When Should I Start Looking for a Home?

Looking for a home can be one of the most exciting things you do; it signifies that you’re completely independent and ready to handle the responsibilities of homeownership. Whether you’ve decided to take the plunge at 30 or 60, buying your first home is always an overwhelming but exciting experience. Unfortunately, some buyers can start looking for homes far before they’re ready to buy, getting themselves too excited and let down, while others start to look too late, which can either interfere with wedding plans, babies on the way, or moving for a job. So when is the “right” time to look for a home?

Employment – If you’re moving to a new city for a great new job, you may want to hold off on your house hunt. For first time buyers, it’s hard enough to buy in your own city, dealing with real estate professionals you may know or at least have good references for. Moving to a new city can be overwhelming enough on its own; the last thing you need to add to your plate is a house hunt with a complete stranger. If you’re looking for a home in your own city, however, we recommend that you’ve been working for your current employer for at least six months and that you have your payment history ready for your lender. If you’re a newer employee, banks will want to see that you’ve made money in this industry, and may require that you have proof of past paystubs and records.

Time to Qualify – Qualifying as a new home buyer can be difficult, and you’ll want to get started as soon as you’re looking at homes. Unfortunately banks have tightened up lately, and you’re not going to be as likely to find “easy” financing, so you’ll want to make sure you’re at least pre-qualified for a house, or else you’re wasting your time and your agent’s time.

Time to Close – Plenty of people like to time their Cherry Creek homes for sale purchase just right; whether it be at the end of their apartment’s lease period, after a new addition to the family, or to have their dream home ready to move into on their way back from their honeymoon. If your heart is set on having a specific closing date, we suggest you start a month or more earlier. You can always ask if you can tack on extra time for closing, but if you cut it too short, a lender’s two week delay, the city requiring permits, or even an extended inspection period can throw off your whole timeline.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

Part II: Why Hire a Cherry Creek Real Estate Agent?

Making offers with an agent can help put your mind at ease, since agents know the correct forms, the right legal verbiage and they will make sure your contingencies are included to help preserve your deposit in the event that the deal falls through. If you plan on doing this on your own without any real estate or law experience, you could be seriously endangering yourself and your interest in the property.

Negotiating – Once you make your offer, you’re likely to get one of three responses; an acceptance, a counter-offer or a “no” (which usually comes in the form of complete silence). Unless you plan on offering full price or something very attractive for the seller, you’ll usually wind up with a counter-offer. This is where a real estate agent really knows how to shine, since they understand not only market values of properties, but how much wiggle room there is in negotiations, and how to make your offer the “best” without necessarily making it the “highest.” Negotiating directly with the seller or the listing agent can put you at an extreme disadvantage for quite a few reasons; you have no one to bounce ideas off of. It’s you and you alone making these offers, you may have your spouse or advice from your family, but even if your valuation is fair, you don’t have a professional to back you up. Secondly, if you’re dealing with the listing agent directly, you may find yourself being pressured, pushed and convinced in a different direction. Real estate agents are master salespeople, and if you don’t have one on your side then you need to be able to push back. Lastly, real estate agents can help add a buffer to the negotiations. A lot of times negotiations can get a bit intense and even emotional. Agents understand how to minimize issues and to keep disagreements from becoming personal.

Protecting your Interests – Unless you plan on making offers on FSBO properties only, you will be dealing with the listing agent, who has been hired by, and is being paid by the homeowner. If you walk into the deal without an agent of your own, the listing agent then becomes the transaction broker or a dual agent, which is supposed to transfer their responsibility to both the seller and buyer. The thing about that is the seller is paying the commission for the agents either way, so you’re actually not saving yourself any money by eliminating your representation.Making offers with an agent can help put your mind at ease, since agents know the correct forms, the right legal verbiage and they will make sure your contingencies are included to help preserve your deposit in the event that the deal falls through. If you plan on doing this on your own without any real estate or law experience, you could be seriously endangering yourself and your interest in the property.

