Help! Buying a house and need some advise on areas (Denver: co-ops, neighborhood)

[davebarnes]

Look at foreclosures and short sales. There are bunch in Broomfield.
A lots less competition.

[stephanieX3]

How about someone tell me about the South end of town? Please!!!

What I would love is for advise on the South end.

I'm a big girl, I can make my own decisions on where I want to live, how commutes will affect us. I don't need advise/opinions on this subject. What I REALLY need is someone to walk me through other communities on the other side of town. Thanks friends.

[Idlewile]

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

In the spirit of full disclosure; I am not your Realtor.

You cannot expect different results with the same strategy. More of the same will come and prices will continue to appreciate, if all you do is change the geographic location.

I can't rep you again right now but this is well said.

I'm glad to hear the Denver market is finally on a decent upswing. Too bad we had to sell in Broomfield when we did....

OP, The market you describe is how Austin has been for the past 2.5 years and is also the case in many parts of the country now. We too were outbid on 5 homes here in a shockingly low inventory situation. We dropped our agent and got one who was "more connected" and had a pulse for properties coming down the pipe since homes in desirable areas don't last here more than 24 hours. And I drove around looking for "coming soon" signs almost every day for 2-3 months. Eventually, one worked out. Also realize inventory is particularly low this time of year... the closer you get to spring/summer it should go up, even if it's only a bit.

If you like north as much as you do, especially since you've been living there as long as you have, I would really holdout to get what you want there. You might regret ending up elsewhere simply because it fell in a lower range and enabled you to finally outbid your competition but you won't know it until you are living there.

[stephanieX3]

My realtor has been serving the N. Denver suburbs for 25 years. She's awesome! None of this is her fault. This is not an issue w/ her, it's an issue with inventory and our price range being low.

Once again. Simply looking for advise on the S end of town. Like I said I'm a big girl, I know what I'm doing, and don't need anything BUT info on the S. end. THANKS!

[reed303]

Originally Posted by stephanieX3

Thanks. We've made offers the same day too. Even with in hours of being listed. Another problem is that we are being outbid! PPl are bidding over the asking price.

Wow. Where was this market when I sold my house in Broomfield 18 months ago ?? Only 1 offer after 40 showings in 3 months. Listed at 230K, sold at 222.5K. Total selling cost 20K (comm, carpet, radon, alum. wire, buyer closing )

I see by cohomefinder.com there are currently only 3 listings under 230K in my old neighborhood Usually there were 8-10.

I guess, like the stock market, there are times to be a seller, and times to be a buyer !

[stephanieX3]

Originally Posted by reed303

Wow. Where was this market when I sold my house in Broomfield 18 months ago ?? Only 1 offer after 40 showings in 3 months. Listed at 230K, sold at 222.5K. Total selling cost 20K (comm, carpet, radon, alum. wire, buyer closing )

I see by cohomefinder.com there are currently only 3 listings under 230K in my old neighborhood Usually there were 8-10.

I guess, like the stock market, there are times to be a seller, and times to be a buyer !

Yes I know! Why oh why didn't we buy when we moved here 2 years ago?!! You should see this junky little house in the Westlake neighborhood - no upgrades, gross carpet, cabinets, etc, etc, built in 1973 and sold the same day it was listed with multiple offers over the asking price.

So so frustrating!

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by reed303

Wow. Where was this market when I sold my house in Broomfield 18 months ago ?? Only 1 offer after 40 showings in 3 months. Listed at 230K, sold at 222.5K. Total selling cost 20K

Sold our house in Bonnie Brae in July 2011.
Original asking $740K (priced right according to 24 real-estate agents who toured it in November 2010).
Sold for $634K.
Minus $27K in costs (new roof, water heater, etc.).
26 open houses and 63 showings in the 7 months it took to sell.

[davebarnes]

re: Help! need some advise

advice

[Ageinco]

I just moved to the Meridian area to lessen my partner's commute, and I find it to be VERY suburban. The only grocery stores close to my house are Sprouts and Safeway. It's a few miles to the Whole Foods and Vitamin Cottage. I'm not sure that the area is conducive to your lifestyle; it was a bit of a culture shock for me, having lived close to downtown for years.

I have some family that lives near Wadsworth and Belleview in Littleton (granted, Northern edge of Littleton), and they love it. They're also very health conscious, and seem to be fine with the availability of natural foods over there. It takes about 15 minutes to get to Morrison from their house, so good proximity to hiking/biking/etc. Hope this helps!

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Meridan is located east of I-25 between County Line Road and Lincoln Avenue.

So Stephanie, even though you say you want advice ONLY on the south areas of town, there are those of us who try to be helpful here and warn people about possible negatives. The commute from the south areas to you husband's work would be probably an hour plus each way in good weather. Most of us feel that quality of life is important, and a two hour commute is NOT a good quality of life.

However, since that advice seems to be upsetting to you, we'll discuss the other aspects of living in the south area. I lived in Littleton for over 20 years and really like the area. BTW, you'll find that the Littleton mailing address encompasses an area about twice the size of the actual city limits. Some areas of "Littleon" are served by Littleton Public Schools, some by Jefferson County, and some maybe even Douglas County. Some of the older neighborhoods have decent homes that may be in your price range.

I'm not sure what you can get in your price range, but there won't be any "1/2 ghetto" neighborhoods in the south area. You should stay as close to I-25 as you can to help our your husband's commute. There may be some homes you'd like around Hampden Avenue and there's a Whole Foods about a mile east of I-25.