Harley Tells it Like it Is!
May 16th, 2008 categories: Market Trends, Random Thoughts
I’m in Washington, DC this week at the NAR Mid-Year meetings. This is the 100th year of the National Association of Realtors and the 105th anniversary of Harley Davidson.
Yesterday, I opened the hotel’s USA Today and this is the ad I saw on the back of the Business Section:
We Don’t Do Fear
Over the last 105 years in the saddle, we’ve seen wars, conflicts, depression, recession, resistance, and revolutions. We’ve watched a thousand hand-wringing pundits disappear in our rear-view mirror. But every time, this country has come out stronger than before. Because chrome and asphalt put distance between you and whatever the world can throw at you. Freedom and wind outlast hard times. And the rumble of an engine drowns out all the spin on the evening news. If 105 years have proved one thing, it’s that fear sucks and doesn’t last long. So Screw it. Let’s Ride.
An article in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel online reviews this brilliant ad campaign, and Harley Davidson’s counter to the bad news in the press.
I’m hanging the full-page ad in my office work room when I get back to Denver!
(I originally posted this earlier today over at Active Rain)
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Washington Park Home Tour 2008
May 9th, 2008 categories: Life In Denver, Real Estate News
If you don’t have anything to do tomorrow, and you like the idea of touring homes in one of Denver’s primo neighborhoods, then look no further than the Washington Park Home Tour.
You can drop in at any one of the featured homes, or begin at Steele Elementary. The neighborhood is eclectic - with many scrapes, “pop-tops,” Victorians and post-war bungalows. The home tour benefits Steele Elementary, the local Wash Park elementary school and runs from 10 am until 4 pm. While you’re in the neighborhood, head over to one of the fabulous restaurants for lunch or get ice cream at Dinos’ soda bar.
Finish up with a walk around the park to work off your ice cream, and enjoy the perfect Denver springtime. The tulips are in bloom, the flowering trees are radiant in shades of pink and white. Remember your allergy meds, and have a great weekend!
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Woof Woof - We’ve Gone to the Dogs
May 7th, 2008 categories: Life In Denver
Colorado Dogs Parks - Fun for the Whole Family!
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Denver House is Snowed in!
May 5th, 2008 categories: Drive By Shootings, Selling Strategies
Are You Relocating to Denver?
If so, you might be discouraged if you saw this listing photo online. “They’re lying about their 300 days of sunshine,” you think to yourself. “Look, it’s May and this house has snow in front of it!”
Well, right now I’m looking out my window at tulips, flowering crabapples and daffodils. There were a few tiny flurries one day last week just to remind us that we’re in the Rockies, but trust me it’s gorgeous here.
Perhaps this listing agent just hasn’t gotten over to the house to snap a new photo. Today would be a great day to do it. Blue skies and no snow on the lawn would make a huge difference in the presentation of this property.
View the top website presentation of metro-Denver properties and you’ll quickly see the difference. It’s important to pay attention to the details when you have in excess of 25,000 properties listed in the Denver MLS.
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Spectacular Home in Cherry Creek Country Club
May 4th, 2008 categories: Lovely Listings, Real Estate News
Open house today - May 4th from 2 pm to 4 pm.
This is a truly spectacular home with ultimate potential and possibilities in Denver’s Cherry Creek Country Club gated community.
This elegant home is wonderfully situated on a premier lot in prestigious Cherry Creek Country Club. Backing to the 6th and 7th Greens with expansive views of the Nickalus designed golf course and the lake beyond. There are no looming homes across a narrow green or fairway – only golf course and water views to revel in.
The home’s back yard faces east, offering the utmost comfort during warm summer months for outdoor relaxation and entertaining. A covered patio with built-in gas grill and outdoor fireplace on the main level as well as a ground-level covered patio are an entertainer’s paradise.
The interior of this special home was constructed of the highest quality finishes. There has been no detail left out. The highly functional floor plan with 5 bedrooms and 6 baths is perfect for an expanding family or as a haven for visiting guests. The custom hardwood Brazilian Cherry floors, natural stone and high-end kitchen fill the house with warmth and comfort.
Offered at $2,225,000.
View the entire online presentation at www.gretchensdenver.com, and have a lovely Sunday!
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University Park Home Tour
April 30th, 2008 categories: Life In Denver
An exciting event is on tap for this Sunday, May 4th in the University Park neighborhood.
The annual University Park Home Tour will include five fabulous homes as well as tours of the historic Chamberlin Observatory in lovely Observatory Park (”O Park”). The home tour begins at 11 am and ends at 5 pm.
Tickets are available at University Park Elementary or LuLu’s Furniture and also at the door (the school ~ 2300 South Saint Paul Street.)
This is an annual fundraiser for University Park Elementary and 100% of the proceeds are donated!
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Prestigious Cherry Creek Country Club
April 28th, 2008 categories: Lovely Listings, Real Estate News
Situated on the 6th and 7th Greens at Cherry Creek Country Club, offering expansive views of the Nicklaus designed golf course and the lake beyond.
No other home in Cherry Creek Country Club will match this one for design, finishes or location. This is a truly spectacular house that has been lavishly finished and sits on the premier lot in Cherry Creek Country Club.
Unobstructed views and privacy from neighbors are mainstays which will never change.
With the back yard facing east, enjoy the warm summer months of bar-be-queing and watching golfers stroll by.
The house was built to host many evening parties by the lake. A covered patio with built-in gas grill and outdoor fireplace on the main level as well as a ground-level covered patio are an entertainer’s paradise.
