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All Encompassing Mortgage and Real Estate Thread


UTPhil2006

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11 hours ago, Esque said:

In this market, putting offers in without seeing the Property is standard operating procedure.  We're actively looking for homes and saw another home we called on today.  The Property was listed on Friday and it had 65 tours scheduled this weekend.  We didn't bother putting an offer in, but only a fraction of those tours are going to get scheduled and seen, but I bet you that house has many, many offers.  It really is a crazy market.

As far as "new agents," I'm seeing a lot of part-time or side-hustle agents.  They have a day job but are working with clients in their immediate network on finding a home.  But their client list is very, very small.  The barrier to entry for an agent is low as it isn't hard to get a license.  I was talking to a construction sub-contractor for us and their design engineer got his license during 2020 and has been representing people buying ranchettes in Central Texas.  I think you had a lot of people with extra time of who weren't as productive as they should have been getting their license in 2020.  So the market is flooded with these part-time agents and they're not worried about "pissing in the pool" as this isn't their main source of income.  A 3.0% commission on a $400,000 home is a nice $12,000 windfall for them.

This isn't a market where the agents really have to hustle and therefore even as a Seller, you wouldn't be too worried about your agent's abilities.  If you get 20 offers thrown your way, it's pretty easy to compare and contrast them and present top three or five to your Seller.

I prefer that a client sees the property in person before putting in an offer. We are starting to see crazy offers and terms out here 45 minutes from DFW. The new terms seem to be moving to no option period, waving inspections, 3% escrow, buyer pays for a survey, appraisal, closing costs, and title policy. Buyers are giving the seller 30-60 day leasebacks to find a new home. The seller is basically out nothing. Cash is King. Commissions are still 5-6%, will do it for 4% if we get to be your buyer agent on your next purchase. This is the most money I have ever made, but I'm rat holing it. My Mother is my broker, so it is only she and I, and we home office, with little to no overhead. We have sold 28 homes since January. 

CHIEF

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1 hour ago, CHIEF said:

I prefer that a client sees the property in person before putting in an offer. We are starting to see crazy offers and terms out here 45 minutes from DFW. The new terms seem to be moving to no option period, waving inspections, 3% escrow, buyer pays for a survey, appraisal, closing costs, and title policy. Buyers are giving the seller 30-60 day leasebacks to find a new home. The seller is basically out nothing. Cash is King. Commissions are still 5-6%, will do it for 4% if we get to be your buyer agent on your next purchase. This is the most money I have ever made, but I'm rat holing it. My Mother is my broker, so it is only she and I, and we home office, with little to no overhead. We have sold 28 homes since January

CHIEF

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If I could get the zillow price listed on my house in three years I would lock it in.  Because both kids will be in college and I’ll be ready to head out of Austin.  My old house in Meridian now shows a value of 800k which is ludicrous.

Why lock in and lose out on $200K+ of appreciation.

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21 hours ago, Esque said:

In this market, putting offers in without seeing the Property is standard operating procedure.  We're actively looking for homes and saw another home we called on today.  The Property was listed on Friday and it had 65 tours scheduled this weekend.  We didn't bother putting an offer in, but only a fraction of those tours are going to get scheduled and seen, but I bet you that house has many, many offers.  It really is a crazy market.

As far as "new agents," I'm seeing a lot of part-time or side-hustle agents.  They have a day job but are working with clients in their immediate network on finding a home.  But their client list is very, very small.  The barrier to entry for an agent is low as it isn't hard to get a license.  I was talking to a construction sub-contractor for us and their design engineer got his license during 2020 and has been representing people buying ranchettes in Central Texas.  I think you had a lot of people with extra time of who weren't as productive as they should have been getting their license in 2020.  So the market is flooded with these part-time agents and they're not worried about "pissing in the pool" as this isn't their main source of income.  A 3.0% commission on a $400,000 home is a nice $12,000 windfall for them.

This isn't a market where the agents really have to hustle and therefore even as a Seller, you wouldn't be too worried about your agent's abilities.  If you get 20 offers thrown your way, it's pretty easy to compare and contrast them and present top three or five to your Seller.

