The Sothoron Team's Blog

Northern Colorado Real Estate-Short Sales

ksothoron — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:08:37 +0000

After months of patience on the part of my buyer and absolutely no word from the bank we were told that we’d been assigned a negotiator. Yipeee! I got the feeling that our offer was worth looking at and hadn’t been tossed in the bin. And then we waited.

A week or two went by when the negotiator asked for a refreshed lender letter. I read that as a good sign. My buyer supplied the letter within a couple of days as required by the negotiator. And then we waited.

More time goes by…I have a very patient buyer…when suddenly we were presented with a counter-proposal. OK…I could deal with that. So I opened the email attachment and was shocked to see that the counter was tens of thousands more than the list price!!! We’re talking about a home that’s priced in the $200’s, not a super high end home.

Yeah, my buyer had offered low…he’s an investor who had to factor in the cost of repairs, holding

expenses and the cost of marketing along with a little bit of profit.

Obviously this wasn’t a pre-approved short-sale. If it had been, the negotiator would have had a say in the pricing and a negotiator would have been in communication with the listing agent from day one.

In addition the property had two loans against it. Apparently, the two lenders were at odds with each other with the second wanting more. That’s why the counter came back so high.

So, if you decide to go after a short sale you might want to ask the listing agent if the short-sale has been pre-approved and if s/he has been assigned a negotiator and if there is more than one loan on the property. The best and easiest short sales are the ones that have only one loan, have been pre-approved and have a negotiator assigned at the time the property is placed on the market.

Good luck and be patient if you intend to buy a short-sale.
www.ftcollinsliving.com to search the latest forclosure and resale homes in Northern Colorado

Fort Collins Real Estate- Foreclosure Activity in Larimer County

ksothoron — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:57:00 +0000

Since November 1st of 2011 there have been 65 new foreclosure listings in Larimer county. A number of these were vacant lots in Wellington, part of the Park Meadows subdivision. This puts the price range of the active foreclosures all over the board from $50k to $1,500,000. The high end of this range is the Auburn Estates subdivison, currently under short sale agreement. Average days on market is 35 with an average price of $223,270.

Sold comps from this same time frame total 66 properties. So the supply is above even with demand which is to be expected as the number of foreclosure properties has fallen in the last few years and has created a short fall. The values for the solds range from $12,500 to $925,000. The lower end of values includes lot sales in the Park Meadows subdivision in Wellington. Days on market average 87 with an average value of $188,151. The average value is pulled down by the very low sale price of the vacant lots. If you remove the lots the average value comes up to $205,717, more inline with what is expected for the greater Larimer county area.

Fort Collins Real Estate- Hearthfire Market conditions

ksothoron — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:43:54 +0000

The Hearthfire subdivision in North Fort Collins and great semi-custom and custom home subdivision with lake and mountain views, a pool and community park.

Here are the current market stats for this area!

There are currently 6 active listings with a price range of $280,000 to $950,000. Home sizes range from 2900 sqft to 5000 sqft. Average list price is $$483,000 with 126 average days on market.

Solds total 7 since January 1 of this year, this makes for an over supply of active homes. Sold prices range from $292,000 to $715,000. Home sizes range from 2000 sqft to 6000 sqft. Average sale price is $496,000 with an average days on market of 199. This shows a bit of an over supply with a slight dip in values.

Visit www.ftcollinsliving.com to see the currently active homes in this area and surrounding areas.

Fort Collins Real Estate-Westchase market conditions

ksothoron — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 22:33:25 +0000

Westchase is a subdivision along the Harmony Corridor in Fort Collins. This area is close to schools, shopping and major employers. Homes in this area are typically 2 story homes, semi custom.

There are currently 9 homes listed with a price range of $244,000 to $850,000 with an average DOM of 80. Homes range in sqft from 2000 to 6000 with 3-4 bedrooms and 3-5 baths.

Solds since 6/2011 total 7. The prices range from $250,000 to $570,000 with an average DOM of 133. Homes range from 3000 to 5500 sqft, 3-5 bedrooms and 2-4 baths. So the market looks to be stable with a steady supply and demand. The market will be slowing during the winter months but this is typical and should pick back up in the spring.

If you would like to see the homes currently listed in this subdivision click on this link, www.ftcollinsliving.com. You can also search the MLS to see homes listed in the greater Northern Colorado area.

Fort Collins Real Estate-Luxury Home Market

ksothoron — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:21:28 +0000

Here is some information about the luxury home market in Fort Collins Colorado. Visit www.ftcollinsliving.com to search the MLS for the most up to date listings in the Northern Colorado Region.