Negotiating – Once you make your offer, you’re likely to get one of three responses; an acceptance, a counter-offer or a “no” (which usually comes in the form of complete silence). Unless you plan on offering full price or something very attractive for the seller, you’ll usually wind up with a counter-offer. This is where a real estate agent really knows how to shine, since they understand not only market values of properties, but how much wiggle room there is in negotiations, and how to make your offer the “best” without necessarily making it the “highest.” Negotiating directly with the seller or the listing agent can put you at an extreme disadvantage for quite a few reasons; you have no one to bounce ideas off of. It’s you and you alone making these offers, you may have your spouse or advice from your family, but even if your valuation is fair, you don’t have a professional to back you up. Secondly, if you’re dealing with the listing agent directly, you may find yourself being pressured, pushed and convinced in a different direction. Real estate agents are master salespeople, and if you don’t have one on your side then you need to be able to push back. Lastly, real estate agents can help add a buffer to the negotiations. A lot of times negotiations can get a bit intense and even emotional. Agents understand how to minimize issues and to keep disagreements from becoming personal.

Protecting your Interests – Unless you plan on making offers on FSBO Cherry Creek homes for sale only, you will be dealing with the listing agent, who has been hired by, and is being paid by the homeowner. If you walk into the deal without an agent of your own, the listing agent then becomes the transaction broker or a dual agent, which is supposed to transfer their responsibility to both the seller and buyer. The thing about that is the seller is paying the commission for the agents either way, so you’re actually not saving yourself any money by eliminating your representation.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

Part II: Buying & Selling FAQs

I’d like to list my home for $10,000 over Fair Market Value since so many buyers bid low on homes but my agent advises against it. Why?

Listing your home at fair market value is the smartest and easiest way to sell your home quickly. You have hired an agent to help you sell, and this is one piece of advice that they’ve definitely gotten right. Listing your home above fair market value will scare potential buyers away. They may think you’re stubborn and unwilling to negotiate, especially if you’ve asked your agent to list the property against their recommendation. Properties that are priced fairly are the ones that get showings, showings lead to offers and offers lead to a sale. Overpriced properties can sit on the market for over 60 days without a single showing. If you stage your home properly and make sure your agent is doing their part to market the property, you shouldn’t have any problems receiving fair offers on the property.

Should I list my property for less than fair market value to create a bidding war?

This is completely your choice, but we would advise against listing your property below the fair market value. Even though selling the property is completely your choice, you may get one buyer that sees the property and immediately places an offer before they have any competition. They may try to come in at full price, thinking that you’d have to accept, since it’s all you’re asking for the property. While you ultimately can reject any offer, even one above your asking price, it makes you look like you’re wasting their time. Also, depending on the state you live in agents can get very upset about a denied full-price offer. Some agents take their commissions very seriously and feel if they brought a ready and willing buyer to the table that offered full price, that the commission is owed to them, whether you close or not.

How Do I know what my home is worth?

This is one of the best reasons to hire a licensed real estate agent, since they know your market and can give you a very accurate price on your property. An agent will perform a Comparative Market Analysis, which takes into consideration any Cherry Creek homes for sale that have sold in the past three months that are comparable to your property. They may use an average of price per square foot or they may use their own adjustments to come to a final price for you.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

Part I: Why Didn’t My House Sell?

Homeowners have faced an incredibly frustrating past few years; they’re trying to sell in a “buyers” market; if their home isn’t in mint condition and priced fairly, they can kiss the idea of selling fast goodbye. Unfortunately, many homeowners think that hiring a licensed real estate agent to sell their home is the only step they need to take, when in reality, an agent can only help facilitate the sale, they can’t make improvements to the property or lower the price without the owner’s consideration. So if you’ve been blaming your agent for your home sitting on the market, you may want to turn that finger around and point to the real problem. Sellers are responsible for keeping their home at a fair price, fixing any glaring maintenance issues and keeping the property in “show quality” at all times.

