America’s Recession Resistant Cities for Real Estate

28Sep 2011

Three Colorado cities were ranked in the Top 25 Recession Resistant Cities for Real Estate, according to a report compiled by Zillow. Analysts used statistics to compare 25 US cities that have seen home price increases in each month of 2011. Michigan communities Bay City and Battle Creek topped the list, but Pueblo came in at #3 thanks to a 2.5% price gain in the first quarter and a 5.5% gain in the second. Boulder and Ft. Collins ranked at #14 and #15 respectively. Researchers attribute Boulder’s hopeful housing market to it’s lack of a real estate bubble to begin with. Read more.

Boulder ranked #4 city with potential for growth

28Sep 2011

Boulder is one of the nation’s most innovative cities and is likely to grow over the next decade, according to a recent report. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance ranked Boulder #4 on its list of US cities that have potential for growth. Boulder scored high based on interviews with community leaders and residents, and boasts a large number of “creative class” workers as well as an excellent public transportation system. Kiplinger’s senior editor, Robert Frick, sees a correlation between growth potential and overall “coolness”—creative residents and institutions often draw similar individuals with new ideas. Boulder’s future is made all brighter by the cooperative spirit of the city’s thriving small business community, educational institutions, and federal research laboratories. Click here for the complete list and more details on Boulder’s ranking.

3 Colorado Towns Top Forbes List of Recession-Resistant Cities

30Aug 2011

According to a report by Forbes magazine, Pueblo, Boulder and Fort Collins were ranked on a list of 25 recession-proof cities. The list was based on Zillow.com’s statistics, which found that 25 American have seen a rise in home prices since the beginning of 2011. Out of 499 metro areas surveyed, Pueblo ranked #3 on the list, with a 5.5% increase in home prices in the 2nd quarter of 2011, Boulder ranked #13 with a 1.6% increase, and Ft. Collins ranked #14 with a 3% increase. Other factors used to assess home value were list prices, sale prices, and tax records. Read more here.

Boulder MLS to list green features

21Jul 2011

At least five major real estate listing services in Northern Colorado are being upgraded to include searchable fields for environmentally conscious or energy-efficient features. Until now real estate listing forms lacked dedicated categories for solar panels, energy-efficient windows and other “green” modifications, making it next to impossible for agents and buyers to consistently select homes for those desirable improvements.

Led by a group of green building professionals in Boulder, the effort to add new categories to MLS forms is expected to have a number of positive implications in the market. Residents who have made costly environmental updates should see a reflection of their investment in buyer demand as those features are included in search criteria. Over time, the hope is that higher rates of sales for energy-efficient homes will result in better appraisal values, and ultimately better bank loans for buyers looking specifically for
homes with sustainable features.

Denver is Fourth Worldwide for Energy Professionals

21Jul 2011

The Denver metro area, including Boulder, ranks fourth among “up-and-coming” energy cities for oil and gas professionals, according to a survey conducted by industry website Rigzone.com.

Beating Denver for the top three spots were Dubai (UAE), Calgary (CAN), and Rio de Janeiro (BRA). While cities like Houston are well known for being oil and gas cities, the Rigzone survey asked participants to consider quality of life issues, weather, professional conditions and overall appeal. Denver was the only U.S. city to make the list and one of three in North America.

Which came first: greatness or stability?

23Jun 2011

There are many reasons to feel lucky to live in the metro Denver area and along the Front Range of Colorado—especially if you own real estate here. The region continues this month to hover at the top of two notable designations: places that are among the best in the nation to live, and places that are largely insulated from ongoing housing market distress.

It’s a classic chicken-and-egg scenario (but one that we can be glad to have): Is the metro Denver area a great place to own property because the housing market continues to perform well, or does housing here continue to outperform other markets because metro Denver is such a great place to live?

Either way, people are still buying real estate along the Front Range—Denver is number one of only nine markets in the US where homes are selling in two months or less—helping to keep the area comparatively stable. InsideRealEstateNews reported in May that Denver narrowly avoided a double dip in housing prices in March (unlike 12 of the other 19 carefully monitored metropolitan areas on the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index), and that the region has only declined about 14% in home sales off its August 2006 peak, making it the market with the second-lowest decline in home sales.

