Everyone is always looking for encouraging signs when it comes to the economy. After all, the economy is the number one topic on everyone’s mind these days and with the Holiday season here, people are looking at retails’ numbers as one sign to gauge if the economy is getting better.

In real estate, there are a number of factors one could use to take the pulse of the market. Let’s take a look at few indicators that spell good news for the Denver Housing market.

1)   At the beginning of October, Standard & Poor's closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Index showed that the average home price in Denver rose for the fifth straight month ending July. Overall, Denver was creeping up to the prices of 2008.

2)   According to the National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, at the end of October, pending home sales had increased for eight straight months. This is the longest series since the index began in 2001. Yun says that there is no doubt that the first-time home buyer tax credit helped fuel the streak.

3)   According to real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, homes nationwide are at least one third cheaper than they were three years ago, and as Barbara says, “anyway you want to slice that, it is a bargain for buyers.”

4)   Rents are coming down. Why is that important? Remember, home sales and rents go in opposite directions. If rents are going up, people are not buying and vice versa.

So where does that leave us as we close out the year? If you are in the 300K and below market, it’s a much tighter, more competitive market. You may have to offer full asking price for a great home. In the luxury market, there are still deals to take advantage of because the inventory here is high. Will prices go down further? It’s hard to say because there are a lot of factors that indicate if prices will drop further like the job market in that area and inventory. One little test I like to do with clients is drive around a neighborhood that they are interested in living and count the ‘for sale’ signs. If there is more than one for sale sign per two blocks then chances are, prices are still moving down in that neighborhood.

Dan Polimino is a Realtor with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty. He can be reached at DPolimino@fullerproperties.com and www.coloradodreamhouse.com/denverpost

A husband and wife are on vacation, the husband says to the wife, “Hey, what do you think about maybe making an on offer on that home we saw three months ago?” The wife says, “Yeah, I kinda liked it. Let’s call our realtor and take another look when we get back home.”

The nice couple gets back home, takes another look at the home for sale and decides to wait until spring before they make a move and buy a new home.

This scenario is being played out day after day, all over the country, and all over Colorado. I call it “people who decided not to decide.” You see in today’s environment that there are people who want to buy and can buy, but they are paralyzed by indecision and fear. Mostly, fear of the unknown. “Did they buy too soon, did they pay too much, did they get a good deal, was there a better home for less money on the market, and will the value of the home drop after they buy it?” Sometimes, when buyers get out of my car and get into their car, you can almost hear the sigh of relief. It’s as if the husband looks at the wife and she leans over to say, “Thank god we didn’t have to make a decision today.” This begs the question, “Why are they looking in the first place if they don’t want to make a decision?” The answer circles back around to fear. They’re afraid that they’ll miss out, miss the bottom of the market, and miss out on an opportunity.

As a realtor, I understand their strategy of not making a decision. In most cases, their reasoning is sound. Let’s use the luxury market as an example. There is a lot of inventory on the market, they looked at that home three months ago and it’s still on the market. Chances are, next spring that home will continue to be on the market so in their world, there is absolutely no reason to rush, to be in a hurry, and make an offer. In other words, there is no reason for urgency.

NO REASON FOR URGENCY. Those four words sum up the majority of the housing problems. How do you create urgency in a market that has no urgency? My business partners and I are working on a few different business models to solve just this problem, but rest assured that until you solve it, we’ll keep reliving the same story of the nice couple who want to wait for another day to buy a home.

Dan Polimino is a Realtor with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty. He can be reached at DPolimino@fullerproperties.com and www.coloradodreamhouse.com/denverpost

Dan Polimino from Fuller Sotheby's International Realty talks about real estate market conditions in Denver for the week August 16, 2009. To speak with Dan or to find out more information please call 303-522-1161.

View the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF2VnGzXBa4

It’s safe to say that there has never been a bigger chasm between seller and buyer than what we are experiencing right now. Sellers are getting offers anywhere from 10K off their asking price to several hundred thousand dollars off their asking price. So where is the disconnection and who is right in this real estate market? Let’s consider a few points.

