RADON – BIG DEAL OR NO BIG DEAL?

 

Radon. It’s colorless, odorless, deadly … and easily addressed.

What Is Radon? It’s a naturally occurring gas. It’s given off by the decay of trace amounts of radioactive materials in almost all soils. You can’t see it, taste it or smell it.

Is Radon a Health Hazard? Yes and no. In outdoor spaces, the gas dissipates just as fast as it is produced and has almost no impact on us as we wander around the great outdoors of Colorful Colorado.

Indoors, the issue is different. As the gas builds up under the foundation of your house, it finds its way in through crawl spaces, sump pump pits and through joints and cracks in basement slabs and sub-floors. Your furnace and central AC (if you have one) tend to cause the build up to be worse as they actually create a bit of suction that draws radon out of the soil into the lowest level of your residence.

Radon can accumulate to the point that it poses an increased risk for lung cancer. It is the second leading cause of lung cancer behind smoking.

How Much Is Too Much Radon? The Environmental Protection Agency has set limits for radon in dwellings and the limit is expressed in “picocuries per liter.”

What is a picocurie?

We have no idea. But those folks at the EPA think that you should have less than four of them in every liter of volume in your house. At 10 picocuries per liter, your risk of developing lung cancer over your lifetime is about the same as a person smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.

How Is Radon Detected? You can easily test for radon. Do-It-Yourself testing kits can be obtained at Home Depot or Lowes for $10 to $30. You let the tester sit for at least 48 hours and send it in to a lab that will report back to you on the radon levels in your place. This works great if you are testing a home you already own.

If you are buying a property, you’ll want a more sophisticated testing method that assures no tampering. The DIY test kits can be fooled but home inspectors use a machine that has hidden, tamper-proof mechanisms to make sure the seller is not fudging the results. Those tests run $125 to $150. A bit of good news with the testing machines is that they give results on the spot as soon as the 48-hour test period is over.

How Do You Get Rid Of Radon? Radon is easy to mitigate and the mitigation methods are not expensive. Costs can run from $200 up to $1500, with $800 to $1000 being an average cost. The systems themselves are simple and reliable and require almost no maintenance. Depending on market conditions, you might be able to get the seller to pay the costs of mitigation when you are buying a home. It’s tougher to do so in our current seller’s market.

What Action Should You Take? Check out the “Home Buyer’s and Seller’s Guide to Radon.” It has a wealth of additional information from the EPA.

And, if you’ve never tested your house, consider getting a DIY test kit from your local big box home supplier and test your house following the instructions that come with the test kit.

Compliments : Mike Cooke, Colorado Home Realty

How to successfully get moved in the current Denver Real Estate Market

Lots in the press at the moment about the current market here in Denver.  Don't let what you hear put you off.  I have all the tricks to get you moved successfully!

Julie Reddington - 720 226 4168

THE DENVER POST NEEDS A BIT OF CHEERING UP OVER LOW INVENTORY

The Denver Post had an article recently about the low inventory in the metro Denver real estate market: "Metro Denver Struggles with a Record Low Supply of Homes for Sale", dated February 13, 2015.

They are feeling a bit "gloomy" about the whole matter.

If you are a regular reader of the CHR Buzz, the news of low inventory comes as no surprise to you.

The Denver Post was accurate about the historically low inventory. However, they failed to comment on the cause. The cause is not a DECREASE IN SUPPLY. In fact, about 3% more properties have changed hands in the first 45 days of this year versus the same period last year.

The cause of the low inventory is a significant INCREASE IN DEMAND, which causes the slightly increased supply to get sucked up as soon as it comes on the market.

There is good news in these supply & demand patterns!

The increased demand is a sign of a healthy economy. In addition, agents are finding ways for buyers to be successful in spite of the low inventory challenge as evidenced by more sales actually occurring so far this year.

We don't want you to be depressed!

Courtesy of Mike Cooke, Colorado Home Realty (c)

DON'T GET BURNED BY SOLAR

Solar energy is HOT, pun intended. It's getting
lots of attention these days.

Solar is also COOL! A bit of a
status symbol & statement to
the world that you are "going
green".

We're big fans of solar, in theory.
We're sure that 100 years from now the
world will largely run on solar power. It's the wave of the future.
However, it may not be the wave of the immediate future. We
are having some issues when it comes to selling houses with
leased solar power installations. Here's a summary:

Issue No. 1: You are not going to get more money for the
house due to the solar installation when you sell it.
There is a big solar leasing company telling people that solar
increases the value of their home by 15%. We're pretty sure the
researchers that came up with that figure were taking advantage
of Colorado's new liberalized marijuana laws at the time they
were completing their evaluation.

