Karl Lueders: The Active Blog

Let's See How the Trickle-Up Stimulation Is Doing in 2010

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:03:42 -0500

In the past 30 days, the following has happened to my buyers and listings:

- One buyer lost out on two houses because of multiple offers on houses in Wheat Ridge, a western suburban off-shoot of the Denver metroplex. He finally found a house that had been on the market less than two weeks because it needs a bunch of cosmetic work. Price point: $230-250k.

- One buyer lost out on two houses in Denver proper because the houses both had offers the first days they were on the market. She was able to secure one because she agreed to a back-up position on it and the buyer backed out. The seller has also agreed to fix nearly EVERYTHING on the inspection list. Price point $180-200k.

-Half-duplex went under contract in one of Denver's hottest upcoming markets, Sloan's Lake, in two days (one day, technically). This is one day longer than the duplex around the corner from this property that went on the market two weeks prior. Price range $190-210k.

- Finally, one buyer got in a bidding war on a property in the Denver Highlands on a house that was originally listed at $275k and dropped to $265k. She bowed out of the war, which ended up bringing the price of the house back to near its original list price.

I'm truly amazed at how hot the action is in this price point. None of these buyers are investors. All but one are getting FHA loans, and the people selling are moving up to higher price points. The sweet spot, at least in Denver, is anything under the $417k loan ceiling, and if you're a first-time home buyer, more power to you.

Using this data as an indicator of the future, I have to imagine that the people selling these $200k-ballpark houses are moving into $300-400 houses, you would think. That's at least where my clients are moving to, once they sell their places. And once they buy, those sellers have to move somewhere else, and so on, and so on...

Theoretically, once all the "lower" price point inventories have been thinned enough to create a balanced sales market, then the buyers should eventually be heading into the higher price points. Of course, this type of organic stimulation won't reach the $1million-plus levels for quite some time, but logic points us in this direction.

That is, unless there is so much inventory at the $300-500k range that all the displaced sellers from the first-time homebuyers can't make a dent in one of the higher price ranges. Which doesn't afford a trickle-up opportunity and all this homebuying frenzy in 2009 stops at midfield and the resale sector of the residential real estate market has to punt in 2010.

The other road block is the inability for buyers to get jumbo loans. We had a speaker come to one of our sales meetings recently and try and get us pumped up about the high-end market and the signs of life there. The next week, we were provided with a chart by one of the more prevalent real estate consultants showing the jumbo-loan flatline starting around November 2008. To complement that chart, a mortgage officer from a fairly well-known national bank spoke that while he has seen some million-dollar deals come by his desk, the buyers are ponying up their own cash to get their loan under the conforming level.

The problem is that the average $600,000 homeowner that's looking to get to the next level doesn't have that kind of jack to get his loan under $417k.

For those of us in real estate sales, I would love to see 2010 improve upon 2009, simply because 2009 has shown some amazing signs of life, but I'm dubious about seeing the money flowing uphill.

And They Wonder Why We Don't Buy Newspapers

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:37:09 -0500

My Firefox opens to The Denver Post's home page - kind of my nod to the news since I cancelled my hard copy subscription years ago. I don't need it for sports, since I have that in my ear on the radio, nor do I use it for the weather (what's more unreliable than the TV weatherman?... what the TV weatherman writes for the paper!). It's more to get a snapshot of the world at a given moment. The Web allows "newspapers" to become organic beings. Good for the end-user, if done properly.

Unless, of course, you want to start your day off poorly. Here were the slate of headlines that sit in the middle of the Post's site as of 8:15 a.m., MDT.

11 Headlines: 3 that do not imply death, disease or financial shortfall. Read them top to bottom. The last one becomes funny, then.

The Twitter headline is more of a throwback to the days when the newspapers were simply behind the curve on trends - nostalgic, even. Westminster obviously has smaller fish to fry and of all the headlines above, the only "positive" headline is about the successful transplant, but only after a hair-raising journey. If you thought that the $18M award to the paralyzed kid is an uplifting story... someone's paralyzed and a bankrupt company is on the hook.

So that's how my day started. I think I'll go for a run and be thankful for what I have.

Metro Denver foreclosures drop 46 percent? Clear the beach!

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:53:19 -0500

This article came through The Denver Post this morning regarding a 46% percent drop in foreclosure notices in Q1 of 2009 over that same period in 2008.

Check it out here.

It says that while metro Denver has eased considerably, national activity has risen 23% and notorious foreclosure hot spots like Las Vegas have doubled from 2008.

I'm happy for headlines that have "foreclosures" and "drop" in them, but I'm thinking of a tsunami right now. As in, you're lying on the beach soaking up some rays and all of a sudden you watch the waterline suck back into the ocean at about 20 ft/second. Next thing you know, Q2 foreclosures are at a record high (Q1 2010, more likely).

I don't want to sound like a sore winner, but I'm dubious about this cycle.

Karl's Season Shift Theory revisited

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:01:13 -0500

There is a message here, bear with me... I cancelled my buyer appointments today as you will soon find out why.

