Denver Real Estate Report

If It’s To Good to Be True, It’s Probably Not True!

Today I received two calls to rent a property I have for sale.  The property is being advertised FOR SALE in many places, including Craigslist.

I informed the first caller that the property was for sale not rent.  I hung up assuming he made a simple mistake in reading the ad wrong.  It happens all the time.

The second call came several hours later, from the sound of her voice it was a young female who was a tad agitated.  She wanted to know why she found my listing for rent for $800 and for sale.  I calmly informed her the property was for sale and NOT for rent.  I don’t know why she’s finding it for rent as this was not true.

We hung up.

Then it hit me, like a ton of bricks.  She probably wasn’t crazy, she was  finding this property For Rent, only trouble it wasn’t a legit rental.  It’s a scammer.

Rental scam these days are quite common.  In fact it’s been a problem for Craig’s List for a long time.  Guess there must be some trusting, gullible people who are willing to wire their money to faraway lands, just because they are told to do so.

If you Google search for Craigslist Scam you will find in part the following information:

You can sidestep would-be scammers by following these common-sense rules:

• DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON – follow this one simple rule and you will avoid 99% of the scam attempts on craigslist.
• NEVER WIRE FUNDS VIA WESTERN UNION, MONEYGRAM or any other wire service – anyone who asks you to do so is a scammer.
• FAKE CASHIER CHECKS & MONEY ORDERS ARE COMMON, and BANKS WILL CASH THEM AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE when the fake is discovered weeks later.
• CRAIGSLIST IS NOT INVOLVED IN ANY TRANSACTION, and does not handle payments, guarantee transactions, provide escrow services, or offer “buyer protection” or “seller certification”
• NEVER GIVE OUT FINANCIAL INFORMATION (bank account number, social security number, eBay/PayPal info, etc.)
• AVOID DEALS INVOLVING SHIPPING OR ESCROW SERVICES and know that ONLY A SCAMMER WILL “GUARANTEE” YOUR TRANSACTION.

Renters please pay attention.  Only you can protect yourself.  Use some  common sense, don’t blindly trust people, research the property, be sure you are dealing with the owner or a  representative of the owner.

Consider this a public announcement, pass it on, spread the word.  Have experience with similar issues?  Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you.

OH! If you know anyone who wants to BUY a great house, here’s a very cool one to look at!

Related posts:

1. Rental Scam Alive and Well in Denver
2. Loan Modification Scams – This Says It All
3. Over Priced Homes

Denver Real Estate News – Colorado State Tax

Colorado residents will be happy to know they can now track now much taxes they pay AND where the money goes!  The Colorado Department of Treasury has unveiled a very cool new website call Tax Tracks.

First start with adding in your Annual Adjusted Money Income, click continue and colorful pie charts will show you where and what your money is spent on.

Colorado State Taxes – Consumer Friendly Facts

The information doesn’t end with the pie charts.  Click on a “type of tax” and a description of that tax is provided.

For instance, it’s very nice to know that Colorado has a “flat income tax” and is only one of seven states in the U.S. that does!  Colorado Income Tax is 4.6% of your modified federal taxable income, regardless of your income level.

How is Your Colorado State Tax Money Spent?

The average amount of state income taxes paid in Colorado was $2,027, so you can compare your tax bill to the average.

Following the trail of information, you can also vote on whether you feel each category of tax allotment is the 1) right amount 2) too little 3) too much.

I must admit it really gets one to thinking of our taxes in a different way.  Which one of these services would you be willing to live without?  Any?  Which one of these services needs moderating by you?

Education receives the highest amount of our taxes, is it delivering the results we want?

Of course these questions can only be answered by you.  I know for a fact the quality of our education has directly related to property values.  The better the school district, the stronger the neighborhood/property values are.  Oops, off on a tangent here!

Colorado State Tax Resource for Denver Relocation Personnel Too

Kudos to the Colorado State Treasurers Department and the good folks who have developed this interactive tool.  I see many uses for it, not just residents, but people relocating to Metro Denver too!  It’s a perfect tool for comparing the cost of living from one State to the next.

Since my business is selling Denver real estate, I’m delighted to find this resource as my job just got easier!