A valid comparison involves looking at homes with solar
compared to nearby homes without solar. Let's look at one
example:
The property at 16437 East Hialeah Drive is a 2,021 square foot
2-story home with unfinished basement. It had solar and it sold
for $316,000 in September 2014. The house next door is also a
2-story home with 2,347 square feet and partly finished
basement. Being a little bigger and with some basement finish,
you'd expect it to sell for $10,000 to $15,000 more - and it did
just that with a sale price of $329,000 in July 2014. The solar on
the first house did not create any increased value for it.

We've done this for a number of paired home sales around metro
Denver and pretty much find the same result -- almost no value
can be attributed to the solar installation.

Issue No. 2: You've got to get the buyer of your house to
assume the lease when you sell it. No big deal, right?
Actually, it can be a big deal. First of all, the buyer has to qualify
to assume the lease. The buyer must also want to assume the
lease. This can be an issue due to the lease buyout provisions.
Every time the house changes hands, the seller risks paying a
huge buyout cost if the buyer will not agree to take over the
lease. The buyouts often run $10,000 to $25,000. We've seen
one where the buyout was over $30k!

Many buyers balk at taking on this liability. Even though the
buyout cost decreases with time, the leases run for 20 years and
buyout costs remain high during the first 10 years or more. Many
buyers are concerned about what will happen when they go to
sell the house. They wonder if their buyer will want the solar or
will they get left holding the bag. This leads right into Issue No.
3.

Issue No. 3: We're pretty sure that solar technology is going to
change and evolve rapidly. We worry that the solar cells being
used in today's products will be out of date in a few years.
After all, how much can you get for your five year old computer
compared to what you paid for? Probably nothing and you may
even have to pay to dispose of it since you can't just dump
electronics in your trash can.

We can imagine that the same may be true of today's solar
panels. They may be close to worthless in five years and yet
you'll still have a huge lease buyout cost. This should make you
and any subsequent buyer think twice about the advisability of
solar.

Conclusion: We are sure there is much more to solar than just
the three items listed here. We have not done extensive
research. However, we wanted you to be aware of some issues
that have come up.

Courtesy of Mike Cooke, Colorado Home Realty (c)

Home Buyers And Sellers Deserve More Than A Salesperson

Why does the public think of real estate agents as salespeople? Why does the industry think of itself that way?

I suppose it is because we imagine that real estate agents sell houses in the same way that car dealers sell cars. In contrast, we don’t think of lawyers or doctors or accountants as salespeople. Why?

When it comes right down to it, isn’t every business a “sales” business? Trial lawyers need plaintiffs. Oncologists need cancer victims. Accountants need confused taxpayers (no trouble finding those).

Nothing happens in any business until someone is convinced to buy whatever that business is selling, be it a product or a service.

The real distinction comes when the sale is made. In a product business, the sale is the culmination of a process. You buy. You leave. You’re done.

In contrast, the sale is the beginning of a relationship in a service business. The trial lawyer files the case. The oncologist wheels you into surgery. The account starts finding deductions.

Now when I really stopped to think about it, years ago I realized that good real estate agents know that they are more than salespeople. They don’t sell houses, per se. Homebuilders sell houses! Homebuilders sell houses just like car dealers sell cars.

In contrast, real estate agents provide a service — more like the accountant and the lawyer. The process of buying and selling a house is complicated and most consumers need help. Agents are the people that have the specialized expertise. They can guide buyers and sellers through the maze of pricing, staging, marketing, financing, negotiating, inspecting and all the other aspects of a real estate transaction.

A real estate agent “sells” people on using her services and that is when the relationship begins. And if she is any good, she then becomes a consultant, helping people make good decisions about acquiring and disposing of their real estate. That is what the client really needs.

Of course, she does end up “selling” houses because some clients need to dispose of properties they own.  However, she ends up helping other clients acquire property. In either case, her goal is helping people make great decisions about their real estate holdings and not to just make a “sale”. This builds a long term relationship of repeat and referral business rather than just creating a single transaction.

This is our focus at Colorado Home Realty. We are constantly rethinking the real estate business. Part of that rethinking is to shift from a sales mentality to a consulting mentality – from being in a product/sales business to being in a service/consulting business.

One of my strategies for success is to be more than a salesperson — to truly be your trusted real estate adviser for all your real estate needs.

Courtesy of Mike Cooke of Colorado Home Realty (c)

DISINTERMEDIATION & Your Friendly Real Estate Agent

What Does a Good Agent Do For You?

