Keep up to date with the latest market data information each week on this blog. http://www.coloradodreamhouse.com Each Friday on this Blog I will post up to the minute market data information on different cities across the US courtesy of Zillow. This week we are looking at home values in Cherry Hills Village, CO. You can see from the graph below prices bottomed out last April and have been on the rise since. Overall prices are up 3.7 percent from this time last year. To find out more information like how Cherry Hills Village is doing in comparison to say nearby Greenwood Village click the link below. As always if you have specific questions and would like to contact me directly feel free at dpolimino@fullerproperties.com and 303-522-1161. Have a great weekend.

More Cherry Hills Village Home Values

I must admit, for far too many years I originated loans and guided my clients by the philosophy to “buy as much home as you possibly can afford” believing that most people ended up “growing into their mortgage payment” as they continue to improve their employment skills and subsequently their income levels. While this might be true for some younger buyers, often that this is not the case. In addition, when you buy “maximum” house with your money you also get “maximum” utility bills, insurance, and property taxes that go along with that maximum mortgage payment. 

The meaning of “Less is More” is the notion that simplicity leads to better things.  In the case of homeownership, not being strapped to into a large mortgage payment leads to having more money to do other things in life. After interviewing allot of millenials (newest generation) lately, I believe this generation understands this concept very well. They’ve seen the results of their baby boom parents trying to “live the dream” with a large home, nicest cars, fancy clothes, etc., etc., by with both of their parents working 50-60 hour weeks, being tired and burned out at the end of the week, all for what?  So you can have a bigger or best house?

Today in the wake of a recession, 10% unemployment, and much uncertainty about what the future holds, I have changed my tune about how much house is too much. I believe that you should buy a home that “meets your needs” in terms of size, location, and budget (smaller is better). I think that the days of focusing on what the maximum house you can afford are over. There is allot more to life than being house poor.

This incredible custom home combines the charm of Observatory Park with luxury living. This 5 bedroom, 7 bathroom home with a fully finished basement boasts almost 5400 finished square feet.

The home has been designed with impeccable detail and attention to the finest materials. Finishes include Brazilian Cherry wood floors, Cherry Cabinets, Cherry plantation shutters, hand trowel walls and extensive use of clear Alder for the doors and paneling.

Call Dan Polimino at 303-522-1161 or Gary Lohrman at 303-829-5900 for a showing of this property at 2412 S Josephine St Denver, CO 80210.

More details at http://www.coloradodreamhouse.com/featured/property.php?id=6

Take the virtual tour at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7sX0PtmDJU&feature=player_embedded

Fuller Sotheby's agent Dan Polimino http://www.coloradodreamhouse.com talks about a sellers market in the lower price ranges in Denver, Colorado. Inventory did not go up sharply in January as expected and that means it's getting tougher to find a home. Sellers are starting to get full price and more.

Watch Dan's video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejj5-ZyrsYo&feature=player_embedded to find out more.

As Realtors, we tell sellers all the time to look at their homes with buyer’s eyes. What does that mean exactly? When you are selling your home, walk through it with a critical eye. Pick out and point out every flaw, imperfection, or anything that does not show well in your home. Sellers should also be honest with themselves about other critical factors that influence a buyer’s decision like location, size, features, and price. Is this easy to do when it’s your castle? No way. Do most sellers do it? No way. A good real estate agent representing you on the sale of your home should do it for you. Moreover, let the agent know it’s ok for him or her to be candid and honest with what they see and the information they know to be true about your neighborhood. Sellers should seek the truth, want the truth, and let the agent know its ok to communicate it. Use a buyer’s eyes to position your home against the competition. Specifically, take a critical look at these five areas: condition, location, size, features, and amenities.

Take each category and begin asking yourself these questions:

1)  How is the condition of my house? Is it pristine, ready to move in, without flaw, or does it need little touch ups or a lot of fix up? How would my house compare with the others for sale in my neighborhood? If you don’t know, have your agent take you to see the other homes in the neighborhood. Bottom line, if you want to sell your home and sell it quickly, you better be in the top 3 or 4 when it comes to condition.

2)  Location. How does my home compare in location to the others? If your home is the only one in the neighborhood that’s for sale that backs to a greenbelt and is at the end of a cul-de-sac, you may be the lucky winner. At the very least your home would rate #1 ahead of all the others in the location category.

Buyers also evaluate very closely the size, features, and amenities. Next week, we’ll tackle those three categories and find out how your home rates in a buyer’s eye.

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

This beautiful home features an abundance of architectural detail. Art niches, built-ins, and dramatic arches evoke European craftsmanship throughout this 6 bedroom, 6 ½ bathroom masterwork. The freshly completed low maintenance deck features lush views of Glenmoor golf course. Classic brick and stucco finish, new Milgard windows and doors throughout, and a 4-car garage make this showcase a joy to live in.  