I do miss these days. It reminds me of Chicago and why I love that city but will never go back. Currently, central Denver is getting pounded mercilessly by a sleet/snow mixture that should let up sometime next week. Last night it rained because it was too warm to snow, but now it's sticking. Denver is an odd town weather-wise. I read in USA Today how Denver gets backloaded with all of its snow in March and April,

which shouldn't be surprising, since the two of the three worst snowstorms I've ever experienced have been in March in Denver. Granted, I've only been here 10 years, but living here seems to validate one of my half-baked theories from my younger days.

I remember this one particular summit amongst my Chicago friends - that all-too-common conflagration where four or five of us would solve every problem thrown our way, only to realize that we didn't have the staff to delegate the implementation of any of these ingenious ideas. To get an idea of how long ago these summits occurred, one out of five people had a cell phone and the other four would laugh at that guy as he made weird gyrations trying to hear the person on the other end.

Anyway, I postulated that - I had no scientific backing, just 30 years of observation - that the seasons were oblivious to the calendar and that by 2045 (50 years from my proclamation) summer in the northern hemisphere would be more in line with the autumnal months and winter would start infringing on the traditional spring stretch. I had been seeing warmer Septembers and whiter Aprils for a while now, and it doesn't appear to resetting, and the idea of a white Christmas seems almost nostalgic, unless you live in Buffalo (or Denver, specifically).

Granted, this weather doesn't do us any favors as Realtors (I'm preaching to my Colorado brethren), but I'm beginning to think that while Denver's selling season doesn't have the sharp dip of the Eastern seaboard cities, we also shouldn't assume that the selling season begins after the Super Bowl ends. I've had several listings in the past three years get false-started on the market because prolonged snow storms have stymied their debut. Yes, when your sellers are ready to go, weather isn't much of a factor, but if you're teeing up a listing for maximum effect, May 1 appears to be a safer bet than March 1.

It can stop snowing anytime now...

Karl Lueders is a Denver-based Realtor who loves cold, snowy days just as much as his black labrador Sadie does. Except that Karl won't roll on his back in a three-foot snow drift. Find out more about Karl here or how Karl and Sadie are helping Denver's pet community stay healthy at The Goethe Fund. Look for this logo on future Karl posts:

Sales Stats For Denver's Driving Park Historic District neighborhood (2008)

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:51:53 -0500

Since my last look into our neighborhood's sales performance (2007-2008), I was able to conclude that while the rest of the world seemed to be drowning in sorrow, Driving Park Historic District was decidedly middle-of-the-road sales wise. I'll take normal over recession any day of the week, but that's pretty where we've been for the past 6 months, and that's where we appear to be right now, even after a few distressed sales.

Based on the latest sales data from Metrolist Inc., Denver, as a whole, has about 6 months worth of inventory currently for sale. What does 6 months of inventory actually involve? For example, within Driving Park Historic District, where I live, 17 homes sold in 2008. That comes out to 1.41 homes sold per month. Currently, we have 9 active listings in DPHD, which, divided by the average sales per month, puts us right at 6 months as time it will take to clear out our current inventory. In actuality, three homes have sold in DPHD so far this year: 571 High, 450 Williams and 484 Lafayette, which means we're slightly behind the 6 month curve, but the balance is there, which is good.

To get an idea of the houses that are currently for sale, go to my search site and check out the addresses listed in the chart below.

The average sale price isn't so much of an indicator of neighborhood performance as is the sale price - to - list price ratio. Currently, we are holding steady at 94% of list price (that's based on the last list price, sale price - to - original list price is around 90%, which is also normal, but shows the inevitable price drop). Disregard the average sale prices for 2009, as 571 High really threw off the balance, dropping nearly $500,000 between its original list price and eventual sale price.The reason why I don't look at sale price for DPHD is because we have houses that sell between $250k and upwards of $2 million within a 14-block area.

If you have any questions about the chart below or about this neighborhood, feel free to contact Karl Lueders at 720-971-8267. You can also reach him at his Web site, www.KarlSellsDenver.com. Karl lives in Driving Park Historic District on Humboldt St. The neighborhood runs from 4th Ave to 6th Ave, and from Marion to High St. It is surrounded by Alamo Placita, Seventh Avenue and Country Club historic neighborhoods.

If you're interested in the historic significance of the Driving Park Historic District, give me a call or drop me a line. You can find more sales data at Denver Real and Beyond.

Hero 101: save your clients from parking tickets!

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:59:17 -0500

Now, I'm not going to teach you how to get out of parking tickets. I'm going to help you save your clients a mountain of frustration when they approach their car in the morning and find a nice little present accompanied by a bitter yellow envelope tucked under the wiper blade.

Let me set this up for you: I grew up in downtown Chicago before moving to central Denver 10 years ago. A lot changed between the two cities: most notably the weather and severe drop-off in good Thai restaurants, but there's one thing about city living that followed me from Chicago to Denver and haunted me until yesterday: if you don't move your car by 8 a.m. on street cleaning day, you will get a ticket.

