Top Ten Holiday Showing Tips for Sellers

'Tis the season to hang stockings by the chimney, stuff over-sized trees into family rooms and play the dreidel. However, December is also a season when interested buyers take advantage of vacation time and slower work schedules to attend showings and open houses to gauge the real estate market before the year's end.

As homes tend to be crammed with decorations, baking and packages, and family and friends drop in without notice this time of year, the holiday season can present challenges for sellers who know the importance of keeping their listed property minimally adorned and tidy.

Good news! Selling a home over the holidays doesn't mean that you and your family can't celebrate the season.

Here is a “top ten” list of pointers that will help houses shine in this oft-cluttered holiday season.

1. Festival of lights – Exterior holiday lights can brighten up any house and really increase curb appeal. Less-is-more in this case! Opt for white lights instead of multi-color and/or flashing bulbs to provide a more taste-neutral glow to your home. A few strands of white icicle lights are always tasteful.

2. Fake it – Brightly colored plants and flowers are usually nowhere to be seen in Colorado this time of year, but you can "fake" your garden. Place frost-resistant potted plants, such as flowering kale or miniature trees, in the walkway and garden to brighten up your home's exterior and give buyers a sense of the landscape potential.

3. Let it snow – Snow can look beautiful on trees, but driveways and walkways should ALWAYS be cleared as soon as the fluffy stuff falls. Don't forget your back patio or deck and walkways around the sides of the house. Buyers should be able to move freely to all parts of the property. Keep an eye out for icicles on the roof, as they can indicate that your home has inadequate insulation.

4. Toasty and cozy – A warm home is always more inviting than one that has people
reaching for their coats. Be sure to have the heat set at a comfortable temperature for the
entire day. If possible, turn the lights on and have fireplaces and candles lit to create a cozy environment, even during daylight hours, especially for open houses.

5. Sugar and spice – To create an inviting, festive atmosphere, boil a pot of cider with
cinnamon during any open houses or showings.

6. Home sweet home – From fish, to cabbage rolls, to turkey, the holidays can be a fragrant
time of favorite holiday dishes. What appeals to you at dinner may leave an odor in your
home that not everyone will appreciate. Hold off on holiday cooking as much as
possible, especially if you know that a showing or open house is scheduled. Give
yourself permission to take this holiday off from cooking – treat yourself to a meal out at
a restaurant, or dine with family and friends!

7. A home for all seasons – Display several photos of the home's front and back yards,
gardens, and patios in spring and summer to show potential buyers what the house looks
like when it is not buried in snow, and when there are leaves on the trees and green grass.

8. Size matters – Choose a small Christmas tree and dress it minimally with decorations. A
huge tree will make your room look smaller, and busy decorations can appear messy.

9. It’s presence, not presents – It is important to cut back on clutter when listing your
home. Wrapped presents should not be on display, for aesthetic purposes and also to
ensure that they don‟t “grow legs and walk away”.

10. Less is more – When it comes to decorating and selling a home, less is always more.
When in doubt … don't.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, something else, or nothing at all, this can
be a very stressful time of year, especially if your home is for sale. Keep things simple and
remember that the most important things in life are family and friends. Please call your sales
associate at Colorado Landmark if you need advice or assistance during this holiday season.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Colorado Landmark, Realtors!

Colorado Landmark, Realtors
www.coloradolandmark.com
303-443-3377
Facebook: www.facebook.com/COLandmark
Twitter: @COLandmark

Happy Thanksgiving from Colorado Landmark, Realtors

At Colorado Landmark, Realtors, we are so thankful for the beautiful place we live, and the wonderful people we are privileged to work with on a daily basis.




Wishing everyone a very happy Thanksgiving!

Colorado Landmark, Realtors
(303) 443-3377
www.coloradolandmark.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/COLandmark
Twitter: @COLandmark

Top Ten Sales - Boulder/Broomfield Counties - Oct 18 - 31, 2010 - Treat Selling Your Home Like Buying Zucchini - GO Local!

