Denver is the number one place to live for quality of life says a new poll quotes Lisa Ryckman of the Rocky Mountain News. Having lived here since `79, I do consider myself a self- proclaimed native, and having married a third generation Denverite that puts me over the top. I began life in Denver as a small business owner. Moving here from upstate New York, and having lived my entire pre- Denver life as a New Yorker, I feel qualified to say Denver is very different than the rest of the United States. In my tales of life in Denver to my eastern family, no one believed me! Growing up with severe winters, they all thought I was just trying to get even with them in talking about how we were shoveling  after a snow storm in jeans and a shirt. Or that the sun shines more here than Hawaii, ok Florida, from their vantage point. When I told my sister-in-law, who I introduced to my brother as I loved her so, that I was out walking in 45 degree weather in Feburary, in shirt sleeves, her disbelief….well words fail me.

I have spent so much time lauding the perks of living in Denver, and they believe it when they come and visit,  but is it the old story, out of sight out of mind, or just  my family, Denver is a happening place and the real estate market is reflecting that. Pay attention to the rest of the U.S. we are so fortunate to live in here. We are an educated group, a well traveled group, we are active, healthy, environmentally aware and live in the outdoors in a way that few can actually relate to. Slowely, the rest of the world is hearing us and they are moving here. Pay attention, you heard it here!

The best endorsement yet is that of my children, who grew up in Denver. They thank me on a regular basis for having the chuptzah to move here in `79 with them in tow crying about leaving Rochester, New York. We moved away from everything familiar and arrived in Eden. Now, here is the best part…they all stayed here!

EskyKnows the Denver Real Estate market from 5280 degrees!

It seems like just a couple of years ago that I met Sharon Pfeiffer and David Liniger who agreed to be my first mentors in real estate after having just graduated real estate school.
I read everything they gave me about how to get started. I listened intently to their suggestions. I was a real estate sponge soaking up every detail about how to list and sell real estate. I attended every motivation and real estate education seminar I could find, and still do!
Then the day came. January 27th 1974. Sharon walked up to my desk and handed me an official looking envelope. My Colorado Real Estate Sales License # 168091 was inside.
And so it began…my real estate career.
This month I celebrate the beginning of my 35th year in real estate. I am still being mentored at a high level and I am still a real estate sponge, constantly seeking how to better serve our clients.
As I reflect on these 34 years gone by, I can only say THANK YOU to all our friends and clients and let them know how much I look forward to serving you and your referrals them in the years to come!
Enthusiastically,  Mark D. Eskanos

You are in the market to buy or sell and yet you are waiting? Are you waiting until the market changes so you will have fewer choices for your dream home or are you waiting for the rates to rise so you buy less house? Are you a decision maker or a follower? The Denver market is alive and well. Per an article in the Rocky Mountain News 9/10/08, last year this month over 30,000 homes were available for purchase. Today the number is 24.000. Do the math. There is no time like the present, so get off the fence and jump in. What you may not get for your home on the sale, you will more than make up on the purchase of your next dream! In the end it all works out. There have been so many nay sayers that one either becomes immune to the talk or steps out of your  self imposed confinements and makes the move and moves on with your life. The only consistant in the market and the world is change. You either make the move, or you let others move and you play catch up all along the way. We have worked with folks that have been buying a home for two years! They are looking for perfection. Here is a news flash…there is no perfect! If money were no object and you could have whatever you want, something would be missing, I promise!

Jump in, the water is fine! Do respond to me and let me know how it feels to be impowered! What was the turning point in your decision? I so enjoy hearing what gets you motivated!

As a reader of ESKYKNOWS DENVER you know full well that I believe you should not wait to buy or sell in this market.

Saturday, John Rechook the real estate columist from the venerable Rocky Mountain News wrote an excellent story…Home buyers have cold feet in a hot market.

Most of what John writes has appeared here in my previous posts but he sums it all up with 7 reasons to  buy or 7 reasons to wait!

7 reasons to Buy

·         Sellers are motivated and willing to cut deals.

·         You can find bargains in foreclosures, especially if you’re willing to fix them up and put up with the hassles of dealing with red tape.

·         Interest rates are still relatively low.

·         Lots of inventory to choose from.

·         Even if you sell your home for less than you might have received two or three years ago, you probably can make up the difference by buying right.

·         You often can buy homes for less than the replacement cost, a signal that home prices are more likely to rise than fall.

