For Sellers • Fun Facts • December 5, 2021

Why List Now

by Rondi duPont

Why does it make sense to list a home now? Shouldn’t I wait until the Spring?

These are legitimate questions we hear occasionally from our clients.

It turns out there are several good reasons to list a home in December or January instead of waiting for April or May.

The first reason is low competition. Today there are only:

279 homes for sale in Larimer County
263 homes for sale in Weld County
2,151 homes for sale in Metro Denver

So, a home on the market today has high odds of standing out in the market versus the higher-inventory market in the Spring.

In addition to lower competition:

Buyers looking in the winter tend to be more serious and motivated by tighter timelines
Interest rates will likely be higher in the Spring which will impact the purchasing power of Buyers, and consequently, the selling power of Sellers.

Greeley Real Estate • Virtual Tours • November 19, 2021

Work, Play, Entertain!

by Rondi duPont

Looking for a home with some elbow room? 7011 W 11th Street Road is a 2 story home situated on a half an acre with NO HOA in West Greeley. The 4 bedroom 4 bathroom home boasts an inviting living area with vaulted ceilings and a fireplace, a separate dining room and a kitchen with stainless steel appliances. The walkout basement is finished to give additional space to spread out in the home. But wait, there is more! The property has a 35×24 HEATED Workshop and 8ft garage door. Bring your RV and Camper! The entire property is fenced with a beautiful wood privacy fence. There is a romantic gazebo to enjoy the large back yard and an additional shed and chicken coop. This home has so much to offer. Don’t miss seeing it! Call (970) 401-0123 to schedule your private tour or click here for more information.

Blog • Fun Facts • November 5, 2021

Zillow’s Shut Down

by Rondi duPont

On Wednesday Zillow announced the shut down of its iBuying program because of mounting financial losses and increasing complexity in the real estate market.

The goal of this program was to buy properties directly from Sellers and then re-sell them for a profit.

Before looking at the interesting facts and numbers associated with this news, we want to acknowledge the people who are affected by this.

Zillow’s workforce will be reduced by 25%. Many people will be laid off and our heart goes out to them. We certainly wish them only the best.

Within our company we are not surprised by Zillow’s announcement. We observed many cases where they over-paid for a property, re-listed it for an unrealistic price, dropped the price over time to meet the market, and then sold at an amount much less than what they paid.

It actually became difficult to find specific scenarios where they sold the home for more than their acquisition cost. It was not uncommon to see losses of $50,000 per home or more.

Here is a quote from their CEO: “Our observed error rate has been far more volatile than we thought possible. Fundamentally, we have been unable to predict future pricing of homes to a level of accuracy that makes this a safe business to be in.“

In the third quarter of 2021 alone, their iBuying division lost $328 million.

Bottom line, their valuations were off.

It is a reminder that pricing requires a hyper-local scientific approach versus a generic algorithm

Homes are not commodities. Each home is highly unique. Each has its own highly unique location, features, amenities, condition and timing.

Homes can’t be priced like a book or a plane ticket. Every unique feature must be taken into account.

Nationally, Zillow has about 7,000 homes in backlog which it hopes to sell over the next several months.

Other players remain in the iBuying game and I am more than happy to help you understand those options if you are curious.

Blog • Fun Facts • October 15, 2021

In Perspective

by Rondi duPont

Let’s put today’s home prices in perspective.

Appreciation has been significant over the last 18 months. Some people are wondering if it can last and if there might be a housing bubble.

There are two ways to look at prices. One way is in absolute terms. This is simply looking at the dollar amount a home would sell for at some point in the past versus the dollar amount it would sell for.

The other way is in real terms. ‘Real’ is an economics term which means that inflation is factored into the valuation.

For example, a gallon of milk costs more today in absolute terms than it did 15 years ago. However, in real terms, the cost is about the same as 15 years ago because inflation is factored in. The price of milk has essentially escalated at the same rate as inflation.

So, how about home prices? As we know, prices in absolute terms are higher than 15 years ago. To be exact, prices are 43% higher Nationally compared to 2006 according to Case-Shiller.

However, in real terms, prices are the same as 2006.

Over the last 15 years, homes have appreciated at essentially the same rate as inflation.

