Blog
PURSUING A CAREER IN REAL ESTATE
Dave, I have lived in the Grand Valley for the past 9 years and we absolutely love living in Western Colorado. I currently work in retail, as one of our store managers, but honestly know that if we continue to reside in Grand Junction there is very little upside potential with my current employer. I am married... Read More
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE BUYING A HOME WITH A SEPTIC SYSTEM
Dave, Our Realtor has shown us a few houses with septic systems—which we learned is actually pretty common here—and we hate to admit it, but the houses that have them have moved down our list for that reason alone. We’ve heard some horror stories! We got to thinking about it though and what if we... Read More
FOR SALE BY OWNER: ADVICE FOR WORKING WITH A BUYER’S AGENT
Dave, I’m am going to sell my home by owner this spring and I am willing to cooperate with agents who want to show it to their buyers. One of my friends told me that agents would not show it without offering “agent protection” and I am not exactly sure how that will work or what... Read More
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A HOME APPRAISES FOR BELOW THE CONTRACT PRICE?
Dave, We sold our home last year and during the process our appraisal went by without a hitch, actually everything went as well as we could have hoped for. However, recently it was brought up in a discussion between my wife and I—what happens if the appraisal on a home comes back less than what the... Read More
SHOULD I GET A PRE-SALE INSPECTION ON MY OLDER HOME?
Dave, We will soon be selling our home and looking to downsize. We have lived here almost 15 years and are the second owners. We have taken good care of our home and have kept up on routine maintenance and also fixed any items needed over the years. Our home is older, built in 1976, but has... Read More
VALUE OF NEW CONSTRUCTION VS. OLDER HOMES
Dave, My wife and I are moving this spring. She likes the charm of older homes, but I tend to like new construction homes. We’ve talked a lot about the pros and cons of each but when it comes down to it, we’ve decided that value is the “make it or break it” for us.... Read More
GETTING READY TO SELL
Dear Dave, We are getting ready to list our home this spring. We have been getting it all cleaned up and show ready. We have a dog door that leads from our laundry room out into the backyard. Our question for you is this – do we leave it or remove it and repair the... Read More
HOME WARRANTIES
Dear Dave, We are looking to buy a house and have narrowed it down to some of the older neighborhoods and older homes. One of the houses we looked at included a 1 year home warranty. We decided that house wasn’t right for us – but we did like the idea of the home warranty. ... Read More
ASKING BUYERS TO KEEP MY HOME CLEAN
Dear Dave, This might seem like a trivial question but I really need your opinion. We have our home listed and with all of wet/winter weather we’ve been having I am really frustrated trying to keep our floors clean. Is it offensive to ask potential buyers to remove their shoes or wear booties when they... Read More
WOULD IT BE BETTER TO SELL OR RENT OUT OUR HOME?
Dave, How do you decide if someone should sell or rent their home? I was recently promoted at my job and we’re scheduled to move to Denver in about two months. Do you have a set of questions we can ask ourselves that will help us know if we’d be better off renting or selling?... Read More