Don't need to sell home but... (Denver, Greenwood Village: top neighborhoods, sales, real estate market)

[jdkiest]

[FONT=Verdana]My wife and I don't need to sell our home but have been looking to get into a larger home to meet the needs of our growing family. What would the potential benefits be, if any, of buying a home in the current market, or would it be better for us to wait to sell our home when the market improves?[/FONT]

[Charles]

Is there a way you could buy now when the market is higher, and then wait until the market hits bottom and sell your current home?

OK, ok...It costs something like 8%-10% of the price or your home to move. So, say you are selling a $250K home, then you will be spending out of pocket like $20K to $25K.

Also, assuming the same tide raises all boats, its better to move up in a down market versus moving up in an up market. The theory is if everything goes down by 10% then a $350K home goes down $35K and the $250K home you are selling goes down $25K. There are still increased property taxes though.

[2bindenver]

There are some good values to be had out there now.

One thing to consider is: what is happening in your micro real estate market? How many houses like your are on the market now, how many sold in the last year? How many houses in your zip code in your price range? When does school start?

Denver has two distinct selling seasons. Mid-March through June and mid-September through mid-November.

I have always sold less in August than in December.

[dj32]

2B

what are your thoughts about Wash Park/Bonnie Brae currently?

Not sure if you saw my horror thread on real estate board about what happened with our crazy would-be buyers.

[DenverR.E.Helper]

Many recent Denver newspaper articles and Colorado real estate journals have been hinting at the fact that the Denver real estate market has very likely bottomed out. The number of available listings has been declining since April, builders have greatly trimmed back their new starts and are offering less favorable incentives than they were six to twelve months ago. Many of Denver's top neighborhoods are actually seeing appreciation (increased pricing) again. So, it might be in your best interest to considering buying up into your next home now rather than waiting longer. If we are indeed at the bottom of the market, as many indicators say we are, you will never be able to buy your next home at a better price than today. Additionally, we still have a healthy "buyer's market" with quite a bit of availability to select from. As the market begins to balance out in the months ahead, you will find less selection and likely less motivate sellers to negotiate with.

If you decide to wait and see, be sure to keep checking the market conditions frequently. If you see the market in your price range and in the communities you are most interested in moving to start to move, perhaps you should too.

Best wishes,

Bill Kosena

[dj32]

Bill, what are your thougths in neighborhoods mentioned above?

[2bindenver]

there are 70 currently active, under a million.

21 under contract.

67 sold in the last 6 months. 11.16 sell a month

There is currently a 6+ month supply.

[RonAriba]

Originally Posted by DenverR.E.Helper

Many recent Denver newspaper articles and Colorado real estate journals have been hinting at the fact that the Denver real estate market has very likely bottomed out. The number of available listings has been declining since April, builders have greatly trimmed back their new starts and are offering less favorable incentives than they were six to twelve months ago. Many of Denver's top neighborhoods are actually seeing appreciation (increased pricing) again.

Don't you think that the Colorado Real Estate Journals might be a little bias. What do you want them to say? Denver Real Estate Market is still in decline and will be for the near future. I have seen no markets in the metro area that have appreciation property values. (including: Greenwood Village, Cherry Hill Village, etc) Also, the only reason that the MLS active listings are down is because the properties are in foreclosure, listing expired, or have been withdrawn.

[2bindenver]

Originally Posted by RonAriba

Also, the only reason that the MLS active listings are down is because the properties are in foreclosure, listing expired, or have been withdrawn.

First, newspapers sell on "doom and gloom" not rosy futures.

The ONLY reason? Foreclosures are in MLS, technically they are pre-forclosure - no sale has taken place. Expireds? Yea, they never relist. Withdrawn? A few, but they were skewing the stats anyway with their unrealistic prices.

I am quite sure that the 2171 residences that sold last month in Denver had nothing, as in not a thing, to do with the inventory reduction.

[dj32]

yes I have heard sales are up too, particularly in Denver county