"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.”

Charles Dickens.

This is easily my favorite quote of all time and it accurately describes how many of us felt during the course of 2009. Some of you may even be thinking, “were there any high points in real estate this year?”

Yes there were, and while I only have limited space I’ll try to recap the top five in each category.

The Lowlights:

·         Clearly, we started the year worse off than anyone imagined. People not only contracted their buying, but they also went into hibernation mode and some agents wondered if they would ever sell a home again.

·         Some price points like the Luxury market saw drops in value in excess of 30 percent in less than a year.

·         Lending has hit a new low. Never has it been so hard to borrow money for the average person. The regulations, guidelines, and qualifications are getting harder every day. At this juncture, I am not convinced that banks are remotely interested in helping Americans get back on their feet.

·         The mortgage industry is now being controlled by a few large banking institutions that have too much power and too much control. This is bad for consumers, bad for competition, and bad for capitalism.

·         The appraisal system has run amuck. It’s in complete disarray and if you wait a week, it will change again. We need stability here soon.

The Highlights:

·         More people were able to buy their first home. The first-time home buyer tax credit worked and stimulated the industry.

·         The fourth quarter looks to have a much stronger close in real estate sales than originally predicted. Improvements in the economy, buyer confidence, low home prices, low interest rates and incentives have brought buyers off the sideline.

·         Today we have a much more qualified buyer than in many years past. People who own homes now or recently bought homes are the ones that can truly afford them.

·         We made great headway in beginning to weed out fraud, deception, cheating, and people looking to take advantage of others.

·         We came out of an election year, banks failing, and unprecedented amount of foreclosures and still the real estate market continued to operate. We got deals done and actually improved the forecast for everyone.

Later this week is the start of 2010. Happy New Year Everyone and let’s pray that we have more to write about in the highlights column.

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

As many of you know from following my columns here in the Denver Post over the last six plus years, I don’t like to talk about business on the week of Christmas. After all, we’ve got 51 weeks in the year to do that. I think that this one week, we can take a break and tackle something more meaningful.

No doubt that this has been one of the hardest years in recent memory for many people including those in the real estate industry. All of us are trying to find our way around a new world of rapidly changing economics. I am reminded of the people who’ve lost their jobs this year, lost their homes, and now maybe spending their first Christmas without a place to call their own. It is my sincere hope and prayer that you’ll find some peace and encouragement this week and in the weeks to come. I am a big believer in positive thinking, finding joy in the little things in life, remembering what matters most, and being thankful for what I have instead of what I don’t have. I think that we need to wake up in 2010, put a smile on our face, declare it’s going to be a great day, week, or year and go get the heavy lifting done. We all know what the problems are so we need to focus hard on the solutions if we are going to turn things around.

Christmas week would not be complete without thanking a few people like the readers of this column. Thank you for your notes, comments, well wishes and shared stories. You inspire me to keep writing and you contribute greatly to the ongoing education process that is real estate. Thank you to the Denver Post for giving me a forum to share opinions, information and knowledge. I appreciate it more than you know. To my fellow colleagues in the business, I always enjoy meeting you, working with you on transactions, and I wish you the very best. When you succeed, we all prosper. To my clients that trust me to sell their homes and purchasing new ones, I am truly grateful that you chose and trusted me in such an important transaction.

Finally, on behalf of my family, it’s with heartfelt sincerity that I wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year. God bless you in the coming year and take pleasure in this special Holiday week.

Sincerely,

Dan Polimino

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

Fuller Sotheby's agent Dan Polimino talks about this weeks market update for Denver, Colorado. This week Dan talks about Real Estate and Christmas. What should buyers and sellers being doing over the next three weeks and until the Holidays are over.

Check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HiGSipElgQ&feature=player_embedded

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

Fuller Sotheby's agent Dan Polimino talks about this weeks market update for Denver, Colorado. Dan talks about the market slowing down for the Holidays and inventory levels. He also says the perfect buying storm is shaping up for the New Year.

Check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6eo2iXWO9Y&feature=player_embedded

You don’t have to sell your home right now. You would like to, but you can wait until the market turns around and you have a better chance at getting a higher price for your home. I don’t blame you and if you don’t have to sell right now, then don’t.

In the meantime, are there some things that you can do to not only improve your home, but make it more attractive to buyers in the near future and increase the value? You bet, says Chuck St. John of CSJ Home Improvement, LLC.

Chuck says that this should be broken down to two categories: ‘normal upkeep’ and ‘improvement’. St. John says that unfortunately, many people who are getting ready to sell their homes start to neglect it. Instead of fixing things like they are going to be living in that home for another 10 to 20 years, they may let some things go because they know that they are going to sell it in the next year or two. This is a common mistake because home inspectors can see a house that has been neglected a mile away and that may be just enough to kill a deal. Besides, you want to make sure that your home shows better than the rest of your competition. Paying attention to details always pays off and helps a home show better than the rest. Chuck’s first tip is to have an inspection even though you are not selling the home. A good home inspector should be able to give you a solid list of items that need attention or maintenance. His second tip is to have someone with an unbiased opinion walk your home and list what needs to be replaced or repaired from a cosmetic standpoint.

Finally, St. John says that improving any of the following areas in a home will only add value and help get the house sold. Remodeling kitchens and bathrooms tops the list. Flooring and painting always get noticed. A new furnace and/or hot water heater are good attention getters. Outside new paint and a new roof tops the priorities list.

The takeaway message here is to use this time while you are waiting for the market to turn around to improve your own home. You’ll be glad you did.

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