Breakfast in Denver
September 30th, 2008 categories: Restaurant Reviews
It’s been awhile since I’ve written about a great local restaurant. Lately, I’ve been concentrating on real estate information. The recent stressful developments all over the news makes me think that getting a fine cup of coffee and a great breakfast treat would be a welcome distraction.
Devil’s Food is just the place. Located on Gaylord street, Devil’s Food is a bakery and restaurant serving up imaginative fare at a low key pace. I went there recently with a client and while we talked about Denver real estate, we enjoyed an omelete, fresh fruit and yummy bakery goods. The service is neighborly and easy going. Attentive but non-intrusive.
Parking is usually easy to find, but occasionally you’ll need to drive around the block once to get a space. Leave 5 extra minutes to park and walk a block or so, if needed. Walking along Gaylord street is fun, you can window shop all the way to breakfast.
There is a wonderful bakery case at Devil’s Food for picking up to go items. You’ll find not only breakfast treats, but desserts to take home for a special occasion. It’s probably a good thing you walked a block…
The Washington Park neighborhood appeals to both urban buyers, and people who love the feel of a homey neighborhood. The park, the neighborhood shops and restaurants, people walking dogs and pushing strollers give you a sense that not much has changed from 30 years ago (aside from all of the new construction adding more livable space to the homes).
The markets will go up and down and we’re definitely in for interesting, and quite possibly stressful, months ahead. Remember that a great stress-reliever is taking time to stop and smell the roses, a meal with a friend and a chocolate brownie.
If you are interested in other restaurants on Old South Gaylord Street in Washington Park, you should visit Washington Park Grill.
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3 Open House Requirements
September 22nd, 2008 categories: Real Estate News, Selling Strategies
It’s time to hold an open house and your real estate broker has scheduled the date and time. You may not realize that there are a few essential preparations you need to be making prior to that day.
1) Clean as if your life depended on it. My sister and her husband called me recently as they left an open house. They’d admired this home for a few years, and when it was finally held open, they were excited to see the inside of the house. This is a $2.4 million home in Denver. They entered the house and the carpet was filthy, there were stains throughout the house on all of the floors. The ceilings, light fixtures and ceiling fans were covered in cobwebs. Needless to day, they left diasppointed. The sellers should have spent the day before cleaning and getting ready for their chance to shine. Instead they fell flat.
2) Remove personal items. There are people who will visit an open house just to obtain private information, jewelry or prescription medications. Hide or remove valuables and medications. Security lock your computer and keep bills and personal mail out if sight. A few years ago, a client had recently endured knee surgery. During our open house the pain medication he’d been prescribed was stolen. The open house was very busy that day, and I had no way to keep my eye on everyone so the pain pills walked out the door with someone.
3) Think of the 5 senses. Buyers like a house that is light and bright and has plenty of fresh cut flowers, smells like vanilla or cookies, has soothing soft music and feels like home with an abundance of textures in fabrics and finishes. You can even appeal to visitors’ taste buds by offering them some cookies or chocolate.
Keep your house ready for showings at any moment. It’s more likely that buyers will see your home with another real estate broker who has set up an appointment rather than at the open house. But you never know, so help your broker who’s taking Sunday afternoon to hold an open house and make your home shine.
To view Denver Real Estate, relocation information and Denver maps visit GretchensDenver.com.
Visit the Park Hill home tour Sunday, September 28th and stop by our open house at Montview and Grape.
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Denver Real Estate Stats – August ‘08
September 10th, 2008 categories: Market Trends, Real Estate News
It’s that time again! Time for Denver Real Estate Statistics, and I’ve got a great deal of information this month. The chart is provided by MetroList, metro Denver’s MLS provider.
For the past several months we’ve continued to see inventory declining – number of homes on the market going down. What that tells us is that we’re on the road to a more balanced market. As fewer and fewer homes come on the market, you’ll notice that homes are beginning to sell faster. That’s due to the fact that buyers are now competing for homes where they once could just move on to another if an offer didn’t pan out.
In the chart, you can see that the inventory level has decreased nearly 4% since last month and over 20% since this time a year ago.
Prices have also continued to decline from last year, but are up from last month. The drop from a year ago is the result of several factors: continued foreclosures, difficulty in securing loans and sellers’ more realistic pricing. As prices drop and inventory reduces, we’ll begin to see a shift from a buyer’s market to a balanced market. As always, the pendulum tends to swing broadly, so we’ll eventually swing to another seller’s market. That may not be for quite awhile – it’s especially dependent on what happens in the larger economy.
