At this juncture it’s hard to know how to best help our neighbors and friends who have lost everything in the recent Marshall Fire. For starters here is a good article written by someone who lost their home in California a few years ago. It gives a good overview on how to directly support someone you know who has lost their home.
Here are some ways to help out now:
Donate money. Insurance hasn’t kicked in yet and the immediate needs are daunting. To help you can donate directly to a specific family, contribute to a “Go Fund Me” campaign or contribute to a larger organization such as Community Foundation Boulder County.
Provide Long Term Housing – This will be one of the biggest challenges going forward. To provide housing to all of the displaced households that is relatively close by and affordable. There are very few houses currently advertised so if you have a house that is underutilized please make an effort to make it available. What blesses one will bless all. Here are a few places online that are actively trying to put together the supply and the demand.
How to donate, volunteer or assist with the Marshall Fire recovery. Boulder County is grateful for our community offering to help during the Marshall Fire response and recovery. We ask the community that ALL offers of donations, supplies and volunteer services be directed through the links below. Please DO NOT bring supplies to shelters, fire stations, police stations or other locations. Monetary donations can be made to the Boulder County Wildfire Fund managed by Community Foundation Boulder County: www.coloradogives.org To volunteer to support recovery efforts, please register at: https://coloradoresponds.communityos.org/ To donate materials, food, water, and services (discounted, free, or otherwise) register here: https://bouldercounty.wufoo.com/forms/donations/ If you would like to help provide housing in response to this disaster, Airbnb’s Open Homes Program helps connect those who have been displaced with willing hosts in the area. They are accepting new host sign-ups at https://www.airbnb.com/
What a heartbreaking scene we all watched unfold over the last days of 2021.
My stomach was tied in knots as I watched a wind fueled fire rage through rural Boulder, Superior and Louisville. As I watched the video news dispatches, I could picture the individual streets and the clients I have helped over the years who live there. This morning I’m getting some good reports from some, and news of a total loss from others. The silver lining seems to be that all are safe.
So many families lives have been turned upside down. My thought now turns to how to help. I’ve signed up at ColoradoResponds.org and I’m reaching out to my individual contacts who have been directly impacted. I know that a big need will be housing. As a community, we will need to find a place for between 500 and 1000 families to live while they rebuild their lives.
Do you have a basement apartment? A second home? An AirBNB rental? Or can you consolidate homes among family and friends and make a home available? If so, please let me know. I am in direct contact with families who need housing and there are hundreds more.
We need to all pull together to help our neighbors!
Please send me a message if you hear of ways to be of service in the coming days.
“For housing offers register throughAirbnb’s Open Homes Program to help connect those who have been displaced with willing hosts in the area: https://www.airbnb.com/
Here are some community pages on Nextdoor and Facebook that are putting together homes and people.
Here are some housing opportunities I have so far from my contacts:
Long Term
3 bedroom, 1 bath home in Fourmile Canyon for rent. Mid-Century Modern Design on the creek. Available now $3,000 per month. Not currently listed anywhere else.
Furnished two-bedroom condo in Gunbarrel – ready to rent. Not currently listed anywhere else
Two Bedroom Condo in Boulder available February 1. $2,000
Two – One-Bedroom condos in Broomfield available now.
Barn space for RV parking. Water hookup, electricity. In rural Boulder County.
Short Term
Space in large house in Gunbarrel. Enough room for a family with a dog.
Two spare bedrooms with a private house in Longmont for a +- week.
Two spare bedrooms plus bath in Indian Peaks Subdivision.
Basement space with queen bed and 3/4 bath in Arvada
Here are some other short-term opportunities in hotels that were sent out from a Realtor colleague:
HOTELS WITH AVAILABILITY OFFERING DISCOUNTED RATES:
HOTEL NAME
ROOMS AVAILABLE
RATE
PHONE NUMBER
NOTES/ HOW TO BOOK
Hyatt Regency Downtown Denver
500+ rooms available starting tonight and also available 12/31/21 and beyond
$99 for any displaced residents
303-436-1234
Call the hotel and ask for the front desk. The $99 rate is only available through the front desk as it’s a local emergency rate (not available through the website).
Grand Hyatt Downtown Denver
400 rooms available starting 1/2/2022
$119 for any displaced residents
303-295-1234
Call the hotel and ask for the front desk. The $119 rate is only available through the front desk as it’s a local rate (not available through the website). A few rooms available for NYE but availability materially opens for the week.