You've probably never heard of "disintermediation" unless (1) You're an economist, (2) A complete nerd or (3) You attended the big Inman real estate agent convention in San Francisco earlier this year. We learned about it through option 3 with maybe a dash of option 2 thrown in.
Disintermediation is when intermediaries are cut out of a supply chain. More simply, it's when you "cut out the middleman".

The Internet has created a lot of disintermediation. The travel agent business is a good example. People can go to any number of websites to get much of the info they use to get from a travel agent. So there aren't as many travel agents these days.

The discussion at the Inman conference was whether this same thing would happen to the real estate brokerage business. Do websites like Zillow and Trulia create a situation where buyers and sellers just get together directly, eliminating the need for an agent? Is the agent a middleman, providing little value?

The most definitive answer is "NO" and it comes from a surprising source - from Spencer Rascoff, the CEO of Zillow - the 800-pound gorilla of real estate websites. He also created Hotwire, the popular travel-booking site. He was asked earlier this year why Zillow partners with real estate agents instead of trying to replace them like he did to travel agents.

Rascoff, insightfully and accurately explained the differences between booking an airline flight and buying or selling real estate when he said:

"There will always be a real estate agent in the transaction because, for most consumers, it's just too important and too expensive and too infrequent and complex to screw up, so they need an agent."
We agree. Rascoff's conclusion is supported by the most recent survey of homebuyers and sellers nationwide. Over the 12-month period studied, 89% of buyers reported using the Internet to search for homes, but this did not eliminate their need for an agent - 89% of those buyers also used a real estate agent. For sellers, 90% used a real estate agent.
Rascoff went on to say he believes the Internet is changing the role of the agent from information gatekeeper to skilled transactional guide with expertise in marketing, negotiating and local market knowledge. We disagree.

In our opinion, the role of a good agent has always been to be much more than an information gatekeeper. Rascoff forgot to mention skilled pricing analyst, exceptional stager, financing guru and savvy legal-beagle when it comes to contract preparation.

An agent we heard recently tell a compelling story of his first home buying experience before he was an agent and long before the Internet existed. This agent was buying his first home and wanted a ranch style, single-family property with 2 bedrooms and a basement in a certain area. He explained all this to the lady he selected to be his agent.

His agent showed him what he wanted to see but also showed him a duplex in an area he had never considered. It had everything he wanted plus hardwood floors that complimented his furniture and a renter next door that paid the lion's share of the mortgage. She negotiated a great deal on it and skillfully guided him through the whole process. He says it is the best real estate he ever owned and the best real estate experience he had as a consumer.

As an agent with CHR, we share this vision for the role of a real estate agent. At CHR, we are skilled advocates that bring our expertise in pricing, staging, marketing, financing, negotiation and contract preparation to bear in helping home buyers and sellers.

And for agents in this industry that aren't passionate about this expansive role, we are happy for them to be disintermediated.

Courtesy of Mike Cooke at Colorado Home Realty (c)

The Current Supply/Demand for Denver Home Inventory

You are hearing everywhere that the available home inventory is low. It has also been reported that there have been fewer homes sales so far this year. This makes it look like both supply and demand are down for the year.

In reality, neither is true. It can all be confusing so here is a blog post to unravel the mystery.

In short, the decrease in home sales is a bit of a mirage. Due to lags in reporting, the true number of sales for January through June of 2014 will not be known for a few more weeks. When all is said and done, we'll be with a percent or two of last year's numbers.

  Thus, while inventory is historically low, this is not because there are fewer sellers. For all practical purposes, we've had the same number of sellers this year as last year. Supply is steady even though inventory is low.

At the same time, buyer demand is through the roof and much higher than the sale numbers show. This is because of the "multiple offer" situation. A high percentage of homes that come on the market have multiple offers. For every one that sells, two or three other buyers are left to continue their search. If there was more inventory, we'd have 20% or 30 % or more sales so far this year.

Bottom Line: Supply is steady, not down. Demand is up, big time. Read more about the whole market situation HERE.

Remember:I have detailed statistics on what the market is doing in each zip code in metro Denver for both single-family and multi-family homes. Call me if you'd like a report for your type of house in your specific zip code.

Source : Colorado Home Realty

Should you sell your home to a neighbor/friend thinking you are saving money?

Many homes are getting sold prior to officially going on the market these days. It can happen for a variety of reasons. Some are outright sinister and unethical. Even when done innocently and naively, it is a strategy that often causes you to put less money in your pocket than you otherwise would.

Here is a scenario that happened recently. Names have been changed for privacy.

John and Jane Smith called Shirley, an agent/realtor in my office. They wanted to sell their house. Jane had an associate at work (Peter) who was interested in buying the house. John and Jane wanted to know if Shirley could just “do the paperwork” to sell the house to Peter.

