Northern Colorado Real Estate Blog

The newest innovations in home design, building materials, and décor can be seen right here in Northern Colorado at the 2008 Parade of Dreams, a single-site luxury home tour being held May 17 through June 15. Sponsored by the Home Builders Association of Northern Colorado, The Parade of Dreams is located at Thompson Crossing near I-25 and U.S. Highway 34 and the homes will be open daily from 10 am to 6 pm.

Each of the five multi-million dollar homes, built by some of the area’s premier builders, has been professionally designed to feature breathtaking mountain views and the winding river below with incredible outdoor living spaces. Vistas are infinite and fresh ideas abound.

The featured builders are Lesaris, LLC, Bartran Construction, Benchmark Custom Homes, Gerrad Construction, and Stoner Homes. All five of these fabulous homes are being marketed by The Group, Inc.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at King Soopers or at the Parade of Dreams website www.coloradoparade.com

Driving Directions: From I-25 take the Greeley Exit east which is U.S. Highway 34. Go east to the major light–turn right on Thompson Parkway and follow the signs.

The Home Builders Association of Northern Colorado will host a closed-site tour of five multimillion-dollar homes by local builders at Thompson Crossing, located on the southeast quadrant of I-25 and US 34 in Johnstown, May 17-June 15.  The parade will feature homes by Bartran Construction, Inc., Lasaris LLC, Benchmark Custom Homes, Gerrard Construction, Inc. and Stoner Customer Homes.  The event is expected to draw 40,000+ visitors.  Tickets are $10 for adults; children 16 and under free and are available at www.ColoradoParade.com or at King Soopers Tickets West Outlets.

Two of the homes will be open prior to the official opening of the Parade to benefit several local charities.

Stoner Customer Homes will have their $2,500,000 home located at 4426 Thompson Parkway open 6 evenings from 6-9 pm.  The cost is $50/per person for each event.  Reservations must be made to the charities prior to the event; admittance is by reservation only.

Child Safe  4/23/08  970-472-4133

Larimer Humane Society  4/24/08  970-530-2948

Fort Collins Symphony  4/29/08  970-482-4823

American Cancer Society 4/30/08  970-350-5019

Habitat for Humanity  5/08/08 970-488-2606

Respite Care  5/10/08   970-207-9435

In addition, “Idylwilde”,  4438 Thompson Parkway, the $1.86 home built by Benchmark Custom Homes will be open May 1 from 5:30 - 8:30 pm to benefit United Way.  $25/person or $40/couple.  Call your local United Way to make your reservation by April 28.  Weld  970-353-4300 or Larimer 970-407-7000.

An economist for a large fund manager recently said, “It is hard to imagine any time in history when such rampant pessimism about the economy has existed with so little evidence of serious trouble.”  Sure, gas prices are through the roof and we have our share of foreclosure properties…..but employers in Northern Colorado are moving forward with plans for a very bright future.

At The Group, Inc.’s 2008 Real Estate Forecast, we conducted a “town hall” electronic survey with approximately 100 decision-makers of the region’s employers.  They were asked questions about their company’s hiring plans and revenue projections for the coming year.  Among the organizations who were invited to participate were Kodak Colorado, Poudre Valley Health System, Colorado State University, Kroll Factual Data, local governments, JBS Swift and Co. and Group Publishing.  Participants represented more than 40,000 of the region’s employees. 

56% said they plan to increase employment in 2008.  43% said they plan for litle or no change.  None of them planned to decrease their workforce.

65% expect revenues to increase in 2008, 7% expect a decrease, and 26% expect little or no change.  1% were unsure.

 The greatest ‘limiter’ to organization’s growth was economic conditions with 60% saying that would have the biggest effect on their growth.  20% cited taxes and government regulations.  12% are challenged by the availability of qualified workers and 8% said the cost of living and transportation and housing would hinder them. 

Every market has its submarkets, and real estate has plenty: new and resale single-famly attached and detached; for sale and for lease office, industrial and retail space; residential rentals; residential and commercial land, etc.  And all of these have multiple other categories within them.  Usually when one submarket is struggling, others are offering investment opportunities too good to pass up.

The residential rental market is hot in Northern Colroado right now.  Colorado Apartment Insights LLC’s statistics show a vacancy rate of 5.15% for all of Northern Colorado, with the rate going as low as 3.69% in Loveland.  The following factors also make it a prime time to invest in residential rental property:

Changes in lending practices making it more difficult for some people to buy homes;

Apartment construction is down;

Job growth is up;

Echo boomers are coming of age to form their own households;

The supply of homes for sale is shrinking;

Vacancy rates are decreasing and rents are increasing;

Call a Group Realtor to learn about properties on the market that offer excellent investment opportunities.  And check out the list of foreclosure properties on our website. 

