Wealth Edition: Podcasts.

wealth

It is no secret that real estate agents spend a lot of time in their cars and to utilize my time (and mind) better, I often listen to podcasts. As I mentioned here, my favorite topic is wealth and coincidentally my favorite podcasts are about wealth.  Here is a list of some of my favorite podcasts so you can share in the wealth too!

BiggerPockets. This podcast is one of the best! It is primarily about real estate investing and each week they chat with a new real estate investor regarding how they are building their business. It is interesting take on how different businesses can while still successfully creating wealth. Even though I am in the industry, I always take away something new from this podcast.

ChooseFI. As the book, The Millionaire Next Door reminded me, wealth is a game of both offense and defense. This podcast details how the game of wealth can be played both offensively (increasing your income) and defensively (keeping household bills low) with the hopes of achieving FI. FI, short for Financial Independence is part of a bugger movement know as FIRE (Financial independence, Retire Early), the goal of this group is to retire early and not have to be dependent on an income (or corporate job). The episodes vary in topic but one is typically a guest interview while the second one of the week is the hosts, Jonathan and Brad, discussing the latest interview and taking questions from the community.

Afford Anything. Host, Paula Pant, built her wealth by leaving her corporate job and becoming a freelance writer. Her life changed when she was able to build a real estate portfolio. Starting with a tri-plex where she rented out the two extra units and lived in the third. From there, she was able to buy several more and now lives primarily on her passive income and writing and speaking gigs. A new podcast comes out once a week and every other week there is a guest that chats about different topics (real estate, entrepreneurship, building wealth, retiring early, etc). The other weeks open up the podcast to listeners to ask questions (half of the questions are general finance questions and the other half are real estate related) and Paula will give her opinion and advice.

BiggerPockets Money. The newest member to the BiggerPockets community, this podcast gives you tips and tricks on how to get your finances in order and features guests that have done the same. Topics range from real estate, cutting bills, getting out of debt, achieving financial freedom and more. One of my recent favorites was episode 60, ‘Rejecting a Scarcity Mindset and Going All-In on Apartment Investing with Gino Barbaro’, because sometimes you need a reminder to play BIG.

FireDrill. The hosts, J and Gwen are both twenty-somethings that have jumped on the FIRE bandwagon early in life. Although, the emphasis of this show is FI, these ladies have built a majority of their wealth through side hustles. They have built passive income from rental properties, Etsy shops and blogging (Gwen is the author of Fiery Millennial and J authors Millennial Boss). It is no secret that the millennials continue to shake up the current environment and this podcast sheds some light as to what millennials think and value.

Sure, I may have become slightly obsessed with the topic of building wealth but can you ever know TOO much on the topic? The above podcasts provide information, a sense of community and motivation to stay on track with your financial and wealth-building goals. In the end, building wealth takes perseverance, patience, education, risk and the ability to delay gratification. Be sure to take a listen to one (or all) of these and let me know what you think!

Liz is  broker and owner of Liz Daigle Realty.

Your Roadmap to the Denver Real Estate Market.

General assumption is that the summer is a great time to sell your home in Denver and  because of this assumption, sellers will often hold off until summer to sell. Although, we seem to have a reverse market in Denver. While most cities find the most competitive time of year to be summer, Denver’s hottest time of the market is the winter. Buyers come out earlier than typical in Denver while sellers often wait until Spring. This creates a competitive marketplace between the months of January – May. During this time is when we see multiple offers and homes going under contract very quickly in Denver.

The above graph shows when sellers and buyers have opportunity in the Denver real estate market. You will see that right now is the best time to sell your home. We are in the best season for a seller to sell their home. We are still are in a strong sellers market and should expect to see it cool off in April while providing more opportunity to buyers June.

As the Spring approaches we see two things happen. One, more sellers come on the market helping to fulfill the buyer demand and two, buyers start to leave the market because of buyer fatigue. Homebuyers get tired of competing for a home and decide to wait another year. This is a very unfortunate misstep as the summer months provide buyers a lot more breathing room and negotiation power.

What does this all mean?

Sellers need to list now. They will receive top dollar and most likely will have buyers competing for their home. This will also help fulfill some of the ravenous buyer demand.

