Real Estate & Relocation ^ Colorado

Title Insurance Kickbacks

The news this week has made me sick. Apparently the State Insurance Commissioner has found a business practice by Title Insurers giving kickbacks to builders, brokers and developers for referring large volumes of business to the Title Company.

What sickens me is the broad stroke the statement takes. The listening public hears real estate brokers and kickbacks.  I want to make it perfectly clear, that is not MOST real estate brokers.  IN fact it is probably only a very few. 

Upon hearing this I went to my broker to try and figure out how this was done.  We don't receive kickbacks for referring business.  No not ever! 

We make referrals on the basis of providing good professional service.  We work with a variety of business professionals.  If we find that a company (or it's staff) is not on the ball, we don't use them. Conversely when we are provided with excellent, reliable service we come back and we bring our friends, clients and family!

That's how it should work.

So kuddos to the Insurance Commissioner.  If he finds wrong doing, make it right.  Homeownership is getting priced out of reach for far too many people.  If the big fat rich builders/developers/brokers are found with their hand in the cookie jar, slap them good!

Kuddos to First American Title for stepping up to the plate with $24 million  and paying back the homeowners who have been overpaying.  FATCO is taking responsiblity and exposing the practice. It cost them, but it will turn out ok in the end.

There are just too many honest ways to make money. Like working for it.

(Do you have a claim?)

Denver real estate; sold data

The Denver Post reported that much of the sold data for homes is being mis-reported. 

After a home is sold the listing brokerage inputs the sold criteria into the Metrolist data base.  This criteria includes the sale price of the home, interest rate of the mortgage and concessions made regarding the sale. 

What is being overlooked by many brokerages are the sales concessions.  A trend of late is to offer to pay the buyer's closing costs and sometimes a portion if not all of the downpayment (legally up to 5% for FHA loans).

While sellers have been offering incentives for a long time, it seems only lately that the incentives have become large enought to skew the statistics.  While it is true that all the stats are not 100% correct, enough data is being reported correctly, that the trend for a neighborhood can be detected.

How does this affect the homeowners planning to sell?  Well, if the sold comparables in your neighborhood all include 5% concessions, then the actual price is not what it appears to be.  You will need to be prepared to match the concessions or reduce your price!

As a home buyer, how does this affect you?  You could be paying more than you should.  Your buyer agent should be able to do a market analyst of your prospective purchase and determine if in that neighborhood and price range the sellers are offering incentives.  If they are, your offer price should reflect this amount. 

The reporting practice is self policed.  Most brokers take their responsibility for reporting seriously.  Some do not.  It's one of those rules that needs more publicity, so the reporting is done correctly.

Generally speaking most concessions are offered in the "entry level" of the real estate market.  The intent is to assist first time home buyers with the purchase of a home in our ever increasing real estate market.

NOTE: No information on a home sale is ever released to the public until the home actually closes.  Then and only then will a sold price be published.

Denver real estate and relocation information

A Denver real estate company

Denver's Restaurant Week

Beginning this Saturday (February 26-March 4) 80 popular Denver restaurants will be participating in Restaurant week.

Diners will be able to feast on multi course meals for two at a not-so-high price of $52.80!  (5280 being Denver's altitude!)

The list of restaurants is impressive http://denverrestaurantweek.com/

I think we'll be eating out every night next week! 

Denver real estate and relocation

Denver International Airport

DIA is 10 years old and today it's the 5th largest airport in the U.S.

When the airport moved it left a huge void where it once was.  Today, the void is a vibrant new community called "Stapleton." 

The vast nothingness surrounding the terrain of DIA's new location is now filling in.  In the next 20 years 25% of Denver's growth is expected to occur around the transportation hub of DIA.

Denver real estate and relocation

Denver's All Star Weekend

Denver rocked with 100,000 visitors this weekend!  It was a parade of the rich and famous in town attending the events associated with the NBA All Star Game. 

The weather was great and the traffic was under control.  Denver made a good impression to the billions of people watching on TV and a many other notables.

Magic Johnson known for his drive to invest in America's inner cities, loves Denver.  He reportedly talked with Mayor John Hickenlooper about what his company can do here in Denver.  No deals were struck, but Denver would love to have Magic's touch!