Purchase this house and you’ll also receive a membership to the Cherry Creek Country Club – a tremendous value and perk. Visit the club house for a private tour.
Offered at $2,495,000
To visit the complete online presentation go to:
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Your Next Home Comes With Chef
April 27th, 2008 categories: Drive By Shootings
The chef is in the house
Are you kidding me? This guy couldn’t step aside for one second?
I guess the pasta was al dente and had to come off the stove right that second!
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Ambulance Chasers Attack Realtors
April 24th, 2008 categories: Market Trends, Real Estate News
I got this email today regarding an underhanded maneuver by the Colorado Trail Lawyers Association (aka Ambulance Chasers):
Before you read about it in the paper, we wanted you to be aware of a new ballot initiative filed that would limit commissions for real estate brokers. It’s a sliding scale but still no good. Here’s the breakdown: 6% = up to $250k; 3% = $250-500k; 1% = above $500k.
This initiative is brought by the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association. They filed #109 and seven other initiatives as a response to another initiative dealing with capping attorneys fees.
You wanted to be there. See Gretchen blow her top.
Here are my thoughts on this unfortunate ill-advised action. Go sell your house yourself! Pay upfront for the marketing, the photography, the brochures, the website(s), sit the house open weekend after weekend. Call yourself and explain why the market is flat and you haven’t had a showing in weeks. Network with all of the Realtors you know because most likely the buyer will be the result of a co-op from a broker. Work for a bank and watch them already cut your fee (I’ll bet they don’t for your representation of their foreclosure actions).
Trial Lawyers fight every year when legislators and the general public try to put caps on awards or damages. They certainly don’t want their fee cut. Do you know what the routine percentage a lawyer earns if a case goes to trial? 40% of the award or damages. 50% if there’s an appeal, and 33% if the case is settled. Joe Blow gets run over by a truck and his life is ruined. He’s awarded $1 million to live the rest of his life. His lawyer walks with $400,000.
Is this a reaction to the mortgage crisis? Are the lawyers in the pockets of the banks who for the most part got us into this mess? Lawyers are representing banks everyday in foreclosure actions, and getting paid hourly. I get paid peanuts for the hours of work I put in. We’re spending money on our credit cards to market properties that may take months to sell, and then we pay a co-op to the buyer’s agent and a split to our company. Lawyers representing banks have a vested interest in this crisis stretching out for as long as possible. Realtors are actually trying to alleviate the problem by getting properties sold.
I don’t make money off of other people’s misfortune. I actually lost money last year when I helped a friend/client out of a mortgage mess brought on by a divorce and job loss. It was such a stressful time for my client that not only did I advocate for him with the bank to take a short sale, I marketed his house and paid for his inspection items out of my own pocket to get him out of the home. I am not a vulture. I am paid a fair wage and deserve to make a living just like an ambulance chaser does.
Something seems wrong with this picture. The CTLA, the alleged advocate for the underdog, is attacking Realtors in favor of banks and mortgage companies?
If this initiative passes, I’m sure the lawyers will be waiting in line to represent us to overturn it as unconsitutional. I’ll ask, “will you take 1/6th of your fee?”
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Denver Think Green Campaign Begins!
April 22nd, 2008 categories: Market Trends, Random Thoughts, Real Estate News
Earth Day is Everyday
The Kentwood Companies are going “Green!” The leading real estate firm has announced the creation and implementation of an unprecedented “Think Green Campaign” that clearly illustrates the company’s dedication to the environment and the future health of planet earth. The co-owners, management team and leading broker associates at three Kentwood offices in the Denver area have committed to a Think Green Campaign that will reduce pollution in rivers and lakes, preserve our forests, and reduce pollution in the world’s oceans. The campaign coincides with Earth Day on April 22nd.
“The Kentwood Companies’ Think Green Campaign was designed to encourage people to make a difference in the environment and to conserve our natural resources,” said Carol Ihli, vice president and co-managing broker of the Cherry Creek office. “It’s important that our company makes decisions and establishes office policies that reflect our concern for the environment by reducing the carbon footprint.
“We have started a recycling program for each Kentwood office by making recycling bins available to our agents and support staff,” Ihli continued. “We have switched our printing to a certified ‘green’ printer so all of our brochures, flyers and other marketing materials are produced on recycled paper. The printing material and practices have passed the highest environment standards. We are making an effort to direct people to our website for more information rather than taking printed materials. The Kentwood Companies have also placed an order for 20,000 reusable shopping bags that will be distributed to our clients in May as a major part of the Kentwood Think Green Campaign. So now, when our clients carry a reusable bag and are asked at the grocery store if they prefer paper or plastic, they can say ‘neither!’ These bags have a minimum shelf life of three to four years.”
The Think Green Campaign promotes environmental awareness while establishing corporate responsibility. The centerpiece of the promotion is a reusable grocery bag imprinted with The Kentwood Companies logo. Participating Kentwood agents will give their clients four bags and a shopping list note pad supported by two “Earth Day” postcards available electronically or on recycled paper. A newsletter, also available electronically or on recycled paper, will provide “Green” tips, resources, and coupons. Four bags are the equivalent of a full grocery cart.
The Kentwood Think Green Campaign’s reusable bags hold more and spill less. They are sturdy, easier to carry, and last for years. And one reusable bag will replace 500 plastic bags.
The broker associates at The Kentwood Companies want every day to be Earth Day. Gretchen Faber, the co-Managing Broker at Kentwood’s Cherry Creek office invites you to contact her if you’re in the Denver area and would like a reusable shopping bag. Honor the earth, make your green resolutions for the next year today!
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