You’ve been sitting on the sidelines for the past several years, watching and waiting as home prices in Denver have steadily risen. Why not keep waiting? You don’t HAVE to sell right away…

These are great questions to ask yourself, and now is the time to really analyze your housing, financial, and lifestyle goals. We are at, or close to, a pinnacle time to sell.
If you’ve been considering it even a little, here are a few considerations for your pondering session:

1. As reported in the Denver Business Journal, Zillow predicted Denver will be one of the hottest housing markets in 2018. Yes, the price for your next home has risen commensurately, but the pool of buyers remains high. You don’t want to wait until the market tops out, and your pool of potential buyers shrinks.
2. If you’re a move-up buyer, you may be observing that the price for your desired landing pad is high, giving you pause. Buying up is a great opportunity while prices are still rising. Remember, your appreciation will be compounding on the new, larger, price. Earning you more equity than you’d earn by staying in your smaller home.
3. If you’re downsizing, you’ll benefit from the huge appreciation you’ve had over recent years. Getting too greedy about squeezing out every appreciation penny you can could backfire. Only a handful of people ever time the market perfectly. Even Realtors get it wrong most of the time. There is no way to know exactly when the shift will come unless you have a really good crystal ball. We’ve been on a good run for more than 6 years and markets always cycle. There is no bubble like in 2008 for a variety of reasons, but nothing goes up forever. The correction will be slighter, hopefully just a speed bump rather than a Rocky Mountain, but we’ll have one.
4. Interest rates have begun their gradual shift upward. At the beginning of 2018, rates for a 30-year fixed averaged 4.17%. There will be continued bouncing up and down, but the bouncing is following a slightly increasing trend line. Take advantage of your home’s recent price appreciation, while being able to leverage your next home to your best advantage.
5. Get the most value out of recent home improvements while they’re still fresh. You’ll never get dollar-for-dollar back out, but the further your home improvements fade into recent history, the less direct value you’ll receive. Buyers these days are demanding the latest and most current fixtures and finishes. Even something updated 5 years ago will be derided by many buyers as “dated.” Go figure.

Only you can determine when you want to move from one home and community to another. Your lifestyle may be changing, you could just want extra space for your stuff, or you’ve always wanted to live on a golf course. Use caution if waiting out the recent market upswing is factoring too strongly into your decision process. It’s actually an excellent time to sell your Denver area home.
For your best result, always use a Realtor. Bots can’t do what we do, and For Sale by Owners eventually turn into For Sale by Realtors over 80% of the time. And a caution to buyers – photos look beautiful online, but until a knowledgeable agent takes you through the house so you can see, smell, and touch it, you can’t know how it will “feel” to live there.
Good agents know whether there’s radon in the area, expansive soils, encroachments, title issues, construction defects lawsuits, and much more. They know how to negotiate you through the inspection period to keep your sale or purchase on track. Listing agents can guide you through how to ethically and effectively handle disclosure issues, tell you honestly what improvements you should make to garner more for your house, and help research the qualifications of potential buyers. We look out for your best interests and help protect you from potential disputes.
Contact us if you’d like an assessment of your home’s value, or to see what’s on the market in your target neighborhood. We’re happy to help, and cheers to a fabulous 2018 for all!