Why use an Exclusive Buyer Agent in Denver

EXCLUSIVE BUYER AGENTS -- represent homebuyers--never sellers. These agents are required by law to get the best price and best terms for the Homebuyer. All consumer advocates recommend that homebuyers take advantage of the benefits offered by exclusive buyer agents. Exclusive buyer agents are specialists in the home buying process. This higher level of professional service for buyers has resulted in an average of over 5% savings and greater satisfaction for homebuyers. Because these agents do not list property, they do not have company listings to try to sell to you first. Instead, all homes are available to homebuyers without bias, including For Sale By Owner, New Build Construction by homebuilders, and Multiple Listing Service homes (other Realtor listings). Exclusive Buyer Brokers will better protect the interests of buyers than dual agents, sub-agents, designated agents, or so called split agents. They are more likely to negotiate a lower sale price on a home, for example.

Metro Denver home prices up

Denver continues to buck national Real Estate trends. The number of homes sold last month increased to 4,186, up 15.4 percent compared with May, according to Metrolist data. The median price for a single-family home rose 8 percent to $237,500. That's also 3.3 percent higher than last June's median price of $230,000.

I work the central Denver neighborhoods in the City & County of Denver near downtown. I can tell you that over the past several months, good properties in good locations that are priced well sell VERY QUICKLY... like the first couple of days on the market. I'm still not seeing a lot of people take advantage of the $8,000 1st Time Home Buyers Tax Credit, but homes are moving. Interest rates are still at all time historic lows.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12772370

Denver Neighborhood Rents & Vacancies Both Up

According to the Colorado Division of Housing, both Vacancy & Rents increased in the 1st Quarter 2009 for Single Family Rental Homes in Denver. This report does not include apartment units.

Vacancy for the 1st Quarter 2009 was up to 3.6% and metrowide average rent for rental housing increased to $1,004.44 from $984.61 a year ago. Still a very tight market.

Vacancy rates for the first period by county include: Adams (5.1 percent), Arapahoe (2.9 percent), Boulder/Broomfield (2.1 percent), Denver (4 percent), Douglas (2.4 percent) and Jefferson (3.8 percent).

Read the entire article: http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/06/22/daily71.html?ana=from_rss

Denver Homebuyer Incentive; "Green" Program

The City & County of Denver, the Governor's Energy Office, the Denver Board of REALTORS® and the University of Colorado Denver have announced the new Green Pilot Study worth $1,000 for homebuyers

Includes:
- FREE energy walk through of prospective homes
- Discounts on insulation, furnace upgrades and appliances.

Eligibility:
1. Must be a single family detached unit
2. Have a Denver mailing address
3. Be build prior to 2000

*Please note that this study is entirely voluntary and participating buyers will not be obligated to invest in any home efficiency upgrades.

Contact Jon Roberts with Your Castle Real Estate for more information.

Home Energy Tax Credit & Xcel Energy Rebate

There is a 30% federal tax credit (up to $1,500 max) for installing efficient furnaces, A/C units, windows, heat pups, water heaters, etc. Congress expanded this credit for 2009 & 2010 to include doors, insulation materials, and certain roofs. There are no income limitations on these credits (at least as of right now). Note "efficient" has a technical definition so check the IRS' website to make sure what you are installing qualifies. Be sure to get a certificate from your installer for proof should you ever be audited by the IRS. See the IRS website for more information: http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/article/0,,id=207332,00.html

Another set of incentives you may not have known about are rebates offered by Xcel Energy. You can get up to $120 for a new furnace, up to $500 for a new A/C, up to $300 for insulation, up to $100 for water heaters, and more. Some of the rebates require you to use one of their certified installers and other rebates let you use whomever you wish for installation. Your installer needs to sign-off on these rebate forms and I have found that they will require you to hand-hold them a bit since these rebates are so new and they are not very familiar with them. Visit Xcel's website for more information: http://www.xcelenergy.com/Residential/Programs_Resources/HeatingandCoolingRebates/Pages/HeatingandCoolingRebates.aspx

These two things won't pay 100% of the cost for more efficient appliances, but can take a sizeable chunk out of the cost. For example a qualifying new furnace and A/C unit may cost around $6,500, but with the above incentives may only end up costing $4,380 ($6,500 - $1,500 tax credit - $120 Xcel furnace rebate - $500 Xcel A/C rebate).

Denver Real Estate #1 AGAIN in S&P Case/Shiller Index

For the second consecutive month, the Denver area fared the best among 20 U.S. cities reporting drops in home prices, according to data released Tuesday.

Denver is among eight cities that reported a month-over- month gain in prices, rising 1.5 percent compared with May. Dallas posted a larger gain at 1.7 percent.

"There has been a lot of recent optimism about how great Denver is and how it is still a good place to buy real estate. It is terrific to see that this news is backed up with some real statistics."


http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12727752