2008 February

Now You Can Take a Trip to Italy and Never Leave Denver

February 28th, 2008 categories: Life In Denver, Restaurant Reviews

We have the opportunity to eat out at least twice a month, sometimes more. Not that I’m a lousy cook, but I’m a lazy cook. One of our favorite Denver restaurants is Barolo Grill at 6th Avenue and St. Paul Street. What a spectacular meal!

Upgrade Your Italian, si?

The Barolo Grill is upscale Italian, from the northern areas of Italy. No spaghetti and red sauce here, go to Saucy Noodle in Bonnie Brae if you want that. At Barolo, you’ll enjoy a gourmet take on veal, duck, lamb and seafood as well as couple of excellent vegetarian choices. The risotto is divine and their wine list is superb. After a visit to Barolo a few years back, we became Rosso di Montalcino fans, and buy a bottle whenever we can.

Intimate with Italy

The owners of Barolo close their restaurant for a week every year and take the staff on a food and wine tour of Italy. Imagine being able to tour through the countryside eating and drinking the finest Italian fare and wine. At least in Denver we have the opportunity to live vicariously through the staff at Barolo. They know their stuff, and can discuss your choices at length.

This is a special restaurant so plan ahead and make a reservation. I’m available next Tuesday. To check out their web site go to www.barologrilldenver.com.

Top 10 Reasons to Work with a REALTOR

February 26th, 2008 categories: Real Estate News, Relocation Tips

A Fool For a Client

1. The old cliche about a Lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client is true in real estate too. This is one of your largest transactions and should be guided by a professional. If you had a $500,000 legal or tax issue would you handle that one by yourself? An experienced broker can handle your most valuable transaction.

2. Maintain future value by relying on your broker to help suggest repairs and cosmetic work that will impress future buyers and will increase the value of your home. Time to ditch the blue toilet.

3. REALTOR? Rel e ter? What’s the difference? The National Association of REALTORS 2006 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers states that the sellers who use a licensed agent and REALTOR (member of NAR) get an average of 16% higher for their home sale than those who don’t. Trust a professional to help you set and negotiate the best price for your home.

4. Your broker will professionally market and promote your property to other brokers and to the public. In Denver, Colorado nearly 90% of home transactions are co-op transactions between a buyer’s and seller’s broker. Get more for your money. Market to the brokers who walk clients through the door, and also market to the buyers. You should have both going for you.

What Now, Honey?

5. After you make the offer on your dream home, you’ll still need to have it inspected, appraised, and the title reviewed. Do you really want to find an inspector in the phone book? Do you really want to read the title commitment?

6. Sometimes talking to the other party directly causes a host of problems. Your REALTOR will communicate for you with all parties in the transaction: the seller or buyer, the appraiser, the lender, the title closer, the other broker, sometimes the attorney (in Colorado we typically do not use attorneys to transfer property). You do your job, getting ready to move.

7. Time is of the Essence. We have this clause in the Colorado contract. It basically means that all of the dates and deadlines in the date table must be met. Do you want to track the deadlines for inspections, appraisals or other contingencies? Your broker does it for you.

Skeletons in the Closet

8. Issues. There are always issues. 9 times out of 10 they are resolved by the brokers before the clients even need to know about them. Your REALTOR can help you work through any issues that come up during the process. The typical home sale today involves more than 20 steps after the initial contract is accepted. Why go it alone?

9. Negotiating. This should probably have been higher on the list, but I don’t feel like cutting and pasting. Congrats for reading so far! Your broker helps you negotiate throughout the process. There is the initial negotiation, then the counteroffer, maybe another counter. Later, you have the inspection negotiations - an entirely new set of negotiations.

10. Ugly paperwork. We have a joke that for every closing we kill a tree. It’s actually kind of sad, and not very green. There is a movement to get to paperless closings, but we’re not there yet. You’ll be daunted by the paperwork. Your broker is behind the scenes every day during the transaction managing the entire process.

11. Your bonus point - Someone should explain to you what you’re filling out, either an attorney or your broker. The paperwork (see above) is legally binding. You must be able to comprehend what it is you’re signing. Remember point 1? This is an expensive transaction. Don’t learn this point in court.

3 Things You Should Know About Denver Real Estate

February 22nd, 2008 categories: Relocation Tips

Denver real estate - as much a mystery as any market. Our real estate market has always seemed to be counter-cyclical to the rest of the U.S. and when we’re booming, California is busting. When we’re on a downward slide, Florida and Nevada are hotter than hot. The conventional wisdom around here used to be that we were a one-industry town, and our dependence on one industry meant that we rode it up and down regardless of where the balance of the U.S. economy was.

Oil No More

Our economy has diversified since the early 1990’s. We parrot Martha Stewart, “that’s a good thing.” But, we saw the bulk of the U.S. experiencing huge appreciation rates through 2006, while we were in the early doldrums beginning in 2002. Many sellers here were frustrated, but still some city-close neighborhoods saw significant appreciation.

Now the headlines are covering the mortgage meltdown; it’s a scientifically proven fact that bad news sells papers. With the reduction of qualified buyers able to purchase a home, the high level of inventory could take awhile for us to sell off. Certainly, true for some neighborhoods, but our market in Denver is in good shape for 2008. We were only off by 1% in 2007 from 2006. I’ve been selling homes in Denver for 12 years, and this time of year always feels optimistic. I know that the recent bump-up in showings is a great sign for our buyers and sellers.

Location, Location, Location

Real estate is local – heard that one before? Lawrence Yun, The National Association of Realtors economist visited Denver in January and said, “Denver is one of the markets to watch. Austin already has seen a boom. Denver will be among the next markets to see a boom.” Our location can’t be beat. Well… maybe by Tahiti. We don’t have the blue sparkling waters, but we do have 300 sunny days a year - a scientifically proven fact, a great outdoor lifestyle, access to a world-class international airport, and the mountains out our back door. We also have terrific schools and first-rate shopping (Nordstrom and Neimans, yea!).

Cottages to Castles

“What are your houses like?” I hear that one a lot. Hard to answer. What are you looking for? We have beautiful stately neighborhoods like Country Club and Cherry Hills Village. We have older Tudor and Bungalow styles in Washington Park and Bonnie Brae. We also have so much new construction in the suburbs that you can find any style of house you like. There are some fabulous examples of modern and contemporary construction throughout the city, in a variety of price ranges. Ever heard of Krisana Park? As beautiful an example of Usonian architecture as you’ll find anywhere.

Come visit Denver and see for yourself. We have a growing economy, an unbeatable location and any style of house your heart desires. Ignore the press, read the blogs.