Shirley explained that they might be short changing themselves because Peter might not be the best buyer. True, there would be much less commission expense if Peter purchased the property without Shirley listing it. However, other and more motivated buyers might actually give John and Jane a higher net price.

John and Jane saw the wisdom of Shirley’s advice to list the house and have the friend from work see it the first day it came on the market. If Peter bought it, the fee due to Shirley would be fairly modest but Shirley would earn a full commission if another buyer purchased the home.

Peter saw the house on Saturday and made an offer on Sunday. Another buyer working with an agent also made an offer on Sunday.

The offer from this other buyer was much higher and provided John and Jane with more money in their pocket even after paying higher commissions! Additionally, this alternative buyer did not have a house to sell, while Peter needed to get his house sold before he could complete the transaction.

We know this is counter intuitive. However, as a general rule, you are always likely to get the very highest net price by fully exposing your home to the broadest possible market rather than having it viewed by only a selected buyer that you happen to know.

There can be very legitimate reasons why you’d want me to pre-promote your property and show it to some limited number of buyers prior to it officially hitting the market. However, for the most part, this is likely to be a technique we avoid except in special circumstances.

- See more at: http://juliereddingtonrealestate.com/short-circuited-promotion/#sthash.fZWNzkMt.dpuf

Realtor V FSBO - should I sell my own home ??

Realtors vs. For sale by owners infographic by markdunkley.

Why you should be buying or refinancing TODAY !!!

Are you buying a home or a pair of jeans ??

You shop around for a pair of jeans to fit. You might be lucky and strike gold in the first shop you go in, it may take you a few fits to find the dream pair. So what has this go to do with buying a house? Well how do you shop for an agent to help you?

You probably spend more time looking for a pair of trousers than you do finding someone help you with the the biggest purchase or sale of your life. Here are a few thoughts …


* 'Try a few pairs on'
I don’t mean waste a lot of people’s time, but speak to a few until you find someone you have a good rapport with. The next few weeks are going to be fun, stressful, challenging but with (hopeful) huge rewards. You want to work with someone who will make it a ‘comfortable fit’      
                                                                                                                                                  

* Make sure you are getting quality
Just like applicant for a job, ask why you should ‘employ’ them. Ask to see their testimonies

* Are they following the latest trends
Pick a style that suits you? The ‘old school’ style might be perfect, or you might want a trendier approach. Remember, one fit isn’t always better over the other, as long as they fit you right

* Are they practical for your lifestyle?
Make sure ‘the fit’ understands your lifestyle.

The chances are we will all own a few pairs of jeans in our lives. Make sure you like (love) them and they have the durability to last the process. And always recommend the brand to your friends and family … they want to be stylist too.

Jeans will probably always be around, and you may try many fits, but you want the brand that will always be there for you.

(c) copyright

Julie Reddington Realtor ® ABR®

MOBILE PHONE 720 226 4168

The Do's and Don'ts to House Hunting

1. Do Expect to ‘Kiss a few Frogs’

This whole process is a bit like dating. You will ‘kiss a few frogs’, have your heart broken on a deal that goes south, and then just when you think there are no more ‘fish in the sea’, Mr/Mrs Right House will be just around the corner

2. Pick your favorite SHORT list

It is recommended when you go out and look at houses, stick to around 6.  After this number, they will all start blending into one!  It can also be quite exhausting.  If you have a lot of house you want to look at, schedule for another day when you will be refreshed. The average buyer will look at around 12 houses before deciding.

3. Do Take lots of notes, pictures, video tours on your phone

This will help you remember the properties – trust me, you might not forget the neon paint, but you might forget the payout, where the washing machine was etc.

4. Do Listen to your Gut

I truly believe that a house can pick you as much as you pick a house.  Your instinct can be powerful

5. Do Allow Enough Time

Don’t buy in haste, repent at leisure.   Make sure you allow lots of time on your house hunt, and arrange a second viewing on any potentials. Follow the rule of thumb – your first visit with  your heart, the second is with your head.

6. Don’t have a Extra Large Coffee before you start your tour

It is not always the polite thing to us everyone’s facilities. Plus, some vacant homes may have the water turned off.  You don’t want to be caught short.

7. Do wear practical shoes

Some homeowners may request that you remove your shoes, and especially in when the weather is inclement. Wear shoes that are easy to take on and off, not lots of laces, and wear your best socks.

8. Do Find a babysitter for the children

Especially until you narrow down the possible house. Children find the whole process VERY exciting. So rather than worry about if they have knocked over the Seller’s best china, find care for them, and bring them in when you have a short list.