Granted, the idea of moving your car from the street in front of your house may sound like a foreign concept to the covenant-controlled, attached-garage masses, but everybody that lives in a major metropolitan area gets to abide by the absolutely inflexible rules of their friendly neighborhood Streets and San. And one of those rules is getting out of the way of the sweepers. I kid you not: I have been in front of my house in Driving Park at 7:59 a.m., getting into my car and seeing the meter maid at the end of the block warming up her pen. I have been able to grant clemency for a couple of my neighbors here and there, but at least in my neighborhood, if you haven't hit the gas by 8, you might as well reduce your spending money by at least $25.

I've lived under the shroud of the Denver Public Works' mobile profit center for 10 years, and I average about 2 tickets a year. Yes, I'd like to have that $ back, but it's absolutely the principle of the thing. I know how to read a calendar and I know that the first Tuesday of every month is street cleaning on MY side of the street, and it's Wednesday for the other side of Humboldt. Not a difficult concept. To add insult to injury, the street cleaning sign is in MY front yard.

The worst part is that I'm not alone. My entire neighborhood likes the convenience of parking on the street as opposed to making the three-point turn into the alley garage. Plus, we're a front yard neighborhood so we know when people are home. That makes for a great neighborhood - actually, a lucrative one for the city. April 1 is the first day our street gets cleaned, and the occasion is marked by 4 to 5 tickets flapping under wiper blades. I've seen neighbors move their cars to the wrong side of the street two days in a row and end up $50 lighter. Pathetic.

That is, until now. Unlike Chicago, Denver actually wants you to move your car so they can clean the gutters. As a result, they signed on with www.MyMotorMaid.com. My Motor Maid is an automated reminder service that anybody in Denver can sign up for to remind them when the next street cleaning is coming down their street. It takes about 30 seconds to sign up and once you've received the confirmation email, you'll be alerted with plenty of time to move your car.

I just forwarded this link to all my clients and prospects in Denver.

The bad news: My Motor Maid is only in 10 cities across the country, all but Denver are in California. But that shouldn't stop you from helping out your urban, garage-challenged clients from getting nabbed by the meter maids. If you don't live in one of these cities, set up an email distribution list of all your clients/prospects/farm that live in street-sweeping zones. Usually, street sweeping occurs the first week of the month, so put a reminder in your Outlook, whatever, to send an email to your clients reminding them about the impending street cleaning.

Easy as that! And that's how you become a hero without leaving your desk.

Hero 101: save your clients from parking tickets!

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:58:31 -0500

I just forwarded this link to all my clients and prospects in Denver.

Easy as that! And that's how you become a hero without leaving your desk.

Denver's Driving Park Historic District still keeping the mob at bay

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:37:11 -0600

If you want only good news about home sales these days, stop reading at the end of this paragraph. Driving Park Historic District average sales prices skyrocketed 20% from 2007-2008!

But you know there'll be a catch.

Read the rest at my company blog or Denver Real Estate and Beyond!

Have you ever gotten a recommendation from a client who DIDN'T buy?

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:00:52 -0600

This client was referred to me about three months ago and I had the pleasure of showing homes to her and her two daughters on several occasions. About three weeks ago, she gave me the bad news that she couldn't pull the trigger on buying a house. This wasn't the first time that happened, but she was such a positive person that I was bummed that I wouldn't be spending more time with her.

Last night, I got this letter from her, and I swear I didn't coach her into writing it...:)...

" I would like to share one of the most positive experiences I have had with a professional recently. A few months ago, my elderly parents and I had been discussing their potential move from California to live with me in Denver. With such an uncertain arrangement, I had been hesitant to enlist a realtor. Yet, when I explained the situation to Karl Lueders, I was pleasantly surprised when I was met with encouragement and understanding.

He welcomed the opportunity to help me with the house search, despite knowing the purchase was highly contingent on my parents uprooting themselves from a home they’d happily lived in for over forty years. To entice Mom and Dad, I had added definite challenges to Mr. Lueders' search. This house I was looking for not only had to be perfect for myself and my two young children, but also for two elderly parents with unique needs and extremely narrow tastes. Not once did Karl flinch, balk or voice any apposition to my crazy ideas. Instead, I found him persistently researching my ideas and even asking me more questions to determine more details. He combed and re-combed the market for each of the demands I made: privacy, bright and roomy basement with it’s own kitchen, cul-de sac, this type of ceiling, those type of doors, wide hallways, big trees… the list went on and on.

Karl proved quite knowledgeable in the types and ages of houses, price ranges, locations, and so much more that I would never have considered. To my astonishment, he managed to find a spectacular array of selections for us to view. But, poor man, my pickiness became even more meticulous– too small, too big, ceilings too high, kitchen too… and so on, and so on. Yet, throughout each house viewing, Karl Lueders strove to learn even more of our expectations, obviously honing in on getting an ever stronger picture in his mind as to what we wanted. Surprisingly, the search only lasted a few weeks - and, it was my schedule that kept us from progressing faster, not his. Karl always found time for me, even during the crazy holiday hectics.

