by neil kearney | May 7, 2009 | Colorado Lifestyle |
I know it and chances are that if you are reading this you know it too; Boulder is a great place to live! Every year Boulder gets ranked by a magazine for things like; Best Places to Start a Company, U.S. 
Healthiest Cities, Most Educated Cities and other such rankings. This year we top the list in a cumulative ranking of sorts – Best Places to Live Well.
According to the story on Forbes.com “Characteristics like the number of museums, parks, bars and restaurants, and cultural institutions per capita were considered, as were factors indicative of a favorable business environment. These include patents, venture capital funding, sole-proprietorships, start-ups and small businesses per capita.”
Having these types of rankings helps our overall economy by attracting companies, well qualified professionals and individuals who have a choice on places to live. Keep up the good work Forbes.
by neil kearney | May 7, 2009 | Boulder County Housing Trends, Statistics
It was a busy week in the real estate market in Boulder County. Traditionally, the month of May is one of our busiest times and this year is no exception. We are seeing much activity in the market and have heard to many situations where multiple offers were received on a property. The lower end of the market is getting most of the activity and the median price of the homes that are selling continues to be lower than it has been at any time over the past few years.
|
# New |
Price Drops |
# U/C |
# Sold |
Median $ of Sold |
| 30-Apr |
166 |
142 |
125 |
81 |
$ 317,900 |
| 7-May |
182 |
170 |
141 |
90 |
$ 294,700 |
I’m encouraged by the number of homes that went under contract during the past week and the number of properties that sold continues to pick up steam. There are still plenty of choices out there and 170 homes decided to re-adjust their prices. It is true that the best time to be well priced is when there is the most activity in the market, so now is the time to get it priced correctly.
by neil kearney | May 5, 2009 | Statistics
http://viewer.docstoc.com/
I have posted these statistics as well as a short summary on my Statistics page. I will update that page monthly. To get a better view click on ‘full screen’. I love technology!
by neil kearney | May 2, 2009 | For Sellers, Uncategorized |
If you are like me, you just received your property assessment from the Boulder County Assessors Office. This mailing gives notice of the value that your property taxes will be based upon for the next two years. Each envelope included a cover letter, a 2009 Notice of Valuation, an information sheet and an appeal form.
The assessed value for each property is re-assessed every 2 years and in accordance to state law the values stated reflect the market value as of June 30th of the year directly proceeding the assessment. The timing is not good if you have felt a squeeze in value since last fall as have some neighborhoods. 
The Notice of Valuation page includes the physical details of your property as recorded by the county as well as the three of comparable sales they used to derive their value. Keep in mind that no sales can be used that sold after June 30, 2008.
So what if you feel as if the assessor has valued your house too high? You have the right to appeal. To appeal you must fill in the enclosed form and send, fax or deliver to the assessors office no later than June 1, 2009.
My wife and I own three rental properties in Boulder County so we received four total notices. I plan to appeal two of the notices by providing sold documentation of what I consider to be better comparable sales.
I am happy to provide the information for your appeal, just give me a call or send me email.
For more detailed information go to the assessors website.
by neil kearney | Apr 30, 2009 | Boulder County Housing Trends, Statistics
Every morning I print out a report which details the activity which happened in the market during the past 24 hours. I see the new listings, those that have had price reductions, those that went under
contract and the properties that closed. This information helps me keep my finger on the pulse of the market. Not only is it helpful to keep track of specific properties and prices, I find it is a good indicator to have a gauge on the number of houses in each category.
For example, I like to look at how many homes go under contract each day. This gives me a general idea of the market activity. I also find it interesting to look at the number of price reductions which is an indication of homes sitting on the market for longer than the sellers would have hoped. I also like to look at the properties that closed and look at not only how many but what prices are most prevalent and how much negotiation got the deal done.
Since I find this valuable I thought you might find this type of information useful as well. Daily might get a little tedious so starting today I will present the weekly activity index on Thursdays. As I collect more data we can do more with it. Today starts the baseline. Please give your feedback on what might be interesting to see from your perspective. You can comment below.
|
# New |
Price Drops |
# U/C |
# Sold |
Median $ of Sold |
| 30-Apr |
166 |
142 |
125 |
81 |
$ 317,900 |
What stands out to me this week is the median price of the sold properties. A median price of $317,900 tells me that the strength in the market is still in the lower end.
This index uses all properties in Boulder, Louisville, Lafayette, Longmont, the Suburban Plains, the Suburban Mountains and Superior. Let’s see what it looks like next week.
