Denver Real Estate Blog

There are so many things to love about this home - where do I start?

The front yard?  Beautifully landscaped with a 3-car garage, wide driveway and enough room for a basketball hoop, a walkway that leads up to the welcoming front porch and covered entry…come on in!

The foyer?  Large but not too formal, with plenty of space for guests to hang their coats and kids to dump their backpacks, with inset archways perfect for a large mirror or special artwork. 

The study? Light and bright with large windows that look out onto the front porch, shut the door and get some work done, or keep it open and keep an eye on the kiddos in the great room!

Main floor powder room?  Conveniently placed near the entry, but set back down a short hallway, with a pedestal sink and neutral paint, roomy enough for a small table or cabinet.

Dining room?  Windows on two sides allow plenty of natural light in this intimate setting, large enough to seat 12 comfortably, or a larger group who likes to get cozy.

Great room?  Wall of windows with panoramic views of the entire Front Range and Tabletop Mountain, as well as the neighborhood lake and adjacent Open Space below - patio doors open onto the upper deck, and the kitchen island, large-screen TV nook and gas fireplace make entertaining or just hanging out at home a complete pleasure.  Large chef’s kitchen with 6-burner gas cooktop, island with sink and dishwasher, and seating around allow the host to interact easily with guests or watch the kids play in the yard while making dinner. 

Heading upstairs, to 4 bedrooms and 3 en-suite baths…

The Master Bedroom? Huge, light and bright with floor to ceiling windows offering spectacular views.  The Master Bath features an extra-long and extra-deep soaking tub  surrounded by windows with custom up-down blinds for privacy, double sinks, large shower with bench, and double walk-in closets!

The Second Bedroom?  Large window, en-suite full bath, cheery and bright!

The Third and Fourth bedrooms are connected by a jack and jill bath, and pocket doors create extra space, and each bedroom has a large closet!

Additional features….

Walk-in pantry, main-floor laundry room with built in counters and cabinets, hickory hardwood floors, maple cabinets, walk out basement ready for an additional bedroom and full bathroom, professional landscaping featuring low-water foliage…the list goes on an on…contact me for more info or a private tour!

What’s your top 10?  I am always surprised, and a bit amused, when people start their home search looking for one type of house, and a list of “must-haves” which totally changes when they walk into that house that is “the one”.  I often start a home search by asking a bunch of questions - about lifestyle, mostly - because it’s important to hear from the buyer what is vital in their everyday lives, and what they think they want, but can most likely do without.  So what are the deal-breakers?  Of course, they are always different, but according to this article from Real Estate Magazine, based on findings from the experts at the International Builders Show - these are the Top 10:

Americans want smaller houses and they are willing to strip some of yesterday’s most popular rooms-such as home theaters-from them in order to accommodate changing lifestyles, consumer experts told audiences at the International Builders Show.”This is a traumatic time in this country and the future isn’t something we’re 100% sure about now either. What’s left? The answer for most home buyers is authenticity,” said Heather McCune, director of marketing for Bassenian Lagoni Architects in Park Ridge, Ill. Buyers today want cost-effective architecture, plans that focus on spaces and not rooms and homes that are designed ‘green’ from the outset,” she said. The key for home builders is “finding the balance between what buyers want and the price point.”

For many buyers, their next house will be smaller than their current one, said Carol Lavender, president of the Lavender Design Group in San Antonio, Texas. Large kitchens that are open to the main family living area, old-fashioned bathrooms with clawfoot tubs and small spaces such as wine grottos are design features that will resonate today, she said. “What we’re hearing is ‘harvest’ as a home theme-the feeling of Thanksgiving. It’s all about family togetherness-casual living, entertaining and flexible spaces,” Lavender said.

Paul Cardis, CEO of AVID Ratings Co., which conducts an annual survey of home buyer preferences, said there are 10 “must” features in new homes:

1. Large kitchens, with an island. “If you’re going to spend design dollars, spend them where people want them-spend them in the kitchen,” McCune said.

2. Granite countertops are a must for move-up buyers and buyers of custom homes, but for others “they are on the bubble,” Cardis said.

3. Energy-efficient appliances, high-efficiency insulation and high window efficiency. Among the “green” features touted in homes, these are the ones buyers value most, said Cardis. While large windows had been a major draw, energy concerns are giving customers pause on those. The use of recycled or synthetic materials is only borderline desirable.

4. Home office/study. People would much rather have this space rather than, say, a formal dining room. “People are feeling like they can dine out again and so the dining room has become tradable,” Cardis said. And the home theater may also be headed for the scrap heap, a casualty of the “shift from boom to correction.”

5. Main-floor master suite. This is a must feature for empty-nesters and certain other buyers, and appears to be getting more popular in general. That could help explain why demand for upstairs laundries is declining after several years of popularity gains.

