About Denver County, CO

Open in Denver- Steak 'n Shake

Steak ‘n Shake has arrived on the Denver restaurant scene with gusto and news of many more locations planned for this year. The first location in Denver opened in November 2011 off County Line Road & Quebec, in the South Metro area.

Steak ‘n Shake opened their first location in 1934 and are prevalent in the Midwest and South. This opening created 120 job openings, and more to come, as five more restaurants will open in 2012. The 2nd restaurant to open will be at Hampden & Santa Fe. There are 4 options on the menu that are under $4.00!

The web site offers an e-Club and sells apparel and merchandise adorned with company logos. This is a popular spot, as this photo was taken at 2:30 in the afternoon, and there was a line at the drive through!

Next time you are in the area, check out this new restaurant!

Being in the real estate business, I hear people grumbling all the time about the market. It comes from buyers, sellers, and agents. I often wonder if they really know how blessed we are in Colorado compared to other real estate markets across the country.

I heard a story of man in Las Vegas that sold his BMW for $30,000. He then took that money and bought not only one, but TWO $15,000 condos. Each condo was a relatively new build, two-bed and one-bath. He rented each condo for over $900 a month and in his first year made almost all the money back he invested. Can you imagine a nice condo like that selling for $15,000 dollars? Now that is a depressed market.

In Florida, couples are in court NOT fighting about who gets the house from the divorce, but rather who gets STUCK with the house after the divorce. Divorce is hard enough, but now you have a judge telling you that you must keep this huge liability called a home and make payments on it. I have never heard of a divorce couple going to court so they wouldn't keep their home. That's a bad market!

In Detroit, there are so many foreclosures that have no hope of selling and are in such bad neighborhoods that the cheaper option is to tear them down. That in and of itself is not new, but what we are seeing in Detroit is entire city blocks demolished. Neighborhoods of 50 to 100 homes are gone with only empty streets and fire hydrants as reminders of homes that once stood. Again, can you imagine driving to an area of town that was a vibrant neighborhood at one time and now is no more? It looks like something out of the movies.

The down real estate market has hurt everyone in every part of the country, but if you look closely, we are blessed in Colorado. Our unemployment rate is lower than the national average, we have a good corporation base, a vibrant downtown, 300 days of sunshine a year, and it is still a place that people want to live and relocate. Inventory is low, we sold a large majority of our foreclosures, prices are stable and in some cases rising.

Next time you hear people grumbling about the real estate market in Colorado, tell them about Las Vegas, Florida, and Detroit. It makes you appreciate where you live.

Dan Polimino is an Owner/Broker with Keller Williams Realty DTC. He can be reached at dan@coloradodreamhouse.com and www.coloradodreamhouse.com/denverpost

Chapter 2: 3 Legged Stools Work in Real Estate, too!

The current market in Colorado and nationwide relies on this basic stool. The first leg is Distressed Sales v. Foreclosures; the second leg is the folks who owe more than their home is worth; and, the final leg is the rate at which the Government and major banks feed properties onto the market, effectively controlling prices waiting for better times to help them liquidate foreclosed houses from their books. Over the next few days, I will discuss each of these legs. I will also lay out my assessment of the risks, uncertainty, and strategy for success. Bottom Line: we lend to smart borrowers through our private money fund in Colorado and most often in Denver.

Check out my other Blog Posts and Free Reports on my Web site for additional ideas about the market. Read more tomorrow on this fascinating subject!

The recent economic down-swing has affected almost everyone in some way, but homeowners have been among the hardest-hit with foreclosures of over 4 million homes in the last six years.

Former homeowners can now take heart as they look to again buy a home in Denver or anywhere across the country. The normal re-buy waiting period of up to seven years is shrinking, especially for those whose foreclosure or short sale resulted from a job loss, illness, or other extenuating circumstance.

How long you’ll wait depends on your lender as well as your situation. Homeowners with a foreclosure must wait seven years if borrowing from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac but only three years if using the Federal Housing Administration.

If you had to sell your Denver home through a short-sale, the wait time to re-buy can be reduced or waived depending again on your particular circumstances. For example, the FHA generally requires a three-year wait after a short sale, but they might cancel this wait period if the short sale was due to a job loss.

Waiting times are also potentially shorter for borrowers who can put a higher down payment on their next Denver home. If you’re borrowing from Fannie Mae and can provide a down payment of 20 percent or higher, you may only have to wait two years to re-buy versus the normal seven year waiting period.

Re-buying after foreclosure or short-sale means you will probably have to pay a higher interest rate, but in this market “higher” might mean 4.5 or 5 percent—which doesn’t feel like much of a penalty!

So don’t let past issues keep you from hunting down where next to live in Denver. You can probably purchase again more quickly than you think.

Let the professionals at the Bandy Team help you buy or sell a Denver home, contact us for a no-obligation consultation. If you’re thinking about buying a home in Denver, we can show you some terrific properties in Denver, including homes in Cherry Creek, town homes in Lowry, and real estate in Stapleton. You may also be interested in horse property in Elizabethor Parker horse property, and a variety of golf course homes in Canterberry.

Marianne Bandy

Relocate to Denver