With the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® estimating that over 1 million homes will end up in foreclosure during the next couple of years, prospective buyers might view the situation as a means of snapping up a residence at a bargain price.
However, experts note that foreclosure sales can be dicey, with the riskiest deals involving homes purchased at auction. While this format offers the greatest chance of a deep discount, buyers must provide payment at the time of the sale, making a deal without having the property inspected or an assurance that the current residents will vacate the premises.
Once the bank takes possession of homes not sold at auction, buyers can purchase directly from them in a real estate owned (REO) transaction.
While inspections and title insurance are possible, buyers are not likely to receive tremendous discounts or get lenders to respond in a timely manner to their offers under these circumstance.
Those who scan public default notices and approach struggling home owners to inquire about purchasing a dwelling before it ends up in foreclosure assume the least amount of risk, experts say. And in most instances, they need only offer more than the mortgage balance but less than the market value to secure the sale.
However, with large inventories of new homes in some markets providing leverages to those in the market for a property, buyers may not need to focus on foreclosures to get a good deal.
Source: USA Today, Christine Dugas (03/30/07)
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Trademark CM takes over Craig Nassi's condo project at Colorado, 16th Avenue
Condo builder Craig Nassi is out and Trademark CM Corp. is in as the developer of land at East 16th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard in Denver.
Trademark recently started preparing the site for the construction of a 112-unit, $12 million apartment complex called Colorado Commons. Ron White, Trademark president and chief operating officer, expects the project to be completed in March 2008.
Nassi and his company, BCN Development LLC of Denver, planned to build an "affordable" condo property with upscale services on the site. Nassi didn't return phone calls for comment.
Started in 1993, BCN has built metro-area condos in downtown Denver's Golden Triangle neighborhood -- including Beauvallon, The Prado and Belvedere Tower. All those projects have sold out, according to BCN's Web site. BCN also has projects in other markets such as Houston and Reno, Nev.
Trademark's other Denver properties include the already built 920 East Seventeenth Avenue loft project and The Marais Uptown in Capitol Hill. Projects under construction include the Emerson Uptown Lofts, with some 30 units at East 17th Avenue and Emerson Street, and the 44-unit Piranesi condos on Delaware Street in the Golden Triangle.
The Trademark apartment project joins a couple of other residential properties being built near Denver's City Park.
Those developments include the first tower of The Pinnacle at City Park South condominiums under construction at 1650 Fillmore St., across from Denver's City Park. The Pinnacle's 27-story initial phase includes 144 one-, two- and three-bedroom units, with prices ranging from $275,000 to more than $2 million.
Located on the site of the old Mercy Hospital, The Pinnacle is being developed by Opus Northwest LLC of Denver and Income Property Specialists in Boulder.
The Blueprint condos at Colfax Avenue and Madison Street will include 39 units priced from the mid-$100,000s to the $400,000s. Developer Place LLC promises "a Vespa for every buyer."
The developer plans to break ground on the project, whose units will measure 1,300 to 1,700 square feet, in late June.
First-Time Home Buyer
If you are a first-time homebuyer, you may be eligible for a low down payment and a low interest rate for a 30-year mortgage.
The Metro Mortgage Assistance program offers a 4 percent down payment assistance grant along with a 5.95 percent 30-year mortgage.
David Anthony is one of those benefiting from this program led by the City and County of Denver and the Metro Mayors Caucus.
"This truly is a dream for us, to be able to get into a house, to have some equity and to be able to share those blessings with my family," said Anthony.
He has three girls and one on the way and meets the eligibility of the Metro Mortgage Assistance program.
Eligibility includes family income not exceeding $71,700 for families of one or two persons and $82,455 for families of three or more.
Also, prospective homebuyers cannot have owned a home in the last three years, except in certain targeted areas.
Authorities say 153 families have benefited from the program and cities across the Front Range have contributed $32.5 million in bond issuing capacity to fund the program.
The cities included are: Arvada, Aurora, Bennett, Brighton, Broomfield, Centennial, Erie, Denver, Frederick, Greenwood Village, Lakewood, Littleton, Louisville, Northglenn, Sheridan and Westminster .
http://www.9news.com/money/article.aspx?storyid=67386
The Metro Mortgage Assistance program offers a 4 percent down payment assistance grant along with a 5.95 percent 30-year mortgage.
David Anthony is one of those benefiting from this program led by the City and County of Denver and the Metro Mayors Caucus.
"This truly is a dream for us, to be able to get into a house, to have some equity and to be able to share those blessings with my family," said Anthony.
He has three girls and one on the way and meets the eligibility of the Metro Mortgage Assistance program.
Eligibility includes family income not exceeding $71,700 for families of one or two persons and $82,455 for families of three or more.
Also, prospective homebuyers cannot have owned a home in the last three years, except in certain targeted areas.
Authorities say 153 families have benefited from the program and cities across the Front Range have contributed $32.5 million in bond issuing capacity to fund the program.
