Is The SKY FALLING On Denver Real Estate?

Is Denver real estate doomed? Is this sky really "falling" on Denver real estate?

In this Realtor's opinion the answer is NO...but we sure have slowed down a lot - as most of Denver real estate sales are "off" target from last years sales by about <28%>.

Only Highlands Ranch, Thornton and Erie remain the same -or showing sales increases. Is there an explanation for this? Well let's think about that...

There still remains two big problems for the Denver real estate market. First, there are less people able to qualify now with the tightening of the underwriting rules & qualifications for mortgage lending. With no more zero down loans and harder to qualify FHA and conventional loans - more people CAN'T buy - even if they wanted too! Second, everybody seems scared to death with the economy, the price of gas and other expenses going higher! Consumer confidence is definitely hurting the Denver real estate market.

But, is this very logical - and does this make sense in reality?

The answer is no! The reality is that you're going to neither have to rent or you're going to have to buy. You get a tax deduction when you own a home you get zero when you rent. In many neighborhoods it's pretty cheap to rent, but the stuff you're renting is pretty crappy. Nobody seems to care of their cars depreciating at record rates... but so many people are convinced they should still wait before they buy. Why the insanity difference here?

Savvy buyers are snatching up houses left and right at very low prices - and at very low interest rates! Why aren't you? Many homes for sale in the Littleton real estate market, Highlands Ranch, Parker, and southeast Denver and Southeast Aurora are selling in less than 30 days on the market - if they're priced correctly! Ugly homes and unremodeled homes are taking forever to sell - go figure...!!! But there are still many bargain homes out there if you still hurry! There certainly isn't anything wrong with a 5.875% 30-year fixed-rate loan - and I just did a 10% down investor loan at 6.625% for another client who just bought a foreclosure deal!!!

The only question for you is - how long are you going to keep sitting on the fence?

US Housing Market Crashes! Home Ownership ENDS!!!

Seriously...how much more NEGATIVE real estate news can Buyers & Sellers take before our housing market basically IMPLODES!!!

That's all you hear right now - nothing but negative news on our 'bad' real estate market across the United States!!! Let's face it, how much more can the consumers stand before they just QUIT buying and selling - and say the hell with it? I know I'm sure getting fed up listening all this garbage...

As a full-time professional Denver real estate broker for the last 10 years, I have to admit there are some major problems going on in our industry that need to be addressed IMMEDIATELY!!!

Here are my top three suggestions to save our United States real estate market...

1. We must shrink the existing inventory of homes for sale - including all of the extra foreclosure homes! This is a huge dilemma because right now there are no more zero down loans and it's very difficult for first-time homebuyers to qualify to buy the extra inventory. Plus, on top of that, all investors need a minimum of 10% to purchase the other foreclosure homes as a nonowner occupied rentals or fix/flips, so there are LESS buyers to get rid of our oversupply...

2. The mortgage crisis must end immediately!!! If there are not loans for people that want to buy a home, then we will NEVER sell off our existing inventory of homes in most cities this summer, this fall this winter or in the next five years!!! The mortgage loan problem is the #1 obstacle for most Realtors helping to sell off excess inventory - including foreclosures. It's just so simple - it's just merely supply and demand, and right now there is still a good demand for homes ...but no supply of mortgage loans for a huge amount of borrowers. (It's estimated that 24%-28% of all potential homebuyers CANNOT qualify for a mortgage loan now!)

3. The theory of that "If it Bleeds - It Leads!" for news broadcasting, radio and newspaper stuff must STOP - when it comes to talking about real estate!!! I'm not a communist and I certainly don't believe in censored news, but the continued use of "Let's Scared to Death the American Homeowner" is NOT responsible journalism! As a matter of fact, even if you were buying a house that was depreciating $5,000 per year over the next 10 years, you'd still be paying the mortgage loan down and creating your largest retirement cash nest egg! Cars depreciate to nearly $0 value after 10-14 years...but if you maintain them - you still get to drive them! Homes have NEVER done that - NEVER!! Home ownership is like a "forced" savings account for most people - that you actually get to live in and enjoy...while you're saving! Duh!!!

So why does the news media continue to bash real estate and continue to scare the living crap out of most people?