9. Don’t be a Wall Flower

Do be very vocal. As your Realtor, I have many gifts, the power of reading exactly what the mind is thinking is not one of them.  This is not my house I am showing, so you will not offend me.  And it will truly help me understand what you are wanting in your Dream Home.

10. Do be Prepared to Compromise

Just like dating, you might be looking for your ‘Dream Partner’, but not everyone or everything is perfect.  Create a ‘Wish List’ and if you are buying as a couple, compare your lists so that you are on the same page.  Also discuss your big ‘no-no’s’.  And be prepared, you probably won’t find everything on your list so be prepared to compromise on this.

(c) Julie Reddington Real Estate

Proactive Approach Overcomes Potential Appraisal Hurdles

The world of appraising has changed dramatically over the last few years. It has called for new tactics to deal with this aspect of a real estate transaction so that it does not become an obstacle to a successful closing.

When the real estate market took a nose dive, lenders in general and appraisers in particular were blamed for much of the problem. Most of this blame was misplaced (a subject for another time) but the result has been new rules on how appraisers and lenders interact. Lenders have to give appraisal assignments to a pool of appraisers in a random, red-robin fashion and the quality of appraising and responsiveness of appraisers has suffered as a result.

In Denver, we have another complicating factor. Prices have risen over the last year by about 10% on average. Appraisers, having been recently blamed for being too generous with their estimates of values for properties, are understandably reluctant to reflect this trend too quickly.

The combination has created situations where it is hard to get some houses to appraise for prices that buyers are more than willing to pay and which the market seems to support. New tactics are needed.

It is much more important now for appraisers to receive marketing information on a property. The flyers and other marketing materials we use when finding a buyer for a home have many details about the improvements and benefits that a property offers. Getting this in the appraisers hands helps to make sure that he/she has a complete picture of the property.

It also helps to give the appraiser a summary of how the market reacted to a particular property. This is especially helpful when there are a lot of showings in a short period of time and multiple offers on the home – a situation that has not been uncommon over the last year.

Finally, in some situations, it even makes sense for agents to meet the appraiser at the property. Handing them the information described above and answering any questions the appraiser may have can help to get the appraiser to see the true value of the property.

Something is always changing in the real estate realm that presents a new challenge. Appraising is just one example of one of the latest. Proactively responding to the new situations is one way to stay ahead of the game to ensuring success for clients.

(c) Colorado Home Realty

Understand the inspection process

The inspection phase of the home buying process is vitally important, often misunderstood and frequently just a tad bit frustrating. Here is a brief primer on this vital topic.

A pre-purchase inspection is crucial because it is your chance as a buyer to uncover hidden defects. While it is true that sellers are required by law to tell you of known problems, the disclosure process is handled pretty-poorly in many cases with sellers not being adequately informed of their legal obligations. In addition, problems can be present in a property without the seller knowing about them.

It is also important to understand what you are getting into when you hire an inspector. If you read the inspection contract used by most inspectors, you will find that it typically defines the scope of the inspection as follows: A pre-purchase home inspection is a visual inspection ofmajor components of a house that can be safely and readily observed to document significant deficiencies that areongoing at the time of the inspection.

A pre-purchase inspection of a home is very much like getting a physical from a doctor. Your family practice doc looks in your eyes and listens to your heart and is on the lookout for anything that is not functioning properly. A home inspector does the same with the major systems of a house – looking at the structure, roof, electrical system, furnace and so forth for telltale signs of underlying problems. If he finds any, he may recommend further evaluation by a specialist.

Some aspects of the home inspection process that are frequently misunderstood:

1.    There is no such thing as “passing” or “failing” an inspection. The inspector just gives you a factual report on the condition of the house.

2.    You can ask the seller to fix defects that are uncovered by the inspection but sellers are not obligated to do anything. A negotiation must occur about which items, if any, will be corrected by the seller and/or if a price concession or some other remedy is available.

3.    Inspections do not provide a warranty or a guarantee on the property. We’ve all heard stories of people who have a heart attack right after a physical where they got a clean bill of health. Likewise, things can be wrong with houses that are not caught by an inspection. However, this is extremely rare.

The frustrating part of the inspection process is that buyer and seller expectations are diametrically opposed and always will be. The seller almost-always wants to do nothing and the buyer almost-always wants everything fixed.

The good news is that there are strategies for dealing with these differing expectations. It begins with a lot more education about the inspection process itself.

Also, there are ways of preparing the initial contract on the property that make it more likely for sellers to agree to your inspection requests when you are a buyer and less likely for buyers to ask for unexpected items when you are selling.

We will discuss in more detail when we work together on your transactions.