So what might you have done wrong as the homeowner if your home has sat on the market for months or even years? Here are just a few possible answers:

Price – If your home is listed too high, you might sit on the market for months without even a slight inquiry or showing. Homeowners don’t seem to understand the concept that pricing their property at a fair market value will actually send a rush of buyers through. All buyers are looking for a deal, especially in this economic climate. Some homeowners will think that it only takes that one special buyer, who has decided to fall head over heels in love with their home and is willing to pay more than it’s worth (usually paying the difference out of pocket, as a lender will refuse to finance a home for more than it’s worth). If that doesn’t sound crazy, then the next justification that many sellers use is this “if I price my Cherry Creek homes for sale over market value and I get a lowball offer, we can meet somewhere in the middle at the fair market value.” Unfortunately, neither of these tactics work, since buyers won’t even entertain the idea of looking at an overpriced home. Buyers consider their time valuable, and since there is a major inventory of properties on the market right now, they don’t even need to consider looking at yours; there are probably three just like it priced $20,000 less. Take the time to listen to your real estate agent on this. They know property values and understand the importance of pricing your property right.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

Should I Hire a Property Management Company?

So you’ve acquired an investment property; possibly through an inheritance, possibly through a home you just can’t sell, or maybe you’ve bought the home for a nice source of income. For whatever reason you have a new second home, you’re new to the income property world and you’re looking at your options. You may think you can handle showing your property, qualifying a great tenant, collecting late or missed rent payments and handling your tenants’ every question and concern, or you may realize you’ve gotten yourself in too deep. One of your best options for handling your rental property is to hire a property manager. Here are just a few ways a property management company can ease your rental woes:

Showing your place and qualifying your tenants – This is one of the best ways a property management company can help you, is by showing your apartment and qualifying your tenants for you. If you have a job that doesn’t allow for flexibility, showing your place can get to be difficult and even downright frustrating. Not only can a property management company send out licensed and qualified real estate agents to show your Cherry Creek homes for sale, but they can make sure your tenant is qualified to rent your place. Property management companies put candidates through a rigorous pre-qualifying process, which includes a criminal history check, a credit check, rental history as well as income verification. This helps protects your interest, since you can feel more confident that you’ll be paid on-time each month.

Collecting rent and handling maintenance requests – Collecting rent once a month doesn’t sound too difficult, until your tenants are unable to pay. Many landlords really end up liking their tenants and feel very sympathetic if they’re unable to pay their rent on-time. This skews the landlord-tenant relationship, and can put the financial pressure on you. A property management company has leases and processes in place to ensure that you’re either getting your rent on-time, or else the tenant will need to face an eviction. There are less hurt feelings, since the expectations are clearly outlined in the lease, before they’re even handed the keys. Collecting rent can be a pain, but if you have a needy tenant who calls every time a lightbulb goes out, you will find that the management of the property is just as much of a pain. Some tenants are quite agreeable, but you still may be making house calls once or twice a month with your valuable time, when you could leave all of those issues to a property management company.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

Part I: When Should I Sell my Home?

Selling your home can be a stressful and emotional experience, and it’s different for everyone. Some people finally decide to leave their home in search for more space, a new career, to downsize, to upgrade; there are a thousand reasons why someone might want to move. Deciding whether it’s right for you or not, however, is a very personal choice. If you’re considering making the big move, here are just a few factors to consider first:

Short Sale – If you’re moving because your home is no longer worth what you paid for it and you can no longer stand paying on it, you may want to rethink your decision. The Short Sale Forgiveness Act officially ran out December 31st of 2012. While there have been talks of extending the Act for upside down homeowners, nothing has been decided. This Act was protecting homeowners from being fully responsible for the debt they owed the bank. The banks only way to recoup any monies owed to them was to consider the loss as a “loss of income” with the homeowners taking responsibility for the “gained” income. If your sole intent of moving is to rid yourself of your overpriced housing baggage, you may want to wait and see where this Act will go in the next few months.

