Can't you find a REAL job in Denver?

Those words still ring in my ears from 24 years ago when I told my mother I was going to sell real estate. So what got you there and what has kept you there some folks ask. Well, long stories longer, here goes…

In 1984 I was a successful young Landman in the oil and gas business with the company car, the expense account, and all the benefits except one; a contract. Do not get me wrong. I had a great boss who was fair and kind, but who had said to me when he hired me in 1982 that “when the money runs out, the job runs out”. “Fair enough” I had responded. My work should cause the money to keep flowing! And I worked!

Well, sometime in the late summer of 1984 the price of crude oil fell to an especially low point. It was sometime in September or October, Vince poked his head in my office door and reminded me of our conversation and added “well the money has run out!” effective November 30th. Being the young confident guy I was, I decided I could do the oil business better and stepped out and sold some prospects to other companies that they drilled, all dry holes though. And there was that last prospect that just about broke us as it was bought by a guy who went bankrupt. Never a word! But just in case as a contract landman I had gotten my Real Estate license so I could collect in court.

And that young confident nature caused me to never file for un-employment either. My wife did daycare in the home, I plowed snow and did day work in the old office. I sold a couple of homes for my partner too as I had a brokers license. I even tried to manufacture and sell the next pet rock called a "What Knot". I was trying to do too many things and not doing any well! It was an unsettled time!

So I am “working at home” one day in Englewood Colorado in late 1985 or early 1986 and there is a knock on the door. I open it to find a foreclosure notice! Well, as you can imagine, my wife and I had some agitated words that night but we succeeded in formulating a plan: We could either sell the house and buy another smaller one and stay in Denver; we could take a job in Midland (and get laid off again there); or I could sell real estate. We needed some money to get out of hole we were in and so I called the first national bank of MOM the next day. We explained our alternative plans and she politely agreed the first 2 were not good at all but when I came to #3 I heard the words: CAN’T YOU FIND A REAL JOB?" There were no jobs in Denver at that time as we had just had about 40,000 folks lose jobs in the past 2 years in the oil business alone. It was a very depressed market and we had 16% home interest rates too!

That is what started my real estate career(there will be more to come). However,
I have been A Full Time Licensed real estate broker since then and I love helping nice folks buy and sell homes. I go to work everyday for you & your friends, learning about our home town! It could be Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton, Castle Rock, Centennial, Englewood, Parker, Elizabeth, Larkspur, Franktown, Kiowa, or anywhere in metro Denver Colorado. Talk to me for real estate advice, properties for sale, multiple listing service, all available at www.DenverRelocation.com. Drop me a note to pete@Denverrelocation.com

Great Location Foreclosed Home

Just popped up on the MLS a 2300 square foot bank owned home in one of the older parts of Highlands Ranch. Coming on the market on a Thursday is typical for a foreclosure as they can get offers throughout the weekend and present them all on Monday. Yes we have had some success winning the bids so if you want a 2 story traditional home with a 3 car garage that you can buy for the mid 300s and then do some fix up, give drop me a line, quickly, as it will be gone on Tuesday! PS: NOT MY LISTING. I would be a Buyers Agent for you.

A Full Time Licensed real estate broker since 1985 I go to work everyday for you & your friends, learning about our home town! It could be Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton, Castle Rock, Centennial, Englewood, Parker, Elizabeth, Larkspur, Franktown, Kiowa, or anywhere in metro Denver Colorado. Talk to me for real estate advice, properties for sale, multiple listing service, all available at www.DenverRelocation.com. Drop me a note to pete@Denverrelocation.com

Denver State of the Market

There is a corrolary between the number of homes on the market and the number of sales. The number of NEW listings entering the market is another good indicator. The more the difference between the two shrinks, the more towards a Sellers market we move. Last year, 2008 was the end of the Buyers Market, but this chart only reflects August data since 2003. Tell me what you think.

A Full Time Licensed real estate broker since 1985 I go to work everyday for you & your friends, learning about our home town! It could be Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton, Castle Rock, Centennial, Englewood, Parker, Elizabeth, Larkspur, Franktown, Kiowa, or anywhere in metro Denver Colorado. Talk to me for real estate advice, properties for sale, multiple listing service, all available at www.DenverRelocation.com. Drop me a note to pete@Denverrelocation.com

Even Better...not JUST DENVER!

The stats everyone is quoting as gospel from Metrolist, the Denver MLS service, are based upon statewide data, not Denver data. As an example the 15,302 active residential listings at the end of August include the Pikes Peak MLS (Colorado Springs) and Boulder MLS listings, two areas just a little seperated from DENVER. The real number for metro Denver is more on the order of 12,840, but no one knows for sure as Metrolist has not defined their core area of business as metro Denver. 90% of their data is from that demographic, but there is no "metro Denver in their searches. Gotta love an outfit that grabs data from all over and then , by default, it assumed that it is local data only. Therefore, understand that any data you see coming from Metrolist could be off by as much as 16-17%. Could that change a perspective or 2?
So I guess the purpose of this post is:
Be careful what dat you rely on.

A Full Time Licensed real estate broker since 1985 I go to work everyday for you & your friends, learning about our home town! It could be Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton, Castle Rock, Centennial, Englewood, Parker, Elizabeth, Larkspur, Franktown, Kiowa, or anywhere in metro Denver Colorado. Talk to me for real estate advice, properties for sale, multiple listing service, all available at www.DenverRelocation.com. Drop me a note to pete@Denverrelocation.com

Denver Statistic Bubble must be a federal grant!

Statistics bother me, especially when someone else starts to tell me what data I can use...
Metrolist, the oft quoted Denver multiple listing service has decided that their back-end legacy system is too cumbersome to maintain and as of today, I can no longer do free form searches to discover how many single family homes really went on the market in August in Denver. I simply have to accept their definition. Sold properties are easier to come by and that data indicates about a 10% drop since JULY???? Well, Iguess it is time for a new data spike....geez these guys have not had a real bad one since???? lets see was it the year they decided ALL the listings were new July 1st? or was it the year they decided the entire state was metro Denver?
I have to give them some credit though...at least they are controling the data flow now and everyone is quoting the same crud!

A Full Time Licensed real estate broker since 1985 I go to work everyday for you & your friends, learning about our home town! It could be Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton, Castle Rock, Centennial, Englewood, Parker, Elizabeth, Larkspur, Franktown, Kiowa, or anywhere in metro Denver Colorado. Talk to me for real estate advice, properties for sale, multiple listing service, all available at www.DenverRelocation.com. Drop me a note to pete@Denverrelocation.com