What a year, am I right?

This year has been a year of contradictions:

It has felt endless but yet gone so fast.
I’ve had so much family time but still it feels like not enough.
I’ve had to pivot this year but still things are not settled.
Industries have completely stalled while real estate has become more frantic with people competing for their new home. 
And, I have had to sloooooow down life which I have said I have wanted for years but it felt physically uncomfortable doing it. 

We have been handed an opportunity to create life on our own terms and as the year closes and I think about what I want to take into 2021, I have come to a few guiding values:

Home. I have always been a homebody but this year has put that term into a totally different perspective. The only thing you can control is the space in the four walls of your home. It truly doesn’t matter what is going on outside of it and it all starts in the home.

Health. I hadn’t realized how every day stressors got in the way of my health a lot. Health has become a priority – fresh food, exercise and sunlight.

Nature. Ah, sometime the only spot I had my own space this year. There is really no excuse not to be outside here in Colorado with open space, mountains and trails. I need to take advantage of this daily.

Reading. This has always been a huge interest for me and this year it has become a value. Also – I set a lofty goal of reading 50 books this year. I may not hit it (currently at 42 books) but I would love to continue this trend.

Presence. Maybe it is because this year has put a mirror to myself and everyone else but I realized how I was not staying present with a lot of people (and tasks). The pesky phone alerts always distracting me, moving from one task to the next back to the original task… there was always something demanding more of my attention. I have tried very hard to stay present with my family, clients and work. There is truly no better gift to give someone.

Needless to say, we have had nine months of a very different and difficult year and things hopefully are turning around but where can you find the light? What will you hold onto from this time as we head back into “normal life”.

As always, I wish you and your family the best holiday season yet.  :)

 

Liz is  broker and owner of Liz Daigle Realty.

If you are currently renting, this may be the time to seriously consider buying a home. With record low interest rates (still!), it truly is a fantastic time to buy. Low interest rates are not the only perk of homeownership, lets take a look at why you should considering buying a home.

• As I mentioned, we have historically low interest rates.
• No more rent raises!  You can have a predictable monthly mortgage payment if you get a fixed interest rate.
• Customize YOUR home. Paint the walls! Put in new carpet!
• Pride of ownership.
• Appreciation. As the market appreciations, so does your home.
• Mortgage Interest Deductions. Ask your tax professional if your mortgage interest is deductible.
• Extra savings account – a home equity line of credit allows you to take a loan again the equity you have in your home.
• Become a landlord by renting out part of your home or all of it (in the future). Consider househacking .
• Build a community in your new neighborhood.
• Capital gain exclusion. Unlike a brokerage account, there are exclusions to capital gains when you sell if you stay in the home two out of the last five years.
• Homeownership is excellent way to build wealth.
• If you already own a home, selling your current home can mean you get to cash in on your equity. That equity could be used to purchase a new home, pay for a child’s college or just add to our savings. Consider the options.
• Property Tax Deductions. Ask your tax professional if your property tax is deductible.
• Create instant equity by adding a bedroom/bathroom or finish a basement for more square feet.
• Most importantly…. homeownership means the home is your’s (not your landlord’s).

As you can see, there are plenty of advantages of buying a home (financial, emotional and psychological).  Home ownership means something different to each person, what does it mean to you? Whatever the reason, reach out to Liz to start your search today!

Liz is  broker and owner of Liz Daigle Realty.

With a very competitive Denver real estate market, buyers can often get burnt out as the compete for their next home. As a buyer’s agent I always like to employ what I call the wild card. The wild card, defined by Wikipedia as “ a thing whose influence is unpredictable or whose qualities are uncertain”. The wild card home is one that pushes buyers to stretch their criteria for a home or offer a creative solution.

Do you need a fourth bedroom? The wild card home may have three bedrooms but an unfinished basement with the ability to add the fourth bedroom. Striking out on getting a home under contract because you are being beaten out? The wild card home might be a home that matches your criteria but has been on the market for two weeks because it needs a fresh coat of paint. Or quite possibly the wild card home may be over your price point but it has a mother-in-law that you can rent for additional monthly income.