Thank you Colorado!

Related posts:

1. State Taxes in Colorado
2. Real Estate Property Taxes ~ Colorado
3. Colorado School Districts

Denver Real Estate Report

OK you read the title and now you think I flunked 3rd grade spelling!  Actually the title says exactly what I want it to say!  If you are in the market to purchase a home, do it now because in a few weeks, April 2010 to be exact the cost of purchasing a home is going up.

1. FHA MIP (upfront mortgage insurance premium) increases from 1.75% to 2.25% of the loan amount.
2. Seller contributions to the buyer will be cut in half!  Where once 6% was allowable now only 3% is allowed.
3. Buyers must have a FICO score of 580 or better to qualify for the 3.5% down payment, which makes getting an FHA loan so attractive.

This isn’t the first time I’ve talked about the FHA Guidelines changing.  Every aspect of real estate has been going through dramatic changes, from lending guidelines to appraising practices.  We are all learning how best to deal with the changes so the consumer is not left out in the cold.

Denver Home Purchase is Possible

Home ownership is very possible for those who have maintained their credit standing, avoid excessive debt and save for a down payment.  It all makes sense.

Related posts:

1. Purchasing a Fixer Upper Home Made Easy with FHA 203-k
2. If I Were a First Time Home Buyer
3. First Time Home Buyer = Investor

Moving to Greater Denver area may not hold so much mystery as it once did.  From the comfort of our easy chair we can surf the ‘net viewing homes inside and out.  Property searches yield so much information with just a click of the mouse; school accountability scores, neighborhood demographics, crime statistics, taxes, etc.

Google Street View is Great for Denver Relocation!

Now Google has taken the information explosion even further with Google Street View.  If you want to get the “feel” of driving down the street visit maps.google.com type in an address and click.  If you have used an address located in the Greater Denver area, you will find most of the streets have a visual, just like driving down the street!

Neighborhood Photos Help When Moving to Denver!

Note the little “yellow” pegman situated on the in the upper left corner.  Dragging him onto the map will turn the streets blue, indicating there are user generated photos of the area.  Amazing as it sounds, many photographers (just regular folks like you and me)  are now publicly sharing their photos with geo tags sending info to Google for viewing on these maps.  The photos are garnered from photo sharing sites like Flickr and Picassa.

I love the interactivity that enables us to quickly determine if a neighborhood might work.  Of course the Street View photography results are sometimes less than wonderful.  I looked up my own house only to be disappointed that the Google guys drove by on trash day!  Now my house will forever be adorned with the lovely green mini-dumpster I so love looking at!

Related posts:

1. Google Street View is a Useful Home Search Tool
2. Street View
3. Find Denver real estate

Denver’s Restaurant Week is Actually Two Weeks!

Once again it’s the special event we locals look forward to, Denver’s Restaurant week begins on Saturday, February 20 0 March 5, 2010.

My mouth is watering when I review the list of restaurants!  Bonefish Grill, Brook’s Ssteak House, Broker Restaurant, Cucina Colore, cuba cuba cafe & bar, Earls, Elways, McCormich’s Fish House, Piatti, Tamayo and the list goes on and on!

The deal for dinner for two is only $52.80 (not including tip) or $25.40 for a single diner.  That’s a price really hard to beat!

Denver.org offers several ways to make your choice.  Visit the website and the Restaurants are categorized by neighborhood, cuisine or alphabetical order.

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Denver’s Restaurant Week
2. Dining at the Islamorada
3. Denver Celebrates Blog Tour USA Fiesta

The State of Denver Real Estate

Homes for sale in Denver making up the current real estate inventory are staying on the market an average of 88.91 days.  That is less than 3 months.

For the record it is said any amount over 6 months is a buyer’s market, under a 6-month time frame it is a seller’s market.  That may be good news, depending up on which side of the transaction you are on.

Selling Your Home? Here’s Some Good News!

The Absorption Rate in Denver is at 32.16 weeks (a 2 week improvement over same time last year)

Our inventory is getting skinny.  Last year we had 19,748 homes on the market, this is 2283 homes MORE than we had on the market in January 2010.

