Life Style Denver by Gretchen Faber

Is Hope Your Selling Strategy? The Top 10 Signs You’ve Embraced Reality

What do you picture on the sign in front of your house?  For Sale?  Sold? Some sellers picture For Sale By Owner, others picture For Sale By the Cheapest Broker We Could Find. The savvy sellers picture For Sale By the Most Experienced Broker for Our Property and Area. Whatever you picture, ultimately you want to envision Sold And Moved to Our New Home! Enlisting hope will not get Sold on your sign. Enlisting reality will. Here are the top 10 signs that you've embraced...Continue Reading!

Denver Colorado Real Estate | December 2009 Market Statistics

December. The end of the year. The end of the line? Not really.  December was another interesting month in Denver Real Estate.  Inventory was naturally down, as it typically is this time of year.  We're down to 16,456 active listings. That's the lowest number of homes on the market since before 2006 when the available MLS records stop.  Meaning buyers have less to choose from than in the past 5 years. The highest number of listings was in July of 2006 with...Continue Reading!

5 Steps to Selling Your House in a Crazy Up and Down Market

You have your house on the market and you say you want to sell it.  Do you really? I find that there are a lot of homes for sale that aren't really, "on the market." What do I mean by that?  Ask yourself, "how many showings have I had this month?" "Am I reacting to the feedback I'm getting?" "Am I even getting feedback?" Are you taking a defensive posture with your broker? Are you thinking of moving on to your second,...Continue Reading!

You Can’t Market Your Way Out of This

We're at a crossroads. Denver real estate agents acknowledge our job requires that we spend personal dollars on marketing our listings, that's a part of the package. We pay ourselves back after a transaction closes. There is no company behind us sponsoring the ads we run, the postcards we mail, the internet sites we buy. In a real estate market like we have today, many sellers think (hope?) that we can market ourselves to a sale, we can't.  Buyers are few...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!

Reduce the Price of Your House When Rates are Falling?

We're in a recession. The worst since the 1930's. Have you heard that yet?  So have I, but guess what - we're still selling homes in Denver! I've said it before, Denver is weathering the storm better than many other areas.  It's not only me and other exuberant Realtors pushing an agenda - read it in the NY Times and see it on NBC - Denver's stability is news. Still, our higher priced homes are taking longer to sell and have fewer showings...Continue Reading!

Knowing When It’s Time to Buy a Move Up House

In today's real estate market, there is a very compelling argument that it's a good time to buy a move up property. You say, "I can't sell now, I've lost money on my house."  Assuming you're not upside down and owe more than the house is worth, you may not be losing as much as you think. Say you've lost 20% in value - as shown in the first slide - your "loss" compared with the loss the larger property incurs wouldn't...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!

Denver Colorado Real Estate | Top 5 Ways to Move Your Listing to First Place

Many home sellers are finding themselves heading into the Fall and Winter months with their house still on the market. "Why?" They ask, "My home is wonderful and I love it, why doesn't someone else? Why are we missing the bullseye?" Denver real estate is very segmented right now with some segments selling much better than others. Many home sellers are on their second or even third listing agent and have reduced their price along the way. They're wondering where they go...Continue Reading!