by KatieDrucker | Jul 10, 2019 | Buying Tips, Investors
Some people love them. Some people hate them. Either way, more and more people are opting for them with the median sales price of single family homes well over $1,000,000 in Boulder.
Here are few key things to look closely at before pulling the trigger to buy into an homeowners association (HOA):
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Take a Good Good (sorry I had to) Look at the Reserves:
Look at the reserve funds. Does the homeowners association have a good savings account in case the roof, the stairs, the siding, etc. need to be fixed/replaced. If the HOA has a big reserve the buyer should breathe a little more easily that he/she will not be assessed (charged a big fee to pay for the repair/replacement in addition to monthly payments).
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Read Through the HOA Minutes with a Fine-Tooth Comb:
Carefully read through the meeting minutes but also read between the lines. Do you see a lot of mentions of water leaks? Do you see discussions about getting bids for siding, roof, stair repairs/replacement, etc.? Do you see any mentions of executive sessions – private discussions between the board of directors (this usually happens when legal matters need to be discussed)? If you see these things you should assess if you think the reserves are large enough to cover whatever it is you suspect is going to need money.
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Rules and Regulations:
Read through the Rules and Regulations to make sure none of them are deal-breakers for you – I have found that buyers mostly care about being able to have grills on decks or patios, pet restrictions and renting rules.
The seller will send over all this information to the buyer before the Association Documents Delivery Deadline in the contract. If there is anything unsatisfactory in these documents – rules, financials, etc. – the buyer may object under the Association Documents Objection Deadline and get his/her earnest money returned.
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 someone to guide you through the real estate process 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 | Jun 12, 2019 | Buying Tips
There is no standard equation for offers on properties in Boulder.
Sometimes offers are due in immediately, sometimes the best strategy is to wait to put in an offer. Sometimes the offer needs to be 10 percent above the listing price, sometimes, though not often these days, 10 percent below will suffice.
Every situation is different – a real estate transaction is very fluid. But here is generally what to expect when you find a place you want to call your own:
- You walk into a house and you feel at home. You want it.
- I (assuming I am your real estate agent) call the listing agent and ask the following questions: When will the sellers be looking at offers? Do you have any other offers in hand. If so, are those offers above asking price? Cash? What else can you tell me about the offers? Would anything besides price be enticing for your sellers – a fast close, a rent back, etc.? What else can you tell me?
- I work up a comp report and email it over to you so that you can see the most recent, like-kind properties that have sold in the immediate vicinity of the subject property. I also include a dissertation dissecting the comp report for you so that you feel confident that you know what the property is worth.
- I call you to see if you have any questions about the comp report and to tell you what information I extracted from the listing agent. From there we discuss a game plan for an offer.
- I write up the offer that we discussed and either send it over to you via Docusign (a software program that enables you to sign remotely) or we get together to go through the offer before you sign – whichever you prefer.
- You email me your pre-approval letter from your lender (blog post about this is in the works) or your proof of funds if you are a cash buyer – a bank statement or a letter from an accountant.
- I send the offer and financing information over to the listing agent.
- We eagerly wait for a response. There could be several possible responses – the sellers just sign the offer (woohoo!), the sellers send a counter offer over to us, the listing agent calls and tell us multiple offers ended up coming in or the seller would like x,y or z…and gives us a second chance to resubmit. Plan on hearing from me a lot during this waiting period.
- Hopefully you get under contract and the contract process begins.
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 someone to guide you through the real estate process 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 | Jun 4, 2019 | Buying Tips
Earnest money is collateral.
Earnest money is typically around 2 percent of the list price of a property (though this number can vary and is negotiable), is usually due 48 hours after a contract is executed and is held by the title company as collateral for the seller in case the buyer walks away from the deal.
Don’t worry, this is not as scary as it sounds at first blush.
In Colorado the real estate contract is extremely buyer friendly. There are ten possible standard contingencies in the contract. The buyer can get out of the contract at each contingency if something is not satisfactory with earnest money in tact as long as the buyer/buyer’s agent gives written notice to the seller before the corresponding contingency objection deadline.
