Being in the real estate business, I hear people grumbling all the time about the market. It comes from buyers, sellers, and agents. I often wonder if they really know how blessed we are in Colorado compared to other real estate markets across the country.
I heard a story of man in Las Vegas that sold his BMW for $30,000. He then took that money and bought not only one, but TWO $15,000 condos. Each condo was a relatively new build, two-bed and one-bath. He rented each condo for over $900 a month and in his first year made almost all the money back he invested. Can you imagine a nice condo like that selling for $15,000 dollars? Now that is a depressed market.
In Florida, couples are in court NOT fighting about who gets the house from the divorce, but rather who gets STUCK with the house after the divorce. Divorce is hard enough, but now you have a judge telling you that you must keep this huge liability called a home and make payments on it. I have never heard of a divorce couple going to court so they wouldn't keep their home. That's a bad market!
In Detroit, there are so many foreclosures that have no hope of selling and are in such bad neighborhoods that the cheaper option is to tear them down. That in and of itself is not new, but what we are seeing in Detroit is entire city blocks demolished. Neighborhoods of 50 to 100 homes are gone with only empty streets and fire hydrants as reminders of homes that once stood. Again, can you imagine driving to an area of town that was a vibrant neighborhood at one time and now is no more? It looks like something out of the movies.
The down real estate market has hurt everyone in every part of the country, but if you look closely, we are blessed in Colorado. Our unemployment rate is lower than the national average, we have a good corporation base, a vibrant downtown, 300 days of sunshine a year, and it is still a place that people want to live and relocate. Inventory is low, we sold a large majority of our foreclosures, prices are stable and in some cases rising.
Next time you hear people grumbling about the real estate market in Colorado, tell them about Las Vegas, Florida, and Detroit. It makes you appreciate where you live.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment