Colorado Horse Property & Real Estate Blog

What neighborhoods of Denver CO real estate looked most stable in 2008?  Yes, generally we have seen prices for Denver homes beginning to edge up over the last year.  If the values for homes in Denver change dramatically from suburb to suburb and from street to street, home buyers could use some down-to-earth guidance.

It’s still safer to buy Denver real estate based on concrete assets within each neighborhood.  5280 Magazine pulled together a panel of Realtors to analyze what makes successful neighborhoods tick.  The panel looked carefully at locations, schools, light-rail access, housing inventory, build-out, the maturity of the communities, homeowners associations, and the community gathering areas.

Real-estate professionals can really be helpful to buyers who are sorting out details of each neighborhood.  We will also mention share here the winning neighborhood recommendations from the May 2008 issue of 5280:

Berkeley, a soul mate of Highlands, features lakes, parks, and a diversity of affordable residences including row houses.  Cherry Hills Village, an affluent community of 6,000, offers mansions close to the city amenities, excellent public and private schools, and proximity to trails for hiking and horseback riding.

A 17-block area east of downtown, Congress Park is one of the most popular urban neighborhoods.  In addition to high-achieving schools, wonderful pedestrian-friendly retail districts and namesake Congress Park invite neighbors out to meet new friends.  The always popular Country Club Historic District enjoys a secluded central location and high-end real estate at the country club and along Cherry Creek.

Highland and West Highland are perched atop the hill northwest of downtown.  The hip neighborhood features community festivals and is proud of its intimate feel.  Very popular with families, Highlands Ranch is a master-planned community of 90,000 located south of the city.  Spacious homes and excellent schools serve the established community.

Ken-Caryl Valley features homes with large lots at the base of the foothills on the western Dakota Hogback ridge, close to both the city and mountain recreational activities.  In 2003, Louisville was ranked by MONEY Magazine as a Best Places to Live.  From great schools to anticipated rail access to jobs and a real Main Street, the city of 20,000 located northwest of the Mile High City offers a balanced lifestyle

The little neighborhood of Mayfair offers a cozy home life for medical professionals employed by the surrounding medical facilities, including the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.  Newlands in Boulder is a trendy neighborhood of re-built homes in a college town near the Rocky Mountains.

Located near the Cherry Creek retail district only 10 minutes northwest of downtown, Old Bonnie Brae is a beautiful neighborhood adjoining Washington Park.  The well-manicured South Park Hill with its Norman Rockwell feeling is near old Stapleton between downtown and the new Fitzsimons medical campus.

Enjoying a prime location and strong community organizations and events, Stapleton is a well-thought-out urban redevelopment that has filled in the acreage from the old airport.  Only two miles from downtown, Washington Park is a landmark, tree-lined neighborhood with a diversity of homes.  The Park is its community anchor point.

For more information about farms, horse properties, and real estate in the greater metro area, call Michael Paul of Realty Oasis at (303) 268-6052.

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Looking to stay in Denver Colorado real estate for several years?  Then buying that horse property in Denver could be your best financial and personal option.  Buying gives residents freedom to comfortably decorate their Denver homes to suit to personal tastes and to enhance their properties.  In the long term, buying Denver real estate has also statistically outperformed renting in terms of investment returns.

Even so, buyers of Denver CO real estate must scrutinize the trends, the neighborhoods, and have their final pick inspected.  Your professional real-estate agent has access to knowledge about all of the areas including employment and educational information.  Additionally, real-estate professionals can find out about future developments, new laws and rules, and other factors that could affect your decision.  If a fixer-upper is being considered, then it is best to obtain two or three estimates for the time and materials required to bring the home up to snuff.  Unseen costs can ruin the entire investment.

Even if housing prices remain relatively stagnant, time is on the side of the homeowner.  The worst 10-year home-price return was 2.5 percent between 1963 and 2005, according to MONEY Magazine in January 2008.  In many cases, this plus factor remains true, even if the monthly mortgage payment is more than the monthly rent payment would be.  However, people with unstable incomes may want to shy away from the long-term commitment to mortgage payments.

Retirement also present a unique set of variables.  Boomers looking to sell their primary homes and downsize may be surprised to learn that they could be better off turning the entire proceeds into a fixed annuity.  Renting may save homeowner expenses such as maintenance, association fees, and property taxes and all of these costs need to be carefully factored into the equation.

A retiring couple sells a $350,000 mortgage-free home, planning to pick up a retirement home for $175,000.  Net gain will be about $152,000.  Putting that money into an annuity, the couple would get a lifetime $10,500 each year.  Now, if they decide to rent instead, they would have about $329,000 to put into the annuity, netting about $23,000 a year.  However, purchasing still beats renting if they purchase the right retirement home in the right place as described above and hold onto it for several years.

