Life Style Denver by Gretchen Faber

Earnest Money Requirements in Denver

Relocating buyers often ask how much earnest money they'll need when they make an offer on Denver real estate. My answer? "It depends." Some brokers and sellers request 3% some request 10%.  Earnest money requests/requirements are entered in the MLS, so your Buyer Agent can tell you what the sellers have requested.  3% is more the norm for mid-priced homes, 10% is extremely high. However, for high end homes, closer to 10% isn't too unusual. What the sellers request and what the buyers...Continue Reading!

Mortgage Caution – Delays in Closings Will Happen!

A broker in my office came to me yesterday with some questions about a seller's recourse if the loan doesn't fund at closing. Colorado is a "table closing" state, and our contract expressly states that the buyer must attend the closing with all moneys and documents.  This means that if a closing is at 4 p.m. on a Wednesday, as this broker's closing was, the buyer and the buyer's lender must perform under the terms of the contract at 4 p.m. This...Continue Reading!

Any Way You Want It – That’s Not Going to Get It

My friends recently went to Red Rocks to see Journey. Red Rocks is an experience in itself, but seeing the 80's hair band at a mile high with a short, Asian Steve Perry impersonator must have been a trip.  The same friends are looking to buy a new house and we've found a couple that might work. For the specific type of property they're identifying, we've been aggressive in making offers. They're astute buyers and understand the complexities of the market...Continue Reading!

A Tale of Two Markets – Denver Real Estate’s Opposite Ends of the Spectrum

I was a busy Realtor today. Showing houses in the morning, an open house in the afternoon. Typical Sunday. Morning Glory It was an interesting dichotomy.  My morning clients are an adorable couple with their baby looking for their first home together.  They can spend around $160,000 for a single family house. That's a tough price range in Denver Metro Real Estate.  The houses that fit their criteria are either trashed foreclosures or they already have multiple offers. The best house...Continue Reading!

Top 3 Reasons to Understand Real Estate Agency Rules in Colorado

You're thinking about buying Denver Real Estate and you're ready to hire a broker to represent you.  What you need to know is that we have very specific rules here in Colorado about disclosing and explaining the rules of Agency to our clients and customers. There are 3 very important reasons to understand the Colorado Agency Rules before you get started: 1.   Is Your Broker a Coach?  I like to explain to people that an Agent (a Buyer Agent or a Listing...Continue Reading!

Denver Real Estate | Denver’s Architectural Styles

When you're selling your home in Denver, you may want to have the correct label on the house for it's architectural style.  I've seen homes that were clearly Victorian labeled Tudor, or Mid-Century Modern called International Style.  Denver Real Estate is replete with fabulous architectural styles, and remember, marketing is everything.  Your Bungalow may or may not be Arts and Crafts. My home is a Tudor style, something my husband and I said we didn't want when we were looking for...Continue Reading!

Eight Home Closing Essentials

Real estate purchases can entail hours searching online for possible homes, days in the car with your real estate broker looking at those homes. Discovering that sometimes the pictures don't exactly match up with the reality, and then finally pulling the trigger and preparing an offer. Now what? The period of time we call "under contract" in Colorado Real Estate, sometimes known as "in escrow" in other states, can stretch out for weeks and make time feel like it's moving at a...Continue Reading!

Denver Historic Walking Tours

Denver, the host of this year's Democratic National Convention, is gearing up and gussying up. We're happy to have so many visitors to our city. I met my husband for lunch on Friday, and already the 16th Street Mall was buzzing. People were everywhere, and judging from the name badges hanging around their necks, many were from out of town. Another tell tale sign that we had strangers in our midst were the maps clutched in hands for reference. A fun way...Continue Reading!

Selling Your House for What You Need!

In today's Wall Street Journal section of The Denver Post is a column written by Jeff Opdyke. "A Trip - And a Change of Heart" tells the story of his unfortunate experience in trying to relocate to Hong Kong. Unlike the New York Times, WSJ blocks out online readers unless they subscribe, so I don't have a link to the column. Opdyke tells of the difficulties of selling his home, of finding the proper school situation for his children, and of...Continue Reading!

Buyers Beware – Market Turnaround Ahead

Multiple offers?  New listings gone in under a week?  Is this the Denver real estate market? Yes!  In our medium price ranges, $250,000 to $800,000, things are going fast.  I've had several brokers in my office tell me that they've been in competitive bidding situations recently.  More than one - sometimes they've actually had two or three competitive bids on houses for the same buyers.  That must be surprising for buyers who read the main-stream media and think they should still...Continue Reading!