So this past weekend I went out with a Buyer who came to my Downtown Evergreen office because the agent they were using was based 40min away in the "flat lands" of the Denver Metro area and they didn't feel she was qualified to consult them.  I learned this agent had nothing positive to say about living in the beautiful foothill mountain community of Evergreen and Conifer.  This agent's advice for this buyer centered around "your car will get dirty from the dirt roads", "you don't get A/C in most of these homes", "homes in the mountains are so different from one another", "if you plan to sell, it's going to take a year or more to do that in the mountains".

It's upsetting to hear that this agent (a 10yr veteran) responded to her buyer's request to live in a location with "you really don't want to live there."  It wouldn't be so bad if her information was well informed and supported her impressions. She was way off base though and that does no one any good.  Yes cars get dirty, but where don't they in Colorado.  We don't need A/C because the Evergreen area is about 15 degrees cooler than the metro area in the Summer so we don't need the extra expense.  Yes..homes in the foothills are different from home to home.  We don't have the cookie cutter homes that make up the suburbs of the South Metro Area.  Homeowners and Realtors up here see that as a premium not a negative.  And the biggest mistake this agent made was advising this buyer that homes take a year to sell.  In fact, the average days on the market for Evergreen, Conifer or the Genesee/Golden areas was 150 days for 2009.

Now I'm not complaining because if this agent wasn't so negative about Evergreen, I would not have acquired a new client.  What concerns me is the fact that more and more agents, not based in the mountains, are trying to represent buyers for homes up here.  It's no wonder homeowners complain about not knowing something their agent should have advised them of.  As a Certified Mountain Area Specialist, I can honestly say "Buyer Beware" if your agent is not based in the mountains.  With challenges like access, easements, utilities, radon, uranium, wells, septic, propane, dirt roads, zoning, fire mitigation, infected trees, wild life, sun exposure, levelness of a lot, and maintained roads to name some, a buyer needs all the information and experience an agent can provide...not assumptions or impressions from an agent not savvy to the area.

For the Realtors reading this, do yourself and a buyer a favor and refer them to an experienced agent in the mountains.  It's easy money for you and less headaches when mistakes come back and bite you in the rear. Buyers who are reading this should seek out agents who are based in the mountains.  Don't take chances on a purchase this big.