Joetta's Denver to Boulder Newsletter - November 2011

Joetta’s Neighborhood Newsletter

November, 2011

Hello, Friends & Neighbors!

Thanksgiving is coming up so quickly, it’s hard to believe 2011 is drawing to a close. However you choose to spend the day, I hope you have a wonderful time blessed with love and warmth.

DonorsChoose

I’m writing this paragraph after just learning that Prop 103, increased taxes for school funding, did not pass. Whether you were happy to get that news or not, we all still have the opportunity to help our schools. Parents these days have a lot more expenses for their children’s education than we did when my daughter was in school, but those of us who don’t have kids, or whose kids are grown, might enjoy kicking in some bucks and helping out a project that jingles our bells (see – I’m already thinking about Christmas!).

Go to www.DonorsChoose.org. Click ‘View Projects’. Choose your state, city and school. I saw one Pomona Lakes High School teacher requesting donations for her special needs students, and had the pleasure of giving the final amount that teacher needed. There’s another special needs class in Arvada that needs art supplies. I sure wish a bunch of you could give some amount, and maybe this class will have their new supplies at the beginning of 2012!

Maybe if you’re disappointed that Prop 103 failed you could give to prove your dedication to teachers and kids? Maybe if you’re glad that Prop 103 failed you could give out of your own heart, knowing exactly where you’re money’s going? Please know – I’m NOT implying you ‘don’t care about kids’ if you don’t give to Donors Choose. I’m just putting this opportunity out there for any of you who are so inclined.

Real Estate News

Buying or selling a home is a big event in anyone’s life, and during the process we spend a lot of time together. Then, there’s the closing and suddenly that relationship is over. It’s kind of like my family’s recent experience of spending a lot of time in the hospital, getting to know the doctors and nurses, sharing really tough emotional times with them, and getting to know them and their lives too. Then, the baby goes home healthy and who knows if we’ll ever see those special folks again?

That’s one reason I write this newsletter. Along with personal acquaintances and folks who’ve contacted me in response to my internet articles, I send it to my past clients. I love it when folks get back to me with a response to an article, or input for the next issue. It’s a nice feeling to just stay in touch!

But I also wanted to tell you, I think about you all a lot more than you realize. In fact, every now and then I peek at the market in the neighbor-hoods where you bought a house. I’m always disappointed to see values have dropped below what you paid, I keep hoping to see improvement. Many neighborhoods in the area where I work are showing stability.

One of these days things will turn around, and I hope to be one of the first to tell you that your home’s value is on the rise! It’s great news for those who want to sell, or for those who want to re-finance.

Real estate agents often assume that rising home prices is bad news for buyers, I’ve often said that myself. But really, it’s good news for them too. No one wants to buy a house and see the value drop, as many of you can attest. So once prices turn around, buyers can make that investment with a growing confidence that it will be a good investment.

Whenever I do this research I turn it into a blog post, of course. You can read these reports at http://HomesDenvertoBoulder.com .

What Real Estate Insiders are Talking About

I belong to an online networking community with over 200,000 members from all over the country and many from Canada, all in the real estate field. These include real estate agents, lenders, inspectors, appraisers, stagers. I thought you might be interested to hear each month what the chit-chat is amongst these ‘insiders’.

Often, I read a blog post and a hundred comments or more, all written by insiders, and I think, “I sure would love to know what the general public thinks about this.” So, if you have a response to the subject in this section please let me know. I may use your comments in a future newsletter or blog post, but only with your permission.

I tend to have a different ‘take’ on things than most people, following the status quo isn’t my strong suit. I believe many things about the way real estate is done need to change. So believe me, I won’t be offended or surprised at your comments!

Retainer Fees: This month there’s been a lot of discussion about charging a retainer fee to work with home buyers. The reasoning is: We work hard for buyers (I want to emphasize this – a good agent does work hard for home buyers!), yet after much time and expense a buyer can go to an open house and buy it from the listing agent, or stop in at a construction site and buy a home from the onsite agent. Or maybe, they just want to look at homes at a time when the agent who’s done all that work is busy, so they just call someone else. So the agent who has worked hard for them, and put in hours that they could have been generating other business, gets nada.

What do you say? Would you be willing to pay an up-front fee to work with an excellent buyer’s agent?

What if it was rebated back to you at closing?

What if it was rebated back to you double at closing?

Some of my blog posts for the past month

Arvada Colorado Homes Sales October 2011

How Many American Homes are Underwater?

$32,500 Fine for Home Renovations?

Why I Like Olde Town Arvada

See more at HomesDenvertoBoulder.com

And BeautyofGardening.com

If you have input for, or a response to, this newsletter, I’d love to hear from you.

Joetta Fort~ Equity Colorado ~ 720-353-8031 ~ Joetta.fort@comcast.net

My website (see all available homes here): www.DreamHouseHunting.com