·         If you wait, someone else may snap up your dream home.

7 reasons to Wait

·         The slide in housing prices might continue. Why buy now if you can get the same house at a 10 percent or 15 percent discount in a year?

·         You may not be able to sell for the profit you need.

·         After years of lax lending, it’s more difficult to qualify for a loan than anytime in the past 30 years.

·         If you fear losing your job or face a big cut in income, you could end up owning a home you can’t sell for a profit.

·         If your company might transfer you from Denver in the next few years, you may have the hassle of selling a home that has not risen in value much.

·         If you bought in a place that has a lot of home construction, your house is probably worth less than your mortgage.

 From Time/CNN…all I got was this lousy T-Shirt

“Fannie Mae” is a creative pronunciation of the company’s acronym of the initials FNMA; The Federal National Mortgage Association. Fannie Mae was founded as a government agency in 1938 as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal to provide liquidity to the mortgage market.

 “Freddie Mac”  is the acronym for The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC). The Emergency Home Finance Act of 1970 created Freddie Mac to provide competition in the secondary mortgage market, and to end Fannie Mae’s monopoly.

 Both are government sponsored enterprises (GSE) of the United States that are stockholder-owned corporations, whose shares are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Fannie and Freddie both buy mortgages on the secondary market, pool them or repackages the loans and then sells them as mortgage backed securities (bonds). This secondary money market provides banks fresh money to make new loans, vital for the housing and credit markets. The two companies own or back $5.3 trillion in mortgages!

Beginning in March 2007 the value of Fannie and Freddie mortgage backed securities began a rapid declined as defaulting mortgages climbed to new heights.  In July of 2008, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve took steps to bolster confidence in the FNMA and FHLMC. By August 2008, share value of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had tumbled 90% to all time lows. Surprise, the CEO’s continued their earnings in the millions!

Yesterday, September 7, 2008, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed under the conservatorship of the FHFA.

What’s a conservatorship you ask? Think of it as an intervention, like when Brittany got of control once too often and they hauled her off to re-hab. Cost of this re-hab could cost the American taxpayers $200 billion.

We should expect, as a result of yesterday’s actions; the cost of borrowing funds for Fannie and Freddie should decline because the government is backing them.  This will allow the companies to buy and sell new home loans.

The goal is to restore investor confidence in the nation’s credit markets and stabilize the stock market.

This will keep home loans flowing thus aiding the recovery of the ailing housing markets. I think this is a key element of the much needed cure for the national real estate market.

Look for home loan interest rates to move toward 5.25%  over the next 30-60 days.

Sadly the plan will probably do little to bolster home prices however foreclosures may slow as re-financing becomes available for the qualified.  

So how does it feel to be part owner of a $5.3 trillion dollar quasi governmental, share holder owned, bond driven fiscally mis-managed corporation?

You have made the wise decision that you are going to move up and it`s time to sell your home. You’re nervous; after all, the media is telling you that your timing is wrong. But you did your homework and hired the real estate professional that was referred to you by the people you trust most. Now your part of the work begins! Getting your home ready for market is a big job that pays big rewards!

 First impressions are lasting impressions. So let’s get your home ready to make a great first impression. The better your home appears from the beginning, the highest dollar value your property will get.

Here are your assignments for making the best first impression.

Assignment one: Your home must be de-cluttered, every room, one by one and please don’t forget the basement and the garage.   Clear the counter tops in the kitchen and baths. Straighten up the pantry and linen closets.  Ask yourself:  Is there too much furniture in this room? Does the room look it’s true size?   Thin out the furniture to maximize space and the appearance of space. Clean out every closet.  A bulging closet is a turn off  for a prospective buyer.  Does it fit?  Will I really every wear it again?   Clean out the unnecessaries in every closet. Clean the drawers - yes, buyers peek. They want to see that they will be able to fit their belongings into their new home. Why move it? Instead, do something useful with it - give your old clothing and shoes and such to your favorite charity.

Assignment two:  Remember the loose towel bars, the broken fan light over the desk that you kept saying you’d get to? Make a list and just do it!  All of the deferred maintenance items need your immediate attention! 

Assignment three:  De-personalize. Take down your family photos; you are moving, so start the mental process for yourself and start moving. A potential buyer wants to envision his pictures hanging on the walls.

