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Archive for March 2008
March 30th, 2008
I have been happily surprised over the last few days to see that many of the bank-owned listings on the market are - wait for it - nice!
I have several buyers looking in a comfy first-time homebuyer price range under $140,000. There has been no shortage of listings to show them, but most of them were vacant, dirty, full of trash, etc. It may be easy for a seasoned investor to see beyond the yuck and envision what a few thousand dollars and some sweat could do for a place, but for first-time homebuyers looking for that first step onto the property ladder, it’s more difficult. They are used to looking at and living in tidy little rental units that are professionally cleaned for showings and move-ins. It’s got to be a bit discouraging to look at house after house filled with the foreclosees left-behinds.
But, just in the last couple of weeks, I have seen a DRASTIC improvement in new bank-owned listings in this price range. Are banks and their listing agents finally realizing that spending a few hundred dollars to have the house cleaned up and the trash hauled away is well worth it? I bet they are - because several of these shiny new listings have only been on the market a few days and they already have multiple offers.
Hopefully the rest of these lenders will get on board, because even if a house is really out-dated and missing appliances, it’s way easier for Buyers to picture new paint and carpet if the house isn’t knee-deep in garbage!
If you are a Buyer stuck in a price range with nothing but bank-owned properties, try to keep the following in mind:
- One rough day of clean-up might save you thousands of dollars off of the purchase price!
- Prices in a lot of areas right now are 25% lower than they were at this time last year. That savings will buy a lot of paint!
- Go look at some Open Houses in the area that have been “flipped” or that are at least in great shape - this will help you see what that little foreclosed on, outdated house can look like with a little time and money!
Posted in Real Estate News | No Comments »
March 20th, 2008
Denver’s Homebuyer Happy Hour is back, bigger and better than ever!
Join us on April 12 at Tastes Wine Bar on Tennyson from 1-3 for free tapas, drink specials, and information about the homebuying process from start to finish!
Scott Mulvany of Cherry Creek Mortgage will be hanging out to answer all of your lending and mortage questions and concerns, and Dennis Crowder from CJI Contracting will be there to chat you up about home improvement projects, their costs, and their potential returns.
Posted in Real Estate News, What to do in D-Town, What's going on?! | 1 Comment »
March 20th, 2008
Wow, this is a rough one - on MSNBC.com today, a story outlining new lender policies that are punishing people with OK credit and job history just because their neighbors took out a bad mortgage!
Check out the map - there are whole states that are on the blacklist!
”Just when consumers and the U.S. economy need banks to lend more freely, the mortgage industry is making it harder to borrow — even for those with good credit.
Mortgage insurers, whose backing is required for borrowers who can’t afford the traditional 20 percent down payment on a home, have already flagged nearly a quarter of the nation’s ZIP codes where they refuse to insure some home loans.”
Read the rest here…
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
March 9th, 2008
Ah, Multiple Offers. It’s a phrase I haven’t heard used in a while…and one that I have missed deeply, from the bottom of my heart. Now that Spring is here, the birds are chirping, daylight savings time starts tomorrow, and Multiple Offers are back!!!
I feel like I have been showing the same sad foreclosed on, vacant, lonely homes for months now - buyer after buyer walking through and pondering the obvious questions - why hasn’t anyone bought this place (it’s been on the market for a year) - and why should I (when there are 4 more just like it within 100 yeards)?
But now, in the last week, I have had buyers write offers on 3 different properties that have been on the market for months only to learn that they already have Multiple Offers.
Explanation please, Robin.
Here’s my take:
1. The market is finally picking up. People are figuring out that they CAN get a mortgage that will work for them - and that prices really ARE as unbelievable as they seem.
2. Banks are taking FOREVER to process offers, so the offers on foreclosed homes pile up while lenders crunch the numbers and take their sweet time responding.
3. Life is good.
It really is starting to look up in the DM (Denver Metro) - but learn a lesson from my disappointed buyers - if you are interested in a home, make an offer before it’s gone!
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March 6th, 2008
Denver St. Patrick’s Day Parade March 15th
The Bellco Credit Union Denver St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be on Saturday, March 15th, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. One of the best and largest in the U.S.A., it includes floats, clowns, pipe and traditional Irish bands, Irish step dancers, veterans groups, equestrian and animal units, El Jebel Shriners, and much more. More than 200 entries and 10,000 people will participate. It is estimated that more than 200,000 people were in attendance on St. Patrick’s Day 2007. Everyone wants to be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day!Bellco Credit Union Denver St. Patrick’s Day Parade
March 15 Parade begins at 10 a.m.
Parade route: Parade starts at 27th & Blake to 17th, 17th to Wynkoop, Wynkoop to 19th, 19th to Wewata around to the Coors Field Parking
For parade entry information, to join the committee, or other pertinent information visit www.denverstpatricksdayparade.org
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March 3rd, 2008
I have several people a week ask me this question - what’s the market going to do? Should I buy now, or are prices going to go down even further? Should I sell now, or are prices on the way back up? I don’t have a crystal ball, I wish I did, but I am a “half-full glass” kind of girl. I do tell everyone that asks me these types of questions that every situation is different. There are places in the Denver Metro where prices have steadily risen, even through the mortgage meltdown. There are other places where value is continuing to decline.
This video from this morning’s Today Show offers some good advice to homeowners in different situations:
Posted in Real Estate News | No Comments »
March 2nd, 2008
CLEVELAND - Folks on Humphrey Hill Drive were still waking up on the icy Saturday morning the shark hunters came to town. They rounded the suburban traffic circle in a pair of rented school buses after a half-hour ride from far more modest neighborhoods, rumbling to a stop at the Garmone family’s driveway. Forty-two caffeinated Clevelanders piled out, their leaders carrying bullhorns.
Their quarry, Mike Garmone — a regional vice president at Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation’s largest mortgage lender — didn’t answer his door. So they deployed, ringing bells at the big homes with three-car garages, handing out accusatory fliers and lambasting Garmone and his company’s loans. Before departing, they left their calling card — thousands of 2 1/2-inch plastic sharks flung across Garmone’s frozen flower beds, up into the gutters, littering the doorstep.I’ve read several articles in the last few days about the activists from Cleveland’s East Side Organizing Project, and I can’t get enough of their story! Here’s an excerpt from an article on msnbc.com this morning:
CLEVELAND - Folks on Humphrey Hill Drive were still waking up on the icy Saturday morning the shark hunters came to town. They rounded the suburban traffic circle in a pair of rented school buses after a half-hour ride from far more modest neighborhoods, rumbling to a stop at the Garmone family’s driveway. Forty-two caffeinated Clevelanders piled out, their leaders carrying bullhorns.
Their quarry, Mike Garmone — a regional vice president at Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation’s largest mortgage lender — didn’t answer his door. So they deployed, ringing bells at the big homes with three-car garages, handing out accusatory fliers and lambasting Garmone and his company’s loans. Before departing, they left their calling card — thousands of 2 1/2-inch plastic sharks flung across Garmone’s frozen flower beds, up into the gutters, littering the doorstep.
Read the rest here.
Posted in Real Estate News | No Comments »
