Denver Realty Experts Denver Real Estate Blog

I wanted to see how each Denver neighborhood broke down in agent transactions. Do a few agents have most of the sales or are the sales spread out over multiple agents?

As defined below, there are two types of agents: ones that focus and ones that diversify. Is one better? I think that will depend on the client and the situation. Is one more common? Let’s see from the data below.

Neighborhood Expert  There is value to being a neighborhood expert—to knowing a lot about one specific area and all the ins and outs of the neighborhood (i.e., schools, restaurants, home prices, trending, home types, events, etc.)
==>  On average, only 13% of agents perform two or more transactions in a single neighborhood. (YTD 2016)

Area Expert  Having a good general

After showing a bunch of condos over the past few weeks, I wanted to see how HOA dues affect the price per square foot and if I could find a correlation between the two. Because a buyer that can afford a $400,000 condo would have a hard time justifying HOA dues of $800 per month, but would have no problem paying $200 per month.

I exported data for 2015 in the city of Denver. Then I created and calculated an “HOA Factor”. This factor would represent how the HOA dues relate to a sale price and therefore the price per square foot.

The HOA factor is basically the relationship of sale price to HOA dues:

Price = $400,000, Dues = $200
HOA Factor = 0.5

Price = $400,000, Dues = $400
HOA Factor = 1.0

Price = $400,000, Dues = $800
HOA Factor = 2.0

I started with

Does it matter what day of the week a home goes on the market?

Thanks to my 13 years as a realtor, I’ve developed a certain “philosophy” about the best day of the week to list a home as well as the best day and time to start showings. It comes solely from my experience, so I was curious to know two things: Does the data support my listing philosophy? And do others agree with me?

MY PHILOSOPHY: For most homes below $750,000 we are in a clear sellers’ market. Based on this, if I’m listing a home in this price range I want to have a plan for timing the market. My assumptions are as follows:

• More buyers see homes on Saturday and Sunday
• Competition among buyers should help get the seller a better price and/or terms
• Holiday weekends should be avoided

No cash flow. No appreciation. No Problem. Learning how a rental property is a good investment without any profit or appreciation.

When people consider purchasing a rental property they initially think about cash flow (i.e. their monthly profit) and appreciation of their investment over time. While those are definitely good things to keep in mind, I want to show you how a rental property can still be a great investment when those two factors – cash flow and appreciation over time – are actually zero.

For the purposes of this exercise I want you to assume a few things:

1. The rental income exactly matches expenses so there are zero monthly profits for the owner.
2. The real estate market isn’t appreciating. (Yes, in our current 2016 Denver market that

Have you driven by a house for sale and seen the “Under Contract” or “Sale Pending” sign added when a home has a signed contract?  Have you also noticed this sign get removed a few days later? This happens when a potential buyer terminates a contract and the seller is stuck putting the house back on the market to solicit the next buyer. 

This week I’m breaking down how often a house goes back on the market after having a contract in place.  There are about eight reasons in a Colorado real estate contract for a buyer to terminate a contract:

1.       Title documents
2.       Non-public matters
3.       Due Diligence Documents
4.       Inspection
5.       Insurance
6.       Appraisal
7.       Survey
8.       Loan

Each one of these options allows for the buyer to

Where Are New Homes Being Built?

We all know that Stapleton, Lowry and Green Valley Ranch have new homes under construction, but what about the rest of Denver? Where are developers deciding to invest their money? Where are buyers passing on the planned community – deciding instead on a newly built home in an older neighborhood?

I searched homes sold in 2015 and 2016 (thru May) that also had a build year of 2015 and newer. Then I created 3 interactive maps to show the distribution and count in each area for the following products:
• Detached homes
• Condos
• Townhomes/other multi-unit.

The Takeaway: Townhomes had the highest numbers; detached homes had the widest range of neighborhoods; and new condos are very limited these days – only in 5 different

So much real estate data is public record, but that’s not the case when it comes to agents so I’m going to open the door a little so you can see some of the data behind an agent’s performance numbers.

It’s hard to get an official count of REColorado (MLS) members. That being said, I’ve heard 18,000 thrown around a few times so I’m going to use that as the basis for my analysis outlined below.

• After sorting the data for 2015, I was able to find 12,970 agents having at least one (1) transaction recorded in MLS. This count includes listing, selling, co-listing and co-selling agents.
• Using 18,000 members as my agent baseline, my projection for agents performing zero (0) transactions in 2015 came to 5,030. That means:
  • 65% of agents completed 0-5

Have you noticed all the news in Denver talking about the housing market and how great it is?  I’m asked about it all the time, but my typical answer depends on my audience.  In 2016, the market is great if you are a seller. But what about being a buyer?  Not so much—bidding wars, appreciation, and supply vs demand are all working against buyers to make this market anything but great.

Instead of looking at numbers on appreciation or supporting the “great” seller’s market, I decided to look at the numbers from a buyers point of view. 

Below shows the breakdown of the average finished sq. ft. (livable space above ground and in the basement) in 2012 compared with year to date 2016.  On average, given the same price range, the house you can buy now is 18%

Although the weather may tell another story, fall has finally arrived. Third quarter is behind us and spring’s volatile market conditions have given way to a healthy, but not-so-crazy, pace. Which makes this the perfect time to take a breath, look back and assess the situation in Central Denver.

Since the beginning of the up market (2012) in Denver, we have seen a very even distribution of sales between the first and second half of each year, varying by only a few percentage points:

So far, 2015 seems to be matching this pattern.
• The first half of 2014 saw a total of 4,080 sales in Central Denver
• The first half of 2015 saw a total of 4,061 sales, or 19 less

Now, let’s look at Central Denver price changes in the first three quarters of 2015.

You've decided to sell your home. It's been de-cluttered, staged, priced according to the current market, and now all you need is a buyer.

Your agent calls you up with the first offer. "Brace yourself," he says, "It's not as high as we would have liked..."

At 30% below the asking price, it's not even in the ballpark, and frankly you're pissed. The house has never looked better, it's priced smartly, you're insulted by the nerve of this lowball offer. So, how do you handle it? Your first reaction is to instruct your agent to tell this person you're not interested, and not to come back until they have something more realistic.

Even though this is your first offer, what if it's your last? What if this person is a serious buyer, but just testing the waters