Littleton CO Homes for Sale

Defining moments can apply to personal character, choosing a direction at a crossroad or in my mind keeping an eye on what you do to protect or take care of yourself. How much do you do on faith and good will, how much is done in writing, and what are the consequences and outcome of your actions? If self preservation is an instinct you possess then read on.

If you’ve sold a Littleton property or are looking to buy a Littleton home then more than likely you are somewhat familiar with a Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate. In any real estate contract there are a whole lot of tasks with deadlines on them. Unless by mutual agreement otherwise, you are usually required to complete these tasks by certain dates. If you don’t make the deadlines, then either you are in default of the contract or you lose the opportunity to use that particular item as an escape or a point of leverage regarding the transaction.

There are clearly other contractual parameters and obligations that must be met but let’s look at the deadlines and items for now. Specifically I’m talking about inspections and the importance of handling these properly. First of all, if you are an experienced Littleton property buyer and seller, fix and flipper, or investor this may all seem elementary to you. On the other hand if you do something long enough you increase the odds that sooner or later you relax too much and are going to get burned.

Simply, find very competent people to do inspections. When I refer to competent help, it isn’t always the first person in the yellow pages. Do some research, get an expert. Make sure you get inspections done in a timely manner and make use of your Objection Deadlines. If you document objections in writing before the Objection Deadlines, then you have an out or leverage to have the item fixed or replaced.

There are circumstances under which you may not be “given” the opportunity to do this. For example if you are buying a foreclosure or a property that has been foreclosed upon you are likely buying a property as is. Those are the rules of engagement. If you don’t like those rules don’t play.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t inspect the property. It may mean that you can’t use the inspections as a means of leverage on the price, repairs or as a way to get out of the contract. A lender or bank may want you to do inspections before they will sign a contract, you may want to do them during the contract anyway. You can always walk on your earnest money but that isn’t how I like to do business.

Depending upon your level of skill and your reason for buying a Littleton property you will likely have a different opinion of what is acceptable and what is not. I would presume that most buyers who are intending to live in a house want the plumbing, heating, roof, and structure to be in good order. These believe it or not are pretty basic and simple to assess and repair. Granted a furnace is a fairly expensive item bit if the price is right or the seller will fix it then is isn’t that big an issue.

The things I’ve run across that really scare me, are things that most people don’t even think of. Structural damage and defects possibly caused by soil problems (expansive soil=bentonite), methamphetamine labs and the like. If these aren’t on your radar, in my opinion they should be.

Theoretically a property that had a meth lab that was properly cleaned up and certified doesn’t have to be disclosed as such. That’s interesting but do you really want to move your family into that? Maybe a talk with some neighbors. Maybe some questions at the police department to see if there was any suspicious activity at that address. Be imaginative. You’ll figure it out. With proper clean up it should be OK. You are the one who needs to be comfortable.

Expansive soil. This is a hot button for me. Just recently I’ve run across a situation where some people have a multiple issue situation. They bought this house a few years ago. They found cracks and bowing in the basement floor due to soil movement. They brought in experts who dug up parts of the floor, put in concrete posts to jack up the house and level it. It came with a guarantee and cost $30,000. What they did was fine and guaranteed but it doesn’t mean that the soil won’t move in some other place.
Guess what? Now the walls are being pushed in from the outside. The experts guarantee only covers work that they did. As the property values have dropped, now these folks are in a house with additional structural damage to repair. The mortgage and repairs needed are more than the house is worth. If they wanted to fix it they can’t finance it using the house as the collateral. Some mess.

So. When I say you need to do your inspections it isn’t just a good idea. It really could be a matter of self preservation. Something as significant as the above issue could cost fifty to one hundred thousand dollars to fix. Maybe more, depending upon the building. You had better really love a place to want to do that. Personally I’d move on to the next Littleton Property. But not without doing my inspections.

So you have decided to buy or sell a Littleton house? Here are some ideas that may be of value to you whether you may be buying or selling Littleton homes.

