Buying a new home requires you to make many important decisions and to consider complex factors that you have no way of knowing prior to getting involved in the process. However, picking the right neighborhood is one of the most fundamental decisions that you must make during the process. If you are searching for a new home, it can help to learn about the primary features that you should consider when selecting homes for sale in University Park or beyond.  

Type of Neighborhood

Top Denver real estate agents can provide information regarding different types of neighborhoods in your desired area. Whether you are looking for an urban or a suburban environment often depends on your professional and domestic situation. For instance, you might want to purchase a home in a city neighborhood so you can be entrenched in the energetic atmosphere and live within a close proximity to a downtown job. In contrast, you might desire to purchase a home in a more family-friendly neighborhood that offers a calm and quiet environment.  

Features and Amenities

You should also consider the different amenities that neighborhoods can provide. You might prefer that the area has certain commercial or recreational features. Commercial amenities that you might be looking for can include shopping malls, restaurants, stores, gyms, and entertainment centers. You might be more geared toward what outdoor amenities you are near. The beautiful landscapes of the varying Denver neighborhoods offer parks, hiking trails, playgrounds, athletic fields, and creeks or reservoirs. Identifying which features and amenities are most important can help your Denver real estate agent find the neighborhoods that are most appropriate for you and your family.

School Systems

Living in an area with a top school district provides many advantages. Real estate experts can provide you with comprehensive statistics and specific data about the qualities and rankings of school districts in your selected zone. Having a superior school district in the neighborhood can help your children receive a high-quality education, acquire extensive knowledge, and achieve success throughout their lives. However, superior school systems are beneficial even if you are not raising children. Having an elite school district in the area encourages families to flock to the neighborhood, increases the demand and value of the property in the area, and in turn will substantially increase the sale price you can achieve if you sell your home later.

Market Trends

The best Denver real estate agents can to provide detailed information regarding the market trends of different Denver neighborhoods. The current value of a property is not as important as the market trends the neighborhood experiences at that time. Purchasing an expensive home that decreases in value can facilitate many financial problems if you try to sell the home. In contrast, purchasing a home for a reasonable price in a neighborhood that up and coming showing a positive market trend can provide many advantages. The upward swing in market trend indicates that the neighborhood is experiencing a high demand for properties, the value of real estate in the area is appreciating, and this will make your purchase a sound investment as the value of your home continually increases far into the future.
Contact Elevation Realty to find the perfect neighborhood for you. Our expert staff has garnered a prestigious reputation in the Denver area for providing personalized real estate services. We can assist you during each step of the process, we have access to the best homes in the most premier Denver neighborhoods, and we can help you find a home that maximizes the value of your purchase and the conditions of your life.

The population of Denver is rapidly growing due to the many beneficial features, exceptional neighborhoods, and plethora of professional opportunities that the city has to offer. However, the booming real estate trends of the Hilltop area have established Hilltop as one of the premier Denver neighborhoods. If you are interested in purchasing real estate in Colorado, you should learn about the many benefits that accompany the Hilltop market trend.

Hilltop Neighborhood:

Top Denver real estate agents can provide information regarding the many reasons for the recent real estate boom in the Hilltop neighborhood. Many people are gravitating towards Hilltop as an ideal neighborhood to own property and raise a family due to the gorgeous houses and superior subdivisions in the area. However, the optimal location of Hilltop has also increased the value of real estate in the neighborhood. Hilltop is positioned right beside the Cherry Creek area, which enables you to capitalize on the many features that Cherry Creek provides, including the shopping mall, restaurants, fitness centers, and the Cherry Creek reservoir and hiking trails. Additionally, living in Hilltop can enable your children to attend the Cherry Creek schools and receive a high-quality education from one of the top school districts in the city.

Sales Price:

The Hilltop market trend demonstrates that the sales prices of homes in the neighborhood have been substantially increasing. Many factors have facilitated the spike in Hilltop property. The ideal location and spacious homes have created a high demand for homes in the neighborhood, the relatively small area has a limited number of properties available at any given time, and in turn the high demand and limited properties have caused the sales price of the homes to soar in the recent years. For instance, in 2011 the average sales price for a house in Hilltop was approximately $527,000. By the year 2015 the value of Hilltop property nearly doubled as the average sales price skyrocketed to around $900,000. This established Hilltop as having one of the most thriving housing and real estate markets of any Denver neighborhood.