Every single offer should be presented to the seller, unless the seller waives that in writing.   And that waiver only applies once another offer has been accepted.  That's in the Realtor Code of Ethics.   I don't care if it's for 5 bucks down and seller carries the note at 0% interest, I put it in front of my seller, and so should anybody else.  The CA contract has a "Rejection of Offer" paragraph that the seller initials, if appropriate.  If an agent gives me an offer, they deserve a response in writing. 

My forms package includes an "Offer Summary Sheet" and, if dealing with multiple offers, I use that as a cover sheet for each offer, and do an excel spreadsheet showing all of the relevant terms, and any weird shit in a comments column. 

As to the bullshit about blind offers being SOP, yeah, that's bullshit but whatever.   You send me a blind offer, I'm gonna make DAMN SURE that the seller knows that you haven't even bothered to look at the property, and just might hate it, and the likelihood of you actually closing the deal is lower than the guy that's been over it with a fine-tooth comb.   Blind offers are nothing more than throwing shit against the wall to see if anything sticks.   Anybody that says otherwise is full of shit.

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I prefer that a client sees the property in person before putting in an offer. We are starting to see crazy offers and terms out here 45 minutes from DFW. The new terms seem to be moving to no option period, waving inspections, 3% escrow, buyer pays for a survey, appraisal, closing costs, and title policy. Buyers are giving the seller 30-60 day leasebacks to find a new home. The seller is basically out nothing. Cash is King. Commissions are still 5-6%, will do it for 4% if we get to be your buyer agent on your next purchase. This is the most money I have ever made, but I'm rat holing it. My Mother is my broker, so it is only she and I, and we home office, with little to no overhead. We have sold 28 homes since January. 
CHIEF

Are you still offering up 3% of that to the buyer’s agent if represented?
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On 4/10/2021 at 2:20 PM, A-Tex Devil said:

We’ve jus this week started to also look at some lots with old, small houses in neighborhoods we like for eventual tear down and builds.  Let me know if I have process here about right assuming we don’t have architect/builder lined up yet:

1. Buy new property as investment property, rent it out if it makes sense.

2. Get the plans done with architect/builder

3. Go get construction to permanent loan to lock in mortgage rate when build done, which will take out initial mortgage and finance the build.  Would need to put 20% down on that aggregate value I assume (remaining mortgage + loan cost).  But if there is a way to prevent that cash outlay up front with the construction loan, I am all ears.

4. Move in when construction done and pay down the rest as a normal amortized mortgage.  

Am I missing a step?

You forgot to say.... and move in sometime in 2022... Unless you own your own construction company with all your own subs.  

IF and that's the huge IF... I had a second house of condo to make sure I maintained and Austin footprint I would sell in a minute.  Then try to get back in later.  But that might never happen with all the cash tech buyers coming in.  IF you are a buyers agent you are basically screwed unless they have a shit ton of extra cash. If you do not check the disclosure box to make up the difference between the offer and the appraised value.... just do not make the offer.. Although I do know of one couple that did accept an offer a family without a cash offer.  But they are very religious, and did what I might normally do, sell for a little less to a family I liked.

Part of me says take the fucking money. Start building some sort of rental in Port Aransas, and pray for market collapse in Austin... but divorce over not having a house in Austin... PRICELESS!  Until 10 years from now it takes a full time job to pay the fucking taxes.

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45 minutes ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:


Are you still offering up 3% of that to the buyer’s agent if represented?

Yes. We have found out that being the agent in both transactions gets you the "my personal agent" tag for that client, and they will recommend you strongly to all their friends and family. We do little to no advertising, but word of mouth is strong in our subdivision. We generally have almost half of the listings, and generally stay in our 10-15 mile radius. Being a retirement community, most of our sellers are moving closer to working children, so most of the time we will not be representing them on their new purchase. The 3-4 times a year it happens, it is well worth the loss in commission in the goodwill generated, and the buzz at the country club. We did this for a family friend from church (which we would have done it anyway), her father, which is also a friend of mine, thought it was such a kind  gesture that we are now the buyers agent for his FIL. His price point is $1.2mm, which is in the top 10% of our market, so all of the lost commission will be made up.