6. Outdoor living room. The popularity of outdoor spaces continues to grow, even in Canada. The idea of an outdoor room is even more popular than an outdoor cooking area, meaning people are willing to spend more time outside.

7. Master suite soaker tubs. Whirlpools are still desirable for many home buyers, but they clearly went down a notch in the latest survey. Oversize showers with seating areas are also moving up in popularity.

8. Stone and brick exteriors. Stucco and vinyl don’t make the cut.

9. Community landscaping, with walking paths and playgrounds. Forget about golf courses, swimming pools and clubhouses. Buyers in large planned developments prefer hiking among lush greenery.

10. Two-car garages. A given at all levels; three-car garages, in which the third bay is more often than not used for additional storage and not automobiles, is desirable in the move-up and custom categories.

Development is a strange and complex process, especially in neighborhoods with over a century of history, character, and architecture.

Denver’s Highland neighborhood is one of those areas - and there is a little bit of good, a little bit of bad in the news today.

Which do you want first?  The bad?  It’s always sad when a property is neglected to the point that it becomes a safety hazard - especially when it’s a 107-year old house in a fantastic location.  What really strikes me about the article in the Denver Post is this: the developer that purchased the property a couple of years ago applied twice for permission to demolish the property and was denied due to the historic status of the neighborhood.  So, he neglected the property until the city decided to demolish it for him.  How does that make sense? 

Anyway, I guess it’s all just part of the natural process of development, but it is a sad photo, isn’t it?  Hopefully now the developer will actually do something with the property.

So what’s the good news?  On the East side of Highland, in the old Olinger mortuary space, development is in full, compliant, swing with the announcement that the same group that brought the neighborhood goodies like Lola and Vita is doing it again, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out!  Apparently they already have one new restaurant concept committed to the space, and will make room for several other retailers and restaurants, which will drive up property values in LoHi even further.

I guess it’s all part of the Circle of Life of a growing, thriving, changing neighborhood (insert Lion King theme song here).

10 Cities Where It’s Smarter to Buy - According to Forbes Magazine

For people who want to own a home, the premium to buy-the spread between what they’d spend to rent and what they’d pay for a mortgage-is much lower than the 15-year average in many cities.

To determine what cities are smart buys, Forbes magazine computed the premium and also identified locales where economists predict home prices will go up the most over the next five years.

Here are the top 10 cities the magazine chose as the best places to buy right now.

1. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.
2. Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C.-S.C.
3. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.
4. Cincinnati-Middletown, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
5. Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colo
6. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis.
7. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.
8. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore.-Wash.
9. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif.
10. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.V.

Not sure if you will qualify for the Repeat Purchase (or Move-up Buyer Credit) if you buy another house this year?  The IRS has released the official guidelines for the $6,500 federal tax credit for repeat home purchases, which answer the questions that homeowners have  been asking.

Owners of existing homes — specifically, taxpayers who have occupied the same property as a principal residence for five consecutive years during the previous eight years — may now be able to claim a tax credit on a purchase of another house they intend to use as a principal residence.

The credit is for up to 10 percent of the price of the replacement home, capped at $6,500. The purchase contract must be dated from Nov. 7, 2009, to April 30, 2010 and the closing must occur no later than June 30.

Members of the armed forces and federal diplomatic and intelligence personnel stationed overseas get an extra year to claim the credit.

The maximum purchase price on houses eligible for the credit is $800,000.

Your modified adjusted gross income must be $125,000 or less if you are single, $225,000 or less if you are married and filing jointly. Above these limits, the allowable credit amount begins to phase down in increments and is eliminated once incomes hit $145,000 for singles and $245,000 for married joint filers.

Purchasers are not required to sell their previous home, but they must be able to demonstrate that the replacement house is or will be their principal residence.

On 2009 and 2010 tax returns, buyers should attach the following:  

– Form 5405, which can be found on the IRS website at  http://irs.gov

– A copy of the signed HUD-1 settlement sheet, including the contract sale price and the date of closing. This is to document that the timing of the transaction meets the program’s requirements.

– Evidence of long-term ownership and occupancy of the previous house to meet the five-consecutive-years requirement. This can be property tax records, homeowner’s insurance records or IRS Form 1098 mortgage interest statements for the five-year period.

– For buyers claiming a credit on a newly constructed home, for which a HUD-1 settlement sheet is not available, the IRS will accept a copy of the certificate of occupancy showing the purchasers’ names, the property address and the date.

– For buyers of mobile homes who are not able to get a settlement statement, the IRS will accept a copy of the executed retail sales contract showing the property’s address, purchase price and date of purchase.

