Real Estate

OPEN HOUSE in Stapleton

Today, Saturday May 12 from 1:00 to 3:00pm. 2601 Hanover Court, Denver CO 80238. View proprty photos and more info.

We just listed a gorgeous New Town Builders Tamarac model home in Stapleton at 2601 Hanover Court, Denver CO 80238!

This home features three bedrooms (including a spacious master suite) upstairs; a main floor study, formal dining room, and open kitchen / family room;and a finished basement with rec room, guest suite and a workout room (or 5th bedroom). Outside there's an inviting covered porch in front, a private patio retreat in back, and a three car garage.

Priced at just $509,900, this home is sure to sell quickly. Check out the photos online or contact us to schedule a private showing. We're also planning an open house for Saturday May 12th from 1:00 to 3:00... if the house isn't sold by then!

Two great new homes, just listed for sale in Stapleton!

3465 Willow Street, Denver CO 80238
offered for $469,999 

This beautiful home from New Town Builders is located less than a block from Stapleton's 80 acre Central Park.

It features three bedrooms upstairs (including a huge Master Suite), and kitchen, great room, dining room, and study on the main floor. 

For more photos, please visit our virtual tour. To schedule a private tour of this home, please contact The Kearns Team at 303.331.4500.

3367 Xanthia Street, Denver CO 80238
offered for $825,000

Truly one of the finest homes in Stapleton, this Court Home from the Infinity Home Collection sits between Stapleton's Central Park and a neighborhood pocket park.

In addition to the impeccable custom upgrades and gourmet kitchen, this home features 5 bedrooms (three with private baths) and a finished basement with family/media room.

For more photos, please visit our virtual tour. To schedule a private tour of this home, please contact The Kearns Team at 303.331.4500.

It probably won't come as a shock, but a recent survey by HomeGain reports that 76% of home sellers believe their home is worth more than their real estate agent recommended. This comes despite other surveys which indicate that consumers expect home prices will be flat or down in the next 12 months.

While sellers believe their homes are under priced, 68% of home buyers believe that homes are over priced - and 32% said homes are overpriced by at least 10%. Perhaps some of this discrepancy is based on the availability of 'questionable' pricing data from online sources such as Zillow.

“Homeowners and real estate professionals appear to be in sync regarding the direction of home prices. Home buyers and sellers, however, continue to remain apart as to home valuations with the vast majority of homeowners thinking their homes are worth more than their agents and the market are telling them,” said Louis Cammarosano, General Manager of HomeGain.

HomeGain's 4th Quarter 2011 Home Value Survey included responses from Over 400 real estate agents and brokers and over 2,000 homeowners.

Locally, we've seen most prices rise slightly after being stable for the past year or so. Stapleton homes priced below $400,000 have been selling well, while those above $500,000 have been slow to sell. We've seen an increasing number of sellers 'boycott' the market, declining to sell until they believe that prices are higher. This has led to a lack of overall inventory... and the laws of supply and demand have begun to benefit patient sellers.

Active duty military personnel and veterans may qualify for a grant of up to $5000 towards down payment and closing costs on their first home. The Dream Makers program is provided by the Pentagon Federal Credit Union, but the grants are available to non PenFed members and may be aaplied to a mortgage from any financial institution.

Additional information is available on PenFed's website.

According to information on the website, you are eligible for a grant if:

1. You're Military (Active Duty, Reserve, National Guard or Veteran), a Department of Defense employee or a Department of Homeland Security employee. 
2. You're a first-time home buyer, or you have not owned a home for the last three years, or you have lost your home through divorce or disaster. 
3. The gross household income, including allowances, that you use to qualify for your mortgage loan is: A maximum of $55,000 per year, or A maximum of 80% of your community’s median income based on your family size

Over the past several years home prices have dropped throughout the U.S., but stability is returning to many markets. Even in Denver, where prices have been pretty stable, we're seeing a shift away from a Buyers' Market towards a more balanced real estate world. Is it time to buy?

Warren Buffett, a pretty successful businessman in his own right, has been quoted as saying that he is greedy when others are scared, and scared when others are greedy. A few years ago a lot of people in real estate (buyers and sellers) were greedy - today they are scared. 

Falling Prices and Home Affordability

As prices fall Sellers suffer and buyers benefit. Of course many buyers are still afraid and continue to wait on the sidelines. Homeownership, which was moving out of reach of buyers in many areas, is becoming more and more affordable today. Maybe it's time to take the plunge? The Wall Street Journal reported this week that, 'It's Time to Buy That House.'

