“With help from the government’s first-time home buyers tax credit, which expired in April, home prices improved slightly. Some metro areas appear to have entered the early phases of the long recovery process”
Read more —>>>http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/denver-is-the-most-improved-us-housing-market.html
Erin Toll has applied for her real estate license to go work as a broker:
http://www.denverpost.com/realestate/ci_15215287
Would it be Karma if she were harassed by her replacement commissioner about her dealings as a broker?
Many would think so, although I don’t wish her ill will. I have met Ms. Toll and she seems like a nice enough person, but disagreed whole heartedly with her iron-fist approach to regulating brokers. In a tough real estate market, brokers need all the help they can get, and the consensus is Ms. Toll didn’t give it.
The city of Aurora has announced a plan to raze homes that are foreclosed, ugly and vacant. Most of the scrapes are in 80010 and 80011 and will start in Spring 2011.
DENVER—The state Division of Housing says first-quarter foreclosure filings in Colorado rose 6 percent from the same period last year, but numbers last year were affected by efforts nationwide to help troubled borrowers avoid foreclosure.
The division said Thursday there were 11,136 new foreclosure filings in the first three months of the year, up 6 percent from a year ago but down 4 percent from two years ago.
The number of completed foreclosures was up too. There were 6,686 first-quarter foreclosure sales at auction, up almost 54 percent from last year and up 13 percent from 2008.
The housing division says record high new foreclosure filings in the second and third quarters of last year drove the large number of foreclosure sales.
Foreclosure Report —>>> http://bit.ly/aDYeGQ
Denver was among the nine cities that showed a rise in home prices, with a 3.6 percent increase — the fourth-largest gain among metropolitan areas tracked.
Entire story —>>> http://www.denverpost.com/realestate/ci_14971804
Whether you are BRAND NEW to real estate investing or an expert in the game, it’s critical that you understand these 7 Simple Steps to real estate investing.
First things first…
Real Estate is NOT a get rich quick scheme. However, if you learn the foundations and put them into practice, you will make more than enough money to realize any and all of your dreams and goals.
What this means is simply that you must be experienced in the basics – the tried and true techniques, strategies and systems that have worked in the past, are STILL working and will work in the future. You’ve got to have all the tools in your bag so that you can go with the flow and not be affected when real estate markets begin to shift (which they are already in the process of doing, in case you’ve missed that memo! 
Step #1 – Set your plan: Figure out what your long term real estate goals are (aka retirement and wealth building) and figure out what your short term needs are with regard to making money in real estate. Then, set up the proper entities and put the plan in place.
Step #2 – Determine what your target market will be: You cannot be all things to all real estate markets. If foreclosures appeal to you, start investing in the foreclosure market. If you want to be a landlord, look to out of state owners to focus your real estate marketing efforts.
Step #3 – Be consistent and persistent: Real Estate is not a get rich quick scheme. Real Estate is get wealthy over time and put some quick cash in your pocket today. You’ve got to follow your plan and stick with it to see real results in real estate. You’ve also got to continue to increase your education and your experience.
Step 4 – Don’t fall into the “Analysis Paralysis”: Learn to analyze properties quickly. Don’t get caught up overthinking. It’s quite simple actually: What’s the property worth? What does the property need for repairs? And how much can you get the property for? It all comes down to numbers!
Step 5 – Become a master of finance!: Real estate is the business of marketing and finance. You must learn about mortgages and interest rates and loan programs that are out there. You must know how to use finance to negotiate your deals and to sell your properties.
Step #6 – Become a skilled problem solver: The reason you will get real estate deals that others don’t, is because you are able to solve people’s problems. Anything goes on the real estate playing field. You’ve got to be ready!
Step #7 – You must continue your education: It is important that you are always investing in your education and learning new tactics, strategies and tips that will help you make more in real estate.
Congrats to those mentioned in the article:
With the deadline looming to take advantage of an $8,000 federal tax credit, first-time buyers helped boost Denver-area home sales in March by nearly 50 percent over the previous month, according to data released Thursday.
There were 3,602 homes sold last month, up 47.9 percent from the 2,436 homes sold in February, according to data from Metrolist, the area’s multiple listing service.
The March sales represent a 12.4 percent increase from the 3,206 homes sold during March last year.
About 70 percent of the single-family homes sold last month were priced below $300,000, and below $200,000 for condos, indicating that first-time buyers were the driving force for most sales.
“First-time homebuyers are out in force, which will be great for us and great for the market,” said independent real estate analyst Gary Bauer. “The Denver market will show its resiliency and have a very nice year.”
Median prices for single-family homes were $229,000, up 12.3 percent from last year’s $203,950 price. Condo prices were up 2.4 percent from a year ago to $131,579.
“Everything is going to be positive in terms of price appreciation,” Bauer said. “I don’t believe that anything is out there to indicate there is any kind of a cliff we’re coming up on.”
Other industry experts were less optimistic, noting that both the first-time homebuyer tax credit along with a $6,500 tax credit for move-up buyers who have owned their homes for more than five years are set to go away.
Read more –>>>> http://www.denverpost.com/realestate/ci_14849071
For the second month in a row, the median price for a single-family home in metro Denver rose nearly 15 percent in February compared with the same month a year ago, but the number of homes sold declined.
Denver was among six metropolitan areas in a 20-city survey released Tuesday that saw home prices increase in December compared with the same period a year ago.