I can confidently say that Karl succeeded in his daunting task. He actually found that perfect home – in fact, perhaps even two. One, especially, had nearly everything - plus a few unexpected bonuses! Had it been only up to me, I wanted to place an offer on the spot. My parents, however, elected not to take the life-changing move to Colorado, making the entire excruciating search for naught. Despite this disappointing news, Karl still maintained a pleasant, professional attitude. I would like to highly recommend Karl Lueders' knowledge and services as a real estate agent! Throughout our “house hunt”, Mr. Lueders certainly demonstrated his strengths as a real estate agent. He listened, he researched, he explained. He was always friendly, cheerful, and professional. He made the house search an enjoyable and highly positive experience. In the future, when I have needs to pursue another home, I will certainly seek his expertise again. Again, thanks so much to Karl for all the work he placed into my portfolio."

That made my day. Week and month, too!

Secret's Out - Denver is the place to be!!

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:53:56 -0600

Two schools of thought on finding out that Denver was named the \top city to live in by the Pew Research Center:

Keep it to yourself! Despite our seven-year highway widening project, there are too many cars (and way too many bad drivers) and not enough places to put them. Besides, if half of the people that move here ski, we'll be looking at 4-hour drives to cover the 90 miles from Vail back to Denver.
Y'all were going to find out sooner or later, so give me a call when your clients pack up the truck for Rocky Mountain High!

(Click on the photo for a quick Denver opinion of the poll.)

They say timing is everything and learning this news about Denver actually renewed all the reasons why we moved to Denver in 1999.

It's been a curious six months for a lot of us and it appears that the weirdness isn't winding down. In fact, just last night, the wife and I discussed worst-case scenarios (if you haven't had one of these, they're very depressing, but probably necessary) because our family derives its income from real estate and the financial sector... good times, good times.

So it dawned on us that we should consider a fallout shelter strategy so we talked about all angles of what happens when the s**t really hits, including moving away from Colorado. Apparently, Mrs. L reads the papers more than I do. "Unless we're moving to Paris," Mrs. L said, "you can't go up from here! Besides, we can literally run for the hills if it gets bad enough." Then I thought about all of her cousins that live in Detroit and soon felt this wave of calm wash over me...

...so, like I said, when the trucks start heading this way, I'd be happy to help.

KarlSellsDenver.com

Outside blog crisis!

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:53:49 -0600

I'm not sure when it happened, but the blogs I've posted here on AR have stopped forwarding to my Wordpress blog. When I clicked on the link to my outside blog, it read this as the URL

http://http//karllueders.wordpress.com/

I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but you're not supposed to have 2 sets of "http" prompts in a standard URL.

Anyway, I seemed to have forgotten where I can edit my settings for my outside blog on my site. I've looked all over and it's driving me insane! Any help to fix the above problem and help me locate the settings would be amazing.

Thanks

PS- How does one customize your AR site? I've seen many AR members with cool headers and backgrounds. Like I said, when it comes certain tech things, I'm a mushroom... you get the rest of the joke.

The Official Karl Lueders Super Bowl Prediction Jan., 28, 2009

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:34:07 -0600

You heard it here first: Unless a Steeler superstar is arrested/found in Mexico/passes out the night before the Super Bowl and misses the game, Pittsburgh will win 27-17 (next best guess 26-17).

The game will be close until the end of the game when Arizona turns the ball over which is returned for a late Pittsburgh TD.

Let's hear it.

Feedback BS: Don't ask for feedback you don't want!

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:22:45 -0600

Having not been in this business very long, I was at odds with feedback right out of the gate. I was trained to ask for feedback as a listing agent (“going above and beyond!”), but never quite understood the value when I was asked for feedback as a buyer’s agent, because I heard what was coming out of my mouth when asked for it: “No, my client isn’t interested… Why?... Because of a, b and c... No, they wouldn’t be interested if you corrected a, b and c... Because you asked… And the price is too high. Good luck.”

I think the analogy that works best for me with feedback is that of what old college football coaches used to think of passing the ball - three things can happen and two of them are bad – except in the case of soliciting feedback, all four of them are bad: 1) you get lied to so the buyer’s agent can get off the phone and you’re left with misleading opinions 2) you continue to get lame feedback which the seller interprets as you not asking the right questions to get “valuable information” 3) you get honest feedback which you know will tick off the seller, making you look bad, 4) the buyer’s agent will grill you on motivation, desperation and price flexibility.

Plus, when I’m a buyer’s agent and I am asked to provide feedback, I doubt that I will say anything to any listing agent that will show my buyer’s hand if we’re planning to make an offer. The fact is that 99% of all feedback probably wastes more time than helps the cause, which means you need to prep your clients for that. But what that also means is that you need to build a better mousetrap.

As a buyer’s agent, I do provide honest feedback when it’s asked for, usually over the phone. It took a while to realize that this is business and I’m talking to a Realtor, not a seller, but even so, I still provide honest material, especially when I get the chance on email forms. Email feedback questions are generally lame so you have no choice but to provide lame answers. Exception: If I remember that a house has a particular issue, and there is a “short answer” comment box in the email form, I will point out the issue. Example: the house is generally in good shape but there is mildew staining on the backsplash behind the kitchen sink, I’ll let them know to clean that up.