Assignment four:  Spackle the holes and touch up. Paint.  You might even need to repaint a room that maybe one of your teens painted black. Your favorite Caribbean blue accent walls have to go. Does the deck need a coat of stain? Look around with an open eye!

Assignment five: Deep cleaning.  Inside and outside. You have a lot to do so call in the pro’s. Have your windows and screens washed! Get your carpets cleaned and de-odorized. Just before your home goes on the market, have it professionally cleaned!  Make the house sparkle! Outside, make sure all of the webs and mites are gone from the porch. Hose down the porches and patios and walks.  Pick up any debris in the yard.

Assignment six: The yard. Plan ahead. Does the lawn need a shot of weed and feed?  Cut and trim the lawn. Maybe a little more water will help to green it up.  Trim the trees and shrubs. Unless it’s snowing plant some seasonal flowers to welcome the buyers to your home. If it is snowing, keep the walks and driveway clear.

Assignment seven: Enlist the family’s help. You will keep your home cleaner and neater with the help of the kids and your husband. A family ‘sit down” to explain the importance of having  everyone’s pitich in and  keeping rooms picked up and assigning everyone a task list will be great value to you.
No one said it would be easy, but, all things being equal, in a market like the one we are in, if your house shines, it will sell faster and for the market value, not less than it’s worth.

Assignment eight:  Fill the garage or rent a “pod”. Pack your extra belongings, furnishings, boxes,  and the “stuff” you just could not part neatly fill the garage - why move things twice?  Fill the garage, rather than the house.  Buyers will understand why! We used a “pod” when we moved and I think that’s the perfect solution. Fill it up. The “pod” company will move it to storage and then to your new home!

Oh! I almost forgot… Assignment nine.  Fresh and clean smelling!  Keep the kitty litter box fresh, because even cat lovers don’t like that smell! And the dirty diapers go toxic after a day or two, too. Keep your trash bins as empty as you can to avoid giving your home an unpleasant odor.  A little potpourri  can go a long way, but don’t overdo it!

Assignment ten:  You do your job, before your real estate agent starts their job. If it means keeping your home off the market for a couple of weeks while you prepare your home to show it’s best, that’s ok! The photos for multi-list, for the brochures or any marketing piece will look better. Now let your agent do their job, get sold at highest and best price the market will allow.

Bonus Assignment: Take the family out for a nice dinner when the house is sold! Everyone earned it!

Three good links for more information to prepare and stage your home for sale!

STAGING YOUR HOME FOR SALE  HOW TO PREPARE YOUR HOME TO SELL!  10 TIPS ON STAGING

Thirteen years ago when Mark and I met, the common thread we talked about was the impact our grandfathers (or, as we called them, “Pop”) had on our lives.

Sometimes, as unfortunate as it is, it takes years after a loved one is gone to know the true impact they had on your life. When you look back on the way you handled yourself through the many situations life throws your way, the thread woven through each one may surprise you when you think about it.

Such was the case when Mark and I had the opportunity to tell our stories in the Story Corps Airstream sound studio in Denver, Colorado on a hot July afternoon. Mark had signed us up when NPR (National Public Radio) first announced they were indeed coming to Denver for a two week stint. On the day we arrived, we were told that all of the “slots” for their Denver stay had sold out in 14 minutes - a record!

We definitely were the lucky ones to have the experience that we did. Our story was professionally recorded in a sound studio in the Airsteam, with the assistance of one of NPR`s staff, later to be catalogued in the Smithsonian for posterity. Wow! Think about that. Talking about our Pops was special for us, and now anyone else can have a taste of what we lived. We were given a copy of our talk and after listening to it a few more times and giving each of our children a copy and hearing their amazement, once again our Pops are having an impact on their family.

What impact did Mark’s Pop have on him? “He shook the man’s hand so there was no need to count ‘em.”  Pop’s word and his handshake was his contract. Honest and integrity in business is Mark’s life lesson from Pop.

Gayle’s Pop taught her the value of “unconditional love.” Her love of life, family, and friends is founded on unconditional love, as learned from her Pop. You can listen to our story about our “pops”

Who impacted your life? Tell someone about it.

Go to the left and double click on our “Denver Real Estate” category and you can read my posts back to last December. In those posts I’ve repeated time and time again,

Denver’s real estate market is ahead of the country; it’s getting better; we’ve consistently ranked in the top 5 or 6 best housing markets…Today we rank in the top 4!