Buyers need to hold on there and keep at it. Take a rest, if needed, and use this chart as inspiration and a roadmap to the Denver real estate market.

Wondering what your home is worth? Wondering what your home is worth? Head here or reach out to Liz!

Liz is  broker and owner of Liz Daigle Realty.

The Cost of Waiting.

Denver real estate

Happy New Year! If you read the last blog post of 2018 and have decided that 2019 will be the year to buy a home, then you will want to keep reading. It is no secret that the Denver real estate market has been a whirlwind for the last several years with a very strong seller’s market. We have seen the average home price continue to rise year over year and experienced double-digit appreciation. Although, when we ended 2018 there were a number of price reductions, less multiple offer situations and homes staying on the market longer. What should we expect for 2019 in the Denver real estate market?

It may have felt like a cool off at the end of 2018 but even just ten days into 2019 we are starting to see it go back to “normal”. “Normal” meaning the completely abnormal market we have been in with homes going under contract within a few days and often the seller receiving multiple offers. In January, more buyers come on the market while significantly less sellers enter the market. Again, creating the same song-and-dance that we have seen for years with very low inventory and plenty of buyers.

As anticipated, the market slowdown that we saw at the end of 2018 was seasonal and we are back into our competitive real estate market. Over the last six years, we have seen 8-11% appreciation each year and we are expecting to continue seeing the same level of appreciation with an average purchase price of a detached home of $575,000. (This is up 70% from the average purchase price of $355,000 in May 2013.). Although, we may be seeing a new trend, “a slightly less of a seller’s market“. This means there are fewer multiple offers on a home and a bit less competition.

Of course, it is not only the increase in purchase price that will affect your monthly payment. An additional concern is interest rates. Rates have slowly ticked up in 2018 and the Federal Reserve has announced that they do intend to increase interest rates. (Although, the mortgage rates are not directly tied to this, it does mean that mortgage rates may follow suit. The best number to keep an eye on is the ten-year treasury note. Typically, once the ten-year treasury note increases, mortgage rates follow.) In 2019, interest rates could come close to 5% or 5.5%.

Given the rise in interest rates and prices since 2013, this graph shows you what the monthly payment for a detached home has increased to and what it is projected to be come May 2019.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the same information for attached homes.

 

Liz is  broker and owner of Liz Daigle Realty.

Downtown Littleton Project: Front Porch.

front porch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have our minds on our screened-in front porches lately. What? You don’t think about front porches when its cold out and we are approaching December? Currently the front porch has been acting as a great storage unit for all the items we own and have no idea to do with. Unfortunately,  this doesn’t create the best curb appeal for the home. As we evaluate all the potential projects in this home, the one that keeps coming up is making the porch into a four season. We keep mulling it over because, as a real estate agent, I know that the best bang for our buck would be adding a third bedroom and/or second bath.

The front porch would add square footage to the home (roughly 300 sq. ft.) and we would definitely use it more than a bedroom in the basement. Not TOO much would have to happen for us to make it into a four season porch. The projects that this would entail would be:

  1. Electricity. Currently there is one outlet on the porch, we would need more and one or two overhead lights.
  2. Heating/AC. Currently there is a vent on the opposite side of the wall of the porch. We would need to add a vent to keep the porch heated/cooled.
  3. Insulated. Well if we are paying for it to be heated we NEED to insulate the porch to keep the heat in. Three of the four walls and the ceiling has gorgeous headboard which we want to preserve while adding insulation.
  4. Windows. Truly this is what will take it from a screen porch to a four season and this is not an easy or cheap task. We would need to install three walls of custom windows.
  5. Refinish or replace the floor. Currently the floor is painted wood. With this room getting a lot of foot (wet) traffic, painted wood is not the best option. Once refinished or replaced the floors would be better stained to withstand the conditions.
  6. Paint, of course. :/

If we choose to go ahead with this project, it would alleviate a bit of the pinch on space. It would give us a second living space and (gasp) room for my desk/office. Since this porch is the first room that guests step into when the enter the home, I would love to design a welcoming and fun space. Here are a few inspiration pictures I have for this project.

Cool, calm and inviting..

One /// Two

Natural Elements…

Three /// Four

Dark and Moody…

Five /// Six

When you are limited on space, a front porch is a great way to add additional square footage and living space to a home. Additionally, it can be designed to function as a personal oasis to enjoy all year long! What are your thoughts? Would a front porch be a good investment for our home? Would you want to buy a home with a fabulous front porch?