Our economy is still struggling.  Employment is not improving at a fast enough pace.  Colorado's unemployment rate is still hovering at 8.0% for September 2010, down from 8.2% in June 2010 but up from 7.7% in May 2010 per the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Boulder County stands at 6.2% and Broomfield County is at 7.2% for September 2010.  
Approximately every other week Colorado Landmark provides detailed information on the real estate actvity in Boulder and Broomfield Counties from the past two weeks. Hopefully our analysis will help reveal what properties are selling, at what prices, how long they are are taking to sell, and other relevant information about what's going on in OUR local area - Boulder County and Broomfield County.

For the two week period from October 18 through October 31, 2010 here are the numbers:

•193 properties sold (up from 142 properties previous reported period)
•Price range of properties sold during this period: $59,000 - $2,400,000
•Median price: $305,000
•Average price: $385,529

•$0-199k = 44 sold this period (33 last period)
•$200-299K = 49 sold (38 last period)
•$300-399k = 31 sold
•$400-499k =  29 sold (13 last period)
•$500-599k = 10 sold
•$600-699k = 10 sold (4 last period)
•$700-799k = 10 sold (4 last period)
•$800-899k = 1 sold
•$900-999k = 3 sold
•$1.0-1.9M = 5 sold (15 last period)
•$2.0M+ = 1 sold

Top Ten Listings Sold during this period:

Information obtained from MLS and public record.

This period's Top Ten numbers are not very different from previous periods, and reinforce what we have been communicating all along.  Overpricing = BAD!
The four properties with the longest days on market are .... you guessed it ... the properties with the lowest ratio of sale to list price.  The home on Neher Lane was listed for over 900 days total and sold for only 39% of its' original list price.  8828 W. Phillips Road was marketed for almost 2000 days (astounding!), and sold for just over half of its' original list price.  What was going on with these sellers?  Did they dictate a sales price to their real estate professional, driven by greed, ego, or financial need?  Or did their original listing agent blow sunshine in their face and recommend an inflated list price simply to win the listing?  Shocked?  Don't be ... these things do happen.

So what's the antidote for overprice-itus?  Two simple things.

#1) Get several professional opinions about what your house is worth from local realtors that have been recommended by someone you trust.  The stress is on the word local here.  No one can do it all.  The Boulder-Denver Metro area is huge.  A real estate professional who lives in Denver and is based in Cherry Creek can't possibly be completely clued into what the Boulder-Broomfield market is doing.  Pick an agent that not only lists homes in your specific neighborhood, but actually sells them.  Ask for proof of their sales records, and testimonials or recommendations from past clients.  Many of you shop at the Boulder Farmer's Market for produce because you feel good about "buying local".  Don't you think using a local professional to help you sell your most important asset is just as important as buying a locally grown zucchini?

#2) Don't dictate a selling price to your realtor.  Please don't take offense to this but don't think that just because you have a Masters in Engineering, MBA or PhD, or are a high ranking executive at a great company that you know how to price your house.  We know Boulder and Broomfield are full of wonderful highly educated people - what a pleasure for us to work with you!  Just let us do our jobs.  A true real estate professional is on top of the market data, community trends and current inventory and they will know how to price your house appropriately.  Trust their expertise and experience!

This week's takeway - find a good local professional, and trust them to do their job.

Pam Metzger
Director of Relocation and Business Development
Colorado Landmark, Realtors
800-737-MOVE
http://www.coloradolandmark.com/
www.facebook.com/COLandmark
www.facebook.com/365ThingsBoulder

Open Houses this weekend!

Fall is a great time to see what's on the market in your neighborhoods of interest.  Check out the open houses this weekend!

