. They’re unprepared to compete against all-cash offers. 2. They place a car ahead of the home. 3. They place too much emphasis on online loan information. 4. They bank too much on online home values. 5. They forgo the home inspection. 

Metro Denver has become the first major city in the mountain West — and one of only four nationwide — "to fully close the book on the housing crisis" "At the end of 2014, house prices in Denver reached levels last seen before the Great Recession," it says. "All of its regional [city] peers except Colorado Springs beat the national average in terms of house price growth over the quarter, reinforcing the region’s leadership in the national housing recovery." See article

One that's reasonable and well-written can make a big difference I recently saw two very good examples of how  not  to write and submit an offer for a buyer. I found agents who felt they were representing their buyers, yet failed them both in obtaining what they wanted — a contract on their first home. The first example was an offer I received that had in the special stipulations section a list of 10 items, specifying everything including resurfacing the driveway, replacing the gutters, adding new carpet in the color and choice of the buyer, repainting all interior rooms a color selection made by the buyer, fixing leaks in two specific ceilings and — the part I found most amusing — the HVAC was put on a personal property bill of sales as staying with the property at no cost to the buyer. Plus, in the personal property bill of sale, the agent added light fixtures and even the hot water heater. Well, I know I don’t have to say this, but lig...

Curb appeal can be the most important aspect when trying to attract buyers. As temperatures rise and spring begins to waltz in, take advantage of the warmth and set yourself and your family to work in the yard to improve your home’s curb appeal. Some ideas: 1. Create an immaculate space – During the winter, things can get out of hand in your yard. Plants and trees can look overgrown or decrepit, so cut them back and prune them to perfection. This will allow your plants and trees to grow beautifully during the warm spring season. Rake up or blow away dead leaves throughout your lawn and flowerbeds, since they can create a cluttered look. Be diligent about general upkeep in your yard. Mow the lawn and put down some fresh pine straw or mulch to clearly mark spaces in your yard, creating a clean and manicured look. 2. Introduce some color – Visit your local nursery to purchase some colorful, healthy looking flowers, trees, or shrubs. This is where you get to have fun and be cre...

Flipping a house means buying a home with the intention of fixing it up and selling it within six months for a profit. Americans flipped 26,947 single-family homes in Q3 2014, accounting for 4 percent of all home sales in that period, according to real estate data firm Realtytrac. The average gross return for investors was $75,990 per home, up 2 percent from Q2. Flipping houses can be profitable, particularly when home values are rising and interest rates remain at historically low levels. The Federal Housing Administration stopped enforcing anti-flipping regulations—which prohibited insuring any home for less than 90 days—in 2010. If you're looking to get into the home flipping business, follow these four guidelines for the best chance of success. Build a Bankroll Everything in life requires money, and house flipping is no exception. You could take out loans to buy properties, but then you are just creating debt in the hopes of making money. A smart house flipper who w...

There’s something that I see generated in almost every transaction — a list of repair items found during due diligence inspections that buyers would like completed before closing. This can cause heartaches for sellers, who have negotiated their best deal and then feel “put upon” because they’re being asked to make repairs to close the sale. Read Article

Household formation could soon be turning a corner, if young adults living with their parents started moving out to form their own households, according to a client note from Capital Economics. Household growth has been abnormally low at about a half a million since 2008. But growth is estimated to have risen to 1.7 million in 2014, up from 400,000 in 2014, according to the Census Bureau's latest Homeownership & Vacancy Survey. Read article   - Realtor Magazine

AND soaring home prices in Denver have tenants thinking more about renting... (The chicken or the egg) In metro Denver, fast-rising rental rates are pushing tenants to increasingly consider buying a home instead of renting. Denver-area rents are soaring three times faster than the U.S. average - a trend making Denverites more likely than their national counterparts to give up rental payments in favor of a mortgage. Seventeen percent of metro Denver renters expect to buy a home within the next year, compared to 12% nationwide, according to a Zillow survey released this week. Read article

Year to date (2015) Home sales details by price range in Highlands Ranch Colorado Sale Price Number of Sales Median Days On the Market $150 - 200 11 6 $200 - 250 5 10 $250 - 300 29 4 $300 - 350 53 4 $350 - 400 46 5 $400 - 450 34 20 $450 - 500 17 15 $500 - 600 28 71 $600 - 700 11 26 $700 - 800 7 60 $800 - 900 2 165 $900 - 1,000 1 145 $1,000 + 0

Pictures and virtual tour It was listed for 112 days and sold for 3.5M It sold for $810 per square foot.