Congress mandated all this extra documentation after audits uncovered widespread abuses by applicants for the $8,000 credit. Among these were fictitious home purchases in which taxpayers or tax preparers sought — or obtained — credits on properties that never were sold or bought. This time around, the IRS says it will rigorously investigate all claims filed, starting with a review of the documentation submitted. 

Consult with a tax professional if you are still unsure whether you will qualify for the credit!

An advisory posted by the IRS this month spelled out situations in which recipients of tax credits may have to repay them to the government. These include taxpayers who sell their houses within 36 months after purchase. Recipients must also repay the credit if they convert their principal residence to a rental or business property, or if their lender forecloses on the house.

With all the rules now available, here’s the action message to potential tax-credit seekers: Speed up your search for the house you want to buy. Get moving. There are only 14 weeks to sign a contract and just five months to go to closing. 

The plan for the Sunnyside Light Rail Station area.

Many of the buyers that I work with in Northwest Denver start their search at Highlands Square - makes sense, after all, who wouldn’t want to live a couple of blocks from one of Denver’s most popular and hip neighborhood centers? 

But, for first-time homebuyers, the prices in West Highlands can be a bit out of reach.  Go a few blocks north or east, though, and there are opportunities to get a little more square footage, a bigger yard, or better finishes for the money - and the neighborhoods surrounding West Highlands are growing, thriving, and appreciating in value.

A perfect example is the Sunnyside/Chaffee Park area.  Many buyers, especially when searching the MLS or other online home listings, cut off their search at 38th Ave and won’t go further north, or at Federal and won’t go East, but the majority of the northern and eastern streets are totally quaint, tree-lined, quiet, and perfectly located between Lower Highland (LoHi), West Highlands, and Downtown Denver.  Home prices are typically at least 10-20 percent lower once you cross 38th or Federal, but these areas are perfectly situated for both future growth and appreciation.

And even further proof for where this neighborhood is headed?  Check it out:

The City and County of Denver has begun a process to plan for change in the areas surrounding future transit stations. In 2006, the city completed a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Strategic Plan that identified a need for land use planning for the 38th and Inca station area on RTD’s future Gold Line commuter rail corridor.  Over the past year, RTD examined the station location as part of the Gold Line Environmental Impact Statement.  As a result of this process, RTD is recommending the station be located at approximately 41st and Fox streets on the east side of the Union Pacific Railroad. Over the past two years, the City and County of Denver worked with community members to develop a station area plan for the half-mile area surrounding the future 41st and Fox station.  

Plan Goals: 

• Improve pedestrian connections to the station, between neighborhoods, and along major corridors
• Create opportunities to add more housing, jobs and services to the station area
• Incorporate plazas, parks and open space into redevelopment areas
• Capitalize on the station area’s proximity to Downtown and location on the Gold Line and Northwest Rail corridors
• Balance the needs of new development and existing uses

Plan Elements

• Development of a high intensity activity node close to the station on the east side
• Creation of a pedestrian shopping corridor along Fox Street
• Mixed-use redevelopment of the former Denver Post site
• Linked park and open space improvements to enhance neighborhood livability by providing positive orientation, buffering, aesthetics, recreational amenities, and storm water management
• Capture partnership benefits with Regency Student Housing by encouraging ties between academic institutions, student populations, and incubator employment uses
• Respect existing housing west of the station by redeveloping along the edges of the Sunnyside neighborhood leading to Inca Street and in a mixed-use node at 38th and Navajo
• Incorporate historically significant structures by drawing design inspiration from the area’s historic, industrial character
• Promote pedestrian and bicycle connectivity with improvements to Navajo, 38th, Elati, 41st, 44th, Fox, Inca and other streets
• Promote structured RTD parking that is shared with adjacent development
• Capture views of Downtown and buffer the station area by locating taller structures along I-25 and I-70
• Support for sustainable development, green building practices, housing affordability and healthy, walkable communities 

To check out the entire development plan, please click here.  If you would like to look at property on the market in Sunnyside, or anywhere in the Denver Metro area, contact me!

There seems to be quite a bit of misinformation floating around regarding the First Time Homebuyer and Move Up/Repeat Homebuyer Tax Credits that are being offered right now.    I have even heard both local and national news outlets misrepresenting the guidelines regarding these two incentives, so I thought it would be worth while to take a minute to answer a few Frequently Asked Questions.

First off, in order to qualify for the tax credit you MUST have a property Under Contract by April 30, 2010 and close by June 30, 2010.  Someone told me that she is planning to list her home later this Summer - I asked her why she was waiting, since she would qualify for the Move Up/Repeat Homebuyer Credit, basically meaning $6,500 for selling the home she has lived in for more than five years, and purchasing a new one.  “Well, I’m sure they are going to extend it again,” she said, “I think that they might even make it permanent.”  UMMMMM….NO.