 

CHIEF

 

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My husband and I are about to begin remodeling the bathrooms on our 1971 ranch style home in Bell County. He wants to do shower only bathrooms since we only use the tub annually or so (when friends/family with babies come to stay with us), but I can’t imagine having a house without a single bathtub. Though I do concede his point that a bathroom remodel is only good for 10 years or so, and we don’t plan to sell in that time period, it seems silly to take one out to put one in if we sold. Any thoughts?

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11 hours ago, CHIEF said:

I prefer that a client sees the property in person before putting in an offer. We are starting to see crazy offers and terms out here 45 minutes from DFW. The new terms seem to be moving to no option period, waving inspections, 3% escrow, buyer pays for a survey, appraisal, closing costs, and title policy. Buyers are giving the seller 30-60 day leasebacks to find a new home. The seller is basically out nothing. Cash is King. Commissions are still 5-6%, will do it for 4% if we get to be your buyer agent on your next purchase. This is the most money I have ever made, but I'm rat holing it. My Mother is my broker, so it is only she and I, and we home office, with little to no overhead. We have sold 28 homes since January. 

CHIEF

Holy shit dude.  Y'all are killing it.  Over 7 houses a month?  That's Mike Trout numbers.  I'd kill for that, at any price point.  My best ever month was 4, and man, I thought was doing the pimp walk like that dipshit aggy in the UCLA game. 

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10 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

Holy shit dude.  Y'all are killing it.  Over 7 houses a month?  That's Mike Trout numbers.  I'd kill for that, at any price point.  My best ever month was 4, and man, I thought was doing the pimp walk like that dipshit aggy in the UCLA game. 

Well I have to admit, it's not because of me. She gets the clients (president of VFW Axillary, president of local art guild, a recent widow that draws other widows when they want to downsize). I know the market, set prices, put out signs and Supra boxes, work the multimillion dollar properties (find out zoning, how to change it, what utilities are available) the stuff that should be commercial, or if it will sell quickly as residential, I make that recommendation. I watch the market trends, and take care of our family's "daily" business. Mrs. CHIEF gripes at me and says I don't do enough, I just do what's asked. I always offer to do more. I generally work the weekends, but Mom says she gets bored sitting around the house. She is 71 going on 50, and making more money that she has made in her life. One quarter, last year, we were number one in sales for our county, and there is just two of us. There are 5-10 agencies with over 20 agents in our county. She gets calls daily of agents that want her to be their broker. She has one condition, your agent number has to be lower than hers. Hers is 0145XXX. So at least 52 years of experience. 

CHIEF

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10 hours ago, harpercollins said:

My husband and I are about to begin remodeling the bathrooms on our 1971 ranch style home in Bell County. He wants to do shower only bathrooms since we only use the tub annually or so (when friends/family with babies come to stay with us), but I can’t imagine having a house without a single bathtub. Though I do concede his point that a bathroom remodel is only good for 10 years or so, and we don’t plan to sell in that time period, it seems silly to take one out to put one in if we sold. Any thoughts?

I haven't had a bathtub in my last 3 houses.  For the two I sold, it never once was commented on by anyone touring the houses or during the purchase. 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Do you live in a childless utopia?

It's central Austin so there's a higher percentage of DINKs buying here.  However, our kids graduated straight from the kitchen sink baths to showers with minimal assistance.  I think my last kid was showering at 18 months.   

 

 

 

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Well I have to admit, it's not because of me. She gets the clients (president of VFW Axillary, president of local art guild, a recent widow that draws other widows when they want to downsize). I know the market, set prices, put out signs and Supra boxes, work the multimillion dollar properties (find out zoning, how to change it, what utilities are available) the stuff that should be commercial, or if it will sell quickly as residential, I make that recommendation. I watch the market trends, and take care of our family's "daily" business. Mrs. CHIEF gripes at me and says I don't do enough, I just do what's asked. I always offer to do more. I generally work the weekends, but Mom says she gets bored sitting around the house. She is 71 going on 50, and making more money that she has made in her life. One quarter, last year, we were number one in sales for our county, and there is just two of us. There are 5-10 agencies with over 20 agents in our county. She gets calls daily of agents that want her to be their broker. She has one condition, your agent number has to be lower than hers. Hers is 0145XXX. So at least 52 years of experience. 
CHIEF

Question a friend asked... is it possible to buy homes in retirement communities and lease them out? Or do those 55+ communities generally have deed restrictions for owner occupancy?
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Just lost out on a house in Plano, we offered 10% over asking price (which was already high) and waived appraisal. 20+ offers, winner was "substantially higher" with "impressive terms." I'm so fucking over this shit...the worst part is I know I'm going to end up overpaying for a house I don't want, just to have a place to live.

