I was talking to a friend the other day and the subject of real estate came up. It seems like these days everyone likes to talk about the real estate market.  This friend wasn’t in the market right now to do anything, instead she was just curious about home values for her Highlands Ranch neighborhood.

If you read my blog regularly then you have likely heard me talking about absorption rates, especially regarding market statistics.  I’ve tried to explain how it relates to home sellers and buyers but it occurred to me that for many, the idea may not be too clear. Basically, absorption rates are derived from dividing the number of active listings by the number of sold listings for a specific period of time.  This is the basic and easiest way to determine absorption rates.  There can be other methods, such as using pending sales, etc…but generally this is it.

So, what can absorption rates tell me and why do I care? Once you’ve done the math, the number you come up with will be the amount of time the local real estate market is absorbing the current inventory.  In other words, this shows how fast are they selling.  Nowadays, this number is typically a number of months of inventory in a particular area.  As a home buyer or home seller this number can provide you a valuable target.  Sellers can determine for themselves how long the market is absorbing homes in their area and then determine how to price and market their own home to be on the front end of that time frame.  Buyers can use absorption rates to help determine the relative strength of a neighborhood and how to price an offer.

I hope this brief explanation helps you understand this key real estate statistic. If you are considering selling or buying a home in the Denver metro area, and you would like to discuss an effective strategy for your success then please contact me, I would love to help.

Can You Still Buy Your First Home in the Denver Suburbs?

Can you still buy your first home in the south Denver suburbs? With the increase of the price of homes over the last several years and perhaps the economic crunch hitting savings a bit, can this really be done. Perhaps. If you have been planning for this, keeping your debt low and credit history excellent then you really can buy your first home here.  You may even be able to take advantage of the buyer’s tax credit if you hurry.  Time runs out at the end of April!

Of course, what I run into a lot are people not satisfied with needing to start out in anything less than what mom and dad have, or friends, etc…This is where you need to look hard at the magic reality mirror and ask yourself what you can comfortably afford.  Owning your home and building equity over time can do amazing things for your life.  But you may need to buy something less than you imagined at first and build from there. Or maybe not. It depends on your financial situation.

But are there affordable homes in this area for first time buyers? Yes. There are options in almost all areas of the south Denver metro area. Some options are condo’s or townhomes, some are single family homes that may need some work or may be bank owned deals. It really depends on what level your first home will be. There are still options available, even with the recent credit crunch. You definitely need to be working with a trusted mortgage professional that will counsel you on the loan programs that will best fit your lifestyle and goals. Just remember what I said earlier, look for what you can comfortably afford, not as much as you can qualify for, there is a difference!

If you need help finding qualified mortgage professionals, just let me know. I have established relationships with a number of mortgage pro’s that will do just that. Keep your best interests in mind and work to find you the best solution to owning your first home. Give me a call anytime, I’ll be happy to help.

Steve Scheer,

Denver Real Estate

This fabulous home in Littleton, CO is now available! Click on the tour below!

7445 South Kendall Blvd., Littleton CO 80128

Click here to view entire flyer & tour for this Littleton Home

MLS# 764088 – $354,900

5 bedrooms – 3 Baths

Approximately 2300 square feet

Click Here to Search Highlands Ranch real estate & all Denver Property Listings

For more information on this Highlands Ranch home, Contact…

Steve Scheer, REALTOR®

with REMAX Masters, Inc. – Greenwood Village, CO

Denver Real Estate – Denver & The Suburbs

720-849-6101

Highlands Ranch Home in Denver’s Suburbs For Sale

 2932 Newbury Court, Highlands Ranch, Colorado 80126

This is truly a home you need to see.  This Highlands Ranch home for sale has one of the best lots in Firelight backing to the open space on the edge of Highlands Ranch.  Bordering amazing open space with hills and valleys, its like having a private enclave behind you.  Add the cul-de-sac location & the house itself is truly fantastic as well.  It was raining when I was out there – but I will post more pictures of this gorgeous area as soon as the weather clears.

 Highlands Ranch Home For Sale in Firelight neighborhood

Click here to view entire flyer & tour for this Highlands Ranch Home

Located in Firelight Neighborhood in Highlands Ranch, Colorado

Click Here to Search Highlands Ranch Real Estate in the DENVER MLS

 

For more information on this Highlands Ranch home give me a call or email anytime.