Let’s use a real example from a deal I had a few weeks ago:
My buyer was under contract for a home with solar panels attached to the roof. Everything was going smoothly until we received the due diligence documents from the seller/seller’s agent. In those documents there was a loan document stating that about $17,000 was owed on a loan for the solar panels. And the person who took out that said loan is now serving 15 years in jail for embezzling money from the person who was selling the house. Yikes!
If the buyer did not want to take over that loan or wanted no part in this messy situation, we could have given written notice to the seller/seller’s agent that the buyer wanted to terminate the contract because of the due diligence documents.
As long as we gave that notice before the due diligence objection deadline the buyer’s earnest money would have been returned to the buyer. This is true of all the contingencies in the contract.
If a deal does close the earnest money is counted towards the buyer’s downpayment.
Have a specific buying questions, reach out – no stings attached!
Also, check out another one of our blog posts written for first time home buyers.
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 someone to guide you through the real estate process 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 | May 22, 2019 | Boulder Info, Buying Tips, Selling Tips
When I was a Freshman at University of Wisconsin the Halloween celebration was the biggest gathering in the USA behind Time’s Square New Year’s Eve and Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
It was terrifying.
The bars all let out at the same time and the streets were packed with drunk college kids. What was a fun weekend turned into chaos – rocks being thrown at windows and police spraying pepper spray.
The next year, instead of trying to police the situation more, the city took a different approach. They embraced the celebration – allowing bars to stay open all night long and bringing in flood lights to make the city feel like daytime all weekend.
If you can’t stop it, embrace it.
That is in part, according to a city planner, the reason the Boulder City Council decided to loosen up regulations surrounding accessory dwelling units (additional living unit that has separate kitchen, sleeping, and bathroom facilities on a single-family lot). The city wanted to encourage all those homeowners with illegal ADUs to finally comply with the ADU regulations, and therefore city inspections.
If you have an illegal ADU that you want to make legal or you want to add an ADU to your property – apply now. There are a limited amount of seats at this party.
The number of ADUs will be limited to no more than 20 percent of parcels – increased from the previous 10 percent – within 300 feet of a subject property (ADUs, cooperative housing units and non-conforming structures count in the saturation calculation.) But get ready for an arduous long process because the lights do not stay on all night over at Boulder City Planning and Development Office and they are short staffed and drowning in an increased number of ADU applications.
Here is the summary of the other big changes that went into effect on Feb. 1, 2019:
- ADUs can be a larger size (800 square feet for a detached ADU and 1,000 square feet or one half the size of the principal home (whichever is less) for an attached ADU) and not provide the required additional parking previously required to get approval for an ADU in exchange for agreeing to limit rent to 75 percent of the Area Median Income based on the number of bedrooms. Currently that is about $1,835 for a 2 bedroom including utilities.
- The minimum lot size required was lowered from 6,000 square feet to 5,000 square feet for all types of ADUs.
- The 5-year minimum age requirement for the primary home to create an ADU was done away with.
- The occupancy limit has been increased.
- Short-term rentals – like Airbnb – for newly created ADUs have been outlawed and owners that wish to create an ADU must forfeit a short-term rental license for the principal dwelling as well.
Once your ADU gets approved the permitting process or retro-permitting process begins.
So go add value to your property and head over to Boulder Planning and Development office – 1739 Broadway Boulder CO 80302 – to hurry up and wait.
For more details about the new ADU regulations visit: https://bouldercolorado.gov/housing/adu-update
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 | May 7, 2019 | Buying Tips
An inspector is like a person spotting a landing for a buyer before he/she jumps. Therefore, inspection deadlines are some of the most crucial deadlines to be aware of in the Colorado contract.
There are three deadlines in the Colorado real estate contract for inspection: Inspection Objection, Inspection Termination and Inspection Resolution.
- The Inspection Objection Deadline in the contact is the date that an inspector or any specialists – roofer, HVAC, plumber, electrician, etc. must come out to the property to check out all the nooks and crannies. By 11:59 pm on this deadline the buyer/buyer’s agent must submit a list of what he/should would like fixed or what amount of credit at closing he/she would like in order to fix the issues found – a renegotiation request.
- The Inspection Termination Deadline is new to the contract in 2019 and is a deadline in case you do not want to object to the inspection but instead want to just bail on the contract – the landing looked too rocky or you just got too scared to jump.
