For the past 15 years or so, my “mushroom theory” was an amazing tool (no I’m not talking about the magic mushrooms that were approved by voters). Up until Covid the mushroom theory worked like a charm to predict price appreciation in cities like Denver, but recently...
Our legislative branch and Governor have touted a new proposal to drastically reduce property taxes after they have skyrocketed due to increasing values and the elimination of the Gallagher amendment. Unfortunately the new bill will not help the overwhelming majority...
Wow! You can always hand it to the politicians to take a simple property tax measure and fill it to the brim so in the end it costs more than it actually saves you. In a last-ditch effort, the Colorado legislature approved: SB23-303 Reduce taxes and voter approved...
Colorado property taxes were set to jump almost 50% in some markets which finally go the attention of the Colorado Governor. At the last minute, Governor Polis put together a proposal that supposedly will drastically save taxpayers. What is in the new proposal? ...
I’m asked daily what happens to prices in high cost cities like Denver. Will prices stabilize due to the Golden handcuffs of low rates? Will prices go into a free fall due to higher mortgage rates? Historically there is a correlation between rents and prices,...
With a supermajority, the legislature has been busy crafting bills that will radically alter the real estate landscape. The recent proposal allows the state to dictate zoning in every county throughout Colorado and eliminate single family zoning. Colorado mayors are...
The legislature passed a little known bill in 2021 to allow property owners to defer their property taxes above 4% increase starting in 2023. On the surface, this sounds like a great plan. Why wouldn’t someone want to defer their property taxes. Unfortunately the...
Last year Denver passed an “affordable housing program” that requires multifamily developments to pay linkage fees and/or reserve a percentage of units for low income housing. What has happened to apartment construction since passage? Were my original predictions...
A local HVAC contractor said of the new code “This is like a really obese person drinking a 12-pack of Diet Coke and feeling good about themselves.” What is in Aspen’s new building code proposal? What impact will this have on new construction, property values, and...
Get ready for sticker shock as this year is a reassessment year. As values soften throughout the state, will your property taxes finally go down? Unfortunately the short answer is just the opposite, look for your taxes to jump an astronomical amount. How can...
With a supermajority, the legislature has been busy crafting bills that will radically alter the real estate landscape. The recent proposal allows the state to dictate zoning in every county throughout Colorado and eliminate single family zoning. As you can imagine...
State lawmakers are preparing to introduce a bill in the legislature that would create a state sponsored governmental program offering basic home insurance to the growing number of Colorado homeowners who say they can’t get coverage from private companies because the...
The prevailing theory is that this real estate cycle will be considerably better than others as so many people locked in rock bottom rates which will serve as “golden handcuffs” and prevent a meaningful increase in inventory. This in turn will keep prices high with...
Wow, 2022 has been quite the year in real estate. In Denver, the average home price peaked at $913,000, a whopping 52% increase from 2019. In Summit County (home to Breckenridge, Keystone, etc..) the average home is 1.2m up 116% since the pandemic. Even with higher...
It is amazing, they just called the last races in Colorado a few weeks ago and already there is a ballot initiative to increase taxes further. In the last cycle voters passed an affordable housing initiative and hot on its heals is a new statewide transfer tax...
I recently receive a Denver Metro Association of realtor’s newsletter touting: “People have been flocking to the Mile High City from more expensive cities in search of a cheaper cost of living and to work remotely in the Rocky Mountains. “ Is this leading to higher...
It has been a crazy election cycle in Colorado with multiple initiatives impacting everything from alcohol, nightly rentals, income taxes, school lunches, magic mushrooms, etc… Some taxes were reduced, others were increased. What were the big Colorado initiatives...
Regardless of party affiliation, this has been a big voting season for Colorado real estate and there was a resounding message relayed at the polls. Voters in Steamboat Springs, Aspen, Dillon, Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, and Summit County all decided whether...
The Summit Daily recently posted an article that Fall is a great time to hike a 14er. I took the pic below of a 13k foot peak the same week the article came out. Probably not a good time to attempt a peak ascent in the snow. The article on 14ers is eerily similar...
I was recently looking at a property in Colorado and looked up its Zestimate (above)… it is a miracle that the Zestimate suddenly increased 300% with no changes to the property. I’ll bet 900 million that the Zestimate is not accurate. Why did the Zestimate jump so...
Steamboat’s occupancy rate “supposedly” plummets 13% from last year, yet accommodation taxes are up an astonishing 48%. Why is it important to focus on occupancy and sales taxes? How accurate are either of these numbers? What does this mean for real estate? What...
Don’t be surprised by the recent numbers. I mentioned months ago that many Canadian markets changed on a dime and the same would happen in major US cities. A recent Redfin report showed that Denver ranked second behind Boise in price drops amongst 97 cities. ...
Depending on the Colorado ski town, cash transactions make up between 30-75% of all closed transactions. With this many cash transactions, what do rising interest rates mean for sales in the various ski towns. Will there be a slow down in ski real...
A new Ballot proposal, 108, will be voted on in November to “divert to” (aka give) the state of Colorado an additional 270 million dollars of taxpayer’s money for affordable housing. What is in the new proposal? How effective will a statewide fund be? What can we...
