House Hacking has become a popular term lately in the Real Estate Investing Community and also another community known as FIRE, Financial Independence and Early Retirement. In fact, as it comes to FIRE, developing and utilizing hacks for just about everything is a must and is one of the key tenets to reaching FIRE. This post will focus on the hacking aspect of Real Estate, and in Continue Reading
Can You Time the Market?
Can you Time the Market? A common question heard on so many news outlets, websites, etc. is if a buyer can time the Real Estate market, like you might when you are buying a stock. Some people say "No" you cannot time the market. They claim that you buy when the time is right for you, and it's a long term investment. They say timing doesn't matter, not to think about it. Continue Reading
First Time Homebuyer FAQ
We have a special Video Blog today from Caroline and lender partner Michelle Oddo at Nova Homeloans. It can be daunting for a first time homebuyer to know where to start in the process of buying a property. Caroline covers some of the most common questions in this video blog including: How to get started? What is the first step? Do I need 20% down for a mortgage? Continue Reading
The E-Scooter Craze
Happy Friday, y'all! Topic for today is E-scooters. Love 'em or Hate 'em they sure do seem to be popular and here to stay. This is becoming a pretty common scene around town (maybe not today since it's snowing!): First off let me say that they seem really fun and cool! They seem so popular especially with young people <30 let's say (my own observations) Continue Reading
The Gov’t Shutdown and Real Estate
Don't worry, this isn't a political post, at least not overtly :-) It's been hard to miss the news of the on-going Government Shutdown the past few weeks. While I believe a deal will be struck soon, or at least a stop-gap measure to re-open the government for a period of time, kicking the can down the road a bit further, one thing has really struck me with all the reporting: The Continue Reading
A Soft(ish) Landing
What is Different in 2019 Well this year is off to an inauspicious start already in the Financial World, lots of pessimism. See my 2019 predictions from earlier this week. It's safe to say I'm cautiously neutral. Not pessimistic but not optimistic. I'm hoping for a "soft landing." What we are seeing quite simply is the winding down of years of massive stimulus, the Continue Reading
Denver Real Estate Predictions: 2019
It’s that time of year again as we turn calendar over to 2019 where Americans are looking into the near future to conjecture what the next year may bring. We focus on Real Estate here at Abode, with a focus on Denver in particular, so that is where this blog post will focus. Good predictions should be rooted in facts and data, trends, extrapolated out, and that leads me to my first Continue Reading
No, Your Home Doesn’t Make a Good Rental
No, You're Home Doesn't Make a Good Rental Property Real Estate in Denver and in Colorado is booming, and it's been that way for a while now, probably going on 7-8 years. Many people who have bought homes during the past 7-8 years who have seen their home go up in value (on paper) may be thinking to themselves, well, maybe I should buy another home and rent out my current Continue Reading
Inexpensive Wall Art
Wall Art If you're like me you're always looking for cool art for your walls, and you may not have the budget for original art in each room! You don't want to look like a college dorm room with movie posters, or maybe you don't want a mass-produced wall hanging from Crate and Barrel, American Furniture Warehouse, or Ikea. Or, you're looking to create a vignette of Continue Reading
Denver Tiny House
Platt Park Tiny Home I recently had the great pleasure of helping a buyer client search for a very unique property. He was looking for a tiny home or unusual building site within the city, preferably in an A+ location, the bigger the project, the better. This client had previously done a medium-sized cosmetic renovation of his last home and wanted to take the next step to a big Continue Reading
Making Offers Without Touring Homes
Blind Offering According to a new study by Redfin, nearly 33% of Denver homebuyers who purchased their homes during the time period of the study (Nov+Dec 2017) made "Blind Offers" without seeing or touring the home. With all due respect, I'm calling Bullsh*t on this one. First off, 33% is literally 1 in every 3 buyers in their survey of over 1,500 respondents, and Redfin puts the Continue Reading
Will Mortgage Rates Disrupt Market?
Mortgage Rates at 4 year Highs Mortgage Interest Rates hit 4 Year highs this week, and the feeling is that they will continue to trend higher. Today, 2/14/18, according to Mortgage News Daily, the average execution for a 30 year fixed rate, conforming mortgage (<$529,000 in the 5 county metro area) for a top tier credit scenario is 4.57%. With the federal reserve expected Continue Reading
Is Buying A Home a Good Investment?
