denver real estate: Denver RE Trends: Pricing Appreciation Near Light Rail...
- 01/03/09 05:42 AM
Home appreciation near T-Rex light rail line stations have out-performed the market Other cities such as Portland found that homes near light rail lines have out-performed the market in terms of price appreciation. The newest light rail line on the south east corridor (it was built during the T-REX I-25 expansion) bears this out. In the last two years, the average home within two miles has appreciated 4% while the metro Denver average is off 8%. We've shared this with our clients, and many decide to try to purchase homes near future light rail stops in anticipation of future appreciation. … (0 comments)
denver real estate: Denver RE Trends: Colorado Mortgage Brokers
- 01/03/09 05:38 AM
Colorado Mortgage Broker Licensing In response to the troubled national real estate market and Colorado’s high volume of home foreclosures, efforts have increased to make higher caliber professionals involved in real estate. Licensing, rules and regulations have become more stringent for agents, appraisers, title companies and mortgage brokers. In regards to mortgage brokers, the below items are mandatory. No longer can someone open up the Yellow Pages, claim to be a mortgage broker and then be compensated for placing a loan --- what a novel concept. Before committing to a mortgage broker, please make sure that they are licensed in Colorado … (2 comments)
denver real estate: Denver RE Trends: Market Improving...
- 01/03/09 05:35 AM
Take a look at AUN (Aurora North). Note these positive market trends this year: - number of active listings steadily declining - average list price pretty stable (finally!) - U/C up dramatically - Number of sales / month up (partially seasonality) - DOM dropping - Stability in average sold prices and sold price as % of list - Sold price as % original price UP a lot - banks are getting better at pricing - Number of expired listings down Every indicator is improving this year in AUN. You will see the same trends in DSW (southwest Denver County), but not … (0 comments)
denver real estate: Denver Investors: Loans?!?
- 01/03/09 05:33 AM
Topic: Special considerations for Investor loans The talk around the water cooler these days is all about LOANS. Who can get them? At what price? What if I already have a few loans, do I still qualify? A year or two ago the question was at what price do I get a loan (those were the days!). Today it is "am I still in the game?" Here's the deal: if you have an owner occupied loan and 3 investor loans you cannot buy any more properties and get Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac financing, meaning you can't get a conventional 30-year … (0 comments)
denver real estate: Denver RE Trends: Sewer Scopes
- 01/03/09 05:32 AM
Topic: Investor Series: Why sewer scopes are important A LOT of agents don't advise their clients to get sewer scopes when they purchase a property. This is a major mistake. A broken sewer can cost between $3,000 - $10,000 dollars to repair and it only costs $99 ($99Rooter - others are more expensive) to have a tech put a camera down the sewer pipe and videotape the sewer all the way to the mainline. This will tell you and the-buyer what the condition of the sewer is. So let's see, we pay to have the furnace inspected but a new furnace … (1 comments)
denver real estate: Denver Real Estate Investing: Estimating Rent Amounts
- 01/03/09 05:28 AM
Topic: Investor Series: Estimating Rents A lot of clients ask me how to figure out what market rents are in a neighborhood. This is a critical input into the calculations an investor needs to make in order to determine what their return on investment will be on a rental property. So you don't want to screw this up! Unfortunately, this is one of the many figures new investors get wrong. One place people go to get rents is Rent-o-Meter. Rent-o-Meter is billed as an online resource to get accurate market rents. In my experience it is anything but! However, I have … (0 comments)
denver real estate: Denver Investing: Roofs?
- 01/03/09 05:27 AM
Topic: Investor Series: Things to look for when you look at roofs Have you ever driven through Aurora North looking for a rental property and taken a close look at the roofs? Here's what you'll see: a bunch of 1950's ranches in varying states of repair or disrepair, lawns that are often grassless, old handcrank windows and roofs in almost perfect condition! This surprised me at first and perplexed me for a long time. Why, in a neighborhood devastated by foreclosures with properties with massive deferred maintenance are the roofs in such condition? Really! Stand in the middle of a typical … (0 comments)
denver real estate: Denver RE Trends: Seeing a Foreclosure
- 01/03/09 04:59 AM
Topic: Investor Series: Things to keep in mind when seeing a foreclosed home As investors we face a number of very real and very scary challenges. Making sense of this market is no mean feat and one has to be very careful with his or her investment. However, we usually think about danger as financial. Unfortunately, on rare occasion it can be even worse than that. The majority of the homes investors are buying these days are vacant and once in a while people break in and live in these properties illegally. The last thing you want to do is walk … (0 comments)
denver real estate: Denver Real Estate Trends: Egress Windows
- 01/03/09 04:58 AM
Topic name: Investor Series: Understanding Egress Windows A lot of investors ask what an egress window is and when one is needed. Technically, it's a window for a room below grade that a municipality has deemed large enough to be safe for exit in case of emergency. While there are some variations, the window needs to be large enough that a firefighter with an oxygen bottle on their back could get in, then carry out an injured person in a fire. Most often, it's associated with a basement bedroom window, making it a legal bedroom. Basement bedrooms without egress windows are … (1 comments)
denver real estate: Denver Investing Trends: Basement Rental Units
- 01/03/09 04:57 AM
Topics for Investors: Basement Kitchens You walk into a property you're looking to buy and rent and you walk down into the basement and voila! you find a full second kitchen. Great! You start calculating how much rent you could get if you could rent the downstairs separate from the upstairs and the cashflow is out of this world! But wait, there are a number of very real problems with this scenario. First of all, it's illegal unless the property is zoned for more than one tenant and the property has been converted to non-residential use. But there are even more … (0 comments)
Home appreciation near T-Rex light rail line stations have out-performed the market Other cities such as Portland found that homes near light rail lines have out-performed the market in terms of price appreciation. The newest light rail line on the south east corridor (it was built during the T-REX I-25 expansion) bears this out. In the last two years, the average home within two miles has appreciated 4% while the metro Denver average is off 8%. We've shared this with our clients, and many decide to try to purchase homes near future light rail stops in anticipation of future appreciation.;)
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