Ann O'Connell

On a recent airing of the Today show, a viewer named Lauren from Boulder, CO, e-mailed a question to real estate guru Barbara Corcoran. Lauren asked, "We want to buy a home in Boulder, CO, and I've noticed many properties have been on the market over 60 days. How low of a bid is appropriate on $500,000 house on the market over 60 days? I don't want to bid too high or low." Ms. Corcoran quickly knocked some sense into the e-mailer, saying that deciding to make a low offer based on the number of days on market is nonsense. The best gauge of whether a low offer might be accepted is the seller's motivation. Moreover, in a "rising market" (her words, not mine) such as Boulder, putting in a lowball offer will only result in frustration and having to bid higher the next time around. She recommended 10% as the most under the worth (note she said "worth", not asking price) of the house that you should go.

I agree that the seller's motivation is the key factor in whether a low offer is going to be accepted. If a seller doesn't have to sell, they're not going to even bother responding to a lowball offer. As for the suggestion to not go more than 10% under asking, I think that's a good ballpark number for the absolute lowestyou should go in the Boulder market. Even at that point, though, you're risking offending a seller, because we really don't see things selling for 10% under asking much in the Boulder market.

I think it comes down to this: if you love a place, don't mess around hoping to get a bargain on it. Have your Realtor help you do your homework in determining what the right price is for YOU. If the home is a stretch and all you can manage is 90% of the asking price, it can't hurt to try. Maybe you can draft a letter to the seller explaining the rationale behind the low offer. But be aware: if you see something you love, you can almost be guaranteed someone else will love it, too. Don't take the chance that they'll love it enough to bid you right out of your dream home.

Here's the link to the video (Boulder part starts at about 1:40):

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/40213852#40194605

Even if you're already working with an agent, sometimes you just want to go out on your own and wander through some properties. I get it. So, you'd think there would be a centralized place to find a list of all the open houses on a given weekend, wouldn't you? Unfortunately, that isn't the case. There are many good sources for open house information, but there is no one place that all agents and home sellers have agreed they will list the times for their open homes.

No need to despair, though - there are some good bets for finding Boulder County open houses besides driving around on Sunday looking for signs. The first place I would look if I were a home buyer is www.coloprop.com, which is the Boulder area's public-facing MLS. Go to the "For Sale" tab at the top left of the page and then click on "Open Houses" for a search form.

Another great source is the Daily Camera's online open house finder at http://camerahomes.com/boulder-open-homes/. If you're still into having a hard-copy newspaper in your hand as you drive around town, the Daily Camerafills that need as well: On both Saturday and Sunday the DC puts out an open house quick guide. On Sunday check the real estate section for brokerage's block ads and individual guides.

I always advertise my open houses on Craigslist.com, Zillow, and Trulia, too. You can check these before you go out on your house search, but be sure to double check the dates for the opens - Zillow and Trulia in particular are prone to having out-of-date information.

If you know of any other good open house sources, feel free to leave a comment and share with the rest of us!

Back in February I wrote a post about the Copper Hill subdivision near the intersection of S. Boulder Rd. and McCaslin in Louisville, Colorado. At the time of writing that post, 2 of the 9 lots were sold, 2 were under contract, and 5 were still available.

Now, in July 2010, I have good news to report that a total of 5 of the 9 lots have sold. 1540 S. 80th St., 1073 Copper Hill Court and 1062 Copper Hill Court have sold for prices ranging from $320K to $350K. The remaining lots are 1566 S. 80th St., 1088 Copper Hill Court, 1020 Copper Hill Court, and 1039 Copper Hill Court.

If you're interested learning more about the Copper Hill subdivision in Louisville, Colorado, give me a call!