It seems like the same old things are always on New Year’s resolution lists – lose some weight, exercise more, spend more time with friends, and the list goes on. Well, 2012 is also the year to consider investing in a Denver rental property.

Why, you ask? Denver rents are among the highest in the country, Denver home prices are affordable and mortgage rates are low  (even for non-owner occupied properties). A $125,000 home with 20% down payment can possibly produce a $300 to $500 monthly cash flow after expenses are paid.

There are many investment strategies, but one that is easiest to execute is to invest in below-average priced homes in predominantly owner-occupied neighborhoods. These properties appeal to the broadest range of tenants and perhaps the tenants will even become buyers when you are ready to sell. Single family homes offer an opportunity to borrow high loan-to-value mortgages at fixed rates for long terms on appreciating assets with tax advantages and reasonable control.

This year, make this resolution a reality. For more information on investing in Denver rental properties, please contact TeamCox Realtors – Denver real estate specialists – at 303-400-6060.

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The Denver weather is changing so it is time to think about some things we can do to both conserve our natural resources as well as our wallet.

While we are hoping for a mild winter in Denver this year (with 400 inches of snow in our beloved mountains), we do know that the temperature in Denver will dip so energy conservation is essential. You may see your electric bill a few months and notice that it is on the high side. What can you do about it?

Here is some food for thought:

There are many contributing factors to high energy bills in Colorado, including  air leaks, insulation, heating and cooling equipment, water heaters and lighting. It’s estimated that 75% of the electricity to power home electronics is consumed when the products are turned off. Computers, monitors, TVs, cable and satellite boxes, DVRs and power adaptors are spinning your electric meter even when they’re not being used. Unplugging devices can actually make a difference in the size of your electric bill. Plugging several of these offenders into a power strip with a single on/off switch may make the task easier. Most computers have options to put them into sleep mode or even turn off when not in use.

Take 3 1/2 minutes and watch Energy 101. Consider hiring a professional home energy auditor or do-it-yourself. The Department of Energy has a checklist with some valuable suggestions.

For more suggestions on coping with your electric bill in Denver, please contact TeamCox Realtors – Denver real estate specialists – at 303-400-6060.

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Cashing in on rental property

Demand is up and rents are rising in the Denver, Arapahoe County and Douglas County rental markets.  As with many investments, the best time to get in is when most others are sitting on the sidelines. Many factors make this a great time to invest. Mortgage rates are at a 40-year low, and homes in many areas are ultra-cheap. Meanwhile, demand for rentals has risen in more than 500 cities, according to recent Census data. That, in turn, has enabled landlords to charge more. Hotpads.com, a real estate research firm, reports that rents nationwide jumped 11.6% in 2010, to $1,320 a month.

Denver real estate has always been a sound long-term investment. It is even more attractive when the tenant is helping to pay off the mortgage!

For more information on buying real estate as an investment, contact a TeamCox member today at 303-400-6060. We can help!

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It’s time for metro Denver tax evaluations!

 If you are a commercial or residential property owner in the Denver metro area (Denver County, Douglas County, Arapahoe County, etc.), you have undoubtedly received your 2011 tax evaluation notice from the county assessor by now.

Your first reaction is to file an appeal to lower your property tax obligation, but wait! Regardless if agree with the county assessor or not, you should consider your long-term plans concerning your property ownership.

If you wish to sell your property during the next 18 months, it may NOT be wise to contest your appraised taxable value. Why? Prospective buyers will research the county appraisal district’s assessed value, so it might be better to pay higher taxes. This is all in hopes that a prospective buyer will see the county’s evaluation, which could yield a higher sales price for you.

If you are in a long-term hold position and not planning on liquidating your holdings, it may be in your best interest to protest your tax bill. For expert local advice, consider hiring a professional property tax consultant to represent you.

For questions on your property value, please contact TeamCox Realtors – Denver real estate specialists – at 303-400-6060.

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It’s becoming a very popular question in the Denver real estate market – to rent or buy? Whether you rent or buy in Denver, keep in mind that you pay for the house you occupy. You must live somewhere and there’s a cost to pay.  A simple analysis will show you whether it’s cheaper for you to rent or buy.

Some people in the Denver housing market don’t have any choice but to rent because they don’t have the means to qualify for a loan. But for those of you who do have a down payment and good credit, you actually have a choice of whether to rent or buy. In some cases, owning will cost significantly less than renting.

Rentals are in very high demand in the Denver metro real estate market and rents are going up. People who have experienced foreclosures and short sales have generated the demand. The first comparison a discerning buyer needs to make is whether the house payment is lower than what they’d have to pay in rent.

The next comparison needs to consider the other benefits that accrue to an owner such as principal reduction, appreciation and tax savings. These can dramatically weigh in favor of owning rather than renting.

If you are renting, you have made the decision to buy a home. The decision you are currently facing is whether to buy it for yourself or your landlord.

Please click here for a graphic illustrating renting vs. buying.

If you have questions, please contact TeamCox Realtors at 303-400-6060. We will give you an honest assessment on whether you should rent or buy in Denver.

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We’ve all been craving spring, and it is almost here! The days are longer (thanks to today’s daylight savings time), the sun is shining, and I’ve even heard a few birds chirping out there.

The onset of early spring means that it is time to start planning your spring and summer garden and landscaping projects.

Landscaping can add much value to your home, since curb appeal is so important when selling your Denver home. We have had buyers not even go into a home because they weren’t pleased with its curb appeal. Beautiful gardens and landscaping can make all of the difference.

