The 16th Street Bus

6 March 2015March 6, 2015Elizabeth Daigle

The 16th Street bus is a free shuttle that runs up and down 16th Street. Originally, I thought the bus was mainly used by tourists but my love for the 16th Street Mall has only gotten stronger since moving Downtown. I live on one side of 16th Street and my meetings during the day are on the other side of 16th street. Recently, I have found myself on the 16th Street bus traveling to and from meetings through the weeks.

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The bus offers residents and tourists, alike, the ability to travel around the city free and efficiently. During the weekdays many business people use the bus, just as I do, to travel to and from meetings. As this article mentions, with the real estate marketing booming, many developers are snatching up parking lots or garages to build apartment complexes on. This helps solve the lack of inventory in the Downtown real estate market but does impact the availability (and cost) of parking spots. As parking becomes more of an issue, the 16th Street Mall bus will become a great luxury.

In addition to writing for Daigle’s Digs, Elizabeth works full-time as a Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty Downtown, LLC. Elizabeth’s expertise is in buying and selling a home, first time home buyers, short sales, and investment properties. Contact Elizabeth for any real estate needs. Cell 303-819.73.71. Work 720-314-8352.

Sell? Pop the Top? Renovate?

4 March 2015March 4, 2015Elizabeth Daigle

With the high demand for real estate and very minimal inventory prices for homes are drastically rising. In addition, Denver’s high demand is also changing many neighborhoods. Smaller homes are scraped and larger homes are built on the lot. Neighborhoods of original ranches, Denver squares and tudors are now amongst massive modern homes. Homeowners in Denver that need more space face a number of decisions with what to do with their home.

Sell.

The lack of inventory, low interest rates and high number of buyers make it a great time to sell. Homeowners can get top dollar for their home and in most cases walk away with a hefty profit.

Pop the Top.

If you need more square footage popping the top is always an option. This would involve creating another level on the home.

Renovate.

The final option is to renovate – which would encompass any general updates to the home. Updates may be to kitchen appliances, floors or adding a bed/bath for the space to work better for you.

If you find yourself at a crossroad with what to do with your home, I’d be happy to help go over the options. Most importantly we can discuss how much any additions or upgrades would add to your home’s value vs. what you would get if you sold as is.

Fashion Floral

2 March 2015March 2, 2015Elizabeth Daigle

There is always a parallel between the fashion world and interior design and one of the trends in fashion that I keep trying to get into is floral. With spring around the corner floral is popping up in woman’s blazers, dresses, and pants. I have attempted floral numerous times, albeit with little to show for it. The floral blazers, shirts, pants, floral anything just does not look good. Then I found Tesori floral flats similar to these:

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Yes, depending on how you look at them they are either really ugly or totally awesome. Such a thin line fashion is sometimes. That same day I ended up showing a home that had very traditional architectural details and decor and what does every traditional decor home usually have? Floral, of course!

We all know the look; the floral wallpaper, carpet, upholstered carpet. Depending on your age it might be the interior of the home you grew up in.

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Lately, I have seen floral getting a bit more modern. There are small pops of floral through the home unlike the overpowering presence it has had in years and interiors past. Here are some more subtle, modern ways to bring floral into your home:

A set of prints:

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Throw pillows:

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Curtains:

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Just like my floral fashion attempts in the past with failed large pieces such as dresses, blazers and pants, there are many ways to incorporate floral in a more subtle way (like shoes that provide the nicest pop of floral for an outfit). This holds true for both the home interior and fashion. Although, neither look is wrong, it is just a matter of what works for you.

Trust

27 February 2015February 27, 2015Elizabeth Daigle

Trust was a common theme in my life this week. Trust is the building block of my business, I spend time getting to know my clients and have consultative conversations about what they are looking for to build a strong level of trust. This allows me to work for them by selling their home at top dollar and/or finding them the home of their dreams.

Along with trusting others is the opportunity to trust yourself. This is one concept that is more difficult for some (myself included). Although, I have heard the saying “trust your gut” plenty of times, I seemingly have heard it more in Denver. You know that feeling that you get in the pit of your stomach when you meet someone, are presented with an idea, have a dream, etc.? Go ahead and listen to it. We have a tendency to add logic to that feeling which will immediately discount the gut feeling experienced.

This week I moved all my accounts to a dear friend I met in Denver. I spent years in finance and am very logic and numbers based and as I was driving away from our appt., I thought to myself I really didn’t run as many numbers regarding the decision as I would have before. It just felt that it was right. I thought back to this as someone told me that they did not jive with someone they recently met and she had no explanation for it. My thought is, first and foremost, you have to jive with the person that is working with you. If you do not, do not question it, rather, go find someone you jive with.

This week I also found myself on the opposite side of a real estate transaction as I am trying to rent my condo in New Hampshire. The new real estate agent wanted to change the rent I charged slightly and seemed to be very confident that my condo would be rented quickly. I was skeptical. I was nervous and probably micro managing the process a bit too much. Want to know what happened? We had a person put a deposit on my condo sight unseen before we allowed showings and we had about 10 showings the first day. Moral of story? I probably should have trusted the professional I hired.

Sometimes it is hard to just trust yourself or give up your trust to someone else. Life is more emotional than we give it credit for. Buy or selling a home can be emotional but you have to trust the process and the people in place to help you. Sometimes you have to walk away from the perfect house and trust that there is something better. Or, maybe you have to trust that selling your home is the last step to your next chapter.

A neutral dining area

23 February 2015February 23, 2015Elizabeth Daigle

While searching the internet recently I stumbled upon a great dining room in a Soho apartment.

This room got me thinking about how a neutral color scheme can still pack a mean punch. Often times we think in order to decorate we have to use a lot of color and texture but that is not true. This room has used muted undertones and very simple furniture. Even the artwork is subdued and the only texture in the room is the design on the crown molding. The room still feels quite calm and inviting without all of what most people consider “design”. This room makes me think of a very strong yet feminine woman whose mere presence mandates attention and respect, although not many words have to be uttered to know she deserves your attention. Just like in life, you do not need to be noisy to be heard.

To see the whole loft, go here.

The Good Neighbor Next Door

20 February 2015February 20, 2015Elizabeth Daigle

The Good Neighbor Next Door is a program offered through HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development). It offers a 50% discount of the list price of a home eligible for certain occupations – teachers, police, firefighters and EMTs. The condition is that you must live in the home for 36 months. HUD requires you to take out a silent second mortgage for the other half of the listing price but no payments are required and as long as you stay in the home for 36 months, the second mortgage is forgiven. If you do not stay for 36 months, HUD will require that you pay a pro-rata on the portion of the second mortgage.

The number of properties eligible for the Good Neighbor Next Door program is limited and located in areas that HUD would like revitalized. The homes are typically only listed for 7 days and are a lottery system if there are multiple offers (which there are in Denver!) The Good Neighbor Next Door is a great program to consider. Currently in the Denver metro area there are very few homes available through the program. In fact, today there are no listings eligible for this program. As you can imagine, when a home does come on the market eligible for The Good Neighbor Next Door program, it goes very quickly. If you are in an occupation that is eligible for this program and have time and patience to find a home, this is a great option. Search for HUD homes (including those for The Good Neighbor Next Door) here. In addition, be sure you choose an agent that is both familiar with the Good Neighbor Next Door program and the HUD bidding process.