Real Estate 411

Denver Existing- Home Prices Outperform Other Cities

2009-06-05T10:01:00.007-06:00

Check out this article from the Denver Business Journal By Mark Harden on the prices of existing homes in Denver that have climbed.....

http://www.discovercbtoday.com/DENVER/realitycheck/09June/09JuneArticle.html

Until Next Time,

Leigh

Search All Available homes in the Denver and surrounding areas.
http://www.bramerrealestate.com/

Another Option For First Time Home Buyers

2009-06-04T06:57:00.004-06:00

Spread the word…HUD recently announced that qualified First-Time Home Buyers who want to take advantage of the available tax credit of up to $8,000 now have another option available to them to help them become homeowners.

Between the some of the lowest rates in history, lower sales prices, the highest inventory levels we’ve seen in some time, and some of the largest seller contributions we’ve seen, now is the time to buy! Add to all this an $8,000 tax credit – and first time buyers are witnessing the perfect conditions to build their net worth by buying a home.

It's clear that first-time home buyers have been having a major impact on the housing market this year. The National Association of Realtors announced that first-time buyers, who typically account for less than 40% of home sales each year, have been especially busy…in March, homes that were purchased by first-timers accounted for 53% of all sales, and this percentage is expected to hold true for all of 2009.

With home affordability higher than ever, available tax credits and some of the lowest interest rates ever recorded for home loans, who can blame them? Particularly as a first-time buyer, there may never be a better time to buy a home than right now.

However, the availability of a tax credit, while a great incentive, does not put the money in the hands of a buyer right away. HUD's announcement now allows for prospective and qualified home buyers to borrow the money from approved agencies and lenders.

While details of participating lenders and HUD-approved agencies are not yet available, this should turn up the heat on prospective buyers to get busy searching for their next home. As further details become available, I will get them to you.

Until next time,

Leigh Bramer

Broker Associate

Coldwell Banker

Leigh@BramerRealEstate.com

720-291-1111

SEARCH ALL AVAILABLE HOMES IN THE DENVER AND SURROUNING AREAS

www.BramerRealEstate.com

DENVER-NO 1 ON VERGE OF RECOVERY

2009-05-21T07:38:00.004-06:00

I happened to catch this segment of the Today Show...and thought it quite interesting...Denver was named America's No. 1 city on the verge of recovery from the real-estate slump in a segment Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show.

If you have not seen this video clip...it is well worth watching!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30825142#30825142

Here is a recap too (from the Denver Business Journal):

Real estate expert Barbara Corcoran, a regular guest on the show, said Denver more than any other U.S. city is "clearly on a rebound."
"It's really the perfect real estate success story," she said. "It had one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation for years running, and now they've cut that foreclosure rate in half and they've turned the corner."
Denver, Corcoran said, has "a vibrant downtown, it has a high employment base, it has educated people, it has youth, [and] it has one of the biggest park systems in the country. "Everything about Denver is pointing up, up up," she added.
Rounding out Corcoran's list of cities poised for a real-estate rebound:
§ 2. Raleigh, N.C.
§ 3. Austin, Texas
§ 4. Seattle
§ 5. San Francisco

Corcoran said she included cities on her list on the basis of eight factors:
§ Job growth potential;
§ A growing population;
§ Good weather;
§ Lots of first-time buyers;
§ No overbuilding;
§ A vital downtown;
§ A well educated population; and
§ Foreclosures earlier than other cities.

Thought I'd share a bit of the GOOD news too!

Think of Buying or Selling? Just give me a call, happy to assist you.

Make Life Happen!

Leigh

Leigh Bramer
Broker Associate
720-291-1111
Leigh@BramerRealEstate.com
(SEARCH COLORADAO HOMES AT ) www.BramerRealEstate.Com

First Time Home Buyers-Affordability Index

2009-05-02T08:16:00.002-06:00

Check out this GREAT info from the National Association of Realtors regarding "The Affordability Index." Click below to view this video provided by Lori Richardson from Cherry Creek Mortgage. ….find out more…it has been very encouraging to many of my clients…and I thought it may be to you as well.

There is a lot of ‘media speak’ about the housing industry out there – and while their intention is good, sometimes their data is inaccurate at best. This is very straight forward and very important information to understand.