Blog • Fun Facts • October 11, 2021

No Inventory?

by Rondi duPont

One misconception about today’s market is that there is ‘no inventory.’

Actually, there are numerous new listings that hit the market each month. It just so happens that they tend to sell quickly.

The numbers show the number of new listings that came on the market in September closely equate to the number of sales that occurred.

In Larimer County, 693 new residential listings hit the market last month and there were 688 sales.
In Weld County, there were 681 new listings and 733 sales.
In Metro Denver, there were 6125 new listings and 5233 sales.

So, while homes tend to sell quickly today, there is still a significant amount of new inventory hitting the market each month for buyers to consider.

Blog • Fun Facts • October 1, 2021

Slight Increase

by Rondi duPont

A review of the September market stats shows a slight increase in inventory along the Front Range.

The way we currently measure inventory is in days.

Meaning, at the current pace of sales, how many days would it take to sell all of the inventory currently for sale.

The results, based on September’s activity, shows only a slight increase compared to August. This increase can be tied to seasonality as we always experience a slight cooling off of the market heading into the Fall.

Here is what the residential inventory looks like in each of our markets:

Larimer County = 25 days
Weld County = 23 days
Metro Denver = 21 days

Bottom line, the residential market is still very healthy.

Blog • Virtual Tours • Windsor Real Estate • September 30, 2021

Entertain Inside and Out!

by Rondi duPont

135 Beluga Drive, Windsor is a beautiful 2 Story home in Water Valley South! The home is a 5 bedroom, 4 bathroom with an open floor plan. The kitchen boasts granite counters, gas range, double oven and stainless steel appliance perfect for any chef. The living space has vaulted ceilings allowing the light to flood in and a beautifully finished fireplace. The basement is finished and permitted giving plenty of room for everyone to spread out. The oversized garage big enough for 2 cars and a golf cart! Imagine sipping coffee in the morning of the covered front patio or enjoying grilling on the back deck. In the afternoon, walk to Eagle Lake and Park to have fun fishing or paddle boarding or simply take a walk on one of the many bike trails through the community! This home has it all! Call (970) 401-0123 to schedule your private tour or click here for more information.

Blog • Fun Facts • September 24, 2021

With a “T”

by Rondi duPont

One of the reasons we are so confident about the long-term health of the market is because of the equity that exists in peoples’ homes today.

Because there is so much equity, there are very few homeowners who are ‘underwater’ with a loan that is more than the actual value of the property.

According to the latest ‘Homeowner Equity Insights’ report from CoreLogic, only 2.3% of all homes are ‘underwater’ with negative equity.

To put that in perspective, in the fourth quarter of 2009, 26% of all mortgaged properties had negative equity.

Nationally, homeowner equity has increased by $2.9 Trillion during the last 12 months (that’s Trillion with a ‘T’)!

Locally, only 1.4% of Colorado mortgage holders have negative equity, which is one of the lowest rates in the Country.

What this all means is very, very few distressed sales and overall health in the real estate market.

Blog • Brighton Real Estate • Virtual Tours • September 24, 2021

One Floor Living, Two Covered Patios, A Million Reasons to Love…

by Rondi duPont

5371 Royal Pine Street, Brighton is a fantastic ranch home in Brighton Crossing awaits! Home boasts a bright and open floor plan. One floor living with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a study. Enjoy sitting under one of the two covered patios in the front or the back of home. Backyard is completely fenced for privacy. Brighton Crossing features a pool & community rec center. The home is located near shopping & easy access to I-76. This home has been incredibly maintained and will not last. Don’t miss out! Call (970) 401-0123 to schedule your private showing or click here for more information.

Blog • Fun Facts • September 17, 2021

Lower Lumber

by Rondi duPont

Lumber prices are becoming more normal again.

After soaring this Spring to record levels, they have lowered back to near pre-pandemic levels.

The current price for 1000 board feet of lumber is $577. This is 62% below the price this past May when it reached an all-time high of $1,515.

In the years leading up to the pandemic, prices tended to be between $350 and $500.

While this is great news for consumers and home builders, the prices aren’t drastically lower yet in the lumber aisle at your local big-box hardware store.

This is because many retailers are still selling through their inventory of lumber which they purchased at higher prices.

However, for the long term, home buyers will benefit from the more normal lumber prices that now exist in the market.