It’s still safer to buy Denver real estate based on concrete assets within each neighborhood.  5280 Magazine pulled together a panel of Realtors to analyze what makes successful neighborhoods tick.  The panel looked carefully at locations, schools, light-rail access, housing inventory, build-out, the maturity of the communities, homeowners associations, and the community gathering areas.

Real-estate professionals can really be helpful to buyers who are sorting out details of each neighborhood.  We will also mention share here the winning neighborhood recommendations from the May 2008 issue of 5280:

Berkeley, a soul mate of Highlands, features lakes, parks, and a diversity of affordable residences including row houses.  Cherry Hills Village, an affluent community of 6,000, offers mansions close to the city amenities, excellent public and private schools, and proximity to trails for hiking and horseback riding.

A 17-block area east of downtown, Congress Park is one of the most popular urban neighborhoods.  In addition to high-achieving schools, wonderful pedestrian-friendly retail districts and namesake Congress Park invite neighbors out to meet new friends.  The always popular Country Club Historic District enjoys a secluded central location and high-end real estate at the country club and along Cherry Creek.

Highland and West Highland are perched atop the hill northwest of downtown.  The hip neighborhood features community festivals and is proud of its intimate feel.  Very popular with families, Highlands Ranch is a master-planned community of 90,000 located south of the city.  Spacious homes and excellent schools serve the established community.

Ken-Caryl Valley features homes with large lots at the base of the foothills on the western Dakota Hogback ridge, close to both the city and mountain recreational activities.  In 2003, Louisville was ranked by MONEY Magazine as a Best Places to Live.  From great schools to anticipated rail access to jobs and a real Main Street, the city of 20,000 located northwest of the Mile High City offers a balanced lifestyle

The little neighborhood of Mayfair offers a cozy home life for medical professionals employed by the surrounding medical facilities, including the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.  Newlands in Boulder is a trendy neighborhood of re-built homes in a college town near the Rocky Mountains.

Located near the Cherry Creek retail district only 10 minutes northwest of downtown, Old Bonnie Brae is a beautiful neighborhood adjoining Washington Park.  The well-manicured South Park Hill with its Norman Rockwell feeling is near old Stapleton between downtown and the new Fitzsimons medical campus.

Enjoying a prime location and strong community organizations and events, Stapleton is a well-thought-out urban redevelopment that has filled in the acreage from the old airport.  Only two miles from downtown, Washington Park is a landmark, tree-lined neighborhood with a diversity of homes.  The Park is its community anchor point.

For more information about farms, horse properties, and real estate in the greater metro area, call Michael Paul of Realty Oasis at (303) 268-6052.

Even so, buyers of Denver CO real estate must scrutinize the trends, the neighborhoods, and have their final pick inspected.  Your professional real-estate agent has access to knowledge about all of the areas including employment and educational information.  Additionally, real-estate professionals can find out about future developments, new laws and rules, and other factors that could affect your decision.  If a fixer-upper is being considered, then it is best to obtain two or three estimates for the time and materials required to bring the home up to snuff.  Unseen costs can ruin the entire investment.

Even if housing prices remain relatively stagnant, time is on the side of the homeowner.  The worst 10-year home-price return was 2.5 percent between 1963 and 2005, according to MONEY Magazine in January 2008.  In many cases, this plus factor remains true, even if the monthly mortgage payment is more than the monthly rent payment would be.  However, people with unstable incomes may want to shy away from the long-term commitment to mortgage payments.

Retirement also present a unique set of variables.  Boomers looking to sell their primary homes and downsize may be surprised to learn that they could be better off turning the entire proceeds into a fixed annuity.  Renting may save homeowner expenses such as maintenance, association fees, and property taxes and all of these costs need to be carefully factored into the equation.

A retiring couple sells a $350,000 mortgage-free home, planning to pick up a retirement home for $175,000.  Net gain will be about $152,000.  Putting that money into an annuity, the couple would get a lifetime $10,500 each year.  Now, if they decide to rent instead, they would have about $329,000 to put into the annuity, netting about $23,000 a year.  However, purchasing still beats renting if they purchase the right retirement home in the right place as described above and hold onto it for several years.

For more information about farms, horse properties, and real estate in the greater metro area, call Michael Paul of Realty Oasis at (303) 268-6052.

“Buy American. I am.”  We echo Warren Buffet’s comments in the October 17, 2008 issue of the New York Times.  With the stock market still on the roller-coaster ride of a lifetime, folks continue to pull their money out in cash equivalents.  However, real cash value is sure to deteriorate with the likely inflation caused by the Federal Reserve printing paper money for bailout appeasement.

