The Park Hill neighborhood has been ranked as one of the top 10 neighborhoods in the nation by The American Planning Association. The attraction of this neighborhood is no secret to my clients who have decided to purchase homes in Park Hill. Beautiful homes, a nice family community and a close proximity to downtown Denver are all reasons why many buyers should consider Park Hill when making their buying decision.

You can read the article for yourself here.

-Katie4Homes

Denver Real Estate

Okay, time for a little Friday fun. I'm not a big basketball fan and I know that I'm running the risk of sounding sooo 10 day ago. I just ran across this video clip of a Kobe Bryant stunt. I'm not sure that this type of marketing is appropriate for kids. This is truely one of those "do not attempt this" type of videos. I'm sure that I will not be posting a video blog of me attempting to recreate this jump.

Anyway, for those of you who are not among the 2.7 million YouTube viewers...

-Katie4Homes

Denver Real Estate

How many times have you gone to show a house and been surprised by something? I'm often surprised by the things that a seller will leave out in their living room. Too many times I've seen drug paraphernalia, inappropriate "magazines", other junk, garbage, and even pet feces.

In one instance I even stumbled upon a huge amount of marijuana - we're talking pounds! The disturbing thing is that some sellers don't seem to care that there are going to be potential buyers walking through their house.

Many times I can predict that foreclosures or houses in particular distressed areas might not have things in order. Unfortunately I've seen my share of this stuff in upscale housing as well.

So sellers, please clean up and try to present your house like you want to sell it. Here are some tips:

1. Take down personal pictures and other family heirlooms

2. Get rid of the junk. Have a yard sale and sell things that you don't need and throw away the rest (or at least find appropriate storage)

3. Repair the "little" things that you've been putting off for later. Fix the door handles, outlet covers and such. The things that you can pick up at the hardware store and fix in a few minutes.

4. Make sure that your closet isn't hiding something potentially embarrassing or offensive - you know what I mean. Make sure this stuff is hidden from view and not just behind the closet door.

5. Secure your valuables. Renting a storage unit or safety deposit box is a good idea.

6. Clean, take out the garbage, vacuum and plug in an air freshener. Hire a cleaning company if you have to, it will likely save you money by bringing higher offers.

7. Make sure the outside of the house looks nice too. Some buyers won't even want to see the inside if the outside is a mess.

-katie4homes

Denver Real Estate

According to this Wall Street Journal article, getting down to the "brass tacks" on actual foreclosure numbers can be difficult and different companies are using various methods for counting. I'm always hesitant to take numbers at face value without further analysis of who's doing the counting and how its been conducted.

Houses can often go into foreclosure multiple times as owners go into default and later catch-up on late payments. Additionally, many homeowners have more than one loan on a house for various reasons. This is why counting loan defaults is not entirely accurate if your looking to count actual homes in foreclosure.

Counting bank inventory can be a better method; however, this always results in a time lag as banks, states and state agencies have different resources and procedures for foreclosure.

After reading the article, it makes me wonder: how good is our historical data on foreclosure statistics?

-katie4homes

Denver Real Estate

When people in Denver think of the number seven, it is usually associated with John Elway; however, a new Forbes magazine reports ranks Denver as the 7th best city in which to sell a home.

While a 6.4 percent drop in prices last year had a chilling effect on the market, this year things have been different. The vacancy rate reduced by 20% over last year. There has been a large decline in new construction starts (down 49%) and the job market is looking very healthy with a 2% rise!

To read the full article with more detail on the report ranking, click here!

-Katie4Homes

Denver Homes

I've had several clients interested in the Stapleton area of Denver. All of the builders have done a really great job of urban planning and building to preserve a real sense of community. Last Sunday (3/31/08) I had a chance to take a look at some the KB Homes by Martha Stewart. These really look nice and my clients have really had good luck with this builder. I snapped some pictures for anyone interested in how they look inside and out. Base prices right now are between 319k and 379k with most buyers planning approx. 20% additional for upgrades. If you want a tour, give me a call.