Click Here For The Affordability Index

Leigh Bramer

Coldwell Banker

Broker Associate

Leigh@BramerRealEstate.com

www.BramerRealEstate.com

SEARCH HOMES

Go to www.BramerRealEstate.com to search for all homes for sale in the Denver Metro Area and be the first to be notified when a home goes on the market. Find out what your home is worth now.

$8,000 First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit

2009-04-01T16:00:00.004-06:00

Purchase a Home Now and Take Advantage of the New Tax Credit of up to $8,000

A benefit that makes your new home affordable

A tax credit is available for first-time homebuyers under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. If you buy a home between January 1, 2009 and November 30, 2009, you may be eligible to receive a tax credit for 10% of the purchase price of your home—up to $8,000.

Program highlights include:

1. Any individual (and if married, their spouse) who has no ownership interest in a home during the last three years is eligible.

2. Full credit for single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 ($150,000 on a joint return); partial credit for incomes up to $95,000 ($170,000 joint return).

3. Available for the purchase of a single-family home that will be used as a principal residence. Moreover, if the new home you are purchasing is a mobile home or condo, and it is going to be your principal residence, you still qualify for the home buyer tax credit. Even building a home on a land (as opposed to purchasing a ready-made house) qualifies for the $8000 housing tax credit.

4. Homebuyers can reduce (or even eliminate) their income tax liability for the year of purchase by claiming the credit on their tax return.*

5. If the home is sold before three years, the first-time home buyer (who is now the seller) must pay the IRS the entire amount of the tax credit at closing.

*Certain eligibility criteria must be met. Homebuyers should consult their tax advisor for further details.

(Sourse: Chris Mygatt, President Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Colorado)

If you are a first-time homebuyer, now may be the ideal time to consider purchasing a home. Contact me today to learn more about the current state-of-the-market, including details on determining your purchasing power in today’s market.

Leigh Bramer

Coldwell Banker

Broker Associate

Direct: 720-291-1111

Office: 303-841-5263 x6399

Fax: 303-379-5488

Leigh@BramerRealEstate.com

http://www.bramerrealestate.com/

Top 10 List-First Time Homebuyer

2009-03-28T10:24:00.007-06:00

As The Saying Goes

Most People Don’t Plan To Fail

They Smply Fail To Plan

1. Know your credit score…. plan ahead for this event. Improving your FICO score can save you thousands of dollars on your mortgage. Check with your Realtor® if you need a referral for a good lender to determine what your credit score is and to get a plan of action to better your score if needed.

2. Choose a lender that has experience and that you trust. There are many great first time homebuyer loans that are available with little or no money down, find out what is best for you.

3. Formally meet with a lender and get pre-approved verses just pre-qualified for a loan before you start looking. There is nothing worse than finding a home out of you price range. You will need to be pre-approved to strengthen your offer.

4. Work with a Realtor® that specializes in the area you are looking and that has experience, is trust worthy and that you enjoy working with. Remember you will be spending a lot of time with your Realtor®.

5. Discuss the different agencies available with your Realtor®. Buyers usually do not pay a commission which it is most often paid by the Seller. Be sure to clarify this with your Realtor® before making an offer.

6. Work with you Realtor® to determine what area is best for you. A Realtor® can help you with school information, proximity to parks, shopping, market stats, etc….

7. Be prepared….. you more that likely will not be able to find the “perfect” home, make a list of what your top priorities in a house are. You need to be realistic.

8. Determine how long you will be in the property….depending on how long you will be in a property may make a difference in what property is best to purchase. Discuss this with your Realtor®.

9. Ask your Lender and Accountant about the new $8,000 first time homebuyer credit (and in most cases, the buyer does not have to repay the tax credit). This will not last forever so check with your Lender.

10. Most of all make this one of the best experiences of your life by planning a head and taking the proper steps.

Buying your first home can be one of the greatest joys in life so make it a good one,

Leigh

Leigh Bramer

Coldwell Banker

Broker Associate

Direct: 720-291-1111

Leigh@BramerRealEstate.com

Go to www.BramerRealEstate.com to search for all available homes for sale in the Denver Metro Area.

HOME MARKET WATCH-DENVER AND SURROUNDING AREA

2009-03-28T08:52:00.004-06:00

I heard someone earlier this week say that the housing market has gone from a slow crawl to a brisk walk. I think that is the perfect metaphor to explain the recent changes in the real estate market. The market is coming back. It’s not roaring, but it’s coming back.