Do you need some help getting started? Tagawa Gardens in Parker, Colorado, offers free xeriscape and gardening classes. There are a few interesting classes coming up that we wanted to share with you:

Planning Your Vegetable Garden
March 19th – 12:30-1:30 PM,
Tagawa Garden Center, 7711 S. Parker Rd

Water-Saving Ideas For The Landscape
March 20th – 11:00am-12:00pm
Carole Kastler
Tagawa Garden Center, 7711 S. Parker Rd

Fabulous Fruits for Front Range Gardeners
March 20th – 1:00pm-2:00pm
Craig Miller (Parker Water Sanitation District’s Water Efficiency Specialist)
Tagawa Garden Center, 7711 S. Parker Rd.

For more information on using landscaping and gardening to add value to your Denver-area home, please contact TeamCox Realtors – Denver real estate specialists – at 303-400-6060. Gardening is one of our  most cherished hobbies, and we would love to share our insights with you.

Happy Gardening!

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Many Denver homeowners are considering improvement projects this spring to improve the value and the overall appeal of their homes. 

This is a great idea in the current Denver real estate market, but you will want to pull a building permit for your project. Some of the common remodeling projects that require a permit include: basement finishes, decks and patios, furnaces/air conditioning, gazebos, pools and hot tubs, any plumbing work, any electrical work, and the list goes on! Check with your locality for more information on requirements.

When you are doing a home improvement project, it’s very tempting to forego the building permit process, but it’s not a good idea. Building permits help protect your property’s value and your wallet in the case that damage occurs. If your project doesn’t have a permit and damage occurs, your insurance company probably won’t cover the damage. It’s also a good for safety reasons, since a trained professional will be evaluating your remodeling project. In addition, when you sell the property, you will need disclose any improvements made and if permits were obtained for them. If you are selling a home with remdeling projects done without a permit, you may be required to tear down the addition, or pay for costly repairs.

Parker residents: the Town of Parker offers FREE homeowner building classes that cover many of the projects mentioned above. At each class, building staff will walk you through the permitting process, and explain fees and the required inspections. This is a good opportunity to meet the people who will help you with the application and plan permit process, and also to meet with the field inspectors. Classes start at 6 p.m. at Town Hall, located at 20120 E. Mainstreet. Upcoming 2011 class dates are:

Thursday, March 10
Thursday, June 9
Thursday, Sept. 8
Thursday, Dec. 8

It’s also always a good idea to check with your Homeowner’s Association (HOA) prior to starting any remodeling project. If you don’t do this, it could result in a major headache later since HOAs often have jurisdiction over home improvements, especially patios, decks,  pools, spas, landscpaing projects, etc.

While all of this requires some work upfront, you will be glad you did it in the end.

If you are considering a remodeling project for your Denver-area home, please contact TeamCox Realtors – Denver real estate specialists at 303-400-6060. We will give you an idea of the potential value that the project could add to your home. Good luck with your remodeling project!

Search for Parker Homes

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 Arapahoe County recently featured an article in its newsletter about organizing a neighborhood watch group. Regardless if you live in a high crime neighborhood or not, we feel this is such an important thing for your neighborhood to do, since it not only makes your community safer, but it bonds your neighbors together by promoting a safer place to live

According to Arapahoe County, a neighborhood watch group consists of Sherriff’s office personnel and citizens who work together to “improve the quality of life in local neighborhoods,” consisting of “citizens addressing issues that concern the entire community.”

Here are a few suggestions from the newsletter to get a neighborhood watch group started in your community:

• Plan your first one-hour business meeting for a weeknight. An Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office Crime Prevention Deputy will attend your first meeting to help train members. The agenda will include: in-home security tips, reporting skills and information on local crime patterns.
• Select a group coordinator and block captains who will be responsible for organizing future meetings and communicating with the group on a regular basis.
• Recruit new members, including new neighbors and pay close attention to the elderly. After you have achieved 75 percent enrollment, you can start posting neighborhood watch signs.
• You can also make the group more social by hosting neighborhood events throughout the year. Consider celebrating National Night Out, which is held every August.

 For tips on organizing a neighborhod watch group, please contact TeamCox Realtors – Denver real estate specialists – at 303-400-6060.

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 When “The Social Network” hit theaters a few months ago, we were among the first moviegoers to buy tickets. We were curious about Mark Zuckerman and about how the Facebook phenomenon originated.

TeamCox Realtors has always been in tune with new technology, so we were among the first real estate professionals to embrace Facebook and Twitter as communication tools. As a result, social networking has become an invaluable tool to market our listings and to communicate with our clients, colleagues, and friends.

If you have lived in your Denver home for over a decade, there’s a good chance that you were a “millennial” when you moved in, only the word was probably not part of your vocabulary. At the time, e-mail was considered cutting edge and most real estate agents did not even have a website. Fast forward a decade – how do you inform the strongest segment of the buying public that your home is for sale? Find a technically adept real estate agent, who uses the same communication tools as the millennial crowd – Facebook and Twitter. 

For more information on using social networking or internet marketing in your home search, or for marketing your home, please contact TeamCox Realtors - Denver real estate specialists – at 303-400-6060.

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Last night, I watched a news broadcast from Maine. That’s Maine, America.  The piece profiled a wood factory – Lehman’s – that makes wooden rolling pins. This factory has put Americans back to work! 

If America is going to bring back jobs, we really do not need to import everything we use.  We are going to need to get rid of all of those sub-standard products with labels like “Made in China,” “Thailand,”  “Viet Nam,” “Sri Lanka “and replace them with “Made in America.” 

I am coincidentally reading Spend Thrift, which analyzes our habits during the first decade of the new millennium. It reminds us that many of us whimsically spent our money during the first half of the 2000s.  Now, as we enter the second year of the new decade, most of us think carefully about how we are spending our money. We are not buying things we really don’t need in preference to saving our money.  Nice job, America.  If you are going to buy something, buy American! And, if you don’t need something, put your money in the bank.

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