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!