The US housing market is never going to hit rock bottom and go to "zero" like some stocks do!
Since the evening news, radio broadcasts, and newspapers would not exist if it weren't for that advertising they sold, can't an intelligent person at the National Association of Realtors, the President of the United states or our "worthless" Congress explain to these media folks that owning housing is a POSITIVE ACCOMPLISHMENT for all people, of all colors, of all races, and of all political persuasions in the United States! According to the United States Census 82% of all wealth from retirees is sitting in their house! How can a 82% of weath creation be wrong? What am I missing here...why are they being so negative about real estate?

There's a lot of horrible things going wrong in the United States and in the world right now, but people still have to have housing! An INTELLIGENT PERSON certainly would realize that owning your own home outright - with NO mortgage payment (even if it was going down in value every year) is far better than paying out money to somebody else for a rent payment... even Einstein could figure this one out. Does feudal England, and the "class system" ring a bell? If you don't have a home that's paid off by the time you're ready to retire, then you are FORCED to keep paying money out up your Social Security and other savings - therefore creating the world's worst welfare state; that the United States will not be able to support!!!

Am I the only intelligent person out there that has this figured out?

Certainly our news media doesn't think the people are better off renting, after retiring - right? They certainly don't think retirees are going to start buying tents from REI and Wal-Mart and begin living in tent communities at new KOA Campgrounds 'suddenly' popping up all over the country - right? Owning your own house makes much more sense to me - or am I the only one who is NOT smoking crack? All the news media, Congress and the President need to do it to "inform" people that retiring without a home paid off - and paying rent out of your retirement is IMPOSSIBLE!!! Where is Ross Perot with his charts to show that you CAN'T retire comfortably (or at all) without owing your home outright? In the Soviet Union and Cuba, they built big high rise apartments for all the poor retirees - and poor peasants created by socialism...maybe the news media should show that and start promoting 'communal living' and socialism for retirees next!!! Or, maybe we should put retirees who don't own homes on icebergs and float them out to sea - to die - like the Eskimo's used to do...

Am I the only person left understanding that our present US housing mess needs IMMEDIATE help...???

Why Isn't Your House Selling FAST?

One of the biggest PROBLEMS in the Denver metro real estate area especially in the cities of Littleton, Aurora, Highlands Ranch, Parker, Arvada, in Lakewood, is that your home stays listed for sale for 6 to 9 months without selling or getting a reasonably good price offer! But why is that happening?

The TOP 6 List of Seller ISSUES is:

1. Your home has NOT been updated, remodeled and/or looks poor - based upon it's list price (which is probably too high for the existing condition.)

2. Your home has poor looking paint, wall paper and/or bad carpet.

3. Your home is OVER PRICED given your current competition in your subdivision - and based upon the condition of your home to their homes!

4. Your home backs to a busy street, is on a busy street, has a bad location, has a weird shaped or too small of a lot, your landscaping looks bad, it's painted an unattractive color - or the paint/trim is peeling, or your neighbors homes look BAD - so no one wants to buy next to bad neighbors. (Some of these you just can't fix...)

5. Your home shows poorly because (it's NOT staged) there's too much furniture, too many pictures on the wall, closets too full and closets packed with unworn clothes, basements and garages "packed" full with junk - or smells bad with pets or food smells.

6. Your Realtor isn't promoting your home at the "right" price and marketing/advertising it ONLINE. If you're home isn't on the TOP 10 real estate search engines...you've eliminated 70% of the potential buyers...

What can you do to fix your problems?

Do NOT put your house on the market until it's ACTUALLY ready to be sold!!! Your highest probability for receiving the highest offer on your home will occur within the first three to four weeks of it being listed for sale on the MLS.

Then, make sure you hire an experienced and smart Denver Realtor to help you with your sale, because if you don't, your home may end up on the market six to nine months later without even a reasonable offer on it... Good Realtors "earn" their real estate commissions by giving three marketing and advertising advice!!! See my blog again in the next few days to read about what home improvement and remodeling projects return the most money BACK TO YOU before you list your house for sale...

The Summer 2008 Denver Real Estate Buying Season - Is HERE

This summer is going to be different for all Denver Homes for Sale!

Here it is - almost mid-April, and Denver's home buyers are getting ready to start their big summer purchases. What makes this home selling season significantly different than the past years, is the fact that mortgage loan interest rates are around 5.75% on a 30-year fixed-rate and 5.375% on a 15 year fixed rate with just 3-5% down!