Closing Costs – How long have you lived at your current home? If your answer is less than a few years, you might want to pull out your calculator and make sure moving is worth it. If your motivation for moving is monetary, you might want to consider how much closing costs on the current Cherry Creek homes for sale and your new purchase will be costing you. Often times closing costs can amount to about 10% of the home’s value; which a buyer may or may not ask for assistance on. It’s important for you to run your numbers and see if your few years of home living have been worth the move; or if your gained equity will be lost on the selling. As the real estate market has leveled off, homeowners have not seen the steady appreciation in value, making the closing cost factor an even bigger factor in their decision to sell or not.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

Part II: Hiring a Cherry Creek Real Estate Agent

While selling strategy is essential when looking to hire a good listing agent, you’ll also need to know they plan on pricing your home. Often times, although a real estate agent is more skilled in pricing homes, they will want to be much more aggressive than you will in selling quickly. This is another key difference in real estate in areas like Cherry Creek; more expensive homes tend to take a bit longer to sell. Not only are buyers more conscious of their money, but jumbo loans (loans of $417,000 or more) tend to take longer to process and approve. If you have the time and patience to wait for the right price on your home, you need to be honest with the listing agent from the start. If you and the agent are over 15% off on an agreed listing price, you may need to find an agent willing to work closer towards your number. If you feel that every agent has fallen in the same price range, you may need to adjust your expectations. It’s very common for sellers to think their Cherry Creek homes for sale are somehow special or above fair market value. If you don’t receive at least one offer in 45 days on the market, you may need to lower your list price.

When hiring a Buyer’s Agent – Hiring a buyer’s agent is a bit more difficult, since a buyer’s agent can show you their past sales, but can’t quantify any of their data. With a listing agent, they may have a great closing percentage, or sell within a certain time frame. They have numbers to show their performance. With a buyer’s agent, sometimes they can’t show that they were able to shave off thousands of the asking price, since the buyer may have adamantly wanted to offer full price to guarantee the acceptance. When looking for a buyer’s agent, you’re better off looking at their references and recommendations. Many agents are versatile, and understand that giving the client what they want is paramount. A good agent will have rave reviews across the board; whether their buyer was looking for a quick, cash closing on a fixer upper, or they were a young family looking for months for the perfect, move-in ready home. If the buyers were looking for a steal, the agent will have gotten them one, or if they were admittedly picky, but the agent remained persistent and motivated, a good review should tell that as well.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

Cherry Creek Real Estate Agents

Cherry Creek Real Estate Agents are ready to help get you into (or out of) a home! Denver real estate is starting to pick up, so if you’ve been patiently waiting on the sideline for the right time to buy or sell, you may want to start looking for an agent.

Cherry Creek Statistics – Cherry Creek is one of the most prestigious areas in the Denver, Colorado area. The median list price for homes in this area is almost $700,000, with median sales prices falling in the $530,000 price range. There are currently 143 listings for sale in the Cherry Creek area and over a third are currently under contract. While the projection for Cherry Creek is a five month absorption rate for the current inventory of homes, we’re expecting to see a spike of activity once the holidays pass.

Denver Market Trends – Home prices are finally starting to rise! This is incredibly exciting not just for sellers, but buyers as well. Why buyers? Wouldn’t buyers always want rock bottom prices? Well, that’s where it gets complicated because how can you tell you’ve gotten the lowest price possible if you’re buying on the decline? Now that prices are turning around, we’re sure buyers would happily pay a few extra thousand over the course of thirty years rather than buy with the suspicion that their home will be losing value each day after purchasing. So how much are prices increasing? Just a steady 3-5% as of now, and the inventory on homes are decreasing at a rate of 6%.

Why Hire an Agent? – Hiring an agent for your Cherry Creek homes for sale needs is incredibly important, because they not only can help you negotiate an amazing deal, but they can quickly get you from the contract to the closing with less hold ups, issues and fall-throughs. Having a real estate agent on your side is a great buffer to help you qualify potential buyers, or if you’re hiring a buyer’s agent, they can qualify your properties. Buyer’s Agents help evaluate the fair market value on properties and can reason with sellers and sellers agents to try to get you the best deal possible.