Some people are of the nature that when they want to buy or sell something it’s more important that they just get it done in the fastest and easiest way. Sometimes money is no object. That doesn’t mean they are living the life of the idle rich. It means that they either want instant gratification, or don’t want any more time or pain wasted on getting something accomplished than is necessary. If it costs, then so be it.

Someone I knew, when asked about getting a project done, said if you want fast, cheap and good quality, usually you get to pick two out of the three. You can’t get fast, good quality at a discount. There’s usually a “rush” charge for fast. If you want cheap and fast, guess what suffers now.

I have a friend, when he wants to do something, gets it done faster than anyone I’ve ever seen. If it involves buying or selling something he doesn’t mind overpaying or selling for less. I must admit he probably gets things to move faster than I. I usually want to sell for a “good” price and buy for a “good” price as well. Sometimes it takes a little longer. Maybe he is less concerned with money than I. I don’t know if that is because he is in a better financial position than I am or not.

It’s a different philosophy. To him he wants it done and wants to move along. I want to get it done and move along but somehow I feel that money is an important part of the equation. Before buying or selling Littleton homes, you need to decide whether you are more like my friend or more like me, and then it will make it a little easier for you to come to grips with your course of action.

You probably get the drift but I’m going to spell out a few things that may require a good look in the mirror. Having owned a few vintage and collector cars I have always been amused with sales pitches like “you know restored this car is worth fifty thousand dollars…” I would usually reply with some smug responses like “yes but it will take sixty thousand dollars to restore it…”, or ” well why don’t you spend the time and money to restore it and call me when you are done, if I like it maybe I’ll buy it from you..” Maybe one guy got fifty thousand dollars for his car. That doesn’t mean every car like that is now worth fifty thousand dollars regardless of quality. It is also highly likely that he may have spent sixty thousand dollars to get it there and he lost money.

What is the relevance of this? Your Littleton home may or may not be worth what your neighbor got for his home even though it is a comparable model, size etc. If they put in the granite kitchen, the Viking stove, hot tub and some other amenities and got a very good price, that’s good. In some instances it could be overbuilt for the neighborhood. If Littleton homes in your neighborhood are selling for $350,000 and your neighbor got $375,000, it doesn’t make much sense to me to put in $50,000 worth of upgrades to sell your house for another $25,000 over the $350,000 you are likely to get anyway. Or have I missed something?

Be reasonable. You can try for the $375,000 anyway but it could be like comparing the over-restored car to the average car. The words of my father are ringing in my ears. “Don’t tell me what its worth; show me the cash…..” It’s worth what a cash buyer is willing to pay today. You may do better or worse than your neighbor, it’s up to you to take or make the offer. I know quite a few people who turned down offers on their Littleton homes a few months ago. They would gladly take that today if they could get it. That was yesterday and that offer is no longer here.

Perhaps we could take a look at what may make sense. Of course without seeing your house I cannot make any specific recommendation so don’t be insulted here, just try to be reasonable (have you noticed that word keeps coming up). If your house is 5 years old it’s hard to imagine that you need a new kitchen or stove. The keyword here is need. Unless you took purple enamel paint to your kitchen cabinets (no offense) it’s hard to imagine the kitchen being that bad. Those of you in older Littleton homes in older neighborhoods need to be realistic. If everyone on your block replaced their kitchen, carpeting, bathrooms, and so on, then maybe it’s something you need to consider. Then again, maybe not. Refer back to the difference between my friend and I. Refer also to the people who may have over restored their houses.

If the pain, agony and anti-logic of fixing up a place you’ve been in for 20 years so you can sell it is not your thing, then OK. Realize that like my friend, if you want out quickly then simply make the price appealing enough for someone to come in and want to do the upgrades themselves. They can choose their own colors and style and deal with the fix-up. You may not even have to drop the price that much. There’s a win. You and hopefully a knowledgeable realtor can make a determination as to how your Littleton property stacks up with others around you, and make decisions based upon your goals.