Denver real estate sellers are going to have to be a lot more flexible to accommodate some of the new loans and the new lending regulations. Many sellers forget that although they might have to lower their home's sale price to get their home sold quicker, that they will more than make up the difference by getting a better LOAN DEAL - if they're buying the more expensive home in another neighborhood. Additionally, sellers might have to forego $5,000-$10,000 in seller concessions to get their current homes sold in the next few months - BUT - you should be able to save $20,000 to $50,000 or more on your next house purchase price... using an experienced Denver Realtor to represent you.

Most reasonably minded Denver metro home sellers understand the dynamics of getting their homes sold quickly and for a good price - in exchange for getting a good or great deal on a more expensive house in another neighborhood! Ask me about the Thiersch's in Erie, Colorado that SOLD their current home to a builder, in exchange for purchasing the builder's home listed at $525,000 more in price than their current home. If you can't quite work the master math on this one, then contact me, and I'll explain why this is so important if you are planning to buy a more expensive house!

Finally, don't forget that the LOWEST interest rates in the United States now require a 720+ mid-fico score to qualify. If you think your credit scores are hovering around the 660 to 719 range, then please contact me on how we can help you RAISE your credit scores by 25 to 50 points in the next 30 to 60 days...a complimentary (free) service to all our Denver real estate buyers and sellers who list or who we represent as Buyers Agents. Now's a good time to buy your move-up home in - look for some of the "best" home purchase deals in Highlands Ranch Real Estate and Littleton Real Estate...to name a few. Think BBQ's and NO MORE SNOW!!!

NO MORE $0 Down Loans to Buy Denver Real Estate

Well - it's going to be "sink or swim" for most Denver real estate, as ALL major national lenders have now canceled the last zero down financing loans (except for the VA 100% loan.)

The Denver housing market - and all other Denver Metro real estate is going to have to rely on the regular Conventional and FHA loans which require a minimum of 3% down to 5% down to purchase real estate now. For real estate brokers like myself, that have closed nearly $100 million worth of real estate business - I question whether our Denver real estate market is going to "crash and burn"- or if it's going to be able to survive without 25% of the available buyers being able to get a loan this summer?

If I was betting $1000 of my own money, I would bet that we have a serious problem this spring and summer - simply because buyers cannot get loans!

What this means for Denver real estate Sellers is that there will be LESS traffic coming through your house for showings - and a lot more showings that will be wasted on buyers that are incapable of buying... Denver home Sellers truly need to understand that your home had better be clean, neat, remodeled, updated, "ready to sell" and priced right -- because if it isn't, you are going to be competing with almost 40% MORE unsold inventory this summer - and 25% FEWER buyers. The problem that we have right now is very simple... it's the economics of too much supply and too little demand. There is an oversupply problem right now and the demand is just been cut by 25% by all the national lenders stopping their good (and normal) zero down financing like the Home Possibles and Flex 100 loans. These were good loans designed for A paper and A- paper borrowers (that should've never been canceled) - as they had low default rates! Now, A paper borrowers are going to have to dip into your 401(k) or other savings accounts to come up with 3% for an FHA loan or 5% for a traditional conventional loan to purchase any Denver real estate, Littleton real estate, Highlands ranch real estate or Aurora CO real estate.

Buyers with marginal credit are going to have to start working on credit repair to boost your scores to a minimum of 580 on all future FHA loans (but preferably at 620 or above) to be able to get qualified to buy a Denver homes for sale with 3% down. Read more on my Credit Repair Program here, as there are no more FHA loans if your fico scores are below 580 -- or if you've had ANY unpaid collection accounts (other than medical collections) in the last 12 months reporting on your credit reports!!!

Your alternative to this "mess" is to work with a very sharp Buyers Agent who understands that the Sellers or your parents may contribute the 3% down on FHA loan -- including the closing costs -- converting a regular FHA loan to a zero down FHA loan. Please email me and I'll explain how we can help you on that.

I feel very sorry for all home sellers in the Denver real estate market this summer it's going to be a very rough one with 25% less buyers available to buy your home...

Credit Repair - TransUnion, Experian and Equifax LIED To You!!!

What you know about credit reports and credit repair can save your real estate career...

During these VERY TOUGH real estate and mortgage times - what's the only PROVEN WAY that will genuinely help you to sell more real estate?

