Keep Going....

It is no secret that the Denver real estate market is incredibly tight. Low inventory and many buyers s a multiple offer, auction style situation is created. I could talk to you into I am blue in the face about the unique dilemma the Denver real estate market is in but I will not. This post will speak to the emotional side of this market; it is heartbreaking at times to be a buyer. Your real estate agent can set you up with perfect expectations - you WILL have to put in more than one offer, you WILL lose out on a home but once it happens, it still stings.

At times the market can be draining for all involved. The other afternoon I found myself feeling probably very similar to what buyers feel in this market - frustrated, hopeless and overwhelmed. I was on the phone with a family member who is going through some health issues, and after listening to me speak she said, "I understand the feeling of wanting to be somewhere that you are not at yet". Well, yes, isn't that really what is driving these emotions? In essence, we are all fighting this same battle whether with our health, career, home, family and/or relationships. The process is what causes the emotions.

So, here are six ways a person can cope with tough times, such as buying a home in the Denver market.

The current Denver market mandates a lot of work in order to get a home. It is crucial to be able to trust your real estate agent and know they are working with and FOR you. Always ask what other creative solutions that may have to find a home in a market like this one.


In addition to writing for Daigle's Digs, Elizabeth works full-time as a Real Estate Agent with  Keller Williams Realty Downtown, LLC. Elizabeth's expertise is in buying and selling a home, first time home buyers, short sales, and investment properties. Contact Elizabeth for any real estate needs. Cell 303-819.73.71. Work 720-314-8352

Benjamin Moore: Blue Danube

Have you seen Benjamin Moore Color Trends for 2015? It is a great starting point if you are considering painting a room and unsure what color to use. Colors on this list range from neutrals, dark, cool and warm. Recently I painted an accent wall in my living room Blue Danube, a 2015 color trend. 

Blue Danube is a rich, bold blue that compliments cool colors and neutrals well. Choosing a paint color is always nerve-wracking as you have to envision the paint color in the room prior to actually painting it. I find searching Pinterest for the paint color helps because you can often find rooms painted the color already. 

Rooms that were painted Blue Danube and I used as inspiration: 

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Wondering what my finished product came out as? Go here to see it.

In addition to writing for Daigle's Digs, Elizabeth works full-time as a Real Estate Agent with  Keller Williams Realty Downtown, LLC. Elizabeth's expertise is in buying and selling a home, first time home buyers, short sales, and investment properties. Contact Elizabeth for any real estate needs. Cell 303-819.73.71. Work 720-314-8352

Love it... or ... List it?

With so much change occurring in the Denver real estate market I have encountered many people that are at a standstill attempting to determine their next step. Do major renovations for the home to fit the family's needs? Pop the top? Sell? If you find yourself facing these decisions, know you are not alone! Be sure to consult a real estate professional, as a real estate agent, it is my pleasure consult with folks about their next steps. I will sit down to get an idea of the home and the needs of the family before crunching numbers to determine the best option while considering the current market in their neighborhood. 

In addition to writing for Daigle's Digs, Elizabeth works full-time as a Real Estate Agent with  Keller Williams Realty Downtown, LLC. Elizabeth's expertise is in buying and selling a home, first time home buyers, short sales, and investment properties. Contact Elizabeth for any real estate needs. Cell 303-819.73.71. Work 720-314-8352

St Anthony's Development

We can not talk about Sloan's Lake without mentioning the St. Anthony's development. Since 1892, St Anthony's Hospital offered healthcare to the community. Over the years, its 180 bed hospital grew to a million square foot hospital. As the hospital grew, so did the community around the hospital. In the early 2000s, St Anthony's Hospital announced that it had outgrown the 19 acre campus and its intention to move to the Federal Center in Lakewood.

Today St. Anthony's Hospital has move to Lakewood and the site in which it stood is cleared. Plans for what will be built on the 24 acres are in the works. The General Development Plan approved up to 20 story buildings in this space with goals of bringing more life into the South Sloans Lake Area. The plans are to add multi-family and residential homes, creating open space for the community, preserving St. Anthony's Chapel and commercial space. The commercial space would be used to retail, Alamo Draft house Cinema, restaurants and office space. 

As with any change (and unknowns), there are a lot of different views on this development. From a real estate view, it will greatly help the neighborhood and home values. Sloan's Lake has been a great attraction for many and a desirable place to live in the past years. It's central location offers residents a quick drive into Downtown and easy access to the highways to get to the mountains. This space will allow Sloan's Lake to be a stand alone neighborhood with walkability to most every day activities, such as the grocery store, entertainment (restaurants, bars, movie theater), work (for some) and shopping. 

