As I mentioned recently, high-end home sales in Colorado are in the rise.  University Hill is a neighborhood in Boulder where you can find homes in the $1-million-and-up category.  Although town homes and condos are available for considerably less, this historical Boulder neighborhood is so popular that its stately single-family homes command considerable value.The benefits of Boulder's University Hill neighborhood include:Location - University Hill is located close to the University of Colorado, Downtown Boulder, and the city's popular pedestrian shopping district, Pearl Street Mall.Urban atmosphere - In addition to its close proximity to Boulder's important landmarks, University Hill has many hot spots of its own.  Local bars, restaurants, and independent shops are everywhere, hailing... 08/04/2007

Are you looking for luxury living in Boulder, Colorado?  If so, look no further than Boulder's Spanish Hills neighborhood.  This elite community has everything you need to take comfort to the next level: value, lots of space (indoors and out), and convenience.High-end homes - The vast majority of the homes in Spanish Hills are properties that cost $1 million and up.  The Denver Post recently reported that home sales in Denver and Boulder that price range are up by 25 percent.  In other words, a high-end home is just as good an investment as it ever was, regardless of what the rest of the housing market is doing.Large and luxurious homes - Homes in Boulder's Spanish Hills providing ample room for luxurious living.  Most of them offer more than 4,000 square feet of finished space.  Althou... 07/31/2007

Pearl Street MallPearl Street MallEven people that haven't been to Boulder know about the Pearl Street Mall.  It is a big tourist attraction in Boulder.  It is an outside mall that covers the old section of Boulder and features many shops and a vibrant nightlife with many bars.  During the Winter it is lit up with Christmas light everywhere to be seen.  During the Summer there are tulip beds covering the ground for a very pretty site.  There is also a climbing rock park for the kids and many rock sculptures with flowing waterfalls.  Pearl Street Mall is also famous for it's street performers.  They juggle, tell jokes, swallow swords, ride unicycles, and walk tightropes high in the sky.  There is also a street performer who if you tell him the city where you are from - anywhere in the wo... 07/13/2007

 The Holiday neighborhood is a new neighborhood in Boulder, Colorado with a special claim-to-fame: Holiday is a sustainable development.  As discussed in another post, this means that Holiday is designed to be economically, culturally, and environmentally friendly.Here are some of the amenities Holiday residents can enjoy:Community garden - Most people won't miss having a yard to landscape, water, and maintain; but for those who do, Holiday offers a community garden.Pedestrian-friendly walkway - Holiday's mission is to lessen its residents' dependence on cars.  A pedestrian-friendly walkway through the neighborhood provides a scenic place to socialize, and more pleasant method of getting from place to place.Close proximity to outdoor recreation - Boulder is known worldwide for its netwo... 06/28/2007

Let's face it: Boulder, Colorado has some very nice upscale homes, but for some buyers "nice" just isn't enough.  If you are the kind of homebuyer who wants the cream of the crop - not just the conveniences of living in the Boulder area, but luxury living as well - then Boulder's White Hawk Ranch is the neighborhood for you.White Hawk Ranch has many advantages for upscale homebuyers, including:Large-sized lots: Most lots in White Hawk Ranch range from one to one-and-a-half acres.  This leaves space for large, "estate-sized" houses, with plenty of property left over - perfect for pampering your wild side with beautiful Colorado landscapes, but still having that luxury living to come home to every day.Perfect location: White Hawk Ranch gives you the best of both worlds: the feeling of liv... 05/31/2007

We love our house, don't get me wrong, but what was the builder thinking when he put a cedar shake roof on it?  I get it: they have a certain "look" that some folks like...kind of rustic.  But if you've spent any time in this part of Colorado you know that there are weeks on end in the summertime when it feels like you're standing ten feet from the sun. The altitude, thin air, and clear skies don't exactly make for the best bedfellows with a cedar shake roof.  A normal composition material roof should last a good 20 years or more if its done right.  After about 10 years a cedar shake roof looks like it could use some TLC if not a total replacement.  That's why it's so funny when we have one of our "freak" Colorado hail storms.  I swear to God we saw half the people on our block standing... 05/26/2007

Every once in a while I have to pinch myself to make sure this place isn't just some pretty dream.  Ok, I'm sure each and every one of you just love your respective hometowns, but with all due respect I just can't imagine living anywhere else.Boulder has it all, and this is the time of year where my family and I are constantly rediscovering whey we live here.Things I love about Boulder in the summertime:Farmer's Market (must be getting old if that's #1 on my list)The hiking.  Chautauqua is beautiful this time of year...and I'm going to torture all of you with some photos attached belowThe restaurants.  I'm a bit of a food snob.  Now that's not to say I don't enjoy some ribs and a cold PBR, but I love really good restaurants.  And from sushi at Sushi Tora, to rack of lamb at Jill's, Boul... 05/23/2007

