The consensus seems to be that Congress will not renew the tax credit.  I’m torn between wanting our country to pursue responsible fiscal policy and reducing the national debt, and wanting this tax credit to continue as I’ve seen first-hand the effect it’s had on the market.

Buyers I’ve been working with are quite aware of the tax credit.  It remains to be seen what happens to the market after the tax credit expires.

The good news is that we’re entering the traditional busy season in real estate, so it’s likely that the tax credit expiration will not have a measurable effect on the number of contracts given that we’re entering the spring/summer strong season.  Final analysis will likely have to wait until next year.

Call or email bob@realasave.com if you have any questions about the tax credit, or Boulder or Denver real estate in general.

The NAR announced a recent take over of Cyberhomes assets and data, and is revealing an interested long-term strategy to compete with these new kids on the block.  Will it work?  Maybe.  Who does it benefit?  See this awesome article on 1000 Watt Consulting for an in-depth analysis.

This news made me recall another incredible article/piece of news by the ever-entertaining and brilliant Notorious ROB where he discusses how a little guy (think local real estate agencies) may have suddenly delivered a potential knock-out punch to the tech-heavy real estate start-ups of the last 4 years.  In a nut-shell, ROB comments that a particular local real estate company has just unveiled a new website which competes and possibly exceeds the user experience and amount of data delivered by these tech start-ups.  Big deal, right?  Maybe not.

One thing is for sure: it’s an interesting time to be in the real estate industry.  Who will survive?  I’m not sure.  I know that I’m constantly amazed by some of the tech start-ups like Redfin and the now bankrupt BuySide Realty/Iggys House who receive all this VC money and ALSO offer deep discounts.  How can these companies be soooo top-heavy and programmer heavy and also offer deep discounts and also survive?  I don’t know.  I know that the only way we’ve survived while offering deep discounts is by offering a level of service that the above discounters don’t or can’t.  We’re basically offering the same service as a traditional agent, AND we offer discounts.  How?  Our overhead is almost non-existent, no multi-level management, no VC money, no standing staff of programmers.

But that’s not enough, is it?  No, I don’t think so.  I think that we also need to provide great service AND a great user experience on our website.  Which brings me back to the above point made by Notorious ROB: if little guys can deliver a big, satisfying punch on their websites then what will drive people to keep using the large tech sites?  The answer to that question remains to be seen, but if the age-old adage that “all real estate is local” is true (which i think it is), then the answer is: nothing.  If, in the near future, there’s no significant difference between the average local agent’s site in regards to data and user experience when compared to the big non-local tech sites, then there’s really nothing but recent momentum to keep carrying new users to those tech sites.  And momentum can change.

It’s possibly a reaction to the 8k tax credit from Uncle Sam, but I don’t think so. It seems like buyers are snatching up bargain properties once they hit the magical correct list price.

It just proves that when it comes to pricing, it’s better to SET the market than to CHASE the market. Yes, it’s honestly better to be a just slightly low and to get a quick sale and/or multiple offers than it is to be over priced and to linger on the market.

The reasoning behind this is many-fold. But if you simply factor in your carrying costs, you’ll see that holding on to your property for 6 months while it lingers on the market has costs associated with it. It can easily cost a seller thousands of dollars a month, for 6 or more months, to sit on a slightly over priced property. We’re talking 10’s of thousands of dollars. Why not just drop the price to begin with and generate multiple offers over a very brief time frame (with low or no carrying costs), the result of which could be a bidding war (higher sales than list price) as well as a quick closing?

Not to mention that properties which sit on the market tend to attract low-ball offers as buyers seem to sense blood in the water.

Email bob@realasave.com for any questions about the Boulder or Denver real estate market, or if you’re interested in getting 50% of our paycheck via our Buyer Rebate Program.

Real-a-Save is a full-service, licensed Colorado real estate company.  We offer services to both buyers and sellers.

We feel it’s very important for home buyers to have someone on their side when negotiating a contract, and so we offer exclusive Buyer’s Agency.  Many buyers just want to be left alone at the start of their home search- and that’s fine.  The Internet has certainly put a ton of information at the savvy buyer’s feet.  But when you are ready to look at a home, or if you have some questions about a particular property, then that is the time to give us a call and let us help.

It’s best for buyers not to simply start calling random real estate agents and asking questions.  The listing agent is trying to sell that lovely Denver condo that you fell in love with.  And his/her job and loyalty is clearly on the side of the seller.  So it seems wise that you have someone on your side.