720-849-6101

Last night, 6/17/08, on the NBC Nightly News, a piece featured Denver as the "Poster City" for light rail. The piece is touching on topics that have to do with rising fuel costs and maintaining a quality of life and traffic issues and they looked at Denver’s Light Rail as an example. You can view the piece in its entirety here. For quite some time I have known many folks that have used light rail to commute into downtown Denver, for many – reasons varied from saving fuel, to saving parking costs, to staying out of traffic. I also have known one person that made it a point to let others know, it just increased his "me" time, he was able to read uninterrupted twice a day for 20 minutes each way. That actually sounds nice. And now that light rail has expanded and will expand more, – many more Denver metro residents are provided the opportunity to use the light rail for their own commute and it is as popular as ever. Personally over the last 2 years I have seen more and more relocation clients express an interest in knowing about commuting options and wanting to learn about Denver’s Light Rail system. They see the new areas that are popping up along the light rail lines, such as Landmark in the DTC area – and the interest has been great in making commutes as easy as possible. If you are planning a move to the Denver area, ask you REALTOR® about Denver Light Rail and what neighborhoods give you the opportunity to be close to a light rail station. It is definitely something to consider. Read Also: Do You Need A Buyer’s Agent in Colorado? Selling Your Vacant Denver Home

Not too long ago I had the opportunity to visit and tour the BackCountry community, which is the new gated community located in Highlands Ranch on the south side of WildCat Reserve Parkway at Broadway. I had a Denver home buyer visiting soon and he was hoping to see some additional photos of what was available in the Highlands Ranch new construction real estate market.

The construction for the Back County is well under way and already some homes are complete with many more to come. Most of the Homes in the BackCountry are built by Shea homes and start in the $500,000’s and the custom homes (by a variety of builders) will go well past the $1 million mark. The BackCountry is one of the last of the larger communities being built in Highlands Ranch and once it is done, Highlands Ranch build-out will be most likely near completion.

This was not the first time I had visited the BackCountry – but it was the first time I had my camera. I was fairly impressed with the floor plans – large kitchens and great rooms with a wise use of space. The thing that I really found interesting being in the models was house pretty much across the board – the great Colorado outdoors have been brought inside. Amazing patios, many times more than one per home, with outdoor fireplaces in many of the homes and the decor that was chosen for the models highlighted the outdoors as well. My wife came with me on this tour of the BackCounty and she was impressed as well with the emphasis on the beautiful Colorado outdoors.

When complete the community itself will be comprised of over 450 acres of open space and trails and also leads to the over 6200 acres of The BackCountry Wilderness. We both felt that the theme had been played out very well. In addition there were incredible views of the entire front range from so many areas in the BackCountry. I will be interested to see how that is developed over time once more of the homes are built. Interestingly,both of our favorite model was one of the first we saw, and featured a "pop-top" design – as it was explained to us – a ranch with a popped top for extra living space upstairs to be used as a loft, study, playroom, whatever. I found this so intriguing as Denver pop-tops is a very hot term. In the last 10 years or so plenty of Denver home owners (in Denver) have expanded upwards since they really didn’t have anywhere to go out-wards. I couldn’t help but wonder if they were trying to appeal to the more urban crowd that may be familiar with a pop-top home of their own & that terminology. In any case, it was impressive.

All in all, we both enjoyed our model home tour at the BackCountry that day. It was nice to tour leisurely without clients as it was the first time I had been there without a customer, thus I was able to really take my time and look around. If you are looking for a new home in the Highlands Ranch area and want to consider the homes at BackCountry, I would love to take you on a tour as well.

With the increase of the price of homes over the last several years and perhaps the economic crunch hitting savings a bit, can this really be done?

Perhaps. It depends on you.

If you have been planning for this, keeping your debt low and credit history excellent then you really can buy your first home here.

Of course, what I run into often are people not satisfied with needing to start out in anything less than what mom and dad have, or friends, etc… This is where you need to look hard at the magic reality mirror and ask yourself what you can comfortably afford. I always say that it is better to hop on at the caboose than to miss the whole train.

Owning your home and building equity over time can do amazing things for your life. But you may need to buy something less than you imagined at first and build from there. Or maybe not. It depends on your financial situation. So once we realize that we aren’t going to get the same first time house our cousins did 8 years ago, are there affordable homes in this area for first time buyers? Yes.