In addition to writing for Daigle's Digs, Elizabeth works full-time as a Real Estate Agent with  Keller Williams Realty Downtown, LLC. Elizabeth's expertise is in buying and selling a home, first time home buyers, short sales, and investment properties. Contact Elizabeth for any real estate needs. Cell 303-819.73.71. Work 720-314-8352 

Gold Grout

Looking for a way to really make your tile backsplash or floor pop? Our first instinct is to place focus on the tile that we chose. This thought process certainly works as the tiles are the focal point, but another way to play up the tile is the grout. Grout is the paste/mortar that is placed in the gaps between the tiles. The most popular grout used in tile work is a white, black or grey but lately I have seen use of different colors of grout used. Gold, being one of them:

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I absolutely love gold so I do like the look of gold grout, especially with the ever popular subway tiles. What do you think? Do you like it or do you think it looks outdated? 

In addition to writing for Daigle's Digs, Elizabeth works full-time as a Real Estate Agent with  Keller Williams Realty Downtown, LLC. Elizabeth's expertise is in buying and selling a home, first time home buyers, short sales, and investment properties. Contact Elizabeth for any real estate needs. Cell 303-819.73.71. Work 720-314-8352

T.V. Time

Let's talk about televisions. As in, I FINALLY bought a t.v. after four months without one. I have never been a huge t.v. watcher and now with HULU and Netflix, I much prefer to binge watch a whole series in a weekend. My old roommate laughed at me often because after nine months of living with her I still couldn't figure out how to turn the t.v. on. 

But I digress, because now I have a television and I have cable (something I did not have for years in New Hampshire). Now that I have this shiny t.v. affixed to my wall which I can navigate with just ONE remote, I find myself nervous. As if I have forgotten how to handle myself with a t.v. Working from home a lot, I am nervous that I will find myself with the television on to serve as white noise or even distracted by all the shows that I have missed out on in the last decade. In addition, I am a little sad to leave the 'no television' crowd and enter into the 21st century. Not having a t.v. was almost like a badge of honor amidst people that seems to cherish their t.v. time. 

The one thing that I am very excited about is the ability to 'turn off' and just watch t.v. When your work space is also your living space, it is very hard to NOT work. Prior to the arrival of my t.v. if I was home, I was working. Now I actually have something other than work at my home.

So tell me, how do you limit your television time? Or are you living without a television? 

In addition to writing for Daigle's Digs, Elizabeth works full-time as a Real Estate Agent with  Keller Williams Realty Downtown, LLC. Elizabeth's expertise is in buying and selling a home, first time home buyers, short sales, and investment properties. Contact Elizabeth for any real estate needs. Cell 303-819.73.71. Work 720-314-8352

Are you a City Dweller?

When are starting to look for a new home, your real estate agent will ask you a number of questions about you and your everyday activities. You may wonder why they want to know so much information, the reason is so they can help find you a home that aligns with your lifestyle and personality. All of Denver's neighborhoods offers unique advantages and we want to make sure you find a home that will satisfy your needs.

If you are considering a home downtown there are a number of questions you should ask yourself:

 Like any city, Downtown Denver offers a lot to residents - walk ability to everyday activities, the 16th street mall, a dog park, close proximity to the Cherry Creek Trails, Larimer Square and much more! If you are looking to live in an urban setting close to Downtown take a look at Jefferson Park, Sloan's Lake, Highlands, LoDo, Downtown, Capital Hill, Golden Triangle, and Uptown.

In addition to writing for Daigle's Digs, Elizabeth works full-time as a Real Estate Agent with  Keller Williams Realty Downtown, LLC. Elizabeth's expertise is in buying and selling a home, first time home buyers, short sales, and investment properties. Contact Elizabeth for any real estate needs. Cell 303-819.73.71. Work 720-314-8352

Focus on: Sloan's Lake

Sloan's Lake is a neighborhood located northwest of the city. It's parameters are Sheridan Boulevard to Raleigh Street, 17th Ave to 26th Ave. The lake is a big attraction and the park is the second largest in the city (City Park being the largest). It is a bit of a mystery how Sloan's Lake came to be but it is believed that is was created by the rupture of the natural spring created by Thomas F Sloan. 

The Sloan's Lake neighborhood is very diverse with historic bungalows to post-modern homes. It offers close proximity to downtown, Sports Authority Field and boasts city and mountain views. On most weekends you'll find many people hanging out at Sloan's Lake with family or friends, hiking, biking or jogging on the trails or fishing or boating on the lake. Mid-summer the Dragon Boat Festival attracts many people for weekend festivities. The festival boasts great food, festivities and dragon boat racing.

