Close to 90% of home shoppers use the internet in the home-buying process, according to a recent National Association of Realtors survey.  At Bandy Homes, we have taken note of this and upgraded our websites to be very user friendly and full of information.  Seeing area homes on line familiarizes potential buyers with what is available in the area.  It gives you an idea of how much you will get for your money and saves a lot of legwork.

 Using the internet when looking for your Denver area home does not mean that you should put off finding a good local agent. Though the internet has revolutionized real estate, few internet shoppers actually make a real estate purchase on line.  It’s one thing to take a leap of faith and buy a pair of shoes on eBay, but there’s a lot more money involved and a lot more long-term consequences for making a bad choice in real estate.  Even before a buyer is ready to make a purchase, there are several good reasons to use the expertise only an agent can offer to supplement your internet research.

First, most websites do not offer all the properties available in the area.  Agents, however, have access to all listings on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and may even know of other properties that may be coming up for sale in the near future.  Popular sites that you might visit such as Realtor.com, Zillow, or Trulia only include part of the listings that are live in the MLS.  Your perfect house might be missing from those sites.

Second, if you need to sell your home before you buy another one, you will want to know how much it would sell for.  On-line comparative market value analysis can offer you a ballpark figure for how much your property is worth but cannot account for the unique features of your home, the condition, or any other neighborhood variables.  Your agent can actually pull up the selling price of other homes in your neighborhood, as well as evaluate your particular home.  You may get the word from the agent that your black walls and leaking basement will make the value less, while your deck will justify a higher price.

Third, though you can amass a lot of knowledge about buying or selling a home by reading real estate blogs, market data, and housing news, your local agent can give you information and advice based on your situation and the local market.  When it comes to conducting the transaction, your agent also makes sure all the right paperwork is processed and at the right time. You do not want to make a costly mistake based on your inexperience.

Fourth, it’s easy to overlook homes for sale by owner (FSBO) in internet searches.  As many as 25% of homes for sale do not come up on various sites and are not in the MLS.  Your internet search should cast a wide net, including Craigslist, to get a fuller range of what is available FSBO.  Your agent might even have a better handle on FSBO properties than you can get on your own.

Fifth, not all listings on the internet are legitimate.  Some listings (especially those without pictures) do not really exist, and by clicking on them, you may enable a scammer to gather some information about you.  People who do not own property can portray themselves as owners and even collect deposits that will not apply to the property.

The internet is a valuable asset in home buying and selling.  When used as a source of background information, it can help you work with your agent to come up with just the right home and just the right offer.  But there is no substitute for an experienced, professional real estate agent.

 Looking for an agent with local expertise in Aurora, Parker, Castle Rock, and greater Denver? The agents at Bandy Homes will help you bring it all together.

Marianne Bandy

Relocate to Denver

You’ve gotten pre-approved for a home loan, you have a stable job, you have enough money in the bank for a down payment and closing costs, and you have figured your budget a million times to make sure you can afford it.  Still, you wonder if this is a good time to buy a home in Denver.  Every time you hear something positive about the economy, there’s always a naysayer who says “What if….”

Recent facts indicate that the economy is picking up, with consumer confidence along with it. Of the 10 indicators tracked by the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (EDC), 10 show Denver is solidly on the road to recovery.

Customer confidence has been on the rise throughout the country, but according to Tom Clark, executive vice president of the EDC, “Consumer confidence has jumped 28 percent in one month.  While this has been an across-the-nation increase in consumer confidence, Denver saw twice the national jump…"

Some of the indicators included in the Denver EDC’s monthly tracking include:

·         Unemployment claims have decreased from the previous months, though the rates are still  higher than last year.

·         The unemployment rate of 7.6% is below the national average of 8.8%.

·         Despite some new foreclosures, foreclosure rates have fallen in the region 14.2% year-to-date from a year ago.

·         Companies are expanding in the area, including Fortune 500 DaVita Inc., which moved its headquarters to Denver.

·         Stimulus projects are underway, such as the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere lab at Colorado State University.  This project received $64.4 million over five years to study atmospheric conditions.  Meanwhile, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) received $64 million to construct a new facility, plus $4 million in annual funding for the next five years. Additional stimulus dollars will be pumped into internship programs in bioscience, energy, aerospace, and information technology.

·         Denver is viewed as the Number 1 city for a housing rebound as noted in our earlier blog Denver Poised to Recover First from Real Estate Slump, which was based on a Today show report.  Inventories of unsold homes are declining, which means that the supply and demand for homes are getting more balanced.

These indicators do not mean that Denver is totally out of the woods so far as the recession is concerned.  None of us have access to a crystal ball that will reveal exactly how the economy will play out.  However, recovery is fueled by consumer confidence which is on the upswing in Denver and throughout the country.  At the moment, you also have the $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit to stabilize your position.

Buying a home is a great thing to do this spring.  If you are ready to go – or even if you have concerns – contact Bandy Homes.  We can find you an affordable home in Parker or other fine Denver area communities and even show you how the $8,000 tax credit can help out with your down payment.

Marianne Bandy

When you buy a Denver home of your own, one thing that comes with the keys is the right to change it to reflect your personality, your decorating preferences, and your needs.  When it’s time to sell it – if you really want to give those keys to the next owner in a timely manner – you need to bring the home back to a neutral, model-home state through a process known as staging.

Professional stagers make their money by transforming your home to a place that buyers can see as “their” home.  Stagers know that purchasing a home is not a cold, emotional decision for most buyers.  Most people are buying a home to raise their family or accommodate a lifestyle.  They want to visualize their kids sleeping in the big bedroom down the hall from the bathroom or playing Wii in the family room.  They want to see their friends enjoying a cookout in the spacious backyard.  To encourage the buyer to start visualizing, the stager’s job is to move anything that might be in the way.

Staging is not about decorating or cleaning, though the first step after cleaning is removing clutter – or anything that might be perceived as clutter.  You may like your appliances lined up on the counter, ready for action.  The buyer will regard this as lack of cupboard space.  You may be rightly proud of your shelves crammed with the kids’ soccer trophies or your collection of NFL memorabilia.  The buyer might get more wrapped up in your life than in the features of the home. 

Because homes are personal to each of us, it is easy to take the stager’s advice personally and regard it as a criticism of personal taste.  Coming from a more neutral perspective, a stager is only trying to bring out your home’s best features so it sells in the shortest amount of time.  This is why it’s best to hire a professional to do the job.  It is hard to be objective about staging your own home.

If the stager finds you have too much furniture in a room or too many other distracting things arranged throughout, she may suggest you store some things in the garage or offsite.  Though this can be an unsettling way to spend your last months in your home, the current market puts new demands on sellers to let their homes do the talking.  A stager’s job is to make sure that voice comes through loud and clear.

There’s no better way to make it through the inconvenience of staging than to focus on your next home.  At Bandy Homes, we can help you find that new home in Aurora or any other greater Denver community – as well as help you find a staging professional to help you sell your current home.

Marianne Bandy

Relocate to Denver