If more money is the goal then you need to decide if you can get more by fixing a few things or is it more efficient to lower the price and not fix some things? Make sense? You can always hang little signs that say “Carpet Allowance” or whatever else you will throw in the deal to make a buyer happier.

One more thing. Some upgrades have absolutely no value to a buyer. If you put your grandmother’s crystal chandelier in the foyer and it was appraised for $25,000, don’t think you are going to get another 25 grand for the house. Forget it. Take the chandelier down before the first showing. Trust me. Even if you call it an exclusion in a listing agreement, someone will decide they like it and try to get you to throw it into the deal. The marble and granite roman bath that you had installed in your walk-out basement cost $100,000. I hope you enjoyed it. A lot…… I would doubt that you are now going to get $400,000 in a neighborhood where Littleton houses typically sell for $300,000. I would be surprised if you got more than another $10,000 for the house. If Anthony and Cleopatra showed up to buy it, maybe. Last time I checked, I don’t think they are coming around.

A few other thoughts about selling your Littleton home. The professionals call it “staging”. It’s what they do in a model house. They pick the right colors, blinds and furniture in the right sizes and quantity. This shows the house at its best. This makes it more appealing. I think maybe I’ll write more on that next time.

Meanwhile. Everything I said to you sellers is in reverse for you buyers. Thought I forgot about you? If you really love the Viking Stove, the Roman Bath and Grandma’s Chandelier then fabulous. Fair warning. An appraiser won’t add much value. Your loan amount won’t increase and the cost will most likely come out of your pocket. If you decide that you really need that and are willing to over pay for it, then nirvana. A happy buyer and seller. However, I hope you enjoy it. A lot…. Because you may not find a buyer down the road for your perfect Littleton home like you…………. Cheers.

I’ve been doing a little snooping around to get more information about Real Estate in the town of Littleton Colorado and out of curiosity I thought I’d see what the immediate collateral damage of this economic debacle really is.Statistics as we know can be used to prove just about anyone’s case or cause. What I really want to know is what is the real impact or effect of the economic, financial, and loan issues on our Littleton Co Homes for Sale.

What do you think? What are the criteria for trouble or bad news? Let’s think about this one. Before this recession/depression/downturn (pick one) believe it or not, homes were actually foreclosed upon. Wow. What a concept. Yes, people actually (unfortunately) lost their homes to their lenders. Hard luck, bad times, lost jobs, and so on, have been an ongoing fact of life.

Up until recently it was an accepted fact that somewhere between zero and about five (5%) percent of all home loans would go bad. That is solid loans approved by intelligent underwriters with sufficient down payments and legitimate appraisals. So if that’s normal or the norm, you tell me what you think is bad news. What is this going to look like under really bad times, regardless or whether where talking about Littleton Co homes for sale or NYC homes for sale? Ten, Twenty, Thirty percent?

You may have noticed that if you bought a house with less than a 20% down payment you had to pay a mortgage insurance premium. That was supposed to go to a pool of money to cover loans gone bad. If you had more than a 20% down payment you didn’t have to pay for mortgage insurance. I think you probably now realize that somehow, somewhere, someone decided that less than 20% upfront is not a sound investment for a lender.

Where I’m going with all of this is probably going to be a surprise to a few of you. In spite of all the hype and media attention and predictions of gloom and doom, in spite of loans that had little, no, or improper documentation, “generous” appraisals, and low or no down payments, brace yourself, the percent of foreclosures and short sales (about to be foreclosed upon) of currently listed Littleton Co Homes For Sale is as of this writing, about 7%. That’s right. Seven percent….. SEVEN PERCENT….. I love this town. Look at this little chart.

TYPE              ALL LISTINGS               FORECLOSURES           PERCENT

SFR’S              818                                  60                               7.33%
CONDOS        268                                  30                               11.19%
LAND             134                                  0
MULTI FAM     17                                   1                                  5.88%
TOTALS          1237                               91                                7.36%

 
In reality, the percent of the increase in foreclosures of Littleton Co homes for sale is almost statistically insignificant. Yes, the condos are a higher percentage. But the raw number of 30 condos is not gigantic. I understand that if one of the foreclosures is you or the house next door, it is uncomfortable at best. However, in the grand scheme if you weren’t planning on selling or going anywhere this isn’t really a horrific situation.