The public schools available to Sloan's Lake residents are Brown Elementary, Cheltenham Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, Colfax Elementary, Skinner Middle School, West Denver Prep, Lake International Middle School, North High School and West High School. Go here for more information about the schools catering to the Sloan's Lake neighborhood.

There is a high demand for a home in Sloan's Lake. This chart depicts the median average home price and median days on market. The high demand for this neighborhood means prices are rising and homes do not stay on the market for long. 

Data taken from recolorado.com

Sloan's Lake is no exception to the lack of inventory problem we face in Denver. The below graph shows the number of active listings in the past 12 months. 

Date taken from recolorado.com

Do you live in Sloan's Lake, if so, what do you love about it? If you don't live there, are you looking to live in Sloan's Lake? 

In addition to writing for Daigle's Digs, Elizabeth works full-time as a Real Estate Agent with  Keller Williams Realty Downtown, LLC. Elizabeth's expertise is in buying and selling a home, first time home buyers, short sales, and investment properties. Contact Elizabeth for any real estate needs. Cell 303-819.73.71. Work 720-314-8352 

Sayings on the Wall

I always love to have fun with things in the home. My thought is if you can't be yourself in your home, where can you be? I recently showed a home where there were a number of decals with cute sayings on the walls. As a self- proclaimed quote junkie, I thought it was a cute and creative idea. Since viewing the home, I have seen some fun and unique (borderline eccentric) ways to incorporate quotes or sayings into your home.

 

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 Would you ever do this? If so, where and what would you say?

In addition to writing for Daigle's Digs, Elizabeth works full-time as a Real Estate Agent with  Keller Williams Realty Downtown, LLC. Elizabeth's expertise is in buying and selling a home, first time home buyers, short sales, and investment properties. Contact Elizabeth for any real estate needs. Cell 303-819.73.71. Work 720-314-8352

Solitude

 

I have always been a girl that needs time alone. Being by myself is where I recharge, it is my home base and it is often when I can think clearly and creatively. I am coming off of a few very busy weeks and my mind and body are craving some alone time. Time by myself can actually be some of my most productive time; I tinker, I organize all the while thinking, scheming and plotting. It is the time where some of my most creative work is created - blog ideas, marketing work or new ways to get into the community. 

The term introvert has become mainstream after the release of Susan Cain's novel Quiet. Being an introvert seems to be more popular now than when I was growing up. I often wonder what sparked this, is it the fact that someone finally put a new face to introversion? In the past an introvert was shy, collected and meek and now we realize that is not that case. Is it because the world keeps getting louder and faster and we now physically crave silence and/or being alone? Or, is it that Eastern alternative medicine is making its way to the Western world and we are now seeing the benefits of silent activities such as meditation? 

Whatever the reason, I find my alone time crucial to my sanity and success. As life gets busy I have to make time to be alone, whether it is a few hours or a few days. I am curious how do you recharge? Is it time alone? If so, how do you accomplish it in your busy world?

In addition to writing for Daigle's Digs, Elizabeth works full-time as a Real Estate Agent with  Keller Williams Realty Downtown, LLC. Elizabeth's expertise is in buying and selling a home, first time home buyers, short sales, and investment properties. Contact Elizabeth for any real estate needs. Cell 303-819.73.71. Work 720-314-8352

Switching out clothes for the next season

I caught a glimpse of my closet this AM and it is an understatement to say it is disorganized. It seems summer has come overnight here in Denver. Today will be the second day in a row it will reach 80 degrees. The change in weather is why my closet is in such disarray - two weeks ago all I needed were winter clothes but now I need to break into my summer clothes. Every other day I find myself reaching into storage to grab clothes geared for summer temperatures (which then end up on my closet floor). There is always this awkward period in Denver where you are not 100% positive that the new season has arrived for good. Sure, it is 80 degrees today but there is a chance of snow Thursday. It is a science to determine when to switch out clothes. Although I may be wearing a summer dress one day, I am still hesitant to store that wool sweater and boots for fear I MAY still need them as early as tomorrow. 

 No this is not my closet!

How do you deal with the change of seasons? Please share when you switch out your clothes. Until then I've vowed to grab the applicable season's clothes each day and keep my closet door closed.

In addition to writing for Daigle's Digs, Elizabeth works full-time as a Real Estate Agent with  Keller Williams Realty Downtown, LLC. Elizabeth's expertise is in buying and selling a home, first time home buyers, short sales, and investment properties. Contact Elizabeth for any real estate needs. Cell 303-819.73.71. Work 720-314-8352