A lot of buyers in the marketplace want to purchase properties with equity. Today we are going to discuss how to do that in Denver, specifically when it comes to purchasing public trustee homes.

Colorado is a public trustee sale state. Unlike states like California and New York, where foreclosures are handled by the judicial system, ours are handled by a public trustee. That means the timeline is much faster.

Here’s what that process looks like in Arapahoe County. The lender will set the opening bid for the properties on Monday and make that public record around noon on the same day. On Wednesday morning, these properties will go into auction at 9 am.

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This is just one option you have.

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This leaves a very short window for you to do your due diligence. Sometimes these properties will be occupied, sometimes they will be vacant. Each scenario poses different challenges, so you want to make sure you’re making a good investment.

One of the biggest pitfalls I see people making is not doing their due diligence in regard to the home’s title. If you purchase a lien that you think is in first position, but it’s actually in second, you may have to pay off that first position lien in order to get that property. You can end up losing a lot of money this way. You should be somewhat versed in title details, or at least have a title rep who is.

This is just one option you have when you’re considering buying a home with equity. If you have any questions for me, don’t hesitate to reach out. I would love to set up a one-on-one strategy session with you to give you some more details. I hope to hear from you soon.

We’ve got three different strategies to share with you today about how you can find a property out there with instant equity. In today’s market, it can be tough to find a home with equity that is listed. Here are three ways you can find a home to fix, flip, and make some money off of.

1. Purchasing a property at a Public Trustee sale. If you’re purchasing a property at one of these sales, you have an opportunity to bid on the property directly. The opening bid will be set, then you have two days to do your due diligence and place your bid on the property at the Public Trustee's office. This can be a risky scenario, so you should look out to make sure you are buying a home that has a clean title.

2. Purchasing a property at a pre-foreclosure. Pre-foreclosures happen when a lender is made aware that a home is going to likely be forced into foreclosure. You can prospect for these properties by either door knocking or cold calling. We have some other great tips for doing this as well.

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Find homes that meet your parameters by searching online.

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3. Cold call a neighborhood. Find homes that meet your parameters by searching online for homes in a certain area that owe a certain amount in mortgage payments. You can get pretty detailed with the demographics and parameters you want to target in our system.

If you’re seriously interested in fixing and flipping a property, the most important thing to do is find a property with equity. If you’re willing to put in the work and hustle that most people won’t, you are going to succeed.

If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to reach out and give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

The fall real estate market is here and it is a great time for Denver home buyers. Interest rates are low and market conditions are fantastic, partially thanks to Brexit.

Why is now a great time to buy a home in Denver?

One reason is that interest rates are still incredibly low. When interest rates are low, homes are more affordable. Right now, interest rates are floating around 3.3%.

Interest rates are phenomenal and so are current market conditions. It is not always nice to take advantage of a neighbor’s mishaps, but in this case, everything that is happening with Brexit and the European Union has positively affected the economy here in the U.S.  Brexit has created an excellent opportunity for you to purchase real estate here in Denver.

Also, market trends show that the exact same thing has happened in the Denver market over the past three years: inventory slightly increases at this time of the year, but home prices go down. Sellers tend to take less than what they were asking for, which is completely opposite of the trends we saw in the market two or three months ago.

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In the fall, inventory goes up but home prices go down.

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If you got burned by the market a couple of months ago, now may be the perfect time for you to jump back in there and take another shot. You won’t be competing against as many other buyers; herd mentality causes more people to buy homes in the spring and summer. Go against the herd and jump into the market in the fall so you can take advantage of these phenomenal rates and find the perfect home for you.

If you have any other questions about the fall real estate market or about buying a home, give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!

A question I get asked all the time by Denver sellers is, “Should I have an appraisal done before listing?” Today, I thought I would answer the question in detail.

Although I don’t think a pre-listing appraisal is a necessity, it’s definitely a good idea and it certainly won’t hurt to get a little more knowledge from a professional who is objectively valuing your property.

However, one thing to take into consideration when you're looking at the appraised value is that there is often a disconnect between that appraised value and a Denver home’s fair market value. The reason being that appraisers are only looking at historical and sold data as it relates to your property. They may be looking online at sold properties and only have pictures as their reference point. They don’t get to see the quality of the finishes or other different nuances. They also don’t take into account the lack of inventory or the competition currently on the market.

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The fair market value is what you really want to know.

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To get your fair market value, you’re better off talking to a professional real estate agent. They know the market, they know what homes near yours are selling for, and they understand the different nuances that go into determining a home’s value. They will help you find the perfect price.

A pre-listing appraisal is by no means a bad idea, but it’s not the end-all of where you should price your home. If you have any questions for me, don’t hesitate to reach out and give me a call. I would love to hear from you.

Today I wanted to update you on the market for the second quarter of 2016 and discuss some of the changes to interest rates and how they affect affordability as well. 

While mortgage rates for this quarter are up a bit, they’re still really low by historical standards. Households with a $60,000 yearly income can currently afford a house with a purchase price of $310,000 at today’s interest rate of 3.5%. If rates were to jump up to 4.5%, this same household would only be able to afford a $275,000 home. This 1% increase in rates can dramatically affect the kind of home you’re going to be able to afford.

