I made a website for my new listing!  It's in Castle Pines North, which is probably my favorite neighborhood in Denver.  This home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and is listed at $290,000.  I'm also holding an open house this weekend for this home... should be fun!  Click on the image below to see the site for 7464 Tenby Court in Castle Pines North.
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I love this barn from Isleboro, ME.  There are lots of homes that come with barns in Colorado, but I think most people use barns as actual barns here. Maybe as we see more and more people move to the Front Range area, we'll have to start converting barns to homes!
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I'm still so excited about the snow!  Here's a photo of the Denver County and City Building in bunches of snow.
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We had a great snow day in the Denver Tech Center!  Our greenbelt has turned into a whitebelt, and I'm loving it!  Here's a photo of the DTC in snow.
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Here are some photos from the huge Denver snow storm on February 3, 2012.  It's still snowing out there!
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Denver Snow Day! 02/03/2012
 
I had a great snow day today!  I stayed at home and got to hunt for some homes from my couch today.  Here's a quick video of the snow outside!
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I'm working with a gentleman who is selling his home in Castle Pines North.  It's one of my favorite neighborhoods!  I thought I would share some of the photos I took the other day.
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Love Marketa Irglova from the Swell Season, so I thought I would share this free download!  Happy Sunday!
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My husband and I just lost out in a bidding war on a house in Highland Ranch.  It's kind of a bummer... but is it really our loss?  The best advice I received in the process is:


"Sure, you can put money into renovating a home.  Last time I checked, though, Home Depot wasn't offering a 30-year fixed rate at 3.875%"  

Not that renovating isn't a bad idea if you have the cash floating around... but how much work do you really want to do?

The house probably went under contract for $15,000 to $30,000 less than some other homes in the neighborhood.  Here's a list of all that it needed, though.

- New carpet in the basement ($7,500)
- Repaint the exterior of the house ($1500 - 2000?)
- Remove popcorn ceiling throughout the home, re-texture, and repaint the ceiling($2000 - $4000?)
- Completely renovate two bathrooms ($10,000)
- Replace kitchen counter tops ($3,000+)
- Replace kitchen floor and entry-way floor ($2000+)
- Finish downstairs basement ($7500 - $10,000)
- Repainting, stripping wall paper, etc.  (Okay, technically not that expensive, but still a pain!)

Don't get me wrong, these additions will add tons of value to the home.  Will it be easier for us to buy a house that already has a lot of these renovations for a little bit more, though?  An extra $10,000 in a loan will only cost you 
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House Hunters on HGTV?  Probably my favorite show right now.  Who wouldn't want to peer into 3 houses around the US in just half an hour?  I've learned that in The Real World, the home buying process is never as simple as it is on the show!  

1. No buyer ever wants to only look at 3 homes ever.  Ever.  I mean... maybe if you had $500,000 in cash, you only had 3 hours to find a house, and you already had 12 other houses so it didn't really matter if you liked this one, you would only look at three houses.  Some of the buyers will admit that they've seen bunches more, but most don't mention it!  If I've done my job well, I should be able to show you 5 or 6 homes that are great fits.

2. You don't pick a house and then magically move in.  The buyers in House Hunters sit on a beautiful table in the park, pick their house, and then poof!  They're moved in.  There's so much in the middle - appraisals, surveys, inspections, title documents, HOA documents, transfer fees... it goes on and on!  There are plenty of things that can make a deal go sour, so keep your head on until you actually get to closing!

3. There's a lot more to a contract than just deciding the purchase price.  Who pays for the appraisal?  Who pays for the survey?  By what date do you want all of the documents?  What type of deed is the seller providing?  Is there a well?  How is the water provided?  ... now do you see what I mean?  It takes a couple hours to fill out a contract, not just one signature.

I'm sure most of you already know some of these... and I still totally love House Hunters!  The process is just a lot more complicated!
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