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.
Downtown Denver
John Ludwig - Lo-Do, Business District, City Park, John lives in and knows the city.
West Denver
Melody Rivera
- and Rivera Team sell homes in Highlands, Lakewood, Westminister. She is also President of The Denver Board of Realtors.
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.
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Zillow Estimates
By Elizabeth Hotz, First Time Home Buyer Specialist
In a time when technology rules the day, consumers have a number of resources at their fingertips. You can get your groceries online, take an eye exam, find out why your dog is sick, and, now, you can even assess the value of your neighbor’s home. Zillow.com emerged in 2006 as a new obsession for real estate Buyers and Sellers. Advertiser supported, this website offers free computer-generated estimates for home values to consumers. Oftentimes these “zestimates” not zactly accurate.
This Washington Park home has a Zillow Zestimate of value at $272,000. In real life, it just went under contract for more than it’s $299,000 offering price. So, if the contract closes, the real value of this home is at least 10% more than its Zillow estimate. Just how do they do they get their information to be able to estimate home values? Read more
July Homes Sales
By Larry Hotz, All Denver Real Estate
July homes sales in the Denver metro area remained essentially even with the year ago period. 5878 single-family homes and condominiums were placed under sales contract during the month and 5123 homes closed.
But, the best news for the Denver real estate market was that inventories of existing homes and condos dropped by more than 15% from a year ago July. For a variety of reasons fewer homes are on the market this year than last and sales remained essentially the same. Read more
Mold Myths
(The opinions expressed by Mr Brahe are his own and not those of All Denver Real Estate or LarryHotz.com. The facts he quotes from John’s Hopkins stand on their own and raise new questions about mold mitigation.)
by Carl Brahe, Certified Home Inspector
Misinformation about mold has caused many problems. People have worried about their safety in their own homes. A lot of money has been spent on useless, and uncalled for, sampling and testing. Remediators have charged huge amounts for unneeded containment and testing.
“Experts” have warned us that we, and our children, may die horrible, slow deaths from exposure to mold. The scientists have been puzzled by the hysteria and wondered why their point of view has not been reported. It’s time to listen to the scientists instead of the “experts”. Read more
Futuristic Condos
by John Ludwig, Downtown Denver
In the movies I’m sure you’ve seen those scenes with people gaining access to secure areas by a fingerprint scan or perhaps a retinal scan? What if that was your primary way of gaining entry to your home? Cars are going keyless these days, so why not condos?
A new residential condo development named Beleza is just being announced that looks like something straight out of a Hollywood science fiction blockbuster! According to the building’s sales representative Lexie Armitage, the building is “wired for the future.” Buy a unit there and you will have your fingerprint scanned so that the “biometric entry system” will allow you access without the hassles of keys. Read more
Short Sales and Foreclosures
By Larry Hotz, All Denver Real Estate
“Can I get a good deal on a foreclosure or a short sale?”
By far, that is the most common question I am asked. People moving to Colorado have heard that we have a large number of foreclosures. They presume that the best deals must be in distressed properties like short sales and foreclosures. Sometimes they are! But, often the price that has to be paid outweighs the good deal. Read more
Ken Caryl
by Dennis Martin, Littleton Realtor
People are always asking me, “What neighborhoods have the lowest crime in the Denver area.” Well, now my opinion is supported by published facts.
According to the May issue of the Magazine 5280, Ken Caryl Valley was one of the 14 safest neighborhoods in the Metro area to purchase a home. Having lived on the Ken Caryl Ranch for over 20 years. I would agree Read more
Seller Psychology
By Larry Hotz, All Denver Real Estate
“Even though it’s important to observe the effects of the human condition, it’s also important to remember that we are part of it.” What does that mean?
That’s what I said yesterday it to a client when we were discussing the psychology of the seller in today’s marketplace. The part of the human condition that I was referring to is pride of ownership. And, the pitfall that sellers can face in today’s market is that their pride can outweigh their objectivity. It’s easy to overprice a property based on subjective pride. Read more
Ritz Carlton
by Larry Hotz, All Denver Real Estate
“Ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen”, that is the mantra of service expressed by the developer of the new Residences at the Ritz Carlton in downtown Denver. Yes, service is the centerpiece around which these all-new condominiums are being marketed by Kentwood City Properties.
“We can’t sell the new Bosch appliances or the highest grade Brazilian cherry floors because most of the best condominiums downtown already have those things. But, what we offer is a level of service and caring that no one can surpass”, Charles Biederman told me and our 40 brokers who recently toured the new project. Read more
June Sales
by Larry Hotz, All Denver Real Estate
Okay, I must admit that I am as surprised as anyone. I was expecting June homes sales to have declined in Denver. I was expecting to report that Denver hasn’t yet seen the bottom of its real estate market. But neither of those things happened! I am pleased to actually report good news released by the Denver MLS service, Metrolist.
Contracts to purchase existing homes remained nearly constant from the previous month and actually improved nearly 3% from the previous year. Closed sales were even more surprising. Closings were up almost 4% from the previous month. That may not seem like a lot but it becomes more significant when you consider that inventories of existing homes are actually declining.
Pavillions Shopping
by John Ludwig, Downtown Expert
As reported recently, the Pavilions Shopping Center in Downtown Denver along the 16th Street Mall sold to Gart Properties recently for a cool $94.5 million. The Pavilions is perhaps best recognized for its large-font display of the word “Denver” that stretches over the top of its third-level retail stores Read more