It’s too bad that so many agents misuse email feedback forms, because if the questions are posed correctly, you’d get considerably more honest feedback than if you made phone calls. The majority of the Realtors I’ve dealt with are too scared to tell you what their buyers really think (unless they’re planning to make an offer): “Love the house, but we just started looking,”… “It’s in our top 3,”…. “Don’t like the paint colors” (comments similar to this last one are the lamest, to which I’ll answer, “Did you really just say that?”)

However, if you get caught on the phone (“caught” is the proper term) being asked for feedback a day or two after showing a property, and you remember the house in question, don’t blow it off by saying that you have to “refer to my notes and I’m driving right now.” You’ll remember the house. You made the appointment. Don’t be shy. If you’re 100% certain that your buyers won’t be pursuing a house, which is pretty easy to tell for any buyer’s agent, then tell the other agent what they don’t want to hear. I think it’s wrong to sabotage other listings with lame feedback; what’s the motivation? Are you really going to get that listing when it bombs out with another agent? Doubtful… in the end, you want houses to sell, especially in your neighborhood. Supply down, demand up. Duh. Don’t worry about hurting the listing agent’s feelings, either. Maybe they missed something or they need some sort of obvious sign that the stager they’ve been using is hurting, not helping.

Recap:

Always act in the best interest of your client.
Promise your listings that you’ll always request feedback over the phone and email. There are loss leaders all over business and in our case, feedback is a time loss-leader, but you have to do it unless your client doesn’t care. Then prepare them for how lame the feedback will be. Then, be a hero and explain how you’re going to attempt to improve the feedback process. (See #4).
Do what’s right if you get caught on the phone (again, “caught” is the right usage here). Better to be respected than liked in business.
When you list, take advantage of the email questionnaire (that woman from Idaho had good ideas). Find out if there is significantly bad curb appeal that you’re missing or if there was a logistical issue with seeing the house. Don’t ask about price, condition, interest because the answers are too high, ok, and none. The wonderful veil of the Internet is enough to elicit responses you normally wouldn’t get over the phone.
If your feedback will help a listing get sold (albeit not to your clients), why would you not give it? Seriously. Be part of the solution.

Just For The Record, I'm Changing My Mind About Tonight's Game

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:16:58 -0600

Yes, I picked OU, Texas and USC before the bowl season began and at this point, I'm 2 for 2. (Yes, Ohio St., fan, they didn't get blown out.)

But I'm buying into Tebow mania and selling the 60+ points per game OU has been throwing on the board for the last three months. Go Gators...

What? No college football for 12 days? (I pick OU).

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:10:23 -0600

It's like not getting any new snow in Colorado for two weeks in February. I hear there is a professional brand of football that is available on Sundays to satisfy any withdrawls you might experience waiting for the post-Christmas rush of college bowl games.

For the record, I like Oklahoma, Texas and USC in the three relevant bowl games. (Big 10 team = rented mule.)

And now that I have that off my chest, I can submit an inspection notice.

Amazing Custom Home for Rent in Denver's Slavens School District

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:02:43 -0600

One buyer's loss is your serendipity. This amazing 4 BD/4 BA house in Slavens has been put up for rent for only $3250/month. This custom house has all 4 beds on the second floor, two of them private suites; laundry on second floor. Professional kitchen, two-car oversized garage. It's the bomb. Check out more details here.

2749 South Cook Street, Denver, CO 80210

Or, go to my website and I'll fill you in on the details. Immediate occupancy!

Karl Lueders is a Denver-based Realtor for The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek. He can be reached at 720-971-8267 or email him at klueders@kentwoodcc.com

The truth no seller wants to hear

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:17:20 -0600

Perhaps we never stop to think about it much, but did you ever notice what an odd couple (or couples) that the buyers and sellers of a specific house really are? Seriously, if it were up to sellers (preaching to the choir here) neighborhood demographics would never change. "Well, I think this is a perfect house for a couple with young kids because that's us; oh, and it has to be a family that eats out a lot, like us, because our kitchen is tiny and the stove doesn't really work." That's the polite way of saying, "If we think our house is worth $400,000, then there has to be someone like us who thinks the same way." Yeah, in Haiti. Fortunately, through the glorious free-market capitalism of homebuying can a family of 4 buy the crash-pad of a washed-up rock drummer (or vice-versa).

I don't know what the percentage of sellers that understand the true value of their home - and if you do, please tell me - but how is it possible that every house currently listed is impervious to the nationwide price slump and outrageous demands of buyers that really want gutters that work? "I could have spent $10,000 on remodeling the kitchen, but I decided tiling the entire basement floor was a better idea."

Even in the best of markets, buyers don’t want to spend more than they should on a house, whether it be keeping the monthly payments low or making sure they don’t overspend on a property. And in today's market, it’s pretty easy to determine fair market value from the buyer’s end.

Sellers, however, tend to have a different opinion of fair market value. Granted, they want to net as much as possible out of the final sale. They’re likely going to fund their next purchase with those proceeds or simply cover their closing costs. The challenge is making sure that sellers understand what goes toward their final sale price. Actually, a better way to put that is to make sure that sellers understand what DOESN'T go into the sale price.