All week I look forward to waking up on Saturday morning and spending some time with my family.  My wife, myself, and our little girl, Hayden, spend the early part of the morning hanging out and playing.  At around 10 am it's off to the Boulder Farmer's Market.  If you haven't been to the Farmer's Market and you live in the Boulder area you should head out today.  It's going to be another beautiful day in Colorado and the Farmer's Market will be packed to the gills with families shopping, eating, and playing.Big deal, it's just a marketNot really.  There's a food court there that will just blow you away.  "Amaizing Corn Tamales"have the best tamales on the planet!  I dream of these things all week.  Mole, green chile, chicken, veggie...you name it.  And... Oh God, the pesto!Every week m... 05/19/2007

Athletes come to Boulder for the rock climbing, hiking, running, kayaking...and THE BIKING!  Which is why it is no surprise that Boulder's latest real estate offering is called The Peloton.For those of you who are unfamiliar with this phrase I'll give you a visual hint:  A peloton is that main group of riders in a bike race.Great, now that you know that what does this particular Peloton have to offer Boulder residents?Well, they've got prices starting in the 300's for centrally located new condos in the heart of Boulder.  Almost every unit has a mountain view, there is secure underground parking, rooftop pools, an on-site dog park, and you are minutes from:Pearl Street shopping, eating, and fun29th-Street shopping centerHiking and biking on numerous Boulder trailsBus linesCU campusIf yo... 05/08/2007

Just a quick peek at the Boulder, Colorado residential real estate market in the 1st quarter of 2006 compared to 2007.For 2007 we are down from 186 sold units to 173.  Is that bad?Not when you consider the following GOOD things:Median detached price is up in 2007 to $580,000 compared to $525,000 Q1 2006Total volume is up in 2007 to $ 179,517,926 compared to $173,366,704 in 2006Codo median is up to $254,875 in 2007 compared to $230,000 in 2006Overall, these are not too shabby. Especially when you consider what the press is writing about Colorado real estate in general.  The Boulder real estate market is still pretty strong.  And I can give some anecdotal evidence that the Denver real estate market ain't so bad either: the last two contracts I've written have had competing full-price offe... 04/29/2007

Boulder, Colorado is well known for its beautiful open spaces and easy access to outdoor sports.  The Dakota Ridge neighborhood, a fairly recent Boulder development, offers residents the best of the best: Spacious, uncrowded, and literally right next to popular trails and open space, Dakota Ridge is the kind of place you dream of coming home to.But will it stay that way?  In Colorado, just as in other parts of the nation, over development is becoming a heated issue.  No one wants to move into a beautiful, perfect housing development like Dakota Ridge, just to find out that the developers aren't done yet.  In a few more years, the scenery you gaze upon from your back door could be the rooftops of other houses.But never fear -- this atrocity is not Dakota Ridge's destiny!  To prevent over... 04/28/2007

Growing up in Boulder, I loved to play at the "Spaceship Park" - more commonly known as Scott Carpenter Park. Recently, I took my own children to the park and was reminded of how much I loved this place as a child. It truly is a breathtaking spot in Boulder, Colorado and I would like to share it with you!The park sits in the middle of town, near the new Twenty Ninth St. shopping district and close to many University of Colorado buildings. There is easy access with handicap accessible parking, a bus stop and a connection to the city's bike path.Scott Carpenter was born in Boulder on May 1st, 1925. He is known for his pioneering work as one of our nation's first Astronauts. Made famous by his flight of the second American manned orbital flight in the Aurora 7 spacecraft, Carpenter is a lo... 04/23/2007

The controversy continues with Zillow's Zestimate's vs. local agent's pricing accuracy.  I've read lots of interesting stuff on this site as well as Sellsius and others in regards to Zillow's ultimate plans.  Are they going to become a national MLS?  Should we Realtors be using their tools to enter other homes for sale?  How will the Zillow model impact the real estate industry in general?I don't know.  I have no idea what Zillow's ultimate plans are.  Don't know if other Realtors should be entering listings of their peers.  I do know that this industry is crying out for change.  I do know that almost every one of my potential clients eventually mentions Zillow.  Most of them enjoy the idea of looking at their home prices and those of their neighbors.  They also seem to understand that ... 04/12/2007