Having a selection of 17,465 homes to choose from sounds like a lot, but when you segment this into price ranges, multiple neighborhoods, condition, actually availability (don’t get me started on bait & switch short sales) plus age and style, this renders only a handful of homes that might meet a buyer’s needs!

Couple this handful of homes with the added competition and we have sellers receiving multiple offers. This is great for the seller, but very disappointing for the buyer and his troupe of support (agent, lender, inspector, etc.) when he loses house after house to higher bids.

How Many Homes in Denver Did We Sell?

Last year we sold 116 LESS homes than we did this January.  2010 saw a total of 2,353 closings!

We are selling more homes with less to choose from.

Buyers are excited about purchasing because they are looking forward to their $8000/6500 tax credit.

Related posts:

1. January Real Estate Sales Statistics
2. Congress & Real Estate Matters
3. Denver real estate in the news

A question that has been coming up lately from Denver Relocation buyers is about the number of allowable pets one can have in a residence.

I decided to do a little research on the answer and of course as luck would have it, there is no one right answer!  It depends upon which county one lives in.

So here’s the results of my research:

Douglas County: Household pets are permitted in all zoning districts where residences are permitted.  Household pets include, but are not limited to, dogs, cats, pot-bellied pigs, rabbits, fish, gerbils, hamsters, parakeets, parrots, cockatiels, provided they are not raised for commercial purposes.

A maximum number of 4 cats, dogs or a combination of four of these animals are allowed per house.  In order to have more than four cats or dogs, you must be located in the A-1 or LRR zoning district and receive use by special review approval for a kennel, form the County Commissioners.

Denver County: Allowable 3 dogs, 5 cats, 2 rabbits, or 25 pigeons, or 5 total dogs and cats, not exceeding 3 dogs) no exotic pets or farm animals.

Jefferson County: The maximum total number of dogs, cats and similar domesticated pets which may be kept shall be 3. Litters of puppies or kittens may be kept  until weaned.

Arapahoe County:   There shall be a maximum combination of three dogs, cats, small animals, and reptiles over the age of six (6) months per household. except as otherwise set forth within the Land Development Code.

Adams County:  After spending an hour searching their very unfriendly site, I gave up and called the County for help.  The nice lady was able to direct me to the precise location of the information after about a dozen non-intuitive clicks! If you get lost look for “animal keeping” under Design Requirements and Performances Standards in the Adams County Development manual.  Since Adams County is mostly rural the rules for household animals changes with the size of the land.  An ordinary house on a city lot can have 3 dogs 3 cats, 2 chinchillas, 2 ferrets, 2 guinea pigs, for a maximum of 10.

At a 1/2 acre lot the cat count goes to 4 but still only 3 dogs, with the same number of other pets as in the less than 1/2 acre requirement.  At 2-5 acres a homeowner is allowed to have 4 dogs.  More acres more dogs!

On a trivia note in Adams County when you have 1/2 acre or more you can have 4 Alpacas, 4 beefalo, 5 colonies of bees, 4 cattle, 50 chickens, 50 Chincillas, 4 deer, 40 emus, 50 ferrets, 8 goats, 50 guinea pigs, 4 horses, 4 llamas, 4 mules, 15 ostriches, 50 rabbits, 8 sheep, 8 swine and 50 turkeys.  The maximum allowable amount of all pets combined is 20.

Broomfield: Citizens living in Brooomfield are allowed four adult animals in each residence.  Animals over six months of age are considered adults.  This does not apply to fish or birds.  Livestock, fowl, exotic animals, wildlife, or endangered species are not allowed as pets within the City and County of Broomfield.  Non-poisonous snakes and ferrets are allowed.

Elbert County: Domestic animals, such as dogs and cats (not more than four (4) animals of more than four (4) months of age), are permitted in all districts, provided they are not bred, boarded, sold, trained or groomed for commercial purposes.

Bottom line, if you love dogs and need to have the maximum, allowable number in your household, you best bet is to live in one of the following counties:

• Douglas County
• Adams County
• Broomfield County
• Elbert County

Related posts:

1. Cats on a plane
2. Denver loves dogs
3. 100 in 100 Denver Real Estate & Relocation Tips (day 4)

Funny how when things are good people, tend to forget that things are good, and good things don’t necessarily last forever.  I’m referring to interest rates.