Current Denver Home Sale Statistics

Denver Real Estate Statistics

January 2005

Metro Denver Prices:

Single Family Average Price:	Jan. 2005 - $291,001
(Detached Dwelling)	Dec. 2004 - $288,818
	Jan. 2004 - $283,134
Condo Average Price	Jan. 2005 - $184,215
	Dec. 2004 - $184,189
	Jan. 2004 - $189,826
Combined Average Price	Jan. 2005 - $266,794
	Dec. 2004 - $265,717
	Jan. 2004 - $262,346

Percent of Sales Price Change: (from Jan. 2004 to Jan. 2005) Single Family +2.78% Condo -2.96% Average +1.70% Total Combined Number of Homes for Sale Jan. 2005 - 20,917 Dec. 2004 - 20,891 Jan. 2004 - 21,848 Percent of Change in Available Inventory: (Jan. 2004 vs Jan. 2005) -4.25% Number of Combined Homes Sold this Month Jan. 2005 - 2,713 vs. the previous month Dec. 2004 - 4,416 vs. the same month last year: Jan. 2004 - 3,290 Average days on Market - Jan. 2005 vs Jan. 2004 Jan. 2005 - 98.53 (combined sales) Dec. 2004 - 89.75 Jan. 2004 - 96.90 Absorption Rate: Jan. 2005 - 33.41 weeks (number of weeks necessary to sell current Dec. 2004 - 20.50 weeks combined inventory at current rate of sales) Jan. 2004 - 28.77 weeks

Prepared byLarry D. McGee, CRS, CRBThe Berkshire Group
From data provided by Metro List, Inc., does not include private or builder sales.

Denver Metro Home Sale Statistics for December 2004

Denver Metro Home Sale Statistics for November 2004
Denver Metro Home Sale Statistics for May 2004
Denver Metro Home Sale Statistics for April 2004
Denver Metro Home Sale Statistics for March 2004
Denver Metro Home Sale Statistics for January 2004
Denver Metro Home Sale Statistics for December 2003
Denver Metro Home Sale Statistics for November 2003

Denver real estate and relocation information

Denver real estate company

Things To Do With Kids In Denver

If you live in Denver and have children and want to know about what's happening on any given day of the year...go to this very cool site, CruisinKidsPages.com

It's a subscription based website for families with kids up to ten years of age.  The site is constantly updated with more things to do than most can image.

Enjoy!

Denver Real Estate

Denver's Icon Coming Along

Progress in building of the Denver Art Musuem expansion is moving right along.  This month I climbed to the top of the parking garage to snap a shot.

Previous photos of the Denver Art Musuem.

Children are leaving a mark at the DAM.  In an arkwork of their own, they left handprints to blow in the cool February breeze.

Denver Real Estate

Colorado's Redstone Castle Remembered

Sad times for the Redstone Castle bring back memories...

The Redstone Castle has a fond place in my heart.  A few years ago Larry and I took the Amtrack from Denver to Grand Junction.  Our intention was to ride our bicycles back home to Denver from the western slope.  The second day on the road was the ride into Redstone over McClure Pass (elevation 8,755 ft).  Our distance was too long for our "condition" and the amount of gear we were hauling.  It was also our very first long trip on the road. 

Our inexperience really got us into trouble, first we ran out of water on the way over the pass.  Luckily, some helpful tourist shared their icy cold water with us.  We managed to finally get over the pass but lost the daylight.

We rode into Redstone in the dark, hungry, dirty and tired.  Silly me thought the Castle would have food for us.  Yes, it did.  It was a Bed and Breakfast at the time, serving a great breakfast, but not catering dinner to hungry cyclists.

Lacking the energy to go in search of food, we feasted on the snack foods from our panniers while soaking in the delightfully deep antique bathtub.

Sleeping that night should have come naturally, but the beds were dreadful.  The mattresses were covered with a heavy plastic protection.  Everytime one moved you could feel the stiffness of the plastic and hear it crackle.  Neither one of us slept.

In the morning we devoured the delightful breakfast and enjoyed exploring the castle grounds.  It was a special place and if the buyer gets rid of those dreadful beds, it could be perfect!

The Redstone Castle in located in Redstone Colorado on the Crystal River.  General location is between Glenwood Springs and Aspen.  More beautiful country is hard to find!

For more adventures in bicycling go to Bike Tracks Around the World

Denver HOT Program - Home Ownership Transformation

In Denver 40 pastors from area churches, the Greater Metropolitan Denver Ministerial Alliance have become activists for home ownership.  Prompted by the need to educate congregants in the benefits of home ownership, they are aligning with three local mortgage companies and the Colorado Housing Assistance Corporation to educate in buying and keeping a home.

Education is a strike back at the predatory lending practices that take advance of people who don't understand the lending process.  Lack of understanding makes homeowners and potential homeowners easy prey for those eager to take advantage of them, by providing loans with outrageous fees and interest rates.

Many victims have lost their homes to these rotten lenders! We give three cheers and a helping hand up to the participants of this program.

A Denver Real Estate Company