More details at http://www.coloradodreamhouse.com/featured/property.php?id=5

Call Dan Polimino 303-522-1161 or Gary Lorhman at 303-829-5900 for a showing of this property at 37 Glenmoor Dr Cherry Hills Village, CO 80113.

Take the video tour at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkxRXKj8ekU&feature=player_embedded

For those of you new to the home buying process, a new change happened January 1st, 2010 that will make you life allot simpler in terms of shopping for a home loan. The new Good Faith Estimate (GFE) requirements have made lenders HIGHLY accountable for the interest rate and closing costs quotes on a home loan. In the past, mortgage lenders and brokers could play “fast and loose” with their Good Faith Estimates often quoting terms that were not available just to get the client “in the door”. Once you invested a few weeks with them and gotten the loan approved, the terms would change at the last minute. Consumers either were forced to take the different terms or start the process over with a new lender. The number one complaint by consumers to HUD was that their terms at closing (rate, closing costs, and cash required to close) was significantly different than they were originally quoted.

Today Lenders are now required to provide you with a “Good Faith Estimate” (GFE) that binds them to their quote (rate and fees) for a minimum of ten days. In addition, the new GFE discusses lock options much more clearly. Sections A of the new GFE (lenders origination charges) cannot change at all (other than decrease) and Section B (Other Settlement Services) cannot change by more than 10% of the original quote. If the section B charges are above the 10% tolerance, the lender is required to “refund” the difference back the borrower at closing.  So the consumer is very much protected from terms changing at all from the original quote. I recently attended a seminar and one of the points that the instructor made is that the acronym GFE should now stand for “Guaranteed Fee Explanation” and I could not agree more. Basically the new GFE has become that, a form that guarantees the fees and rates to the client. Good news and more transparency for the consumer.

Fuller Sotheby's agent Dan Polimino http://www.coloradodreamhouse.com talks about this weeks market update for Denver Colorado for the week of Feb 15, 2010. Dan is looking for move down buyers and he tells them why this is perfect time to move down from their big home.

Check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kye9ZIaqZc0&feature=player_embedded

I was talking with the good people from Shea homes the other day and they find themselves in an interesting predicament. I am sure a lot of home builders find themselves in the exact same situation these days. You see, Shea has people walking through their models in Back Country everyday that would love to buy a new home there BUT…they have a home to sell.

You see, the “BUT I have a home to sell” issue is happening all over Colorado. Many home owners would love to buy right now and take advantage of the low prices, low interest rates and many incentives, but they can’t sell their home or afraid it will take too many years to sell their home. So Shea came up with a good idea to help people sell their homes.

I know what you’re saying, “Selling a home is a pretty standard process. Many people know how to do it.” Not so fast; this is a very different real estate market place than the last time you sold a home. Moreover, the real estate landscape is changing everyday and the way we buy and sell homes will look a lot different in two years than it does today.

So what’s Shea up to? They are going to start holding classes on selling your home. Not exactly a new creation when it comes to ideas, but it is a good one and here’s why. For years, real estate agents, mortgage lenders, and yes builders held home buying classes, but very few held home selling classes. The reason is simple; it’s been a while since we’ve been in a scenario that is so one sided with more sellers than buyers. As such, there really hasn’t been a reason to hold “home selling classes” until now.

What are you going to find out if you decide to attend one of Shea’s classes? How to sell your home with today’s latest marketing techniques and technology, the science of pricing, and how absorption rate affects how quickly you’ll sell. How about how to SAVE MONEY on the sale of your home, what buyers really want when evaluating a home purchase and a whole lot more?

If you want to attend “How to Sell Your Home Today” and hear from great realtors like Gary Lohrman from Fuller Sotheby’s, Bill Watson from ReMax, Pam Kiker from Keller Williams and the Shea Team call 720-344-1800 and tell them you want to attend the class. Or email Sheri Tannascoli at sheri.tannascoli@sheahomes.com. The class is on Saturday, Feb 27^th at 11:30am at Back Country in Highlands Ranch.

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

So you are sitting on the sidelines right now missing out of the $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit because someone at the bank told you that your score was not good enough to buy right now. The banker probably did not provide much more information other than you “need to fix your credit and pay your bills on time” if you want to buy a house. 

What are you supposed to do get started on that path of homeownership? Are you going to try to figure this credit fix stuff out on your own? Worst yet hire a credit repair firm and pay thousands of dollars for them to make money and show meager results? Or just continue to sit on the sidelines and rent and miss out probably one of the best buying opportunities in the past 30 years? 

Here is a fact, 78% of the people who decide to buy a home ultimately by a home with 5 years of making that decision to buy. So the question is really not “IF” you are going to buy a home but “WHEN” are you going to buy a home. Problem is that most bankers and their loan officers don’t get this concept. They just see the never ending supply of other customers coming through the door and move onto the next customer. You are left to fend for yourself.