Interest Rates reach all-time lows

Over the past couple of weeks, the news media has been full of articles about low mortgage interest rates. Sub 4% rates for 30 year fixed rate mortgages came and went, but rates in the low 4's are still available. According to the National Association of Realtors' Housing Affordability Index, the combination of lower prices and low mortgage rates has made home ownership about as affordable as it has been in the past 40 years.

Rent vs Buy

As home prices dropped and interest rates fell, rental rates climbed. Today we're seeing many renters pay MORE per month for a home than they coudl if they purchased the same home. This is great news for landlords, but maybe it is time for tenants and potential buyers to take another look at home ownership.

Is it a good time to put your home on the market? Is it a good time to buy? Call or email The Kearns Team today, and let us put our experience to work for you. We'll help you create a personalized game plan to help meet YOUR goals in this challenging real estate market.

The Denver Post reported that the number of homes for sale in the Denver metro area was down 26.5% in September compared to a year ago. While their headline was a bit sensationalist, the question si whether this is good news or bad.

Are Sellers boycotting the real estate market?

With the media sending a fairly consistent negative message about the housing market, many Sellers have decided to sit on the sidelines and wait before putting their home on the market. The result is that home inventory is way down, and a larger than normal percentage of homes that are for sale have Sellers who 'have to sell.' 

Supply and Demand

For some areas, the reduced number of homes on the market is helping to push prices up. It's simple supply and demand. As the number of homes 'plunges' (the Denver Post's term), Buyers have fewer homes to look at and may find themselves paying more for a home. The Wall Street Journal recently published an article titled, 'it's Time to Buy That House,' citing reduced prices and historically low interest rates.

In other areas, the boycott by 'voluntary' sellers continues to press prices lower. When the market becomes dominated by distressed sales, bank owned properties, and sellers who need to move, prices fall - regardless of overall supply.

Listings are Down, but Sales are Up

The same Denver Post article quoted additional stats that showed home sales in Denver were up 12.8% in September 2011 over 2010, while prices were fairly stable.

Put it all together

So, let's summarize:  The number of homes listed in Denver is down substantially. The number of home sales in Denver is up. Denver Home prices are stable. Interest rates are extremely low. Sounds like the the balance between Buyer Market and Seller Market (or at least an even market) may be shifting.

Is it a good time to put your home on the market? Is it a good time to buy? Call or email The Kearns Team today, and let us put our experience to work for you. We'll help you create a personalized game plan to help meet YOUR goals in this challenging real estate market.

If you look, you may notice a new feature on our website today: Click To Text.

About a year ago we implemented a LiveChat feature on the website, allowing site visitors to chat with us in real time to answer real estate questions. The only donwside of this feature was that if we weren't sitting in front of the computer, the LiveChat service was more like an answering machine. In real estate we're often out of the office with clients, in closings, or meetings, so the LiveChat service wasn't as valuable to clients as we had hoped.

Recently we came up with the idea of replacing LiveChat with a click to text service to allow clients to reach us via text message even when we are out of the office. Our web developer designed the interface, and today we've launched!

We hope that our new Click to Text feature is helpful to you, our real estate clients.

We've moved!

Today is an exciting day for The Kearns Team, as we join the team at RE/MAX of Cherry Creek as Brokers and Co-Owners. After several years with RE/MAX Alliance in Denver, we made the move to RE/MAX of Cherry Creek because their business focus and philosophy blends well with ours.

RE/MAX of Cherry Creek is one of the most successful single office RE/MAX franchises in the country.  While RE/MAX Alliance is a very large and successful multi-office franchise, we feel that the single office focus at RE/MAX of Cherry Creek, and their focus on central Denver real estate, lines up better with our business and with our clients' needs.  Within the RE/MAX of Cherry Creek office we will also have access to a dedicated marketing staff and on-site mortgage and title companies.

In addition to being Realtors within RE/MAX of Cherry Creek, we are also part owners of the company.

So what does this mean for our clients?

• Continued representation by the Kearns Team, with the support of Denver's leading real estate brokerage.
• Access to on-site marketing, mortgage, and title services.
• Increased visibility for home listings within Central Denver.

Didn't win the 2011 HGTV Green Home in Stapleton? Well, now it can be yours - for a price.

That's right, the winners of the HGTV Green Home decided to take a cash option instead of moving from NJ to Colorado, and now the home is available for sale.  Listed for $699,000, the price includes the dog wash and the iPad controls, but the art and furnishings will cost you a little more.  