This week, according to Reuters.com, U.S. mortgage applications jumped as record low interest rates spurred a surge in demand for home refinancing loans. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, increased 32.2 percent to 1,159.4 for the week ended March 20. Refinancing accounted for 78.5 percent of all applications.

Furthermore, interest rates on mortgages fell after the Federal Reserve last week said it would buy Treasury securities for the first time in more than four decades as well as more than double its planned purchases of mortgage-related securities. Reuters.com reported that “Borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, excluding fees, averaged 4.63 percent, down 0.26 percentage point from the previous week, reaching a record low….Interest rates were well below year-ago levels of 5.74 percent.”

Meanwhile, according to Realty Times, housing starts took a surprise jump of 22 percent in February over January's depressed levels. Most of the increase was attributable to apartments and condominiums, but single family starts were up by one percentage point, and new home permits were up by 11 percent, after months of sharp declines.

Existing home sales are also seeing some good trends. NAR reported this week that sales activity for single family, town homes, condominiums and co-ops rose 5.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.72 million units in February from a pace of 4.49 million units in January.

Last week I recommended that you watch Coldwell Banker president and CEO, Jim Gillespie on CNBC’s “Roadmap to Rebound” which focused on the state of the housing market. If you missed it, Gillespie stated that “the government could do a lot more than they are already doing in order to get the real estate market moving again.” Congressmen and economists continually say that in order to get the economy going, we need to first get real estate going. Gillespie believes that two key changes are needed in order to get the economy moving, and the first item that needs to be addressed is to set a fixed-rate mortgage. “Lowering the interest rate to 4% to 4.5% for 12 months is one way to get the inventory moving.” Along with setting a fixed-rate mortgage, increasing the tax credit to $15,000 and including all buyers of primary residences will help move buyers along and get the market to shift.

Gillespie also stated that the demand side needs to be looked at closely, because once we start to burn off the inventory that we currently have, prices will begin to stabilize and go up again, which will help those in distressed situations. “Fifty-five percent of loan modifications have failed after six months because jobs are not being created and homeowners are losing the jobs they have,” says Gillespie. “In order to create jobs, we need to create demand, both of which will get the housing market and economy moving.”

I for one appreciate seeing our leadership team speaking out on our behalf, serving as the visionaries for our industry. It’s enlightening and certainly makes me proud.

Now, let’s take a look at this week in real estate:

Denver Central—Our Denver Central office reported that spring is adding many new observers to open houses and the low rates combined with the new tax incentives have many buyers anxious to tie up a property to add to the interest deductions they get normally. They know the longer they are in the home the more interest is available to deduct for 2009 tax year. With the new additional incentives it makes for a nice bonus around April 2010.
Douglas County—Our Southwest Metro office reports that showings this past weekend were the best yet! Our open house activity was fantastic with Agents having such busy open houses that some ran out of flyers! Buyers seem anxious to find homes and our Agents are busy writing offers. It seems as though sellers and buyers are beginning to see a little light at the end of the tunnel. There is excitement around the office and among the Agents.
El Paso County—Our Colorado Springs office reports that open houses are still active. We’re seeing lots of buyers in town just checking things out to see if they want to accept a transfer to Colorado Springs. USAA transferees from Sacramento are getting several options for relocating as are some Lockheed people from San Jose. Foreclosures are slowing down as are short sales. Buyers get frustrated when they try one and avoid them after that. Lenders are tightening up finally.
North Metro—The North Metro office notes that the market under $250,000 is very hot right now. Inventory is low and several homes are getting multiple offers. Interest rates are low and buyers have gotten off the fence.
Parker—Listings as well as showings were up again last week. The traffic through open houses is way above average. For the first time in months we see stable values in some communities. Canterberry Crossing, Stonegate and other established neighborhoods show a drastic increase in sales activity. More and more, energy priced listings receive multiple offers. We continue to watch the trend closely and are confident that we will be able to announce a shifting market for some areas in Douglas County soon.
Southeast Metro—Showing activity continues to increase. Our office set 660 showings last week! Several market adjustments were put into place on our listings. Lots of traffic at open houses and buyers are making offers quicker as inventory continues to decrease in the price range $200,000 to $300,000. Outer areas are still sluggish as inventory is at a stand still.

