Welcome to the May edition of the 2014 Denver Real Estate Market Newsletter.

GUESS WHO HIRED A REALTOR!

Al Bennati, CEO of BuyOwner.com, listed his Florida mansion with a local real estate agent. BuyOwner.com is a for sale by owner (FSBO) web site. They claim that they can help you sell your home without the help of a Realtor. Even though Mr. Bennati made his fortune convincing others to sell their homes through his FSBO site, he defended his decision to hire a Realtor saying, “To sell a home of this magnitude, it needs to be done by a person and a company that reaches buyers of this caliber.” He further acknowledged that without proper exposure to the “right kind of buyers” your home will not sell.

Bottom Line: Even the CEO of a FSBO site knows the value of hiring a Realtor to help you reach buyers of the right caliber and to give your home the proper exposure to buyers.

 

WHERE DID THE WATER GO?

And is the water going where it is supposed to go? Yes, we knew the gutter downspouts were connected to an underground pipe, but what we didn’t know was where the water was going once it hit the underground pipe.

Shortly after moving into our house last year, we noticed water in the basement crawlspace. At that point I became suspicious that the underground pipe was blocked and causing water to overflow the gutter and downspouts and run directly into the basement crawlspace. With my background in civil engineering and drainage, I knew that it was important to repair this problem as soon as possible; water is a foundation’s worst enemy. After nearly an hour of digging up my yard I could not find the end of the underground pipe. We finally came to the conclusion that the previous owners had buried the ends of the pipe under 12″ of dirt when they built the sidewalk along the side of the house. This means that for nearly five years, since the time the sidewalk was installed, water has been running into the basement crawl space. Unfortunately, the only solution was to rebuild the entire underground pipe system. It wasn’t my favorite way to spend $600, but we knew that ignoring the problem would result in a much higher cost from accumulating water damage.

If you have an underground drainage system, please take the time to periodically inspect the system and make sure it is working properly. Even though my system had been buried, the underground pipes can still fill with dirt or be damaged by roots. As Benjamin Franklin once said, ‘An ounce of prevention is worth pound of cure.’

 

FACEBOOK AND PAUL’S MOBILE REAL ESTATE APP

Please ‘Like’ my Facebook business page. Use this link to be redirected to ‘Paul Sobania – Real Estate’ and click on the ‘Like’ button (log in to Facebook.com if needed).

Search homes for sale on your smart phone or tablet using my home search app. Log in to the iTunes Store or Google Play and download the Keller Williams app. When prompted, type in the code ‘KWKB85L’. For simple downloading instructions use this link, www.PaulMobileApp.com.

 

APRIL 2014 REAL ESTATE MARKET TRENDS

 

DENVER REAL ESTATE MARKET TRENDS

 

REAL ESTATE NEWS

Home prices up 5% in metro Denver; inventory of homes on the market up 6%  Read more

West Coast is a seller’s market, East Coast is a buyer’s market  Read more

Home builders busier across metro Denver Read more

Metro Denver home prices continue climbing  Read More

Metro Denver home buyers may be pushed by price to the ‘burbs Read More

 COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE NEWS

 Denver’s office market logs highest average lease rate ever at $22.36 per square foot  Read more

Renovations planned for aging Southwest Plaza, but it will remain an indoor mall  Read more

INVESTOR NEWS

 Metro Denver apartment rents rise despite new construction  Read more

 FORECLOSURE NEWS 

Colorado ranked among lowest in foreclosures Read more

 ECONOMIC NEWS

Layer3 TV moving corporate HQ to Denver, bringing more than 300 jobs  Read More

Colorado adds 13,900 jobs in April; unemployment drops to 6% Read More

Lockheed Martin adding hundreds of commercial space jobs to Colorado HQ in Jeffco  Read More

Charter Communications picks Douglas County for new research and development lab Read more

Colorado’s 2013 job growth was 3.5%, better than previously thought Read more

Colorado companies produce record breaking 64 million barrels of oil in 2013 Read more 

 Denver ranks 6^th among fastest-growing cities Read More

Denver at #3 and Colorado at #4 among top 10 cities and states for job growth Read More

 OTHER NEWS

Kyle Dyer leaving 9News morning show, but not station Read more

CDOT to replace I-25 bridge over Arapahoe Road in 2016 Read more

Lawmakers seek to turn Colorado National Monument into a national park Read more

Visits to Colorado ski resorts up 8.6% due to higher snowfall totals Read More

Coloradans are top food-delivery tippers Read more

Children’s Museum of Denver launches $15.8 million expansion due to increased attendance Read more

Alcohol ban considered at Washington Park due to abuse and bad behavior Read more

Denver rises to #9 in ranking of frugal cities by Coupons,com Read more

For $50 The Colorado Rockies will put your marriage proposal on the scoreboard Read more

THANK YOU FOR YOUR BUSINESS AND REFERRALS!

If you or someone you know is thinking about buying or selling a home any time in the next year, please call to let me know. It would be my pleasure to work with you or your referral. My commitment to my clients is to treat them with the utmost care as they work towards buying or selling a home. Referrals are the core of my business and are always appreciated.

Free Real Estate Tools

When searching for homes for sale anywhere in the Denver metro area use this link, Interactive Map-Based Home Search. This interactive, map-based home search tool makes looking for homes fun and easy. If you are interested in a specific neighborhood, whether it is your current neighborhood or the one that you hope to move to someday, this site can send you e-mail notifications when new homes come onto the market. Happy home searching!

Please call me with your real estate questions. I’m always happy to help you navigate through this constantly changing real estate market!