This month also saw the release of a study commissioned by the makers of Edge® Shave Gel: 50 Cities on the Edge of Greatness. Research conducted by Sperling’s BestPlaces examined five key areas of greatness—sports, art, music, culture, and cosmopolitan factors such as LEED certifications, job availability, cost of living and population growth—placed metro Denver (which includes Boulder) at number three, behind San Francisco and Boston. The study applauded the metro Denver area for its “heavy interest in alternative sports such as the X Games, snowboarding and skateboarding” and its” high percentage of young, well-educated residents and heavy focus on green building.” The report continues, “[Denver’s] art and music scenes are not to be underestimated, coming in the top 20 with potential to rise to the top in future studies.”

Art Auction and Reception this Friday

3May 2011

Art Auction & Reception this Friday to benefit the I have a dream foundation of Boulder.

Please join us a memorable evening of art, entertainment, wine and hors d’oeuvres at this impressive and architecturally significant home: one of the Newlands Neighborhood’s own modern masterpieces offered to the market. The evening includes a silent auction of original local artworks with proceeds benefiting the I have a dream foundation of Boulder.

Direct donations will be accepted at the event, business casual attire, drawings every hour.

Friday, May 6th – 5pm to 8pm – 3077 4th Street -Boulder, CO

Please contact Marie Jacobs for more information. 303.919.4122

Getting Boulder-Part Six

17Mar 2011

Read previous “Getting Boulder” entries

The Internet. What a tool. And the answer to my question-”Could I put a deal together on a house I had never seen?” was yes. I did.

Now, moving in a few weeks to Boulder to a house I had never seen and a town I had only spent 48 hours visiting. Scary. Oh yeah, what about a job? I would be leaving an established career in Beverly Hills only to begin again. Luckily, my affinity for Sotheby’s International Real Estate and their amazingly fun website led me to my first job call. The owner of the Boulder branch of Fuller Sotheby’s was as nice as can be and we made a date to meet. Cool, a possible job.

I looked back on the little list my daughter and I made of the things that would need to fall into place in order for us to make this big transition and the only conclusion one could make was that this was meant to be. Things had fallen into place so easily. ‘Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid’ had never meant so much to me.

My first daughter (11) was delighted. My third daughter (3) happy to do anything. My middle daughter (7) made it clear that in order to make the move, she required a new puppy. Damn, inches from a clean get-away.

Getting Boulder-Part Five

10Mar 2011

Read the previous posts of this series about packing up and moving to Boulder, CO

I waited with baited breath the entire day she was out looking at property. I tried to distract myself by taking the kids to the beach and then the club but I was literally dying. What was I thinking not being a part of this process? I, of course, had my impractical favorites and was hoping against hope that for once I wasn’t wrong.

Now I feel it’s necessary here to make an important point. When it comes to matching my clients with the perfect house, I am a genius. I have an amazing ratio of showings to purchase. By that I mean there are many instances where my clients have purchased the only house I showed them because it turned out to be perfect. But for some reason, my own emotions get in the way when it comes to my own home.

The first word finally came. Shocker, my first choice was killed immediately as being totally impractical for us. But my second choice was her first choice. She was going to see it again the next day to be sure. Phew. I could live with my second choice.

But could I put a deal together on a house I had never set foot in? Is that the true power of the Internet for real estate?

Getting Boulder-Part Four

3Mar 2011

Read previous posts in this series ‘Getting Boulder’

Asking your spouse what they want in their next house can be tricky sometimes. The truth is, however, even though I’m in real estate, I don’t make the best decisions for my personal homes. I tend to choose architecture and style over substance. By substance I mean practicality. So what if the house only has 1 ½ bedrooms and a ¼ bath, it’s SO COOL. Luckily for me, my wife has excellent taste and amazing vision with a healthy helping of practicality mixed in. We have had 11 homes and my wife had the final say in every one. So we decided after all of our many first showings on the Internet, she should be the one to see the homes in person. My daughter had to go for an interview at Hillside and it just wasn’t feasible for all of us to go.

By the way, it was now the beginning of July and we had just found out that School in Colorado started in mid August rather than after Labor Day. So we had to find a house fast.

The good news was that the market in Boulder was very healthy. The bad news was there weren’t as many houses for sale that met all of our criteria as we had hoped. We had narrowed it down to half a dozen or so main contenders from the Internet. So, I planned one day for my wife to see them all with a Sotheby’s agent. I figured the next day she could re-visit any that were good. After that, it was decision time. No messing around.