I have over 15 years of credit scoring and repair expertise. I have moved credit scores by over 100 points in 30 days. In addition, I have saved client tens of thousands of dollars is educating them on how to work out settlements with past due accounts. Before you give up on your dream of homeownership, get a second opinion on your credit. Your dream may be closer than you think!

Andy Jorgensen

Sr. Loan Originator

Guild Mortgage Company

7951 E. Maplewood Ave. Suite 290

Greeenwood Village, CO 80111

www.taxcreditforeveryone.com

Mortgage Originator License #MB100011854

303-753-9135 or 888-333-6944 office

303-753-8747 or 888-999-3594 fax

303-810-1191 cell

This wonderful five-bedroom, four bath, 3800 square foot home rests just steps away from a quiet greenway path, and Redstone Elementary School. With new carpeting on the main floor, fresh paint throughout, new exterior paint and a finished basement, this home is ready immediately. Three bathrooms, a powder room, and a three-car garage make this space a joy to live in. The cul-de-sac location next to the green belt makes it private with plenty of space for the kids to play.

Check out http://www.coloradodreamhouse.com/featured/property.php?id=1 for more details.

Take the virtual tour at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvwoPd_DWbA&feature=player_embedded

Fuller Sotheby’s agent Dan Polimino talks about this weeks market update for Denver, Colorado for the week of Feb 8th, 2010. Dan explains why this is starting to look more like a sellers market in some price ranges than a buyers market.

Check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NTjkWvO0yw&feature=player_embedded

As you drive up the private lane through a forested Colorado Hillside to the gated entrance of this mountain estate you will notice the  6 bedroom, 9 bathroom, one-of-a-kind mountain retreat. Located a short 26 miles or 25 minutes from downtown Denver, but a world away from the hectic city lifestyle. Situated on just under 7 acres with a 10,292 square foot main house, a 1052 square foot guest house and new 2,080 square foot carriage house where your nearest neighbors are Elk and Deer yet you are only five minutes to shopping and restaurants. Expansive views of snow capped peaks are the icing on the cake of this one-of-a-kind exclusive estate.

Check out http://www.coloradodreamhouse.com/featured/property.php?id=0 for more details.

Take the virtual tour at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBP1EuGXYWg

As realtors, we are always telling people why “today or now is a good time to buy” and many times we have good reason for that. The prices are down and there are a number of foreclosures available, buyer incentives, etc, etc. Maybe the best reason of all right now to buy is the interest rate.

I know mortgage lenders are always talking about this and advertising this, but we hear it so much that we forget to pay attention to it. If you really stop and think about it, interest rates may be the biggest influence on whether we can buy or not. Let’s face it, the vast majority of the population buy based on what they can afford in a monthly mortgage payment. Nothing affects that more or greater than the interest rate. Let’s take a look at a snap shot of a few figures to see the real impact when interest rates rise and what that does to your monthly payments.

According to Metrolist, at the end of 2009 the average price for a single family home was $281K. For this example, let’s call it an even $280,000 and let’s also base all of our calculations on a 30-year-fixed. We’ll take a look at a 5% loan, a 6%, and a 7%. We are also all in agreement that it’s unlikely that interest rates will go lower and the reality is that they are only going high from here.

a.      $280,000 at 5% = 1,503 P&I

b.      $280,000 at 6% = 1,678 P&I

c.      $280,000 at 7% = 1,862 P&I

Just the jump from 5% to 6% almost added $200 a month to your payment and we still haven’t added in taxes and insurance yet. If you have to add mortgage insurance, you could be easily looking at $2000 a month. It adds up quickly and that’s why interest rate is such an important factor. It’s also the main reason why I tell people who are on the fence about buying now or waiting not to wait any longer.

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

Sure, as a new home buyer you are going to get your $8000 tax credit for buying a home  (provided you close before the deadlines) and you will begin to “itemize” your tax deductions (real estate property taxes, mortgage interest, and points) going forward each year.  All of these can potentially save you allot of money on your federal taxes which one of the many reasons people chose to buy rather than rent.  But did you chose the right loan program to enhance your tax savings or allow to you qualify for that extra $20,000 in purchase price?  The Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) program can potentially accomplish this.    

The MCC program is an enhancement to your loan that allows you to claim 20% of the mortgage interest you pay as an actual dollar for dollar tax credit (not a tax deduction) and this is for the life of the loan (not just one year).  The remaining 80% of the mortgage interest continues to qualify as a itemized tax deduction.   This is a significant tool to super charge your federal tax savings or increase your purchasing power when out there house hunting.

Talk to a “qualified MCC” lender for more details.

In this month’s news letter we’ll tell what new changes are coming to FHA loans and the details on our contest to win $250,000 dollars towards the purchase of your dream home. For more information about the contest read below. But first…what’s going on with FHA loans?

