Steve Remmert Hosts Easter Egg Hunt

Boulder real estate expert Steve Remmert hosts his Annual Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt in conjunction with Boulder Lending Group.

Sunday, April 12 @ 12:00 noon

North Boulder Park

• Open to children of all ages
• Bring a basket to collect your goodies
• Special appearance by the Easter Bunny
• Bongo the Clown
• Face Painting
• Juggling Show
• Golden Eggs and special prizes

For questions contact Steve Remmert directly 303-302-8833 or sremmert@coloradolandmark.com

Home Sellers - Let's Take Action Together!

Historic evidence shows us that at any given time in a healthy real estate marketplace that 25% of its standing inventory should be under contract at all times. This is not the case in Boulder’s luxury real estate market and it concerns me. Are we really in a healthy place or are we fooling ourselves? I think the latter and the numbers and statistics are proving me right.

So … it is time for our friends and clients to take note and make real changes. Price Changes! In the past I have on occasion lost listings to other brokers. On my exit interview with the seller I have more often than not heard “ Why didn’t you tell me it was price, we are flexible”. Well now it is official, we need price reductions of some consequence to function correctly to get us back to normal.

If there are 115 homes listed over $2,000,000 and 5 of those homes are currently under contract, we actually need 25-30 homes under contract to mark the bottom of the market and put full recovery under way. I want our listings at Colorado Landmark, Realtors to lead the way to that recovery. So when people ask me about the local real estate market, market recovery and the “reality of realty”, I would love to say we lead the way from stagnation to normal and beyond.

Sellers … here is your mission for the next 90 days:

• Lower your listing price - your agent can help with strategic price positioning
  
• consider owner financing as a way to attract additional buyers


• stage your home and don't forget about the front yard


• anticipate and neutralize known cosmetic or maintenance issues that could pull buyers off the fence in the wrong direction


• look into solving buyer problems with creative ideas and methods, such as exchanges and leasing options
  

… and most of all, full out effort by the whole team – sellers, agents, and companies.

We can do this and do it together. Don’t come to me months from now and say “I wish I had lowered my price for the spring market” and be disappointed that you are headed into next fall or winter still sitting on the sidelines. Now is the time!

Joel Ripmaster

Owner / Managing Broker

Colorado Landmark, Realtors

joelripmaster@coloradolandmark.com

Boulder Farmers Market Opens This Weekend!

The Boulder Farmer’s Market opens this Saturday, and runs Saturdays from 8 am – 2pm and Wednesday evenings from 4pm – 8pm until mid-fall on 13th Street next to Central Park in downtown Boulder.

The market is a great way to support local farmers and businesses and pick up delicious, seasonal, natural & organic produce, as well as tons of prepared foods, fresh flowers, and enjoy all the wonderful things that Boulder has to offer. It is also THE place to see and be seen by the hip Boulder set if you are into that kind of thing!

Big snow predicted for tomorrow though - not so great for the opening weekend, so let's hope that the weather forecasters are misinformed!

For more information check out http://www.boulderfarmers.org/

This information posted by:

Jennifer Fly

Broker Associate, Colorado Landmark, Realtors

jenniferfly@coloradolandmark.com

303-302-8823 (direct)

Reality Bytes - Boulder County Home Inventories

When I say I can sympathize with frustrated homeowners whose properties haven't sold yet, I really mean it, because my own home is for sale too. I have been considering a price reduction on my property, so I decided to do some research on inventory levels in my home's market area. It occurred to me that other folks in Boulder County might want this information too.

Here's what I did ... I found the number of homes sold in various price categories for the last six months, from September 2008 through March 2009. Then I compared that with the current inventory as of yesterday, April 1st 2009. With some simple math I determined the number of months worth of inventory in each price range. This gives a seller an idea of how long it may take to sell their home.

And let me tell you ... the news ain't good, at least in some price ranges. Not so great for sellers that is, but great for buyers because there is a lot to choose from. Overall the most dismal news is in the high end condo market in the City of Boulder. And not surprising is the glut of homes in county inventory over the $1.5M price point. The good news ... if you have a home between $200-500k you can expect to sell it within approximately 6 months or less. In the chart below, if you see "none sold" instead of a number of months of inventory it is because no properties sold in that price range from September 2008 through March 2009, which in itself is a significant statistic.

A couple of notes ..

• The numbers represent the number of months it would take for all of the existing inventory to sell, assuming that the rate at which buyers are purchasing remains the same and no new inventory is added.


• The existing inventory is just a snapshot in time. Inventory changes daily and usually increases in the spring and summer. But there are also more buyers during this time as well.


• Unfortunately not every home is saleable in its current condition - some properties are just too flawed to attract a buyer without deep, deep discounting.
  

If you would like a similar analysis of inventory in your neighborhood don't hesitate to contact me!

Pam Metzger

Director of Relocation

pam@coloradolandmark.com

303-302-8839 (direct)

Next Generation Sources for Real Estate Information

If you want to really get your finger on the pulse of what is happening in the real estate market today you need to find the people who know your market, and then listen, listen, listen, and ask questions. And no you don't have to stalk someone, at least not physically! But you can lurk around in various on-line communities like Facebook, and (my new favorite) Twitter, and see what people are saying.

We have all heard the quip that a national real estate forecast/report is about as relevant to you as an individual as a national weather forecast. This has some truth to it, but don't swallow this whole. There are some great minds posting thoughts and analysis on-line about real estate and the economy that don't necessarily live in your community. There are also some great minds IN your community, so you need to identify who they are and check to see if they are active in any of the on-line communities or if they have a blog.

Blogs are also a great source for some good reads about real estate. Remember when you are reading a blog that the content posted is based largely on opinion, so find someone whose opinion you are interested in and then hit it regularly.

Don't be scared off by on-line social media! Facebook is really easy to use and you don't have to put any personal information out there if you don't want to. There are plenty of ways to play around with your privacy settings if you do want to post something personal to restrict access. Twitter is all about short snippets of information and links to blogs and websites that might contain the information you are looking for. You can lurk and never post anything if you don't want to, and nothing has to be personal.

If you are interested in getting real estate information on-line here is your "to do" list:

• Look for me on Twitter and find out who I am following - @pmcolorado - and then check out their websites and blogs
• Look for sources on Facebook and find out who they are networking with. Search on key terms - boulder, homes, real estate, etc... to find groups and people of interest
• Check out http://therealestatebeat.com/ - a great blog from the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World network
• Check out http://www.luxuryportfolio.com/blog/2008 - a blog on luxury real estate and all things luxury from the Luxury Portfolio Fine Property Collection
• National home info - http://www.housingwire.com/
• HGTV's Real Estate website - great Guides & articles, find homes - http://www.frontdoor.com/
• News and articles, world-wise home search capability - http://www.relohomesearch.com/
• Good local Boulder area real estate blogger - http://www.boulder-buzz.com/
• Subscribe to THIS blog!

Pam Metzger
Director of Relocation
pam@coloradolandmark.com
303-302-8839 (direct)