The cities included are: Arvada, Aurora, Bennett, Brighton, Broomfield, Centennial, Erie, Denver, Frederick, Greenwood Village, Lakewood, Littleton, Louisville, Northglenn, Sheridan and Westminster .
http://www.9news.com/money/article.aspx?storyid=67386
Monday, March 19, 2007
A new hotel with an old facade
Plan incorporates historic home of Spaghetti Factory
A 17-story hotel with about 200 rooms will be built at the back corner of the historic building that houses the Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant at the edge of lower downtown.
The restaurant at 1215 18th St. opened its doors in May 1973 in the Denver City Cable Railway Co. building, making it one of the oldest ongoing restaurants in downtown Denver.
The Cable building opened in 1889 to house the power plant and maintenance facilities for Denver's cable railway system. The building is a Denver Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places but came close to being razed in the name of urban renewal in the early 1970s.
The hotel, at 18th and Lawrence streets, will incorporate restaurant and retail space in the historic building, said developer Jeremy Records, principal of Central Development.
The hotel will go after the "upper middle" market but will not be competing directly against the Ritz Carlton under construction two blocks away, he said.
Records said it is too early to say whether in the new development the Spaghetti Factory will remain its current size or become smaller.
"We're in negotiations with them right now. Everything is on the table," Records said. "We're still in the design phase."
The restaurant is a "low-cost alternative for families in downtown," said restaurant consultant John Imbergamo.
The new $35 million project is being designed by the Buchanan Yonushewski Group.
The deal was first reported on Friday by urban designer Ken Schroeppel in his Denverinfill.com blog.
"The new (hotel) tower will feature a modern glass facade and will include a unique configuration to wrap behind the historic Cable Railway building's soaring brick smokestack," Schroeppel wrote. "The developers have designed the new tower to defer architecturally as much as possible to the historic building, which is intended to remain as the centerpiece to the development."
Records is scheduled to buy the building from the Judd family next month. Jim Judd, 81, one of the founders of Historic Denver, saved the building by buying it with a partner in 1972 and a year later moving the Spaghetti Factory into it.
"In the 1970s, urban renewal wanted to tear down all of the old and replace it with the new," Judd said. "The building has been a very successful venture. But the neighborhood changed and I'm getting up there in years."
Judd said a sale had to be contingent on the historic building being saved.
"I like Jeremy's plans very much," he said. Judd, in fact, may be an investor in the project. "That's still up in the air," he said.
By John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News
March 17, 2007
Copyright 2007, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.
A 17-story hotel with about 200 rooms will be built at the back corner of the historic building that houses the Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant at the edge of lower downtown.
The restaurant at 1215 18th St. opened its doors in May 1973 in the Denver City Cable Railway Co. building, making it one of the oldest ongoing restaurants in downtown Denver.
The Cable building opened in 1889 to house the power plant and maintenance facilities for Denver's cable railway system. The building is a Denver Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places but came close to being razed in the name of urban renewal in the early 1970s.
The hotel, at 18th and Lawrence streets, will incorporate restaurant and retail space in the historic building, said developer Jeremy Records, principal of Central Development.
The hotel will go after the "upper middle" market but will not be competing directly against the Ritz Carlton under construction two blocks away, he said.
Records said it is too early to say whether in the new development the Spaghetti Factory will remain its current size or become smaller.
"We're in negotiations with them right now. Everything is on the table," Records said. "We're still in the design phase."
The restaurant is a "low-cost alternative for families in downtown," said restaurant consultant John Imbergamo.
The new $35 million project is being designed by the Buchanan Yonushewski Group.
The deal was first reported on Friday by urban designer Ken Schroeppel in his Denverinfill.com blog.
"The new (hotel) tower will feature a modern glass facade and will include a unique configuration to wrap behind the historic Cable Railway building's soaring brick smokestack," Schroeppel wrote. "The developers have designed the new tower to defer architecturally as much as possible to the historic building, which is intended to remain as the centerpiece to the development."
Records is scheduled to buy the building from the Judd family next month. Jim Judd, 81, one of the founders of Historic Denver, saved the building by buying it with a partner in 1972 and a year later moving the Spaghetti Factory into it.
"In the 1970s, urban renewal wanted to tear down all of the old and replace it with the new," Judd said. "The building has been a very successful venture. But the neighborhood changed and I'm getting up there in years."
Judd said a sale had to be contingent on the historic building being saved.
"I like Jeremy's plans very much," he said. Judd, in fact, may be an investor in the project. "That's still up in the air," he said.
By John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News
March 17, 2007
Copyright 2007, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.
El Centro buys building
El Centro Su Teatro paid $1.35 million last week for a building at 215 S. Santa Fe Drive it plans to redevelop as a theater.
The Latino-run nonprofit is launching a $3.5 million capital campaign to pay for renovations for the Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center, which will include large indoor and outdoor performance spaces, a smaller black- box studio theater, gallery and office space.
El Centro Su Teatro received a $1.5 million loan from the city and county of Denver to help with the project.
The Latino-run nonprofit is launching a $3.5 million capital campaign to pay for renovations for the Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center, which will include large indoor and outdoor performance spaces, a smaller black- box studio theater, gallery and office space.
El Centro Su Teatro received a $1.5 million loan from the city and county of Denver to help with the project.
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