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2 hours ago, SuperSport said:

Just lost out on a house in Plano, we offered 10% over asking price (which was already high) and waived appraisal. 20+ offers, winner was "substantially higher" with "impressive terms." I'm so fucking over this shit...the worst part is I know I'm going to end up overpaying for a house I don't want, just to have a place to live.

Not sure where you work, but we ended up going to Tarrant County even though I work in Dallas. Still not going to be cheap, but way more affordable the anything going north. Decent school district with relatively cheap property taxes. 

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Not sure where you work, but we ended up going to Tarrant County even though I work in Dallas. Still not going to be cheap, but way more affordable the anything going north. Decent school district with relatively cheap property taxes. 

Been keeping an eye on my old areas of FW, both very close to downtown, solid hoods... they’ve seemingly had minimal appreciation over the last year when I sold off.
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2 hours ago, bluto said:


Question a friend asked... is it possible to buy homes in retirement communities and lease them out? Or do those 55+ communities generally have deed restrictions for owner occupancy?

Not really deed restricted in our community. But most retirees have already paid for a house, and purchase with cash from the equity of selling their previous home. They bought there first home closer into the urban centers, so they bring a premium. They take that and buy something they want in the rural areas. 

CHIEF

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2 hours ago, LurkingHorn said:

Not sure where you work, but we ended up going to Tarrant County even though I work in Dallas. Still not going to be cheap, but way more affordable the anything going north. Decent school district with relatively cheap property taxes. 

I work at 183 & 360 and wife works across from Klyde Warren, so theoretically I could make her commute miserable...but then she'd make my life miserable. With the location of area private schools and grandparents added in, we're primarily looking along the Tollway corridor (though I refuse to go north of 121). Naturally, that means $600k+ for an updated 4BR, which (being Surly 99%) doesn't leave much ability to win a bidding war.

We're admittedly making it more difficult for ourselves, but six months ago it wouldn't have been difficult at all...

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20 minutes ago, SuperSport said:

I work at 183 & 360 and wife works across from Klyde Warren, so theoretically I could make her commute miserable...but then she'd make my life miserable. With the location of area private schools and grandparents added in, we're primarily looking along the Tollway corridor (though I refuse to go north of 121). Naturally, that means $600k+ for an updated 4BR, which (being Surly 99%) doesn't leave much ability to win a bidding war.

We're admittedly making it more difficult for ourselves, but six months ago it wouldn't have been difficult at all...

Very frustrating for sure. Sounds like both of your commutes would suck if you came from Plano, though. I'm honestly not sure if it would be worse coming down the tollway/75 every morning or heading into downtown from 183. 

You thought any about Irving/Los Colinas? Pretty easy commute to downtown and pretty easy commute for you. If you're doing private school , the ISD doesn't matter much. Not sure of your style but something like this popped up on a quick search: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3206-Salinas-Ct-Irving-TX-75062/27115231_zpid/

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7 hours ago, bluto said:


Question a friend asked... is it possible to buy homes in retirement communities and lease them out? Or do those 55+ communities generally have deed restrictions for owner occupancy?

Yes, it's not a problem.  And you don't have to be 55+ to do so.  The restriction is on the occupancy, not the ownership.   It's pretty easy, landlord-wise.  The tenants will call for a leaky faucet or something, but they will pay the rent and won't trash the place. 

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The wife and I ended up purchasing a house in Northern CO just as the impact of covid was becoming clear. We bought it sight unseen from a zoom walk-through by the sellers/agents who happened to be downsizing and selling their own home, and who happened to have been our agents for the previous 18 months during which we made a couple offers that got outbid, and we otherwise dabbled with the idea of moving to CO or elsewhere. I logged onto zillow about a year ago from Santa Fe NM, saw a house in CO I liked, and texted our realtor who said, "That's our personal home but we're going to take it off the market  because the governor just prohibited in-person showings."