Yes, yes, I know there are a lot of people who have this image of Boulder as a hippie-haven and health-crazed mountain town.  And in many ways that characterization is correct: Boulder was voted the best place to be an uberjock, and Runner's World voted it #7 on the top 25 Best Running Cities in America.And we've also got our share of "granola-ie" food offerings.  Boulder is where Silk Soy Milk got its start, and there are plenty of health-conscious activities like the famous Boulder Farmer's Market to choose from on any given weekend. But a person could also lose themselves in luxury for a quick weekend getaway at the St. Julien Hotel and Spa.  Just take a look at the breathtaking views inside and out.       It's hard to imagine a better place for a quick weekend getaway.  My wife and ... 04/07/2007

I mentioned in my last post that I'd try to keep up with Zillow's accuracy in my corner of the world.  Below you'll find the results for Zillow's Zestimate vs. the Listing Agent's pricing for the 80302 zip in Boulder, Colorado for the month of March 2007. If you are a math type, then you might want to take a look at this very simple spreadsheetthat I used for these calculations.   Results:Zillow scored within 10% of the sales price only 64% of the time.  Realtors scored within 10% of the sales price only 73% of the time. Overall it was a much worse performance for both groups.  It's pretty obvious that I can't establish a trend yet, but if you take a look at the types of properties in this data set you'll see that they are quite a bit more expensive.  You've got neighborhoods like Maple... 04/04/2007

I have recently decided to to take on a business partner to grow my business.  Mary Hickling, a Boulder resident, and fellow home stager and I have decided to form a partnership! My vision is for Ambiance Staging to be a driving force in our community and an industry leader; and I felt that in order to do that Ambiance Staging would need to be a more substantial entity.  I didn't want to be just a 'one-man band'.  Also, together we can get so much more accomplished, share the load, and respond to inquiries/needs in a more timely manner.Mary has always had a passion for 'staging' and interior design, and now that her two daughters are in high school she felt the time was right to branch out in a new direction.Mary contacted me about 6 weeks ago when she was researching home staging onlin... 04/04/2007

Alan Dalton recently suggested http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DNtYtM_gX0 that Zillow’s Zestimate’s are really nothing more than a modern day parlour game. Fair enough. There are many of us who agree whole heartedly with Mr. Dalton. Some of you out there may disagree. My default, like many of you, is to make a gut call on a lot of controversial issues. Zillow’s Zestimates seem a little too good to be true to me–my gut said they were bogus. But as someone who spent many years teaching and studying the Scientific Method (pre-med in college, former Biology and Genetics teacher) I decided that the only way forward was to take a look at the real estate numbers in my corner of the world: Boulder, Colorado. For the month of March, 2007 there were 11 sales in Boulder’s 80301 zip code (just one ... 04/03/2007

Let’s keep it simple. That’s the guiding thought behind what we’re doing over at Real-a-Save. Buying a house is a pretty straight forward process: you start looking for a house, narrow down your search, take a look inside, make an offer on your favorite, navigate some hurdles, close the deal, move in. And with more and more people choosing to do the search portion of this process on their own via the internet, and then bringing the agent in to write the offer only after they’ve narrowed down their list, well, it makes our business that much more sensible. Why shouldn’t we reward our buyers with a huge cash rebate for saving us all that time? And the funny thing is, most people prefer to handle the search on their own, at their own pace. With all the tools available on the internet for e... 03/30/2007

When I first moved to Colorado from New York I had this fantasy about living in the mountains. I remember driving my motorcycle through Colorado back in the early 90’s on a cross-country trip with a buddy of mine and being just blown away by the Rockies. I felt like those tourists who walk around Manhattan staring up at the skyscrapers w/their strained necks, fanny-packs and cameras clearly identifying them as “not locals”. I didn’t care how foolish I looked: I just couldn’t take my eyes off of those mountains. Could you ever get used to such beauty? And I did follow through on my desire to live in the mountains. For a year I lived in a cabin up on North Turkey Creek Road in the Evergreen area. It was great….but. I think after living in cities like San Francisco and New York I got accus... 03/30/2007

Anyone who is familiar with the climate of the American West and Southwest is aware that the already arid region has suffered a drought in recent years.  With rainfall at a minimum and water supplies running low, residents of major Colorado cities such as Denver and Boulder have learned to watch their water usage.The communities that have been least affected by the drought and the resulting water restrictions are those that have access to their own water sources.  During the fall of 2006, Pine Brook Hills made a decision that would ultimately give them this important advantage.  Faced with a situation where the small mountain community would run out of water in less than a week, Pine Brook Hills activists were able to secure the rights to the water in the newly completed Pine Brook Rese... 03/29/2007