Things such as:

What they need to make
What you want to make
What you owe against it
Recent appraisals
Personal attachment to the home
Sales prices of neighboring homes from last year.

So here's the survey question for Active Rainers: Of those bullet points, which adds more false value to a home, in a seller’s eyes?

A logical guess is what a seller owes against the property, but in many cases that I’ve experienced, it’s the personal attachment a seller has to his/her house.

Most home-owner bonds are as unique as fingerprints. People buy houses for their own reasons: location, number of bedrooms, backyard size, garage size, brick color. And because the buyer that’s looking at the seller’s home might be interested in most of the conventional aspects of a property, their ultimate reason for buying - or, in most cases not buying a house - can be completley counterintuitive to why you love your house so much.

Yes, you can profile who might buy the house all day long, but in my experience, that’s a bad idea. I’ve seen rock stars move into suburban neighborhoods; I’ve seen retirees look for downtown lofts. You know that cute vaulted ceiling in your living room that reminded you of Paris so much that you bought the house for that reason alone? The next buyer might drywall it off to save on heating bills.

If you’re looking to find out what your house is really worth on the open market, you can be sure that location, physical condition and the buyer’s ability to get financing will be your deciding factors. Yes, neighborhood comps are a good way to determine list price, but those buyers aren’t in the market anymore and you get to work with someone you’ve probably never met before, and probably have very little in common with, except for the mutual admiration of a property that you need to sell and they would like to buy.

I'd love your feedback on this, because it can give me some perspective on sellers in Denver.

Karl Lueders is a Realtor with The Kentwood Companies in Denver, CO. To read his blog, Denver Real Estate and Beyond, click the link.

Selling Your Home From the Driver's Seat (2009 edition)

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:09:42 -0600

This post is reprised from my entry earlier this summer, but it's been slightly remixed for 2009 and beyond. A couple of things to keep in mind when you read this: Denver's inventory of houses have continued to decline, although the sales rate has not proportionally increased. Also, the million-dollar housing market in metro Denver is in suspended isolation, although indicators from the lower-end markets show promise across the board. If you need any indication, I have a $250,000 buyer right now who just lost a bidding war on a house in central Denver and couldn't even get another offer in because the house went under contract that fast. Anyway, read, learn and enjoy:

As a Realtor living in Denver’s Driving Park Historic District (which encompasses all houses north of 4th, south of 6th between Downing and High), I have a pretty good view of how buyers and sellers have been reacting to the real estate market. Nine years ago, we moved into a 1400 sf Victorian for way more than we wanted to spend ($350,000 at the time), and struggled for at least 2 years wondering how we would spend the $14.32 left over after we paid mortgage and heat. Eventually, our income caught up to our house payment, and now we can go to the movies together, as opposed to taking turns. Still, we learned a lesson about buying in Denver; you either buy a house in a neighborhood you can afford or you make sacrifices to get the house you really want. People trying to make a living buying houses formerly occupied for the last 50 years by the lovely 90-year-old neighbor are wading in a very shallow pool. But I digress... you want to know how to control the sale of your home, and I'm getting there, I promise. This isn't about Karl Lueders.

One of the nice things about living in a core neighborhood like Driving Park, Congress Park, Country Club, Hilltop and Washington Park is that we’ve remained relatively bubble-proof. Other than the obvious charm in an older neighborhood, you can't build location in the outer layers of the suburban sprawl and you can't build a 90-year old house next to 1000s of other homes just like it. And that makes people want to move -and stay - there.

Currently, there are only 9 (nine) homes on the market out of 500+ homes in the Driving Park district; seven of them are $700k and up (the other two: $695k and $675k). Only 1 house is under contract and 15 homes have sold in this 16-block area in 2008. There are a couple of reasons why this number is strangely low for this neighborhood: the most important reason, I think, is that sellers in DPHD DON'T HAVE TO SELL.

How does this help you? Read on. Once you know the rules of selling a house in a nieghborhood like this one, you will realize how you can take control of the sale of your own house.

THE RULES OF SELLING IN THE DPHD

IMHO, many of my neighbors do not see their homes as their primary investment. In order to buy a home, you have to be able afford it, but, more importantly, you have to be able to update and maintain it. This rule increases 4-5x with $1M+ homes. If you're reading this, there's a good chance that your home is your primary investment. That's the case with most homeowners. But that's OK! If you can act like it isn't, then you're taking the first step to making the rules of selling a home work for you.

Most homeowners develop a strong emotional attachment to their home, but unlike you and I, well-to-do homeowners that aren’t “house poor” bring a little less emotion and more strategy when it comes to pricing their house.

Specifically, two distinct strategies:

PLAN A: when you live in a great neighborhood and there is no pressure to leave, you can move on your terms. What ends up happening is that many sellers will price their house according to optimal market conditions and let the market come to them. Most Country Club homeowners don’t - and shouldn’t - allow unqualified buyers to tour their homes, thus filtering the number of “tourists” from coming through their houses. Depending on motivation, there are times when houses north of $3 million will stay on the market for more than 2 years!
PLAN B: There are times, however, when job, family or some other circumstance will change the motivation of a homeowner. When you lose control of your situation, Country Club homeowners are just like any other homeowner. More often than not, buyers can take advantage of sellers that relist their house within a couple of years of moving in - especially in this market - or sellers who failed to upgrade a house hoping that the great bones and great block would keep it up with the competition.