What to Look for in an Agent – Cherry Creek Agents can offer you the peace of mind in buying or selling your property. If you’re looking for a qualified agent, ask about their experience, a list of references and possibly set up an interview at their broker’s office.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

Why Sell your Home as a FSBO?

Buying and selling real estate without a professional, licensed real estate agent can be incredibly tricky and often times, can land you in a mess. If you have plenty of knowledge of real estate, marketing and legal matters, however, you may be able to sell “For Sale by Owner” and save yourself a six percent commission.

You understand the real estate market – Knowing the real estate market is crucial if you plan on selling your home on your own. Pricing your own home is one of the most difficult things in real estate, since often times home owners think their home is special or extraordinary. Another way to price your property wrong is to look at listing prices, instead of SOLD prices. Your next door neighbor with a very similar may have listed their home for $250,000, but after six months of zero showings and offers, their real estate agent may have suggested to list at a more reasonable fair market value of $220,000, which landed them an offer just weeks later. If you only knew the $250,000, you may assume they were able to get their full asking price for their home and list yours accordingly. Basically, the way real estate agents say it is that “anyone can list their home for any amount, however, a correctly priced piece of property will sell within one to two months, and an overpriced home will not.”

You know marketing very well – One of the biggest things homeowners don’t understand about real estate is marketing. Your agent is an expert in networking, marketing and advertising, and they know exactly how to get your home the exposure it needs. If you think you can and will take the initiative to get your Cherry Creek homes for sale up on the online listing sites and in newspapers, you have a start on what your listing agent would be doing. Real estate agents not only have access to the MLS, but they also have so many connections in the real estate industry that often times they already know of two or three potential buyers before even listing your property.

You understand the legalities involved – If you plan on selling without a real estate agent, it’s imperative that you have an experienced attorney or title company help walk you through the contracts. If you are short selling your property, you will need a short sale specialist to work with your mortgage company, and it would completely behoove you to hire an agent, since you’re selling for a loss already.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

Considering Buying a Denver Home?

So you’re thinking of buying a new home! House hunting is one of the most exciting and liberating things a person can do; you’re investing in your future and building a home for you and your family. While most renters are incredibly excited to buy their own home, some can’t jump in too quickly and feel incredibly overwhelmed with all the new responsibilities of homeownership. One of the biggest differences between buying a home and renting is the list of unexpected expenses; they can come in the form of maintenance, repairs, and shifting utility bills, taxes, insurance and homeowner’s association dues. Renters often times go from a flat, monthly rate that fits nicely in their budget to a major spike in unexpected and fluctuating expenses. While homeownership provides an endless amount of benefits like tax deductions and investing towards your future, we want every potential home buyer to consider the following before deciding to buy a home:

New Expenses – Most renters are aware of paying a utility, cable, and even water bill, so many of these expenses won’t come as a shock to them. What can confuse and frustrate a new homeowner is fluctuating taxes, insurance bills and homeowner’s association dues, and usually they don’t “fluctuate” to your advantage. Luckily, most mortgage brokers will escrow your taxes and insurance into your mortgage payment, so you will still have one bill, but if you make a claim or your insurance goes up due to natural disasters or a new flood zone designation, that can be an extra monthly expense that you weren’t expecting. Taxes also tend to increase each year, so if you’re not making more money each year, you’ll feel a bit more pinched. One of the ways to minimize any crazy jumps in HOA dues is to join your association and be an active voice in meetings. Many times residents are encouraged to take an active role on the board, and can truly make positive changes and can even take control of the budget, but very few actually do.

Savings – As much as we love new homebuyers, we really like to encourage having a decent emergency fund set up before looking to buy any Cherry Creek homes for sale. We’re talking not only savings for any major repairs like a roof, A/C or water heater, but an emergency savings in case you get injured, laid off or in a car accident. What happens if you can’t work for a few months? Even held up in a lawsuit, your mortgage is still due every month. We suggest homebuyers have at least six months of expense money saved up before buying a home as well.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.