Short Sales alternative to foreclosure. For some....a great option in a distressed situation

Great article in the link below on Short Sales. If you are *or think you will be going to miss payments on your mortgage, please contact your real estate professional (OR ME!) to talk about your options. In some instances, this may be a good option for you and for the overall real estate market. Most importantly....don't wait until the last minute!


http://www.bcbr.com/article.asp?id=52708

LONGMONT LOVES GOOGLE! Thanks for coming out!

Thanks to all who came and supported todays efforts in attracting Google's attention towards Longmont!

Nordstrom Rack - Re Racking....

Nordstrom Rack, Re Racking.....

Popular store near Flatirons, coming to 29th Street Marketplace in Boulder in the Spring of 2011....

Nordstrom Rack moving to Boulder Boulder County Business Report

Open House this Weekend!

Join me this weekend in Berthoud, Colorado at 1705 Exeter St for an Open House from 11am-1pm! This 5 bedroom home features a fully finished basement, high end finishes and unobstructed views of the Rockies! Fully landscaped as well as features a 3 car garage! Also, we JUST REDUCED THE PRICE to $379000!

Real Estate | Boulder County Business Report

Real Estate Boulder County Business Report

Great Blog from David Clucas regarding the proposed hotels in Gunbarrel!

Have home sales improved?

Local real estate agents have said that the first quarter has been great; however most will have a better feeling for 2010's outlook after next quarter.

The end of the extended homebuyer tax credit is closing in, just days are left to secure a property under contract and this is having an impact on Q1 and Q2 numbers. How big of an impact? We will have to see.

A Longmont real estate agent quoted in the Times Call, "Harsher than usual winter kept things slower than normal in January and February, which are slow months in the real estate business, but March was busy for real estate agents." I personally feel that while the tax credit may be a large driving factor for many to take advantage of buying a home, there is still a large percent of buyers who are more concerned with taking advantage of lower interest rates and current price trends, realizing that in some price ranges.....a bottom has already been hit.

Longmont saw 154 single family homes sold in this first quarter, which is only 4 fewer than this time last year. However the median price of homes sold rose to almost 5 percent quarter over quarter to $225k from its previous $215k.

While there is still an increase in foreclosure activities, many experts believe that home prices will continue to rise. I for one agree with the agent quoted that, while we will not see a large increase, say in the double digits, that we will continue to see small corrections in pricing.

Longmont Housing Numbers for March

March posted some great numbers for Longmont. Let’s see if we can keep it going.....


For Single Family Housing in Longmont we showed an overall increase in Average Sales Price of 17.6% from last year. Meaning $265,662 vs. $225,968 in March of 09. Days on market crept up just a bit to 121 days vs. the previous March 09 number of 107. Also, two interesting numbers are the total homes sold year to date and total number sold in March. Interestingly enough YTD sales are down roughly 2% at 153 vs. 156, however March sales are up this year 37.5% over last. 09 turned out 56 sales and 10 turned out a whopping 77, you can see the buyer programs at work there! April may prove to show is some interesting numbers as the close of the tax credit creeps upon us.


Attached Dwellings saw some changes as well over 2009. Average Sales Prices rose 22.3% from $148,902 to $182,065. YTD sales increased by 56%, 25 in 2009 to 39 in 2010. Totals for March were up a whopping 77.8%; however this percentage is really 16 sales Vs a prior years 9 sales in March.


I expect to see a similar move in the coming two months as the Governments Tax Incentives for buyers will ultimately hit a peak. Now the question remains...what happens next?

Hey Mr. or Mrs. Realtor.....How do you pay your bills?

Where does this money come from? Who Pays You?

Recently I have been getting the question….”Who Pays You?” This question follows no matter if I am talking with a perspective buyer or seller.

Not in all cases, but most commonly when you hire a Realtor to list and market your home for sale you will be paying their brokerage either a percentage of the sales price or an agreed upon fixed rate. This amount you pay the brokerage is then dispersed to both the Realtor listing your home as well as the Realtor that brought the buyer to the transaction. Most commonly there are no upfront fees and your Realtor will put in the work and time to attract a buyer, with the end goal to successfully negotiate a contract and then get paid on that performance. Pretty cool huh? Imagine if your doctor agreed to this, only paying him if you get better. Your lawyer would only request payment if you won your case….and just think if your stock broker or money manager only made money when you do…..funny right? Well that is exactly how we work, when you hire us we are devoted to doing a great job because…..if we don’t we will not see compensation for our time and effort.

Now as I said in “most cases”, since prices are not set until after they are agreed upon there are options for flat fees, a la carte pricing structures, etc but you should discuss this with your Realtor.

Buyers – Many buyers have a misconception that the Realtor they choose will cost them money. Well, again in most cases this is incorrect. In the majority of transactions your buyer’s agent is paid by the seller. You see, they are agreeing to pay each of you “when you perform” therefore there is seldom a need to also charge the buyer for taking them out to view potential homes. The incentive to do a great job is still, to find out exactly what you seek in a home, show you those homes and then negotiate an offer that works for both sides.

I hope this helps clear up some uncertainty in this area. Don’t let uncertainty hold you back from considering buying or selling a home….just give me a call and ask!

Bank of America - How does 30% off sound?

BofA announced yesterday that in May they will be piloting a new program with 45,000 homeowners to potentially reduce their loan amount by up to 30%. I have not seen a clear detailed summary of the program but some basics as I understand them are that the homeowners must be 60 days delinquent in payments, owe around 20% more than the home’s value and may be limited to borrowers in what would be considered a "risky" loan.


From an interview on the radio this morning, it was said that Bank of America would take up to 30% off of the loan balance and place it "on a separate note". After the borrower continues to make payments on the new loan balance, 20% of the "separate note balance" will be forgiven each year for the first 3 years; the final two years would be dependent on the updated value of the property.

Bank of America may either be on to something here after the initial test phase results can be looked at. Often times, the cost loss and time including repairs can exceed 30% if the institution is forced to foreclose on the borrower.

More to come on this as we learn more......

Please share your thoughts in the comment section! Tell us what you think!

Why would you use a Realtor?

Today I wanted to point out the importance of using a Realtor in a real estate transaction. The National Association of Realtors has provided this great write up about it and I wanted to share it with you all. The text below is not of my own writting but provided from http://www.realtor.com/ for informational purposes.