Marianne Bandy

When you buy a Denver home of your own, one thing that comes with the keys is the right to change it to reflect your personality, your decorating preferences, and your needs. When it's time to sell it - if you really want to give those keys to the next owner in a timely manner - you need to bring the home back to a neutral, model-home state through a process known as staging.

Professional stagers make their money by transforming your home to a place that buyers can see as "their" home. Stagers know that purchasing a home is not a cold, emotional decision for most buyers. Most people are buying a home to raise their family or accommodate a lifestyle. They want to visualize their kids sleeping in the big bedroom down the hall from the bathroom or playing Wii in the family room. They want to see their friends enjoying a cookout in the spacious backyard. To encourage the buyer to start visualizing, the stager's job is to move anything that might be in the way.

Staging is not about decorating or cleaning, though the first step after cleaning is removing clutter - or anything that might be perceived as clutter. You may like your appliances lined up on the counter, ready for action. The buyer will regard this as lack of cupboard space. You may be rightly proud of your shelves crammed with the kids' soccer trophies or your collection of NFL memorabilia. The buyer might get more wrapped up in your life than in the features of the home.

Because homes are personal to each of us, it is easy to take the stager's advice personally and regard it as a criticism of personal taste. Coming from a more neutral perspective, a stager is only trying to bring out your home's best features so it sells in the shortest amount of time. This is why it's best to hire a professional to do the job. It is hard to be objective about staging your own home.

If the stager finds you have too much furniture in a room or too many other distracting things arranged throughout, she may suggest you store some things in the garage or offsite. Though this can be an unsettling way to spend your last months in your home, the current market puts new demands on sellers to let their homes do the talking. A stager's job is to make sure that voice comes through loud and clear.

There's no better way to make it through the inconvenience of staging than to focus on your next home. At Bandy Homes, we can help you find that new home in Aurora or any other greater Denver community - as well as help you find a staging professional to help you sell your current home.

Marianne Bandy

Relocate to Denver

If you scan the real estate headlines about the Denver housing market, it's confusing enough to make you want to stay glued to ESPN. You hear it's a buyer's market. The clues are that prices have been dropping and there are plenty of homes to choose from. After all, the lower the prices, the better deal you'll get. But we're now seeing prices start to firm up, especially in the lower priced entry level segment. We're even seeing multiple offers on many of these homes. The word is out - now is the time to buy if at all possible.

Just as you are reaching for the remote, a real estate expert is featured on the Today show segment and you hear the words "Denver," "No. 1 city," and "housing recovery" all in the same sentence. That grabs your attention. There you see real estate expert Barbara Corcoran predicting that "Denver is the No. 1 city on the verge of recovery from the real estate slump."

On what does she base this good news about the Denver real estate market?

Early foreclosures and recent decreases in foreclosure - Foreclosures hit Denver real estate before other areas of the country; for a time the city and the State of Colorado led the nation. Denver foreclosures decreased 46% in the first quarter of 2009 as compared to the same period a year ago and down 22.8% from last quarter of 2008.

Job growth potential - Aerospace, aviation, bioscience, energy, financial services, and information technology are booming in Denver. Workers are educated and healthy.

Population growth - The city has sustained a steady population growth of 2% over the past 8 years

Good weather - 300 days of sunshine, low humidity, mild winters, and moderate temperatures make Denver a popular destination

Large number of first time homeowners - The median age of the metro Denver population is 35.5, just a little shy of the National Association of Realtor's median age of first time homebuyers. Median family income is nearly $55,000

Well educated population - over 34% of the Colorado's workforce have bachelor's degrees, figures exceeded only by Massachusetts and Maryland. Area colleges and training centers offer opportunities for continual workforce training.

Coupled with a vital downtown, limited overbuilding of condos or office buildings, great schools, and beautiful parks, it's no wonder that Denver is the most likely place in the country to recover from the housing problems of the last few years.

So what does this mean to you? If you are thinking about buying a home, this is the time to do it. If you've lived in Denver for more than a day, you know that Denver is great place to live. You don't need an expert to tell you that buying a home in Denver will be a sound investment for years to come.

Put down that remote and give Bandy Homes a call! We can find you a great home in Castle Rock or any other community in the greater Denver area. If you are a first time homebuyer, we can show how the $8,000 tax credit can work for you.

Marianne Bandy

We have great schools in Denver

As a potential new homeowner or even as a potential seller, it's not likely that you are acquainted with all the inner materials of a home. It is important to reassure buyers that the home is safe and does not contain any potential health hazards. Most buyers seek an updated home inspection before closing on a new property. These inspections are critical to clearing hurdles down the road that may slow the sale of property.

One of the most common surprises new homeowners and sellers confront is asbestos in older structures. Indeed, asbestos containing materials (ACMs) are now banned for use in the United States. Many older buildings still contain these products, which are generally safe, but homeowners should be aware of where they are and when they become hazardous.

Asbestos was included in thousands of construction products and still exists in nearly 80% of homes built prior to 1978. Common asbestos materials include attic insulation, ceiling tiles, and pipe lining. Asbestos was particularly adept at insulation and prevention of temperature transfer and was used extensively until adverse health effects began to manifest in those who worked with the material frequently.

It is only when asbestos containing materials are compromised or very old that they become hazardous. Asbestos products under these conditions are rendered "friable." Home inspection companies should be able to identify these circumstances and advise you on a course of action. When asbestos material is friable, asbestos fibers can be released into the air, potentially endangering those in the area.

Inhaled asbestos fibers lodge in the body's inner tissue and have been conclusively linked to the rare cancer, mesothelioma, commonly referred to as asbestos cancer, in addition to many other respiratory disorders. There are few options for mesothelioma treatment or curative therapies for other conditions caused by sustained asbestos exposures. Homeowners need to be aware of potential hazards that may exist so they may be able to avoid potentially harmful effects of hazardous asbestos.

