Arvada, CO

There's a one-level (ranch style) home for sale in Arvada's Pomona Lakes neighborhood, which caught the eye of a neighbor because it's larger than most (1,682 square feet on the main level plus a full finished basement). The asking price was recently lowered to $269,900. So the gentleman and his wife and I went to see the house yesterday.

It is definitely good-sized, with a finished basement.  It had been remodeled some over the years (built in 1972), but doesn't have any of the 'wow' items that buyers want today, such as wood floors (there was some older parquet, that needed to be replaced), or granite counters, or new appliances.  It did look well-kept and clean, and we didn't see any deferred maintenance such as rotten fascia or leaking gutters. There are vinyl windows, lots of recessed lighting in the basement, the carpets are in OK shape. But the yard is small, the backyard is dominated by the neighbors' 2-story house.

So this couple felt the price is too high, and I agreed.  His estimate of value, however, was quite a bit lower than mine.  So I went back to the office and did the research . . .

18 homes sold in Pomona Lakes in the past year, only six were comparably sized, and none of those were ranch style. There is one ranch home of the same size currently under contract, and the subject property is the only one currently for sale. 

The one that is currently under contract was listed for $279,900, but we can't know how much it's selling for until after it closes. (Homes around here usually sell within 3% to 5% of asking price.) It has a remodeled kitchen with granite counters, new windows, roof, and furnace; updated baths, and new carpet.  In addition, it's on a quieter street. It will be interesting to see the final price on this home, because nothing has sold in Pomona Lakes for that price since August of 2008. In the past six months, the highest sale was $265,000.

There's more about each of the six sales of larger Pomona Lakes homes below. After reading through the info, what do you think would be a fair price for this home?

BTW - this couple decided not to pursue this home. If you think this sounds like a home you might like to have, please give me a call. (I'm not providing the address in this post only because some agents would accuse me of 'interfering' with their listing.) 

Arvada is a mid-sized town located about midway between Denver and Boulder, Colorado, in Jefferson County. Pomona Lakes is a popular neighborhood, built in the early 1970s, at Arvada's northern border, between 80th Ave. and 86th Ave. and west of Wadsworth.)

Pomona Lakes' Market Activity

8264 Yarrow St - a 2040 square foot 2-story with full basement. This house is on the corner of Yarrow and Pomona, a quite busy intersection, and just a few steps away from Wadsworth, a main north-south arterial. It has gone through a series of owners, and hard times lately, and didn't look any better from the outside after each one.  This time, it was on the market for 104 days before it finally sold for only $200,000 four months ago. (BTW - the current owners have put in some work, and it is looking better already.)

8152 Ammons Way - a huge bi-level with 3,279 square feet, which backs to a green belt. It was a short sale on the market for 83 days.  No pictures were provided except for the main exterior shot, and no description was provided.  This home closed for the bargain price of $235,000 just two months ago.

8314 Field Ct - a 2,170 square foot tri-level with basement, the agent stated that it had a new garage floor and driveway, and new paint. The photos showed that it was also dated, dark, and had yellow kitchen cabinets. This one was on the market for only 4 days, and closed at $258,000 about six weeks ago.

8262 Ammons - a 1931 square foot tri-leel with basement. The agent provided not remarks.  Based on the photos, the interior seemed dated except for updated baths. The kitchen had tile floor, pinkish-looking cabinets, and granite-look counters. After 80 days on the market, Ammons sold for $259,000 ten months ago.

8204 Flower Ct - a 2196 square foot 2-story with a full basement, had a main floor laundry. The kitchen cabinets appear to be original, had new-lookig white appliances, and a tile floor. Decor looks dated. It sold for $265,000 less than three months ago.

8280 Dover Way - a 2045 square foot tri-level with finished basement that backs to a green belt, had some wood floors, tile in the bath. The kitchen had oak cabinets, white appliances, light-colored counters. The dining room had carpet, there were vinyl windows. This sold for the neighborhood's top price of $270,000 after only seven days of the market, eleven months ago.

So, the top-priced comparable we have from the past six months is 8314 Field Ct., at $258,000.  I would say the subject home is in better condition, and ranch-style plans tend to sell higher than tri-levels, but it does have that unfortunate small backyard.