It’s a lot worse in a lot of other places. A lot worse. Also, if you have the urge to move to another home in Littleton, things are probably stable enough that you can buy and sell homes and make a reasonable economically feasible transaction.

What do you think? I think this is a really good place to own property. At present, and in the future, income demographics, community government, and quality of life should continue to develop well. It is becoming more and more apparent why Littleton is a desirable area that people like, and want to stay in. Additionally it looks to me like things are in pretty good shape as far as the supply demand ratio is concerned.

If we’re not seeing abundant selling at present, as is occurring elsewhere throughout the country, then property prices should recover as soon as demand returns. This is basic economics. A 7% foreclosure rate is not going to create a glut of supply that needs to be worked through. This means that when, and it is just a matter of when, the economy finds its footing, and demand returns, investing in Littleton Co homes for sale will prove a smart long term investment.

With so many housing deals on the market, and so many Littleton Co homes for sale, why would someone like myself, who understands the value of real estate investment consider anything but purchasing at a time like this?

I have made this observation recently concerning a friend. Some people most definitely have a reason to own Real Estate and have completely rejected the idea of renting. After all, some people have kids and need a yard, some people are investing in rental property, and everyone knows absolutely that real estate always goes up in value. Really?

I have a friend who sold her town home about a year and a half ago. She was looking to buy another one. She was having trouble finding one she liked to replace it. So for the short term she decided to rent an apartment (paying rent-what a waste of money!). Then the market tanked, the town home she sold is worth about $70 grand less than she got for it, she’s sitting on cash, and there are deals all over the place. Luck has no equal.

It gets better. During this period she had an epiphany. It’s not necessarily a good time to jump into the market. Has it hit bottom yet, or not? Who knows? The market will probably have good values for a while though, so what’s the hurry?

How about this… My friend, as luck would have it, is now as free as the breeze. She spends her time doing what she wants when she wants without any concern for time, energy or financial impact regarding her living situation. Do you have any idea how freeing this feels? She has no HOA fees or assessments, no lawn to mow, snow to shovel, roof to fix, walls to paint, carpet to clean, shall I continue? The only utilities she pays now are electric and cable. No maintenance of any kind. Faucet leaks, call the building manager, window breaks- you guessed it- call the building manager. Free at last.

From the time I was 23, I have always owned real estate and it required a piece of me in some form or another, time or money, no matter what. Yes it has made money for me. But I’ve bled for it.

What about value for money? My friend doesn’t get a tax deduction like you do for a mortgage. Balance that with the fact that for the first 7 years of a normal 30 year mortgage you are paying primarily interest on your loan. So you only build equity if the value goes up. You have taxes, utilities, maintenance, repairs, and so on, plus the chore of property management. If you are in a Littleton Co home or condo or community with HOA fees, add that to it. Statistically people sell their homes and move in 7 years, so you are always and only paying interest on the loan.

If you have purchased your Littleton Co home or Denver condo for cash or have paid it off, you don’t have the value of, or opportunity to use, that money in a flat or down market. If the money were in an investment that yields a decent return, it would pay your rent and you would have some left over. Also if you are renting, when the building gets old, move out. When your house or condo gets old you are going to remodel the kitchen and bathrooms so you can sell it for a good price because the guy next door put in new stuff to sell his house. Sometimes this investment takes as much time and energy as it does capital.

I’m a young baby boomer. My kids are gone. I find great humor in my personal dilemma. While believing in the value of real estate I also want to be free. I want to play, travel, and enjoy my hobbies. I’ve decided that one of my hobbies is not maintaining my house. Sure I can pay to have it done. It still requires time, energy and money. Call me lazy. I just have different interests now.

