Denver Real Estate Blog

1.  The first-time homebuyer tax credit has pulled renters off the fence in a big way - $8,000 is a great incentive to make a commitment to a property, and, especially in the $100,000 range as well as the $200-250,000 range, there isn’t anything left to show them!  Do you have a cute little condo that you are tired of renting out?  Are you outgrowing your home or your neighborhood?  Are you just ready to move on up the property ladder?  Now is the time, because that tax credit is expiring soon….properties have to CLOSE by December 1st to qualify.  So get it ready and get it on the market, already!  I think you will regret it if you don’t.

2.  Everything is so darn green and lovely right now.  I am loving showing homes with gorgeous green grass, blooming gardens, and luscious looking trees - these things sell houses, folks.  Don’t wait til September, when the kids are heading back to school and everything’s all brown and dry looking.

3.  Inventory is low, low, low.  In most of Denver’s urban and sububurban hoods, properties that are ready to go and priced right are receiving multiple offers straight away.  Isn’t that the market you want to sell your place in?  In December, you might sit on the market for quite a while, and then end up lowering your price several times, before you finally get a bite.

Listen, no one knows where the market is headed, but I can tell you this - I have been unlocking doors non-stop for the last month.  I am busier that I have ever been.  It’s because there are loads of buyers out there, looking for a house to call home!

Ori and I have spent the last several weekends creating our own little urban farm. 

Tearing out a large section of grass, we installed two raised garden beds and a large flower bed - it was a ton of work, but I know that it will pay us back in several ways.  As we live there, we will be able to plant, tend, and harvest our own food - it’s really satisfying work that will not only save money, but will taste great.  As the kids help us with our project, they will learn about the cycle of life, about the satisfaction of a job well done, and about the benefits of good nutrition. 

Eventually, we will sell our house, maybe move to a house with a few acres - and an even bigger garden - but I think that the urban garden that we have created will pay us back at resale, as well.  As contemporary homebuyers look to go green in all sorts of ways, they will look beyond the bamboo flooring, recycled glass countertops, and solar panels to the potential of the land and how it can give back.

If you want to be in the right place when the recovery starts, that place may be in Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Texas or Washington.

The recession didn’t start at the same time in every state, and it won’t end at the same time either. A new forecast from Moody’s Economy.com predicts that jobs growth will return first in those five states, starting in the last quarter of this year. Four of those states benefit from strong high-tech industries, and the fifth, Texas, has a strong base of energy industries.

Read the entire article here.