The wild card home requires a buyer to think objectively and creatively while being open to potentially pivoting, which are incredibly useful tools to have in the incredibly tight real Denver estate market that we are in currently. Maybe the wild card home could become your ace?

Liz is  broker and owner of Liz Daigle Realty.

This week’s blog will be short, sweet and to the point (just like this market). As interest rates hit record lows for the ninth time this year and we face extremely low inventory levels there is a new set of rules to play by…

7 showings in a week.
17 showings no offers.
On the market for 6 days.

That’s what it takes to get a home under contract. In other words – homes are selling after 17 showings (7 of which are in the first week) and is on the market for and average of just 6 days.

I will let that sink in but that is one quick market. 

Liz is  broker and owner of Liz Daigle Realty.

For quite some time now I have felt that the Denver suburbs were positioned nicely to continue appreciating quite a bit. Overall, Denver is a young city and as millennials started having families, I felt they would start moving towards the suburbs for more space, schools and more of a community feel. However, I felt that this would be a gradual change over a number of years.

Then COVID happens and now there are people moving in flocks to the Denver suburbs. As I mentioned here, we are starting to see the  Downtown Denver real estate slow. 80202 zip code (Downtown, Ballpark and Riverfront) is actually a buyer’s market now with a little more than 6 months of inventory.

People are heading to the Denver suburbs looking for more outdoor space, office space and space to homeschool. If you are a current client, I have sent you this map but it’s worth a share to visualize the current shift in the marketplace.

As you can see, the suburbs have a lot of buyer demand (in blue) while the city itself is a bit more sluggish (in red). This is a stark change in demand with the suburbs around C-470 (parts of Arvada, Westminster) and Thornton lead the pack with buyer demand.

What does this mean? 
Buyer’s should expect competition in the suburbs (especially the darker blue cities). Sellers continue to have the upper hand and can expect their home to go under contract quickly while buyers compete for it. If you have to buy before selling your home in the suburbs, you will have an easier time buying in a city with less buyer demand (Downtown Denver and cities further out from Denver).

This market continues to be very hot and now the Denver suburbs are getting a cut of an appreciation!

Did you know women buy the same property for approximately 2% more and sell for 2% less?Isn’t that an alarming stat? I mentioned here, that more and more single women are buying real estate however they aren’t building as much wealth as men through real estate. This article outlines a gender gap in building wealth through real estate. Here are just a few facts that stood out in this article:

• Single men earn 1.5 percentage points higher unlevered returns per year on housing relative to single women.
• 45% of the gap in housing returns can be explained by gender differences in the location and timing of transactions.

Whaaattt? This information is bananas to me. Real estate is such a great way to build wealth and it is an absolute shame if women are missing out on some of the rewards (i.e. money) of real estate. So, how can we fix the problem? Find an agent that you trust and will negotiate on your behalf. As women, we wear a lot of hats and if you aren’t in the real estate industry it may be daunting and intimidating (it is one of the biggest purchases you will make!) but here is the thing, you don’t need to know everything you just need a leader. That leader would come in the form of a real estate agent. What are some characteristics of a good agent for a woman?

1. Someone who will negotiate on your behalf.
2. Someone who is out there in the trenches themselves (primary residence, rentals, etc.).
3. Someone creative. Maybe a house needs only a can of paint?
4. A good listener.
5. An expert in your marketplace.

Listen, your list may look different but I urge you to may a list of what you need from your real estate agent. I truly believe a good agent can help close the gap between the wealth building abilities of the two genders. These numbers may not scare you, however, this may. “The gender gap in housing returns is economically large and can explain 30% of the gender gap in wealth accumulation at retirement.” Real estate is a great way to build wealth and even a 2% difference in buying and selling price can compound and impact wealth building greatly.

Liz is  broker and owner of Liz Daigle Realty.