Westin Downtown
Starting 1/2/2022 200+ rooms available
$99 for any displaced residents
303-572-9100
Call the hotel and ask for the front desk. The $99 rate is only available through the front desk as it’s a local emergency rate (not available through the website).
Gaylord Rockies
500+ rooms available starting 1/2/2022
Rate fluctuates daily
720-452-6900
Book online using the promo code LPR. This rate is available only to Colorado Residents
Hilton Garden Inn Denver Union Station
720-643-1999
Limited availability tonight and tomorrow but offering significant discounts to those displaced for future nights
A Top-to-Bottom Remodeled Townhome for sale in Lafayette $370,000
An end of year gift! Like new! Nearly every aspect of this light and bright townhome has been replaced or improved. Beautiful new kitchen, new flooring everywhere, new bathrooms, new windows, new lighting, new hardware, new outlets and switches, new electric baseboard heat, new paint inside and out, new fence, roof new in 2015… With no HOA fee you are saving $250-$400 per month. Two off street parking spots. Large fenced backyard. Walk to Sanchez Elementary and Peak To Peak Charter School!
Boulder Colorado Real Estate Update – November 2021
It’s normal for the Boulder Colorado real estate market to slow down this time of year. Fewer listings hit the market and fewer sales take place. Instead of dwelling on the month over month drop, I try to discern any ongoing trends that give an indication of the market in 2022. To me it seems that there is still pent-up demand. Inventory continues to decline and sales continue to be strong. During November, 42% of the sales in Boulder County closed for a price that exceeded the list price. Of these premium sales, the average price paid was 5.8% above the list price. As the year winds down, it seems that the market will again have a quick, strong start. Especially if the weather remains mild and interest rates don’t spike.
One of the many appeals that the Boulder area has for many is that the mountains are so close and accessible. Most are happy to take occasional hikes and day trips to our beautiful mountain backdrop, but others want to be immersed in it every day. For many who live in the close-in mountains going home every day can feel like going on vacation. Boulder mountain real estate is an important segment of our market and today I’ll explain a bit about that market.
The mountain home market does not always move in lockstep with the rest of the Boulder County real estate market. For one, it is more seasonal than the city market. It may seem obvious but the mountains are at a higher elevation than town and therefore the temperatures are lower and they get more snow. Especially on the north side of the canyons, the snow stays on the ground longer and the driveways (sometimes bumpy and steep) get slippery and the ice lingers. For that reason, many sellers wait until later in the spring and summer to sell their homes.
Another reason that the mountain market is different than the rest of the local real estate market is convenience. When you live in the mountains it’s not easy to just pop into the store for some milk or bring the kids over to a friends for a play date. Or when the snow flies, it may be up to you to plow your driveway. Or the well pump may fail and you will need to figure out how to get the water back on.
A third reason that the mountain real estate market doesn’t move in-synch is forest fires. We have had a few fires in our area over the last decade or so that have destroyed homes. When that happens it seems that potential buyers back off for a time and re-evaluate the risks of living in the woods.
Over the last two years the mountain neighborhoods have been quite popular. The nationwide trend of leaving the cities has been manifested in strong sales in our mountains. Here are some comparative statistics showing the strength in the Boulder mountain real estate market. Below I’m comparing the post-pandemic period of June 2020 – October 2021 to the pre-pandemic period of June 2018 – October 2019.
Total Sales of Mountain Homes in Boulder County
Pre-pandemic – 255 sales
Post-pandemic – 383 sales (increase of 50%)
Median Price Comparison of Mountain Home Neighborhoods
Pre-pandemic – $629,500
Post-pandemic – $850,000 (increase of 35%)
Sales Price to List Price Ratio
Pre-pandemic – Homes sold on average for 96.95% of listing price.
Post-pandemic – Homes sold on average for 100.3% of list price.
Current Market Conditions
There are 66 total listings. 32 of which are already under contract.
There is an inventory of listings of less than a month. A balanced market is six months. (Strong seller’s market).
I’ve handled many real estate transactions of both homes and vacant land and know all of the neighborhoods including Pine Brook Hills, Boulder Heights, Crestview and Seven Hills to name a few as well as all of the canyons and roads such as Sugarloaf, Left Hand Canyon, Fourmile Canyon, Sunshine Canyon, Coal Creek Canyon, Flagstaff Road, Magnolia Road and the mountain communities such as Nederland, Ward, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Raymond, Allenspark, Rollinsville and others. Please let me know if I can be of assistance to you.