First, most buyers would say that the sellers are just not being realistic in their asking price. I would say that this is a fair statement for some, but no all. Over the last year, sellers have seen the news, got the point, and started pricing their homes more within the going market value. Are there still several people hoping to sell overpriced homes? You bet. If your home is overpriced, you have two simple decisions here: A) Lower the price to make your home a value or B) Continue to show it for the next year or two, make the mortgage payments, and hope it sells.

Ok, now let’s look at the buyers. In a previous column last month, I said that the first sentence out of every buyer’s mouth these days is, “I want a deal.” Are buyers looking to steal a home? Yes. Will they? Sometimes they will. Is it right? No, but it won’t be a buyers’ market for ever. For instance, in the 250K and below market, some buyers are being forced to participate in a bidding war. This is a sign that the market is slowly changing. For the rest of the price points, buyers are still in the driver’s seat and let’s remember that a buyer gets to set the price of homes, not the sellers. So for now, let’s expect that buyers are going to be making low ball offers.

So what do we glean from this? First and foremost, if you do not have to sell your home or you are not very motivated then do not put it on the market. If you do need to sell, be ahead of the curve and price that home to move quickly. If you are a buyer, take advantage of this now. The chasm between buyers and sellers is closing fast.

Dan Polimino is a Realtor with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty. He can be reached at DPolimino@fullerproperties.com and www.CoDreamHouse.com

Without a doubt, communication and expectations are two of the biggest problems we have in real estate today. By no means does real estate corner the market on a lack of communication or failure to manage expectations, but these are two topics that seem to come up a lot in conversations.

There are two types of sellers out there. The first type wants to be clued in on every step that the realtor makes including all marketing pieces, emails, phone calls, and discussions. The second type is very bottom line oriented who tells the realtor to go and do his or her thing and to call them when there is an offer.

Long ago, I started asking my sellers on how clued in they wanted to be. If they wanted it, I would send them a report each week, telling them what I did including the when, where, and how. If they just wanted the highlights, I would simply check in with them once or twice each month. Or they didn’t have to hear from me at all.

No matter what type of seller you are, I think it’s important for realtors to establish what type of communication the seller wants or needs. This, naturally is called managing expectations.

On the topic of expectations, I found out that more and more sellers have one vision of what the seller/agent relationship will look like while the agent has a completely different idea. The best example of this is marketing. Sellers have in mind as to what the agents should be doing to market their homes. This continues to be a point of friction between sellers and agents. Agents know what is working in marketing and that game plan may not be in sync with what the sellers have in mind. Agents may also be working behind the scenes on the internet, working the phones, communicating with their sphere, and following up leads. This is all marketing, but doesn’t show up on a printed page for the seller to see.

It’s important for agents to tell sellers exactly what they are going to do, to put it in writing, and then follow up with the sellers to show that it’s been done. This is managing an expectation, and you can’t do that without communication.

Dan Polimino is a Realtor with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty. He can be reached at DPolimino@fullerproperties.com and www.CoDreamHouse.com

Last week, I wrote a column about the human toll of foreclosure. Not exactly an upbeat story, but one that needed to be told. This week is a feel good story about the never say die attitude of Americans and how coming together as a family may just be the answer to difficult economic times.

It was in April when I was watching a news story on a cable network channel about an immigrant father who purchased his first new home well into his latter working years. He bought it at the peak or at the top of the housing boom. His kids were older; one was still living at home while the others all had jobs and places of their own.

Surprise, Surprise, Dad lost his job and could not find work. He fell behind in his mortgage payment and was in danger of losing the first and only new home he ever had. This is the good part of the story. His kids immediately came to their parents’ rescue. All three kids that were living outside the home voluntarily gave up their apartments to move back in with their parents. This is not something a mid 20’s young person wants to do when they are at the peak of launching their personal and professional life. They did it because they wanted to help their parents keep the house. They did it to chip in and pay the mortgage. They did it because they realized that they were stronger as a group than individually on their own. They did it because they could pool their resources and cut expenses. They did it because family means something.

Kudos to the kids, you are to be congratulated for your kindness, compassion and willingness to give back to the parents who gave it all for you. The take away lesson here is simple: maybe families should consider moving in together again. Maybe you can rent out the basement or a spare bedroom that you are not using. This model makes a lot of sense to help people get through tough times until things turn around again.

Dan Polimino is a Realtor with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty. He can be reached at DPolimino@fullerproperties.com and www.CoDreamHouse.com