Tag Archive for: Denver real estate

The most important thing one can do in negotiations is to keep the conversation going. Simple in theory, but when emotions get involved it gets much more complicated. Take yesterday for example; buyer comes to seller with an incredibly low offer. Seller is already well priced, below average price per square foot for the area, is insulted, and rightly so. Sellers don’t even want to talk about a counter they are so mad, and so the door is closed, communication stops, conversation ends. Does anybody get what they want? No.
It is my firm belief and experiential understanding that all real estate transactions are essentially human transactions. But they are also business transactions. Balancing these two, sometimes contradictory, principles is what leads us successfully to the goal. Obviously buyers and sellers are emotionally invested, which is why hiring a good Realtor is your best investment. You need an advocate, and one who will objectively keep the dialogue running until there is 1.) A deal that works for both sides, or 2.) Nothing further that can be done to make it happen.
I know this seems like I’m stating the obvious, and when you’re only talking business it’s true. Once you factor in the human element, and the business is about a very personal product… like a home, that’s where things get sticky. Negotiations can be exhausting. For everyone. My best advise?
Keep Calm. Carry On.

Today an unusual thing happened, I received two offers on two different listings. That in itself would not be unusual in the Denver real estate market, but it’s what came with the offer I found odd and amusing. This morning, two emails hit my inbox. One was the offer, $110k below the list price, and the other was a letter from the potential buyer to the seller. This afternoon, the same thing happened: 20k under a list price that had a generous price reduction on Wednesday, and a lovely card to the seller. Now I am the queen of the hand-written note and I know it’s value, but in both of these instances it was as if the “I really love your house, we are the perfect buyers” missive was going to somehow cover the insulting offer. If you really love the house, you should pay what the house is worth. A letter that says in essence, “I found the house I love, now can you please give it to me?” does little to sway the seller away from his or her profits.
Buyers buy homes with their emotion first and practicality second, sellers are just the opposite. I know this is a sweeping generalization, but most of the time it holds true. A home is an emotional commodity and yes, most sellers would love to see their home go to that sweet young couple of lovebirds with the 20% down, the golden retriever and th 850 credit score. Chances are very good that the seller has had his own emotional roller coaster ride long before you set your showing. Ready to make that move, they’ve called their Realtor, had the listing appointment and swallowed hard when their agent told them what they could expect to sell their beautiful home for in today’s market. When they’ve lowered their price twice in 60 days, is it realistic to expect them to take another 20 or 100k off the top because you love their home? I’d love a new Mercedes for the price of my used Saab, too.
In short, be reasonable. Be fair. Don’t believe everything you read about the “Buyer’s Market”, assuming every home is on the clearance rack. And save your letters. We know you love the home and felt all warm and fuzzy when you walked into it, that’s what writing an offer means. Now write the offer that will match that value, and don’t expect the seller to pay for your dreams out of their retirement.

An artist lives here and it shows. This is my new favorite house! Look for it this weekend when it comes on the market

You’ll love the look and feel of this remodeled brick townhome in fabulous Mayfair! Situated on the corner it feels like a single family home. Keeping all of the 1945 charm, the updated kitchen has been opened up, offering a light and cheery feeling. Granite counters and handmade cabinets, stainless steel appliances, Viking stove, convection/microwave oven, hardwood floors, custom window coverings, designer paint~ it’s clean as a whistle! New windows, new bathroom fixtures and new vintage-style tile floor, patio with the option for private fencing and a strong HOA make this perfect for your first time home buyer! Great condo alternative and the best in the neighborhood. Call me for a showing, you really should take a look!

I have so much writing to do. Backed up on blogs and interviews for the Huffington Post and Telluride Inside and the final draft for a pending stage production.  Summertime always ramps up the distractions: the kids out of school, the real estate biz busy, the house guests, hikes and the road trip. But when Denver turns into a giant block party, how’s a girl gonna keep her thoughts together? The languorous days of summer  bring me out of myself and into the streets; to the ballpark, the patio at Elway’s, without a care in the world or a thought in my head.

There’s a party out there!

There are the easy things like the Cherry Creek  and metro area Farmers Market, Sunday night picnics at City Park Jazz and Tuesdays or Wednesdays at Film on the Rocks, and the monthly First Friday Art Walks; tonight it’s a screening of Convention, tomorrow it’ll be something else:  Denver Art Museum Flappers and Pharoahs Bash Mixed Taste at the M CA, and then comes July and the Biennial of the Americas, I’ll never catch up.

Telluride, that’s where I’ll write! I return next month to the Telluride Playwrights Festival and a chance to put the finishing touches on the production script of (W)hole.   My first trip the script was part of the festival and in I was in full writer mode. Between rehearsals, the actors and directors hiked and rode their bikes along the river while I locked myself in my condo to write. After evening table readings and notes, the playwrights rush through dinner (passing on the wine) then scurry home to make script changes, while the attendant guests ride the nighttime gondola and party like rock stars. This year my load will be lighter, my duties confined to acting and providing feedback. Surrounded by my friends and the beauty of the boxy canyon, I should have plenty of time for my own… looks like I won’t be writing there either. Can’t these deadline thingies be pushed back to October?