by KatieDrucker | Aug 17, 2021 | Boulder Info
Here are three car-related things I learned the hard way when I moved to Colorado:
- Car Registration is Expensive: It is 2.1 percent of the taxable value of the car (85 percent of the sticker price) the first year of service. In other words, if you get a 2021 car you will pay 2.1 percent of 85 percent of the sticker price of that vehicle. Not something you want to be surprised about at the DMV. Here is a Boulder County Vehicle Registration Fee Calculator.
- Get Snow Tires: All-weather tires are okay but snow tires change the game. Also, if you are driving on mountain roads on a snowy day make sure that your vehicle meets the chain law requirements.
- It Hails: Hail is common in the summer months in Boulder County so make sure to park your car in the garage (especially if you are located a bit east of the Foothills).
Good Good is a Boulder area real estate agency. We specialize in helping good people find the perfect Boulder home. We’re low pressure but high touch. If you’re looking for a real estate guide in the Boulder area, we may be a good fit. Give us a call if you’d like to chat. We’re always happy to answer any questions you have about the Boulder area or give you a tour.
Thanks,
Katie (Good Good Founder) | 720.415.4914 | Katie@goodgoodrealty.com
by KatieDrucker | Jan 26, 2021 | Boulder Info, Buying Tips
I had buyers get under contract for a $1,995,000 property on March 22, 2020 via a FaceTime showing.
I thought they were nuts.
Not because the clients were buying a house completely sight unseen, except on a screen. I thought they were nuts because the world had just stopped spinning, surely the market would crash or at least slow.
It turns out, their timing was impeccable. They bought in right before the Covid induced real estate buying frenzy.
But was their timing only perfect because they bought what everyone would soon realize they wanted, a single family home with space for working from home and homeschooling? Or did attached dwellings do just as well as single family homes during this rush to buy?
I decided to take a look:
Boulder County Single Family Home Facts:
- In 2020, in comparison to 2019, there was a decrease in single family homes that hit the market – a ~7.5 percent decrease.
- There was ~ 11 percent increase in closed sales in 2020 versus 2019
- Days on market decreased about 6 percent in 2020 compared to 2019 and the percent of list price increased by .4 percent
- This resulted in a 6.1 percent increase in median sales price in 2020 compare to the year prior
What it All Means:
More people wanted single family homes in 2020 as in 2019 and less people were wanting to sell their single family homes who already had them in 2020 versus 2019 and this has caused people to pay slightly more over list price than they did for a single family home in 2019 home and caused prices to increase.
Boulder County Attached Dwelling Facts:
- Unlike single family homes there was an increase in attached dwellings that hit the market in 2020 versus 2019, an ~14 percent increase.
- There was also an increase in closed attached dwelling sales in 2020 versus 2019 – 9.7 percent.
- There was a .2 percent decrease in percent of list price and ~ 6.1 percent increase in median sales price in 2020 compared to 2019.
What it All Means:
Unlike single family homes, significantly more people wanted to sell their attached dwellings in 2020 than in 2019. But, more people also wanted to buy attached dwellings in 2020 than in 2019, albeit less than the increase of people who wanted to buy single family homes. As a result, people were able to buy attached dwellings slightly below the list price.
In Conclusion:
The pandemic, working from home, low interest rates and wildfires in the West has caused people to move around like chess pieces – and though the market was/is tighter for single family homes versus attached dwelling units- the discrepancy in median price increase from 2019 to the pandemic year of 2020 wasn’t remarkable between single family homes and attached dwelling units.
Good Good is a Boulder area real estate agency. We specialize in helping good people find the perfect Boulder home. We’re low pressure but high touch. If you’re looking for a real estate guide in the Boulder area, we may be a good fit. Give us a call if you’d like to chat. We’re always happy to answer any questions you have about the Boulder area or give you a tour.
Thanks,
Katie (Good Good Founder) | 720.415.4914 | Katie@goodgoodrealty.com
by KatieDrucker | Dec 15, 2020 | Boulder Info, Buying Tips
Boulder proper is not the only game in town.
There are other towns/areas that have their own unique identities and that are definitely worth considering before making your decision on where to live in Boulder County. Here are the five best areas surrounding Boulder:
Louisville used to be an afterthought to Boulder, now it is a show stopper. Historic Downtown Louisville is made up of five square blocks of creme-of-the-crop restaurants, small art galleries and coffee/wine/beer establishments – all housed in modernized 100-year-old buildings. This charming old coal mining town is brimming with town pride and many town events.
The housing inventory is a mix of old homes that have been expanded and modernized and small bungalows close to downtown. As you get further from Louisville’s epicenter the housing inventory becomes mostly subdivision homes built in the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Lafayette has been on the mind of more and more buyers lately as home prices are rising in Boulder and Louisville.
Lafayette is a small town with a big personality 20 to 30 minutes away from Downtown Boulder. Mom and Pop shops and locally owned restaurants fill the old buildings in Old Town Lafayette, a downtown steeped in coal mining history.
Some of the old properties around the heart of town could use some love while other homes have been polished to make the old charm shine through. New builds/developments have been and are continuing to sprout up along the outskirts of Lafayette including the coveted Indian Peaks community.
Longmont is more than a “suburb” of Boulder with a population of about 90,000, over 300 businesses and organizations and 29 square miles of sprawl. There are many diverse neighborhoods within the vast city limits of Longmont. Depending on where in Longmont you live determines what town/city center you frequent, as parts of Longmont are actually closer to downtown Boulder than they are to Longmont’s historic downtown.