-Katie4Homes

Denver Real Estate

CNN/Money released their "Best Places to Live" list and it included Louisville, Colorado at number 3 and Parker, Colorado at number 26! They stated that they looked specifically for smaller places that had a great combination of economic opportunity, safety, good schools, great activities and a sense of community.

Both of these towns are within 30 minutes of Denver. Louisville is located between Denver and Boulder and Parker is between Denver and Colorado Springs. This is yet another glowing report on why Denver and the Denver metro area is a great place to live and raise a family!

-Katie4Homes

Denver Real Estate

According to this CNN / Money article, Denver is one of the top ten places in the country to live and launch a business. They ranked Denver 7th in the top 100 rankings.

Denver has a great downtown area that when coupled with the Rocky Mountain recreation, make for an unbeatable combination.

The Denver metro area has been working diligently to address traffic issues with the expansion of the light rail system and some long-term traffic planning strategies.

Denver also happens to have a large percentage of college-educated professionals. This allows entrepreneurs to tap into a fantastic work pool. There is also a large diversity to the Denver area economy that is not just focused on energy. Denver has experienced a great deal of growth in financial services, defense contracting / aerospace, health care, etc.

This is a truely deserved accolade for the Denver area!

-Katie4Homes

Buy Denver Real Estate

Selling your home can be an anxious experience for many homeowners. The selling process exposes your home to many strangers. The vast majority of the people viewing your home are honest and courteous prospective buyers ; however, it is still important for sellers to protect themselves from possible crime.

Protection of a sellers safety and property requires a plan and proper safe guards. Sellers should take note of the following tips:

• Do not leave items such as credit cards, keys, jewelry, prescription drugs, cash, or other items of value in the home unless they are locked in a safe place.
• Change your answering machine message to something generic that does not inform the caller that you are away from home.
• For open houses, consider either hiring security or ask friends to help you escort potential buyers through the home. Many real estate professionals bring mortgage brokers, stagers or others along to open houses to distribute information and for increased security. Two way radios are a good way to stay in-touch with all escorts for security and to answer questions.
• If your setting an appointment to show your home, always take the persons number and call them back. This will verify that this is indeed their phone number and not a fake. Real estate professionals generally verify and qualify buyers prior to conducting a showing.
• You may also consider having an open house guest book to sign and verify a photo id. This is a measure to ensure that you have the person's contact information and it serves as another deterrent to a criminal.
• Make sure that all open house visitors enter and leave through designated points (preferably one doorway).
• Always carry a cell phone with easy access to dial 911. Some phones can be programmed to have a one-touch "hot" key for 911.
• As a final precaution you may want to consider carrying pepper spray or another non-lethal defense product.

The sellers that are particularly in danger from a crime of opportunity are for-sale-by-owner properties. Many of these properties advertise frequent open houses where there is little to no opportunity to qualify potential buyers prior to taking them into the home. A criminal may see this as an opportunity to take advantage of a seller with little experience in hosting a open house and who is not familiar with industry precautions.

A final word... the intention of this post is not to scare anyone, but to provide practical ways of incorporating preventative measures to help reduce the chances that you are a victim of a crime. Most people are good and honest and are simply looking for a good home.

A special thanks to the Denver Police Department for contributing to this post!

-Katie4Homes

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Buy Denver Real Estate

A key finding in the the latest quarterlyPricewaterhouseCoopers Korpacz Real Estate Investor Survey finds that rental property is one of the few commercial sectors that has a positive outlook.

Rental unit supply is tightening and demand is increasing due in part to the home mortgage fallout and lack of consumer confidence in the housing market.

For investors with cash in hand, now might be the right time to invest in a rental property. Many experts are predicting that this trend will continue for several years until the real estate market regains some stability.

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-Katie4Homes

Arvada Colorado Real Estate