The other day, a client made mention of a “high interest rate” being 6%.  It struck me funny,although I didn’t laugh.  To me a 6% interest rate is actually pretty darn good!  Of course in this market, it’s high, but I can remember when interest rates were 18% on mortgage loans!

Yes, that’s true, in the 1980’s we saw inflation and high interest rates like never before.  I started selling real estate in 1984 and found myself “justifying” a TERRIFIC interest rate of only 14%!  (ouch!) Yes, of course home prices were much lower then.  We were selling nice entry level homes in the $40 and $60 thousands, but still at 18% that was like Master Charging a house!

Well these days of good interest rates maybe coming to a close. Starting April 1, 2010 the FED is stopping it’s purchase of mortgage backed securities.  This isn’t new news.  In fact the FED has been broadcasting the decision for several months now.

Experts seem to agree, mortgage rates will increase.  It won’t be steep, (like the 1980’s thankfully!) but we do expect to interest rise.

How will this affect the average Denver real estate buyer?  Well a 1% increase, say 5% to 6% on a $250,000 mortgage is $156 a month.

That means if a home buyer is qualified at 5% for $250,000, when the interest rate goes up, the same buyer can only qualify for a loan of $224,000!

That is a big difference!

Dan Green’s Mortgage Report uses logic saying the rate came down by one percent when the Fed stepped into help, therefore it might go up by the same amount.  Nobody knows.  One thing we all can agree on is to lock your rate.

If it’s time for you to buy a home, that time is probably right now.

Start your home search here, click on Denver Home Search in the bar above.  You’ll love the convenience of being able to search the MLS-idx data base, save searches and favorite properties.  Please call me if you need help.

Related posts:

1. Interest Rates Inch Up
2. Mortgage Interest Rates Remain Low
3. Interest rates

Recent announcements by FHA will have impacts on our spring time (and beyond) buyers.  The rules mean more money down and higher payments, here’s the scoop:

1. Beginning April 1, 2010 the Upfront MIP is increasing from 1.75 to 2.25.  (MIP is the Mortgage Insurance Premium that all buyers using an FHA loan get to pay, up front in order to obtain the loan.)  to give you an idea of how much this increase is, let’s talk numbers.  On a $200,000 the Upfront MIP increases by $1,000.  Typically the buyer finances this amount into the loan, making that $200,000 loan a $204,500.  This increase raises the buyer’s payment on a 5% loan by $5.35 a month for 30 years.
2. The good news for investors (AKA flippers) FHA has implemented a waiver (beginning Jan. 15, 2010) that allows properties to be transferred without having to wait the required 90 days.  This rule which personally I have never understood has only been waived for one year.  Apparently FHA is realizing that it’s not good to interfere with investors who are actually helping our economy?
3. Buyers who’s FICO credit scores are less than 580 (this is a relatively low score) will now be required to put 10% down when purchasing a home using FHA financing. This is a double whammy for those with low scores, typically they have a low score and no cash.  This rule is reinforcing the importance of maintaining a good credit score.

Related posts:

1. First Time Buyers Look At This…
2. FICO 08 Upping your Credit Score
3. Purchasing a Home Today Makes Cents!

Fisherman have the reputation for telling stories about “the one that got away.”  It’s always the biggest, strongest, oldest most difficult fish in the water. But alas it got away.

Well photographers have the same bragging rights.  Sometimes, like me we even can provide proof, sort of.

This is my fisherman-like tale.

After many days of boring, flat, cold dead winter light I was anxious to find something worthy of shooting.  One morning I rose before dawn, dressed and headed out in hopes of catching the sunrise.

I’d checked the time table and new what time the sun would come up, but I was late. The sun really lights the land long before it rises above the horizon.  I figured that out on my way to the planned destination.  There wouldn’t be enough time to reach it, so I went to plan B.

The sunrise itself is a worthy vision, but it becomes so much more interesting when there’s life included. This morning I almost had that wonderful silhouette of a horse, except the horse didn’t cooperate.

By the time I got set up he was  on his merry way to the other side of the hill where the grass was obviously greener!

He got away.

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