If you are a first time home buyer or even a second time home buyer and you were thinking about getting an FHA loan from HUD you might want to BUY NOW before they make it harder to get a loan. You may have noticed last week that Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced they will be making changes to their FHA loan program.

Change # 1: HUD will increase the amount of mortgage insurance required on each loan. Right now it’s at 1.75% of the loan amount.  This gets rolled into the loan and you pay for it each month over the life of the loan.  HUD will most likely make the change this spring to 2.25%. HUD says this will help them rebuild their insurance reserves after massive losses with mortgage defaults.

Change # 2: If you have a FICO score of 580 or less you will be required to put down 10% as a down payment instead of the usual 3.5%. This will prevent some people from getting a loan. HUD says the risk is too high to loan people with a credit score less than 580 so they want the home owner to put up more money and have more skin in the game.

Change # 3: Going forward HUD will reduce the amount of seller contributions from 6% to 3%. This is probably the most significant change and impacts everyone getting a loan. For cash strapped home buyers having a seller contribute says $6000 dollars on a $100,000 purchase price is a big deal. Soon buyers will only be able to accept 3% (or $3000 dollars) towards closing costs or pre-paid items. Overall not a good thing so buyers should get under contract before this happens.

Bottom line FHA is still the best deal in town for a large majority of the population. There isn’t anybody else right now willing to lend you money with only 3.5% down so for that reason and that reason alone it still a good option.

Above all take advantage of the 6% seller contribution rule now and get under contract with a property before the rule changes.

Finally go to http://www.firsttimehomebuyerdenverco.com or http://www.taxcreditforeveryone.com for a chance to win $250,000 toward your dream home. It’s easy to win and you’ll get great information about the new tax credits and how to get $6500 or $8000 in your pocket right away.

Please feel free to contact me with questions or if there is any way I can be of help at 303-522-1161 or dpolimino@fullerproperties.com

Sincerely,

Dan Polimino 

Fuller Sotheby's agent Dan Polimino talks about this weeks market update for Denver Colorado for the week of Feb 1st 2010. Dan gives sellers a tip about having their home show ready at all times. You never know when a buyer wants to see your home and is ready to write a contract. Don't miss that opportunity because your home is not ready to show. Also he encourages you to check out 10101 Brady Place in Highlands Ranch. It's a 4 bed, 4 bath, 3800 sq. ft. home on a clu-de-sac and on a green belt. Check it out at http://www.coloradodreamhouse.com   

Check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sCc5FxfcWk&feature=player_embedded

333 Faraway Place Castle Rock, CO. It’s not often we see a 1 million dollar price reduction, but that’s what we’ve done with the Maytag estate in Castle Rock. Built in 1983, the 9000-square-foot Spanish-style Villa was built for the Maytag family. The four-bedroom, five-bath home sits on 227 pristine acres. The land has a little of bit of everything with forested hills, open meadows, and gorgeous rock outcroppings. There are extensive views of majestic snow-capped peaks, peaceful valleys, and the near town of Castle Rock. It’s perfect for a private barn, equestrian center, corrals, or just incredible hiking and sightseeing.

Please call Dan Polimino at 303-522-1161 or Gary Lohrman at 303-829-5900 for a showing. NOW REDUCED FROM $4.8 MILLION TO $3.8 MILLION.

Take the virtual tour at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dMfjTQf0Kk&feature=player_embedded

At the end of last year, Move.com, the company that also owns the more popular Realtor.com, published a survey they conducted forecasting home buying in 2010. According to Move.com one in 20 Americans say they plan on buying a home within the coming year. While that doesn’t seem like a lot of people the most interesting part of the data are the demographics. The people most likely to buy will have a median age of 34 or younger and will be living in the South and West according to the survey.

If that’s true, it bodes well for Colorado. Denver has been one of the first cities to lead the charge out of the housing slump. Denver also has continued to grow through this recession because it’s an attractive place to live and work. Young people flock to Denver because of jobs, lifestyle, and climate. Corporations are relocating their headquarters here, or building new facilities. Along with that come new young workers.

According to the survey, roughly one quarter of all potential buyers said that the number one reason that they would buy now is because prices appear to have bottomed out. That reason topped bargain-priced foreclosures, worries about rising interest rates, and a wide selection of homes. Now let’s take that data and see how it applies in our local market. Again, that fits in perfectly with what Denver has to offer and what we are hearing from buyers. With the exception of the luxury market, home prices bottomed out earlier this year and now are headed up. The buyers we are working with know that foreclosures are harder to come by, they don’t seem motivated by interest rates, and the inventory has not been historically high in Denver since 2006.

Of course, this is just one survey but it is encouraging for Denver and its surrounding suburbs. There is no question that if the recovery continues, Denver is poised perfectly to appeal to what buyers want and where they want 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