We sold our house in Austin 4 years ago. According to zillow, it's appreciated $900k in the past 4 years and we got our list price when we sold. It sucks to think I left that much money on the table. But CO real estate is going crazy too. I think we could get 350 to 450k more than we paid for our current house just a year ago. I can't think of a better place to move to though so we're staying here for awhile. I happened to pick up a small student rental house near the University before the market started going crazy here--got lucky with that. For some reason our RE markets here were a few months behind what parts of Texas have seen but it's going full blast now. Also unlike Austin in pre-Covid years CO has had the bulk of buying and selling during the summer months (fewer DINKs, I guess) so the upcoming market activity is going to be interesting to watch.

 

Spoiler

 

Northern Colorado cities set records for median home prices

Boulder tops $1.55 million in March; Loveland-Berthoud at $430,000

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PUBLISHED: April 12, 2021 at 7:57 p.m. | UPDATED: April 12, 2021 at 7:57 p.m.

Communities in Northern Colorado and the Boulder Valley recorded record median sales prices during March, with Boulder topping the region with a median price of $1,557,500, up 55.74% from the same period a year ago.

That’s according to the latest data from Information and Real Estate Services, the Loveland-based multiple-listing service for the region.

Boulder’s median sale price dwarfs that of the next-most-expensive city in the region, Estes Park, at $639,000, a year-over-year increase of 11.1%.

Fort Collins also set a record of $495,000 for median price, up 16.5% from March 2020. Close behind was Longmont, at $493,000 up 8.1%, and Loveland-Berthoud, up 7.5% to $430,000.

 

“They are indeed (records),” said Lauren Hansen, CEO of IRES. “It’s pretty crazy, but low inventory, high demand, lots of properties under contract, and the number of sales, interestingly enough, still remain strong.”

The Greeley-Evans market recorded a median sale price of $354,250, down slightly from $359,000 in February.

Even though Greeley did not break a record for median price in March, it’s still up 10.7% compared with a year ago, Hansen noted.

Hansen said the market is being driven by a number of factors, including low interest rates, in-migration of new residents and millennials moving into the buying age group. She noted that the Front Range has seen a population increase of more than 10% since 2010, with Weld County alone experiencing a 35% increase.

“Interest rates remain low, so if you can find a home, ‘attainable’ is becoming the new word rather than ‘affordable,’” Hansen said.

 

Kelly Moye, a broker associate with Compass real estate in Broomfield and spokeswoman for the Colorado Association of Realtors, said that in addition to low interest rates and population influx, escalation of apartment rents is also driving demand for single-family homes.

“I think you have a bit of a perfect storm of a combination of factors that are coming together,” Moye said, noting the low interest rates, high apartment rents and “immense migration here to Colorado from other places.”

“Specifically California, New York, Chicago and Texas are the places where the most people are coming from,” she said. “There’s just a massive move here.”

Moye said  the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated that trend, with remote workers preferring to live in Colorado rather than elsewhere.

“That’s what you’re seeing, is this enormous workforce who do not need to be where their actual office is, and Colorado is such a nice quality of life that they’re choosing to be here.”

Moye said some potential sellers are opting to instead renovate their current homes rather than risk not being able to afford a different property.

“So we have no inventory, and no inventory and too-high demand equals craziness,” she said.

“Pretty much all of the numbers as you go from Boulder to Denver are making records, no question about it,” she added. “We’re setting records all over the place.”

Colorado was one of a handful of states in which sales prices exceeded asking price by more than 50% in March, according to a report released Monday by the Colorado Association of Realtors.

“Throughout the state, demand remains so strong that, despite a slight bump in new seasonal listings, buyers are simply viewing list price as the starting point for a bidding war that often includes waiving contingencies centered around appraisals and inspections and making sight-unseen, cash offers well above the seller’s asking price,” according to a CAR analysis of the housing market.