Built by Infinity Home Collection, a premiere Stapleton homebuilder, the HGTV Green Home in Stapleton is certified at the LEED Platinum level and is loaded with eco-friendly options. Exotic Colorado beetle kill pine doors on the 'do-room' and airport runway concrete incorporated into the low maintenance backyard are just a couple of the creative green aspects of the home.

Located on a corner lot in Stapleton's Central Park North neighborhood, across from the 80 acre Central Park, and a short distance from the former airport's control tower, HGTV selected the homesite well when they decided to build the 2011 Green Home in Denver's newest 'classic neighborhood.'  A short commute to the Fitzsimons Anschutz Medical Center, Downtown Denver and Denver International Airport, the home's location will become even more convenient in a few years when RTD completes the commuter rail line from DIA to Downtown.  The Central Park Station will be close enough to walk to from the Green Home, but far enough to avoid the noise and traffic.

The 2011 HGTV Green Home is also just a short walk to Stapleton's Swigert-McAuliffe International School, opened in 2011, and the Denver Central Park Recreation Center.

Here's your chance to own a home like no other in the country.  The 2011 HGTV Green Home in Stapleton is available for sale. Contact Diana or Michael Kearns today to schedule a private tour of this amazing home!

In 2010, and again in 2011, our clients, peers, and real estate industry experts selected Diana and Michael Kearns as Five Star Real Estate Agents for providing exceptional service and for overall customer satisfaction. Fewer than 1 in 14 real estate agents in the Denver area qualify for this honor.  Diana and Michael will be recognized in the September issue of 5280 Magazine.

According tot he Five Star website, 'As part of an in-depth research process real estate agents are evaluated by their customers and real estate industry professionals based on customer service, integrity, market knowledge, communication and negotiation skills, closing preparation, helping you find the right home, marketing the home being sold, and overall satisfaction.'

Diana and Michael Kearns live and work in Stapleton, and are honored to have helped their friends and neighbors buy or sell over 180 homes in our community.

What do you think of QR codes?

QR codes are those square barcodes that are popping up everywhere these days. They are in magazine ads, store price tags, and increasingly on real estate signs.

Many Realtors have replaced color flyers on sign boxes with QR codes that allow consumers to go straight to detailed info (and sometimes even virtual tours) about the property. Reasons include cost savings (color brochures are expensive) and providing more information to consumers.

What do you think of QR codes? Have you tried using them? Do you find them useful? Do you think you would use them if you were househunting?

We are holding Open Houses at two Stapleton area homes this weekend.

7937 E 22nd Place, a beautiful John Laing model 100 home (very few of these homes were built) will be open today, July 9, from Noon to 2:00pm.  This 4 bedroom home has upgraded finishes throughout, an open floorplan, and a separate study with glass French doors.

1470 S Quebec Way, Unit 68, is a 2 bedroom townhome located a little south of Stapleton near the Cherry Creek Trails and the Highline Canal.  It will be open tomorrow, July 10, from 1:00 to 3:00pm.  With 1571 square feet and a finished basement, this townhome also offers access to a community pool and clubhouse.

You can always find our schedule of Stapleton area open houses online.   If you are interested in seeing a home, but there are no scheduled Open House dates (or the next scheduled date is not convenient), please click on the listing address or photo, and then select Schedule a Showing. We would be happy to find a convenient time to show the home to you personally

Open House - Saturday May 7 - 2:00 - 4:00 pm
7937 E 24th Place, Denver CO 80238 

This rare four bedroom home is filled with custom upgrades, inside and out, and is located in a fabulous Stapleton neighborhood.

The main floor features rich hardwood floors and an open floorplan. The gourmet kitchen, with striking wood cabinets, slab granite counters, stainless steel appliances and a large island, opens to the breakfast area and living room with fireplace. There is also a formal dining room and a study with French doors. Upstairs are four bedrooms, including a large master suite with five piece bath and walk-in closet.

The yard offers a custom deck with room to relax or entertain, and an oversized two car attached garage. This home is extensively wired for media, inside and out.

Located in an established Stapleton neighborhood, this home is close to parks, pools and schools, and offers an easy commute to Downtown Denver, the Anschutz / Fitzsimons Medical Campus, the Denver Tech Center, or DIA.

Just Listed in Stapleton!