You can rent condos, houses, and town homes for less than you could buy them, and without a down payment. One option given our current economic climate is to put your cash somewhere safer, live better for less and let the landlord absorb some of the costs.

So with Littleton Co homes for sale and also rent at present, think long and hard about personal priorities before accepting conventional wisdom of owning over renting.

A lot of folks are looking at Littleton CO homes for sale, but may not have enough cash in hand for a new purchase. If you are trying to buy or sell your home, investment or business property and haven’t had success, and would like to find a footing in Littleton Colorado, here are some thoughts on Equity Marketing as a possible solution.

Conventional wisdom on real estate sales is that if your property doesn’t sell ‘lower the price’. “The bathroom is too small for the price”, “the yard is too small for the price.” Maybe. Maybe not. An uncle and mentor (a very successful Architect and Real Estate Developer) says “if it doesn’t sell, raise the price, you’ll get a whole new group of buyers with more money” (yes you read that correctly).

Another mentor I met 30 years ago in the Auto Business taught me a lesson that has had great importance in my business dealings over the years. He said “there’s a butt for every seat” (I’ve cleaned it up a bit.) From that day on I have always believed that no matter what you have for sale, sooner or later someone will come along and buy it. Be patient. Your circumstances will determine whether or not you can take advantage of ‘outside the box’ creative thinking.

Let me say that if you are in foreclosure or it is imminent there is likely not much that can be suggested other than a short sale. If you have significant equity in the property, or can add cash or other assets which have positive equity, some of these ideas may be of value. If you are upside down in the property, owing more than the value of the property, with no other assets to add, you need to seek council.

Believe it or not now is as good a time as any to reallocate or shift assets because, you may get a little less for your property but you can get another property for a little less as well. However as you may have heard, it could be a little tough to get loans approved. This affects you not only as a seller but it affects you if you are interested in buying some additional property. Much larger down payments, liquidity and proof of income are most definitely part of the game now. Gone are the days of the liar’s loans (I learned this term from an officer of a major mortgage company who received a 10.5 Billion Dollar bail out a while back- seriously!)

No or low documentation is the “official” description of these type of loans. So, quite a number of potential buyers are out of the market or sitting on the sidelines because of tightened money. You have equity in your property that can’t be activated or used (a Home Equity Loan or refinance isn’t always the answer- sometimes you need to change assets) and you may want to apply it to something else. Enter Equity Marketing.

What is Equity Marketing, and what has it got to do with Littleton CO homes for sale? Do you have a property you’re looking to get out of…and are you interested in finding a home in Littleton Colorado? Then read further…You have probably heard of a 1031 Exchange. This is where you take money from a sale and “roll” it into another property thereby getting a tax break (until someone changes the tax laws….). There is also a reverse 1031 where you Buy the new property first and then sell the old one and apply the money from the sale. (1031′S are complicated. If you are not experienced seek council or you could have serious tax consequences. This is not a substitute for legal, tax, or other professional advice.)

Equity Marketing is actually a “trade” of property. Yep. In the old days (way before my time) before there was money, people used to actually trade stuff. Then money was invented. It was easier to carry around a fist full of dollars than a herd of cows or a wagon full of some other goods. OK. So, trade real estate? Yep. It can be a little tricky so you need to go carefully but the idea is that you can buy or sell real estate without having to actually find someone with cash or down payment money in order to accomplish your desired result. It’s an old concept but relative to today’s thinking it is out of the box, and can be very efficient and effective.

How do I get started? Well, first you need to figure out where you are and where you want to go…like our beautiful Littleton Co. As always, apply reason. I am reminded of the old George Carlin comedy routine (I’ll paraphrase and clean this up). “Did you ever notice how YOUR junk is stuff and everybody else’s stuff is junk?” If you think your stuff is always worth more than someone else’s, and the words win-win aren’t in your vocabulary, I’m sure you will find this entertaining but it will be of no value to you.