“It’s almost like list price has become … base price,” Moye said. “That’s like a starting spot. So when you see something listed for $500,000, it will be $620,000 when you’re done. … So when you go see something at ($500,000), you don’t offer ($510,000); you offer ($610,000). That is what is making this market and why you’re seeing the prices jump so quickly, so fast.

Here are some key stats from around the region, provided by IRES:

  • Loveland-Berthoud had 248 active listings during March, down 39.5% from 410 a year ago. Sold listings totaled 225, with monthly average days on the market of 58. Sales volume totaled $115.7 million, up 26.7% from $91.3 million in March 2020. Loveland-Berthoud’s median price of $430,000 compared with $399,950 a year ago.
  • Fort Collins had 301 active listings during March, down 42.2% from 521 a year ago. Sold listings totaled 239, with monthly average days on the market of 71. Sales volume totaled $138 million, up 25.7% from $109.8 million in March 2020. Fort Collins’ median price of $495,000 in March 2021 compared with $425,000 a year ago.
  • Estes Park had 42 active listings during March, down 46.8% from 79 a year ago. Sold listings totaled 35, with monthly average days on the market of 79. Sales volume totaled $25 million, up 239.5% from $7.37 million in March 2020. Estes Park’s median price of $639,000 compared with $575,250 a year ago.
  • Greeley-Evans had 141 active listings during March, down 44.7% from 255 a year ago. Sold listings totaled 114, with monthly average days on the market of 46. Sales volume totaled $42.4 million, down 11.7% from $48 million in March 2020. Greeley-Evans’ median price of $354,250 in March 2021 compared with $320,000 a year ago.
  • Boulder had 117 active listings during March, down 20.4% from 147 a year ago. Sold listings totaled 61, with
  • monthly average days on the market of 50. Sales volume totaled $92.4 million, up 18.32% from $78.1 million in March 2020. Boulder’s median price of $1,557,500 in March 2021 compared with $1 million a year ago.
  • Longmont had 84 active listings during March, down 43.6% from 149 a year ago. Sold listings totaled 82, with monthly average days on the market of 30. Sales volume totaled $43.1 million, down 11% from $48.48 million in March 2020. Longmont’s median price of $493,000 compared with $455,940 a year ago.

 

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4 hours ago, SuperSport said:

I work at 183 & 360 and wife works across from Klyde Warren, so theoretically I could make her commute miserable...but then she'd make my life miserable. With the location of area private schools and grandparents added in, we're primarily looking along the Tollway corridor (though I refuse to go north of 121). Naturally, that means $600k+ for an updated 4BR, which (being Surly 99%) doesn't leave much ability to win a bidding war.

We're admittedly making it more difficult for ourselves, but six months ago it wouldn't have been difficult at all...

Maybe take a look at Midlothian, you could run up 360, she could take 67 to I35. Most of the growth has been north of DFW. It's still pretty rural down there. It's a lot easier to commute from south of DFW. New construction is still right at $150 sq/ft.

CHIEF

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Not quite back to early January rates (all time lows) but we've recovered a good bit in the last couple weeks if you were on the fence before, I emailed you, etc it may be time to circle back or take a look if anyone is still in the market cash out, normal, or otherwise.

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Anyone have any experience with a second home purchase?  My company was fortunate enough to be one of the ones that wasn't effected by COVID and the stock price is up 200% since I had a large LTI grant awarded.  Mrs.'s FromTheMailRoom and I are considering investing in a second home with some of the proceeds of the RSUs maturing and we've pretty much decided on somewhere in Colorado (Estes/Snowmass) with plans on spending 30-60 days each year there.  

Any thoughts, pro-tips, or gotchas we should be aware of?

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42 minutes ago, GlenFromTheMailRoom said:

Anyone have any experience with a second home purchase?  My company was fortunate enough to be one of the ones that wasn't effected by COVID and the stock price is up 200% since I had a large LTI grant awarded.  Mrs.'s FromTheMailRoom and I are considering investing in a second home with some of the proceeds of the RSUs maturing and we've pretty much decided on somewhere in Colorado (Estes/Snowmass) with plans on spending 30-60 days each year there.  

Any thoughts, pro-tips, or gotchas we should be aware of?