With low interest rates, increasing rents, and decreasing vacancy rates, this is a good time to purchase an investment property.  And the misfortunate of some people definitely provides an opportunity for others.  Homes that are in foreclosure can be a good investment, and the purchase process can be easily handled by your Realtor.  The Group, Inc. in Greeley has a Foreclosure Hotline manned by Realtors who are very familiar with the houses in that market that are bank owned. Simplify your search by calling 970-372-2838 to learn about these and take advantage of the opportunity to add properties to your investment portfolio.

Larry Kendall, Chairman Emeritus of The Group, Inc., has developed a sales course called ‘Ninja Selling’.  After observing Realtors for the past 35+ years,  Larry has created a formula to ensure a steady flow of business, providing a Realtor a good income and the ability to ‘have a life’ in the process!  The course is taught throughout the United States by Larry and other instructors who practice the ‘Ninja Philosophy’ and have been trained to teach its principles.

Several times a year, Larry teaches the class here in Fort Collins.  This week there are 150 Realtors in town who have traveled from throughout the country to learn the ‘Ninja Way’ , receive the training from Larry Kendall, and visit The Group’s offices. 

They are sharing ideas with each other, and learning ways to improve the service they provide to their customers.  They will go back to their companies and, in turn, share what they learned with others, who may eventually end up here in Fort Collins to experience the Ninja Selling course themselves.  

When Realtors work together in a cooperative environment, everyone wins, including the customer. One of the Group’s Partners organizes a weekly investment tour.  Group Realtors submit homes they have listed that have investment potential, our ‘organizer’ pares the list down to a half dozen or so, and all Group Realtors are welcome to join the tour.  The touring Realtors look at each property and analyze its investment potential as a group.   In the process, they learn from each other and gain a better understanding of our listing inventory and our real estate market.  The synergy that is created as a result of this weekly investment tour is just another way we are helping our customers buy and sell real estate.

At The Group, we believe the home buying process should be easy. As real estate professionals, having control over as much of the process as possible helps us anticipate and resolve issues immediately.  The many variables when obtaining a mortgage can be a challenge, sometimes causing unexpected problems on the way to the closing table. 

Two years ago, The Group, Inc. formed a joint venture with Countrywide with the goal being to create a “perfect transaction” for our buyers and sellers.   The Group Guaranteed Mortgage has loan officers in each of our six offices to answer questions, counsel customers, provide pre-qualifications, take loan applications, and give the best service available.  Countrywide’s processing center uses state-of-the-art technology to provide loan commitments quickly.  TGGM feels so confident about its service, that it is guaranteed. 

Interest rates are low.  If you are buying a home or thinking of refinancing, call one of The Group’s offices and talk with a loan officer.  We think you will be pleasantly surprised at how easy the process of getting a home loan can be.

The Group, Inc. Real Estate held its annual real estate forecast on Monday, February 4, at the Budweiser Events Center. About 1,500 people attended to hear Chairman, Chuck McNeal, present our predictions for 2008. Here is an overview:
Forecast for 2008

Continued low interest rates, projected growth in employment, and quality of life throughout this part of the state will continue to be the drivers of real estate sales. These economic indicators, along with rising residential rents and falling vacancy historically indicate an improving market. Inventory will continue to balance throughout Northern Colorado as builders limit their supply, and foreclosures are absorbed.

While all of our challenges are not behind us, signs point to improvement. Builders, developers, buyers, sellers and investors who do their homework will find opportunity in this market. On the horizon we see pent-up demand and even inventory shortages in some price ranges and neighborhoods as the economy recovers nationally.

To view the video presentation by employers and community leaders from throughout Northern Colorado as well as all information presented at the event, visit the ‘2008 Real Estate Forecast’ section of our website.

A columnist in today’s Coloradoan newspaper used The Group’s Insider newsletter as an example of “a great job of keeping in touch by sending out useful information.”

 Margaret McDonald (Miss Communications) focused her column on newsletters as a marketing tool.  This is what she had to say about The Insider….

“The Group, Inc.’s ‘Real Estate Insider’ is full of trends, statistics and other information that helps local residents understand the real estate market and plan accordingly.

Sure, the ‘Insider’ is consistently buillish on the idea of ownership, and yeah, it sometimes puts a little spit-and-polish on the bad news, and of course, it includes contact information for a ready-to-help-you Realtor on the back page.  But the news within its pages is market-and-investment-focused, and it never devolves into that ‘let us tell you about us” stuff that so many companies think everybody wants to read.”   

 The Insider newsletter is published 10 times each year and is intentionally written to inform our customers about the Northern Colorado real estate market.  Our 200+ Partners plus our managers and staff constantly keep our ears to the ground for the latest news and trends, both local and national.  It is our goal to be ’The Source For Real Estate Information in Northern Colorado.’

If you would like to receive The Real Estate Insider, call one of our Realtors.  They will be happy to make certain you receive your copy to stay up on the real estate news in Northern Colorado.