There are real estate options in almost all areas of the south Denver metro area – Denver, Englewood, Littleton, Lone Tree, Highlands Ranch, Centennial, Parker, Aurora and even into Castle Rock – you have options! Some options are condo’s or townhomes, some are single family homes that may need some work or may be bank owned deals. It really depends on what level your first home will be. If you do decide to go the bank owned or short sale route, you are going to need to bring with you a whole lot of patience as purchasing a home needing bank approval on a contract can take much longer than one would like.

There are still so many financing options available, even with the recent credit crunch. You definitely need to be working with a trusted mortgage professional that will counsel you on the loan programs that will best fit your lifestyle and goals without stretching you too far.

Just remember what I said earlier, look for what you can comfortably afford, not as much as you can qualify for, there is a difference! If you need help finding a great lender, just let me know. I have established relationships with a number of mortgage pro’s that will do just that. Keep your best interests in mind and work to find you the best solution to owning your first home. Give me a call anytime, I’ll be happy to help. So get searching for your Denver dream home – yes, it may be a first time home, but you will still be living the dream of owning a home!

Aurora TownHome in Denver’s Suburbs – Now For Sale!!!

Excellent Opportunity For First Time Denver Area Home Buyers or Denver Investors

Spacious Townhome in Aurora Now For Sale

12113 E 2nd Drive, Aurora, CO 80011
Click here to view entire flyer & tour for this Aurora Town Home

MLS # 663197 – $159,000
2 bedrooms – 2 1/2 Baths
Approximately 1360 square feet

Steve Scheer, REALTOR®
with REMAX Masters, Inc. – Greenwood Village, CO
Denver Real Estate – Denver & The Suburbs
720-849-6101

If you are looking to buy a home in Highlands Ranch, you probably already know that Highlands Ranch has a very efficiently run HOA, the Highlands Ranch Community Association (aka HRCA) that in addition to many other things houses & maintains 4 very beautiful recreation centers, each with an assortment of indoor and outdoor pools.

But in addition to the rec centers, there are some neighborhoods that have secondary HOA’s – some of which also include their own neighborhood outdoor pool.

Often times I do have folks that are relocating to Highland Ranch that specifically inquire about these neighborhoods with their own pools – so here they are (in no particular order).

In general you will find that the Highlands Ranch neighborhood pools are open from mid-May until mid-September and sometimes those dates do fluctuate. They are also fully gated areas that are locked and only allow access to residents of the specific neighborhood and their guests.

Indigo Hill – located at Broadway and Wildcat Reserve Parkway, this Highlands Ranch neighborhood has its own gated community pool that is very attractive and centrally located.

Weatherstone – Weatherstone continues to be one of the top neighborhoods in Highlands Ranch that I receive inquiries about, and among other very nice amenities, the community pool certainly is a part of that. Weatherstone is located off of Wildcat Reserve Parkway and can be entered on Stone Mountain or Weathersfield Way.

Timberline Ridge – One of the "older" neighborhoods of Highlands Ranch – but older can be better – depends on what you are looking for. These Highlands Ranch homes often have a bit larger yards, some more mature landscaping, and of course, there is the community pool that is a big drawing point as well. Timberline Ridge is in Northridge and can be entered from various points off of University Blvd. and Venneford Ranch Rd.

The Highwoods – A gated community in itself, The Highwoods homes start (currently) at about $950,000 and go up from there and its community pool is also coupled with a tennis courts. This luxurious neighborhood sits high up in Highlands Ranch and many homes offer commanding views of the entire front range. The Highwoods are located off of Broadway and there are gated entrances on Broadway and Gateway.

Falcon Hills – Another gated community – in fact 2 in one – Falcon Hills North and Falcon Hills South was the first gated, luxury & executive neighborhood in Highlands Ranch and has a very nice community pool as well as many other features that help in stand apart from other neighborhoods.

BackCountry – Still in its earlier stages of development – The BackCountry does not have a pool yet, but it is in the plans as part of the SunDial House Complex. BackCountry is located off of Wildcat Reserve Parkway at BackCountry Drive. The only entrance open right now is on BackCountry Drive at Broadway & Wildcat Reserve Parkway.

If you are not looking at single family homes in Highlands Ranch, but instead are considering a Highlands Ranch townhome or condo, there are also pool communities that cover that as well.