Denver housing market

That's awesome. It takes a lot of perseverance to do what you're doing, but it's so rewarding both personally and financially.

I think Covid has affected some parts of the economy more than others. The single family mid-range market in Denver is still hot because all the techies are just working from home. Meanwhile the multifamily market is showing signs of weakness. Restaurant workers and other hardworking people who don't make a ton of money and have lost work, are the ones who need the stimulus checks.

I am frustrated at this point in my housing search - but yes, I'm incredibly fortunate and grateful that decent places to live exist in my price range. I am hoping that, if nothing works out within the next month or two, that the market will start to cool down and we will find something then.

 

Coming up on 3 years since I went through this. I made offers on like 8(!!!) Homes before one stuck. My one suggestion would be to write a cover letter about yourself and your family.

The only reason I ended up with my home was because the seller liked who I was. She had offers for much more than I had.

My buddy recently listed his home in Friday and had 52 showings and 10+ offers by Sunday. Again, they looked at the cover letters and choose a teacher despite having a higher offer from someone else.

 

Housing along the Front Range is insane. Denver is leading the way and the rest are following. Hopefully, something works out for you soon.

 

Yes this works. Our cover let got a seller to choose us over a few investors.

 

The Colorado Springs market sucks just as bad.

 

why not buy and rent the rest of the rooms to tenants so their monthly rent pays the mortgage
seems popular now

or is that a thing for young single folk

 

That's what our first year of house shopping was like... kept offering on top of asking price and getting out bid every time. So, I got my ducks in a row, and started house hunting during the holidays. No one is usually looking between thanksgiving and christmas, and some people are desperate to sell. Ended up getting a really good deal in an amazing neighborhood/ suburb people would kill to live in. I wouldn't say I'm "in love" with our house, but it's a house, and after spending my entire life living out of a suitcase that's all I really care about. Keep your head up, hopefully winter will bring the same fortune for you guys. With everything weird, I'm not too sure what the housing market will do this year.

 

yup its a bubble...and could burst at any moment then housing will crash like in 2008 ish.

 

Bought my first home 2 years ago. I think my home value went up about $20k which is all useless in my opinion because it only means I have to pay higher property tax. As the price goes up down the road, it will still be useless because I still wont be able to afford anything bigger/nicer. Still glad I bought the house because from what I here from new hires at work, rental price is outrageous too.

 

Yeah, unfortunately the housing market sucks for buyers everywhere. I have a co-worker who is also a real estate agent. He says right now he has a lot of people who want to sell, but they have no place to move into. If they do buy, you can offer $20k+ over asking and still easily get rejected. Plus you likely won't get your money back for at least 3-5 years. And that's here in Michigan where housing is relatively cheap compared to the rest of the country.

 

I've lived, worked and been saving in Colorado for the last 18 years and still cant afford a down payment. The rental and housing market are both ridiculous. Prices have doubled and tripled in the last 10 years. I pay $900 bucks a month to live in a 250 sqft out dated apartment with one window and that's thought to be a "good deal" in my area. It's the price you pay to live in a desirable place I guess but it kinda sucks. Anyways you're not alone OP.

 

Wait until winter. We bought in December 3 yrs ago and were able to pay under asking price. The spring/summer market is insane and I'm not down with the process.

 

Only chance of it being a bubble is if people stop moving here and move out instead. Given the remote work environment, I think it will be a long time coming before we see net "move outs" exceed people moving in.

CA had 3rd year in a row of declining population and lost almost 500K residents (move outs) in 2019.

 

Virtue signaling is a disease.

 

The problem with that... is that people working remote want to live in places like Colorado.

Colorado has a lot going for it as a state outside of just the cities.

 

You look into building new? Sounds like you have a reasonable budget for the area if you're offering 30k over asking and with a new construction you can be pickier more easily if that makes sense. Pick your floor plan, chose your lot, move stuff around on the lot etc. If it's a forever home I would look into something like that.

 

I'm pretty sure that was his point.

 

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement. Finally some good news - we are under contract!



It’s a cute little house on a quiet street. It’s 2 blocks from the neighborhood park, in a family friendly neighborhood with excellent schools.

The house is a little smaller than we would have liked and needs some updates. And it only has a 1 car garage (which of course will be used by the wife as she hates scraping snow).

But the location is great, less than 10 minutes from work, and it should be a perfect place to raise kids.

Anyway thanks for commiserating with me - house hunting sure is a roller coaster. It’s not over yet (gotta get through inspection and all that) but it sure feels good to be under contract.

 

Hope it all goes smooth for you. Best of luck, congrats

 

we had one give a letter like that...didnt really affect my decision who to sell to...the people with the most down payment and highest offer got the house.