Our Bloggers
Denver & Suburbs
Larry Hotz - Selling nearly 1000 homes since 1978, Former Managing Broker and Faculty Member, Colorado Association of Realtors. Follow me on Twitter
Littleton & SW
Dennis Martin - Another Dad/Daughter Real Estate Team sells homes throughout Denver's Southwest Suburbs. Dennis also managed a real estate company and sold homes for over 30 years.
Erie, Niwot, Northwest
Paula King
- a Certified Residential Specialist helping folks in Denver's north suburbs.
West Denver
Melody Rivera
- and Rivera Team sell homes in Highlands, Lakewood, Westminister. She is also President of The Denver Board of Realtors.
Downtown Denver
John Ludwig - Lo-Do, Business District, City Park, John lives in and knows the city.
Longmont & North
John Callis -
Broker since 1982 in Denver's northern suburbs. Lives in Boulder.
First Time Homes
Elizabeth Hotz
- Purdue grad and broker since 2005, Liz has lived in both the City and Suburbs. She know the best places for first-time buyers.
Aurora Co Suburbs
Maureen Moore
- Lives here and loves South Aurora, Maureen has been a Realtor here for 22 years.
Our Next Blogger?
Promote your position as a Top Realtor in your area. Just apply to blog for free and be referred to Buyers and Sellers interested in your neighborhood.
Affordable Housing?
Affordable Housing Experiment in A Trailer Park
by Larry Hotz, All Denver Real Estate
University of Colorado students have spent $44,000 to design and renovate an affordable housing project in Boulder, one of the most expensive real estate markets in the state. The home was unveiled to the public at an open house on September 21.
The experiment created one chic, loft-like home out of an old, single-wide trailer in a Boulder trailer park where the most recent home sold for $14,500. The asking price for the custom renovation is $50,000. If someone needing affordable housing pays that asking price, it will set a record for the trailer park.
Home Prices
By Larry Hotz, All Denver Real Estate
Appearing on CNBC’s Power Lunch within the last hour, Robert Shiller co-author or the Case/Shiller home price index report, said Denver and Boston bucked the downward trend in the latest home prices.
The Report which was released earlier today noted that the home prices in 16 of the 20 top real estate market actually declined. In contrast, both Denver and Boston have experienced price appreciation since March and February, respectively. Shiller’s comments on the business television program were in sharp contrast to the headlines that accompanied the report.
"There are some signs of optimism, though.", Shiller commented on CNBC. " Boston has gone up every month since February. Denver every month since March. Chicago is up a little bit. Detroit is up a little bit. It is conceivable that there is some really good news coming in".
Littleton Schools Tests
By Dennis Martin, Littleton Real Estate Expert
Littleton Public Schools servicing Littleton Colorado and unincorporated areas nearby Denveroutperform the state on the 2007 CSAP tests.
The results indicate that Goddard Middle School made great gains in all 10 areas tested.
Ames Elementary and Littleton Preparatory Charter School increased scores in 9 out of 10 areas.
The results also shows that all grade levels in the district scored a slightly higher average in reading, writing, math and science then the state. The over all data shows improvement in other schools compared to 2006 scores.
Home Inspections
by Larry Hotz, All Denver Real Estate
“ABOUT HOME INSPECTIONS”
When a Buyer purchases a resale home, it is a good idea to have the home inspected by a professional home inspector. That way, if there is a major defect which would cost a lot of money to repair, you will know about it in advance. If necessary, you can negotiate the indicated remedy with the seller.
If the problem cannot be repaired or you can’t reach an agreement with the seller, you will not be obligated to proceed with the sale. However, to protect your rights under the Inspection Addendum,the buyermust meet the date deadlines specified to the contract.
Buyer Beware! There are some things home inspectors don’t do. In addition to a home inspector, you may wish to hire any of the following:
Small Town Garage
By Paula King, Erie Real Estate Expert
What I was looking for was a local neighborhood mechanic to service my aging GMC Yukon. And I found that at Lafayette/Erie Car Care- and more. Steve Harriger’s small company is as dedicated to innovation and the latest diagnostic systems, as it is to old fashioned customer service.
What’s Going on In The Real Estate Market
I think everyone is wondering about the Real Estate Market with all the news articles on the mortgage market eliminating loan programs tightening credit standards and closing their doors. Where does that leave our Denver Real Estate Market.
Yes, there area a record number of foreclosures in the state of Colorado this year and that was featured in many news articles. The real story is that some area were hit hard with foreclosures and prices were affected in those areas Weld County, Aurora, Southwest Denver, Northwest Denver and Northeast Denver. The rest of the Metro area was only slightly affected by all of the Foreclosure activity. So, home prices were up an average of about 2%.
Denver August Real Estate Market
The Denver real estate market continues with mixed results depending on area and price range. August “under-contract” residential and condo sales declined from the previous August by 6.5% according to statistics released by Metrolist, the local MLS reporting agency.
However, resale homes available to sale on the market also declined in the same period by 2.64% suggesting less supply. And, sold prices actually increased by 1.88% in the same year over year period. Prices of sold homes increased even more in southeast Denver by 2.95%.
Cities Do Better In Flat Real Estate Market
By John Ludwig, Downtown Denver real estate expert
We have all heard the not-so-great news of late pertaining to the housing and mortgage markets. In Denver, prices generally seem flat from one year ago according to most sources. However, an August 29, 2007 Wall Street Journal online article pointed out that several of the housing analyses out there right now look at only single family residential sales.
In a recent survey by Standard & Poor / Case-Shiller, analysts noted rising prices in parts of New York City amidst a decline in the suburbs. This divergence is apparent in other markets across the country, where tony urban locales seem to be sheltered from the market nervousness and foreclosure problems plaguing other areas.
In Denver, Coloradothis is certainly true as well.
Longmont’s Church Project
By John Callis
Longmont city council approved the annexation of 348 acres north of Colorado highway 119 near Union Reservoir for a development built by Life Bridge Church. Houses, townhouses, and apartments would be built on 142 acres, 57 acres for civic and religious uses; and 40 acres of “mixed use“development that would include shops, offices and lofts. The plans also include 300 to 700 homes; 680,000 square feet of commercial development, including a 150,000 square foot sports arena and fitness center; and a 1 million square feet of religious and civil construction.