Open Houses Are Not the Way to Find a Home in Boulder
Open houses are NOT the way to buy a home. The online info is better and you’re less likely to give away valuable info to a seller’s agent.
September 5, 2018
A4HB Homebuyer's Blog
Finding the Right School for Your Family
Finding the Right School for Your Family By Claudia Lewis Great Schools in our Area Many of our buyer clients list good schools as one of their reasons for selecting Boulder Valley as the place they want to live. In some cases, parents have already targeted the one school they would like their children to attend. However, if you limit your choice of neighborhoods this severely, it can be a recipe for frustration and possibly failure. Agents Cannot Offer Opinions Under Colorado Division of Real Estate rules, agents are prohibited from offering opinions about local schools to home buyers. Much
May 23, 2018
Why Hire a Real Estate Buyer’s Agent?
Why Hire a Real Estate Buyer’s Agent? Why Not DIY? Today, you can find homes for sale and look up many things you need to know online. Do you really need a real estate agent? With all of the internet tools available today, there’s a lot of debate about whether a buyer needs an agent. Why not DIY? Is it really necessary to have your own buyer representation? In my experience, the answer is emphatically yes! Here are eight great reasons to hire a buyer’s agent. 8 Great Reasons to Use a Buyer’s Agent Buyer Agents Are Dedicated to Working for
April 16, 2018
Top 5 House Flipping Strategies
Each property needs its own special kind of attention and love. Here are 5 top house flipping strategies that can help.
April 13, 2018
Can low-cost 3D printing solve housing shortages?
Can low-cost 3D printing solve housing shortages? by Claudia Lewis Download and Print a Home? It’s a somber reality that 1.2 billion people worldwide live without adequate housing. For the past several years, New Story, a housing charity based in San Francisco, has built over 150 homes in El Salvador, where tarps and scrap metal shelters abound. New Story has been working to provide houses that have proper roofs and floors but it’s slow, painstaking work in a country where nearly a third of the population is without shelter. They needed a better approach. Last year, New Story may have
April 6, 2018
Why Hire a Real Estate Professional in a DIY World?
Why Hire a Real Estate Professional in a DIY World? This may be stating the obvious, but I am a real estate agent. It may also be obvious that I feel strongly that you should hire a real estate professional when you’re ready to buy a home. I became an agent in part because my first home buying and selling experience was such a disaster! My motivation for going to real estate school was to do whatever I could to prevent other folks from making the same mistakes my husband and I did. When You Don’t Know What You Don’t
April 3, 2018
Pick Your Best Investment as a Residential Buyer
Pick Your Best Investment as a Residential Buyer By Norris Minick In a recent post, we presented some data on a gap that opened up between 2002 and 2010 between condo/townhome prices and prices for small single family homes. Then we noted that this gap narrowed substantially in most local communities over the past few years. This raises a question: If buyers see a price gap opening up, does it made sense to buy a condo or townhome, rather than a single family home, to maximize the potential of their investment? How do you pick your best investment as a
August 30, 2016
It’s a Good Time to Purchase an Investment Property
It’s a Good Time to Purchase an Investment Property Millennials are Waiting Longer to Buy In July 2016, U.S. homeownership rates hit their lowest percentage on record at 62.9%. What is the major cause of this trend? The dip in homeownership is most likely due to millennials waiting longer than ever to purchase their first home. Factors that influence the home buying decisions of the younger demographic are increased student debt, delayed marriage, and waiting to have children. As a natural result, this has impacted rent and vacancy numbers across the state. According to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs,
August 24, 2016
The Fascinating World of Dryer Lint
The Fascinating World of Dryer Lint It’s not unusual for home inspectors to find dryer ducts packed with lint in the course of an inspection. When they do, they strongly recommend dryer duct cleaning. This is not a trivial issue because the lint is potentially combustible and a somewhat common source of house fires. Do Your Clothes Take Forever to Dry? But with that knowledge, it still didn’t occur to Norris to have the dryer vents cleaned at his home or the rental condo he owns. Shortly after a new tenant moved into his condo last year, they called to
September 17, 2014
Insure Your Condo for Fire & Flood
Why should I get fire and flood insurance for my condo/townhome? One of the eternal mysteries in real estate is the fact that lenders don’t always require condo and townhome buyers to show proof of home insurance before they close. Nor do they generally require that the property be insured after closing. In contrast, when you buy a single family home, the lender insists on both. This is because if the house burns down they know they will lose the collateral they have for their loan. They also know that most home buyers won’t be making $2000 a month payments
December 15, 2011