For more information about farms, horse properties, and real estate in the greater metro area, call Michael Paul of Realty Oasis at (303) 268-6052.

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Denver CO real estate today presents investors with a great way to buy American.  From wide-open Colorado horse properties to exclusive custom homes in Denver to urban-loft living in Downtown Denver to master-planned Denver communities such as Highlands Ranch and Solterra—our investments offer a piece of good ole USA soil strategically poised in the center of the nation.

“Buy American. I am.”  We echo Warren Buffet’s comments in the October 17, 2008 issue of the New York Times.  With the stock market still on the roller-coaster ride of a lifetime, folks continue to pull their money out in cash equivalents.  However, real cash value is sure to deteriorate with the likely inflation caused by the Federal Reserve printing paper money for bailout appeasement.

Buffet explains the simple rule that dictates his buying principles.  “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.”  So, too, in today’s fearful market, he’s been moving his own personal investments from U.S. Government Bonds to U.S. equities.

The prices are definitely right today to invest in sound American companies and real estate.  Although in the short term, all may appear weak, the pillar companies and surrounding land are strong enough over time to endure the temporary quakes of the economy.  Buffet ventures to say that “most major companies will be setting new profit records 5, 10 and 20 years from now.” 

Nationwide, elements of the economy, especially the banking, manufacturing, and housing sectors, continue to look pretty bleak.  The fearful buyer will miss out on current deals, coupled with the unbelievably low interest rates.  Some people do remember the 18-percent interest on mortgages during the early 80s, but more and more are too young to believe that interest rates could ever go that high.

The Mile High City, with better rankings for business and employment, holds more promise for your hard-earned cash.  A diverse selection of solid companies is woven into our landscape and the local real estate market is already rebounding in many areas.

For more information about farms, horse properties, and real estate in the area, call Michael Paul of Realty Oasis at (303) 268-6052.

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The diverse economy of Denver, Colorado has fortuitously kept the Denver real estate market abreast during the nation’s economic upheavals.  Several factors are influencing the movement of commercial real estate in Denver, including industrial, office, and retail spaces.  Positive job growth, solid energy and technology companies, and light-rail expansion are among them.

Then, too, Denver CO real estate is positioned in the center of America.  A large number of American corporations are establishing offices and headquarters in Greater Denver.  Another factor is the growth through Aurora all the way north to the new location of the Denver International Airport.  Denver has become the distribution center for the Rocky Mountain West.  In addition, Downtown Denver retail real estate continues to enjoy immense popularity. 

In fact, a record sale in 2007 by Callahan Capital Partners LLC purchased five downtown office buildings for $770 million.  Then, in 2008, Gart Properties and ING Clarion bought the Denver Pavilions downtown.  That two-block property went for over $94 million.

Many investors continue to find good prices for nice properties.  That’s another reason why for the first time ever, Pricewaterhouse Coopers ranked the city as one of the top real estate investment markets for 2008.  The Mile High City is expecting a phenomenal 4-percent growth. 

During the second half of the 1900s, a large number office spaces sprang up in the city.  Large hi-rises sprouted up downtown and bustling office parks such as the Denver Tech Center, Meridian, Inverness, and Interlocken opened up lots of business spaces.  The strong industrial base consisting of many successful smaller businesses and some very large ones are mostly situated along the Interstate and out to DIA.  The largest malls include Cherry Creek Shopping Center, Park Meadows, southlands, and Flat Iron Crossing.

While the overall commercial real estate market remains steady, the retail sector has been hardest hit by consumer spending habits.  Nonetheless, according to Paula Moore in the Denver Business Journal, “Retail rents here continue to rise, hitting $17.65 per square foot on average at midyear, and investors keep buying retail properties because of metro Denver’s continuing job growth and immigration.”

For more information about farms, horse properties, and real estate in the area, call Michael Paul of Realty Oasis at (303) 268-6052.

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In October 2008, the Metro Denver real estate market continued to offer promise.  According to Metrolist figures published by the Denver Metro Brokers Real Estate Adviser, sales volume for Metro Denver CO homes and condominiums increased 11.3 percent from October 2007 to October 2008.  Metrolist also said Metro Denver CO real estate experienced fewer average days on the market.

However, there is great fluctuation within the Denver communities.  While the metro area saw a 2.1 percent decline since October 2007 to 95 days, the average days on market for Englewood CO real estate declined 17.6 percent, Centennial 17.1 percent, and Aurora 16 percent.  Contrast that with luxury neighborhoods in Lone Tree.  Lone Tree Colorado homes experienced a 211.5 percent increase in average days on market.  Next was Littleton with 25-percent increase.  Other sampled communities had single digit increases—Castle Rock, Denver, Highlands Ranch, and Parker.