Let us be on your side.  No only will you be hiring a local Realtor with tons of experience, but you’ll also receive significant savings from our Colorado Commission rebate program.  We basically split our paycheck for you.  Sound too good to be true?  Well, the US Department of Justice supports companies like Real-a-Save.  Just take a look at what the US DOJ has to say about rebate real estate companies like ours.

For more information about our commission rebate program and how you can receive 50% of our commission, you can email bob@realasave.com, or simply go to our website at www.realasave.com and join the scores of Denver/Boulder real estate consumers who have taken advantage of the great savings we offer.

The real estate industry is unique in many ways- not all of them good.  For example: why are the words “savings”, and “discount” regarding with such disdain in this industry?  It seems that almost every other industry rewards the savings monsters within it with great success.  Think Walmart, Costco, or any of a number of low-fee stock trading sites like Scottrade, E-trade, etc.

But in the real estate industry companies which give discounts, or operate with reduced-fee models are often ridiculed or labeled as companies which are doomed to failure.  “You get what you pay for!”, is a refrain we in the discount real estate industry hear from those in the traditional, full-fee real estate companies.  This implies that savings and poor service go hand in hand.  Really?  Just take one look at the glowing testimonials on this page and you’ll have to think again.  Is it so shocking to traditional real estate agents that someone who offers savings to his clients might also take pride in providing excellent service?

This is not a foreign concept to us at Real-a-Save.  Full-service, big savings.  It’s a simple business model that is working quite well, thank you.

Visitors to the Real-a-Save website can very easily search for Denver homes for sale in close proximity to their school of choice by using the Sketch-a-Map feature. Simply open up the search page and look at the lower left portion of the screen for the Sketch-a-Map icon. This is a tool we’ve developed which allows visitors to draw boundaries right on our map. You can even save multiple “sketches”, each with unique boundaries, in your “Saved Searches” area of the website. Once you draw and save a search, our system will search for new listings in your saved search each morning and will email you when a home pops up on the Denver or Boulder real estate market which fits your criteria. Pretty cool, right? Give it a try here.  And remember that Real-a-Save is the Front Range’s best choice for saving money in your next real estate transaction.

So far our business at Real-a-Save is available in Colorado only.  Specifically, the Denver and Boulder real estate markets.  But we do get a few calls a month from Brokers and investors who are interested in franchising and/or licensing our business model.  So why haven’t we offered franchises yet?  Well, we’re considering it, but are really taking our time and doing the research.  The most important thing is to make sure that our current clients remain satisfied.  Every franchise owner I’ve spoken with thus far has advised that it’s extremely important to prove your business model before franchising.  It’s also VERY expensive and time consuming to franchise a business.  If you or someone you know is interested in bringing Real-a-Save to your market, then shoot me an email at bob@realasave.com and I’ll keep you updated as to our time frame for franchising.

Traditional advertising and marketing methods are dead.  Gone.  As consumers, we’re getting so good at filtering out all the “noise” which gets thrown our way.  Noise like the paid Google results on the top and right nav sections of your Google results page.  Or noise like those wonderful “Just Listed” or “Just Sold” postcards which your local Realtor mails to you.  Or what about newspaper advertising?  Do I really need to address this?  Magazines?  Come on.

We’re lucky enough at Real-a-Save to have a really loyal base of fans.  These are former clients and current users of our websites who act as advocates for our company by telling their friends.  We get so  many calls where a buyer/seller says something to the effect, “my buddy told me I just had to check out your site and I did.  I love your business model…”.  People seem to be sold on the concept before we ever have to discuss our model with them.  It seems that saving people money AND providing great service is actually appealing!

Search for Boulder homes for sale on our incredible website and I’m sure you’ll agree that our savings, website, and incredible service are worth talking about.

What is going on with Boulder County’s million dollar market?  In the Denver and Boulder real estate markets below the 700k price point there is some really good activity.  In fact, the sub-400k market is humming in certain places due to all the first time buyers.  But the 1MM market in Boulder is odd.  You’ve got many homes lingering on the market for long periods of time.  Those homes are pulled and relisted w/different brokers but quite often at the same price.  Over and over again.  This indicates that the home owners at this price point simply have not reached a tipping point that would cause them to lower prices.  The threat of foreclosure is not a huge factor at this price point and so many sellers continue to hop on and off the market expecting a sale at last year’s prices.  It’s not happening in most cases.

Should you consider having the sellers pay for your closing costs?  Will the Denver/Boulder real estate market support such a request?  Buyers should remember that money is not free and as long as they’re negotiating over purchase price, closing date, and inspection issues, then why not ask for some seller-paid costs as well?  It certainly appears to be a confirmed buyers market in many areas of the Denver Metro region, so sellers are often open to paying for some costs.  Email bob@realasave.com if you have any questions.