Buffet explains the simple rule that dictates his buying principles.  “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.”  So, too, in today’s fearful market, he’s been moving his own personal investments from U.S. Government Bonds to U.S. equities.

The prices are definitely right today to invest in sound American companies and real estate.  Although in the short term, all may appear weak, the pillar companies and surrounding land are strong enough over time to endure the temporary quakes of the economy.  Buffet ventures to say that “most major companies will be setting new profit records 5, 10 and 20 years from now.” 

Nationwide, elements of the economy, especially the banking, manufacturing, and housing sectors, continue to look pretty bleak.  The fearful buyer will miss out on current deals, coupled with the unbelievably low interest rates.  Some people do remember the 18-percent interest on mortgages during the early 80s, but more and more are too young to believe that interest rates could ever go that high.

The Mile High City, with better rankings for business and employment, holds more promise for your hard-earned cash.  A diverse selection of solid companies is woven into our landscape and the local real estate market is already rebounding in many areas.

For more information about farms, horse properties, and real estate in the area, call Michael Paul of Realty Oasis at (303) 268-6052.

However, there is great fluctuation within the Denver communities.  While the metro area saw a 2.1 percent decline since October 2007 to 95 days, the average days on market for Englewood CO real estate declined 17.6 percent, Centennial 17.1 percent, and Aurora 16 percent.  Contrast that with luxury neighborhoods in Lone Tree.  Lone Tree Colorado homes experienced a 211.5 percent increase in average days on market.  Next was Littleton with 25-percent increase.  Other sampled communities had single digit increases—Castle Rock, Denver, Highlands Ranch, and Parker.

Those homes in Lone Tree did sell, however, after the long wait.  Lone Tree registered a 116.7 percent increase in sales volume over last year.  Castle Rock, Englewood, and Highlands Ranch reported double digit gains in sales volume over the last year. 

Nationally, single-family home sales dropped 3.1 percent during October.  New-home sales decreased 5.3 percent.  That latter figure includes drops of 18 percent in the West and 6 percent in the South but gains of 22.6 percent in the Northeast and 6 percent in the Midwest. 

Sales of existing condominiums and co-op units across the United States were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 550,000 units compared to the 625,000-unit sales pace in October 2007.

The patchwork of markets within the City, Metro area, and surrounding communities interestingly reflects similar fluctuations in markets across the nation.  It all goes city by city, neighborhood by neighborhood, and house by house and seems to defy a blanket rule.   Good thing numbers are edging up in the Mile High City.

For more information about homes, farms, horse properties, and real estate in the area, call Michael Paul of Realty Oasis at (303) 268-6052.

Although prices for Denver Colorado real estate are down almost three percent, residents of Denver homes are doing relatively well.  The values of Denver Colorado properties have increased tremendously over the past 20 years so the long-term equation remains stable.  Within Denver, zip codes 80204, 80216, 80239, and 80246 registered price decreases over 20 percent in the last year.  Other parts of Denver CO real estate have registered price increases including zip codes 80210, 80211, 80212, 80220, and 80238.

According to the Loan Performance Home Price Index published by the First American CoreLogic, home prices across the United States looked to have deeper issues.  Prices fell 11.3 percent in the nation.  California, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida continue to see declines in home prices.  Metropolitan areas such as Las Vegas, Nevada at 25 percent, Miami, Florida at 27 percent, Oakland, California and Riverside, California at 28 percent and Los Angeles, California at 29 percent made up for the slight gains in other communities.

Texas, South Dakota, Vermont, and Mississippi actually experienced some price appreciation.  Prices were up in the Austin, Texas area 4 percent, Houston, Texas by 3.8 percent, San Antonio, Texas by 3 percent, and Dallas, Texas by 2 percent.  Texas is seeing a faster recovery than other portions of the country.

Something else is going right in Colorado.  The Mile High City has one of the fastest growing populations in North America.  Visitors return to experience the charm, character, and charisma as well as educational, cultural, sporting, and recreational activities.  Nestled at the base of the Rocky Mountains, the City enjoys relatively mild summer and winter climates.  Homes are located in unique neighborhoods steeped with 150 years of interesting history and interwoven corresponding Historic Districts and people from all walks of life mingle at parks, open spaces, boutiques, and pedestrian malls.

For more information about farms, horse properties, and real estate in the metro area, call Michael Paul of Realty Oasis at (303) 268-6052.