Looking at the graph at the bottom of the chart, we can see pretty clearly that 30-year fixed interest rates between 1970 and 2014 were significantly higher than they are today. To put this into perspective for you, in 1970, a household bringing in $60,000 per year looking to buy a home with a purchase price of $170,000 at the average 9% interest rate of the time would have to make a monthly payment of $1,610. Today, a family with the same income per year would be able to afford a $290,000 house for $965 per month at the current average interest rate of 4.1%.

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It’s a strong seller’s market for homes 1,850 square feet or less.

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If we take a look at the second quarter of 2016, what sticks out to me is the fact that there haven’t been any major changes since 2015, but it’s still a very strong seller’s market for homes that are 1,850 square feet or less. There are very low amounts of inventory for those homes—only 1.5 months’ worth—and it only gets to be a balanced market for the homes that are 3,500 square feet or larger.

The next line over on the graph shows the price change and the increase from 2015 to 2016, where the average appreciation rate of 9% has been driven more by homes 1,000 square feet and smaller. These homes saw an increase of 15%, but appreciation rates become lower for larger homes with the exception of the luxury market. Homes on the luxury market that are 3,500 square feet or larger saw a major increase in their appreciation ratings of 11%, compared to around 6% last year. On the last column of the chart, we see that the average number of homes under contract is currently floating around 55%.

If you’ve got any questions regarding our current market, interest rates or appreciation, please don’t hesitate to call, text, or email me at your convenience. It would be my pleasure to be a resource for you about anything real estate-related!

We have some tactics that we use to get our clients here in Denver under contract in a multiple offer situation on properties they really want.

A thing we've started offering our clients that we really think is setting us apart is a home buying warranty when they purchase a home. It's mutually beneficial for both you and the seller because it guarantees that if your furnace, washer, dryer, or any other major things in the home break within the first year, they will be taken care of. It's also beneficial when positioning your contract to the seller because the seller understands that these things will be taken care of, so they won't have to worry about them coming up as inspection issues.

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You need every advantage you can get.

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Another thing we feel we do really well is put you in front of a solid local lender who has nominal rates, and will also put you through a pre-approval process rather than just a pre-qualification process. With the pre-approval, sellers will see that you've taken extra steps in your financing and that you're ahead of other buyers. It helps your offer stand out, and in this extremely competitive real estate market, you need every advantage you can get.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me. I'd love to help you with any and all real estate needs.

What do you want in real estate? Why does it matter? How are you going to get it as it pertains to purchasing a property here in Denver? I want to help you find a clear on answering these three questions.

What I've found that was really helpful in the past for clients, especially when there is a spouse or a couple buying a property, is to write down the top 10 items you want in that property. For example, you may want a very short commute, or to live in a particular neighborhood, or love a particular style of property, or need a certain amount of bedrooms, or want a fixer-upper, or need instant equity.

There are a ton of different things you can cite, but the purpose here is to get clear. The reason why getting clear, initially, is so important is that it can save you a ton of time on the back end. If you know what you want, you won’t have as many houses to look at.

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Writing a list of what you want in a property can save a lot of time.

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This can be applied to any aspect of your life: your spirituality, the relationship you want to have with your spouse, your kids, your business, etc. Getting clear on what you want, asking yourself why that matters to you, and determining how you’re going to make that happen is going to save you a lot of time and bridge a gap for you so you can get results faster.

I hope that was helpful. Please feel free to email, text, or call me with any questions you have regarding real estate. Talk to you soon!

Are you considering resale down the road when purchasing a home in Denver? There are some key things to focus on with the intent of resale down the road.

There are hundreds of things to do (or not do) when considering a home for resale. Three stand out to me as the most important though.

If you’re curious about any of those hundreds of other do’s and don’ts of to consider for resale or you have any questions for me, feel free to reach out. I’d love to work with you!

In a strong seller's market, there are two different types of exposure. One has to do with marketing and the other has to do with time. We'll dive into both of these to ensure you understand the best strategies you can put in place to make sure you get the most amount of money for your home with the least amount of stress.

We put a home on the market Thursday of last week. We had 10 showings and two contracts the first day. Both the buyers who submitted an offer tried to pressure us into accepting it within 24 hours. We decided to let the property sit on the market for the entire weekend, which resulted in a total of nine contracts and even some cash offers. The seller was able to leverage all of these buyers against each other and get the best possible offer.

If we would have done this the old school way and accepted the first offer, the seller would have lost out on $11,000 and the chance to rent back the property, which turned out to be a huge bonus for this particular seller. This allowed them to buy their next home while living in their current home after they had closed.

Marketing is also extremely important, even in a strong seller’s market. If we can draw a lot of people into your home in the first couple of days that it’s on the market, we’re going to have a better chance of getting these people to bid against each other. This results in more money in your pocket, better terms, and your choice of financing.

If you have any questions about how our team can use time and marketing to get the best possible results when selling your Denver home, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to help you take advantage of this strong market! 

Are all real estate agents equal? The answer is no. It’s important to interview more than one real estate agent. Today, I want to share some good questions you should be asking a real estate broker before you hire them.

If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. My team and I would be happy to help you!