Those homes in Lone Tree did sell, however, after the long wait.  Lone Tree registered a 116.7 percent increase in sales volume over last year.  Castle Rock, Englewood, and Highlands Ranch reported double digit gains in sales volume over the last year. 

Nationally, single-family home sales dropped 3.1 percent during October.  New-home sales decreased 5.3 percent.  That latter figure includes drops of 18 percent in the West and 6 percent in the South but gains of 22.6 percent in the Northeast and 6 percent in the Midwest. 

Sales of existing condominiums and co-op units across the United States were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 550,000 units compared to the 625,000-unit sales pace in October 2007.

The patchwork of markets within the City, Metro area, and surrounding communities interestingly reflects similar fluctuations in markets across the nation.  It all goes city by city, neighborhood by neighborhood, and house by house and seems to defy a blanket rule.   Good thing numbers are edging up in the Mile High City.

For more information about homes, farms, horse properties, and real estate in the area, call Michael Paul of Realty Oasis at (303) 268-6052.

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According to business website MarketWatch, Metro Denver Colorado real estate is rated second in the nation for places for businesses.  Thriving small businesses running from real estate in Denver performed especially well.  Investors, too, will be encouraged to know that average sales prices for Metro Denver CO real estate are under the 2007 prices.  Now buyers need to decide the best point to purchase Denver properties before the prices begin to climb.

Realtor.org says, “Areas with affordable housing and healthy local economies continue to see price growth.”  One indication of a positive economic health now and coming up on the horizon is the growing population.  People are steadily moving into Denver homes.  In fact, the population in Colorado is hovering around 5 million now.  It is predicted to reach over 6 million by 2020.

Metro Denver also added 3,800 jobs between July and August 2008.  The state’s job growth in August 2008, according to Metro Brokers Real Estate Adviser, was 1.6 percent.  The average job growth for the entire nation during the same period of time was only 0.2 percent.  In addition, the state’s unemployment rate during September 2008 was down 0.2 percent from the August figure of 5.4 percent, according to the Denver Post.

And housing in the area is more affordable at low interest rates and more attainable than it has been in quite awhile.  As long as home sales remain somewhat sluggish, real estate prices will be within reach for many who could not afford the previous market activity.  According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the string of positive returning months ended in August. 

Median sales prices for existing single-family homes in the area are down about 11.8 percent from last year.  The Denver-Aurora median prices since second quarter 2007 look like this each quarter:  $255,200, $254,100, $230,100, $223,500, and $225,200 for second quarter 2008.  Additional factors like inventory will also affect future prices.  Inventory has gone down 2.9 August and September 2008 according to Metrolist data. 

As the state capital, the Mile High City is the queen of the Front Range cities.  Its eclectic mix of communities offer something for everyone—from wonderful horse ranches to urban lofts to residential suburbs and master-planned communities and revitalized real estate in popular areas close to downtown.  It is located an hour or two from recreation and world-class ski resorts in the Rocky Mountains and boasts a new international airport. 

For more information about farms, horse properties, and real estate in the greater metro area, call Michael Paul of Realty Oasis at (303) 268-6052.

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Nestled in the piney foothills 15 miles west of Downtown Denver CO real estate, there are 10.24 perfect acres of secluded real estate in Evergreen, Colorado.  Our Featured Listing on Beaver Brook Drive in Evergreen features extensive mountain views, views of the city lights of Denver real estate, tall pines and aspen, mineral rights, and a rancher’s gated entry. 

Buyers will discover a variety of topography including flat, sloping, and wooded portions of the property offer several potential build sites suited for that dream home near Denver or a small Colorado ranch for retirement.  The Colorado horse property is close to Interstate 70 and only four miles from the high school.  It is reasonably priced at $400,000 in a popular area. 

The astoundingly beautiful mountain city of Evergreen is home to a diverse population of about 10,000.  It was once a quiet mountain retreat visited by the few.  Another 20,000 live in the surrounding rural areas and think of the city as their hometown.  People from all walks of live choose to live in this mountain area—everyone from artists to engineers.  They fill up the charming neighborhoods and are tucked into the hills and woods from Conifer and Genesee to Mount Evans on the west.

At the center of the small city, there’s a serene mountain lake that is open during the wintertime for ice skating, in summer for boating, and for fishing all year long.  Along with two golf courses, the area is filled with hiking and mountain biking trails.  Residents enjoy a swimming pool, gymnasium, racquetball and handball courts that are operated by the recreation district. 

