There is no question that the luxury housing market has been hit hard by the recession. People in this price range lost plenty of money in the market, investments, and may have lost their jobs and or their retirement plans. As such, some people had their ability to buy high-end homes and had disposal income taken away. Today, those people who still have the ability to buy luxury homes are looking, but I notice a trend that they are really looking at unique homes.

That makes sense. Let’s face it: there is a smaller pool of buyers in the luxury market place than ever before and as such, if they are going to spend their money, chances are they are going to spend it one of two ways: 1) on a property that is a real deal, or 2) on a unique property. 

Finding a property that is a real deal is not too hard to do these days so let’s tackle the latter and talk about unique properties. As of late, I have seen more and more activity on properties that are really one-of-a-kind. For example, finding a home on the water in Colorado is no easy task. There is a luxury home in Larkspur, Colorado that has its own 25-acre water skiing lake. It’s stocked with trout; the home is 6500 sq. ft. of luxury on 35 acres with a barn, greenhouse, and outbuilding. It has a 17,000-gallon koi pond, a boat launch, and 2000 ft of sandy beach. Now that’s a unique property and as such, people are looking at it. 

Land is a tough sale these days, but if it’s unique with a spectacular location, it will get some showings. For example, there is a 154-acre parcel for sale in Colorado Golf Club. The reason why this is unique is it’s the largest parcel of land available in the prestigious Golf Club and it’s the only one of this size. It has magnificent views of the front range from every angle, views of Betts Lake, and the golf course. It’s set up to be the perfect equestrian site and truly qualifies as a unique property for someone to build their dream ranch. 

In Sedalia, Colorado there is a home that’s 12,000 sq. ft. on 10 acres, but what makes it unique? For starters, it backs to 400 acres of open space. That qualifies as never having someone in your backyard. It also has a large unfinished space with 20-foot ceilings that would make the perfect indoor basketball court, squash/handball court, or a real stadium-style theater. 

Recently, the Wolfe Team at Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty had the Phipps Mansion for sale and that went under contract right away. Obviously, that historic landmark more than qualifies as a unique property, but emphasizes that even in this market there are buyers for luxury properties particularly if they are unique. 

There are lots of stories around Colorado about unique properties. Feel free to drop me a note about yours and I might just write about it. 

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

Click here to Get started searching for YOUR Colorado Dream Home. 

I have often talked about the battle between buyers and sellers in today’s real estate market and I don’t want to badger the point any further, but I think that the problem has now spread to the realtors.  I think today’s realtor gets up every morning and puts on their proverbial fatigues and helmet then heads out the door to what to do what he or she perceives to be “going to war.” 

Today’s realtors are stressed out more than ever. The pressure to sell homes, sell them quickly, and sell them in a “not so hot market” has never been greater. Talking with agent after agent each day, I have concluded that they are getting sucked in the toxic dance that has been happening with buyers and sellers. I have a short story that illustrates this point well. 

I called an agent inquiring about putting an offer in on behalf of my buyers on his listing. On the phone he was charming, helpful, eager, and it sounded like it would be pleasant to do a transaction with him. We put the home under contract with his sellers and my buyers and the agent went from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde. During the subsequent weeks while we were going through inspection, appraisal, and amendments he was defensive, uncooperative, and combative to say the least. I got to thinking why? Why are more and more agents finding it so hard to get along? Don’t get me wrong, it’s ok for an agent to be a hard negotiating advocate for his or her clients, but this isn’t war. The only explanation I could come up with is, “it comes from the top down.”  We clearly have a trickledown effect from the sellers to agents, buyers to agents, and brokerage firms to agents. The mood of the country is essentially setting the mood of all parties involved. 

Back to the story: We ended up closing deal and the buyers got the home they wanted, but it wasn’t remotely smooth. It caused a lot of unnecessary trouble and stress for my buyers and all because the listing agent had a mindset of “who wins, who loses, and who gets their way.” It could have all been avoided. 

What’s the moral to the story? It’s three-fold: 1) The economy has put a lot of people in a bad mood, but as agents, buyers, and sellers we need to find a way to rise above that. 2) Buyers and sellers need to understand that in most cases agents want to do a great job for them. Beating them up (figuratively) is not going to help. 3) The story above just underscores how valuable a truly good agent can be. It can make all the difference between a smooth and pleasant transaction and one that is a Nightmare on Elm Street. 

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

Click here to Get started searching for YOUR Colorado Dream Home.

The other day, I was taking a glance at the recent MLS statistics and it jumped out at me the startling difference in stats compared to one year ago.

Let’s take a minute and talk about some key indicators in the real estate market and what the data from Metrolist tells us about the health of local real estate.

First, inventory has been stable and it’s been remarkably low. For at least the last 18 months, we’ve been hearing rumor after rumor from “industry insiders” that banks were getting ready to flood the market with a massive amount of foreclosures. I hear it and I hear it, but it doesn’t happen. We’re all grateful it hasn’t happened and as a result, if you take a look at inventory as of the date of this column, there are only 21,000 single family homes and condominiums on the active market. That’s low for this time of year and it’s only up 1% from this time last year. Conclusion: inventory is low, has remained low, and probably will stay low for a while which means less choices for the buyer and better prices for sellers.

Sold data is what we all want to know about and it gives us some of the best news of the all the numbers. Sold homes and condos are up 16% from last month and 23% from this time last year. Better yet, average days on market are down 7% from last month and 22% from last year. To top that, the average sold price rose 7% from this time last year.

