ConocoPhillips is our big, new neighbor up the Denver/Boulder corridor just off of Hwy 36. You probably know that they purchased a 400++ acre campus from Storage Tec a while back, and there’s been lots of news and some considerable speculation as to what their plans are.

Well, it appears as if they’re going to use the site as the research and development center on renewable energy. Good news for this area. Even better news that over the next 20 years or so they’ll ramp things up to around 7,000 employees or more. Very nice for the real estate market, and wonderful to have this type of company in the area.

I hope this acts as a draw for other renewable energy companies in the same way that Sun Microsystems and IBM have helped give us a good foundation and big draw in the technology department.

Won’t you be my….neighbor.

Shoot me an email at bob@realasave.com if you have any Denver or Boulder real estate questions, or if you want some more info about our Colorado commission rebate program where we give you 50% of our paycheck.

Yes, the sky has fallen.  Agreed, the real estate market has been rocked over the past year and a half.  Yes, the economy sucks.  Yes, it’s completely annoying to hear another tool-box Realtor telling you how GREAT! everything is and WHAT A WONDERFUL TIME IT IS TO BUY!.  I’m embarrassed by some of my esteemed colleagues, and completely annoyed by the NAR advertising campaign telling us how GREAT! things are.  Puke.

The truth is wrapped in an old cliche: all real estate is local.  Maybe it is a great time to buy.  Maybe it’s an awful time to buy and you should just keep renting.  It all depends on where you live and where you’re looking to buy.  Sounds obvious, right?

Colorado has been hit hard, really hard, by the real estate downturn.  But there are areas of relative strength.  Louisville, Colorado is one of them.  It doesn’t hurt that Louisville keeps getting mentioned by Money Magazine as the best place to live.  It also doesn’t hurt that it’s a great little town with a lot going for it.  But there are a lot of great little towns with a lot going for them that are AWFUL places to buy right now.  What sets this one apart?

Conoco Phillips just purchased an office campus a few minutes from Louisville in the Northwest corridor between Denver and Boulder.  There are future jobs.  They’re building an office tower.  Future jobs.  IBM, Sun Microsystems, WhiteWave Foods,  and Amgen (just to name a few) are some of the big companies just a stone’s throw from Louisville.

But really, the proof is in the pudding.  There were 21 sales in Louisville in the last 30 days where the sellers got almost 98% of list price.  Anecdotal point: every time we represent a buyer in Louisville it seems that we’re in a competing offer situation; the last home we sold in Louisville was on the market for one weekend before we had 2 offers.  Louisville is a good place to buy.  Period.  Great lifestyle, Boulder Valley Schools, lots of technology jobs.

No kidding.

Check out all the Louisville, Colorado homes for sale on this map search link.  And email bob@realasave.com if you have any Denver, Boulder,  or Louisville, real estate questions.  And remember that we rebate 50% of our commission back to you in our Colorado rebate program.

Thinking of looking at some Louisville real estate?  Check out our Louisville information pages here.  You can also search for all of the homes for sale in Louisville on our cool map search.

Maybe you’re taking a job in Denver.  Again, we’ve put together some good information about the various Denver neighborhoods.  And you can search the entire Denver MLS right here.

Moving can be expensive, so our nice cash rebate will come in handy once you close on your new home.    Feel free to email bob@realasave.com with any questions.

One of the most important steps to putting your Denver or Boulder home on the real estate market is setting the list price. It’s certainly not rocket science, you just study the comps, right? Right. But make sure you take into consideration some of intangible items like view and backing to open space. It’s fine to start with a price per square foot analysis- truly, this is one of the BEST ways to begin your property valuation as numbers just don’t lie. But the square foot numbers don’t tell the complete story.

Sometimes a view is worth $10,000. Sometimes it’s worth $100,000. Sometimes backing to open space is worth $20,000. Sometimes 5 or ten times that amount. It all depends on the neighborhood trends. Now more than ever you need to have a good idea of what value your specific neighborhood puts on those items. And you need to have the comps in hand in order to back up your value claims.

Why do you need the comps in hand? I mean, just get the right buyer, right?? Right. But we’ve now got to deal with a possibly inexperienced appraiser. Lenders have gone from giving anyone or their pet dog a loan to making it very difficult for a qualified person to close. Many of these lending changes are good. Requiring buyers to put more money down is good. Requiring a higher credit score/history is good. Qualifying for LESS money is good. Sending inexperienced appraisers out to valuate properties is bad. And inexperienced appraisers are the name of the game now ever since the appraiser industry began to consolidate and contracts are being awarded to the cheapest (most inexperienced) appraisers. So be prepared. Have your comps in hand and assume the worst.

Email bob@realasave.com if you have any questions about Boulder or Denver real estate.

Once in a while our government actually does something right. The bailouts are a complete joke imho. What do they do for the average citizen? Nothing. But the $8000 tax credit being offered to first time home buyers is putting money directly in the pockets of average Americans. And that is a good thing.

We’re hoping that they extend the tax credit into 2010 as it’s our belief that this will have a profound impact on the real estate market moving forward. Depending on where you’re looking in the Colorado Front Range region, the markets are either holding steady or fairly robust. The Louisville real estate market is red hot, and the Boulder real estate market is quite strong. Moving out into places like Aurora and the South Metro area shows a different story. But it’s safe to say that extending the tax credit would help to bring more buyers into all of these markets, reduce inventory, and get us a long way towards economic recovery.

Feel free to email bob@realasave.com if you have any Denver or Boulder real estate questions.