Fort Collins Real Estate, HUD listing

ksothoron — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:22:56 +0000

We have one HUD listing in Fort Collins right now, 1111 Romero Dt, Fort Collins CO. This is a 1988 1272sqft, 3 bed 2 bath ranch with a 1 car garage. Its being offered for $110,000.

For a full list of current foreclosure listings in Fort Collins click www.ftcollinsliving.com, you will also have the ability to search for foreclosure listings in all of Northern Colorado.

Fort Collins Real estate, 2461 Sunstone, Ft. Collins CO

ksothoron — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:20:02 +0000

We have a new listing in the Sunstone Village subdivision. This area is close to the major technology employers HP, Agilent and is within a short drive to CSU. This area is very close to multiple shopping centers as well. The property is Neat and Clean Three Bedroom, Two Bathroom, Two Story, Separate Living and Family Rooms, Covered Front and Back Porches, Quiet Neighborhood, Wood Windows, 2 Car Attached Garage, Nice Yard with With Mature Trees and Bushes.

Give Karen a call at 970-690-8680 if you would like to see this home or visit www.ftcollinsliving.com to see other homes for sale in Fort Collins and the surrounding areas!

Fort Collins Real Estate, Mason Corridor Progress

ksothoron — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:52:19 +0000

The Mason street corridor has been in the works for some time. City officials see this North to South road as the next Harmony Corridor. With commercial, residential and retail projects up and down this area. To help vitalize this area the plans include large public transportation infrastructure combined with bike and walking paths to attract residents. A major part of this project is to open Mason street to 2 way traffic where now its a one way North. Work on this part of the project has begun with adding the infrastructure for street lights, train crossings and pedestrian traffic. The next major part of work will involve rebuilding the railroad tracks, this will close Mason street for a week during construction. The majority of this new corridor, stretching from Harmony Rd to Cherry St, will be available only too the MAX bus transit system. The transit system is slated to be complete in 2014.

Visit www.ftcollinsliving.com to see the latest listings in Fort Collins and surrounding areas!

Fort Collins Real Estate, Market Conditions

ksothoron — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:44:33 +0000

As the winter months approach and the holidays get closer the market in most areas tends to slow. People start to consider travel and expenses for the holidays, and students are back in school so moving becomes a bigger ordeal. But homes do com on the market and they do sell!

Since 11/1/2011 there have been 55 new listings in Fort Collins with a price range of $130,000 to $1,150,000 this equates to a median list price of $259,999. Most homes have between 3 and 5 bedrooms and 2 and 4 baths and the average sqft in the 2500 range.

Sold properties in the same time frame total 37 with a sale price between $137,000 and $841,000 and a median value of $261,000. This is typical the median price is about the same with a slightly lower average sale price. The attributes are about the same as this is a typical home in Fort Collins. The upper end values are suffering in this area as a result of a lack of demand. Average days on market is 112, I would ecpect this to grow as we move further into the winter months, then to fall as we move into spring.

Thanks for reading and visit www.ftcollinsliving.com to see the latest listings in Fort Collina and the surrounding Northern Colorado area.

Fort Collins Real Estate, The Foreclosure Market

ksothoron — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:09:18 +0000

As most know the foreclosure/REO market in most of the country is down. Banks have stopped processing foreclosure paper work for a number of reasons, things ranging from illegal foreclosure proceedings to being inundated with properties to simply not wanting to release so many properties back on the market with a lack of buyers to absorb the inventory. As part of a healthy market there will always be REO, but with the current employment issues combined with a full swing of the pendulum back to stringent lending practices there would not be enough buyers if all the assets banks control were to be released. The issue now is that in halting all proceedings, even on legitimate foreclosures, there is now a huge backlog and shadow inventory of REO homes. Latest numbers estimate there are between 1.5 and 2 million homes in foreclosure but a very small percentage of those homes are actually working their way through the process.

The Fort Collins real estate market tends to be very stable with a steady supply and demand on the market. But we are not immune to foreclosures and we have had a supply of REO homes in the past but we have seen a steep decline as well. AS of today we have 27 current listings ranging from $25,000 to $1,190,000. This is down from 100+ sold from 2008-2009.

What does this mean for the the Fort Collins housing market and the US housing market in general….honestly it really depends on the employment conditions. If unemployment stays the same or increases further then the housing market will fall again and could be worse than what has been seen in the past due to already having a huge inventory of homes already in the background. Then more will be added as people loose more jobs, plus there will be an even smaller pool of potential buyers. If unemployment falls and jobs are added and people fell comfortable in their positions then the move up buyer will return, investing will return and we could work through the inventory in a controlled manner than will have a smaller affect on over all home values.

Visit www.ftcollinsliving.com and get current foreclosure listings for major Northern Colorado market areas!