Regardless of where you live, if your house doesn’t show well because you failed to update or (gasp) your taste isn’t as mainstream as the next house, you can almost see the calculator in a buyer’s head deducting huge chunks off your list price. Don’t get me wrong, there isn’t one homeowner on the planet who is going to be happy about taking a loss on their home, but it’s not a coincidence that successful people often possess a healthy mix of reality, proactivity and a desire to move forward with their lives. And it’s no coincidence that many people that live in Driving Park have already found success or are well on their way.

HEY, I DON’T LIVE IN AN HOITY-TOITY AREA LIKE KARL LUEDERS

It doesn't matter (and for the record, I thought my neighborhood was a little far from downtown...) Regardless of your neighborhood, you as a homeowner have several options on how to market your property when you need to sell. If you’re electing to move, you can certainly choose Plan A, but eventually you’re going to have be honest with yourself about what your house is really worth in this market or if you just want a change of scenery.

This market is very quick to respond to your opinion of your house’s worth, so if there’s part of you that thinks you’re not going to get what you want, you may reconsider listing your house. What you NEVER WANT TO DO is overprice your house to recapture false gains (that’s another post altogether). Plan B is never the optimal alternative, but it reflects reality, and as many people are loathe to admit, life ain’t fair. The best way to ease the pain of B, especially in this market, is to make a run at a price you’d like to get but be ready to accept what a buyer will bring you.

THEN THERE’S PLAN C

There is a Plan C, which I find to be the optimal route for selling a house, but it also forces you to resist the urge to procrastinate and - yuk - do some work around the house.

PLAN C: I have clients that will contact me in March/April, letting me know that they’d like to be in a new house by September. While that conversation is nothing new, these clients are prepared to make it happen. They’ll expect me to come by the house and consult with them on what needs to be done to the house in order to have it sold in 4 months. Sound impossible? Not at all. (Maybe, if they need to gut their kitchen. But if these people are calling 6 months ahead of time, they’ve already made significant updates to their house.) They also recognize that the ultimate goal is to be in a new house, not trying to squeeze every nickel they can out of their current home. These people have either made a profit on their house and won’t led greed disrupt their lives, or their life change is more important than an extra 1-2% of sales price (now that’s another post for another day!) in a bad market. In either case, they’re moving forward with their lives.

What’s my role in moving them forward? To bring as many buyers as possible to the house, present as much feedback as possible, and give the seller the opportunity to react to the market’s criticisms. Remember, most of us don’t live in the Country Club, but with a little planning, we can be just as savvy when it comes to selling our houses.

Karl Lueders is a Realtor in Colorado who specializes in the metro Denver area. He works with buyers and sellers alike to realize their true value of their homes. As a builder of several custom homes, he can provide insight into what it takes if you need to resort to Plan C to sell your home. Karl can be reached via his Website, www.karlsellsdenver.com, or via phone, 720-971-8267.)

The less you say, the more clients might respect you

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:54:53 -0600

How sweet is it to get a testimonial from a past client? Especially unsolicited ones?

Doesn't just make your day; maybe your year. And in a year where many of us have had little to cheer about, getting reinforcement from the people that matter to you most never gets old. And in a year where deals are harder to put - and keep - together, I've been amazed at how many recommendations I've been getting from clients (especially those I didn't know before we began working together).

Why now? Would you believe too much free time on my hands? Weird as it is to say, apart from being healthy with total control of all my faculties, the best part about 2008 is that I've had time to assess how I approach my business (kind of like my first year when I had nothing going).

Even though I pride myself on good communication (my years as a journalist and public speaker coming in handy), I've noticed that when I get excited, I tend to use too many words to make my point. I don't have a problem with silence (see Uma Thurman's comments in Pulp Fiction about how nice it is to not talk about mindless bs), and I use it as an effective negotiating tactic, but when you're talking to clients, why use 100 words when you can make your point in 10?

I'm not referring to the social aspect of your client relationship; there's no substitute for genuine extroversion. I'm talking about that weird zone you get into when you begin discussing something like an inspection, appraisal, structural concern... etc... and all of a sudden you subconsciously realize that you've been blabbing for about a minute and you've got no idea how to wrap it up. I mean, the sweetest noise on earth is the sound of our own voice, right? Yeah, and your farts don't stink, either.

I've done a lot of work on this (the overtalking part, not the farting) and it truly has created an unintended effect - the less I talked, the more important the words I used became! And, not surprisingly, my clients saw me as more of an authority than ever before. The net result? Sales went more smoothly and those listings that didn't sell became less my fault than the realities of poor market conditions (which resulted in extensions on listing periods).

Of course, a lot of this confidence and assertion on my end came from experience, but I know a lot of veteran Realtors that try to compensate for having one less mouth than ears by talking twice the time. I'm not saying anything really radical here. You always need to choose your words carefully. You know the old saying... better to have everyone assume you're an idiot then to open your mouth and remove all doubt?