Most industry specialists think that this is the last hurrah as far as Homebuyer Tax Incentives are concerned - it was difficult to push the extension through the last time, and there is absolutely no buzz that the credits will be extended any further.

SO, if you are considering a purchase, start looking NOW - inventory is LOW, and prices and interest rates are going up slowly but surely.  Most deals are taking 60-90 days to close right now, instead of the traditional 30 - and if you don’t close by that June 30 deadline, you are not going to get a tax credit.  I don’t know how to say it more clearly.

And, if you are thinking of selling your current home in order to take advantage of the offer for Move Up buyers - get your house on the market NOW.  For the same reasons as above - inventory is low, and your house will not have much to compete against.  Contact me if you have questions about what your house might be worth, what needs to be done in order to get top dollar, or if you are considering a move. 

If you would like more information about the Tax Credits, check out the official website at http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/home.html - it’s a great resource and has loads of information about both the First Time Homebuyer and Move Up/Repeat Buyer Tax Credits.

Before you hit those after-Christmas sales in search of upgraded appliances for your home, take a minute to do your research - and make sure that your purchases will be eligible for the State Appliance Rebate Program, which is expected to launch in Colorado in March 2010.

MSNBC.com featured this program yesterday…here’s some of their article…

Modeled after the popular Cash for Clunkers program, which was intended to get cars with low gas mileage off the road, a federal appliance rebate program is launching in early 2010. It offers a boost to people buying energy-efficient clothes washers, refrigerators and other appliances — those that qualify for the federal “Energy Star” designation — and to manufacturers, whose sales fell 10 percent in 2008 and another 12 percent through mid-December this year.

Read the rest here.

The program differs from state to state, here are the details regarding Colorado’s program, from Energysavers.gov, where you can also go to learn about Energy Credits, to compare different products, etc.

The State of Colorado will implement a mail-in rebate program to help residents replace older, inefficient appliances with ENERGY STAR® qualified appliances. The program is tentatively scheduled to begin in March 2010 and will continue until funds are exhausted.Eligible products include

Refrigerators
Clothes washers
Dishwashers
Gas storage water heaters
Gas tankless water heaters
Gas furnaces
Gas boilers
The state encourages residents to recycle their old appliances. Check with state officials for information on proper disposal of appliances.

Contact: Governor’s Energy Office

Total Funding: $4,739,000

Program information subject to change. Rebates may be offered for a limited time only. Before purchasing a product, check with your program sponsor to ensure rebates are available, and to confirm product eligibility and program requirements. Products purchased must meet efficiency criteria as established by the state.

John Rebchook of InsideRealEstateNews.com has a great write-up on his blog, posted a few hours ago, detailing Denver’s latest top spot - Denver is on a lot of Top 10, Top 50, Top 100 Lists this time of year, as everyone wraps up 2009 in a big round ball and chucks it toward the recycling bin, but this is a FANTASTIC way to welcome the new Real Estate Decade.

Here’s a highlight…

Denver performed the best of the 20 major metropolitan housing market tracked in the closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices report released today.

Denver’s housing market showed only a only a 0.1 percent dip in housing prices in the year ending in October, compared with an overall drop of 7.3 percent for the 20 areas in the report. The 10-city index in the report fell overall by -6.4 percent.

Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., said that Denver’s No. 1 ranking is the latest sign that Denver’s economy is out-performing the nation’s.

“Job growth does matter,” Clark said. “What a concept.”

Gary Bauer, an independent residential broker in Denver couldn’t agree more.

“Once again, this shows the strength of the Denver market,” Bauer said. “We continue to lead the nation as far as recovering from the recession - the recession is not over yet - but we will be one of the first to emerge.”

Bauer said that “two-thirds” of the Denver-area housing market “still moving,” if not showing spectacular performance. Only the high-end market continues to be soft.

“The market has moved from the only activity being in the first-time buyer to what I call the “move” buyer,” Bauer said.

Bauer has said that the move buyer will benefit from the expansion of the federal tax-credit for qualified people who own their owns. Some of those buyers who qualify for the $6,500 tax credit will downsize to smaller, less expensive units, while others will move-up, according to Bauer and other Realtors.

Read the rest here, then get off the fence already and join the party!

Interest rates are likely to rise to 6 percent by the end of 2010, predicted Amy Crews Cutts, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac.

The end of the Federal Reserve program that buys mortgage-backed securities will drive rates higher because private buyers will demand more return than the Fed.

“Extraordinary resources have been put into keeping the rates down and supporting the mortgage markets and it’s hard to imagine that the rates can go much lower than they are,” Crews Cutts said. “Anything we get at or below 5 percent is a gift at this point.”

Source: Washington Post, Dina ElBoghdady (12/26/2009)