So, how much do you think this home will sell for?

Find Arvada homes for sale with at least 2000 square feet. 

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I thought it would be fun to see what my friends who live in the towns northwest of Denver are doing for 4th of July - Independence Day. So I emailed a bunch of them and asked. Here's what they're planning, read through for ideas of your own.

We’ll be in Westcliffe to watch the parade and we’ll be thinking a lot about our founding Fathers and their beliefs. - Georgia

We are having kids/grandkids over for a barbeque/Stenger fireworks. Last year Dave and his girls took us to the Rockies game/fireworks. I'm hoping your blog will give us some creative ideas for next year! Hope all is well with you. - Louise

(I want to do the Rockies game/fireworks one year soon too, Louise.)

Derek and I are venturing up to Granby/Grand Lake for an 8-mile hike and to see the fireworks on Grand Lake with good friends. We'll stay in a cute motel in Granby on Saturday night. - Robin

We're are going over to our friend's, who live in Golden, and BBQ and watch fireworks later in the evening. - Doris

We’re getting together with some family members the day before for a meal. The day of, want to be home so our little dog doesn’t freak out when our neighbors do their “off-the-ground illegal” fireworks. I hope you two have a great 4th! - jas

Dennis & I are gonna hang out at home, eat watermelon and popcorn, and maybe catch some remnants of firework shows that show up around here! As far as past 4ths, I used to go to the Cherry Creek Art Festival with my sister when she lived here. And it was always unbearably hot! Happy 4th to you, too! - Susan

And I heard from my wonderful daughter, Amanda -

Hey Mom! - We used to go to Bandimere Speedway every year but they stopped doing their fireworks show for a while and I don't know if they have started up again. This year we were thinking of going to Arvada's Spirit of American festival featuring the "Hot Times, Kool Cars", classic car show.

"Arvada's fireworks show is over thirty years old and a full day of events begins at 3:00 p.m. at the Lutz/Stenger Sports Complex on W. 58 th Avenue at Oak St. just west of Kipling (parking lot opens at 2:00 pm)." -Gloria Shanstrom (I got this information here.)

And my sweet hubby chimed in too:

I’m going to try and spend time with my beautiful wife, something that doesn’t happen as much as it should. Sleep in or maybe have a BBQ with our children and then either go see a movie or fire works. Maybe even a short bike ride or a walk with the dog or a ride up into the mountains with the top down on the car. - James

(Sounds very tempting!!)

Tim and I are working the morning shift, then going to Loveland to watch fireworks with the family this year. When I lived in AK, we used to do a hog roast in Talkeetna on the 4th, which was in the middle of our annual fishing trip - so fish for breakfast and lunch, then hog for dinner, and fireworks after sunset. - Christine

Wendy & Art - Fried chicken and fireworks.

Debbie - playing with the grandkids

Debbie and I plan to spend the 4th with her mom and dad. It is her dads birthday. - Chris

I'm going down to Pueblo with my sister, Rebecca, and her family. We're going to watch fireworks there with some of her husband's family. - Nicole

Besides the link Amanda provided above, try these for more great celebrations:

Westminster's fishing derby, Broomfield's Great American Picnic, and Thornton's celebration.

Check out my website.

Find homes for sale in Colorado - Arvada, Broomfield, Westminster, North Denver, Golden, Lafayette, Louisville, Wheat Ridge.

iPhone(r) App – for those of you who don’t have an iPhone(r), ‘apps’ are features you can add yourself. To use them, you just touch the screen. One of the fun things about owning an iPhone(r) is that total strangers who also have the phone will strike up conversations, telling you about some cool new app you must have. Now, it’s my turn to share.

Trulia.com is one of the internet sites I use to market my listings. (I also answer questions posed by home buyers and sellers – you can look me up and see what I’ve said.)  They have a free app that will tell you all the houses for sale near you. That can be wherever you are at the moment, or put in any address.  So you could put in the address of the school you want your kids to attend, and immediately know all the houses for sale near it.

Also, it will tell you all the open houses nearby, but only if they’ve been advertised on the Trulia site, which is one of the things I do for my listings.  (I’m telling you about this because I think you can have a lot of fun with it. But if you’re serious about buying a house, you would be amazed how much easier it is with your own real estate agent working for you.  And you don’t even pay them, the listing agent does.)