Good luck!  Wife and I have been outbid 5 times in the past year in Colorado.  We fly up to see property 1st day on the market and make full price offers, close quick and lease back for ski season at no cost to seller.  We have not been close.  Last person outbid us by $400,000.  Prices are escalating in the established areas.  

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2 minutes ago, Gladeite said:

Good luck!  Wife and I have been outbid 5 times in the past year in Colorado.  We fly up to see property 1st day on the market and make full price offers, close quick and lease back for ski season at no cost to seller.  We have not been close.  Last person outbid us by $400,000.  Prices are escalating in the established areas.  

Uh, that's a big number.

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51 minutes ago, GlenFromTheMailRoom said:

Anyone have any experience with a second home purchase?  My company was fortunate enough to be one of the ones that wasn't effected by COVID and the stock price is up 200% since I had a large LTI grant awarded.  Mrs.'s FromTheMailRoom and I are considering investing in a second home with some of the proceeds of the RSUs maturing and we've pretty much decided on somewhere in Colorado (Estes/Snowmass) with plans on spending 30-60 days each year there.  

Any thoughts, pro-tips, or gotchas we should be aware of?

Good luck.  CO mountain market is similar to Austin market right now.  Red hot and no inventory.  

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2 hours ago, Gladeite said:

Good luck!  Wife and I have been outbid 5 times in the past year in Colorado.  We fly up to see property 1st day on the market and make full price offers, close quick and lease back for ski season at no cost to seller.  We have not been close.  Last person outbid us by $400,000.  Prices are escalating in the established areas.  

Mind sharing which area you looked in?  We’re honestly not set on a ski town.  We’d be just fine with a place in Estes.

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Mind sharing which area you looked in?  We’re honestly not set on a ski town.  We’d be just fine with a place in Estes.
If you're not set on a ski town, take a look at Salida and Buena Vista.  Durango, too (even though Purgatory is there, it's not really a ski town).  Ouray is fantastic.  Or you could do Lake City with all your fellow Texans.

Lots of places better than Estes. It's this a future retirement home, or will it always be a vacation home?

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33 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

If you're not set on a ski town, take a look at Salida and Buena Vista.  Durango, too (even though Purgatory is there, it's not really a ski town).  Ouray is fantastic.  Or you could do Lake City with all your fellow Texans.

Lots of places better than Estes. It's this a future retirement home, or will it always be a vacation home?
 

Possible future residence.  In the short term, we’d like the play to somewhat pay for itself when aren’t there.  The cap rates in Estes, according to airdna, are alright.  Plus we like the access to the park.

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Possible future residence.  In the short term, we’d like the play to somewhat pay for itself when aren’t there.  The cap rates in Estes, according to airdna, are alright.  Plus we like the access to the park.
Maybe take a look at Grand Lake/ Granby/ Winter Park if you want to be by RMNP. I much prefer the Grand County side of the park to the Estes side. But to each his own.
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Buyer's agents are starving to death in our market. Writing 4-5 contracts a weekend, and getting outbid on all of them. Buyers getting disenchanted with the whole process. This has helped me understand it is ill-advised to pick a side in real estate. Sold/bought three this weekend.

CHIEF

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Buyer's agents are starving to death in our market. Writing 4-5 contracts a weekend, and getting outbid on all of them. Buyers getting disenchanted with the whole process. This has helped me understand it is ill-advised to pick a side in real estate. Sold/bought three this weekend.
CHIEF
Saw an article last week that there are more realtors in CO than there are houses for sale.
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3 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:
5 minutes ago, CHIEF said:
Buyer's agents are starving to death in our market. Writing 4-5 contracts a weekend, and getting outbid on all of them. Buyers getting disenchanted with the whole process. This has helped me understand it is ill-advised to pick a side in real estate. Sold/bought three this weekend.
CHIEF

Saw an article last week that there are more realtors in CO than there are houses for sale.

I believe it. There are only five house for sale in my subdivision. there are at least 10-20 realtors that live in here. But we still are getting listings, supposed to be 3 this week. Which will probably be most or all of them.

CHIEF

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^
I'm guessing that's the same for Austin.  I think between condos and homes in Austin, we're down to less than 1,000 in active inventory (granted, a lot more condos are coming online shortly).  But we're at 6,000 realtors.  That is the fastest dying industry in America, IMO.  We just don't need them like we used to.  