 

Liz is  broker and owner of Liz Daigle Realty.

Moving 101.

moving

After our move to Littleton, I think this blog post would be better titled “How NOT to move” because we did not move efficiently. The move took close to a month and a half and now that we are through it, I have been reading up on the perfect move and how to do it. It may be too late for us but I am sure you can benefit. Here are some great tips and tricks to make moving a little less painful.

  1. Prior to packing, go through everything. Are there items that are unnecessary and can be given away? Don’t move items you won’t use. While packing, I, personally, keep two piles going – what needs to be packed, what needs to given away and what needs to be sold.
  2. Organize and pack items into categories and/or rooms. This will help with unpacking.
  3. If this didn’t happen already, get a deep clean before moving in. We moved into a house where three cats lived previously. The seller said that they were getting a move out clean but it became evident that it needed a deeper clean. We got a number of our personal items in only to stop midway when we realized we need a deep clean before anything else came in the house.
  4. Pack an overnight bag (or two..). There is nothing worse than a long day of moving to only have to search for your PJs, toothbrush, etc.
  5. Consider what you will need immediately and pack it into a a clear box. This makes it easier to find. 🙂
  6. Label your boxes, this will help with locating items and while unpacking. 
  7. We only have two broken dishes, thankfully. Don’t be like us, wrap your wine glasses and stemware in socks and keep it protected.
  8. Hire professional movers. If you are able to do this, this helps take a lot of the physical work out of moving. Since we were moving from two homes and fortunately (or unfortunately) had two months or more to move, we hired movers to move our furniture while we moved everything else. Don’t want to hire movers? Recruit your friends but be sure to reward with pizza and beer, of course!

No matter how you look at it, moving is no fun. Organization and preparation are the keys to moving successfully. Look here and here for even more tips. As awful as moving may be, always remember how great it will be to be settled in your new home!

 

How to Win at Selling Furniture Online.

selling furniture.

Okay, full confession, I have become a bit addicted to selling furniture online. There is a thrill involved in selling a piece. Let’s be honest, furniture is expensive and a depreciating asset. When you find you don’t need the piece anymore, selling it online is a great way to recoup some of the money. In the last few weeks, I have sold dressers, couches, mirrors, dining room tables, chairs, console tables and more online and here are a few of my tips.

Big Items are a hard sell. It makes sense since they are difficult to move. Things like couches, wardrobes and dining room tables are a hard sell. There are a number of services that can help – both Lugg and Dolly are on demand movers. You can input the pickup address and the drop-off address and how many movers you will need and you receive an estimate and can book right there. As a seller of furniture, this is a service you can add if you wanted to include delivery.

Post to all the of sites. Craigslist, Nextdoor, Facebook Marketplace, etc. You want everyone to see the item(s) and you never know which platform will reach the buyer.

Take decent pictures. Clean off the piece of furniture and put it in decent light for the picture. Just like real estate, you want it to look it’s best.

Provide Dimensions. Be sure to measure the length, width and height. This will help you and the buyer save time and energy.

Pickup. We had really great luck while selling furniture and only had one person not show up to pick up a piece of furniture. People can be fickle and flaky when it comes to picking up furniture and I find it easiest to set up pickup times through the week. Typically at least one evening night and a weekend morning or afternoon is best.

Cash only. Protect yourself and accept only cash. No credit card or PayPal or Venmo.

No Holds. A lot of people will ask for you to hold the item. I, personally, don’t. My goal was to sell the furniture for the highest amount and in the quickest amount of time. Holds could waste my time and delay getting paid (if they don’t show up or decide they don’t like the piece).

Some items have a high demand. Usually smaller items under $100 have a lot of demand and it can be overwhelming. My advice would be to post these items while you are home and can have someone buy it that day, otherwise your Facebook Messenger and email will be going off with inquiries until it is sold.

While it has been sad to see some things go, it has been fun selling items online. I have found this experience to be similar to real estate in a lot of ways – marketing, pricing and negotiation skills are needed for both. Also, it is always. a blast meeting new people!

Liz is  broker and owner of Liz Daigle Realty.