Boulder-Denver Economy, OUR Nation and YOUR Real Estate - Part II

Any good real estate agent or relocation professional should stay on top of their local economic news as well as the news at the national level, and at Colorado Landmark, Realtors that's just what we try to do every week.  As I said in my previous post, last week I had the privelege of attending the Rocky Mountain Relocation Council's Fall Conference held at the Arvada Center.  My previous post was about national economic news conveyed to us by an economist from Wells Fargo Bank.

The second speaker of the morning was Cheryl Meyn from Denver's The Genesis Group.  Cheryl has an extensive background in Denver area real estate and spoke to us about economy in Colorado and specifically the 7-County Denver Metro Area.  Here are a few highlights from her presentation:

• Real estate overall:  If you look at the statistics, theoretically the Denver area real estate market bottomed out last year in 2009. 
• Unemployment:  Hovering around 8%, Colorado's unemployment rate is one of the lower rates in the nation.  We are experiencing a lessening of job losses which is giving the area economy some stability, but unfortunately not much in the way of job growth yet.  We have lost a net 45,000 jobs in this recession (at one point it was as high as 52,000) and it could take 3 years to recover from that.  Our area unemployment rate is not expected to go under 7% until late 2011.
• Mortgages and foreclosures:  18-20% of Coloradans are underwater on their mortgages, compared to 25-30% nationally, however foreclosure activity for 2010 is 10% below 2009 levels.  70% of all of the area's foreclosure activity is in Adams, Arapahoe and Denver counties.
• Housing inventory:  We have 3 years inventory of properties over $1M.  Local home builders have shown incredible restraint and we have little to no new construction inventory which has helped our resale market significantly
• Home Prices:  We have actually experienced a 3.6% increase in price activity in the last year.
• Housing Demand:  Pent up demand in our area is growing as we are seeing our population and # of households grow.  From 2005-2010 it was predicted that we would see a growth in households of 75,459 but the actual figure is 80,909.  From 2010 to 2015 we will see 80,952 additional households in our area.  Owner occupancy has declined from 66.7% in 2005 to 60.9% today and we have the lowest vacancy rates since 1994. 

So, what's in Colorado's future?  Housing will stay flat in 2010 and might improve somewhat in 2011.  Resales, which were down 8% in 2010 will see a rebound in 2011.  There are signs of improvement on the foreclosure front, and in-migration continues to be strong, with people still moving to Colorado.   All you have to do is check in with the national news media once in a while to hear various Colorado communities earning accolades for one thing or another, so it's no wonder people want to relocate here!

For Boulder County, the employment numbers are quite optimistic.  The most current numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (for August 2010) put the Boulder Metropolitan area's unemployment at 6.4%.  Broomfield County recorded a 7.1% unemployment level for August 2010, so closer to the state level of 8.0% recorded for September 2010.

On the other hand, foreclosure activity is definitely catching up with our area.  According to RealtyTrac foreclosure filings in Boulder County were up in Sept 2010 with 234 filings, the highest number in 12 months.  The highest numbers were in Louisville (75) and Longmont (67).  Month-over-month price appreciation levelled out at 0.0%.  Only 29 foreclosure properties actually SOLD in Sept 2010 though.  Foreclosure activity is expected to rise, while the # of pre-foreclosure properties rose significantly last month from the single digits to over 60 properties.  The majority of the foreclosures are in the $100-300k range.  The foreclosures in our area don't necessarily translate to huge price savings for buyers -  10% in most of the county, with 20% in Longmont.

Broomfield County saw 52 new foreclosures in Sept 2010 and actiity is also expected to rise there.  Only 10 foreclosure properties actually SOLD in Sept 2010 though.  As in Boulder County, month-over-month price appreciation levelled out at 0.0%.  The majority of the foreclosures are also in the $100-300k range.

Pam Metzger
Director of Relocation, Business Development and Finance
Colorado Landmark, Realtors
www.facebook.com/COLandmark
www.twitter.com/COLandmark 
www.facebook.com/365ThingsBoulder