There needs to be benefits on both sides of a trade/exchange in order for it to work. You can probably skin someone in any market- on a trade or straight sale, especially if you have cash. If you are trying to move from your assets to other assets through a trade or exchange and neither party is in trouble, you need to leave some meat on the carcass so the other party is willing to haul it off for you. Everyone wants to believe they’re coming out ahead after a trade.

Why would I do that? Because there are other reasons than distress for changing ownership to different types of property. Maybe you don’t like or just stink at property management (don’t be insulted-be realistic). You may want to get in or out of a property but want a property manager. Maybe industrial is more to your liking than single family homes. None of this means it’s a bad property on either side of the deal, needs and situations change. Maybe a business is closing, they want to sell the warehouse. You have a few single family homes. You’d like a warehouse and the 3 partners would each like a house. Maybe they will do a 1 year leaseback so you have income on the warehouse to help you until you get a tenant. Viola!.. Not always that simple but you get the idea.

First Question. If you sold your property what would you do with the money? If you need cash to pay bills or go to Disneyland keep reading anyway. “I want to reinvest”, “I’d like to reinvest but I need the cash”. OK. Think about this, since you may not be having any luck selling. First off, if you lower the price for cash then that’s it. And, it still may not sell as quickly as you want. If you have a current(within the last few months), real, legitimate appraisal, you can use it to extract all of your equity. You may have $50,000 equity and another property may be the same. You can assume loans, or refinance up or down if you both qualify, someone can carry back a second mortgage using the Equity Trade as the “Down Payment” to satisfy a lender.

Or, let’s say one property has more equity than the other. Trades aren’t always 1 property for 1 property, you can add cash, multiple properties, Ferraris, whatever works. You give me your house with $50,000 equity, I give you my smaller house with $25,000 equity and $25,000 cash. We work out the loans. You just received $25,000 Cash to pay your bills, go to Disneyland and you have $25,000 equity in a smaller house which is in an easier location to sell quickly. You have now gotten full use of all of your equity. The new house should sell quicker than your current burdensome property. We call that a path to cash.

Regardless of your current location or real estate situation, you may be able to bypass the hassle of standard by and sell practices. If you find a home, condo, or larger piece of property in Littleton that you want and lack the cash on hand to purchase, consider a straight old fashioned property swap. Littleton CO homes for sale may be your equity marketing solution. Happy Trading.

Littleton CO Homes For Sale is an increasingly popular topic among both Denver real estate brokers and new home buyers alike. I wonder why that is? I guess a lot of people think Littleton is a good place to live and play.

For those who aren’t that familiar with the areas surrounding Denver Colorado, Littleton is located to the South West of Denver and is roughly bordered on the North by Belleview Ave, on the South by C470, on the East by Broadway and on the west by Sheridan Blvd. Most of Littleton is within about 15 to 20 minutes drive from Denver.

Littleton is about an hour north of Colorado Springs, Less than an hour from mountain recreation areas and some of the world’s greatest skiing, offering winter and summer activities for healthy and fun entertainment.

Incorporated March of 1890, Littleton has a population of 41,000 and spans 13.83 square miles. The median household income is $50,000. With a lot of new goals and perspectives, along with contributions from the residents and officials, Littleton has a lot to offer. If you are looking for a place to live or a place to invest in real estate, you should definitely look into Littleton Co Homes for Sale.

Littleton has come a long way since Richard Little filed his land claims in 1862. An engineer from New Hampshire, Little came to survey for various projects and apparently decided to stay. So have a lot of other folks.

As of this writing, there are approximately 1200 Residential Listings. Of those, approximately 450 are bank owned. This could be the time to take a look at this community and see what it has to offer. That’s not a lot of houses for sale, which indicates stability in the community. With a good number of the houses to be had at bargain prices and with the current interest rates, there is some good opportunity to be looked into. There are a lot of Development and Commercial/Investment Real Estate opportunities as well.

There is quite a variety of things to do in Littleton. There’s a College on Santa Fe, shops and restaurants in Old Town, outdoor activities all over. Look into the town and surrounding areas and I think you’ll agree that it’s worth taking a look into Littleton Colorado homes for sale.