Paths Real Estate

Open house today 10-1! Come walk through this lovely Castle Rock home. 2668 Celtic Dr 🏡

I love this, his initiative and the statement as a whole... too many cities are becoming unaffordable for most people.

An artist struggling to pay rent turned a dumpster into a tiny home for $4,800 Harrison Marshall is only paying about $60 a month to rent the dumpster, but his home lacks some conveniences many people wouldn't want to be without.

Kitchen updates are always worth it! Hopefully contractor pricing and availability keep cooling off.

7 Kitchen Renovation Trends to Watch Find out what remodelers are doing to upgrade this most-prized space in the home.

We literally went from a completely nutty market with tons of demand through 2021 and into early 2022 🤩 to.... crickets 🪳. The rising rates (now around 6.5% after some small drops) have pushed things to a very slow market. It was a good year for me overall, I'm so grateful. Lenders are offering a variety of interesting products, some of which are truly tempting. Prices have dropped, but not enough yet to compensate for how much mortgage rates have risen. Please let me know if you want any info on specific neighborhoods, or if you are wondering about opportunities in real estate. 🏠

Denver Metro Area Market Watch - November 2022 See the latest housing market statistics for the Denver Metro Area, provided by REcolorado. REcolorado is Colorado's largest real estate multiple listing ser...

We closed on this amazing home last week! I helped the Sellers, and they were under contract in 3 days. The winning offer (not the highest, but the one the Sellers chose) was $75k over list price. It is such a crazy market!!

Also, staging DOES matter, regardless of your price range. Some buyers have seen so many homes and have been looking a long time, they "preview" online and as a Seller you will get more offers and competition if your home shows well.

I've been MIA in Oregon helping fix up a beach home for my parents. The Northwest coast is so beautiful! I was helping coordinate orders, working with our contractor, and helping my mom make structural design choices. They are transforming a 2 bed/1 bath (neglected) home into a beautiful 3 bed/2 bath beach home. So much work! Instead of new cabinetry in the kitchen my mom opted to have me paint the existing ones, here are the before and after (you can see the blue tape, I had not finished yet). Still deciding on hardware.

Things have been super crazy around these parts! I listed two of our properties for rent, we've been working on our new home remodel in Denver, and I've been helping buyers (and sellers, new listing went live today!) and trying to stay sane. Trying... Oh and car problems. Oh and I'm a mom. I'm going to post some kitchen pictures of our rental we bought in 2018 because it makes me happy. Our last renters bought a home in Castle Rock and we took a week to improve this one (new water purification/softening system, little fixes, and new sink faucet) before turning it over to our new renters. My husband and I remodeled this kitchen while we lived in the home 2018-2019. We briefly considered selling it this time around instead of renting but ultimately decided not to sell, and I'm glad we didn't!

It's crazy how many things are affected by the demand for housing!

Colorado’s housing crisis has gotten so bad that small towns are now building people homes SILVER CLIFF – The vacant lot along First, Second and Third streets is lined by wooden stakes that delineate the Bobcat Subdivision, a site for affordable housing in this southern Colorado town. Eventually, this area could be filled with more than a dozen homes with stunning views of the Sangre de...

I am currently helping a few buyers look for homes in the Denver metro area - and competition is fierce! Here are some ways buyers are being competitive in our market, along with simple explanations as to what they are:

PRICE
Over-asking is of course most competitive, but you still want to do market analysis and compare to other homes sold in past months, taking into consideration the condition/updates in the home, as well as recent home sales (2021) driving up current prices.

ESCALATION CLAUSE
Promising you'll pay x amount over any competing offer, can have ceiling or not. ie, if purchase price is $500k, a buyer may offer $505k but pay $1500 over a higher offer up to $540k.

RENT-BACK
Currently it is very difficult to go under contract when you have a home sale contingency, so sellers will select their replacement home after they are under contract and possibly closed (leaving them with cash to buy), which will necessitate at least a 30-day rent-back. Most competitive is free rent-back but it is up to the buyer. They buyer can always ask for a refundable deposit to cover any losses. The max period you can offer a rent-back in Colorado is 60 days.

APPRAISAL GAP
Since values are going up, buyers sometimes agree to pay x amount of cash up to a max difference if appraisal comes in low, to make up the difference for their lender. So if you have an appraisal gap of $5k, you are willing to pay the difference up to $5k cash for the home if the appraisal comes in lower than the contracted price. Just make sure your lender is aware you are offering this so you don’t have problems with financing. In NORMAL competitive markets buyers usually don’t go above $10k for an appraisal gap, but I’ve been hearing of people in very competitive situations offer much more than that - $20k-$50k!

INSPECTION
You always want to conduct an inspection, including sewer scope and radon test, so you know what you are buying. I advise clients to put in offers that have a provision that states they will waive the inspection except for significant health or safety items. This way you are still covered for higher cost items that would affect your health if living in the home, or you can back out of the contract. This includes roof, radon, large plumbing issues, large electrical issues, pests, mold, etc. The seller should realize that no matter the buyer, they will want the work done - and once they know about the problem, they will need to disclose to potential buyers.

LETTERS
I don't encourage letters in multiple offer situations but buyers sometimes really want to put one in. They are not illegal but many brokerages discourage or do not allow. If you do write a letter, it's best to focus on why you love the home, let them know you'll take care of it as they have, and less personal information (personal info you give them opens the grounds for discrimination). This is a sensitive one since some sellers want to know more about the buyers and others do not.

LENDER RECOMMENDATION
A direct recommendation (call or email) for you as secure buyers is also a big help in putting you above the rest.

I sincerely wish all the buyers out there good luck. IF by chance you want to go a different route than publicly marketed properties, ie Zillow/MLS, you can try seeking out sellers on your own. Personal references sometimes work out, if you know someone in a particular neighborhood, ask them if they have any neighbors planning to sell, or are maybe on the fence. I would still recommend agency or at least a transaction agent to handle your paperwork, title company communications, and to explain and lead you through the process with the seller. But it is up to you!

How To Find and Buy Off-Market Homes It's important to have an edge in a hot real estate market; knowing where and how to find off-market listings can help.

Visual proof that prices have been steadily rising... this graph shows Littleton, Highlands Ranch, Centennial and Denver median home prices since 2017. There was a slight dip in early 2019 and during the pandemic shutdown last year but other than that it is just upward. Pretty crazy!!

I'm putting together my professional website; its still a work in progress!

Paths Real Estate – Helping you find your path home 2020 into 2021 Since 2010, Colorado has seen its population grow 60k-70k every year, and in 2020, it rose 17%. It’s clear many people want to make Colorado their home; but the COVID-19 pandemic has discouraged many owners from listing their homes. This has resulted in a great number of buyers and ...