Appreciation Rate:

The best Denver real estate agents can provide specific data regarding the booming appreciation rates of Hilltop. The increased population in Denver and the rising demand for property has caused the value of real estate property in Hilltop to rapidly and steadily increase. The average price per square foot has been increasing by approximately 19 percent each year, the sales price of homes in Hilltop have been rising by about 23 percent each year, and the overall value of Hilltop real estate has increased by a whopping 63 percent during the past five years. Additionally, projections indicate that the positive appreciation rates of the Hilltop neighborhood should continue deep into the future. As a result, purchasing real estate property in Hilltop now can enable you to live in one of the premier Denver neighborhoods while watching the value of your property perpetually increase.     

Contact Elevation Realty to help you purchase your new home. Our expert staff has acquired a prestigious reputation for providing exceptional and customized real estate services throughout the Denver area. We can fulfill any of your real estate needs, show you the best homes that are available in the top Denver neighborhoods, and we would be glad to help you find a home that is appropriate for your budget and ideal for your real estate desires.

Aside from allowing you to expand your knowledge and exercise your creativity, home improvement projects can add or enhance features to your home, repair frustrating problems, and increase the quality and value of your property. Especially if you are getting ready to list your home for sale in University Park, make sure you don’t go overboard and take on more than you can handle. Although you might be tempted to take on the challenges of home improvement projects by yourself, certain projects are difficult and dangerous to tackle on your own. If you are interested in home improvement projects, it can help to learn about the DIY projects that require experts and that you should avoid doing by yourself.

Electrical Work

You should avoid performing any DIY projects that require electrical work. Properly installing or adjusting the wires can be very challenging, and even slight mistakes can damage your electrical circuit or the affected household appliances. However, electrical work is also extremely dangerous. The wires generate powerful electrical currents, handling the wires renders you vulnerable to incur electric shocks and many fatalities and house fires occur each year from people attempting to complete electrical projects on their own. Additionally, changing the electrical wiring of your house without a permit can hinder your ability to sell your home in the future.

Floor Refinishing

While floor refinishing projects can improve your Denver real estate property, these jobs should also require you to hire professionals. Handling the sanding machines is very difficult, and making any mistakes can cause consequential flooring problems. For instance, pressing the sanding machine down too hard or holding it in one spot for too long can damage the given area of the floor, facilitate dents or blemishes, and these problems can be destructive to your floor and expensive to repair. Hiring professional flooring experts to refinish your floors can prevent you from experiencing these costly hazards.

Crown Molding

You should try to avoid DIY projects that involve crown molding. While the crown molding seems simple enough to complete on your own, the project is deceptively more laborious and complex than it seems. Most walls are not perfectly straight. As a result, you must install molding along tough angles, and failing to accommodate the angles can impair the appearance and quality of the entire room. In contrast, top carpenter companies can install the molding successfully. The professionals can use their tools and experience to implement effective molding techniques and adjust the material, customize the molding shapes, and ensure that the molding is aligned appropriately to remain straight and compliment the walls.

Roofing

You should also avoid fulfilling any DIY roofing projects to your home. Roofing projects require an abundance of tools, materials, and equipment. The plethora of necessary supplies can make it difficult and expensive to perform the jobs on your own. The roofing jobs are also very dangerous. You must carry heavy loads of supplies up and down ladders, maneuver on steep and slippery roofs, and this exposes you to the risk of falling or injuring yourself. In turn, you should hire professional roofing specialists who possess the superior training and advanced safety equipment required to maneuver on the ladder and install the roofing shingles.

Contact Elevation Realty to provide advice regarding your Denver real estate property. Our real estate experts understand which home improvement projects can increase the value of your property and can help you find the most qualified experts to assist you throughout the projects. We would be glad to handle any of your real estate needs, provide information regarding home improvement endeavors, and work hard to provide you with exceptional service and to maximize the value of your home.

For anyone who has lived next to a neighbor who refused to pull their 4 foot tall weeds or bring their barking dog in at night, having a neighborhood advocate to deal with the problem probably sounded like an amazing deal. Select neighborhoods in Denver like Mayfair and Montclair will have HOA’s to research and understand - mainly for the process of keeping in line with the neighborhood’s aesthetic and history above all else. HOA’s do have their advantages but if you are considering moving into a HOA community, it’s definitely a subject you should ask a few questions about. An HOA is not only a lawn police force, they often have power to force eviction or foreclosure on a home for non-payment of fees and fines or repeated non-compliance with rules. Your real estate agent should be able to give you some insight as to who to contact to ask questions about your potential home’s HOA. If you can find someone to talk to who lives in the community but is not on the HOA committee, you may gain more valuable insight into what the HOA actually does from an inside perspective.

Some Questions you Might Ask:

What are the outside appearance requirements?  

Some HOA’s simply require that lawns are maintained, and paint is kept looking fresh - however, some actually require written permission to paint or make any landscape changes. HOA’s are actually responsible for touching up paint and outdoor fixtures in some communities. If you like coming home to a row of manicured lawns in front of uniform looking houses this may be a great benefit for you. If you are someone who likes to paint their garage door green if they feel like it, or experiment with ornamental grasses and different plants and shrubs, you may run into issues.

