Denver Real Estate Blog. (Vol 1.60 ) July 3, 2015 

By Craig Franklin Chambers  Esq. 7851 S. Elati Street #204, Littleton,  CO 80120

The Littleton Lawyer.

As a Littleton, Colorado real estate lawyer and family law attorney, focusing my practice in Denver, Englewood, Centennial, Littleton, Highlands Ranch, and the surrounding areas including Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson County,  I am often asked the question: Do I have time to sell real estate and work with buyers.

As both a practicing attorney and a real estate broker, I give people a choice as to how they wish me to represent them. I can't do both -- represent a person in a case and at the same time represent them as an attorney. That doesn't mean I can't be your broker. It means I can't be your broker when I have an attorney-client relationship with you as your attorney.

If I am not representing you as an attorney,  I still show buyers houses and list homes for sale. I have 33 years of experience as a Colorado real estate broker. In fact, with the current real estate market, my real estate business is busy as ever. As a Colorado real estate broker, I have numerous tips and advice about how to find the right home for a buyer.

The first tip is to look. See the market. Narrow down your search to the area and type of house, in terms of age, year size, neighborhood and similar features. Some real estate brokers only want to show three or four homes. I think it is important to see the market and to see as many homes as you need to understand the values of the type of home and location you are seeking.

In the current market, once you find your area and your range, you need to be decisive.

Second, if you are going to employ a real estate broker, and I suggest you do, find one who knows the area and who will look constantly through-out the day, every single day. It's a seller's market, and you have to be ready, in terms of loan pre-qualification, to buy  a home.

If you have a home to sell, you are saving for your down payments, or your credit is not quite what it needs to be, you are not a ready, willing and able buyer, and you need to wait until you are fully ready and pre-qualified without contingencies to dive into the housing market. You pay extra for terms, for example, a home that is contingent on the sale of a other home or a buyer who leases prior to purchase.

The third tip is to run your own comparables of any home that interests you. A seller can price a home at any price level he chooses; but the market -- the buyers -- will dictate the market value. Purchasing a home is both an emotional and financial decision, and it is important to understand what you are buying and what factors affect the value for the particular product.

The fourth tip is to verify facts on your own. Don't rely in the seller's disclosures of the advertisements in the MLS. There is a lot of exaggeration or puffing in real estate, and it is important to retain your own experts, which includes tax advisors, home inspectors, real estate brokers, even attorneys.

Lastly, to quote the old adage: location, location, location. Try and find the least expensive home in a more expensive area and look for a nice setting. The location of the home cannot be changed, and, while backing to open space, or a park, or a location on a cul-de-sac or with a mountain view, can add to the value and salability of a home, houses that back to busy streets, power lines, high schools or shopping malls detract from the value.

Do not get too caught up emotionally with a particular house.  If you miss an opportunity, simply look again, there will be other opportunities down the road.