Springtime in Denver Real Estate

I'm often asked by sellers when the best time is to put their house on the market. Most any time, but early springtime is the best. Buyers are waiting hopefully for more inventory to choose from. So take advantage of the market upswing and the perfect time of year. Make the move!  

Have a wonderful spring,

Gretchen 

Market News

Don't Be Like Mike! 

During the Great Recession, when interest rates and home prices were rock-bottom, Mike looked at dozens of homes, but failed to buy, worried he would be stuck with a home that would continue to drop in value. Fast forward to April 2014. Mike is still renting. He considered moving to a new apartment community along Denver’s southeast corridor. He found one with a one-car garage for $1,420 a month. He called back three weeks later and the price was $1,750, a 23.3 percent jump.
 
Last year, overall apartment rents rose by 8.9 percent, just about the same as home prices in the Denver area. How is it possible that Mike would see almost three times that increase in only three weeks? The answer is that renting an apartment is like buying a plane ticket.
 
Increasingly, big apartment owners use software to match the price of units based on what is available and what the market will bear. Supply and demand is down to a science and is much more efficient than with the housing market. In effect, during the past five years, Mike has been paying off his landlord’s mortgage instead of his own. Given rising rents, he decided to give home buying another shot. It was an eye-opener when he learned first-hand that reports of the housing shortage were not exaggerated.
 
Yet, there is a silver lining for Mike and other renters who would be better off buying: they don’t have to worry about the complicated juggling act of buying and selling a home at the same time. Renters, however, shouldn’t try to buy a home on their own. With so little inventory, more than ever they need an experienced Realtor to help them map a strategy and navigate this market, where demand far outstrips supply.
 
Mike has learned his lesson.
“I’m kicking myself,” for not buying, he said.


Local News

2014 Denver Free Days!

Looking for something to do? Check out Free Days for great Denver sights like the Denver Zoo, Denver Art Museum, the Museum of Nature and Science and more! Click Here for the full schedule.
REAL ESTATE ARTICLES

The Denver Metro Association of Realtors recently honored the top real estate performers in Denver at an event that drew more than 700. 
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Colorado home prices set another record in February, according to a national report. Colorado is only one of a handful of states in which prices now eclipse where they were pre-recession.
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If you are thinking of buying a “green” house, you might be able to get a bigger mortgage. U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet from Colorado is co-sponsoring legislation that would do just that.
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Lowry, considered a national model for redevelopment following a military base closing, is now down to its last undeveloped neighborhood. The Lowry Redevelopment Authority has chosen home builders for its Boulevard One neighborhood.
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While a lot of the country’s real estate markets were hard hit by horrible weather early in the year, the Denver-area housing market got off to a strong start. The influential Case-Shiller report shows that overall, Denver-area home prices rose by 9 percent in January. 
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Gretchen Rosenberg
The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek
44 Cook Street
9th Floor
Denver, CO 80206

 303-336-0325
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All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be independently verified.  All properties are subject to prior sale, change or withdrawal.  Neither listing broker(s) nor Kentwood Real Estate shall be responsible for any typographical errors, misinformation, misprints and shall be held totally harmless.