Are there parking restrictions?  

The fact that the across the street neighbor won’t have the muscle car they’ve been restoring since 1985 parked in front of your house is great, but parking restrictions may be further reaching than that. It’s important to ask how many vehicles you are allowed to have if you’re a large family with many drivers.  Some communities don’t allow recreational vehicle parking not only on the street, but in driveways either.  If you like to keep your boat or trailer handy for a spontaneous mountain excursion, this could present a problem. There may also be a no-work-vehicle clause involved in the rules, which would restrict certain vehicles from even being on your property. These are all important things to ask prior to moving in to be sure the rules won’t interfere with your normal day to day life or plans for the future.

What are the procedures for dispute management?  

This is important to find out both for disputes between neighbors as well as disputes between the HOA and homeowners. An HOA running with impunity and without oversight almost always spells trouble.

What are the fees and what do they include?

Snow removal, street cleaning, fall leaf removal, painting, and sidewalk maintenance are things the HOA might oversee. Fees might also include amenities such as, swimming pool access, gym membership, or special discounts for home services. It’s also important to ask to see a history of fee increases. If fees regularly jump up by large percentages, it might become something that becomes unaffordable at some point and non-payment of fees is something that could cost you your home, even if you are current on your mortgage.

There are many benefits but many potential burdens to HOA living. Asking pertinent questions before buying will prevent any unwanted surprises in the long run. CHeck in with your real estate experts at Elevation Realty to understand the rules and regulations in the neighborhood you are looking into - trust the advice and the experience of the locals! Get started today with a call or contact us now for more information. Learn more helpful tips and advice like How to Avoid the Mistakes First-Time Home Buyers Make.

The Denver real estate market is one of the most buyer-competitive markets in the country, especially the Holly Hills real estate market. Low unemployment, beautiful natural surroundings, friendly people, and good work-life balance draw people from all over to the Holly Hills neighborhood. In this type of market, especially in a moderate price range, it’s not unusual to have a house on the market for less than a week. You can rely on your real estate professionals at Elevation Realty to alert you immediately to any new properties coming on the market, but making a quick decision may make the difference between getting a home under contract and missing out. Buying a home is likely the largest purchase you’ll make in your lifetime, so it’s natural to have some anxiety and want some time to think it over.  However, if you take too much time it’s possible, or even probable, that you may miss your dream home.

To make it possible for you to act quickly without giving yourself an anxiety attack, it is important that you sit down and make a list of wants. No property is going to fulfill every single wish, but break your list down to Deal Breakers, Serious Needs, and Wants. Once you find a house that has no deal breakers and a significant number of serious needs met, you can make an offer with confidence.

• Deal Breakers:  Deal breakers should be just that. Anything on this list should be important enough to make you walk away from a deal. They should include things that you aren’t willing to compromise on because you’re tired of house hunting or there are some things from your want list that are turning your head.  Deal breakers may be items such as, "are schools in the area good?," "Is it a safe area?," "Is your work commute reasonable?"
• Serious Needs:  Serious Needs are important as well, but there may be some room for compromise. The outdoor environment may not be what you want but you can possibly make it that way within a season or two. The kitchen may be outdated but you purchased the home underbudget, meaning you can afford to remodel according to your personal taste. Be honest with yourself about how much time and money you are willing to put into fixing or remodeling. It's important to be realistic about how much time you can live with the bathroom tile or lack of storage before it affects your mood. If it’s something you would want done right away, analyze the economic feasibility and if you’ll have the energy to deal with that after settling into a new house. If you are comfortable with do-it-yourself projects, you may have some wiggle room. If you are planning to remodel,be sure to calculate a loan amount that you can afford along with your new mortgage and stay within that. You don’t want to put yourself under too much financial pressure.
• Wants: Wants are generally things that can be added as time goes on, such as Jacuzzi tubs, fire pits, and back decks. They are something that your dream home has but you have been living without and can go a little longer. If the house has zero wants you may want to move on, but if it scores high in the deal breaker and need category, decide how long you can wait for some of the things on the list.

Reduce anxiety and be ready to invest in your next home in Holly Hills by being clear about what is on your list and what percentage a home must fulfill to be considered for purchase. HUD has a free download of a homebuyer checklist to get you started. Once you’ve completed your list, share it with your realtor; it will help them to better understand what you are looking for. Contact the experts at Elevation Realty; we make sure we are available to you without bounds.  Our goal is to provide you with the most reliable and up-to-date information to make the best decisions for you, your family, and your budget.