Today, the S&P Case Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, shows continued broad based declines in the prices of existing single family homes across the United States, a trend that prevailed throughout 2007 and has continued through the first half of 2008.

On the bright side, Denver and Boston were the best performing markets for the month, returning +1.5% and +1.2%, respectively. Both these markets have had three consecutive months of positive returns. They are outdone by Charlotte and Dallas, however, which have recorded four consecutive months of positive returns.

So what is most responsible for the low performance…I’ll tell you…the banks!

The Metro Denver real estate market is loaded with junk property. Junk, courtesy of the banks who refuse to maintain the properties they own. Most investors can’t buy these properties to fix and flip or to keep as rentals, because the banks won’t lend money to investors!

Primary residence purchasers typically don’t have the $$ bucks to put in new yards, appliances, paint and carpet and again most lenders will not loan the purchaser the money to fix up the home…so the junk sits. When the banks finally decide to “dump” the properties and take the beating they deserve for diminishing the value during the time they owned it, the sale price is low and takes down the average price in that market segment, further lowering the value of homes in the area.

Call your city, state and U.S representatives and ask them to enact laws and legislation to make the banks responsible for the properties they own!

Good homes, cared for homes, conforming homes that are ready to move into and selling under the maximum loan limits of $408,000 are selling in reasonable time frames. Why, today’s home buyer wants to move right in, install high speed cable, hang the flat screen and live happily ever after…no time or money to fix up…just a little re-decorating and good to go! Can’t blame them, fast and convenient is the way of our world.

So if you have one of these “good homes” and you’ve been thinking about selling and moving up… get off the fence, jump into this Denver market while the “deals” are there.

6-9 more months of the current market and Denver will be on the way to the #1 or #2 real estate market in the county. Stay tuned….

It was a beautiful Colorado Day and the glorious drive to Elizabeth, Colorado was a total delight. We arrived at the Rambler Ranch to find even more changes from our last year’s visit. Terry Gale, owner and genius behind the Ranch greets us riding a cute, motor scooter, one of many new toys to behold. I almost think there is so much to look at your brain can’t even register it all.

As our guests arrive, they too do not know where to look first. “Unbelievable!” and “You can’t explain this, it must be experienced!” are the cries from every person who is privileged to behold the contents of what lies in front of them. None of us know how to explain what we are seeing. Words cannot do justice to the collection.

Our good friend Don Martin tried to capture the essence of the ranch in the video link above. You be the judge!

Thanks to our great friend Connell, for cookin’ up the big dogs this year!

You may not ever look at an old car again the same way!

Do you know what I mean when I tell you “the wheels fell of the wagon”?  No excuses…I just couldn’t get my blogging thoughts going.

The last couple of months my wagon has been limping around just like me. In May I got the news that my right hip was in need of replacement as the original replacement done in March 1984 had finally worn out. Well, I got my years of service and now it was painfully reminding me to get a new one and I did 5 weeks ago. I’m good to go for another 20+ years. Just like having your car fixed, I even got my old parts back!

June 13th the nation unexpectedly lost Tim Russert and while watching the news coverage of his untimely death,  I received a phone call that my dearest friend of 36 years, Ellis Cahn had suddenly passed away that afternoon doing what he so loved doing…racing his #23, a well known and very special Lotus! Gayle and I and family were simply devistated.  Tributes in L.A. and here in Denver were amazing. Friends, family, USC Dental Grads, Lotus owners all shared their best “Ellis” stories and together consoled, morned and laughed at the life and times of our dearly missed friend. Sadly it took loss of my buddy Ellis to come to really know and love his brother Danny and family. Great things do come from tragedy.

Butting in on the planning of daughter Lauren’s wedding in September kept me in trouble with those in the know! However attending two great weddings for dear friends of ours kept my spirits high if you know what I mean.

Happy to say with the encouragement of my wife, partner and buddy Gayle and our wonderful blogging coach Andi Mancuso, we are BLOGGING again.

Gayle’s got her her groove on I know you are enjoying here comments. We’ll have some special contributors and most important…we want to hear from you. What questions about real estate or Denver or ?? can we help find the answers for you. Just ask…

Glad to be back voicing what we can about one of the best real estate markets in the country…Denver Colorado! Of course we’ll keep you posted about happenings and where to go around town and maybe even some places or some things that will surprise you.

Tell everyone you know ESKYKNOWS DENVER!