The answer is: You must find a way to tap into YOUR pool of damaged credit buyers & renters with bad credit (that respond to your current advertising & marketing) so YOU CAN HELP THEM fix their credit and rebuild their credit reports. If you can help them to legitimately fix their credit - then YOU can sell them a house in 30 days to 6 months from now - right? Since most Realtors know very little about GENUINE credit repair, let a fellow Realtor share with you what it "really takes" to fix credit legitimately...

As a top Denver Realtor and owner of Mortgage Specialists, I've personally closed nearly $100 million in real estate and mortgage business since 1998, since earning my Bachelor of Science at The Ohio State University and my MBA. My professional mortgage experience helped me become a true Credit Repair expert, and I've helped thousands of people nationwide to repair their credit to get mortgage financing. You can read much more detailed information on my Credit Repair System here, but let's cover the basics so you can fully understand how you can SELL 5-8 MORE HOMES this year - as statistics show that 26.7% of all buyers have credit report issues STOPPING them from buying. The 3 primary reasons buyers have credit below 620 is because they:

• Don't pay their bills
• Had a period of time they (or their spouse) was unemployed or had a medical situation
• Don't know how to positively "manipulate" their Equifax, Experian and TransUnion scores

The people who don't pay their bills will always be a big waste of your time, as they rarely will take enough responsibility to stop renting and work to repair their credit. The other two categories we can help! As a matter of fact, YOUR current advertising & marketing is probably generating 2-10 of these people a month - because they're usually eager to buy. Yet unfortunately, they've just never had anyone guarantee that they could help them fix their credit once and for all...so that they could actually buy a house and stop renting forever. Now you can help them...

Let me give you a quick idea on how I can help you, as I just helped the Harris's in Houston Texas, as they had been declined by 4 other lenders until I got the phone call. They had a 658 mid-fico (a good score) when I started with them February 8, but their credit score and debt-to-income ratio was too high to qualify for the $280,000 home they wanted. I had them strategically liquidate a 401(k) and pay down (not off!) 5 of their high balance credit cards to my ‘magical formula' percentage instead, plus pay an old outstanding $198 medical collection that was about a year old. Now, they have a 699 mid-fico when I just re-pulled their credit reports on March 31. Coincidentally, their monthly minimum credit card payments DROPPED significantly too - and NOW the Harris's DO QUALIFY for a 30-Year Fixed rate conventional loan at 5.875% at my company. This is what I do for a living...and why I do so much mortgage business (and real estate business in Denver.)

You see, I can look at anyone's Tri-Merged Credit Reports and in 2 minutes tell you how many points I can INCREASE their scores by doing pro-active credit repair - and I can give you an accurate estimation on how many months (or years) it will take them to qualify for a good FHA or other loan. I'm so confident about my credit repair abilities that I'm the only guaranteed Credit Repair Program in the USA that pays your buyers DOUBLE their money back if I can't help them improve their credit scores by 25-100+ points AND get them a good mortgage loan. I DON'T DO the stupid credit repair scams that dispute "real collections and charge-off's" ...as that never fixes anything! I genuinely show buyers how the can legitimately "manipulate" their credit reports by paying down credit cards to below 49.9%, adding car loans to get new credit established after 6 months, getting 2 secured credit cards and other ‘secret' stuff that genuinely works - but takes time!

Typically, I can help many people become buyers in 3, 6 or 9 months of doing REAL credit repair. And since 26.7% of all potential buyers in the United States need credit repair help - you might as well work with a partner who genuinely wants to help YOU to sell them a house and earn your real estate commissions.

With my personal PROVEN Credit Repair Strategy and Credit Score Improvement System - and my 9 year track record of high success - I'll genuinely help or your agents sell more houses. My services cost you nothing...because I'm a Realtor who cares about other Realtors. I own Colorado Homes and Mortgage Specialists in Denver, Colorado - and offer my credit repair services for a limited amount of clients per month at around $695 for a one-time fee. We don't bill any credit repair services monthly...just a flat fee. You and your clients are given a written Credit Analysis once I pull their credit and determine "what" it will take and how long it will take me to help them achieve a home loan.

So, if you're interested in selling MORE homes during these tough real estate and mortgage times - then email me or read more about Credit Repair Help here. Let's sell some more houses!

Jeff Boyce

Colorado Homes and Mortgage Specialists

drjeffboyce@msn.com