- The Inspection Resolution is the deadline for the seller and the buyer to agree on a compromise based on the list submitted in the Inspection Objection. If no agreement is reached by this deadline the contract automatically terminates. If a contract falls apart it is usually at this deadline. And It is for this reason sellers pay close attention to these deadline dates when considering accepting an offer.
To have a strong offer, especially in a multiple offer situation, here are the inspection contract tricks – least extreme to most extreme:
- Tight Deadlines: A tight Inspection Objection Deadline (a few days after getting under contract) and a tight Inspection Resolution Deadline (1-2 days after the Objection Deadline) usually makes an offer more appealing to the Seller. Remember, most contracts that fall apart do so because of inspection. Sellers would rather the contract fall apart sooner rather than later so they can put the house back on the market. Before writing the offer with tight deadlines it is essential that the buyer or the buyer’s agent make phone calls to inspectors/specialists to see the earliest possible date they can come out to the property and if possible the buyer or agent should reserve a spot even before the offer is accepted. A tight deadline is not useful if no (good) inspector is able to complete it on time.
- Scratch the Resolution: Take out the Inspection Resolution Deadline in the dates and deadlines section of the contract. Essentially what the buyer is communicating to the seller is that he/she will not haggle with the seller on inspection – the buyer will either take the property at the price the buyer offered/in the condition the home is in or the buyer just won’t take the house. From most sellers’ perspectives this is great – the seller has a price locked in and/or the seller will not need to rush to get anything fixed making the process more hassle-free.
- Bring the inspector to the showing: If you can anticipate a craze over a certain property arranging for an inspector to go to the showing with you enables you to forgo putting an Inspection Objection Deadline in the contract because the buyer knows before submitting the offer if the landing is soft or hard. The risk of this option is the buyer is paying for the inspection yet doesn’t know if he/she will succeed in getting under contract.
The more you know upfront about the Boulder buying process and the tricks you might need to pull to get under contract in a tight market, the easier the process is when you jump in.
Have a specific buying questions, reach out – no stings attached!
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 someone to guide you through the real estate process 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 AndrewHolliday | Apr 29, 2019 | Boulder Info, Buying Tips
Boulder has many different neighborhoods with different price points, architecture, amenities, and vibes. Here is an overview of the lay of the land so you can start to get your bearings:
If you want to be in the hustle and bustle of Boulder and do not want to deal with Boulder’s worsening parking problems there are all kinds of housing options in downtown Boulder – condos, townhomes and single-family houses. But there is not a lot of bang for a buck downtown – in 2021 the average single-family home price was $2,489,231 (only one single family home sold in the downtown area in 2022 so the 2021 average is a more accurate figure). The average attached dwelling price downtown was $1,689,550 in 2022.
A historic part of Boulder, large homes many with great porches were built in the late 1800s early 1900s. A lot of the homes look their age on the outside but most have had facelifts on the inside creating modern feels with old charm. The centerpiece of the neighborhood is Mapleton Avenue – the Park Avenue of Boulder – a wide, tree-lined boulevard. This area is very coveted because of its walkability to downtown as well as to hiking trails.
This neighborhood lies to the east and northeast of East Pearl and was one of the first areas people settled in Boulder. It’s proximity to Downtown makes this area very appealing and the price tag for housing is generally lower here than on the west side of downtown with comparable walkability to shops and restaurants – just with more modest homes and less accessibility to trails as you are further away from the Foothills.
This quaint neighborhood with narrow streets and an abundance of trees is snuggled between the base of the Foothills and the Boulder Creek and is a stone’s throw from downtown – though you have to cross a very busy Canyon Boulevard to get there. This area is home to Eben G. Fine park – a summer hotspot and there are trails outside the homes’ doors. Some of the homes back to Boulder Creek – which creates a lack of privacy but a nice ambiance.
This area is a 10-15 minute drive to downtown but has the great access to trails, open space and fabulous views. It is also has the easy access to get to the High Country because of it’s southern location along highway 93 Boulders gateway road to I-70, C-470 and I-285. This neighborhood has homes mostly constructed in the 1960s and 1970s and has a very typical suburban feel from that era on the lower part of the mesa but as you climb the hill the architecture and street layout becomes more intriguing. There is one shopping center in this area, Table Mesa Shopping Center, that has grocery stores, a nail salon, restaurants, a pharmacy – the essentials.