Find all the homes available between Denver and Boulder (Arvada, Westminster, Broomfield, North Denver, Thornton, Lafayette, Louisville, Wheat Ridge and Golden).

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Out of the 600 homes in this neighborhood, there are only 2 for sale right now.  They’re both listed in the $270s.  Neither of them are distressed sales (foreclosure or short sale). Wow! What a change from the past few years.

There are three homes currently under contract – none of them are distressed sales.  We can’t know what their final selling price will be until they close, but if they end up close to their asking prices, there’s definitely the beginning of an upward price trend for this neighborhood.
 
The three under contract homes weren’t on the market long – it was just 7, 15, and 16 days for them to get acceptable offers.

It appears that one of them is a fix & flip  – 8380 Estes was just sold Feb. 5 2009 for $154,735.  It was a short sale.  It was remodeled and re-listed on April 30 for $249,000.  It was under contract just 2 weeks later.  The re-emergence of ‘flippers’ is a good sign of the market picking up.

Since January 1, eight homes have sold here.  Five of them were distressed sales.  (Three were short sales, one was HUD owned, one was bank owned.

Sold prices for the distressed sales were from a low of $154,735 to $235,000.
Sold prices for the non-distressed sales were from $258,000 to $264,950
Sold price per square foot for distressed sales averaged $94, and $84 for finished square feet.  (One of those was my short sale listing – guess which agent got the most for her listing?  Uh-huh!)
Sold price per square foot for non-distressed sales averaged $121 and $105 for finished square feet.

Days on market for non-distressed sales were: 4, 9, and 155
Days on market for bank-owned averaged:  92
Days on market for short sales averaged:  151

All in all, this is good news for Pomona Lakes home sellers.  However, in 2008 price per square foot was $119.  That combined distressed sales and non.  That compares to the current $107.  So prices are lower now than last year.  Also, average days on market last year was 68, compared to 82 so far this year.  That means home buyers can still get a great value on a home here.

Low prices and longer days on market are a lingering effect of distressed sales.  If Pomona Lakes can remain free of short sales and foreclosures – or at least keep them to only a few – these numbers will turn around. Market values will increase.

Check out my previous post on Pomona Lakes' Sales Statistics.

Read more about the Pomona Lakes neighborhood.

Pomona Lakes is located near the northeast section of the city of Arvada, Colorado. Arvada is an historic small town about midway between Denver and Boulder, in Jefferson County.

Find homes for sale in Arvada.

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Sales statistics for the Five Parks Neighborhood of Arvada, Colorado show a dramatic slowing of homes sold, and a corresponding increase in *absorption rate.

*Absorption rate is the amount of time that it would take for the current number of homes for sale to close, assuming no other homes came onto the market, based on the number of homes sold in past years.

2006 saw 44 sales ranging from $250,000 to $635,000. There were no foreclosures or short sales. Many of these homes were new construction.
2007 saw 44 sales ranging from $293,000 to $540,000. There was one short sale. A few of these sales were new construction.

2008 sales dropped to 28 homes, ranging from $232,200 to $535,000.

2009 is where we see the drastic change. Almost halfway through the year, only 5 homes have sold, and two of them were short sales. They ranged from $314,000 to $441,500.

There are 4 homes under contract, and one of them is a short sale. The highest list price amongst these homes is $449,000.

There are twenty homes for sale. Only one of them is disclosed as a short sale, but that's a LOT of competition. List prices range from $310,000 to $649,000.

The previous years' absorption rate was less than 6 months, but current activity shows an absorption rate of 11 months.

The Village of Five Parks is a very popular area, despite this slump in sales. If you'd like to see any of the homes for sale In The Village, please give me a call. Or, use the links below to search online home sales for yourself.

Arvada is an historic small town about midway between Denver and Boulder, in Jefferson County.

See all the homes for sale in the Village of 5 Parks and nearby.

Find all the homes available in Arvada, Westminster, Broomfield, North Denver, Thornton, Lafayette, Louisville, Wheat Ridge and Golden.

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Info for this post was taken directly from Metrolist on June 8, 2009.