Fabulous townhome, one block from Puddle Jumper Pool and a few blocks to Bill Roberts and Westerly Creek Elementary Schools and the Denver School of Science and Technology. Two bedrooms plus loft with private balcony, 2 1/2 baths.  Hardwood floors, granite counters, fireplace in the living room.

Showings begin today!

8893 E 24th Place, Unit 101 - offered for $249,900

This charming brick ranch is located on a large corner lot in Denver’s Montclair neighborhood. Featuring hardwood floors, an open floorplan, and an updated bathroom, this home is ready for you to move-in!

There are two bedrooms, a living room with fireplace, dining area, and a separate family / sun room. The attached garage also offers additional storage. The corner lot with a large fenced yard provides additional room to grow.

Located in a great Denver neighborhood, this home offers an easy commute to Downtown Denver, the Anschutz / Fitzsimons Medical Campus, the Denver Tech Center, or DIA.

OPEN HOUSE - Sunday May 1, 2011 - 2:00 to 4:00 pm
796 Kearney Street, Denver CO 80220 

In a study released today, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that installing solar panles on a home in California increases its value by $17,000 on average. While this is not an exact sicence, and LBNL's study was confined to homes in California, it does show that buyers see value in the photovoltaic systems installation.

The study looked at 72,000 home sales between 1999 and 2009, and found that on average a photovoltaic system increased a home's resale value by about $5.50 per watt.

Locally, in Stapleton we are seeing more and more homes with solar power systems. New Town Builders has offered solar as a standard feature of their Solaris model homes, tor the past two years. Their CEO, Gene Myers, recently told 9News that  he belives the addition of solar, combined with increased overall energy efficiency, has helped New Town prosper in the current real estate market.

I have to admit that Zillow has an incredibly cool and user friendly website, and they continue to grow in popularity with consumers. When we started designing the BuildingStapleton.com website we looked at Zillow's design for tips on what consumers are looking for in a real estate website. The one nagging issue for me has always been the accuracy of Zillow's 'Zestimate' - their automated estimate of a home's value.

Can an automated system accurately predict a home's value?

A few years ago my parents sold their home. Zillow estimated the value to be in the low $200,000s, yet their home sold quickly (about two weeks) in the mid $300,000 range. Why was Zillow so far off? Because their had been very few sales in their neighborhood in the previous 5-10 years, so Zillow was relying on outdated data.

In Stapleton, another challenge for automated systems is that you will often find two very different builders across the street from one another. When an automated system compares homes so close together, it must 'assume' that they are comparable (other than square footage). This can result in a devaluation of the custom home that sits across the street from a basic tract home (which in turn shows an inflated value).

Zillow's measurement of its own accuracy

Recently I learned about an often overlooked link on Zillow's own website. Right there on the bottom of their home page, in pale grey print against the blue background, is a link that says, 'About Zestimates.' This link takes you to a chart showing Zillow's own measure of their accuracy.  Here's the chart as of today (March 22, 2011) with Denver's stats highlighted:

According to their chart, Zillow rates their accuracy with four stars.  Sounds great, right?  

Read the rest of the data, and it says that 28% of the time the 'Zestimate' is within 5% of the actual sale price. That means that 72% of the time the Zestimate is more than 5% off. On a $400,000 home, that means the Zestimate would be off by $20,000. More than half the time (52%), the Zestimate is at least 10% off... or $40,000 on a $400,000 sale! Remeber, this is Zillow's own analysis of their accuracy, not something provided by a competing website (or a disgruntled real estate agent).

As I said, Zillow is a cool website, and their technology is amazing, but would you consider a $40,000 error in the valuation of your home to be accurate?

If you're looking for a true valuation of your home's current market value, we'd be happy to provide it to you at no charge. Just fill out this form. We look at recent sales and market conditions, combined with our personal knowledge of the local real estate market. For an even more accurate estimate, we'd be happy to come over and personally look at your home!

I just got off the phone with Ross Barrett at Bank of America, and if you are thinking about buying a home, and financing with an FHA mortgage, some changes are coming in April 2011 that may increase your monthly payment!

Last November the annual mortgage premium for FHA loans increased to help increase FHA's capital reserves. Another increase is coming in April 2011. The increase will apply to most loans that are assigned a 'case number' on or after April 18, 2011.  In order to beat the increase you probably need to be under contract to purchase a home and have all your documentation submitted to your lender no later than April 11.