We personally know at least three dozen, highly acclaimed, highly successful realtors in Austin.  And I'd trade all of them for one honest plumber.  

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2 minutes ago, Lobo said:

^
I'm guessing that's the same for Austin.  I think between condos and homes in Austin, we're down to less than 1,000 in active inventory (granted, a lot more condos are coming online shortly).  But we're at 6,000 realtors.  That is the fastest dying industry in America, IMO.  We just don't need them like we used to.  

We personally know at least three dozen, highly acclaimed, highly successful realtors in Austin.  And I'd trade all of them for one honest plumber.  

That's why most of the time my main job is getting our immediate family self sufficient. I've got 20kw worth of solar, a water well, and a greenhouse all scheduled to be finished in the next two months. This year in Real Estate has made it all possible. Real Estate is a boom/bust Seller/buyer market. Mom has been doing this for 52 years. I know a lot of people that have had a bad year, real estate agents, insurance agents, car salesmen, etc.. Been blessed not to have experienced it.

CHIEF

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13 hours ago, GlenFromTheMailRoom said:

Mind sharing which area you looked in?  We’re honestly not set on a ski town.  We’d be just fine with a place in Estes.

We have written contracts in Steamboat, Breckenridge and Pagosa.  Each has their own unique attraction and reasonable airport access.  Aspen/Snowmass is unaffordable at $2000+/ft and Telluride is now eclipsing $1000/ft.  

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11 hours ago, Lobo said:

^
I'm guessing that's the same for Austin.  I think between condos and homes in Austin, we're down to less than 1,000 in active inventory (granted, a lot more condos are coming online shortly).  But we're at 6,000 realtors.  That is the fastest dying industry in America, IMO.  We just don't need them like we used to.  

We personally know at least three dozen, highly acclaimed, highly successful realtors in Austin.  And I'd trade all of them for one honest plumber.  

You'd think your realtor would have an in with a plumber- no?

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I think that's the opening line to their adult film.  

but in all seriousness, they all know 50 mortgage brokers, 50 title companies, 50 bankers, 50 lenders, 50 attorneys, 50 insurance reps, and the name of a guy who makes really nice custom pens and calendars.  But none of 'em actually give a shit about the interior workings of a home.  I crack up because before Covid, we'd get a knock on the door every single weekend from a realtor who is "repping" a client who wants to buy our house. 

For shits 'n grins, I'd say, "well, write us up an offer with a disruption premium and we'll take a serious look at it." 

And they'd push back with the same line, "Well, I can send it over to your agent after we take all the necessary steps.  Who represents you?"

And then me, in a nice way I promise, "Hey asshole, you're knocking on my door on a Sunday morning.  I'm hungover with shorts and a ballcap on.  You know my house isn't on the market.  So I have no realtor, Einstein.  Your client wants my house, come back with a written offer or fuck off.  Do your fucking job.  

Obviously between my attitude and Covid-19, our home is no longer actively sought.  Although I do get the sense that things are ticking back up again in the area.  But as we always talk about on this thread, sure the home value is great and we'd cash out with generous equity.  But there's nowhere to go.  I guess I need to start awkwardly knocking on doors on neighborhoods we could relocate to.  But I like close-in South Austin and I like our school district. 

There's no inventory, I don't know what the fuck buying agents are doing to justify themselves.  If I were one, I'd shake things up and try something new.  Walk the blocks of the neighborhoods your clients want to buy into and introduce yourself like GRhorn would, "Hello, I'm a convicted sex offender and I'm required to inform you of my residence in your neighborhood."  Then after they're done freaking out, you say, "Nah, just kidding.  I'm a realtor with Keller Williams and my clients love your street.  See, this isn't so bad now, is it?"  

 

 

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I know I went on another realtor rant...but     For the record, UTPhil is the most competent and versed real estate professional I've encountered in a long while, and I know way too many real estate folks.  

Having said that, it wouldn't kill him to send me a nice gel pen, none of this cheap ballpoint shit.  

Seriously man, I wanna dip into my equity again in 2022, so make a note to ping me.  Happy to throw some business your way.  

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