Real Estate is a fantastic investment, but you may be surprised to hear a realtor say that your home, i.e. your primary residence typically does not make for a good investment. What do I mean by that? Well, first let's define investment. investment: the outlay of money usually for income or profit. Real estate makes for a great investment when it is an income-producing Continue Reading
Colorado #2 For Retirees
WalletHub recently published its 2018 rankings for best states for Retirees, and Colorado came in at #2, behind only Florida. Wallethub's methodology compared the states across 3 main categories: 1) affordability 2) Quality of Life and 3) Health Care With the staggering statistic that almost 30% of non-retirmenet adults have not saved any money for retirement, affordability is Continue Reading
DIY Live Edge Tables
One of our favorite pieces of furniture is our coffee table. It's 2 walnut slabs that have been beautifully joined together with butterfly joints, and for some added flair, our table's joints are cherry wood. The outside edges of the table are "live," meaning they are not squared off, and they follow the natural edge of the Continue Reading
Denver Pre-War Homes 101
Pre-War Homes Denver As a history major, history lover, and (amateur) history buff, It goes without saying that I am a huge fan of Pre-War Homes. That is, homes built pre-1945 or so, or before the end of the World War II. The reason being that building practices changed drastically around this time, and the era of mass Continue Reading
Selling a Home in Winter- Good or Bad Idea?
Traditional thinking has been that it is a terrible idea to sell your home during the winter months. It is cold and snowy, after all. People are preoccupied with the Holidays and don't have time to look. People don't want to move in the slop. Children don't change schools in the middle of the academic year. Well, there can be Continue Reading
Adjustable Rate Mortgages
When you are shopping a mortgage, most people default to a 30 year fixed rate mortgage. It's safe, the known quantity, and the mortgage product you hear about the most. With rates around 4% currently for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, why look for anything else? You get a fixed payment for 30 years that never changes (your taxes and insurance that your lender may escrow will Continue Reading
2018 Real Estate Predictions
I've been busy this first week of 2018 reading through economic forecasts, Real Estate Forecasts, and really getting deep into it. The one thing to bear in mind is most people making forecasts have a vested interest in something or other. For instance, financial industry workers rarely admit that the stock market is overvalued or may correct. Realtors rarely say its a Continue Reading
Capital Gains Tax in Real Estate
Real Estate is one of the most tax-friendly investment vehicles to be found. In addition to the mortgage interest deduction, when you sell your home, you may be allowed to keep the gain without paying any capital gains tax. Many people are surprised to hear this, since this law changed in the late '90's and was not always the case. With anything tax related, there are a few Continue Reading
2017 Was a Banner Year
Wow, 2017 was an absolute banner year both in the stock market as well as Real Estate. The focus of this website is Denver Real Estate so let's recap the year now that it is officially in the books. 2017 was a historic year for Denver’s housing market as more homes sold for higher average and median prices than EVER before, and sales (dollar) volume reached an all-time high. Continue Reading
What?! People are Leaving Denver??
More Coloradans moving out as population growth brings traffic headaches, higher home prices. This is the headline in the Denver Post this week. People have been moving West since Lewis and Clark in 1804, actually, since way before Lewis and Clark. How about since 1607. Manifest Destiny. Denver has always enjoyed a very healthy amount of transplants not just from the East Continue Reading
Minimalism and Home Ownership
Have you ever listened to the podcast The Minimalists? I am a huge fan of the Minimalists and their views on most things. Minimalism is really just a state of mind and can be applied to so many facets of one's life. It doesn't have to encompass living like a monk with zero possessions, or not driving a car, or only eating a vegan diet, it can mean many different things to Continue Reading
Denver NEEDS a Supertall!
This past week the Denver news media all picked up a story about a proposed new skyscraper at 650 17th St. in the Central Business District. The proposal actually (quietly) leaked out weeks ago with a rendering and speculation regarding the developer, Greenwich Realty Capital out of NYC, but within the last week, the same developer released updated renderings and a slick new website. Continue Reading
Micro Units- How Small Can You Go?
Micro Units- A New Trend In Urban Living A new, or at least revived, trend in Urban Housing is making its way to the Mile High City. Micro units, already popular in dense cities in Europe and Asia, are catching on in the United States in high density and expensive cities such as New York and Seattle. In fact, Seattle may have, by some Continue Reading