(Source: Chris Mygatt, President and Chief Operating Officer, Coldwell Banker Colorado)

After a week of positive indicators, my best advice is for buyers to get out there. There are some fantastic deals out there right now and as more people begin to realize it, competition will come back and begin to drive activity. You know what they say about the early bird.

Leigh Bramer

Coldwell Banker

Broker Associate

Direct: 720-291-1111

Leigh@BramerRealEstate.com

http://www.bramerrealestate.com/

GREAT NEWS FIRST TIME HOMEBUYERS

2009-02-27T15:00:00.004-07:00

NOW MAY BE THE PERFECT TIME TO BUY FOR FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS

New $8,000 first time home buyer credit (and in most cases, the buyer does not have to repay the tax credit). Certain criteria must be met so talk to your accountant.
Reinstatement of FHA, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae loan limits. These limits were equal to the greater of 125% of the 2008 local area median home price or $271,050 for FHA and $417,000 for Fannie and Freddie, with an overall maximum cap of $729,750.
Historically low interest rates. Mortgage rates can affect a consumer’s purchasing power. The fact is, right now interest rates are low—certainly by historical standards—and these low rates translate to increased purchasing power for buyers.
Though we have seen decreasing inventory in many of our markets over the last several weeks, we still do have quite a bit of inventory in many markets. This translates to more choices for buyers. We are also anticipating that Spring will bring on a lot of good, new inventory for us and that should bring in a surge of new buyers—for today’s buyer’s, that’s competition for you.

My point in all of this is that you may not want to make the mistake of waiting. Sitting on the sidelines could cost you plenty in terms of higher housing prices, increased competition, fewer choices and higher interest rates. We live in one of the most desirable areas in the world and regardless of the recent slowing in the market, there is still plenty of pent-up demand. Even some of the most pessimistic analysts are not predicting a decline in home prices, simply a slowing of appreciation aren’t rates.The lesson I’d like to leave you with this week is that waiting for the real estate market to hit rock bottom may be a mistake. The only way to know that the market has “hit rock bottom” is when it is on its way up and by then, the window of opportunity is gone.

The current housing market offers a unique window of opportunity for confident buyers. The exciting news is that for the first time in quite a while, the stars are in alignment for consumers: mortgage rates remain low (certainly by historical standards), loan limits have been raised, there is an $8,000 first time home buyer credit and there is a large selection of homes to choose from. Now truly may be the time to buy and you may not want to make the mistake of waiting; because my guess is that if we were able to jump ahead 10 years from now, we’ll be looking at this market as a thing of the past—a time when we all probably should have been buying a lot more real estate. (Source:Chris Mygatt, President and Chief Operating Officer, Coldwell Banker Colorado)

SEARCH DENVER METRO HOMES @ http://www.BramerRealEstate.com/

For all you Real Estate Needs Contact:

Leigh Bramer

Realtor

Coldwell Banker

720-291-1111

Leigh@BramerRealEstate.com

Welcome To Colorado

2009-02-27T13:43:00.002-07:00

When people are relocating to Colorado or just looking for a change in lifestyle, they want to incorporate everything Colorado has to offer. I specialize in taking the time to help buyers find homes in the perfect communities in the Denver Metro Area. Some of the counties I specialize within include Douglas County (City Of Parker, Highlands Ranch, Castle Rock, Castle Pines North, Franktown, Louviers, Larkspur, Lone Tree) - Elbert County (city of Elizabeth, Kiowa, Elbert) - Arapahoe County (City of Aurora, Centennial, Littleton, Englewood, Foxfield, Cherry Hills Village, Glendale, Greenwood Village) - Jefferson County (Arvada, Edgewater, Golden, Littleton, Morrison, Mountain View, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, Lakewood) - Denver County (City of Denver).

The Denver Metro Area has something great to offer everyone. There are so many amazing communities to choose from. Just to mention a few: Idyllwilde, Canterberry, Highlands Ranch, The Timbers, Pradera, Washington Park, Stonegate, Heritage Estates, Heritage Hills, Horse Creek, South Shore, Cherry Creek, Cherry Hills, Bradbury and much more.

Go to www.BramerRealEstate.com to search for homes for sale in the Denver Metro Area.

Leigh Bramer

Realtor

Coldwell Banker

720-291-1111

Leigh@BramerRealEstate.com

http://www.bramerrealestate.com/