This neighborhood, originally built as a Boulder suburb in the 1950s and 1960s with young servicemen returning from war, young scientists and college students attending the University of Boulder in mind, is a enclave of small ranch or split level homes conveniently located between Highway 36 and Broadway. Originally built en masse to be affordable to young families, this area is still one of the most affordable neighborhoods in Boulder with homes starting in the mid-600s. And though people have started to pop tops and modernize these simple ranch and split-levels the feeling of this area has not, at least yet, completely regenerated. Martin Acres is very bike-able neighborhood, has easy access to major thoroughfares, is located on the RTD bus route and is close to the Table Mesa shopping center.
The air is crisp, there are Evergreens out the homes’ windows and wildlife in the backyards – you feel like you are far from a city in the Boulder Foothills. The roads are windy and can get snow packed, so being on a bus route in the foothills is key because the roads will be plowed more often. If you are hearty and up for a more “wintery” lifestyle, you can definitely get more for your money up there.
The Newlands, centered around North Boulder Park which has a baseball field, playground, room to set up slack lines, play Frisbee and/or read a book, has a very motley and expensive housing inventory. This neighborly feeling neighborhood s ideally located a close walk to the Ideal sopping center and downtown is a 20 minute walk to downtown and backs-up to the Mount Sanitas, Red Rocks, Dakota Ridge trails.
This area has the historic Chautauqua Park with all it’s beauty, trails, restaurant, general store and concert, lecture venues in it’s backyard. chautauqua has curvy streets, lots of trees and traditional and victorian homes speckled with modern and funky properties that sit on larger than normal lots for most areas in Boulder. Expect price tags from the low-$2,000,000s and up. It is an easy bike ride to downtown, but not such an easy bike ride back home as the Chautauqua neighborhood sits on a hill.
Great views, a lot more land and more bang for your buck are the attractions of living in East Boulder. Lots of people have horses, chickens, goats, etc. in their backyards. It is “rural”ish living 10-20 minute drive from downtown.
North Boulder is a hodgepodge of “new” (built in the early 2000s) housing developments, a “new” Uptown with coffee shops and restaurants, storage facilities, mobile home parks and homes that sit on large lots. A road biking haven with easy access north on highway 36, a popular road biking route.
A fringe area of Boulder located to the Northwest of the city, people migrate to Gunbarrel to find cheaper housing while keeping a Boulder address and good beer – Gunbarrel is home to many craft breweries including Avery Brewing Company. Gunbarrel is also home to the Boulder Country Club, making it a hotspot for avid golfers who want to live near the club to make it convenient to drive their golf carts to and from the golf cart. Large corporations have headquarters in the area including Celestial Seasonings and IBM. There is no true town center in Gunbarrel, making it not for everyone, but the bike path system does makes it easy to ride right into Boulder proper. Gunbarrel was annexed by Boulder is the 1960s and most of the housing inventory was built mid-1960s – mid-1970s.
Louisville, a 20 minute drive from downtown Boulder, has a modernized historic mining Old Town (downtown), with tons of charm, town events, box stores on the outskirts and an influx of people wanting to live there. In 2022 the average house price was $1,046,162. Close to downtown the housing inventory is a mix of homes that have been expanded and modernized and small bungalows but as you get further from Louisville’s epicenter the housing inventory becomes subdivision homes.
A 24 minute drive to downtown Boulder, is a cozy town that is slowly turning into a “suburb” of Boulder. There are lots of old homes in Lafayette with new builds/developments sprouting up. The average home price in 2022 in Lafayette was $976,454.
28 minutes from downtown Boulder with a population of about 90,000, is a city in and of itself with many diverse neighborhoods within it. Longmont’s large downtown has a western feel, many tech companies and high-speed fiber internet capability for everyone. Longmont is the least expensive of Boulder’s surrounding areas.
I know that crucial information to any is left out of this posts – schools! Good Good Realty or any real estate agent cannot discuss this under The Fair Housing Act but here is a link to check out school ratings https://www.greatschools.org/colorado/boulder/schools/ and here is a link to Boulder County School District
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.
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