Longmont has the least expensive housing market of Boulder’s surrounding areas made up of historic, old and new developments.
4. Niwot
Niwot looks and feels like a quaint, charming, close-knit, artsy, small town straight out of a feel-good movie – with parades and all.
An old railroad town, located halfway between Boulder and Longmont, Niwot regrettably sometimes gets overlooked by outsiders but the locals are loyal to Niwot.
Niwot’s two block downtown – Second Street – has a handful of locally owned restaurants, art galleries and a local market where you can get all the groceries you need.
Homes rarely hit the market in Niwot – as of the date of this article only 73 homes have been come up for sale since December 2019. There are suburban developments built in the 80s and 90s and then some very large homes built more recently on the outskirts of “town” (technically Niwot is not a town – though it feels very town-like).
5. Lyons
Snuggled into the Foothills with the St. Vrain River weaving through it, Lyons, which sits ~25 minutes from Boulder in one directions and ~ 30 minutes to Rocky Mountain National Park in the other, is more than just drive-thru town. It is a small town with grit and funk and tons of outdoor recreation.
Lyons has amazing mountain biking options, many hiking trails and places to kayak, tube, canoe and/or just dip your feet in the river.
And though the historic town sometimes can appear sleepy – the options are endless for some after activity cocktails and grub – Oskar Blues, Spirit Hound Distillers, Julie’s Thai Kitchen, etc.
There are many varying housing options in Lyons – from rustic log cabins, to mountain estates, to new development living.
Check out our Good Good Map for more details about these neighborhoods and other neighborhoods. You may also want to read our Moving To Boulder article if you’re new to the area and considering Boulder as your new home and our article below, Top 15 Boulder Colorado Neighborhoods.
Top 15 Boulder Colorado Neighborhoods
Good Good is a Boulder area real estate agency. We specialize in helping good people find the perfect Boulder home. We’re low pressure but high touch. If you’re looking for a real estate guide in the Boulder area, we may be a good fit. Give us a call if you’d like to chat. We’re always happy to answer any questions you have about the Boulder area or give you a tour.
Thanks,
Katie (Good Good Founder) | 720.415.4914 | Katie@goodgoodrealty.com
by KatieDrucker | Oct 22, 2020 | Boulder Info
Here are four things I learned the hard way when I was a Colorado newbie:
- Car registration is expensive: Car registration is 2.1 percent of the taxable value of the car (85 percent of the sticker price) the first year of service. In other words, if you get a 2020 car you will pay 2.1 percent of 85 percent of the sticker price of that vehicle. Not something you want to be surprised about at the DMV.
- Blow out your sprinkler system in the fall and unscrew hoses: Trust me you do not want to learn this the hard way with pipes bursting and water everywhere .
- Get snow tires: All-weather tires are okay but snow tires change the game. Also, if you are driving on mountain roads make sure to always have chains or auto-socks in your car – you might get ticketed if you don’t.
- It hails: Hail is common in the summer months here on the Front Range of Colorado, so make sure to park your car in the garage.
Good Good is a Boulder area real estate agency. We specialize in helping good people find the perfect Boulder home. We’re low pressure but high touch. If you are moving to Boulder or thinking about moving to Boulder and need some help with logistics or need a guide in the Boulder area, we may be a good fit. Give us a call if you’d like to chat. We’re always happy to answer any questions you have about the Boulder area or give you a tour.
Thanks,
Katie (Good Good Founder) | 720.415.4914 | Katie@goodgoodrealty.com
by KatieDrucker | Sep 1, 2020 | Buying Tips
An appraisal is a lenders way of making sure you and your agent are not idiots.
Your lender doesn’t know you, your agent or the market, so a person who is certified, the appraiser, goes out to the home and reports back to the lender that the home is worth the amount you are borrowing from the lender.
If the appraiser confirms that the property is worth the amount of money or more money than what you are borrowing from the lender – you do not have to worry or do a thing.
If the appraiser deems the home not worth what the lender is lending on the home, you have a few options:
- Terminate the contract
- Negotiate with the sellers to come down in price
- Bring the difference in cash to closing – in other words, increase your downpayment amount to make up the difference between what the appraiser says the house is worth and what you are paying/borrowing for the house.
If you are in a bidding war situation, it strengthens your offer to do one of the two following things in your offer with the appraisal deadlines:
- Waive appraisal, if you have enough cash. This means that you will have an appraisal done (because it is usually required by the lender) but that you agree to not ask for the sellers to come down in price if it doesn’t appraise at value, that you will not terminate the inspection because of the appraisal and therefore that you will bring whatever the difference is in cash to closing.
- Put verbiage in the contract stating the you will bring X amount of money to closing to make up the difference in purchase price and appraisal value if necessary.
To learn the ins and outs of other parts of the home purchase process check out our other blogs: Backup Offers, Inspection Deadlines, What is Earnest Money, Making an Offer.
Good Good is a Boulder area real estate agency. We specialize in helping good people find the perfect Boulder home. We’re low pressure but high touch. If you are moving to Boulder or thinking about moving to Boulder and need some help with logistics or need a guide in the Boulder area, we may be a good fit. Give us a call if you’d like to chat. We’re always happy to answer any questions you have about the Boulder area or give you a tour.
Thanks,
Katie (Good Good Founder) | 720.415.4914 | Katie@goodgoodrealty.com