Speaking of the larger economy
Nearly everyone has heard that the U.S. government has placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance companies, into a conservatorship. The hope is that this move will stabilize the mortgage markets, the fear is that this isn’t the end of the financial crisis and that the U.S. taxpayers have just assumed an enormous amount of debt.
Whatever your political leanings, the fact is that mortgage rates have declined since Monday. Today’s quote was 5.5% to 5.625% for a 30 year conforming loan. The lowest we’ve seen in awhile. With the convergence of lower rates and price depreciation, today’s buyers may very well look back on this time and feel thankful that they purchased when they did.
Denver’s place in this
- The S & P upgraded Denver to AAA for municipal borrowing. Denver is cited as the economic engine for the Colorado front range.
- Wells Fargo announced today that Denver has had the “distressed market” label lifted for borrowing purposes as of next Monday. This removes the additional 5% down payment requirement. Additional lenders will surely follow. With conforming rates improving and the at-risk designation removed, added steam will surely be felt in real estate sales.
- The absorption rate for single family homes in Denver is now 5.5 months. Absorption rates calculate how many months, on average, it takes to sell a house. When this number gets to 3-4 months, market dynamics will feel very different.
As I said, lots of interesting information this month. Stay tuned for the September report!
To view Denver homes for sale, see Gretchen Faber’s web site at www.gretchensdenver.com
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Lowry Glory Days is this Weekend!
September 5th, 2008 categories: Life In Denver
Where else can you combine the Denver lifestyle in a new-classic neighborhood along with some good old-fashioned family fun?
At this weekend’s Lowry Glory Days festival.
The Lowry neighborhood is a prime example of infill development at its best. The old Lowry air force base was recomissioned in the 1990’s and turned into a premier area for Denver residents who prefer newer construction but still want to remain city-close.
Check out the many open houses that agents are likely to have going on. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, you can look for open houses in other areas of Denver on my website.
Have a terrific weekend!
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Turn a Small Remodeling Budget into Big Results
September 3rd, 2008 categories: Market Trends, Selling Strategies
You may have heard your real estate broker remark on a home’s improvements or updates. The typical real estate wisdom suggests that a home should be remodeled every 6 to 7 years. In Denver, there are many older homes being renovated and updated both for the current enjoyment of the owners, but also for future resale.
Is your home ready for an overhaul?
There are improvements you can make to your house on a limited budget that can still make a huge difference. Take your budget, plan the work you’d like to get done under the best of circumstances and then start shopping around. Once you have ideas of pricing or bids for work, you can pare down the projects to the essentials, and what can wait for a year or two.
- Paint – Fresh paint can make an enormous difference in how your house feels and presents to others. Experiment
with a little color. Try to look for hidden colors in a piece of tile and pull that color out for the paint. Stay away from too much white, or too many vibrant colors. It’s o.k. to ask for input so you strike just the right balance, and never pick your paint from the little card at the paint store, spring for a small sample and paint it on the wall. You’ll be surprised how time of day and light can make a huge difference in how paint looks on a wall. A fabulous online resource for beautiful paints is Devine Paint. - Landscape -Most people think interior when they talk about remodeling, but the landscape is a huge part of your home’s “street appeal.” If your yard is overgrown, has too much grass and no borders or just lacks creativity it’s probably time for a redo. There are many online resources as well as books. You don’t need to pay for a landscape architect unless you want a fully integrated design with hardscape and landscape. There are many landscape projects that you can do on your own in a few weekends. Sunset Magazine is famous throughout the west for their lifestyle magazine and garden book. White Flower Farm is the premier resource for plants and flowers and they have one of the most beautiful catalogs you’ll ever see.
- Lighting – Changing lighting fixtures is a simple and easy way to give your house a new look. Try to integrate the look throughout the house. It would look strange to have a Craftsman style light fixture in the dining room and contemporary pendant lights in the kitchen.
- Appliances – Are your appliances old and worn looking? People think, “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” That will do for a time, but eventually those old avocado appliances need to be rethought. Not only will you get more energy efficiency, you’ll completely update the look of your kitchen and laundry.
- Flooring – Change the carpet if it’s stained, smelly or stretched. It can’t wait any longer. Avoid the plastic-looking fake wood. It looks like plastic from a mile away. It could work for a smallish kitchen or utility room, but not the main living area.
Remember to avoid fads unless you have a really unique property or are prepared to redo it before putting the house on the market. It’s always best to choose a classic, but not too bland look for your newly remodeled home. Keeping your home remodeled and updated isn’t just essential in terms of keeping up with neighborhood values, it’s essential in terms of not losing value. Over time, a dated and stale looking home will actually begin to lose value with respect to the rest of the neighborhood, so you should plan to get busy – no matter what the size of your budget is.
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