As real estate professionals, our expertise is questioned and challenged every day by online "informational" sites, less-than-competent agents and groundswells of consumerism that try to empower homeowners to dangle their biggest investment on the open market. Knowing that I'm not the only game in town, combined with the fear that every client I have is a weather vane for future business, I've gone the extra mile to make sure I know my s**t and can deliver that message with authority. And how do my clients thank me? By telling me what a great Realtor I am. I'll take that.

Especially in this market.

Why do we have a housing crisis?

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:13:09 -0500

You think you know why the housing crisis began? Well, you probably know some of the more publicized lowlights, but chances are you don’t know the whole sordid tale.

The link below has the WHOLE story.

It will take you to an episode of This American Life, a weekly radio show that sent two reporters out to follow the trail of why banks were handing out $500,000 loans to people who clearly had no business signing up for them. The show lasts about an hour and I guarantee you will be enlightened by what you hear.

The show is called The Giant Pool of Money. You can listen for free. Better yet, support public radio and download it for .99. It’s worth it!

WARNING: This program has been rated “non-partisan” and safe for listening. :)

Karl Lueders is a Realtor with the Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek. You can visit him at his Web site, Karl Sells Denver, or by calling him at 720-971-8267.

Summer's Over - Phillies in 4

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:29:49 -0500

Just a quick note that while I'm neither a Phillies or Rays fan, I'd like to see the Phillies win the World Series - quickly - for two reasons:

Their fans need it... bad.
We can finally put a fork in this summer, and start thinking optimistically about 2009.

Karl Lueders is a broker with The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek in Denver, CO (also a Cubs fan). He can be reached at Karl Sells Denver or 720-971-8267. You can also read his Denver Real Estate and Beyond blog.

Hi

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:15:22 -0500

I just discovered this group and I'm pretty excited to purge the events that have lead to a year I can only describe as freaking weird.

For now, I'm kind of happy that autumn has finally arrived in Denver. The blazing sun has been overcooking a lot of common sense around me.

Talk to you soon.

You're the only one that loves your house

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:42:58 -0500

Perhaps you've never stopped to think about this before, but about the only thing in common a buyer and seller have is the property waiting to be sold.

Denver buyers, as it is anywhere, have goals to reach when buying a house, as do sellers, and rarely does either set have much to do with the other. Today's housing climate doesn't do much to ease the stress points of a real estate transaction either. Even in the best of markets, buyers don't want to spend more than they should on a house, whether it be keeping the monthly payments low or making sure they don't overspend on a property. Depending on comps and finishes, it's pretty easy to determine fair market value from the buyer's end.

Sellers, however, tend to have a different opinion of fair market value. Granted, they want to net as much out of the final sale of the house as possible, since they're likely going to fund their next purchase with those proceeds or simply cover their closing costs. The challenge is making sure that sellers understand what goes toward their final sale price.

Actually, a better way to put that is to make sure that sellers understand what doesn't go into the sale price. Things such as:

What you need to make
What you want to make
What you owe against it
Recent appraisals
Personal attachment to the home
Sales prices of neighboring homes from last year

Of those bullet points, care to venture a guess which adds more value to a home, in a seller's eyes? In today's market, it's probably what a seller owes against the property, but in many cases that I've experienced, it's the personal attachment a seller has to his/her house.

Most home-owner bonds are as unique as fingerprints. People buy houses for their own reasons: location, number of bedrooms, backyard size, garage size, brick color. And because the buyer that's looking at the seller's home might be interested in most of the conventional aspects of a property, their ultimate reason for buying - or, in most cases not buying a house - can be completley counterintuitive to why you love your house so much.

Yes, sellers can profile who might buy the house all day long, but in my experience, that's a bad idea. I've seen rock stars move into suburban neighborhoods; I've seen retirees look for downtown lofts. You know that cute vaulted ceiling in your living room that reminded you of Paris so much that you bought the house for that reason alone? The next buyer might drywall and insulate it off to save on heating bills.

If you're looking to find out what your house is really worth on the open market, you can be sure that location, physical condition and the buyer's ability to get financing will be your deciding factors. Yes, neighborhood comps are a good way to determine list price, but those buyers aren't in the market anymore and you get to work with someone you've probably never met before, and probably have very little in common with, except for the mutual admiration of a property that you need to sell and they would like to buy.

For more real estate commentary: go to Karl Sells Denver for links to more of his real estate resources. You can find his current listings, testimonials from past clients, professional contacts and a complete resource list for vendors, contractors and services for any project you can think of. You can reach Karl Lueders at 720-971-8267. Or email him here or at klueders@kentwoodcc.com.

What's taken me so long?

Karl Lueders - Denver Realtor (Realtor w/The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:14:41 -0500

Why has it taken me so long to get to Active Rain? Not sure, but I'm glad to be here. I've been blogging on my WordPress for a while now - Denver Real Estate and Beyond - but I will be happy to bring the opinions and statistics that impact Denver metro real estate to Active Rain.

Thanks for having me... say hi... and I'll do the same.

Karl