There is good news with homes that are under contracts as well. Homes that are under contracts are up 12% from last month and 27% percent from last year. That 27% represents the most significant change in all of the market data.

Combine this information with the data that was released about positive job growth in March, April, and May and you start to have a good feeling about the recovery. There is pent up demand by home buyers and now we are starting to see those results. Remember, jobs and real estate are always the last indictors to come around for a recovering economy and with positive news in both sectors, maybe we are out of the woods.

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

If you have followed my column for a while now, you would know that I represent a fair amount of luxury properties and their sellers. I hear a lot of rumors about the luxury market and given the economy, most of the information I hear is negative. Being both a journalist and a realtor, I decided that it was time to do the right thing and investigate the issue for myself.

Over the last several months, I have been hearing horror stories about there being 5 years, or 10 years, or 12 years of luxury property inventory on the market. After a little investigation, I did not find that to be true. Let me say that as of the day that I am writing this column, I am using data that was pulled from Metrolist, and then applied a simple absorption rate equation to determine the supply of inventory. As criteria, I looked at all the homes over one million dollars in a particular city, and looked at the sales from the last 12 months. With that disclaimer out of the way, here is what I have found.

Cherry Hills Village has less than two years’ worth of luxury homes on the market. Greenwood Village has less than two years of inventory on the market. Lone Tree has exactly two years’ worth of inventory, and Denver has only about 15 months. To some, this may seem like a large supply, but in reality, given the market, it’s not and here’s why. First off, total inventory across Colorado is very low right now and has been for the last several months. There are at least three good reasons for this: 1) Distressed properties are getting bought up. 2) Some people have decided not to sell their home. 3) Building new homes has slowed considerably over the last several years. There’s also another reason to be optimistic. We are just beginning our prime selling season. So while more homes will come on the market, more will also get sold.

Finally, I did find some market with more inventory than others. Overall, parts of Douglas County can have up to three and half years’ worth of inventory. It really doesn’t matter if you are in an area that has two years’ worth of inventory or three because in this market, every seller needs to be smart with their pricing. Your home will sell. You have to find a way to make your home stand out in the crowd.

Next week, we’ll talk about how you can make your home shine for every showing.

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

In this market, sellers now realize that every showing counts, and then counts some more. In fact, nothing is more frustrating for the seller and the realtor than getting a lot of showings, but no offers or nibbles. The question then becomes: “Why is this occurring, and how many showings are normal before getting an offer?”

Let me answer the latter question first. For the sellers I represent, usually the 10 to 15 showing mark is a great indicator that an evaluation is in order. If you have had 10 or 15 showings and there is no offer, then it’s time to move to step two and find out what needs to be changed.

Which brings us to the main question: “Why isn’t the home getting an offer?” First, always have your agent check and go over with you all of the feedback sent in from other agents. Usually, this comes in the form of an email and it’s aggregated by software programs like “Showing Desk.” Keep in mind that not all agents provide feedback, but do look at the feedback that was submitted. Sometimes, this tells the entire story on why your home has no offer. Listen to it and adjust to what the buyers and their agents are telling you about your home.

If that doesn’t help, then you can bet your bottom dollar that there are two things that are holding up the sale of your home. Either the price is too high, or the home is not showing well. Let’s say it’s not showing well, but you can’t put your finger on what people don’t like. Then hire a stager to come through your home and give an honest opinion. If he or she has some worthwhile tips and information, try hiring them to stage it to sell.

More than likely in this market, the reason why your home isn’t getting offers is because of the price. I am sorry to say this, but today’s marketplace in real estate is all about price. Sometimes, you are closer than you think on zeroing in on the right price to bring an offer. Again, if you are getting showings but no offers, you may just be 3-5% off. If you’re not getting many showings, you may be 5-8% off. If you’re not getting any showings at all, you could be 10% or greater off the real price of your home.

Next week we’ll tackle the topic of just how many luxury homes are for sale and in which areas.

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

No, it’s not the Holidays unless of course you are a Realtor. Ask anyone in the real estate profession and no one is happier to see the signs of Spring than Realtors.

You see, the prime selling season in Colorado is April through July. Why? It’s simple. The nice weather brings out buyers as well as sellers. Yes, you can buy a home in January, but not a lot of people want to go trekking through the snow with boots, coats, and gloves to look at homes. Yes, you can put your home on the market in February, but let’s be honest; doesn’t your home look best in the summer when everything is green and in bloom?

Next week is the first week of April so sellers, if you have been putting off meeting with that Realtor and getting your home on the market…wait no more. You’ve got four really good months to take advantage of the Colorado selling season. Buyers, you’re still in the driver’s seat in this market for most price ranges so meet with that lender, get the finances in order, and start looking. After all, you don’t want to spend your entire summer looking at homes. Do your homework, see exactly what you are looking for, make a fair offer, close the deal and move in by mid-May. That way, you’ll have the rest of the summer to enjoy in your new home. If you are trying to take advantage of the tax credit, you have until the end of April to be under contract with a property. One other note for buyers: remember, we always see an increase in inventory from April to July so this will be the peak time for a wide range of homes for you to choose from.

Finally, if you fall outside the window of April to July, don’t fret. There is still one more good opportunity before the end of the year to sell your home. That would be from mid-September to the beginning of November. Happy Selling and Buying To All and To All A Good Night.

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

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