Again, most asbestos containing materials will not pose an immediate hazard and an informed buyer will not be turned off by their presence if they're reassured of their safety by a professional opinion. These simple precautions can be taken to assure that both sides know that they and their families will be happy and healthy in their new home.

At Bandy Homes, we can guide you through the inspection process so that you will know that the home you are buying or selling is safe. If you want a home built after contractors stopped using asbestos, we can guide you to new or recently built homes in Parker, Colorado or other fine cities in the Denver metro area.

Marianne Bandy

Relocate to Denver

With all the talk of loan modification, it's tempting to try to get in on the action if your payment is too high. You've heard that a lot of programs are more willing to help people who are behind, so you think it might be a great idea if you skip a payment or two.

In reality, this is risky business - and, unless you really can't make the payment, unnecessary. In the past, private lenders who were wiling to work with borrowers would not start talking until the homeowner was delinquent. Following the lead of the Federal Making Home Affordable program, many lenders will now help borrowers if they having trouble making the payment, not just because they are delinquent.

You only have to show that you are at risk of imminent default. If your mortgage has skyrocketed to an unaffordable level or you anticipate it will, if your income has changed or will, or you are undergoing some other hardship that will make it hard to make the payment, your lender may help you rather than letting your home fall into foreclosure. In this case, you will have to provide evidence of the hardship or change in circumstance.

If you decide to take matters into your own hands and skip payments, the lender might not take it lightly if you appear to have the means to pay. Among other things, they will pile on the late fees and penalties. Extra charges can pile up quickly!

Delinquency will disqualify you for refinancing through the Federal program and many lender-based programs. Late payments also affect your credit score, especially if they are recent. You might find it harder to get credit when you need it and, in the current era when credit issuers are slashing credit lines as a preventative measure, you might find yourself with less credit flexibility now. Some of this may change with recently-passed credit card changes but most of the new rules will not be effective until 2010.

Skipping a payment could backfire and cause you unplanned trouble, but regardless of your particular circumstance, there is plenty of housing counseling available to offer direction about how to make it in this tough economy. Avoid scammers who promise debt relief and mortgage reduction who can make your problem worse instead of better. Seek help from Colorado Foreclosure Hotline right here in Denver or call (888) 995-HOPE (www.995hope.org). Even if you have gone to the government site and don't think you qualify, check with these reputable counselors or your lender directly to try to work out something. Also, as I am a Certified Distress Property expert (CDPE), please feel free to give me a call at 888-892-2599 or check out our DenverAvoidForeclosure website.

If you are interested in selling your home on short sale or in buying bank owned properties in the Denver area, Bandy Homes has the experience and patience to work through the process with you.

Marianne Bandy

Beautiful Castle Rock Real Estate

It's amazing, isn't it? The country has been nearly crushed by the foreclosure crisis. All the great economic and social thinkers in the country are struggling to find a solution. Yet, you listen to late night TV or read the flyers stuck on telephone poles all over town and you hear that someone already has the answer! They will share it with you, if you just call for free mortgage help...

When you call, typically, the company promises to solve all your foreclosure problems, a dream come true! Unfortunately, most of these companies are scammers. Some are legitimate, but many are schemers who have pulled names of delinquent homeowners from public records and responses to fast talking ads on late night TV.

Usually they want an upfront payment, often equal to a month's mortgage payment. The company may pocket the fee, while presenting the homeowner with a phony document that the foreclosure has been set aside. They may even ask the homeowner to sign over the deed to the property. The homeowner may think all is well until he receives a bankruptcy filing in the mail, filed in his behalf, without his knowledge. This leaves the homeowner with more legal bills, a poor long term credit picture as he will have difficulty buying or renting for 10 years, and perhaps, no home if he has signed over the deed. In some cases, the company does not even contact the lender.

Foreclosure scams fall into three main categories:

Phantom help: The company promises to contact your lender, which they may or may not do, regardless of what they tell you. They may fill out some basic paperwork you could have completed yourself.

The bailout: The company offers to buy the home and rent it back to you until you can buy it back. Many times, they pocket what you pay while never dealing with your lender so you end up with no property and no place to live.

The bait and switch: The company may have you sign documents to make the mortgage current, but actually you are signing over your home.

There are many variations on these scams but in any case, you usually end up in worse shape. Not only are you out the money you have paid, but you may have no property or, if you have stopped paying your mortgage on the belief the company was helping you, owe your lender more than you did before you called.

At the moment, we have a free Federal program called Making Home Affordable that will help many homeowners. Even if you do not ultimately qualify for this program, there is plenty of free or very low cost help available from HUD-approved counselors and non-profit groups that will either help you stay in your home or move on to a new stage in your life. Ironically, since the government started its program, foreclosure scams have actually been on the rise.

Some scammers have even set up shop with company names or websites similar to those of reputable organizations. Hope Now Modifications, a flagrant New Jersey company, claimed affiliation with the Hope Now Alliance. Their website www.financialstability.org, which directs customers to a variety of payday loan, stop foreclosure, and debt relief sites, plays off domain-name similarity with www.financialstability.gov, a U.S. Treasury site.

At this point, the scammers have incurred the wrath of the President, the Treasury, the Department of Justice, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Attorney Generals of several states. All have issued warnings to homeowners and have pledged better government cooperation to stop this type of fraud.

Late night TV and telephone pole ads cannot solve your problems. However, as a Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE), I am committed to helping you stop foreclosure in Denver. Before you consider paying anyone to help you, check out our Denver avoid foreclosure website for tips on how to avoid foreclosure scams. At Bandy Homes, we can help you arrange a short sale or explore other options.

Marianne Bandy

Centennial Colorado Real Estate & Homes