Colorado Real Estate Investing

Interesting resource from the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) – neighborhood foreclosure maps.

http://www.chfainfo.com/news/NED_Maps.icm

CHFA helps people in Colorado get into homes by lending them the down payment.  CHFA JumpStart offers borrowers a 30-year fixed rate mortgage with competitive interest rates to pay for the home, and an interest-free, payment-deferred second mortgage to cover down payment and/or closing costs. The second mortgage may be up to 3.5 percent of the purchase price of the home or $6,000, whichever is less. Borrowers are expected to use their $8,000 first time homebuyer federal tax rebate to payoff the second mortgage by June 30, 2010. If the second mortgage is not paid off in full by the June 30, 2010 deadline, it coverts to an 8 percent (8%) interest loan with monthly payments due over a 10-year amortization period.

As of October 15, 2009, 76 Coloradans have taken advantage of the CHFA JumpStart Tax Credit Program.

RealtyTrac, based in Irvine, Calif., released a third-quarter report today that ranks the Denver-Aurora area No. 47 out of 203 metropolitan areas for foreclosure rates. Greeley was the worst in Colorado at No. 33.  Other Colorado metro areas: Fort Collins-Loveland, No. 47; Colorado Springs, 56; and Boulder, 98.

The Denver-Aurora area showed one out of every household with some type of foreclosure filing, not far off from the national average of one out of every 136 households.

Read more –>>> http://insiderealestatenews.com/tag/denver

Denver-area home prices rose for the sixth consecutive month in August but were still lower than the same period a year ago.

Area housing prices were up 1 percent compared with July but down 1.9 percent compared with August last year, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home-price index.

Home prices in the 20 U.S. cities Case-Shiller tracks rose in August for a third straight month. The index increased 1 percent from July but was down 11.3 percent compared with the same period a year ago.

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Prices for September are up from last year, though number of resales are down, partly because of reductions in inventory from so many first time homebuyers.

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Looking to entice homebuyers, increase traffic and quickly sell your home? Start offering finance incentives and boost the number of offers you receive. Keep in mind financial goodies come in lots of pre-paid packages.

Home sellers have been creatively tempting the pot with a kaleidoscope of incentives that start the juices flowing and buyers are hot for a great deal that shouldn’t be passed up. Just think, you know your home is a hot commodity but you’re stuck on a sales price and won’t budge; sweeten the pot and up the ante with financial incentives.

Help with closing costs that include pre-paid standards like property taxes, home owners insurance and pre-paid HOA fees; social memberships to golfing clubs, community cabana and swim clubs are all alluring but the one magic bullet that’s the end-all is seller financing. Offer the buyer partial financing by providing a portion of the money needed and you’ll be guaranteed to have offers thrown at you. If the buyer can provide at least 5% of the purchase price and the seller provides 10-15% from the equity built up in the home, then I’d say that’s a serious deal to consider. In today’s market buyers are looking to keep more money in their pocket so any monetary offer from the seller will be looked at with keen interest.

But how do you match the over-the-top home builders who offer thousands in incentives? Most builders offer homebuyers fancy playthings and home dressing items such as upgraded appliances, flat screen televisions, sprinkler systems and plush landscaping but you can offer the same payoffs on a lower scale.

Think of all the shiny eye-opening items your home offers; is your lawn green and plush and shows that WoW factor? Offer potential buyers a landscaping package that includes mowing, aerating and seeding for a year’s worth of plush greenery; are you a sports fanatic? You could think of offering box seats for that potential home buying sports fan; and an all time favorite would be a years worth of maid’s service for the anti-domestic couple.

You can also think of the more obvious incentives like upgraded appliances, hardwood flooring and design details. Or the standards like new windows, security systems and eco-environments that are less apparent ways to dangle carrots. The choices are abundant but what are people looking for? The answer is anything and everything to save money and makes life easier. That’s a wide open window but the opportunity provides you with a bevy of possibilities.

Be creative!