Denver Real Estate Law and Family Law Blog. (Vol 1.24)
By Craig Franklin Chambers Esq. 7851 S. Elati Street #204, Littleton, CO 80120
The Littleton Lawyer.
As a real estate attorney and divorce lawyer, working in Denver, Littleton, Highlands Ranch, and the Tech Center, and as a Colorado licensed real estate broker, with over thirty years of experience, I often show houses to prospective Buyers.
In fact, despite the fact that I have a thriving law practice, I still enjoy working with Buyers and showing them houses. I have shown houses in blizzards, on holidays, in a tornado. There is something personally thrilling about taking on the mission of helping someone find a home and following through with the transaction until closing. This is true whether I am assisting a person as a broker or simply aiding a FSBO (For Sale By Owner) in closing a residential real estate transaction.
Clients often ask me how people choose the houses they buy. Of course, each individual has their own list of requirements, and especially when it is a marital decision, the dynamics of the couple's relationship comes into play. Each person has his own criterion and individual needs. Their own motivation for buying a home. A purchase of a home is a part emotional and part financial decision.
However, from my experience as a Colorado real estate broker and a Denver lawyer specializing in residential real estate transactions, there are recurring reasons for people to choose the homes they choose. The old maxim that location location location is the key to real estate still stands true; but part of the attractiveness of a location is the schools.
Even if the buyer doesn't have school-aged children, the homes in areas with higher ranked schools tend to develop a following and remain high on most buyer's lists of reasons to buy a home.
The commute is another main criterion. Each person has a tolerance for the drive to work and back each day, whether it is twenty minutes or thirty minutes. The commute to work for the buyer is one of the main reasons buyers choose the house they choose.
Lastly, the price of the home. People make lists of what constitutes their dream home and hope to find most of the requirements in the home the purchase. While some people purchase homes because they like the "cute dog" in the home, or make other emotional decisions, most people carefully analyze their requirements for a home in terms of age, yard, floor plan, finish, square footage, setting, condition, amenities, etc.
Everyone wants a good deal on a home, and most people ultimately choose the home they purchase based on the price of the home.
How do you get a good deal or determine what is a good deal? In a world of fast-paced internet Face-book and twitter marketing, my best advice is to take your time in the process of selecting a home. Choose a competent, experienced professional, either as a real estate broker or a real estate lawyer.
View a number of competing homes before you decide on a home, have the home you choose thoroughly inspected by neutral professionals, and carefully study the pricing of the home based on recent comparable sold properties before you make such a big decision.