Here's how the increase works:

FHA charges two types of mortgage insurance premiums. The upfront charge (1% of the loan amount) is paid at closing, and that is not schedueld to change. The second premium is an annual amount, paid monthly with your regular mortgage payment. Currently the annual premium is 90 basis points (0.9% of the loan amount) but is scheduled to go up to 115 basis points (1.15% of the loan amount).

For a $300,000 loan, this is an increase of $750 annually (0.25% x 300,000) or $62.50 per month.

Another way of looking at it is that that additional mortgage insurance premium reduces your purchasing power by about $11,000.  If you qualified for a $300,000 loan before the increase, you may only qualify for $289,000 afterwards!

Confused or want more information? Give a call to one of our recommended mortgage lenders today!

DENVER - Feb 14, 20111 - Stapleton home sales continued a positive trend in 2010, bucking a national decline in new and existing home sales across the nation, John S. Lehigh, president of Forest City Stapleton, Inc. said today.

Lehigh said homebuyers purchased 453 homes at Stapleton in 2010, an increase over the 412 homes purchased in 2009. In 2010, the homes purchased at Stapleton were comprised of 280 new homes with the balance involving 173 resales. During the previous year, those numbers were 238 and 174, respectively. Lehigh said the 2010 sales have built momentum for the launch of Central Park West, Stapleton’s next new residential neighborhood.

“Stapleton continues to enjoy strong housing sales in spite of a very difficult economy,” Lehigh said. “Our homebuilders offer a range of housing types and prices that has strong appeal to the market, capitalizing on Stapleton’s reputation as one of the most desirable and successful new neighborhoods in the nation.

“We are now carrying that momentum forward to the development now underway for the new Central Park West neighborhood,” Lehigh added.

Central Park West is immediately adjacent to the new Swigert-McAuliffe International K-8 school Denver Public Schools will open at 35th and Syracuse in August of this year. One of the last two neighborhoods to be developed on the south side of I-70, Central Park West is centrally located and benefits from some of the best amenities Stapleton has to offer. The E. 29th Ave Town Center is a 5 minute walk to the south and the 80-acre Stapleton Central Park is located across the street to the east. The Quebec Square Retail Center is immediately north of 35th Avenue and the future Stapleton transit oriented development and an RTD FasTracks rail stop will be located to the north of the Central Park West neighborhood along Uinta Street. Central Park West will be comprised of approximately 375 homes ranging in price from the mid $100,000s for row homes to more than $700,000 for single family detached homes.

Stapleton's Central Park West Neighborhood

“Central Park West has unique open space and landscape features designed to define its unique character and identity,” said Heidi Majerik, director of development for Forest City Stapleton, Inc. “The use of integrated linear open spaces called “mews” will provide public open space immediately fronting homes, becoming the focus of the neighborhood and a place for residents to interact and foster a sense of community.“

Majerik said Central Park West will have energy efficient “smarter” homes that increase Stapleton’s residential sustainability performance to the highest levels to date. Builders selected by Forest City to build homes in this new neighborhood include Infinity Home Collection, New Town Builders, Wonderland Homes, Parkwood Homes, KB Home, David Weekley and Standard Pacific.

Stapleton in the HGTV Spotlight

Stapleton’s reputation as one of the nation’s most livable new urban communities was further enhanced in the fall of last year when Home and Garden TV selected Stapleton as the location to build a “green” home that will be given away this spring as part of a national promotion. Built by Infinity Home Collection, the custom-built 2,400 square foot LEED Platinum home is located at 33rd and Wabash in the North Central Park Neighborhood. The HGTV 2011 Green Home will be open for public tours beginning this spring.

About Stapleton

The redevelopment of the 4,700 acre Stapleton International Airport commenced in May 2001. Forest City is the master developer selected by the City of Denver to implement a development plan created by the citizens of Aurora, Denver and Commerce City who envisioned the former airport could become a mixed use and pedestrian friendly urban neighborhood. Currently Stapleton has an estimated population of more than 12,000 residents who live in 3992 homes and 484 apartments. Stapleton also has more than 2 million square feet of new retail, approximately 500 acres of new parks and open space, and two Denver Public Schools elementary schools, with a third under construction for a scheduled opening in the Central Park West Neighborhood in August of this year. Stapleton is also home to the award winning Denver School of Science and Technology, one of the most successful schools in the Denver Public Schools system.

About Forest City

Forest City Enterprises, Inc. is an NYSE-listed national real estate company with $11.8 billion in total assets. The Company is principally engaged in the ownership, development, management and acquisition of commercial and residential real estate and land throughout the United States. For more information, visit http://www.forestcity.net