Surrounding the community are many large parks for recreational activities, including riding horses and cross-country skiing, biking, and hiking.  Meyer Ranch, Lair o’the Bear, Alderfer/Three Sisters, and Mount Falcon Park are among them.  Then, about 90 minutes into the Rockies are several world-class ski resorts and extensive opportunities to relax in the beauty of Mother Nature.

Short of driving into the Mile High City, residents are able to easily access medical facilities, social and professional services, colleges and universities nearby.  The Denver International Airport services the greater metropolitan area and Rocky Mountain communities.  With the highly rated JeffCo Schools serving the students, this is a wonderful place to raise a family. 

For more information about farms, horse properties, and real estate in the area, call Michael Paul of Realty Oasis at (303) 268-6052.

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Located on a hill in Parker CO real estate in southern Denver, the non-profit Colorado Horse Park is an international equestrian complex hosting over 30 events a year.  Residents of nearby real estate in Parker, Centenntial CO homes, Littleton, Sedalia ranches, Franktown and Elizabeth, and from homes in Greater Denver, board horses, take classes, and train for competitions at the model facility. 

The Colorado Horse Park offers equestrian events for all disciplines, features top-quality boarding facilities, helps preserve open space and trails, provides extensive indoor and outdoor events space, and offers fun family events. 

Its purpose is to promote amateur athletics.  And that it does.  Over the past 14 years, the organization hosted the North American Junior and Young Riders Championships where riders compete for their countries as the first step to be Olympians.  It initiated equestrian sport as part of the Colorado State Games and hosted competitions, established the first-ever equestrian team for the University of Denver, hosted Pony club clinics and shows as well as clinics and educational events.  In addition, competitors who wish to qualify for established events and National Championships are now able to compete without traveling to the East Coast to qualify.

Fashioned as a non-profit version of the Kentucky Horse Park, Colorado Horse Park is fully supported by private donations, sponsors, volunteers, and members.  In turn, through its popular events and fundraising efforts, the organization is able to donate to other non-profit organizations such as Parker and Elizabeth Trail Riders, 4-H clubs, Colorado Arabian Horse Club, and schools in Douglas County and Ebert.

The Colorado Horse Park is also committed to the preservation of open space and has worked with Bayou Gulch Open Space Corridor, Trust for Public Lands, National Equestrian Lands Preservation project, Wildlife Park, Colorado State Trails, and Parker State Park. 

Volunteers run every aspect of the Colorado Horse Park.  Volunteers assist with events for dressage, jumping, driving, and the wildly popular innovative Halloween with Horses attended by 12,000.  They love spending time around horses and high-level equestrian competitions. 

In fact, the programs are so successful that ambassadors from cities across the United States tour the facilities when formulating plans for similar initiatives in their hometowns.  The present and future vision for the Park puts the horse at the heart of the American heritage and underlying the nation’s culture.  Plans to build a 500-acre museum complex focused on great Western entrepreneurs of the 19th century, interactive exhibits, historic barns, a multi-purpose performance venue, library, equine therapy, visitors’ center, gift shop, and trail system connecting to other parks.

For more information about farms, horse properties, and real estate in the area, call Michael Paul of Realty Oasis at (303) 268-6052.

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It was bright news for the Denver Colorado real estate commercial market when the 2008 annual report for “Emerging Trends in Real Estate” chose Denver CO real estate in its Top 10 cities to keep an eye on for commercial investing.  Professionals ranging from lenders to real estate investors to developers picked properties in Denver for several reasons.

Denver CO homes and businesses are located in a growing region in the South Platte River Valley on the High Plains just east of the Front Range and recreational adventures in the Southern Rocky Mountains. The Denver downtown district is approximately 15 miles east of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.  In 2007, almost 600,000 people resided in the City and County of Denver, 2.5 million in the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area, 3 million in the 12-county Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area, and almost 5 million in the 18-county Front Range Urban Corridor.

The city has the 10th largest central business district in the United States including a diversified economy.  As the state capital and one of the largest cities in the western U.S.A., the Mile High City boasts a large government presence with nearby military installations.  And the housing market has remained relatively stable, even during the changing real estate markets.

The commercial real estate market was the last sector to feel the pain of the nation’s real estate slow down and is expected to rebound in the next couple of years.  On a national scale, however, several problems need to be solved including the debt load, the inability to obtain loans or credit, declining property incomes, and fear.  It is forecast that the commercial market will fall 15 to 20 percent from its peak during 2007.  For the rebound to happen nationally and even locally, these issues need solutions.

As the financial industry comes to grips with these and other issues, our promising city is cautiously moving forward.  For more information about farms, horse properties, and real estate in the area, call Michael Paul of Realty Oasis at (303) 268-6052.

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