New wave of development poised to roll across Denver's suburban fringe Prosper, an expansive 9,000-home community which got preliminary approval from Arapahoe County last month, is just one of several giant residential communities on the horizon. It joins 12,000-home Sterling Ranch, the first phase of which was approved by Douglas County in January, and 10,000-home Green Valley Ranch East in Adams County as the latest mega master-planned developments to put outward pressure on metro Denver's footprint. Read article  

Sales Price Increases by 37% for Homes over 1M, 17% For Condos and  9.6% for SF Homes February  2015 Residential Market Report (Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Elbert & Jefferson Counties) Click here  for the complete report. Highlights for February 2015 * Single Family Detached homes units sold: down 3.1% from prior year (2016 units) * Average Sold price on SFD’s: Up 9.6% from prior year ($383,676 this year) * Days on market for SFD’s: 42 days for February 2015 * Condo/Townhome sales: Up 7.9% from prior year (843 units) * Average Sold price for Condo/Townhome: Up 17.6% from prior year ($249,183 this year) * Days on market for Condo/Townhome :  47.5 days for February 2015.

When you are looking for something to do alone, with friends or family, look at our Greater Littleton Area  EVENTS CALENDAR  on RelyLocalLittleton.com first.  More of your money will stay in our community and many of these events also help fund local non-profits: Saturday, March 7 - Lindy Hop Boot Camp at Adventures in Dance Saturday, March 7 - Free Healthier Workshop at Body & Brain Yoga Saturday, March 7 - Beer & Cheese Pairing at High Plains Tap House Sunday, March 8 - Littleton's 125th Anniversary Celebration Monday, March 9 - Evening with Spirit at Foothills Green Gallery Tuesday, March 10 - Community Drum Circle at Hudson Gardens Friday, March 13  - St. Patrick's Ballroom/Latin/Swing/Salsa Dance Party Saturday, March 14  - Seeds of Possibility - Localization of Food Tuesday, March 17  - Kids 6-week Boot Camp at 212 Degrees Fitness Wednesday, March 18  - Business Owner Networking at Old Mill Brewery Friday,...

Using data from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the website’s map shows a total of 187,000 active leases near neighborhoods, parks and schools in Arapahoe County.    The map also shows that 192,000 acres in Arapahoe County contain mineral rights owned by oil and gas companies. The two largest lease and right holders in Aurora are Texas-based companies Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and ConocoPhillips. While not every lease will be developed, the fact these leases were so recently filed and that the oil and gas industry owns the mineral rights under so much of Arapahoe County is clearly a warning sign for elected officials and residents. Our state government exists to protect our citizens, but right now our local governments don’t have the tools to exercise their rights to determine where oil and gas development occurs or how close it should be to our schools, homes and open spaces. I am concerned the governor’s Oil and Gas Task Force will miss an opportunity to ...

February Statistics Report Motivated by increasing home values, sellers brought 4,537 new listings to the market in February, a 14 percent increase as compared to last month and a four percent year-over-year increase. The new inventory was quickly scooped up by buyers eager to make purchases, which kept sales strong. The number of properties that sold in February was up 13 percent as compared to last month. Additionally, the number of homes that went under contract was up 15 percent month over month and saw a seven percent year-over-year increase. The decline in the number of available homes that began in July 2014 continued into the first quarter, keeping inventory at historically-low levels. At the close of February, 5,087 active listings were on the market, a one percent decrease over last month and 25 percent lower than last year.

A Custom-Made Tiny House for Skiing and Hiking 42K to build!!! See for yourself Rustic Living Room by Stowe Architects & Building Designers Cushman Design Group

A great example of an exterior remodel. I recently purchased a ranch house that looked similar to the before pictures. I will be incorporation some of the design cues from this article. Before and After Pictures  

As a flipper myself,  All I can say is WOW!! 1.1M Purchase Price 250K in repairs 2M Value after the repairs and 3 months Nice True story with pictures

Closed on two days ago. 92 Total sales and 24 over 500K  http://matrix.recolorado.com/DE.asp?k=306660XQSC0&p=DE-17717501-728

The least expensive single family home in Highlands Ranch Colorado during the month of February 2015 http://ow.ly/3xqYqA sold for 250k