Josh Hunter

Attention Agents and Investors!

I wanted to get some feedback on what you are experiencing in terms of DOM and Incentives offered (reduced rent, reduced deposits, free half month's etc) in your investments and those of your clients.

I am pending a write up and would like some more "local" information from others.

I have several 2/2 and 3/2 properties that are experiencing "about" 30 days or so longer vacancy periods and a small reduction in rent from previous years. Rent reductions are not drastic but effect bottom line. $1350-$1300, $1050-$975, $2300-$2100 and so on. Our feedback from other cities has been that many landlords with tenants that are at least paying on time is that they are offering them a small incentive to stay and re lease to avoid a potentially larger cash flow loss and extra time on market. I would love to hear your thoughts as well.

If you are commenting on an area OTHER than Boulder County, please state so.

"Can you show me more of that house? I wont be in town for a week"

Recently I stumbled upon this AWESOME website that lets your stream video from your PHONE! That's right, we are really headed in a new direction in the coming years. This amazing program lets you set videos to Private or Public and is uploaded in REAL TIME! I currently use this for both business and personal.

It is great for touring homes for clients, although it is not HD Quality it is extremely powerful and easy! I have used it for documenting damage, giving a quick tour, showing my wife "options at home depot" and much more. We also have a 16 month old and this will be used regularly to keep the family updated with more than photos.

How easy is this? Very. You just have to have a video capable phone supported by this company. They support over 100 models currently. You just need to open the program on your phone and press "stream". Then you are done! Point and shoot! You can add tags, titles, privacy, etc right from your phone. I am excited to see how this is used in the industry in the coming months!

Share your thoughts and feedback please!!!!!

Visit www.qik.com for all the info!

I am working on a longer writeup on the rental activity in the Colorado Front Range. Many of us have noticed one or more of the following things:

• Decrease in "qualified" tenant calls/leads
• Decrease in rental rates of SFR
• Increase in DOM
• Increased incentives from years past (free rent, low deposit, ipods, cash, etc)

Overall, what we are seeing can be related to the following (in no specific order)

• Economy - Layoffs, pay cuts, news headlines, etc
• Saturation - Large amount of new rentals in any given neighborhood, specifically lower priced areas with a higher volume of foreclosures.
• Re signing of leases at current residence - They know another place may cost more and the owners do not want a vacancy
• Tenant reduction of "needs" - Upgrades such as granite, hardwood, and high levels of trim becoming less important therefore shooting your home out of the running

There are more things to consider here but this is what I wanted to touch on right now.......rather than an informational blog I want to see what kind of feedback this generates and what others are experiencing.

I want to add a disclaimer that the above statements are only observations and we are not seeing this slowdown in every town on every kind of home.....trying to avoid the "What are you talking about? The rental market is great" comments. If you have noticed a slowdown or change in your clients or your investment properties, please share.

I want to tell you a quick story about a client I just closed.

Short Sale in Colorado with owners still residing in the home and moving out day of closing. Question comes up "how clean do you want the home?" keeping in mind this place has had little attention to things like clenliness in the last 5 months. "Well, clean things up if you can, we would all appreciate it". Long story short, with no trash cans in the home after move out...where do you throw clorox wipes? Appearantly down the toilet drain. In a 55 year old home with a cottonwood tree in the front the sewer was scoped and cleaned out, but like always it still has a few rough ends that can hang onto debris.

After a sewer plug up and several loads of laundry and dishes.......it took very little time for the basement to flood and sewage to back up through the drains. Upon the plumbers visit, he extracts about a whole container of disinfectant wipes about 30 feet down the line stating "these are about the worst things you could flush!"

A disaster recovery team and insurance claim later, things flow fine.

Is it worth bartering with your sewer inspector to come back out? It may be worth it! He gets a fair price for the initial scope, paid to rooter the line.....see what he would offer to come back out and double check the line right before closing.....you may be surprised. If not, offer to pay him 50% (or whatever you think is fair as you know your inspectors).

On July 30th 2008, Bush signed a bill that will provide first time home buyers with a temporary tax incentive of up to $7500! But, you only have until July 1st 2009 to qualify for this incentive! Combine this with current financing options and the many homes of great value, this is definitely an investment in your future you want to look at!

Here is a link to some additional information provided by the National Association of Realtors

FAQ on First Time Buyer Tax Incentive